It takes balls of purest brass

[Lord Jim]

Once again, there is a complete disconnect between rube's assertions and the "proof" that he offers...

Rube provides evidence that shows that the effects of lead poisoning have fallen disproportionately on the urban poor, (many of whom are black)

A fact that has been widely known for many years by anyone who has paid even cursory attention to this, and a fact that to the best of my knowledge has never been disputed by anyone...

But the evidence that he provides bears absolutely no relationship whatsoever to his claims:

The most galling thing is that GOP racists will blame the failed and unfulfilled lives of these people on their 'bad choices" like they have been doing to lead-poisoned urban populations for decades.

In terms of laying out evidence supporting any element of those assertions, rube has provided exactly bupkis...

nothing, nada, zippo...

So when considering the claims he made, my Bullshit Meter continues to get this reading:

[MajGenl.Meade]

Maybe a closer look at the three views of Cleveland?

It seems to me that almost all of Cleveland (possibly as much as 95-98%) is "in danger" of lead poisoning. That includes black, hispanic and white populations without particular exception.

The "historic segregation" being spoken of means that many black people moved into the East side houses being vacated by the largely Slovenian population who were moving out for many reasons: upward mobility to the suburbs, loss of manufacturing jobs (fasteners were big on the east side for years), and (yes it's true) white flight. But those people are by no means all gone.

It's also the older housing of Cuyahoga county because (duh) suburbs developed later. But a suburb like Cleveland Heights is about 50/50 as far as black/white goes... perhaps 40/60. My neighbors in the Heights were black. They moved out of Cleveland to escape as well... not sure what from but the point is that Cleveland Heights, University Heights etc. are mixed areas ethnically and have long had some draconian regulations on lead paint etc.

It's possible that various Cleveland (Democrat) governing authorities haven't done so well in an expensive clean up of old inherited hardware in old homes. Can't really blame them. Mind, they don't live in any of those...

[Crackpot]

https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/do- ... -michigan/


Radio show on the Flint water crisis

[Lord Jim]

Just when you thought this story couldn't get any worse:

Flint residents paid America's highest water rates

Flint residents paid the highest water rates in America even as their water was tainted with lead, according to a national study released Tuesday by the public interest group Food and Water Watch.

A survey of the 500 largest water systems in the country, conducted last year, found that on average, Flint residents paid about $864 a year for water service, nearly double the national average and about three-and-a-half times as much as Detroiters pay. The figure is based on an annual household consumption of 60,000 gallons.

"It far exceeds what the United Nations designates as affordable for water and sewer service," said Mary Grant, one of the study's authors. The United Nations recommends that water and sewer service shouldn't exceed 3% of a household income. In Flint, the charges totaled about 7%, Grant said.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/m ... /80461288/

[oldr_n_wsr]

Was that before they switched to the river? I heard they switched to the river to lower the cost of water.

[Crackpot]

No it wasn't. It was an early the cost upfront for (maybe) cheaper water later. It was a bad idea from the start. The sad thing is if they would have stuck with Detroit water they could have taken advantage of the additional leverage during Detroits bankruptcy.