Regarding Flint, as a species we have discovered lead to be poisonous time and time and time and time again, so . . .

WHY THE FUCK DOES ANY CITY IN AMERICA WITH UNDERGROUND WATER PIPES DATING TO AFTER 1800 HAVE LEAD LINED PIPES?

WHY THE FUCK DOES ANY HOME BUILT AFTER 1945 HAVE MOTHERFUCKING LEAD LINES PIPES?

Hopefully their kids die with them and stop the spread of their kind of stupidity

http://abc7news.com/weather/tenants-fight-order-to-move-out-of-pacifica-apartments/1174295/

http://www.thelocal.dk/20160126/danish-teen-fought-off-her-attacker-with-pepper-spray-now-shell-face-fine

Those that will dictate the means of your defense do not see you as a citizen, but as a resource to be used or discarded as needed.

It seems that China can not produce a complete ball point pen on its own:

http://www.ejinsight.com/20160121-what-ball-pen-tells-us-about-china-s-manufacturing-weakness/

China's manufacturing strength is low-cost, semi-skilled human labor. Precision manufacturing calls for machine labor and high-skill human labor.

China has always been a nation reliant on human labor. The Boxer Rebellion was caused when Western countries introduced railroads and automobiles into the country, putting China's large army of coolies out of work. Traditionally, China had relied on peasant coolies to transport goods and perform labor.

So, China can't make a ball point pen, yet some Chinese fountain pens are gaining respect for being reliable and well-made:

http://www.jetpens.com/TWSBI-Diamond-580-Clear-Fountain-Pen-Fine-Nib/pd/14069

Have you guys seen the amazon reviews for Haribo sugar free gummy bears? Talk about liquidifying links. My favorite started with "I am writing this review from the quarantine room of my local level 1 trauma center. By the time you read this I will most likely be dead." or 'The scariest harvest festival ever'.

http://www.amazon.com/Haribo-Sugar-Free-Gummy-Bears/dp/B008JELLCA/ref=cm_cr_pr_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

On a side note: NEVER feed sugar-free treats to your pets.

http://poisonedpets.com/sugarless-gum-with-xylitol-the-toxic-bubble-poised-to-pop-on-your-pet-i-said-pop-not-poop/

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/b-c-aboriginal-scholar-wins-bid-for-rights-hearing-after-shes-denied-tenure-in-part-over-lack-of-research

What's more frightening? Police come to you about your tweet? Or that they do it w/in hours.

"Mark Jongeneel, a small business owner in the small city of Sliedrecht who tweeted his reaction to asylum plans in his city:

“The college of Sliedrecht has a proposal to receive 250 refugees in the coming 2 years. What a bad plan! #letusresist”

Hours later, his mother (with whom he lives) contacted him to say local police had visited her house and were now on their way to his office."

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/430378/immigration-and-free-speech

Sixclaws,
UBC deserves their aboriginal scholar simply because they allowed her to stay employed rather than insist on treating her like a normal employee.

"In 2008, for instance, the university granted McCue eight months of teaching relief to focus solely on research. In that time, her only publication was an eight-page article included as a chapter in a non-peer-reviewed work."

They kept her for reasons that did not include her 'scholarly' work and now are stuck w/her.

I need to read up some more on the Flint water situation, but as I understand it, here is what happened:

The system does not have much lead pipe now. But it used to. At some point, the system was a mix of lead and galvanized iron. Galvanized is notorious for forming scale, lots of it. Over time, salts from the lead got bound up in the scale in the galvanized.

The city switched from buying Detroit water to pumping its own from the Flint River. The river water was more acidic, and the city didn't think to treat it to raise the pH. It started dissolving the galvanized scale, releasing the trapped lead salts. Pure metallic lead is not very toxic, but lead salts are.

I've heard that in some neighborhoods, the water is a lot more toxic than in others. That would be typical; the worst areas are probably areas that got galvanized distribution and household plumbing installed in the 1950s, all fed by existing old lead mains. Older areas probably mostly had clay tile mains, and newer areas started with PVC and copper, and they probably aren't as bad.

I do believe “global warming” has occurred, but (1) it is weaker than expected, based upon independent satellite and weather balloon measurements; (2) it has been overestimated with poorly adjusted surface-based thermometers; (3) it has a substantial natural component; and (4) it is likely to be more beneficial to life on Earth than harmful.

http://www.cfact.org/2016/01/26/measuring-global-temperatures-satellites-or-thermometers/#sthash.s0hmntxS.dpuf

Cousin Dave,

You missed the part where due to complaints about the color and taste the Flint engineers kept increasing the chlorination thus reducing the pH. Exactly the wrong thing to do.

"McCue has alleged that peer-reviewed research is contrary to indigenous oral traditions and that UBC’s research standard effectively discriminated against her “race, colour, ancestry, place of origin … and sex.”"

So, what is the indigenous oral tradition say about tenure? UN speeches? And chapters submitted to non peer reviewed books? About women hold such positions to begin with?

Not that it matters, this is the same "Human Rights" commission that sided with a woman who argued it was a violation of her rights for a restaurant to ask that she wash her hands after taking a shit before she prepared food for people to eat.