MURDER, POLITICS, AND THE END OF THE JAZZ AGE
by Michael Wolraich
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Hits of the Day
Meet Wantwaz Davis, the ex-con who tried to save Flint
By wabby on Wed, 01/27/2016 - 9:17am |Dayne Walling, then the town’s mayor, ceremoniously pushed a button to stop the flow of treated Lake Huron water from Detroit for the first time in nearly 50 years. Water from the nearby Flint River began gushing into Flint’s 700-mile-long pipe system instead. The politicians raised glasses of water and toasted the historic change.
Wantwaz Davis — the recently elected city councilman from Flint’s 5th Ward — did not join in on the toast.
“I was in the corner like, ‘Nah, I’m not drinking that,” Davis recalls.
The finger-pointing, buck passing, blame shifting and other various forms of non-culpability is like a big swirl of non-information right now. The poisoned babies in Flint don't really care about that. All they want is for the itching to stop.
Davis sought outside help again and again. Starting in June 2014, he sent the exact same letter to the Justice Department, addressed to then-Attorney General Eric Holder, every Monday morning.
He received a reply several months later, telling him to contact the state police.
No one listened in time for these lead-laced water problems to be stopped.
Is Councilman Davis correct in saying it was "genocide"? Not of a racial kind, but of class.
URL:
http://news.yahoo.com/meet-wantwaz-davis--the-ex-con-who-tried-to-save-flint-231549164.html
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Comments
From Kevin Drum at Mother Jones:
by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 01/27/2016 - 10:04am
PP, no good Liberal wants to read this propaganda or view your graphs, this is a hot political football and an opportunity to make some election year gains against the Lead Monster Republicans. Mike Moore has blown a gasket and is spewing BS like an overstuffed mammoth demanding the Feds invade Lansing and oust the elected government, there is an authoritarian Liberal for you.
This is a crisis under todays stricter lead exposure regulations but it is a bit overblown, in the late 1970's 88% of children, age 1 to 5, tested in the country, had blood levels of lead above 10 mg/dl while 10.6% of Flint's children recently tested above 5mg/dl of lead in their blood, still bad but hardly the hysterical crisis portrayed by some whining uninformed Liberals.
by Peter (not verified) on Wed, 01/27/2016 - 1:59pm
Uninformed about MLK Jr and Marxism
Uniformed about the dynamics of crime in black neighborhoods in the 1990s
Now, uninformed about lead poisoning
http://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2016/01/09/what-you-need-to-know-a...
A trifecta
Lead may have been tied to the crime level that led to the onerous crime bill.
by rmrd0000 on Wed, 01/27/2016 - 2:21pm
Oust the elected government? You mean like this? And this? And this?
by Ramona on Wed, 01/27/2016 - 7:45pm
You show 'em Ramona, my Yooper friend.
by wabby on Wed, 01/27/2016 - 7:58pm
As far as i can tell the local Flint government is still operating and was never ousted, they just have to accept adult supervision and state authority over their decisions. It was the local Flint government who instituted the plan to stop buying DSWD water with one no vote from Mr Davis, the state approved their decision.
Mike Moore shows that many of the negative effects of high dose lead poisoning can be overcome, he was exposed to much higher levels and longer exposure than any of the children in Flint today yet he is very successful. He does display some of the pernicious mental effects of lead poisoning as displayed in his 'revolt' rant at HP, fuzzy thinking and an overemotional response to confusing stimulus.
by Peter (not verified) on Thu, 01/28/2016 - 10:22am
You are now admitting that the lead poisoning issue is not overblown?
Are you aware that the Detroit Water System a bill that would have cost less than switching systems?
http://motorcitymuckraker.com/2016/01/23/gov-snyder-lied-flint-water-swi...
Edit to add:
The adult supervision you mention came in the form of the emergency manager. The citizens of Michigan voted against the emergency manager bill. The legislature passed a new emergency manager Bill that could not be reversed by the voters. The Governor gets to act as dictator. Try to present the situation accurately. The emergency manager told the city to cut costs and had no problem using river water.
http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/12/snyder_signs_replacement...
by rmrd0000 on Thu, 01/28/2016 - 11:12am
I've been following this story from near the beginning because of the political 'dictatorship' part and the practical demand for Flint to reduce their water costs among other overhead costs. This Hail Mary offer by DWSD in the email was reported at the time by local media and it was made after the Flint City Council made their decision to switch water sources. I don't recall the details of why it was rejected by Flint but it probably had to do with the reality that the bankrupt DWSD wouldn't be able to guarantee this promised price or even intended to and because DWSD had been trying to use the courts and public opinion to force Flint to submit to their high prices and total dependence on their water.
Flint has depended on Flint River water for most of its history and only started using Detroit water in the 60's. DWSD could have kept Flint as a customer if they offered a reasonable water price to Flint at the beginning of negotiations instead of trying to bully and force Flint to submit to their needs until the decision was made and any trust between the parties was destroyed, by Detroit.
by Peter (not verified) on Thu, 01/28/2016 - 12:43pm
The story thus far, you downplayed the impact of the lead poising. You said nothing was done about the lead poisoning in Flint. You were wrong on both counts. You said that the Flint government had to simply follow orders, dismissing the impact of emergency managers, a practice that voters rejected. Detroit was told to cut costs by the emergency manager. Detroit tried to raise revenue via water. Flint was told to cut costs. There was pressure on both cities. You may have been following the story, but you got lost along the way. Providing links would help us assess the sources of your assumptions.
Why do you think Detroit went bankrupt, requiring it to seek revenue?
by rmrd0000 on Thu, 01/28/2016 - 1:38pm
Well, Pete, let me cure you of your ignorance as to your second paragraph. Neither Mike Moore nor I grew up drinking Flint River water even though we both claim Flint as our hometown. We didn't live close enough to the city to be able to use piped in water. We had wells drilled into our 'burb backyards instead. So there goes your theory about his "display some of the pernicious mental effects of lead poisoning". Ain't gonna work. Because, you see, I was there. So, I know. Yeah, we're both the same age and we were enrolled in adjoining school districts. Mike hasn't got any more accumulated lead poisoning than I do.
by wabby on Thu, 01/28/2016 - 1:29pm
It has been determined there is no safe level of lead in the blood. No. Safe. Level. So, it is not overblown.
This is a warning to other communities whose old water pipeline infrastructures may have the same lead problem. If only the alarm will be heeded to prevent other children from being permanently damaged.
by wabby on Wed, 01/27/2016 - 7:57pm
It's unbelievable to me that reporting on lead poisoning could ever be "overblown". Once lead is in the body, it's there forever, lurking for five years or more before the damage begins to show. This is not a political scheme, it's a human tragedy. Good god.
by Ramona on Wed, 01/27/2016 - 8:11pm
'Accurate' reporting with research and context is admirable and some few reporters have done just that. Most of the bloviating on this incident isn't reporting but partisan gamesmanship using the affected children as tools for their political attack. Even the use of the term 'poisoning' is political hype used to instill fear and anger when the CDC lists 30 to 80 mg/dl as poisoning levels in children.
These elevated lead levels in some of Flint's children are dangerous and were dangerous before the regulatory incompetence and local decision caused the increase in exposure but no one was squealing about overthrowing the state government when only half as many poor Black children were being poisoned nor were they doing anything to fix the existing problems with lead in the private housing's plumbing.
The response by Snyder's government to this mistake/problem was inexcusable and even possibly criminal but it was the typical and expected response of most all governments to embarrassment and political attack.
by Peter (not verified) on Thu, 01/28/2016 - 11:03am
Read the friggin' graph that PP provided. People did raise a stink about lead. Lead levels fell dramatically since 1998. Your statement that nobody did anything about high lead levels is a lie!
Since you never provide links to support your statements, let me provide you with a link to the graph.
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/01/raw-data-lead-poisoning-ki...
by rmrd0000 on Thu, 01/28/2016 - 11:27am
The problem with over reliance on links and other uninformed source's conclusions is that you delegate any thinking you may be capable of, to others. The MJ link is misinformed and draws uninformed conclusions.
According to recent news reports the lead content at the problem households in Flint has not declined much since the switch back to Detroit water but because the children aren't drinking that water their blood levels of lead have declined, MJ's statement is a misinformed correlation.
The MJ story inferred that the dramatic decline in blood levels of lead in Flint since '98 is connected to their water supply and some small part of that decline may be related to their water system but the main source of lead exposure for children is lead paint and other terrestrial sources such as the residue from lead in gasoline in the environment. Remediation and education programs aimed at these sources of lead have been ongoing for decades and have been very successful. Dramatically reducing children's and adult's lead exposure is a success story throughout the country.
by Peter (not verified) on Thu, 01/28/2016 - 1:34pm
Your argument is that home lead levels and lead emissions fro cars spiked?
Edit to add:
I am not clear what you are trying to say. You provide no data. If you are saying that we lived with high blood levels in the past, we should celebrate the lower lead levels now. If that is the point, it ignores the data that lead appears connected to impaired cerebral function. Since there is no known bottom level that has found to be safe we should be concerned when lead levels rise. I doubt that you would be dispassionate if your child high the new, improved levels of lead.
Both Detroit and Flint were pressured into drastic cuts. You say they simply had play by adult rules, yet you criticize them when they played by the rules laid out by the emergency manager.
by rmrd0000 on Thu, 01/28/2016 - 2:14pm
Lead in the blood is poison, and I'll bloviate 'till the cows come home if I think it'll do any good. We're "squealing", as you call it, because it could have been, and should have been avoided. And you're wrong again--we've been squealing about overthrowing Snyder's government and that odious Republican legislative majority since the day they came into power.
When Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, was governor, she had to contend with the same Republican majority legislature. They operated much like Obama's congress--whatever she wanted for the people of the state was trashed so she wouldn't look good if it worked.
Your suggestion that Snyder's response to the lead discovery is typical of all governments shows how little you know about what he's done in our state since he came in. A little education might be in order. This is no ordinary government. In fact, it's no government at all. It's oligarchy in its purest form.
by Ramona on Thu, 01/28/2016 - 11:41am
I almost developed some sympathy for my ex-home state with the Snyder cabal in power and wreaking havoc but I'm sure many local elite dems are glad the repugs are the ones doing the required dirty work of reorganizing the state and taking the flack. After this public disgrace for the repugs it might be time to bring in some new Liberal leader such as a Rahm Emmanuel to finish the job of dismantling those wasteful, inefficient Public School Systems, Austerity Uber Alles.
by Peter (not verified) on Thu, 01/28/2016 - 2:09pm
Your only role appears to be that of a constant critic with nothing of value to add.
Edit to add:
When a person has given up, they will never find anything satisfactory.
Why worry about high lead levels? Children had higher lead levels in the past ( even though there was an argument that nothing was done). Just because lead effects brain cells, and there is no safe lead, why all this Liberal concern. Liberals caused this problem because they agreed to a cost cutting measure under the thumb of an emergency manager. The Liberals even drank a toast to taking a step to getting the Governor's Esso bee off their backs. The government agencies and the Governor screwed up. This entire episode shows that nothing works and all hope is gone.
There won't be anyone who looks for lead levels in other cities. What that is happening. There won't be an effort to challenge the emergency manager law. Oh, that is happening? Oh well, sigh...... Rahm Emanuel.
Life sucks.
I don't need to provide links because I already know the truth.Except when it comes to MLK, Marx, the 1994 Crime Bill, lead poisoning, Michigan...............
by rmrd0000 on Thu, 01/28/2016 - 3:13pm
It's all right, Peter. We don't need your sympathy. We'll get along fine without it.
by Ramona on Thu, 01/28/2016 - 3:18pm
by Danny Cardwell on Fri, 01/29/2016 - 12:25am
by Danny Cardwell on Fri, 01/29/2016 - 12:26am
I'm applaud Peter's ambition and determination. He believes he can construct an argument sound enough to convince the people who've read and commented on this post that lead poisoning isn't that bad.
KUDOS TO YOU!
by Danny Cardwell on Fri, 01/29/2016 - 12:26am
Peter is our Roseanne Roseannadanna
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roseanne_Roseannadanna
by rmrd0000 on Fri, 01/29/2016 - 8:27am
I would have hoped with your background that you wouldn't stoop to cheap shots and outright lies about my comments. The only argument I attempted to construct was based on facts and my impressions of the hyperbole and spin some people are using to describe and ride this avoidable public health failure.
I've only found one report of a blood test that can be described as lead poisoning, one is too many and the 6-10% who have elevated levels is also unacceptable but most of Flints residents including children were not poisoned or even affected by high lead levels, that is good news and those that were should not be badly affected by their low level exposure. You and I were probably exposed to much higher levels of lead during the years of widespread high levels of lead in the environment.
If you're looking for someone to point a finger at,about 'lead poisoning isn't that bad' you might address the EPA who sent a memo to Flint about the effects of using untreated corrosive water before the switch and then retracted it and advised them to check back in a 'year'. The local Flint water experts and the MDEQ also failed in their duties, knowing about the effects of corrosive water on lead pipes yet doing nothing to treat the water.
The politicians are certainly responsible for their poor response to the problem and may even be held accountable but that is probably wishful thinking.
by Peter (not verified) on Fri, 01/29/2016 - 12:17pm
Since you provide no support for your statement about poisoning, we have no reason to trust your analysis.
Here is a link that includes commentary from physicians.
http://www.wired.com/2016/01/flints-high-lead-levels-have-doctors-strugg...
A prior study suggests that chelation therapy does not impact neurobehavioral function.
Pediatricians are concerned about the tripling of lead levels in the children of Flint. You offer no reference that supports your claim of one "poisoned" child. Provide a link. There is no way you can prove what your level of exposure to lead was as a child. Your statements are not believable.
Edit to add:
Here is a paper from the New England Journal of Medicine in 2003 documenting the neurobehavioral impact of even low levels of lead in the blood of children. Your statement that you found only one case of poisoning reflects your lack of knowledge of the medical literature.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa022848
Here is a summary of the impact of lead on children from a section of the CDC
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/csem/csem.asp?csem=7&po=10
Again low levels of lead are dangerous.
Show us the data used to support your contention that there was only one case of poisoning. You can't, can you?
by rmrd0000 on Fri, 01/29/2016 - 2:28pm
The water filters provided by the government are rated to clear lead levels up to 150 parts per billion. Lead levels in the homes ranged from 153-4000 ppb. The filters are not protective.
http://www.wired.com/2016/01/heres-how-hard-it-will-be-to-unpoison-flint...
by rmrd0000 on Fri, 01/29/2016 - 9:33pm