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Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

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Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#301

Post by brewdad »

scott_karana wrote: post #122
Lawtonfogle wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I'm at a loss for words: Why are you are a loss for words? This doesn't look significantly different from the town I grew up in (well near). I feel like I'm missing something.

In https://goo.gl/maps/pAQEyZSAEw92 , the first one I clicked, there is decay and overgrowth everywhere. The death of the city's economy is completely evident in that view alone...

FWIW, I did some digging on this property. It burned in April of this year. Clearly arson. It was the site of a seedier than average strip club that has opened and closed a couple of different times in the past 5 years.

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/04/watch_as_f...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3051467/MASSIVE-fire...

Under the circumstances, this seems to support the notion of a dying city perhaps giving up.

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#302

Post by flubert »

vadym909 wrote: post #205
Lawtonfogle wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I'm at a loss for words: Why are you are a loss for words? This doesn't look significantly different from the town I grew up in (well near). I feel like I'm missing something.

Most foreigners think all of the US looks like New York City or a Beverly Hills suburb because they see that version all the time in the hit movies and on popular TV shows. My relative came to Silicon Valley and was shocked it wasn't like a space-age city with gleaming buildings and futuristic roads. Like truly shocked!

"Somewhere in the past 50 years or so the media accidentally constructed an artificial reality that was hidden by the on-purpose entertainment reality of TV shows. You look at any of the CSI shows and think, "well, of course this isn't a real representation of actual crime scene investigators." But it never occurs to you to think as they're arresting a suspect, "since when did it become ordinary for professional cops in their 40s to have no kids, tons of disposable income, and regularly go out on dates that end in sex? And what the hell happened to body fat?" "

http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2010/04/im_not_the_one_you_sh...

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#303

Post by ZoeZoeBee »

maxsilver wrote: post #133
FussyZeus wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes this area so good for manufacturing? (I've never been and I'm curious)

There's no environmental protections or regulations of any meaningful kind, property is almost free, and there's a significant labor force of people willing to work for minimum wages. It's not great for manufacturing. But it's not the worst place to do so.

Curious, what are things you think are good for manufacturing? As proximity to the cheapest mode of transporting raw materials, access to raw materials and sources of energy don't seem to be on your list.

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#304

Post by ZoeZoeBee »

pm24601 wrote: post #240
flubert wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't places like Flint and Detroit pretty much poster children of progressive thought? I think anti-liberal people use them as case studies to attract converts, as in, look what you get if you have one-party Democratic rule for 50 years and strong unions, and other progressive notions.

Flint has been devastated like Detroit by Republican governors and Republican* trade policies that export jobs. * And unfortunately NAFTA ( signed by Clinton ) Thank god Obama saved the automobile industry in 2009

Right.... You do know that Bush saved the auto and Obama just kept it rolling, never mind "Republican Governors" like Granholm in office before during and after "Obama saved" the auto industry. What strain did you happen upon?

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#305

Post by andrelaszlo »

andrelaszlo wrote: post #300
paulddraper wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm at a loss for words > To me, there's something really heartbreaking about abandoned and decaying houses. You're at a lost for words because of some old houses? At least there aren't gangs roaming the capital, looting, killing, and burning for days. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2328952/Sweden-riots... I'm not saying either US or Sweden is a nightmare; just that every place has its uglier side. If you'…

You are probably right. I get emotional over buildings quite often. Might be some kind of personality disorder.

This reminds me of Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul and the concept of hüzün. The memories of a once-great city and the collective melancholia of the people living among the ruins.

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#306

Post by dalke »

andrelaszlo wrote: post #297
dalke wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am a US citizen who moved to Sweden. I've done a decent amount of cycling across the Swedish countryside, and think I can explain. The sights in these photos that you (and I, who grew up in Florida) think are pretty common, are quite rare in Sweden. That is, it's rare to find houses with boarded up windows, or missing part of its siding, or burnt down and in a state of decay. Suburban areas are almost all immaculat…

Haha I think I know you from the Python Meetup Sweden is small indeed. You're right, I'm just not used to seeing things like this I guess.

Tjäna! Jajaman, det är jag.

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#307

Post by Tossrock »

mturmon wrote: post #267
Tossrock wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are they using lead pipes? I understand that they may have a legacy system put in place before the dangers of lead were fully understood, but when your water distribution system is literally made of poison, I don't understand how replacing it could be back-burnered.

In theory, you are right. In practice, replacement of legacy lead pipes is more complex. Briefly: replacing only some of the pipes can cause lead levels to increase due to (1) disturbance of nearby lead pipes during replacement; (2) ongoing galvanic effects near the replacement; (3) interfaces between the utility's new lead-free lines and a customer's old lead lines, if the customer does not choose to replace at the…

Thanks, this was really informative. Makes me glad I live in California.

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#309

Post by flubert »

babygoat wrote: post #291
flubert wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose we're making the no-true-progressive argument here? Whether or not that is accurate, anti-progressives use Detroit as an example: https://www.google.com/#q=detroit+progressivism

Not at all, and I don't love hearing what anti-progressives have to say so I'm not going to wade through that google search. I'm just saying that one reason those cities have a higher turnout for Democrats is because a lot of them are (or were) in labor unions.

Are you saying that those union members wouldn't self-identify as progressive? Or that progressivism has moved beyond endorsing labor unions? Or something else?

Re: Flint, MI: So much lead in children’s blood, state of emergency declared

#310

Post by j2bax »

yawgmoth wrote: post #154
Ocerge wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I spend a lot of time in Michigan as my company is based in Grand Rapids. It's almost like East and West Germany at times with how much better off Western Michigan is.

IMO this is really inaccurate. Rochester Hills, Bloomfield, Royal Oak, Grosse Point, all very wealthy cities .... the problems are simply accentuated by the scale economic growth/collapse, but it happens in West Michigan as well (Benton Harbor, for example).

I went to school near Benton Harbor. It's incredible to see the literal line between Benton Harbor and St. Joseph. It's like ghetto > river > water front mansions. Pretty crazy to see such different perspectives within such close proximity to each other.
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