if you're gonna go, go big

[sfzombie13 310]

most of you know that i like to complain about the government, well, when they poisoned our water big time, i went nuts! i didn't know what to do, and asked for help. well, andy908 gave me some great advice. i became an activist. and then i even started my own group to fill a need in the area. of course, every good group needs a .org website, so i bought a domain and put up a website (well, just a placeholder now with a couple of links, but i have a web designer who volunteered to be webmaster). everyone needs to check it out. http://togawv.org

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Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes

[FlyingRhenquest 1]

Not, like, www.omgthegovernmentpoisonedourwate.rs? I bet you could totally get that (Well now that I posted this it'll probably be a porn site in the next few minutes.)

I guess this is how a career in government starts. I look at the people going in and they often seem to have the best of intentions at the start. The thing seems to be a meat grinder, though, and most of them end up completely different people, sometimes almost immediately. It always sucks to hear that the starry-eyed freshman Congressman you had such high hopes for was busted snorting cocaine off the dong of a male prostitute or something. If you run for office and the meat grinder gets you, at least try to not get caught! More Ted Kennedy (eew, OK maybe not that much) less Anthony Wiener!

I'm trying to teach myself how to set things on fire with my mind. Hey... is it hot in here?

[sfzombie13 310]

oh, no. i will never become a politician, just the agent of change. i do not mind being the watchdog, the organizer, or something like that. i actually want to help people. i did have a chance to meet some good ones in wv, but i seriously doubt that anything will change. there is just no way to get the majority of people off the couch and into the polls. it's a self perpetuating system of laziness. and it is being fed by industry. even the very nature of politics adds to the problem: the us vs. them attitude where everything is skewed is just way too broken. it all needs to be scrapped and started over again.

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Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes

[quade 3]

sfzombie13

most of you know that i like to complain about the government, well, when they poisoned our water big time, i went nuts!

So, it was "the government" and not Freedom Industries?

Interesting.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[3mpire 0]

Quote

So, it was "the government" and not Freedom Industries?

Post Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission is there much of a difference?

[Boogers 0]

quade

So, it was "the government" and not Freedom Industries?

The government is frequently blamed for not having enough oversight and regulation in place, to control the actions of private industry. Examples abound, like the financial disaster in the mortgage industry.

And then we have the "Goldilocks" debate about how much government is too little, how much is too much, and what's "just right".

[sfzombie13 310]

yes, it was the government. freedom industries is another finger of the coal industry. in wv, coal is king. elsewhere, other industries run the show. going back in history at least a hundred or more years, industry has been paying off politicians here (and everywhere) and we are seeing the results in the total lack of regulation. freedom owned the tank that leaked. the water company hadn't changed out their filters for at least three years when they are only good for one. they kept pumping water into our homes, knowing it was polluted with a chemical with unknown effects. the cdc came up with an arbitrary number of one ppm they said was "safe" after about a week. the government, specifically gov. tomblin, downplayed the whole event when reporting to the feds. every time we asked any questions about it, all they said was "we don't know".

in 2008, the chemical safety board came here to investigate an explosion in a chemical plant that killed two. they made some recommendations. in 2010, they came back after a chemical release killed one. they made more recommendations. that same year, gov manchin sued the epa and corps of engineers saying they discriminated against the coal industry. gov tomblin took over the suit with his time in office in 2012.

a lot of things went wrong and led to that spill. one of which was freedom industries trying to make money by cutting costs and safety. another was west virginia american water not shutting off the water (this could have mitigated the effects). but the main thing was the government not enforcing the already lax standards that were in place. the stormwater permit required a response plan and containment for the chemicals. it was not there, yet the permit was issued anyway. and now, fema won't assist us because tomblin said it wasn't too bad of an emergency. yet not one official will say the water is safe, hell, one official said there are different points of view on what is safe!

but hey, i heard just yesterday that they issued some more recommendations.

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Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes

[quade 3]

So, wait, is more government regulation your solution or fear?

Because let me tell you that businesses will almost NEVER put your safety over profits. Pretty much the only thing keeping businesses in check is government and even at that, businesses attempt to buy their way out of regulation.

The government did NOT put the pollution in your water. A business did that.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[kelpdiver 2]

FlyingRhenquest

I guess this is how a career in government starts.

This is one way - the better one, probably. The other would be a "calling to help us poor fools live a better life."

[sfzombie13 310]

the government just plain fucked up. they were elected to represent us, not corporations. when they had a meeting to discuss regulations, gov tomblin invited representatives from chemical and coal industries, but not one representative from any of the people or environmental groups, not one representative. so while you may have a black/white picture in your head of what is going on here, i can assure you that statement would not have been made if you had a clue. but who am i kidding? judging from most of your posts, this is what you do best. carry on with your misinformed ideas, i will continue to point out the truth on this one.

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Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes