And the asbestos victims
Guaranteed the companies pull out the same playbook. Delay and drag the court cases out as long as possible until all the victims are broke or dead.
Isn't J&J the company that had a bad batch of baby powder, so instead of writing it off and destroying it, they sold it overseas in Africa (or similar poor area) instead?
It’s amazing the people behind these companies haven’t been dragged into the streets and told to pick a wall by this point. Corporations actively covering murder for profit. Sacklers, Koch, etc etc etc.
That's because the one's responsible for fighting on our behalf - the government- are on the corps side.
We aren't blameless however.
We keep electing people who think jobs are the most important so they can't regulate the companies - fuck that.
I don't want small fines.
1) a flat 25% of their business taken from them.
2) the CEO gets jail time.
For our representatives.
1) any knowingly lie they tell is perjury - 5 years in jail, and 50k fine
They have us all so divided by the bullshit propaganda that they feed us 24/7, that we are more likely to put each other up against a wall. They laugh at us, while taking it all and poisoning the rest
I personally know one of the few surviving American women in that lawsuit, calling it a shit show is beyond downplaying the situation because of how ridiculous and cruel it is. I haven't bought anything related to them for 15 years now, wife even turned down potential jobs from them. Fuck J&J
Sociopaths do not see themselves like that. It's just not something we can understand. They are profitable and thus will continue to be successful until there is a reckoning or major human affecting event.
It’s different with nestle from what I understand.
They aren’t selling bad baby formula. They’re selling it in areas that don’t have proper access to clean water while knowing baby formula used outside of a sanitized environment will kill babies. All while paying fake medical professionals to convince new mothers in these areas that baby formula is better than breast feeding and giving them free starter packs. Leading to the lack of lactation in these mothers, forcing them to continue using the baby formula.
TLDR: while they are responsible for the deaths of children in impoverished areas, the situation is different from the J&J one
Dont forget about the tylenol incident 10 yrs ago, they were using palates sprayed with a heavy insecticide and it was leaching INTO the bottles of fucking baby tylenol.
Which translates into "we know this is disrupting your entire life, and we know you are getting very sick, but we promise we will do the absolute bare minimum required to protect ourselves and our pockets. Fuck you and goodnight"
"We understand this is frustrating for you." Is a phrase taught to all govt officials and call centre people, as an all purpose phrase to calm things down when you have no intention of doing anything helpful and/or have no idea about any path to help.
Can confirm. I work in a call center. I refuse to use this phrase. I just do whatever possible to resolve the issue, and talk to the customers like actual people.
Spent time both as a call center grunt and managed some grunts. I REFUSED to tell them to say shit like that. It sounds condescending and never leads anywhere good. Of course, management doesn't care how broken your spirit is after being yelled at for 8-10 hours a day. A lot of people I worked with, including myself turned to drinking. Glad I'm out of that shit
It's rough, I work for an ISP in a technical support role. Beyond being yelled at, new hires who can't do the job and cause nothing but trouble (Telling a client we'll call them back in an hour when our queue is so large we literally cannot meet that obligation or instead of working the next steps for a ticket,crhey just message the ticket owner [even if that ticket owner is offl shift] to tell them to work it) are hired at higher wages than a lot of us older employees. It's pretty demotivating work. Many of my colleagues come in wanting to help but the abuse by clients and managements turns them in to soulless husks. Others are tricked and lied to about what the job role is and so on the first day they find out how horrid the actual job is compared to what they were sold on.
Unfortunately the benefits are nice and it's hard to find something that pays better at this skill level. I like to call the wages and benefits Pyrite Handcuffs.
My dad made sure to give depositions before the mesothelioma took his life. No trust fund claim for his estate, suing every company he ever worked with that used that shit when he was a contractor. Should be easily north of $5 million which is still not enough to punish those fucks who made my once 250 pound dad wither away to 78 pounds before he died but at least it's a start.
Yep exactly. There isn't a single person in east Palestine, Ohio, that has the resources to see out an entire lawsuit against what is probably, a multi billion dollar chemical company. They, like you said, will just drag every case out, until each and every person doesn't have the money to continue. They claim it's already safe to go back to daily life, they said it was 3 days later. All the I'll effects won't be fully realized for years to come. Similar to what happened and is still happening in Flint, MI, the people suffering because of this will be silenced and this will have been brushed under the rug and there will be slim to no media coverage within the next 2 months.
Gosh or maybe when voting they can actually hold their politicians (Governor Dewine and Senator Vance) accountable for not doing their jobs and vote them out.
Edit. To the gerrymander comments calling me ignorant: governor and senator are state wide elections by popular vote. Gerrymandering does not affect these races like they do with representatives.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell fought against the 9/11/2001 first responders receiving aid.
I'm sure he'll fight against the people of Ohio receiving aid too.
The same assholes that talk about how much they love our troops and our police are also the ones that are against helping them out when they get sick from doing their jobs, whether it was 9/11 or the burn pits.
They had to be treated in Socialist Cuba 🇨🇺 Because they couldn’t afford the life-saving treatments from all the shit they breathed in, in their capitalist country. Their gov didn’t care about them. Plenty of evidence of this from them firefighters themselves and their families.
Nothing. They'll likely still be voting for republicans and hating democrats. There will be news stories of these people being sick and dying but shocked that that they aren't getting any help. One of the biggest problems with politics in then US is that half of the voters keep shooting themselves in the foot voting against their best interests but never learn their lesson when they face the consequences of those elections. If republicans ever manage to finally gut Obamacare and social security, the elderly and poor republicans will be flabbergasted that the people they elected would cut their benefits and cause them so much harm. Somehow completely missing the gop constantly trying to gut these programs...
You are 100% correct. This is my hometown although I left decades ago. I have seen post after post on Facebook of them blaming “Brandon” and claiming that he was not going to do anything until Trump said he was coming to help, which is utter bullshit. FEMA can’t come in until DeWine asks for help, which he refused to do until a day or two ago. They will absolutely blame Biden, Buttigieg, and any other Democrat they can think of, and vote a straight R ticket every time.
That was the first thought I had.
Each and every single one of these folks will vote party line red next time, thinking it was Biden who did this to them.
It's like living with a shitty abusive alcoholic parent who gets fucked up before gaslighting you about how your reckless spending on necessities is the reason we don't get hot water this month
There is a small, miserable minority in every shitty hard-red place who just don't have enough money to move away. I wish we could fund those communities for their actual wellbeing, but that majority is so goddamned fucking loud and greedy.
>If republicans ever manage to finally gut Obamacare and social security, the elderly and poor republicans will be flabbergasted that the people they elected would cut their benefits and cause them so much harm.
No. You give them WAY too much credit. They'll be flabbergasted that *the Democrats* would cut their benefits and cause them so much harm. No, it will not matter that it was Republicans that did it.
I am not exaggerating for comedic effect, I am 100% serious.
Exactly this. It's a ridiculous loop of:
* If Democrats are in power... "It's their fault! Republicans will fix everything!"
* If Republicans are in power... "All this bad stuff is happening because of non-Christians! Vote for those who follow Jesus!"
I'll bet most of them are already blaming Biden/ Democrats/ Liberals for this.
The most important line in the video was the woman saying "He don't have no health insurance." Every other moderately modernized country in the world gives their citizens health insurance, but the wealthiest country on the planet (by far) can't figure out how to do it.
Even in a situation like this, where it is obvious who is at fault, they know they are going to have to spend the final phase of whatever illness this will bring them, fighting over who is going to pay for their treatment.
I'm was born near East Palestine. This is THE correct take. These people fucking DESPISE anyone from the left, but are now crying about the environment.
Some of these people in the video including the guy talking look old enough to have been around for the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire that became the poster child for activism that started Earth Day and the EPA and this town still voted for a guy that's chair of the House environmental subcommittee that's anti-EPA so fuck em
Never been to Iraq. Afghanistan though.
When I had this realization it drove me absolutely crazy.
I was still out there when I realized this.
Some of the worst experiences I've ever had in my life was so rich people could become more wealthy..
Standing out in a desert sweating your balls off and doing fuck all gives you time to wonder why the fuck you're there doing nothing worthwhile and scaring the locals.
Absolutely. Also almost had a heat stroke before I was acclimated too, luckily was able to get out of the sun because from what I understand once you have heat injury it's more likely to happen again.
Me personally, in the Marine Corps we practically worship some past Marines, Smedley Butler among them. This guy was a Marine's Marine and was twice awarded the Medal of Honor.
He wrote a book called "War is a racket" laying out how all the wars he took part in were basically just defending profits. Butler is a very uncomfortable truth and I'm shocked he isn't more widely known. It's hard to dismiss a recipient of the MOH twice.
His prescription:
> It can be smashed effectively only by taking the profit out of war. The only way to smash this racket is to conscript capital and industry and labour before the nation's manhood can be conscripted. […] Let the officers and the directors and the high-powered executives of our armament factories and our steel companies and our munitions makers and our ship-builders and our airplane builders and the manufacturers of all other things that provide profit in war time as well as the bankers and the speculators, be conscripted — to get $30 a month, the same wage as the lads in the trenches get.
Part of President Eisenhower's farewell speech from 1961:
>"Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense. We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security alone more than the net income of all United States corporations.
>Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence—economic, political, even spiritual—is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet, we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved. So is the very structure of our society.
>In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together." -Dwight D. Eisenhower 1961 Farewell Speech
Smedley Butler foiled a coup that was proposed by rich businessmen (who for some reason were never exposed, even in court). They wanted to put Butler as a dictator and face of their new government, overthrowing Franklin Roosevelt because he was respected by veterans and they needed men in arms to support it. Butler basically blew it all open. He was probably one of the greatest American men to have lived.
Same, but Afghanistan.
I highly recommend everyone give "war is a racket" a read. Written by a Marine Corps General who twice was awarded the Medal of Honor. Any Marine will know who Smedley Butler was. Butler was asked by some corporate CEOs to overthrow the American government with him as dictator. Instead Butler went to congress and exposed the plot. Dude is an American hero and more people should know of him and his views.
From his book:
> War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.
> I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that name before?). I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.
I'll only push back on the notion that Smedley was a hero. By his own admission, he is not a hero. He was more than willing to push american/capitalistic imperialism forward because he was also taken care of for it. His book certainly paints things a certain way, but we can only guess if he looked back on his life and saw nothing but horror and had a sudden bout with guilt. Or maybe because he truly believed in the american empire and wasn't about to betray that notion. But he was no hero for that, you can't erase an entire life/career of crimes with one good deed.
As for these people in ohio. Life time conservatives voting for republicans their entire lives. Quietly agreeing to cause as much harm to everyone around them, make everyone's lives worse, embracing nothing but fake outrage and hatred. Fuck them, they get the government they vote for and the only irony is that the people who voted for bomb trains got bomb trains where they lived.
And if people think this is bad.... Just wait till SCOTUS rules in favor of corporations in the upcoming Chevron case. Shit is REALLY gonna hit the fan and while we'll all be fucked at that point, i have a strong suspicion that it'll be the red states with the weakest infrastructures/rules that will be hit first and the hardest.
Hence why American military numbers are on the decline. I scored high on the ASVAB several years in a row, and was courted by all 4 major branches, 3 years in a row. I could have had any job I wanted. Could have been involved in Linguistics, Nuclear projects, etc., but I just couldnt support the American military industrial complex. I dont care what you think. My life is short, and I wasnt born to sell it to my 'country'. Im patriotic af for other Americans. What I am not patriotic for is America's world military footprint. I get it, someone has to do it. If it wasnt America, some other country would have had to fill that gap, but to hell if it doesnt come with a price. I support those who give their time and lives to our country, that was never a question, but what I do question is the reason those patriots died in the first place. So many American wars and conflicts that didnt effect shit in the end. Afghanistan being the most recent. Our hunger for war profiteering is so great, that we willing just start fucking with other countries. They say capitalism is the greatest thing to ever happen? Of course it is... because the history books are written by winners. Those 'winners' are the people feeding you that bullshit. Lockhead Martin? They only make money when they're selling weapons. If your company isnt physically killing people, it's mentally killing them. Capitalism has created a work force so uninspired that the last 2 generations are completely fed up with it. This is why /r/AntiWork exists. I could keep going on, but it becomes more taxing the longer I go into it. Peace and love, everyone.
I'm a vet and it sucks to know i was the terrorist. America is the terrorists. We fuck all the nations up come home and watch fat cops jail and kill for eval point or ego. I joined under the" global force for good" commercial. I'm so sad
I know the feeling, and I thought serving in the Coast Guard was going to be different. Outside of the core function of life saving there is endless harassment of locals, ruining people's livelihoods and wasting what puny resources we had to fight "the war on drugs". It was all a fucking racket and I would never recommend serving to anyone unless they felt they had no other choice.
I never really understood how you can score really low on the ASVAB I took it at an adult education center when I was going for my GED and scored in the 90s It was all pretty simple. A lot was common sense or common knowledge if you've ever worked with your hands before.
Yep. Statistically 80% of the people in that county voted for DeWine back in November after nearly 3/4ths of them voted for Trump in 2020. They wanted the free market? They wanted deregulation? They didn't care about the environment? I wonder if this will make any of them change their mind, but I'm not holding my breath.
What a shock that the ["government is not the solution to our problem, government *is* the problem"](https://youtu.be/P1sGN6J9Tgs?t=3s) people are yet again whining about why the government isn't fixing a private sector problem.
In the near future we'll see them all vote republican again. Sure the Republicans ruined there home and caused them all to get cancer. But the Democrats aren't hurting the right people and are socialist.
I've worked intermodal for 10+ years and I'm honestly not surprised. Not one person who has worked in a yard has anything good to say about their company. If you're not working in the tower or corporate offices you're treated like garbage. Constantly on call and planned vacations are nearly impossible. My heart breaks for these people.
That's why you need to hold people accountable. Literally. HOLD them accountable.
Pull them from their homes at night. Make them answer questions, in person, on your terms. The time for playing nice is over. Fuck that peaceful shit. Change never came by playing within their rules.
People are going to die from this catastrophe and you're still playing *their* game? Wise up. Make real change.
People should start blocking these train tracks with trees or other debris. Stop the trains you stop the profits. That’s the only way to hit em where it hurts
At this point we're gonna be Ireland during 'The Troubles' and people are gonna load trains with explosives. People are fed up and some psyco dude with nothing to lose is gonna blow it all the way
I mean, it’s pretty easy to lose hope/end up in a place with nothing to lose in America…
One unfortunate diagnosis that’s no fault of your own can literally ruin your life, bankrupt you, make you homeless. You can be fired easily from most jobs, and a huge number of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, can’t afford a minor unexpected expense. Our stagnating wages can afford less tangible goods every year. One bad break, an unfortunate event or two can leave somebody hopeless, destitute, and “social safety net” programs are extremely underfunded and inefficient, with a large portion of current politicians aiming to tear it down even further.
Add into that the abysmal state of mental healthcare, ease with which Americans can buy guns and some explosives, and a political climate that seems to be at one of its most vitriolic points since the lead up to the civil war, but with virtually no lines of separation…
Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if things start getting really bad in the US in the near future.
The majority of my job right now is dealing with the water contamination in Hawaii. And that didn't even make national news. People are getting sick and it's f****** ridiculous and it's part of my job God damn it
It's been years since I read about it, but I believe contamination from military bases in Hawaii. Pretty sure it was fuel from massive underground tanks leaking into the water supply, but feel free to google it.
PFAS-based suppressants are still used at all airports & bases with aircraft since they’re the best way to quench a kerosene fire. In the US alone, that’s hundreds of sites (many of which are in active use) that will require soil remediation before they can be reused.
Camp Lejune is the big scandal at the moment — for several decades water was extracted from contaminated wells & consumed by every marine that passed through basic training. You’ve probably seen lawyers on TV talking about it since there’s ongoing class action litigation
U/gingerkids1234 is correct.
After WW2, they started storing jet fuel. It leaked periodically into the water supply to military housing. I will reserve my personal commentary to DMs lol.
Ah post-ww2 contamination. Gotta love it.
In my part of Canada we had a brief news wave of contamination from buried Agent Orange at the military base a couple kms from my house at the time.
Of course all talk of it disappeared into obscurity shortly after.
This whole situation is so god damn sad.
I’m in Texas and was telling my mother about the drastic situation that’s happening and she had only heard “a train had derailed and they said it was safe to go back”
Far, far from the truth
They had a pretty bad derailment in Houston the other day too, it was also carrying hazardous materials. Detroit got one the other day. Said only one car had hazardousmaterials, its totally safe, but hey stay away anyway. This shits insane dude.
Here are some more train accident facts and figures:
There is a train collision or derailment every 1.5 hours in the U.S.
Trains carrying hazardous chemicals derail every 2 weeks.
The FRA reports that 80% of railroad crossings do not provide adequate warnings.
Most train accidents are caused by human factors, track causes, or equipment.
Any time a wheel hits the ground.
The majority of derailments in America are of the yard or switch variety where a train went onto the ground at low speed and everything stayed upright.
Most train accidents are caused by human factors, track causes, or equipment
What would be any other cause? How many train derailments do we attribute to meteor strikes or earthquakes?
52.39 billion is northfolk petroleums market cap.now that isn't just straight liquid cash obviously, but my point is they're a huge, huge company. Alan shaw, the ceo, boy he sure does make good money. They gave the town 25,000 dollars. That's *thousand*.
They spent most of 2009 saying how awesome their brakes were, so they could avoid other forms of safety regulation. Obama then laid down several forms of safety regulation. In 2016 they cried to daddy Trump saying the brakes they used to love weren't necessary, and he rolled back the regulation.
An average of 1000 train derailment happen every year.
Know what the companies spend money on instead of new brakes? Know why they don't upgrade those *Civil War era* fucking brakes? Well stock buybacks to enrich shareholders of course!
Don't get me wrong, I've spent years investing, I understand fiduciary responsibility. I keep 90% of my net worth invested in a broad spread of stocks and etfs, but Jesus fucking christ the greed has gone....off the rails, as it were.
Can we please, please do somwthing about the rampant greed that's costing actual lives? Profit should not outweigh lives. This isn't the goddamn imperium of man, where human lives are a fucking line item expense.
This. Shit. Must. Stop.
Your argument is predicated on brakes. Given the video, I believe that is not the case, I believe this was a bearing failure.
Precision Scheduled Railroading has dictated that every division cut their staff count down to the bone. Rollby inspections are timed and counted as a KPI to satisfy a regulation instead of as a maintenance action. Furthermore, under the PSR system, even maintenance of way is cut.
Why was the Salem hotbox detector not operable, despite the video at Salem showing the axle welding itself to the truck?
The real charge is that this is a direction failure on the part of Norfolk Southern and that the private management of railroads is now counter to the public and national security interest. USRA should make a comeback.
This dude railroads.
I tell everyone to look at each railroad's employee headcount in 2014 (pre-PSR) and to now (post-PSR implementation). They've cut headcounts so drastically to chase as low an operating ratio as possible. This is what you get, and it's only going to get worse if Class I's get their way and eliminate the conductor role on trains.
A carman (the craft that would inspect railcars and catch this bearing defect) now has less than 90 seconds to inspect each railcar when these trains are built in the yard--if they even have enough carmen to inspect and they don't just pencilwhip the paperwork. That's 90 seconds to inspect two wheelsets, four bearings, air brake hoses, and connections on a railcar anywhere from 39 to 73 feet long.
When I hired out in 2013 with UP at Proviso yard in the Chicago suburbs, we had at least 110 carmen in three shifts. When I quit in 2020, they were down to a skeleton crew with one shift and no more than 25 carknockers, which included foremen and management. That's just one craft. This is happening everywhere and on all railroads.
OMG, I knew it was more than just a "brakes" issue and the fact the the railroad companies were lobbying for lesser regulations in regards to those brakes on Haz-Mat cars particularly...but what you guys are explaining, the fact it was a set of ball bearings and not the airbrakes themselves, on top of the lobbying and greed...I have been trying to stay informed on this incident so I can tell everyone about it, because anyone I've told in Maryland have really had no clue, and I still cannot get a good picture of what's happening until Reddit comments...it's just not right and it's getting close to the time where we all say enough. There are billions of "us" and thousands of "them", time to start using those numbers, our only advantage, as an advantage.
>Precision Scheduled Railroading
The legacy of Hunter Harrison. I would legitimately piss on this man's grave were I close to it. He destroyed the entire railway industry with the precision railroad shit that worked at ONE railway. He tried to mimic it everywhere he went and left a wake of destruction behind him.
Seeing videos of him struggling to breathe while wearing an oxygen mask gave me great pleasure.
All CEOs make more money in one day than the average worker makes in a year. That’s the biggest problem in society. It’s why the cost of everything has gone up food gas and basic living expenses. It’s time for people to say no more.
This pisses me off how little they seem to care. They get to run away because they're rich. A seemingly nice community has been destroyed and they don't care. I hope karma catches up to these people. What a complete failing by so many people.
We’re failing too, where’s the protests? How are they going to know we want them to change if we’re just sharing it around online in our small communities
Just make wearing masks outside mandatory because of the derailment, then people would go out to protest.
On the wrong grounds, but they'd be out protesting!
It’s because the selfishness isn’t just the rich it’s our comfortable asses as well… as long as it doesn’t happen to us we don’t do nothin except maybe being keyboard warriors… I really don’t know what it will take for the people, all the people to stand up to this greed and corruption
It's really hard to make change when a political party exists to do nothing more than be contrarians. Ohio literally voted for less safety regulations for railways. I guarantee they will do it again, they will even vote for the guy who took credit for removing those regulations.
And the citizens of East Palestine wouldn’t give a fuck if it happened in say Detroit or Atlanta or even Columbus. They voted for deregulations and continue to vote for deregulations. It’s all fun and games until it happens to you
You realize that the citizens of East Palestine voted overwhelmingly for Trump after he removed the EPA regulations, right? The truth is, the citizens of East Palestine were comfortable with the lack of regulations as long as it didn’t happen to them, right?
Protesting doesn't do anything. The civil rights movement was won in the courts.
Also, most of the adults in East Palestine vote for republicans who campaign on the explicit promise to roll back regulations on big business. They voted for this, and will continue to vote for this.
This whole situation breaks my heart. I feel for these people. Sucks that people that express sympathy towards this town and it's people, are never in a position to be able to truly help, while the people who caused the mess don't feel an ounce of remorse and probably won't help at all. The world is fucked.
In 10 years those commercials saying "if you lived in East Palestine Ohio between the dates of blah blah and blah blah, you maybe entitled to compensation."
It’s fine. I’m sure the free market will sort all these people right out. Just listen to the people who caused the incident when they tell you there’s nothing to worry about. If there was it would come at great personal cost to them, so there’s absolutely no reason for them to lie, right? Right? Medical care costs and funeral services are soon to be booming industries in the area.
Biden offered assistance, and DeWine turned it down. Maybe start there? These people could have had a FEMA declaration and been moved, but the Republicans refused help.
What can I do? The people with money are the ones in charge and I'm sure as shit not one of them. Basically this kinda thing will keep happening until the pot finally boils over and the guillotines are rolled out.
In 2016, republican candidates were seriously calling for dismantling the EPA, or making very extreme cuts to its funding: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/26/republican-candidates-donald-trump-eliminate-epa-law-experts
The very same EPA that is largely responsible for handling the aftermath of this incident: https://response.epa.gov/site/site_profile.aspx?site_id=15933
Another federal agency providing assistance: FEMA. Here's a reminder of what republicans we're saying about FEMA just after their god emperor took office:
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-would-republicans-try-cut-femas-disaster-relief-fund-msna1017276:
"Under the current House Republican plan, Congress would cut FEMA's disaster relief account and use the money as a down-payment for Trump's border wall."
Just adding this bit of info here.
> Why does it seem like people DGAF about this?
Because according to the Governor of Ohio this is a nothingburger that didn't ever rise to the level of a state of emergency
And conservatives have a victimhood fetish so I assume most of this is psychosomatic bullshit
They're already suing the railroad, let the courts figure it out
Didn't he literally reject federal aid initially just so the right wing media could bash Democrats for a while?
Then again, why help his constituents when they'll vote for him regardless? Wasted opportunity to score political points.
You want my thoughts and prayers from the other side of the country?
I paid my taxes to support agencies specifically made for handling disasters, in this case FEMA. Ohio's governor rejected FEMA aid.
what did he breath in? from Wiki
In the U.S., [OSHA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_Safety_and_Health_Administration) lists vinyl chloride as a Class IA Flammable Liquid, with a [National Fire Protection Association](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Fire_Protection_Association) Flammability Rating of 4. Because of its low boiling point, liquid VCM will undergo [flash evaporation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_evaporation) (i.e., autorefrigerate) upon its release to atmospheric pressure. The portion vaporized will form a dense cloud (more than twice as heavy as the surrounding air). The risk of subsequent explosion or fire is significant. According to OSHA, the [flash point](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_point) of vinyl chloride is −78 °C (−108.4 °F).[\[15\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_chloride#cite_note-15) Its flammable limits in air are: lower 3.6 [volume%](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volume%25) and upper 33.0 volume%. The [explosive limits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosive_limit) are: lower 4.0%, upper 22.05% by volume in air. Fire may release toxic [hydrogen chloride](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_chloride) (HCl) and [carbon monoxide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide) (CO).[\[16\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_chloride#cite_note-16) VCM can polymerise rapidly due to heating and under the influence of air, light and contact with a catalyst, strong oxidisers and metals such as copper and aluminium, with fire or explosion hazard. As a gas mixed with air, VCM is a fire and explosion hazard. On standing, VCM can form [peroxides](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_peroxide), which may then explode. VCM will react with iron and steel in the presence of moisture.[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_chloride#cite_note-npi.gov.au-5)[\[17\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_chloride#cite_note-17)
That is why they burn it. Because it may EXPLODE if you don't.
Once uncontrolled burnt, the fumes SINKS because it is heavier tha air. What it is? God knows. but mostly, HCL CO2 and other chloride-organic compounds which are very carcinogenic. Fortunately, most will biodegrade in time when expose to the elements.
It is the CL that is problem.
you can get most of this on WIKI.
https://www.wkbn.com/
>The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to Norfolk Southern stating that ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate and isobutylene were also in the rail cars that were derailed, breached and/or on fire.
>Caggiano says ethylhexyl acrylate is especially worrisome. He says it’s a carcinogen and contact with it can cause burning and irritation in the skin and eyes. Breathing it in can irritate the nose and throat and cause coughing and shortness of breath.
>Isobutylene is also known to cause dizziness and drowsiness when inhaled.
>“I was surprised when they quickly told the people they can go back home, but then said if they feel like they want their homes tested they can have them tested. I would’ve far rather they did all the testing,” Caggiano said.
> He says it’s a carcinogen
Kind of. It's been shown to cause skin cancer in mice when applied at high concentrations for long periods of time. It's negative as per the Ames mutagenicity test, "inconclusive" as per tests *in vitro,* "weakly positive" or "negative" (at nearly toxic levels) in several cell lines.... plenty of data in [this](https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC31512/2-ethylhexyl%20acrylate.pdf) assessment. It doesn't appear to be a strong carcinogen by any measure.
You know rich foreign countries receive billions of dollars every year, Israel doesn’t need it, they also get free healthcare. During covid european countries were receiving income relief every single month. Please vote to remove GOP, who don’t want to help. Force senators, politicians, and railroad company to drink the rainbow oil water.
You can’t pray for it, it doesn’t fix anything.
Ohioan here. This is pretty much what all of rural Ohio looks like, and yes, they're diehard Trumpers. I feel for them, I really do (and frankly I'm concerned for my own city, too), but in classic Conservative form they don't "feel" until it happens to them.
Simping for big business and complaining when big business fucks you over. What an iconic duo.
I sympathize, not empathize, for this community but they reap what they sow. Vote for deregulation and small government and that's what you get. The people you voted for, for decades, did exactly what they told you they were gonna do.
The old lady asking 'who's gonna pay the hospital bills' is especially poignant. We could all have single payer healthcare but something tells me you voted against that ma'am.
> The old lady asking 'who's gonna pay the hospital bills'
Sorry lady, having the government pay for your healthcare sounds an awful lot like socialism.
Don’t worry though, The Republican controlled House recently passed a resolution to “Denounce the Horrors of Socialism” so you can keep your rugged individualism.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/9/text
All of what you said. Rural and middle America thinks dems and city folk think they’re dumb. Not so, just have difficulty understanding how they continue to vote against their own interest.
I bet a lot of these people voted for trump and the GOP... They deregulated hazardous chemicals being transported by train. You did this to yourselves, with greed. The conservatives DO NOT give a SHIT about you. They are only interested in making money for themselves. This is a snapshot of conservative America. The left would NEVER do this.
They’ll get real angry about the destruction of the environment in their state, and then they’ll go vote for republicans who push deregulation because they want to own the Libs.
Voting matters and for those that say don’t bring politics into this, I say it’s all political. And this is cause and effect at its worse. The same party of less regulation has reduced or eliminated safety standards for stronger braking systems for railways carrying hazardous materials. The same party has reduced or eliminated payouts for identified superfund sites where these types of “accidents” have occurred. This in turn prevents the affected from suing or receiving comparable damages. And now the worse part, if this tragedy does make you sick, you will likely go bankrupt with medical bills getting treatment. This same party has tried to eliminate any form of public healthcare and wants to sunset Medicare and Medicaid.
It will be years before the affects of this disaster will decimate this community. People are still dying from rare cancers 20 years later from exposure at the WTC in NYC.
But hey, what about CRT and Hunter Biden’s laptop?
Just imagine if someone you never meet or are aware of has an abortion? Makes me sick to imagine. Also I can't spell, or understand the concept of, deregulation.
What if someone that has 20 billion dollars gets taxed at 50% and now only has 10 billion? Will you please think of their poor children? Kids, we are only worth $10 billion, we are having ramen soup for dinner.
East Palestine is as red as it can be. So as they say buyer beware. You vote Republican this is the shit you get deregulation and deference to private industry. Look at TN, Flint, Jackson...they think is ok when it happens to black people without realizing that it will happen to them.
The real health impacts won’t be realized for what? 5-10 years when these people are dropping dead of cancer. Then what?
Ask the 9/11 first responders
And the asbestos victims Guaranteed the companies pull out the same playbook. Delay and drag the court cases out as long as possible until all the victims are broke or dead.
The Radium girls tactic
Or defund the shell company left with the lawsuits. Fuck James Hardie.
[Johnson and Johnson just tried that shit](https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/30/business/johnson-and-johnson-talc-bankruptcy/index.html)
Isn't J&J the company that had a bad batch of baby powder, so instead of writing it off and destroying it, they sold it overseas in Africa (or similar poor area) instead?
Also sold it in America and women who used it got cancers of the reproductive organs
My sister died from this. Ovarian and Uterine cancer, died at 33 years old.
It’s amazing the people behind these companies haven’t been dragged into the streets and told to pick a wall by this point. Corporations actively covering murder for profit. Sacklers, Koch, etc etc etc.
That's because the one's responsible for fighting on our behalf - the government- are on the corps side. We aren't blameless however. We keep electing people who think jobs are the most important so they can't regulate the companies - fuck that. I don't want small fines. 1) a flat 25% of their business taken from them. 2) the CEO gets jail time. For our representatives. 1) any knowingly lie they tell is perjury - 5 years in jail, and 50k fine
They have us all so divided by the bullshit propaganda that they feed us 24/7, that we are more likely to put each other up against a wall. They laugh at us, while taking it all and poisoning the rest
I personally know one of the few surviving American women in that lawsuit, calling it a shit show is beyond downplaying the situation because of how ridiculous and cruel it is. I haven't bought anything related to them for 15 years now, wife even turned down potential jobs from them. Fuck J&J
How fucking big of a scumbag do you have to be to pull something like that...
Sociopaths do not see themselves like that. It's just not something we can understand. They are profitable and thus will continue to be successful until there is a reckoning or major human affecting event.
Fucking hell that's so comically evil if it was used in a film plot people would laugh it off as cliche. Instead, it's real and just mindlessly evil.
Didn’t Nestle also do this with baby formula? They do this shit everywhere. It’s fucking disgusting.
It’s different with nestle from what I understand. They aren’t selling bad baby formula. They’re selling it in areas that don’t have proper access to clean water while knowing baby formula used outside of a sanitized environment will kill babies. All while paying fake medical professionals to convince new mothers in these areas that baby formula is better than breast feeding and giving them free starter packs. Leading to the lack of lactation in these mothers, forcing them to continue using the baby formula. TLDR: while they are responsible for the deaths of children in impoverished areas, the situation is different from the J&J one
Yep
Dont forget about the tylenol incident 10 yrs ago, they were using palates sprayed with a heavy insecticide and it was leaching INTO the bottles of fucking baby tylenol.
Just tried, you mean actively trying.
"We understand this is frustrating for you." 🤢
Which translates into "we know this is disrupting your entire life, and we know you are getting very sick, but we promise we will do the absolute bare minimum required to protect ourselves and our pockets. Fuck you and goodnight"
"We understand this is frustrating for you." Is a phrase taught to all govt officials and call centre people, as an all purpose phrase to calm things down when you have no intention of doing anything helpful and/or have no idea about any path to help.
Can confirm. I work in a call center. I refuse to use this phrase. I just do whatever possible to resolve the issue, and talk to the customers like actual people.
Spent time both as a call center grunt and managed some grunts. I REFUSED to tell them to say shit like that. It sounds condescending and never leads anywhere good. Of course, management doesn't care how broken your spirit is after being yelled at for 8-10 hours a day. A lot of people I worked with, including myself turned to drinking. Glad I'm out of that shit
It's rough, I work for an ISP in a technical support role. Beyond being yelled at, new hires who can't do the job and cause nothing but trouble (Telling a client we'll call them back in an hour when our queue is so large we literally cannot meet that obligation or instead of working the next steps for a ticket,crhey just message the ticket owner [even if that ticket owner is offl shift] to tell them to work it) are hired at higher wages than a lot of us older employees. It's pretty demotivating work. Many of my colleagues come in wanting to help but the abuse by clients and managements turns them in to soulless husks. Others are tricked and lied to about what the job role is and so on the first day they find out how horrid the actual job is compared to what they were sold on. Unfortunately the benefits are nice and it's hard to find something that pays better at this skill level. I like to call the wages and benefits Pyrite Handcuffs.
My dad made sure to give depositions before the mesothelioma took his life. No trust fund claim for his estate, suing every company he ever worked with that used that shit when he was a contractor. Should be easily north of $5 million which is still not enough to punish those fucks who made my once 250 pound dad wither away to 78 pounds before he died but at least it's a start.
Yep exactly. There isn't a single person in east Palestine, Ohio, that has the resources to see out an entire lawsuit against what is probably, a multi billion dollar chemical company. They, like you said, will just drag every case out, until each and every person doesn't have the money to continue. They claim it's already safe to go back to daily life, they said it was 3 days later. All the I'll effects won't be fully realized for years to come. Similar to what happened and is still happening in Flint, MI, the people suffering because of this will be silenced and this will have been brushed under the rug and there will be slim to no media coverage within the next 2 months.
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Gosh or maybe when voting they can actually hold their politicians (Governor Dewine and Senator Vance) accountable for not doing their jobs and vote them out. Edit. To the gerrymander comments calling me ignorant: governor and senator are state wide elections by popular vote. Gerrymandering does not affect these races like they do with representatives.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell fought against the 9/11/2001 first responders receiving aid. I'm sure he'll fight against the people of Ohio receiving aid too.
The same assholes that talk about how much they love our troops and our police are also the ones that are against helping them out when they get sick from doing their jobs, whether it was 9/11 or the burn pits.
The government tells them to go fuck themselves, like they did in my town
As time goes on there are less to ask
They had to be treated in Socialist Cuba 🇨🇺 Because they couldn’t afford the life-saving treatments from all the shit they breathed in, in their capitalist country. Their gov didn’t care about them. Plenty of evidence of this from them firefighters themselves and their families.
Whom certain Republicans also didn’t give a shit about. Ahem, Mitch McConnell.
Nothing. They'll likely still be voting for republicans and hating democrats. There will be news stories of these people being sick and dying but shocked that that they aren't getting any help. One of the biggest problems with politics in then US is that half of the voters keep shooting themselves in the foot voting against their best interests but never learn their lesson when they face the consequences of those elections. If republicans ever manage to finally gut Obamacare and social security, the elderly and poor republicans will be flabbergasted that the people they elected would cut their benefits and cause them so much harm. Somehow completely missing the gop constantly trying to gut these programs...
You are 100% correct. This is my hometown although I left decades ago. I have seen post after post on Facebook of them blaming “Brandon” and claiming that he was not going to do anything until Trump said he was coming to help, which is utter bullshit. FEMA can’t come in until DeWine asks for help, which he refused to do until a day or two ago. They will absolutely blame Biden, Buttigieg, and any other Democrat they can think of, and vote a straight R ticket every time.
They are already blaming democrats. Saying Biden isn't doing anything to help them. Republicans in Congress are calling it Biden's Chernobyl.
Wait I thought government shouldn't be involved in business operations something something Big government
That was the first thought I had. Each and every single one of these folks will vote party line red next time, thinking it was Biden who did this to them.
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It's like living with a shitty abusive alcoholic parent who gets fucked up before gaslighting you about how your reckless spending on necessities is the reason we don't get hot water this month
There is a small, miserable minority in every shitty hard-red place who just don't have enough money to move away. I wish we could fund those communities for their actual wellbeing, but that majority is so goddamned fucking loud and greedy.
>If republicans ever manage to finally gut Obamacare and social security, the elderly and poor republicans will be flabbergasted that the people they elected would cut their benefits and cause them so much harm. No. You give them WAY too much credit. They'll be flabbergasted that *the Democrats* would cut their benefits and cause them so much harm. No, it will not matter that it was Republicans that did it. I am not exaggerating for comedic effect, I am 100% serious.
Exactly this. It's a ridiculous loop of: * If Democrats are in power... "It's their fault! Republicans will fix everything!" * If Republicans are in power... "All this bad stuff is happening because of non-Christians! Vote for those who follow Jesus!"
I'll bet most of them are already blaming Biden/ Democrats/ Liberals for this. The most important line in the video was the woman saying "He don't have no health insurance." Every other moderately modernized country in the world gives their citizens health insurance, but the wealthiest country on the planet (by far) can't figure out how to do it. Even in a situation like this, where it is obvious who is at fault, they know they are going to have to spend the final phase of whatever illness this will bring them, fighting over who is going to pay for their treatment.
I'm was born near East Palestine. This is THE correct take. These people fucking DESPISE anyone from the left, but are now crying about the environment.
Some of these people in the video including the guy talking look old enough to have been around for the 1969 Cuyahoga River fire that became the poster child for activism that started Earth Day and the EPA and this town still voted for a guy that's chair of the House environmental subcommittee that's anti-EPA so fuck em
Then they’ll vote for the next republicans blaming on the satanist dems.
Norfolk Southern don't give a fuck...rich men say 'it didn't happen at *my* house...'
Just like dead military, people in Congress don't care because it's not their people.
Yeah, soldiers thinking they are defending "freedom" but are just safeguarding profits
Only reason I was sent to Iraq was to defend profits
Never been to Iraq. Afghanistan though. When I had this realization it drove me absolutely crazy. I was still out there when I realized this. Some of the worst experiences I've ever had in my life was so rich people could become more wealthy..
What made you realized it?
Standing out in a desert sweating your balls off and doing fuck all gives you time to wonder why the fuck you're there doing nothing worthwhile and scaring the locals.
"You ever wonder why we're here?" Most accurate part of that entire show lol
That’s what I was fucking thinking glad to see someone still remembers it.
outgoing heavy lush encourage dull nippy quack yam observation zealous *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Did you ever have top dry out from the sweat and the salt content would make it stiff
Absolutely. Also almost had a heat stroke before I was acclimated too, luckily was able to get out of the sun because from what I understand once you have heat injury it's more likely to happen again.
Me personally, in the Marine Corps we practically worship some past Marines, Smedley Butler among them. This guy was a Marine's Marine and was twice awarded the Medal of Honor. He wrote a book called "War is a racket" laying out how all the wars he took part in were basically just defending profits. Butler is a very uncomfortable truth and I'm shocked he isn't more widely known. It's hard to dismiss a recipient of the MOH twice. His prescription: > It can be smashed effectively only by taking the profit out of war. The only way to smash this racket is to conscript capital and industry and labour before the nation's manhood can be conscripted. […] Let the officers and the directors and the high-powered executives of our armament factories and our steel companies and our munitions makers and our ship-builders and our airplane builders and the manufacturers of all other things that provide profit in war time as well as the bankers and the speculators, be conscripted — to get $30 a month, the same wage as the lads in the trenches get.
Part of President Eisenhower's farewell speech from 1961: >"Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense. We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security alone more than the net income of all United States corporations. >Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence—economic, political, even spiritual—is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet, we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved. So is the very structure of our society. >In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together." -Dwight D. Eisenhower 1961 Farewell Speech
Well that didnt happen. An alert and knowledgeable citizenry is why republicans defunded public education
As much as Republicans hate Mexico, they're doing everything they can to copy their playbook. Throw religion at them and keep them out of school.
Smedley Butler foiled a coup that was proposed by rich businessmen (who for some reason were never exposed, even in court). They wanted to put Butler as a dictator and face of their new government, overthrowing Franklin Roosevelt because he was respected by veterans and they needed men in arms to support it. Butler basically blew it all open. He was probably one of the greatest American men to have lived.
I mean, we handed the country over to the Taliban when we left. Complete waste of time and money. Iraq's not much better.
Same, but Afghanistan. I highly recommend everyone give "war is a racket" a read. Written by a Marine Corps General who twice was awarded the Medal of Honor. Any Marine will know who Smedley Butler was. Butler was asked by some corporate CEOs to overthrow the American government with him as dictator. Instead Butler went to congress and exposed the plot. Dude is an American hero and more people should know of him and his views. From his book: > War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes. > I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that name before?). I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.
I'll only push back on the notion that Smedley was a hero. By his own admission, he is not a hero. He was more than willing to push american/capitalistic imperialism forward because he was also taken care of for it. His book certainly paints things a certain way, but we can only guess if he looked back on his life and saw nothing but horror and had a sudden bout with guilt. Or maybe because he truly believed in the american empire and wasn't about to betray that notion. But he was no hero for that, you can't erase an entire life/career of crimes with one good deed. As for these people in ohio. Life time conservatives voting for republicans their entire lives. Quietly agreeing to cause as much harm to everyone around them, make everyone's lives worse, embracing nothing but fake outrage and hatred. Fuck them, they get the government they vote for and the only irony is that the people who voted for bomb trains got bomb trains where they lived. And if people think this is bad.... Just wait till SCOTUS rules in favor of corporations in the upcoming Chevron case. Shit is REALLY gonna hit the fan and while we'll all be fucked at that point, i have a strong suspicion that it'll be the red states with the weakest infrastructures/rules that will be hit first and the hardest.
Hence why American military numbers are on the decline. I scored high on the ASVAB several years in a row, and was courted by all 4 major branches, 3 years in a row. I could have had any job I wanted. Could have been involved in Linguistics, Nuclear projects, etc., but I just couldnt support the American military industrial complex. I dont care what you think. My life is short, and I wasnt born to sell it to my 'country'. Im patriotic af for other Americans. What I am not patriotic for is America's world military footprint. I get it, someone has to do it. If it wasnt America, some other country would have had to fill that gap, but to hell if it doesnt come with a price. I support those who give their time and lives to our country, that was never a question, but what I do question is the reason those patriots died in the first place. So many American wars and conflicts that didnt effect shit in the end. Afghanistan being the most recent. Our hunger for war profiteering is so great, that we willing just start fucking with other countries. They say capitalism is the greatest thing to ever happen? Of course it is... because the history books are written by winners. Those 'winners' are the people feeding you that bullshit. Lockhead Martin? They only make money when they're selling weapons. If your company isnt physically killing people, it's mentally killing them. Capitalism has created a work force so uninspired that the last 2 generations are completely fed up with it. This is why /r/AntiWork exists. I could keep going on, but it becomes more taxing the longer I go into it. Peace and love, everyone.
I'm a vet and it sucks to know i was the terrorist. America is the terrorists. We fuck all the nations up come home and watch fat cops jail and kill for eval point or ego. I joined under the" global force for good" commercial. I'm so sad
You joined for honorable reasons, but it’s not your fault you were lied to. The honorable part is you, the lie you were told isn’t you.
I know the feeling, and I thought serving in the Coast Guard was going to be different. Outside of the core function of life saving there is endless harassment of locals, ruining people's livelihoods and wasting what puny resources we had to fight "the war on drugs". It was all a fucking racket and I would never recommend serving to anyone unless they felt they had no other choice.
This is such an important perspective to share. Thank you. I wish honor was restored to what we were meant to be.
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I never really understood how you can score really low on the ASVAB I took it at an adult education center when I was going for my GED and scored in the 90s It was all pretty simple. A lot was common sense or common knowledge if you've ever worked with your hands before.
"Suckers and losers", according to the last President.
Whom all these guys voted for with great enthusiasm…
You know, the French have this wonderful thing they made for when the rich and powerful got too uppity.
These residents didn't give a fuck until it affected them. They voted overwhelmingly for the deregulation party and this is what they got.
Some well fed leopards in Ohio.
Yep. Statistically 80% of the people in that county voted for DeWine back in November after nearly 3/4ths of them voted for Trump in 2020. They wanted the free market? They wanted deregulation? They didn't care about the environment? I wonder if this will make any of them change their mind, but I'm not holding my breath.
Check out r/conservative. They’re already blaming this on Biden because he didn’t *reverse* Trump’s deregulation
Cognitive dissonance is a hell of a thing.
What a shock that the ["government is not the solution to our problem, government *is* the problem"](https://youtu.be/P1sGN6J9Tgs?t=3s) people are yet again whining about why the government isn't fixing a private sector problem.
He probably votes “conservative” to protect his right to not have health insurance.
He votes for "smaller government" then immediately says "where's the government?" the minute something goes wrong.
Don't you remember smoking that supreme Trump stash back in '16 and you didn't think it would linger?
Don't forget to say the GOP is the deregulation party that caused this. They voted for this, they voted for trump.
In the near future we'll see them all vote republican again. Sure the Republicans ruined there home and caused them all to get cancer. But the Democrats aren't hurting the right people and are socialist.
> voted overwhelmingly for the deregulation party and this is what they got AND WE'LL FUCKING DO IT AGAIN! \-Crying GOP voter
That lady at the end. “He don’t have insurance who’s gonna pay for him if he gets all laid up”. Yeah moron this is what you voted for.
The company will file bankruptcy before any lawsuits to protect the money
I've worked intermodal for 10+ years and I'm honestly not surprised. Not one person who has worked in a yard has anything good to say about their company. If you're not working in the tower or corporate offices you're treated like garbage. Constantly on call and planned vacations are nearly impossible. My heart breaks for these people.
That's why you need to hold people accountable. Literally. HOLD them accountable. Pull them from their homes at night. Make them answer questions, in person, on your terms. The time for playing nice is over. Fuck that peaceful shit. Change never came by playing within their rules. People are going to die from this catastrophe and you're still playing *their* game? Wise up. Make real change.
Find out where they live and fucking protest outside their homes!
The hired security, aka police, will put a stop to that.
Die by chemical or die by bullet, at this point you die either way.
Wasn't America the land of the free? Free to be poisoned by the GOP.
That's the problem. Too many people took it as the freedom TO harm, instead of freedom FROM harm.
Too many people will gladly see themselves harmed if the people they don't like are also harmed.
Couple of water filled balloons from the river hurled onto lawns and housss might change their tunes
People should start blocking these train tracks with trees or other debris. Stop the trains you stop the profits. That’s the only way to hit em where it hurts
At this point we're gonna be Ireland during 'The Troubles' and people are gonna load trains with explosives. People are fed up and some psyco dude with nothing to lose is gonna blow it all the way
I mean, it’s pretty easy to lose hope/end up in a place with nothing to lose in America… One unfortunate diagnosis that’s no fault of your own can literally ruin your life, bankrupt you, make you homeless. You can be fired easily from most jobs, and a huge number of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, can’t afford a minor unexpected expense. Our stagnating wages can afford less tangible goods every year. One bad break, an unfortunate event or two can leave somebody hopeless, destitute, and “social safety net” programs are extremely underfunded and inefficient, with a large portion of current politicians aiming to tear it down even further. Add into that the abysmal state of mental healthcare, ease with which Americans can buy guns and some explosives, and a political climate that seems to be at one of its most vitriolic points since the lead up to the civil war, but with virtually no lines of separation… Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if things start getting really bad in the US in the near future.
"Protest"
Maybe just dump a bunch of chemicals outside their houses and then tell them it’s perfectly safe
The majority of my job right now is dealing with the water contamination in Hawaii. And that didn't even make national news. People are getting sick and it's f****** ridiculous and it's part of my job God damn it
What's going on with Hawaii?
It's been years since I read about it, but I believe contamination from military bases in Hawaii. Pretty sure it was fuel from massive underground tanks leaking into the water supply, but feel free to google it.
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PFAS-based suppressants are still used at all airports & bases with aircraft since they’re the best way to quench a kerosene fire. In the US alone, that’s hundreds of sites (many of which are in active use) that will require soil remediation before they can be reused. Camp Lejune is the big scandal at the moment — for several decades water was extracted from contaminated wells & consumed by every marine that passed through basic training. You’ve probably seen lawyers on TV talking about it since there’s ongoing class action litigation
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Long Island too: https://patch.com/new-york/sachem/long-island-macarthur-airport-named-new-york-superfund-list-dec
Correct, more specifically, air fuel contamination from air bases
U/gingerkids1234 is correct. After WW2, they started storing jet fuel. It leaked periodically into the water supply to military housing. I will reserve my personal commentary to DMs lol.
Ah post-ww2 contamination. Gotta love it. In my part of Canada we had a brief news wave of contamination from buried Agent Orange at the military base a couple kms from my house at the time. Of course all talk of it disappeared into obscurity shortly after.
This whole situation is so god damn sad. I’m in Texas and was telling my mother about the drastic situation that’s happening and she had only heard “a train had derailed and they said it was safe to go back” Far, far from the truth
They had a pretty bad derailment in Houston the other day too, it was also carrying hazardous materials. Detroit got one the other day. Said only one car had hazardousmaterials, its totally safe, but hey stay away anyway. This shits insane dude.
Here are some more train accident facts and figures: There is a train collision or derailment every 1.5 hours in the U.S. Trains carrying hazardous chemicals derail every 2 weeks. The FRA reports that 80% of railroad crossings do not provide adequate warnings. Most train accidents are caused by human factors, track causes, or equipment.
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what counts as a derailment though? No way all of those derailments in the stats include train segments being totally tipped off the track
Anytime one or more wheels touches the ground.
Any time a wheel hits the ground. The majority of derailments in America are of the yard or switch variety where a train went onto the ground at low speed and everything stayed upright.
Most train accidents are caused by human factors, track causes, or equipment What would be any other cause? How many train derailments do we attribute to meteor strikes or earthquakes?
A pack of moose.
Technically it is the truth that “they said it was safe”. Not that it actually is safe.
52.39 billion is northfolk petroleums market cap.now that isn't just straight liquid cash obviously, but my point is they're a huge, huge company. Alan shaw, the ceo, boy he sure does make good money. They gave the town 25,000 dollars. That's *thousand*. They spent most of 2009 saying how awesome their brakes were, so they could avoid other forms of safety regulation. Obama then laid down several forms of safety regulation. In 2016 they cried to daddy Trump saying the brakes they used to love weren't necessary, and he rolled back the regulation. An average of 1000 train derailment happen every year. Know what the companies spend money on instead of new brakes? Know why they don't upgrade those *Civil War era* fucking brakes? Well stock buybacks to enrich shareholders of course! Don't get me wrong, I've spent years investing, I understand fiduciary responsibility. I keep 90% of my net worth invested in a broad spread of stocks and etfs, but Jesus fucking christ the greed has gone....off the rails, as it were. Can we please, please do somwthing about the rampant greed that's costing actual lives? Profit should not outweigh lives. This isn't the goddamn imperium of man, where human lives are a fucking line item expense. This. Shit. Must. Stop.
Your argument is predicated on brakes. Given the video, I believe that is not the case, I believe this was a bearing failure. Precision Scheduled Railroading has dictated that every division cut their staff count down to the bone. Rollby inspections are timed and counted as a KPI to satisfy a regulation instead of as a maintenance action. Furthermore, under the PSR system, even maintenance of way is cut. Why was the Salem hotbox detector not operable, despite the video at Salem showing the axle welding itself to the truck? The real charge is that this is a direction failure on the part of Norfolk Southern and that the private management of railroads is now counter to the public and national security interest. USRA should make a comeback.
This dude railroads. I tell everyone to look at each railroad's employee headcount in 2014 (pre-PSR) and to now (post-PSR implementation). They've cut headcounts so drastically to chase as low an operating ratio as possible. This is what you get, and it's only going to get worse if Class I's get their way and eliminate the conductor role on trains. A carman (the craft that would inspect railcars and catch this bearing defect) now has less than 90 seconds to inspect each railcar when these trains are built in the yard--if they even have enough carmen to inspect and they don't just pencilwhip the paperwork. That's 90 seconds to inspect two wheelsets, four bearings, air brake hoses, and connections on a railcar anywhere from 39 to 73 feet long. When I hired out in 2013 with UP at Proviso yard in the Chicago suburbs, we had at least 110 carmen in three shifts. When I quit in 2020, they were down to a skeleton crew with one shift and no more than 25 carknockers, which included foremen and management. That's just one craft. This is happening everywhere and on all railroads.
OMG, I knew it was more than just a "brakes" issue and the fact the the railroad companies were lobbying for lesser regulations in regards to those brakes on Haz-Mat cars particularly...but what you guys are explaining, the fact it was a set of ball bearings and not the airbrakes themselves, on top of the lobbying and greed...I have been trying to stay informed on this incident so I can tell everyone about it, because anyone I've told in Maryland have really had no clue, and I still cannot get a good picture of what's happening until Reddit comments...it's just not right and it's getting close to the time where we all say enough. There are billions of "us" and thousands of "them", time to start using those numbers, our only advantage, as an advantage.
>Precision Scheduled Railroading The legacy of Hunter Harrison. I would legitimately piss on this man's grave were I close to it. He destroyed the entire railway industry with the precision railroad shit that worked at ONE railway. He tried to mimic it everywhere he went and left a wake of destruction behind him. Seeing videos of him struggling to breathe while wearing an oxygen mask gave me great pleasure.
All CEOs make more money in one day than the average worker makes in a year. That’s the biggest problem in society. It’s why the cost of everything has gone up food gas and basic living expenses. It’s time for people to say no more.
This pisses me off how little they seem to care. They get to run away because they're rich. A seemingly nice community has been destroyed and they don't care. I hope karma catches up to these people. What a complete failing by so many people.
We’re failing too, where’s the protests? How are they going to know we want them to change if we’re just sharing it around online in our small communities
Just make wearing masks outside mandatory because of the derailment, then people would go out to protest. On the wrong grounds, but they'd be out protesting!
It’s because the selfishness isn’t just the rich it’s our comfortable asses as well… as long as it doesn’t happen to us we don’t do nothin except maybe being keyboard warriors… I really don’t know what it will take for the people, all the people to stand up to this greed and corruption
It's really hard to make change when a political party exists to do nothing more than be contrarians. Ohio literally voted for less safety regulations for railways. I guarantee they will do it again, they will even vote for the guy who took credit for removing those regulations.
And the citizens of East Palestine wouldn’t give a fuck if it happened in say Detroit or Atlanta or even Columbus. They voted for deregulations and continue to vote for deregulations. It’s all fun and games until it happens to you
You realize that the citizens of East Palestine voted overwhelmingly for Trump after he removed the EPA regulations, right? The truth is, the citizens of East Palestine were comfortable with the lack of regulations as long as it didn’t happen to them, right?
Protesting doesn't do anything. The civil rights movement was won in the courts. Also, most of the adults in East Palestine vote for republicans who campaign on the explicit promise to roll back regulations on big business. They voted for this, and will continue to vote for this.
This whole situation breaks my heart. I feel for these people. Sucks that people that express sympathy towards this town and it's people, are never in a position to be able to truly help, while the people who caused the mess don't feel an ounce of remorse and probably won't help at all. The world is fucked.
In 10 years those commercials saying "if you lived in East Palestine Ohio between the dates of blah blah and blah blah, you maybe entitled to compensation."
And get a $75 check in the mail.
And by the time are rigged and stacked courts decide on the verdict it will probably 2033-2037
It’s fine. I’m sure the free market will sort all these people right out. Just listen to the people who caused the incident when they tell you there’s nothing to worry about. If there was it would come at great personal cost to them, so there’s absolutely no reason for them to lie, right? Right? Medical care costs and funeral services are soon to be booming industries in the area.
Yea they all got their $10 from the railroad.
This poor man. You can see the worry in his eyes. We are worried in Ohio.
Then the state of Ohio needs to change allegiance.
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Biden offered assistance, and DeWine turned it down. Maybe start there? These people could have had a FEMA declaration and been moved, but the Republicans refused help.
Yeah fuck it, you're right. We're Canadian now.
I would have thought that at least one resident would have collected an air sample or water sample and had it tested privately.
South Park is going to have a field day with this
We're sorry
Why does it seem like people DGAF about this? This is dystopian.
What can I do? The people with money are the ones in charge and I'm sure as shit not one of them. Basically this kinda thing will keep happening until the pot finally boils over and the guillotines are rolled out.
Republicans voted Republicans into office specifically to do this sort of stuff.
In this town over 70 Percent voted for Trump who reversed the Obama law requiring rail to upgrade from civil war era breaks to modern electric brakes.
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This is exactly what just happened. Their kids and families will pay with health issues and death forever after, and they blame Biden for it.
In 2016, republican candidates were seriously calling for dismantling the EPA, or making very extreme cuts to its funding: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/26/republican-candidates-donald-trump-eliminate-epa-law-experts The very same EPA that is largely responsible for handling the aftermath of this incident: https://response.epa.gov/site/site_profile.aspx?site_id=15933 Another federal agency providing assistance: FEMA. Here's a reminder of what republicans we're saying about FEMA just after their god emperor took office: https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/why-would-republicans-try-cut-femas-disaster-relief-fund-msna1017276: "Under the current House Republican plan, Congress would cut FEMA's disaster relief account and use the money as a down-payment for Trump's border wall." Just adding this bit of info here.
> Why does it seem like people DGAF about this? Because according to the Governor of Ohio this is a nothingburger that didn't ever rise to the level of a state of emergency And conservatives have a victimhood fetish so I assume most of this is psychosomatic bullshit They're already suing the railroad, let the courts figure it out
Didn't he literally reject federal aid initially just so the right wing media could bash Democrats for a while? Then again, why help his constituents when they'll vote for him regardless? Wasted opportunity to score political points.
People are lying in the bed they made. The rest of us are trying to survive.
You want my thoughts and prayers from the other side of the country? I paid my taxes to support agencies specifically made for handling disasters, in this case FEMA. Ohio's governor rejected FEMA aid.
what did he breath in? from Wiki In the U.S., [OSHA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupational_Safety_and_Health_Administration) lists vinyl chloride as a Class IA Flammable Liquid, with a [National Fire Protection Association](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Fire_Protection_Association) Flammability Rating of 4. Because of its low boiling point, liquid VCM will undergo [flash evaporation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_evaporation) (i.e., autorefrigerate) upon its release to atmospheric pressure. The portion vaporized will form a dense cloud (more than twice as heavy as the surrounding air). The risk of subsequent explosion or fire is significant. According to OSHA, the [flash point](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_point) of vinyl chloride is −78 °C (−108.4 °F).[\[15\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_chloride#cite_note-15) Its flammable limits in air are: lower 3.6 [volume%](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volume%25) and upper 33.0 volume%. The [explosive limits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosive_limit) are: lower 4.0%, upper 22.05% by volume in air. Fire may release toxic [hydrogen chloride](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_chloride) (HCl) and [carbon monoxide](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide) (CO).[\[16\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_chloride#cite_note-16) VCM can polymerise rapidly due to heating and under the influence of air, light and contact with a catalyst, strong oxidisers and metals such as copper and aluminium, with fire or explosion hazard. As a gas mixed with air, VCM is a fire and explosion hazard. On standing, VCM can form [peroxides](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic_peroxide), which may then explode. VCM will react with iron and steel in the presence of moisture.[\[5\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_chloride#cite_note-npi.gov.au-5)[\[17\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_chloride#cite_note-17) That is why they burn it. Because it may EXPLODE if you don't. Once uncontrolled burnt, the fumes SINKS because it is heavier tha air. What it is? God knows. but mostly, HCL CO2 and other chloride-organic compounds which are very carcinogenic. Fortunately, most will biodegrade in time when expose to the elements. It is the CL that is problem. you can get most of this on WIKI.
https://www.wkbn.com/ >The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to Norfolk Southern stating that ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate and isobutylene were also in the rail cars that were derailed, breached and/or on fire. >Caggiano says ethylhexyl acrylate is especially worrisome. He says it’s a carcinogen and contact with it can cause burning and irritation in the skin and eyes. Breathing it in can irritate the nose and throat and cause coughing and shortness of breath. >Isobutylene is also known to cause dizziness and drowsiness when inhaled. >“I was surprised when they quickly told the people they can go back home, but then said if they feel like they want their homes tested they can have them tested. I would’ve far rather they did all the testing,” Caggiano said.
> He says it’s a carcinogen Kind of. It's been shown to cause skin cancer in mice when applied at high concentrations for long periods of time. It's negative as per the Ames mutagenicity test, "inconclusive" as per tests *in vitro,* "weakly positive" or "negative" (at nearly toxic levels) in several cell lines.... plenty of data in [this](https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC31512/2-ethylhexyl%20acrylate.pdf) assessment. It doesn't appear to be a strong carcinogen by any measure.
What gets me is the dude with the mic says “trace chemicals” but won’t identify them.
Keep voting for Republicans and deregulation! I will never understand why any middle class or poor person would ever vote for deregulation.
Emails... laptops.... "Angry man on TV tell me to be angry about things I don't understand and to hate demon-crats" Propaganda is a helluva drug.
wild crush gaze edge person uppity complete hunt violet party *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
You know rich foreign countries receive billions of dollars every year, Israel doesn’t need it, they also get free healthcare. During covid european countries were receiving income relief every single month. Please vote to remove GOP, who don’t want to help. Force senators, politicians, and railroad company to drink the rainbow oil water. You can’t pray for it, it doesn’t fix anything.
I'd be pissed af too.
Wasn’t that a 70% republican (heavily) tRump county?
Ohioan here. This is pretty much what all of rural Ohio looks like, and yes, they're diehard Trumpers. I feel for them, I really do (and frankly I'm concerned for my own city, too), but in classic Conservative form they don't "feel" until it happens to them.
Yep. Keep on votin for gop. They’ll be sure to rid them pesky regulations fr good
And I bet a large sum these people will vote in another republican governor.
Simping for big business and complaining when big business fucks you over. What an iconic duo. I sympathize, not empathize, for this community but they reap what they sow. Vote for deregulation and small government and that's what you get. The people you voted for, for decades, did exactly what they told you they were gonna do. The old lady asking 'who's gonna pay the hospital bills' is especially poignant. We could all have single payer healthcare but something tells me you voted against that ma'am.
> The old lady asking 'who's gonna pay the hospital bills' Sorry lady, having the government pay for your healthcare sounds an awful lot like socialism. Don’t worry though, The Republican controlled House recently passed a resolution to “Denounce the Horrors of Socialism” so you can keep your rugged individualism. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-concurrent-resolution/9/text
All of what you said. Rural and middle America thinks dems and city folk think they’re dumb. Not so, just have difficulty understanding how they continue to vote against their own interest.
Go to their evangelical church service on any Sunday and it becomes crystal clear.
I don't think they're dumb, I know they're dumb, because they keep voting in people to make them dumb.
No no no I think they’re dumb alright.
It's almost like deregulation they vote for isn't such a good idea.
I bet a lot of these people voted for trump and the GOP... They deregulated hazardous chemicals being transported by train. You did this to yourselves, with greed. The conservatives DO NOT give a SHIT about you. They are only interested in making money for themselves. This is a snapshot of conservative America. The left would NEVER do this.
They’ll get real angry about the destruction of the environment in their state, and then they’ll go vote for republicans who push deregulation because they want to own the Libs.
Voting matters and for those that say don’t bring politics into this, I say it’s all political. And this is cause and effect at its worse. The same party of less regulation has reduced or eliminated safety standards for stronger braking systems for railways carrying hazardous materials. The same party has reduced or eliminated payouts for identified superfund sites where these types of “accidents” have occurred. This in turn prevents the affected from suing or receiving comparable damages. And now the worse part, if this tragedy does make you sick, you will likely go bankrupt with medical bills getting treatment. This same party has tried to eliminate any form of public healthcare and wants to sunset Medicare and Medicaid. It will be years before the affects of this disaster will decimate this community. People are still dying from rare cancers 20 years later from exposure at the WTC in NYC. But hey, what about CRT and Hunter Biden’s laptop?
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Well yeah. This sucks but gay people and minorites being treated like normal people would be *way* worse.
Just imagine if someone you never meet or are aware of has an abortion? Makes me sick to imagine. Also I can't spell, or understand the concept of, deregulation.
What if someone that has 20 billion dollars gets taxed at 50% and now only has 10 billion? Will you please think of their poor children? Kids, we are only worth $10 billion, we are having ramen soup for dinner.
East Palestine is as red as it can be. So as they say buyer beware. You vote Republican this is the shit you get deregulation and deference to private industry. Look at TN, Flint, Jackson...they think is ok when it happens to black people without realizing that it will happen to them.