The Flint Michigan water crisis is bringing to the forefront something we rarely think about - the effect of lead on the human body. It almost seems anachronistic these days. Humans have known about the problems of lead poisoning for centuries, way longer than we've understood germs, or the basic structure of the solar system. It's amazing that despite knowing the problems for over a millennium that we done so little to eliminate its dangers from our lives, simply because it is so useful. We used lead in paint to brighten the colors and lead in gasoline to enhance the octane ratings. We finally smartened up and eliminated lead from paint in 1978 and from gasoline in 1985.

That's why it's so maddening that due to cutting corners to save on costs, the people of Flint, Michigan have been poisoned by their elected (and appointed) leaders. It's worse than that, though.
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13 comments (Latest Comment: 02/10/2016 20:24:56 by BobR)

As I was looking over the many different issues of the morning, and recovering from seeing a human animal hybrid last night, I came across an article that helped me see things in a perspective that I wasn't able to do before.
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14 comments (Latest Comment: 02/08/2016 19:15:25 by Will in Chicago)

Home today and lost track of time this morning - sorry about that.

Look, Bei Bei trying to climb a tree!
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12 comments (Latest Comment: 02/05/2016 22:45:20 by TriSec)

It's been a couple days since the Iowa caucuses, and the results will depend upon whom you talk to. On the Republican side, Ted Cruz won, but really - Marco Rubio won because he beat expectations. Trump lost, but gave an uncharacteristic nice concession "speech". On the Democratic side, Clinton won, even though it was pretty much a tie, but actually Sanders won because he too beat expectations. If your head is spinning, it's because of all the spin coming from the campaigns and their supporters.

The results on the Republican side were fairly definitive. There was no real controversy with the results, nor with the process used to create them. The Democratic side, however, is a whole 'nuther story...
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18 comments (Latest Comment: 02/03/2016 21:44:33 by Raine)

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I have written about this theory before. The last time it was related to our healthcare system and the ACA. This theory, be it political or economic, has been on my mind the past few weeks. On this day of the Iowa caucus, the first votes to replace President Obama are taking place. As with every few years, many people are firmly planted in their political camps. On our side of the aisle, we are faced with candidates that are stellar, competent and excellent choices.
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12 comments (Latest Comment: 02/01/2016 19:57:34 by Will in Chicago)