I’m reposting this story in it’s entirety because the situation is getting dire and no one’s helping.
[Top] Gina Reynolds, a University of Michigan Flint student majoring in social work, chants “clean water is a human right,” at cars passing by during a small protest Jan. 13
[Bottom] People bring water from their taps to show city officials at city meeting, Jan. 21
I made a post earlier about my city of Flint, Michigan’s water situation and I wanted to share this because our drinking water is literally making people and pets ill. I don’t want people to ignore this, I NEED people to know what’s going on here.
LeeAnne Walters, 36, of Flint shows water samples from her home to Flint emergency manager Jerry Ambrose on Wednesday after city and state officials spoke during a forum that addressed growing health concerns about the drinking water.
In a city where residents have felt under siege for years — from crime, bad press and an emergency manager some feel forced upon them — the newest threat pours from kitchen spigots and showerheads.
It’s the reason behind mysterious rashes on local children, parents say. Unexplained illnesses. Even sick pets.
Bethany Hazard said it’s the reason for the brown rust circles that began appearing just months ago around her drains and the oily film in her bathwater in her longtime east-side home.
On the west side of Flint, Corodon Maynard said it’s the reason he was bent retching violently over the toilet this month — just hours after chugging two glasses of water at bedtime.
“I was throwing up like bleach water. It came up through my nose burning,” said the 20-year-old.
The water from the city system is so corrosive, according to General Motors officials, that the automaker’s Flint Engine Operations pulled off the city water system, connecting instead into a water system operated by nearby Flint Township.
Adam Mays, an artist and Flint resident, protests the condition of the Flint water system at Fifth and Saginaw in Downtown Flint, Michigan, with a few handfuls of other protestors, Tuesday afternoon, January 13, 2015.
So what’s in Flint’s water and just how dangerous is it?
It depends on who you ask and what tests you’re referring to.
State tests suggest the water is clear of coliform bacteria, which can suggest the presence of other disease-carrying pathogens.
But as a result of treating the water to kill any dangerous microorganisms, the water now carries low levels of Total Trihalomethane, or TTHM, a by-product of the disinfectants. Years of exposure may cause liver, kidney or central nervous system problems and an increased risk of cancer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The city maintains the water — pulled from the Flint River rather than the Detroit water system that had served the city for years —is safe.
Mayor Dayne Walling who was born and raised in Flint, said he drinks it.
The river, long known for the toxins left from Flint’s industrial years, is cleaner than it has been in years, “but that perception persists,” Walling said.
Flint resident Gladyes Williamson-Bunnell asks officials addressing issues with the water quality if they would drink some of the Flint water she held up in a gallon jug during the water meeting on Wednesday evening, Jan. 21, 2015, at the Flint City Hall dome in downtown Flint.
“I’ve taken to calling it ‘poop water,’ ” said Nayyirah Shariff, a community activist for the grassroots group Democracy Defense League.
Many said they are ready to abandon longtime homes.
“What we have is a full-blown crisis,” said GM retiree Claire McClinton who had bundled up against the snow earlier this week to run into El Potrero Mexican restaurant for a late lunch.
But she reconsidered at the last minute and walked out instead, worried about eating at restaurants that rely on city water in their kitchens.
She’s not the only customer who is concerned.
Business overall has been hit “probably 20 to 30%,” said manager Jorge Alcazar.
The restaurant’s lifeblood is in customers seeking a quick, affordable lunch, often with a glass of ice water.
Unwilling to drink the tap water, customers also don’t want to pay $2 or more for a pop or buy a bottled water.
Worse for waitress Ashley Trujillo, customers have argued with staff. One customer left three pennies as a tip after fuming about having to pay for water. Others have left nothing.
“Like we have something to do with it,” Trujillo said.
All of this — the frustration, the slump in El Potrero’s business, the jam-packed meetings with residents toting jugs of brown water and claims they are being poisoned — are the latest blows to a city that has felt swatted around for too long.
“People think all the crime happens in Flint and everyone is poor in Flint, so there’s this stigma. Now we’re fighting against dirty water. Really?” said radiology coder Cindy Marshall, who joined about two dozen protesters earlier this week.
“Are you trying to kill us?” read one sign. “No more poison,” read another.
McClinton echoed Marshall’s sentiments: “We’ve lost confidence in the city.”
A protestor holds a sign out for cars to see during the protest of the conditions of the Flint water system at Fifth and Saginaw in Downtown Flint, Michigan, Tuesday afternoon, January 13, 2015.
Soaring bills.
For years, residents in this city bleeding jobs and soaked in red ink have been facing growing water bills. Some have climbed as high as several hundred dollars a month.
“We have residents choosing between water and groceries and other bills,” said Hazard, whose own bill is about $100 a month for a single person.
“I feel like I’m going under,” said Hazard, who survived cancer twice and who was forced into early retirement and limited income.
The city eventually decided to dump the Detroit system in favor of the Karegnondi Water Authority, which is building a system to supply Genesee County with water pulled from Lake Huron. In the long run, this will mean lower water costs, officials have said.
Under the plan, Flint is temporarily pulling water from the Flint River until the water authority’s system comes online, expected in 2016.
In August and September, however, the city issued three advisories to boil the water after detecting coliform bacteria.
Just before Christmas, residents received notices that state tests indicated higher-than-acceptable levels of trihalomethane, the disinfectant by-product.
Hazard’s cats have been sick. So has she and several neighbors. Even her houseplant began to die.
Maynard threw up. Residents complained of rashes and mysterious illnesses.
“We just want safe water. How hard is that?” Hazard asked.
But assurances come with qualifiers.
The chlorine did its job and cleaned the water of microbial pathogens that can cause disease within days. That means the water is safe for healthy people to drink for a short time, said Michael Prysby, a district engineer in the state’s Office of Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance.
But the trade-off was TTMH — possibly a danger for the very young, the very old, or the very sick if they ingest it long-term, he added.
People with prolonged exposure to TTMH may experience problems with their liver, kidneys or central nervous system and have an increased risk of getting cancer.
“But we’re talking decades,” he said, adding that those who are worried should talk to their doctors.
“We don’t want to make a blanket statement to say water is safe or unsafe. It’s misleading both ways.”
That’s the kind of answer that infuriates Marshall, the protester and mother of a 5-year-old.
“They said it’s safe, but it’s brown water,” said Marshall, also a radiology coder, after the meeting. “Why do we have to drink brown water? No one else has to drink brown water.”
So, it’s been about 9 months and the water has not gotten any better. As a matter of fact, it’s worse now. Here’s a picture taken just a few hours ago.
From the Facebook post associated with this picture “This fire hydrant in Flint, Michigan has been “flushing” for over 5-hours… after 5-hours, that’s not flushing… that is the water quality in Flint. ”
Fire hydrants carry CLEAN, TREATED water. This is our “clean and treated water”. This is the water that we have to drink.
And that’s not all. Water tests have been conducted in the last few days and in every district they checked, the amount of sites with over 15ppb of lead in the water has either gone up or stayed the same. You can see the results here at http://flintwaterstudy.org
Update for September 24th, 2015
Flint mayor Dayne Walling is letting his people be poisoned and is continuing to deny it.
The lead content in Flint children’s blood has spiked in the past year.
In perhaps the most dramatic proof yet of the toxic impact of Flint’s decision to draw municipal water from the Flint River, a new study released today shows that the amount of lead found in the bloodstream of Flint children increased dramatically following the switch from the Detroit water system in 2014.
The results — which are based on blood samples drawn from 1,746 children ages 5 and younger — were even more frightening in Flint neighborhoods where Virginia Tech researchers testing water from nearly 300 homes found the highest levels of lead in the city’s water. Analysis of blood samples from children living in those same high-risk areas showed that the number of kids with elevated levels of lead in their blood jumped from 2.5 percent to 6.3 percent.
The following statement was released by Congressman Dan Kildee earlier today:
“This new study showing elevated blood lead levels among Flint’s children is very troubling. People have the right to have confidence that their drinking water is safe.
Immediate action needs to be taken by the State of Michigan to ensure that relief is provided to people who are concerned about lead levels in their water. Today as part of my ongoing efforts, I talked with the EPA Region 5 Administrator about the State of Michigan providing emergency assistance, including lead-clearing filters and bottled water, until a more permanent solution can be determined.
This new study by the medical community also raises additional doubts about prior water testing done by the DEQ and EPA that stated the water was in compliance with federal law. I have been completely unsatisfied with their answers to my questions regarding their testing methodology, which is why I have called for additional immediate independent and scientific testing to be done.”
I know this seems like a really stupid thing to do and to ask for help on, but the situation that I am in requires help to keep my phone on. I cannot say details in this post, but if you click on the link and view my campaign, the whole story is there.
I cannot go without a phone. As haughty as that sounds, I am a disabled individual in a sticky situation. I need my phone to access calls to my mother, my aunt, friends, doctors, and hospitals. When they shut me off, they cut off the calling feature. I fell behind on payments due to medical expenses and a $400 ambulance bill. I was not able to chalk up the rest of the overdue payment this past month (September), and I told them I would pay the overdue amount on October the first. However, now with the current situation I am facing from now through November, I am unable to make due on that payment and get my bills back on track.
Like I said, I cannot and do not want to give out a lot of information on my blog at this time about my situation. So if you want to help out and see what the fuck is going on and why I need help so desperately, PLEASE click on the link and go read the story for yourself.
I need to raise the full amount (or even HALF of that if I can and I can swing the rest of the amount), and get the bill fully paid off BY OCTOBER 4th, 2015
Thank you for your time, and I hope you have a wonderful day.
-Batty
Currently, there has been $249 of $545 donated. I am SO CLOSE to reaching my goal and being able to get this thing paid.
I only need $320 left to reach my goal.
thank you to everyone who has been willing to help me so far! remember, everything and anything helps/counts!
please read the full description on here AS WELL as the story on the actual page. thank you guys again for sharing/donating/boosting this. i have approximately 3 more days until the bill needs to be paid.
so PLEASE keep spreading this around/reblogging it/donating if you can!
Few months ago I found out that I have really bad asthma (it’s really hard to breathe for me sometimes) and strong allergy. Since then I tried many many meds and they are so expensive. Then I start having problems with my stomach and now I know that I have bad ulcers. That’s not all! I also have really horrible anemia (hemoglobin only 7.2 and it should be min. 12). And all of the meds that I’m taking now I need to pay 100% for and that’s a lot of money that I don’t have.Those are all the meds that I’m taking twice a day.
Yeah a lot.
I’m from Poland, I need to pay for meds even if I have health insurance. Welcome in my beautiful country.
I don’t have a job over a year. I’m looking everywhere, I’m sending my cv everywhere. But I have no luck. Also my dad keep threatening me that he will kick me out. He is an alcoholic. He is more cares about himself and his drinks than me. I live with my parents but they can’t help me. My dad is a carpenter but he don’t really work much because he is already 65. And he doesn’t wants to help me anyway. My mom is not working at all and she has SM. One of the side effects is Trigeminal neuralgia. She has attacks so strong that she is in the hospital very often. She needs to taking so many meds every day and they cost a lot. They spend every money for meds and bills.
I’m so desperate that I sold my albums and few books, I tried to sell clothes too because I don’t have money for my bills (internet and phone) and I need money for meds now.
So if you can donate even small sum I will be really greatful. Even 5$ is enough! It’s really hard moment in my life right now.
Also to all those people who are sending my hateful emails and calling me a liar and a pathetic loser who doesn’t know how to find a job and wants an easy money – I hope you will never be in situation like mine. Because there’s nothing easy here.
I’ve made two posts before that reached 1,5k notes and i get 255$. I still need at least 300$.
So if you can help me a little bit please donate via paypal. My email: megggi27@gmail.com
YOU DON’T NEED TO HAVE PAYPAL ACCOUNT TO USE IT! CLICK HERE.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
EDIT. (SATURDAY 26.09) I STILL NEED 240$. PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN AND THANKS ONCE AGAIN!
This me, and my daughter Sadie. Right now, things aren’t looking too good for us. I’m disabled and can’t work, and her Dad lost his job and is subsequently depressed. He’s not eligible for unemployment, and we can’t get any Assistance until our property manager visits us. She doesn’t even return our calls.
We have only a few cents in our bank account, and no food stamps left. There is no milk for Sadie, and our electric bill isn’t paid.
If you can, please donate to my paypal at sarkatmoon@yahoo.com, OR you can message me for my address and send a money order. I’ve asked for help before, and it didn’t work, and I wouldn’t ask again if I wasn’t so scared and stressed out right now.
So help an Autistic, NDN Mama out. Even if you can’t donate, signal boost. And if you can’t do any of that for me, do it for my little girl.
Thank you.
We still need a little help. There has been one kind, beautiful person, but we still need to pay our power bill, and do laundry.
IF YOU KNOW TUMBLR USER markashtonlove PLEASE GET IN CONTACT WITH THEM IMMEDIATELY.
They have posted a suicide note, here, and are not responding to my messages. If anyone in the Pride fandom knows their details and whereabouts, please contact them and/or 999.
Here is the video proof of my previous post about this officer forcing his way into my moms house (without legal documentation) and arresting my brothers friend without explanation. PLEASE REBLOG TO RAISE AWARENESS!!
Boosting!!!
boost!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tip for future reference for anyone who might be watching this: keep the camera on the police at all times.
Not even safe in our own damn homes.
GET THIS TO 5 MILLION NOTES GET THIS NATIONAL FUCKING ATTENTION
Holy fucking shit omg.
“help me get away from him” “no.”
“Sir.” “What did I do?” “I’m scared.” “Please don’t shoot me.” My heart fucking broke. He was pleading to know what he did wrong and he was scared to death.
Yall see this is exactly why I dont trust a damn cop. Not one.
This makes me so fucking upset I can’t fucking trust any police officer, you have no right to barge into someone’s house and try to arrest them and not explaining why they are arresting him this isn’t fucking right
WHERE THE WOKE WHITE PEOPLE AT WITH 10k FOLLOWERS. BOOST THIS SHIT
Migrant Offshore Aid Station: The charity which runs independent rescue boats to rescue migrants at risk of drowning.
Médecins Sans Frontières: The humanitarian agency has three rescue ships in the Mediterranean, on Tuesday alone they rescued 1,658 people in its biggest day of operations.
Aylan Kurdi Fund: A specific fund named in honour of the drowned boy was set up within 24 hours of the circulation photographs of his body emerging. All proceeds will go to the humanitarian agency Hand in Hand for Syria.
Refugee Council: A donation of £100 could pay for the education and travel for two children for a week.
Unicef: The UN’s children’s charity is providing life-saving supplies such as clean water, medicine and psychological support. It says a donation of £9 could provide an emergency water kit for a family.
Save the Children: It says a donation of £50 could buy two hygiene kits including soap, towels and toothbrushes.
British Red Cross: A donation of £30 could buy 28 mats to help Syria refugees cope with the cold.
Islamic Relief: Three families could be fed for a month on a donation of £210, the charity says.
The crowdfunding website Just Giving has a list of specific appeals for migrants in Calais. It includes one of students trying to raise £750 to buy mobile phones, footballs, camping equipment, dictionaries, storage boxes, sanitary items and waterproof clothing.
Refugee Action is offering to take old cars as donations. It says the last scrap car it took raised £126 for refugees. It is also looking for old mobile phones and even printer cartridges.
A Facebook group Music Against Borders is looking for musical instruments for migrant musicians in Calais.
Teacher Mary Jones is looking for donations of books for her Jungle Bookslibrary named after the Calais migrant camp.
The grass roots campaign Calais Action is urging supporters to donate in any way they can. It has put together a map of drop-off and collection zones.
Red Cross Europe: providing emergency health services at central train stations
World Vision: providing food, water, shelter, education and psychosocial care
Side by Side: A family in Thurrock helping with basic humanitarian aid
Hummingbird Project: Driving regularly to Calais with nurses, legal aid, food kitchens
‘Childhood bags’: fundraising to take books, toys and warm clothes to children
Folkestone United: organising protests, taking donated goods to Calais in September
Avaaz.org: lobbying local councils, providing language support, housing refugees
An Amazon wish list has been set up for people to buy specific items such as shoes and sleeping bags to be delivered to Calais as part of the appeal #KentforCalais and #HelpCalais. The truck leaves on 17 September
GlobalGiving provides emergency assistance and long term support
… and some group is going around sending DMCA notices to those who use the phrase on their artwork.
Is this a troll? I truly don’t understand. These jerks have absolutely no relation to my artwork other than a VERY POPULAR phrase.
I am truly upset.
Here is my artwork:
… after contacting Redbubble as to why my artwork was removed… I received this response:
I searched up TSDC, LLC and found this company’s Facebook page:
My artwork says “Fight Like A Girl”. Not “Fight Like A Girl Club” or “Fight Like A Girl Foundation”.
How is it that they can have power over such a universal phrase? I’m feeling absolutely gutted that such a powerful message is being trademarked… I get it’s for cancer. I truly do. However, to take away such a universal and empowering message to dedicate to one single cause is just … unfair, to say the least.
I don’t know what to do ;_;
UPDATE: they HAVE actually trademarked the phrase “Fight Like A Girl”. End this. Now.
An artist I support on Patreon got a notice like this. It doesn’t mater if the artists will stand to fight, the sites selling their stuff are caving in, effectively giving artists no recourse.
Don’t stand for this. That phrase belongs to girls. Not to them.
Reblog the shit out of this. They can’t be allowed to harass people. This is sketchy as hell.
My mom died of cancer and my relationship with her may have been shit, but I will be DAMNED if they are going to use the disease that killed my mother to bully people and make profits.
PLEASE BOOST. This needs to hit the wider Tumblr art community, and it hasn’t yet.
They’re deleting comments on their FB page.
Keep hittin’ ‘em. Keep hittin’ ‘em hard.
ETA: They’ve blocked me after a measly three comments. Keep at it.
Do they have a Twitter we can jump on too?
Ugh. This is such an abuse of trademark law.
Trademarks are supposed to protect SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS. They can copyright whatever phrase they want, but they only get to call dibs for a specific person. Their trademark is legally meant to protect them from people setting up deceptively similar foundations and cribbing their donations, and nothing more.
I wrote this on their wall:
“Hi. I’m thinking of donating to your foundation, but I had a question. What percentage of donations to your organization are used to illegally “trademark troll” other people who use the phrase “Fight Like A Girl” in non-infringing situations (i.e., they are not representing themselves as a club or foundation)?
Because if lawyers or agents in your employ have the time to comb the web for artists who happen to use the common English phrase “fight like a girl” in their art and sending them cease and desist letters or flood them with spurious DMCA takedown notices, I have to question both your priorities and your ability to put donations to good use.“
