We need to think about if we want to get into the business of answering structural questions.
A current post sees a user go so far as to ask this sub for our "expert opinion". We are not structural engineers. And if by chance you are a structural engineer you would know enough to say that a single photo or drawing isn't sufficient to provide even a horrible opinion. Who amongst us can cite FEMA standards for shelters and saferooms without Googling them? I have saved you the trouble and you can find all 214 pages here.
Speaking of the Googles, look up stories of where people have died in their shelters. Here is a great example out of Arkansas from the Quad State system. The only thing left standing was the "safe room" she occupied but the door of the room wasn't coded for a safe room, amongst other shortcomings. The door and frame were analyzed and the report can be read here.
Or a woman who drowned in her shelter. Who among us would have asked for a drainage analysis before stating their shelter looked safe?
Most of us are not even experts in tornados in this sub, let alone experts on the standards of what "safe" is for shelters. You will say "I am only providing my opinion on the structure, not a finding of fact" but people are going to make decisions on your far from an expert opinion. Think about the person who died in Arkansas. Who here would have looked at the before photos and said "that's unsafe?".
We need to point them towards the proper resources.
​

With tornado season upon us, I'm sure this sub will see an influx of newbies wondering the how's, whys, and what's of tornados. I figured I should write out a short guide to help answer some of the frequently asked questions. Before starting however, I would like to point out that I am not an expert, just an amateur tornado lover compiling everything I've learned throughout the years.
WATCHES AND WARNINGS

• Tornado watch-The conditions are ripe for tornados, but none have appeared yet.
• Tornado Warning-A tornado has been spotted; either on radar or by chasers.
• Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS)-Can either be a watch or warning. Self explanatory, there's a significant risk of a severe tornado.
• Tornado Emergency-A powerful tornado is headed towards a populated area.

It can be pretty easy mixing all these warnings up at first. You could always refer to the taco metaphor for help, I suggest googling it if you're curious; or maybe someone in the comments can post the photo.
DAMAGE SCALE
Tornados are ranked using something called the Enhanced Fujita scale from 0-5. With 0 being the weakest and 5 being the strongest. Tornados are primarily ranked based off of the damage they cause. After a tornado hits, the damage is assessed in person and then a rank is officially declared. Tornados are not ranked when they are on the ground, and anyone assigning them a rank at that time is merely guessing. You can learn more about the Enhanced Fujita scale here.
TORNADO SAFETY
So you're under a tornado warning, now what? The best thing to do is to seek shelter underground, like in a basement or storm shelter. If those aren't an option, then go to the lowest level of your house in the interior most room; this usually ends up being a bathroom or closet. You wanna put as many walls between you and outside as possible, and stay away from windows if you can. Wearing a helmet and shoes is also a good idea, if there's time to do so.
But what if you're in a mobile home or out on the road? That's when you need to seek shelter in the nearest sturdy building; any restaurant, bank, store, or gas station will do. If you're not around any buildings, then head into a low lying area such as a ditch. Do NOT seek shelter under an overpass I cannot stress this ENOUGH. Overpasses will NOT protect you during a tornado, you'll be putting yourself into more danger this way! See Here and the 1999 Moore tornado.
Please, do not try to get 15 minutes of fame by attempting to film the twister. I promise there will be plenty of footage to view afterwards, your life is more important. Seek proper shelter first, worry about that stuff later. Don't end up like this woman
TORNADO MYTHS
Unfortunately, some people believe false things about tornados. Natural disasters are probably one of the last things you want to be misguided about. I already mentioned the overpass one, but here's a few others:

• Tornados don't hit big cities- Yes they absolutely do. Skyscrapers do not protect cities from tornados. See Salt Lake city and Nashville
  
• Tornados can't cross over water-Tornados cross over water all the time. You are not safe just because you're on a lake. What do you think waterspouts are?
  
• Size matters-Not here. Although big tornados can be scary looking, that doesn't always mean they're powerful. Never judge a tornado based on its size, plenty of "wimpy" looking ones have caused massive amounts of damage and fatalities.
  
• Green sky means tornado-No, the color of the sky is not a good indicator for a tornado. Although severe storms that could drop a twister usually cause green skies, that doesn't mean they will. Plenty of tornados have formed from non green skies.
  

That's just a few myths I could think of, if you want to read up on a few more here's a good list by the national weather service.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
The odds of getting hit by a tornado are low, and the odds of being killed by one is even lower. In fact, the majority of tornados, about 80%, are quite weak and tend to be ranked EF0/1. Less than 1% of tornados are ranked E4/5. As of writing this, the last known EF5 tornado occurred in 2013, over 10 years ago! Source
Even if you live in tornado alley, that's not a guarantee you'll be hit by a twister. Only about 20% of all supercell thunderstorms actually produce a tornado source. You are far more likely to wind up in a car accident than to have your house swept away in a tornado.
WEATHER AWARE
The most important thing you can be is weather aware! This will help keep you and your family safe throughout every severe storm. Check the forecast daily during tornado season. Make sure you have a plan in place when bad weather hits. Make sure you get emergency alerts on your phone, or go out and buy a weather radio. Even frequently checking this sub or watching youtubers like Ryan Hall is helpful. Take every tornado warning seriously. Even if the odds of getting hit are low, there's still a chance, better safe than sorry. Listen to what meteorologists tell you and don't brush off severe weather outlooks. You can still easily get hurt in a thunderstorm, even if there's no tornado.
GENERAL STUFF
Here's some other stuff worth mentioning that I don't know where else to put.

• Plenty of states have lots of tornadic activity that most people don't expect. Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, etc. Tornados can happen anywhere in America. If you're moving to a new state you might want to look into how active tornados are around there. Don't get caught with your guard down!
  
• Some towns don't have tornado sirens. So please don't solely rely on those to warn you. Also, lots of tornado sirens go off even when there isn't a tornado. They tend to sound the alarm when any severe storm rolls through. If you have sirens and hear them, check the weather forecast.
  
• Tornados can happen any time of year. Although they are most common during tornado season, which is March through May, there has been an occasional December outbreak. Don't ignore tornado watches or predications just because they're out of season.
  

OUTRO
If you made it this far, thank you. I know I didn't cover everything, but I figured this was a good starting point. If you want to know more about tornados or tornado safety, then I recommend taking to google or some books. The national weather service and NOAA are great resources for this. Sorry if the formatting is wonky, this is my first time making a big post like this. Have a safe tornado season everyone!

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/november-14-2023
This evening, by a vote of 336 to 95, the House of Representatives passed a bill to fund the government. Pushed by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), the measure funds the government at current spending levels. Funding for different parts of the government will run out on two separate dates: January 19 and February 2. The measure does not include any funding for military aid to Israel or Ukraine.
Democrats provided most of the votes for the measure, which passed under a special rule that required two thirds of the House to agree to it. The Democrats provided 209 yes votes; the Republicans, 127. Two Democrats and 93 Republicans opposed it.
The Democratic House leadership, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (D-MA), and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA) and Vice Chair Ted Lieu (D-CA), released a statement saying:
“From the very beginning of the Congress, House Democrats have made clear that we will always put people over politics and try to find common ground with our Republican colleagues wherever possible, while pushing back against Republican extremism whenever necessary.
“That is the framework through which we will evaluate all issues before us this Congress. We have consistently made clear that a government shutdown would hurt the economy, our national security and everyday Americans during a very fragile time and must be avoided. To that end, House Democrats have repeatedly articulated that any continuing resolution must be set at the fiscal year 2023 spending level, be devoid of harmful cuts and free of extreme right-wing policy riders. The continuing resolution before the House today meets [those] criteria and we will support it.”
Just two Democrats opposed the measure. Ninety-three Republicans did.
Passing a continuing resolution at the same spending levels as fiscal year 2023 with the help of Democrats while much of his own party opposes it puts Johnson in the exact same place Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was in when eight extremists voted to oust him from the speakership: relying on Democratic votes to fund the government.
Far-right extremists were angry at Johnson and took an official stand against it. Now they are talking about retaliating against the speaker by holding up any further legislation in procedural votes so it cannot move forward, grinding the House to another halt. Johnson might have been trying to address that anger when he today endorsed former president Donald Trump for president in 2024, a move his predecessor McCarthy refused to make.
But McCarthy supporters looked at Johnson getting a pass for the same deal that cost McCarthy his leadership and cried foul. Republican tempers ran hot on Capitol Hill today as Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN) accused former speaker McCarthy of elbowing him in the kidney as McCarthy passed him in the House basement while Burchett was talking to NPR reporter Claudia Grisales. Clearly taken aback, Grisales tweeted: “Have NEVER seen this on Capitol Hill: While talking to [Burchett] after the GOP conference meeting, former [Speaker McCarthy] walked by with his detail and McCarthy shoved Burchett. Burchett lunged towards me. I thought it was a joke, it was not. And a chase ensued….” Burchett was one of the eight Republican representatives who voted to oust McCarthy from the speakership.
In a House hearing of the Oversight Committee on the U.S. General Services Administration, chair James Comer (R-KY) angrily told Representative Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), who was wearing a blue suit, that he looked like a Smurf (a small, blue cartoon character). Comer angrily defended himself from Moskowitz’s observation that Comer had lent the same amount of money to his own brother that President Biden lent to his brother James.
Comer has insisted without any proof that Biden’s loan was illicit; Moskowitz has repeatedly asked Comer to testify about his own loan. "That is bullsh*t," Comer said of Moskowitz’s observation that the American people would like to know more about his own loan. Moskowitz answered: "Your word means nothing, Mr. Chairman.... I think the American people have lots of questions, Mr. Chairman, and perhaps you should sit maybe for a deposition."
That was House Republicans today.
In the Senate, at a hearing of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Republican Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma tried to start a physical fight with one of the witnesses, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union Sean O'Brien. O’Brien had criticized Mullin on Twitter, and Mullin wanted to fight it out. O’Brien indicated he was more than ready. Mullin got up from his chair as if to begin, when Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), chair of the committee, yelled at him to sit back down. “You are a United States senator!” he shouted.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration today celebrated the drop of the inflation rate to zero for the month of October, meaning that prices did not rise at all between September and October. That flat month means the yearly inflation rate dropped to 3.2% for the past year. Much of that lower inflation rate reflects lower gasoline prices, which dropped 5% in October.
Under the Democratic administration, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which oversees the maintenance of fair business practices, has been much more aggressive about policing misconduct, and today it announced it filed 784 enforcement actions and claimed $4.95 billion in penalties in the fiscal year that ended in September. This financial recovery was the second highest in the history of the SEC, second only to last year’s amount of $6.4 billion.
The White House yesterday announced a new initiative on women’s health research designed to combat the fact that women’s health has been ill studied, leaving half the nation’s people suffering from poorly understood debilitating conditions such as endometriosis and fibroids, as well as being diagnosed or treated incorrectly for disorders such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and autoimmune disorders.
Today the White House issued the fifth national climate assessment, which showed a decline in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions despite the growth of the population and of the economy. The White House statement attributes this decline to efforts to mitigate emissions and the increasingly available low-emissions options. In the last decade, it noted, wind energy costs dropped 70% and solar energy costs dropped 90%. In 2020, 80% of new energy generation capacity came from clean energy. Climate change and related extreme weather events are rapidly intensifying, the administration warned, and will cost the U.S. at least $150 billion a year.
Reflecting that fact, Biden today announced more than $6 billion in investments to strengthen the electric grid, reduce flooding, support conservation, and advance environmental justice, as underserved communities bear the brunt of weather events. The money is coming primarily from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Inflation Reduction Act.
—
Notes:
https://apnews.com/article/mike-johnson-donald-trump-2024-c0d8304f44bd7158415ac80673eb8c7f
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/14/us/politics/government-shutdown-vote-mike-johnson.html
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/14/mike-johnson-speaker-shutdown-democrats-00127083
https://thehill.com/business is/4308537-october-2024-inflation-consumer-price-index/
https://www.barrons.com/articles/october-cpi-inflation-report-data-today-155d53f1
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/11/13/memorandum-on-the-white-house-initiative-on-womens-health-research/
https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/us-sec-enforcement-garnered-nearly-5-billion-financial-remedies-last-year-2023-11-14
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/11/14/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-releases-fifth-national-climate-assessment-and-announces-more-than-6-billion-to-strengthen-climate-resilience-across-the-country/
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/14/politics/burchett-mccarthy-elbowing-fight/index.html
https://apnews.com/article/senate-mullin-obrien-teamsters-fight-hearing-153e28d131973d1e10b539491c9e94a6
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/14/politics/speaker-johnson-conservative-reaction/index.html
Twitter (X):
AndrewSolendestatus/1724536494365221327
cgrisales/status/1724452392811286565
atrupastatus/1724490233553567982

This year's International ShakeOut Day is October 19, when millions of people worldwide will participate in earthquake drills at work, school, or home! To bring awareness to earthquake safety (Drop, cover & hold on!) we're here answering your questions. We are scientists and preparedness experts from government agencies in Washington state and Oregon and a California-based engineering firm. We're all using one account and we will sign off with our first names.
If we don't get to your question right away, we are waiting for the right expert to come by.
Proof: Here's a picture of a whole lot of the folks answering questions and our press release on our .gov website https://mil.wa.gov/news/practice-for-earthquakes-on-oct-19-during-the-great-washington-shakeout
Proof from one of our verified social media accounts.
​
Joining us:
Pacific Northwest Seismic Network
Dr. Harold Tobin – Director, Pacific Northwest Seismic NetworkDr.
Renate Hartog – Manager, Pacific Northwest Seismic Network
Washington Emergency Management Division
Brian Terbush – Earthquake/Volcano Program Coordinator
Elyssa Tappero – Tsunami Program Manager
Danté DiSabatino – Tsunami Program Coordinator
Ethan Weller – Tsunami Program Coordinator
Hollie Stark – Outreach Program Manager
Maximilian Dixon – Hazards and Outreach Program Supervisor
Mark Pierepiekarz – Structural Engineer
Washington Department of Natural Resources – Washington Geological Survey
Corina Allen – Chief Hazards Geologist
Daniel Eungard - Geologist—Subsurface Lead/Tsunami Hazards
Alex Dolcimascolo – Tsunami Geoscientist
FEMA REGION X
Hannah Rabinowitz
Simpson Strong-Tie
Emory Montague – Structural Engineer
​

"I lived under government dependency and I‘m thankful that I have broke free of that cycle." - Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) whose salary is literally paid by the government.

Debating On Thin Ice

Once again, I bravely watched the GOP debate so you didn’t have to.

• If you did not watch the second Republican Presidential Primary debate, congratulations. You have saved yourself from the irreparable psychological damage that comes from watching seven absolute psychopaths vie for the vice presidency or a cabinet position or—in Chris Christie’s case— a weird, unknown third thing. In many ways, it was a repeat of the last debate. All seven qualifying candidates talked tough about “securing the border” and “taking on the teachers unions” as well as the “respect for life” (so long as the life in question is a fetus and not a poor person!).
  
• The thing that united the candidates the most was hatred of Vivek Ramaswamy, who once again interrupted everyone and kept holding up his pointer finger as if to shush whomever was speaking all night. Looking rather cadaverous, former Vice President Mike Pence got a few of his creepy softballs over the plate including saying that we need to “repeal the Green New Deal.” Okay buddy, well, it’s going to be pretty tough to repeal a bill that never became law. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) lost his mind when one of the moderators brought up his state’s new and now-infamous African American History curriculum, including the idea that, “Slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.” DeSantis frothed at the mouth and called that “a hoax perpetrated by [Vice President] Kamala Harris.” It was, in fact, a direct quote from Florida’s new standards.
  
• Trump’s former United Nations Secretary Nikki Haley was at the center of many of the night’s most heated exchanges. She is as cynical as any of the other GOP politicians, but it’s gotta be tough being the only woman on stage with a bunch of guys who can barely string together a cogent sentence. As with the previous debate, she took particular care to filet Ramaswamy, at one point saying, “Honestly everytime I hear you I feel a little bit dumber.” She also turned on DeSantis and fellow South Carolinian Sen. Tim Scott. For his part, DeSantis fired shots at Trump on abortion, a topic which moderators saved until the end of the debate.
  

The debate was two hours of animus and nonsense, and nearly void of substance. Speaking of animus and nonsense, let’s now move on to disgraced former president Donald Trump, the runaway favorite to win the actual presidential nomination.

• Trump was, once again, the elephant not in the room at Wednesday’s debate. Federal District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan has denied Trump’s motion for the judge to recuse herself from his trial for trying to overturn the 2020 election. She said that Trump’s attorneys had applied a “hypersensitive, cynical, and suspicious” reading of two of her statements in her sentencing of Trump in the January 6 case.
  
• In an interview with 60 Minutes, outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said he has had to take “appropriate measures” to ensure his personal safety after Trump accused him last week of going behind his back to communicate with China and suggesting that he is a traitor who deserves execution. Yep, that’s him! Meanwhile, Trump busied himself today at a nonunion auto parts factory in Michigan, just one day after Joe Biden became the first American President to join a picket line. In a head-scratching move, Trump appeared to be trying to court the UAW vote at a nonunion shop, while also not answering for his history and continuing support of anti-union policies, and publicly chastising UAW President Shawn Fain. Yep, that’s him!
  

Chris Christie and, to a lesser extent, Nikki Haley, made a show of going after the former president, but the 2024 primary is very clearly still Trump's game to lose. Apart from his rants on Truth Social, Trump is seemingly not focused on his GOP rivals polling far behind him. The GOP continuing to melt down in front of the nation’s eyes is ultimately good for President Biden, even if it’s horrifying to watch.

Look No Further Than Crooked Media

Exhausted pundits agree: the second Republican Primary Debate last night was a doozy. Missed our Friends of the Pod Group Thread? Luckily for you, Jon Lovett will be doing an AMA on Discord tomorrow, 9/29 at 2pm PST. Friends of the Pod subscribers get access to exclusive events like last night’s Group Thread, Ads-free Pod Save America episodes AND hours of bonus content featuring your favorite Crooked hosts and staff. Head to https://crooked.com/friends to learn more today.

Under The Radar

Hollywood television and film writers began returning to work on Wednesday after the Writers Guild of America reached a tentative agreement with the studios and streamers, which was then ratified by the union leadership, after almost 150 days on strike. The parallel strike by the Screen Actors Guild has yet to be resolved. Now that it has been approved, the WGA’s contract is public. And they posted some BIG wins. Residual payments had all but evaporated with the streaming model, and writer pay had decreased sharply over the past two decades. The most important concession the WGA won is “success-based” residual payments. If streaming content receives benchmark viewership, writers will receive a bonus. Base pay for writers will increase. The union also won protection against artificial intelligence, with provisions prohibiting the studios from treating AI-generated content as literary material written by a human, and from requiring writers to use AI software such as ChatGPT while writing. The union was also able to secure a guarantee that the company will provide the WGA with “the total number of hours streamed, both domestically and internationally, of self-produced high budget streaming programs,” such as streamer-original series. Viewership number transparency will allow writers for greater leverage in compensation negotiations.

What Else?

Google is attempting to completely seal testimony and prevent any public disclosure from the federal government’s suit against the internet giant for monopolistic practices.
President Biden’s dog Commander bit a Secret Service agent at the White House on Tuesday, and the agent required medical attention. This is the 11th such (alleged!) incident involving Commander. We assume Commander is otherwise a Very Good Boy but ask that he please stop biting people just trying to do their already-stressful jobs.
The White House is being forced to ration FEMA relief as a government shutdown nears.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced new minimum staffing requirements for America’s nursing homes to address performance issues (sounds good!), but provided no additional funding for new hires (sounds bad!).
Michigan State formally fired its football coach Mel Tucker on Wednesday after the university’s investigation of sexual harassment claims against him.

What In The World?

Facilitated by (sighs deeply) their common ally, the United States, relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel are warming quickly. Tuesday marked the first-ever visit by an Israeli minister to the Arab Kingdom, when Israeli tourism minister Haim Katz attended a multilateral tourism conference in Riyadh. The event, which was organized by the United Nations, continued on Wednesday. At the same time, Naif al-Sudairi, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the Palestinians, traveled through a checkpoint at the Israeli border to visit the West Bank, where he met with leaders of the Palestinian Authority. Sudairi’s visit is the first by a Saudi official to the region since Israel captured it from Jordan in the Six-Day War of 1967. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday “You are seeing things that could not even be imagined several years ago.” Netanyahu has shepherded the most far-right government in Israel’s history, and orchestrated an antidemocratic judicial coup earlier this year. Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, authorities in Saudi Arabia continue to crack down on peaceful dissidents, public intellectuals, and human rights activists, sentencing them to decades-long prison terms merely for posts on social media. What an exciting, chill pair! Can’t wait to see how they collab!

What A Sponsor

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Light At The End Of The Email

A Montana judge temporarily blocked a law on Wednesday that would have banned transition care for children under 18.
The major network late-night shows plan to restart next week after months of hiatus now that the writers’ strike is over.

Enjoy

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter: "Boy math is needing 15 attempts to count the votes correctly to become Speaker and then shutting down the government 9 months later"

non-paywalled link here: https://archive.ph/HeIec
As another legislative session draws to a close in Sacramento, the problem lawmakers failed to fix is one of the most urgent facing Californians: the slow-moving collapse of the property insurance market as costs from climate disasters mount.
It “is not even a yellow flag issue. This is a waving red flag issue,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday night when asked about the failure of the Legislature to act.
This year, multiple companies, including the state’s largest home insurer, State Farm, have announced they are no longer taking on new residential and commercial properties, citing wildfire risk. In fact, seven of the 12 insurance groups operating in California — together, responsible for about 85% of the market — have pulled back.
But backroom talks among elected officials to figure out a fair and workable path forward to entice insurance companies to write more — or in some cases any — policies didn’t go anywhere. Instead, lawmakers are vehemently pledging to hold public hearings this fall about the shrinking prospects for Californians seeking coverage for their homes and, by extension, their prospects for getting and hanging onto their mortgage during a deepening housing crisis.
If only insurance were as cheap as talk.
It is painfully clear that the speed and ferocity of climate disasters has intensified. Only eight months into 2023, the U.S. has recorded 23 climate-related disasters, each with damages of at least $1 billion, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That shatters the previous record of 22 such disasters the entire year of 2020.
It is increasingly uncertain who is going to pay for all that damage, to, as much as possible, make whole all those upended lives.
Should Californians living in the most dangerous places, whether facing wildfires, flooding or sea-level rise, shoulder more of the cost for their risk? And does it matter that many such communities are low-income, filled with residents who have sought out these places precisely because they were priced out of cities that have refused to build more affordable housing?
Or should risk be shared among us all, no matter where we live? Higher insurance premiums across the board to stabilize an industry that we all need.
Or, should insurance companies be forced to somehow continue carrying the burden of climate disasters?
Rumor has it that a Legislative fix was held up largely because no one could agree on an answer. Even a compromise wouldn’t be politically popular, which may be why that part of the debate has stayed largely behind closed doors.
But as Newsom pointed out, the pressure building on the insurance industry is “America’s coming attraction in terms of impacts of climate.”
That holds true for California with its eroding coastline, mudslides and fire-prone mountains; for Florida, Louisiana and Texas with hurricanes; for places such as Kentucky and Vermont where extreme weather has led to devastating floods.
Even for renters and car owners, the cost of insurance is rising and will rise further as temperatures do.
“People can only afford so much, even middle-class people or upper-middle-class people. Throughout the United States, in different geographies, we’re reaching a point where climate change is driving to an uninsurable future,” said Dave Jones, a former California insurance commissioner and current director of UC Berkeley’s Climate Risk Initiative. “The risk is too high, at almost any price.”
Let us be clear on this: Of course, insurance companies want to maximize their profits. Of course, some of their claims around climate risk are posturing to increase rates. And yes, other factors including inflation on construction are part of the equation.
Climate change should not be a free pass to gouge consumers — despite all those disaster claims, insurance companies are still making money, though their profit margins might not be as thick as in the past.
But insurance is the safest bet against personal calamity, climate-induced or otherwise, so we need insurers to remain in the market. Which means we need to acknowledge that climate change has altered the math on protecting the places we live and work.
“How do we work together to solve this in a way where everybody feels they’re sharing a lot of the burden?” asked Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, who is a member of the Assembly Insurance Committee but wasn’t directly involved in the negotiations in recent weeks.
Jones-Sawyer said he’s deeply concerned about passing along the financial burden of climate disasters to consumers, specifically citing residents in his South L.A. district. In California, with its poverty and entrenched income inequality, many just can’t afford it.
“On the Assembly side, it was a great concern that we did not overprice our constituents,” he said. “If your homeowner’s insurance went from $2,000 a year, which is relatively low, but skyrocketed to $6,000 a year, in one year, who’s monitoring that? When it gets to that number, it becomes a little too much.”
In the short-term, fixing this mushrooming insurance crisis will probably fall to California’s insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara — perhaps through an executive order from Newsom, though the governor doesn’t have authority to regulate insurance.
Lara, of course, does, but his power isn’t unlimited. And so what we will probably see in coming weeks is a three-pronged plan meant to attack the immediate problem while leaving the larger, more profound questions for later.
First, Lara will probably work to bolster the state’s FAIR plan, the insurance of last resort for many — including Newsom, who owns a home covered by it.
Second, how we assess risk will probably be changed from models that look at past disasters to models that project forward, taking risks of climate change into account.
And third, Lara will probably seek to streamline the process of raising rates — which in California can be hard to do with regulations designed to protect consumers from obscene price hikes.
But this isn’t just about insurance. It’s just that insurance is the first system to face collapse.
“You can have debates about these various proposals, but what’s underlying all that is climate change, and it’s only going to get worse,” Jones said.
::
One way or another, all taxpayers will be forced to pay more for the worsening effects of climate change.
Even if Lara requires insurance companies to account for forest thinning and other other landscape mitigation projects that reduce the risk of disasters — which he should — someone will have to pay for those projects. That “someone” will be taxpayers.
And in the many high-risk places in California, where mitigation probably won’t make much of a dent, it will be taxpayers who will be on the hook to rebuild these communities after an increasingly inevitable disaster.
There are already signs we’ll be paying more at the federal level.
Consider that just last month, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell took the alarming step of warning that the agency is running out of money after a year of nonstop disasters.
The roughly $3.4 billion it has left in its Disaster Relief Fund, mostly used to reimburse communities for long-term recovery efforts, will be gone by this month. In response, President Biden has asked Congress for an additional $16 billion.
“Every American rightly expects FEMA to show up when they are needed to help in a disaster,” Biden told reporters during a tour of the damage Hurricane Idalia left in Florida. “I’m calling on the United States Congress, Democrats and Republicans, to ensure the funding is there to deal with the immediate crises, as well as our long-term commitments to the safety and security of the American people.”
This isn’t the first time FEMA has been in this predicament and it probably won’t be the last, leaving taxpayers to continually bail out the agency, so the agency can continually bail out communities destroyed by climate-change-fueled disasters.
Now imagine what will happen if there’s also a full-on breakdown of the insurance market. This possible eventuality was the focus of a recent hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
“Without insurance, millions of families will be at greater risk for climate crises,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the committee, said during the hearing. “And as whole communities lose access to insurance, the impact is going to be felt all the way through our economy.”
That would be the greatest of disasters, and a place where California doesn’t need to lead on climate.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-31-2023
The Biden administration emphasized today its whole-of-government response to addressing the damage caused by Hurricane Idalia—which hit Florida yesterday before moving north into Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina—and by the wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, which broke out on August 8. Idalia, which made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane, brought 125-mile-an-hour winds and intense flooding that have left at least three people dead. The Maui wildfires, at least one of which was apparently started by a downed electric line, have killed at least 115 people and destroyed more than 2,000 buildings.
Biden and Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas visited the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters in Washington, D.C., today, and Biden later spoke at the White House, explaining that he had spoken with the governors of all the states affected by the hurricane before the storm hit. He had approved Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s request for an early emergency declaration to free up federal funds to address the expected impacts of the storm, and federal officers surged personnel to Florida and other southeastern states to help people get to safety.
Biden emphasized that the government was also focused on recovering and rebuilding efforts in Maui, promising to respect and honor Hawaiian traditions and the needs of the local community—a deep concern among those affected by the fires. “We’re not going to turn this into a new land grab,” he said.
In addition to the $27 million dedicated to the removal of hazardous material and the $400 million dedicated to debris removal in Hawaii, Biden announced that the administration has dedicated $95 million of the funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act to harden the electrical grid against climate change by burying cables or installing smart meters to pinpoint where lines are down.
“I don’t think anybody can deny the impact of the climate crisis anymore,” Biden said. “Just look around: historic floods—I mean historic floods; more intense droughts; extreme heat; significant wildfires have caused significant damage like we’ve never seen before. It’s not only throughout the Hawaiian Islands and the United States, but in Canada and other parts of the world.”
“When I took office,” he said, “I directed my team to raise our game in how we lead and coordinate our responses to natural disasters…to ensure we [meet] the people where they are when they need our help the most.”
At FEMA headquarters, Biden profusely thanked the FEMA employees for their “incredible contribution” to the recovery efforts. He noted that the past few years have kept FEMA going from one emergency to the next, and he thanked them for their sacrifices and the risks emergency personnel take to help our communities when they need it.
With extremist House Republicans threatening to defund the government unless their demands are met, Biden called on Congress to make sure it provides “the funds to be able to continue to show up and meet the needs of the American people to deal with immediate crises that we’re facing right now, as well as the long-term commitments that we have to make to finish the job in Maui and elsewhere.”
When a reporter asked if he could “assure Americans that the federal government is going to have the emergency funding that they need to get through this hurricane season,” Biden answered, “If I can’t do that, I’m going to point out why…. And so, I’m confident, even though there’s a lot of talk from some of our friends up on the Hill about the cost, we got to do it. This is the United States of America.”
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee, chaired by Republican James Comer of Kentucky, announced this week it will investigate the federal response to the Maui wildfires. Biden said yesterday he welcomes such an investigation, suggesting that House Republicans “should go out and talk to every elected official, from the mayors to the governors to the United States senators” who have praised the government’s response.
Biden’s use of the government contrasts sharply with former president Trump’s promise to turn the government into an agent of retribution for those he perceives as his enemies. On Tuesday, right-wing radio host Glenn Beck asked him if he would use the presidency to imprison his political opponents if he were reelected. “You said in 2016, you know, ‘lock her up.’ And then when you became president, you said, ‘We don’t do that in America.’ That’s just not the right thing to do. That’s what they’re doing. Do you regret not locking her up? And if you’re president again, will you lock people up?”
Trump replied: “[T]he answer is you have no choice because they’re doing it to us.”
Trump’s legal troubles have sparked an outpouring of violent talk from him, but it is simply an escalation of the theme he staked out at his first campaign rally in March 2023, held in Waco, Texas, a spot that is a rallying cry for those of his base who believe the government is oppressing them. There, Trump told his supporters: "I am your warrior, I am your justice…. For those who have been wronged and betrayed…I am your retribution."
Trump promises retribution and power for those MAGA Republicans determined to impose their will on the majority of Americans, like those cheering on Alabama attorney general Steve Marshall, who claimed in a court filing on Monday that Alabama, which has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country, can prosecute people who help women travel out of the state to obtain an abortion as part of a “criminal conspiracy.”
Today’s Republicans have abandoned the Reagan-era Republican plan to gut the federal government and are instead determined to capture it, replacing nonpartisan civil servants with Republican extremists who will carry out the ideals of Trump or any candidate like him who can defeat Biden in 2024. Their nearly-1,000-page plan, called “Project 2025,” calls for politicizing the Department of Justice and law enforcement officers and giving far more power to the president.
Today, Trump waived his right to appear at his arraignment in Fulton County on racketeering charges for his effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, and entered a plea of not guilty.
Also today, Supreme Court justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas filed their annual financial disclosure report after receiving an extension from the May deadline. Thomas’s report included three gifts of transportation from megadonor Harlan Crow and two of meals and lodging from Crow when Thomas was his guest. Thomas defended his previous omission of such gifts by saying the omission was inadvertent, as he had used old guidelines that were changed only in March 2023 (in fact, ethics experts say he should have disclosed the previous gifts at the time).
Thomas also suggested he needed to travel on private planes because “the increased security risk following the Dobbs opinion leak” meant that his “security detail recommended noncommercial travel whenever possible.”
—
Notes:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23932793-clarence-thomas-2022-financial-disclosure
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23932794-justice-alitos-2022-financial-disclosure
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/31/politics/thomas-alito-supreme-court-disclosures/index.html
https://www.kcra.com/article/hurricane-categories-meanings/44940726#
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-idalia-damage-see-videos-photos-florida/
https://apnews.com/article/florida-hurricane-idalia-2136985ceea53f5deb600c43aeea1138
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/8/31/hurricane-idalia-downgraded-to-tropical-storm-kills-three-in-southeast-us
https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfires-maui-electricity-power-utilities-1741e22bbf955b62103db6b60f5c4853
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/30/weatheflorida-hurricane-idalia-wednesday/index.html
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/08/31/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-ongoing-federal-response-efforts-to-hurricane-idalia-and-on-maui-hawaii/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/08/31/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-whole-of-government-response-and-recovery-efforts-in-maui-hawaii-and-the-ongoing-response-to-hurricane-idalia/
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4179639-biden-says-he-welcomes-potential-gop-probe-into-maui-fire-response/
https://www.mediaite.com/politics/you-have-no-choice-trump-tells-glenn-beck-he-will-absolutely-lock-people-up-if-returned-to-white-house/
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/25/donald-trump-waco-rally-retribution-justice/
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-08-30/conservative-groups-draw-up-plan-to-dismantle-the-u-s-government-and-replace-it-with-trumps-vision
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/31/politics/alabama-attorney-general-abortion-prosecute/index.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/30/trump-interview-jail-political-opponents-glenn-beck
Twitter (X)
kyledcheney/status/1697266936516637069
gardnerakayla/status/1697313651550556494

I wanted to take this opportunity to re-provide what we have gathered over time and see what we could update or put as helpful information in the Wiki and when severe weather threatens the Lowcountry. This thread will also serve the purpose of a megathread for alerting plans if visiting or for storm newbie questions.

Storm Tracking & Local Weather Updates:

• NOAA Storm Tracker
  
• NWS Charleston Twitter NWS Charleston gives great live updates from NOAA, and other weather models. Probably one of your best forecasting services.
  
• @chswx Local weather TwitteMastodon/IG, reposts good submitted photos pre/post-storms and everything in between related to storms in the tri-county area.
  
• Tropical Tidbits Models for storm tracks
  
• Mike's Weather Page More models for storm tracks
  

 

Local Prep Guides & Resources:

• Charleston County's Hurricane Preparedness Guide.
• Berkeley County's Hurricane Preparedness Page
  
• City of Charleston Twitter Check here for updates on sandbag distribution locations and garages open for parking if the need arises. They also show where certain roads are closed.
  
• SCDHEC Comprehensive guide for hurricanes. Great comprehensive guide for preparation, after the storm, and a good aggregation of links for other information.
  
• Sate of SC Hurricane One-Stop-Shop
  
• Know your zone maps. Evacuation zones and storm surge information.
  
• Charleston FEMA maps hosted on ArcGIS
  
• SCHEC PIPS - 1-866-246-0133: The Public Information Phone System (PIPS) line is operational to answer Hurricane Dorian related questions.
  
• TropicalWeather 's Hurricane suppies mega-thread. I encourage everyone to pop over to tropicalweather - reddits home for tropical weather discussions, ranging from tracking, forecasting, preparation and observation. They are a treasure trove of information.
  

Local Storm Prep Updates:

• things like sandbags locations will go here

By user request, I'm recreating this thread in an effort to allow /norfolk's members to update & improve the information. Please comment as needed and I'll do my best to revise the main text as quickly as I can. Thanks!
Welcome to /Norfolk! Our subreddit gets a lot of questions about relocating to the area, so be sure to search the subreddit to see if your specific questions have already been answered.
Here's a quick list of the top tips and most frequently repeated advice about moving to the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area:

• Live on the same side of the water as you work. Our many bridges, tunnels and bridge-tunnels frequently experience heavy traffic volume and become chokepoints even on days without incidents or accidents. Commuting from the Southside (Norfolk/Virginia Beach) to the Peninsula (Hampton, Newport News, Williamsburg) and vice versa is not recommended. Additionally, many water crossings are now or will eventually be tolled. Get an EZ-Pass to pay the lowest rate.
  
• This area floods. Look at FEMA flood maps for the area you want to move to and be aware of possibly needing flood insurance. Similarly, our area occasionally experiences hurricanes. Know your Evacuation Zone and learn more about Hurricane Preparations. Also check out the jet noise map (PDF warning) (credit to NotEntirelyUnlike)
  
• Hampton Roads has a lot to offer. Obviously there is the beach. But there is also a surprisingly good and growing food & craft beer scene. A great many museums and activities. And an easy drive to the mountains and other major cities. Career wise the medical center is growing year over year, and is only expected to continue expanding into a major hub for the region. Norfolk offers a slightly more urban feel, with lots of great food joints and cultural amenities, all while being walking and bike friendly. Virginia Beach is more suburban in feel, and has a large amount of great neighborhoods at a decent price not too far from the beach. Chesapeake is even more suburban, but more affordable. Suffolk is growing, but still by all rights could be considered mostly rural. (credit to Here4thebeer3232)
  
• Check crime reports. Crime can happen anywhere but some areas see more reported incidents than others. Great areas can be adjacent to bad neighborhoods, sometimes separated only by a road or a few blocks. When buying or renting a residence, try to visit the area at different times of day and strike up conversations with locals to get a feel for the location. Use Norfolk's Crime Mapping tool to view crime reports and statistics.
  
• Norfolk Neighborhoods of Note
  

  Chelsea/West Ghent: Small former industrial area that is now home to 2 top tier Breweries and is a central part of the Elizabeth River Bike Trail. Has a growing culinary scene. Limited residential options. Colonial Place: Upscale residential neighborhood with waterside access. Flooding is a concern in this area, but neighborhoods are family friendly and homes are gorgeous. Downtown: the urban center of our region. Growing residential population to match established barestaurant, entertainment and financial scenes. East Beach: Newly constructed high end beach condos right on the Chesapeake Bay. Has abundant docking for boats, fishing holes, and beach access. A more quiet and older community. Fort Norfolk: Growing area adjacent to EVMS and Sentara Medical Center. The unofficial midtown of Norfolk, that is slowly becoming a part of the city skyline. Floods often. Freemason: straight-laced & upscale enclave adjacent to downtown and built around cobblestone streets. Ghent: trendy, historic and filled to the brim with character, culture and delicious cuisine. The neighborhood’s main thoroughfare, Colley Avenue, and adjacent 21st and 22nd streets are lined with eclectic eateries, unique shops, art galleries and antique stores. Larchmont: High end homes in a family friendly neighborhood. Adjacent to ODU, but without the noise, Larchmont is home to incredible homes in a very green and quiet part of the city. Also has waterside access. Oceanview: Affordable community right on the beach. Still considered more working class, it is slowly looking to compete with the Virginia Beach Oceanfront as a tourist attraction. Home to the Bold Mariner Brewery and Jessy's Taqueria NEON District: Growing Arts district, adjacent to downtown. Home to a variety of arts shops and artisan restaurants, as well as the Chrysler Museum of Art and the Harrison Opera house. Park Place: Park Place is a historic neighborhood centrally located to the north of Downtown Norfolk. Park Place offers multimodal access to health and fitness facilities, dining, coffee shops, retail, visual art, live music, and community for people from all walks of life. This historic residential neighborhood is a diverse and inclusive community, and is comprised of a mix of single detached houses, condos, luxury, market rate, and affordable rentals homes and apartments. Located between 23rd street and 38th street, and between Granby street on the east, and Colley ave on the west, the Park Place area neighborhood includes two business districts, the 35th Street Business District and the Railroad District, and is walkable to the North Colley, Ghent, and Riverview business districts. Railroad District: Rapidly growing former warehouse district located between Ghent and Park place. Home to the majority of Breweries in the city. While could be considered gentrified, is still home to novel cultural centers such as 757 Makerspace and Nomads Clothing Exchange. Riverview: Immediately adjacent to the Virginia Zoo and Lafayette Park. With waterside access and a small commercial corridor, Riverview is a good area for all ages. Also home to MJs Tavern, the largest LGBT bar in the metropolitan area. St Paul's District: Under construction West Ocean View: Turns into a parking lot for HRBT traffic every time the base lets out. Willoughby Spit: Quiet residential sandbar. Remains somewhat isolated from HRBT traffic, but offers a commanding presence along the Chesapeake Bay.
  

• /VirginiaBeach Neighborhoods of Note
  

  Chesapeake/Chic's Beach: "locals only" beachside community. Oceanfront: touristy stretch of beach + boardwalk, hotels, and trinket shops. Town Center: VB's Central Business District including Pembroke Mall and other high-end shopping, dining, and entertainment.
  

• Portsmouth Neighborhoods of Note
  

  Olde Towne: boasts the largest collection of period homes between Charleston, South Carolina and Alexandria, Virginia. Walkable, lots of shops and restaurants, close to the riverfront, ferry access to downtown Norfolk. (credit to BrobaFat)
  

• Odds & ends
  

  • Norfolk's hardiness zone is 8a, for any gardeners out there. A bit further west, and you're in 7b.
  • The large military presence means a lot of traffic around 4pm. High school gets out around 2, middle school around 3.
  • There are slow cargo trains going to and from the port. When scoping out neighborhoods, check for tracks nearby, and if there are any bridges or underpasses to help bypass a stopped cargo train. Example: Taussig and Granby, near the post office? If you hear a train, pray that it's a short one, because I haven't found a shortcut there yet.
  • This WeatherSpark page has some useful data on the local climate for anyone particularly interested in our weather patterns. TL;DR, it doesn't really freeze here, but we still get snow every few years. (credit to sin-so-fit)

Please also view the 2021 EDITION for additional context & information, especially in the comments.

Welcome to the 2023 Hurricane season, may the winds be in our favor! I wanted to take this opportunity to provide what we have gathered over time and see what we could update or put as helpful information in the Wiki and when severe weather threatens the Lowcountry.

Storm Tracking & Local Weather Updates:

• NOAA Storm Tracker
  
• NWS Charleston Twitter NWS Charleston gives great live updates from NOAA, and other weather models. Probably one of your best forecasting services.
  
• Tropical Tidbits Models for storm tracks
  
• Mike's Weather Page More models for storm tracks
  

 

Local Prep Guides & Resources:

• Charleston County's Hurricane Preparedness Guide.
• Berkeley County's Hurricane Preparedness Page
  
• City of Charleston Twitter Check here for updates on sandbag distribution locations and garages open for parking if the need arises. They also show where certain roads are closed.
  
• SCDHEC Comprehensive guide for hurricanes. Great comprehensive guide for preparation, after the storm, and a good aggregation of links for other information.
  
• Sate of SC Hurricane One-Stop-Shop
  
• Know your zone maps. Evacuation zones and storm surge information.
  
• Charleston FEMA maps hosted on ArcGIS
  
• SCHEC PIPS - 1-866-246-0133: The Public Information Phone System (PIPS) line is operational to answer Hurricane Dorian related questions.
  
• TropicalWeather 's Hurricane suppies mega-thread. I encourage everyone to pop over to tropicalweather - reddits home for tropical weather discussions, ranging from tracking, forecasting, preparation and observation. They are a treasure trove of information.
  

Hey everyone! I’m a BU undergrad working on a project to inform Boston residents about our local government by creating and distributing a weekly newsletter summarizing Boston City Council meetings. My goal is to make important government proceedings accessible so busy people can understand what is going on in their city and how they might be affected by new policies. If anyone is interested in a quick digestible update on Boston government I have included my newsletter and the link to get free weekly information about local issues important to life in Boston. Previous suggestions have been super helpful so any and all feedback is appreciated!
Boston City Council Meeting: 5/24/2023
Duration: 1 hour 45 minutes
Attendance: All Present
Legislation Passed:

• Order spending a $1,600,000 ($1.6 million) grant from FEMA to fund humanitarian services for those who encountered the DHS at the Southern border through the pre-existing Emergency Food and Shelter Program. (0967) Passed unanimously.
• Order authorizing Boston’s Property Management Department to accept all unused equipment from the Boston Planning and Redevelopment Agency’s vacated 22 Drydock Avenue location. (0968) Passed unanimously.
• Order spending a $16,000 grant from the DHS for DEI training for Boston’s CERT program in the Citizen Corp. Program. (0969) Passed unanimously.
• Order putting a preservation restriction, allowing for preservation efforts to be made, on the St. James African Orthodox Church. (9071) Passed unanimously.
• Ordinance amending City Council Electoral Districts recommendation, accepting the new draft found by the Committee. (0942) Passed with 10 yes and 2 no votes (Lara and Lejia voted no).
• Resolution in support of workers at REI. (0976) Passed unanimously.
• Resolution recognizing the contributions of EMS workers and recognizing Boston Emergency Medical Services Week. (0977) Passed unanimously.
• Appointment of temporary employees who shall work within the City Council during the Summer in a variety of roles (0978-0985, 1003-1011)

Committee Specific Legislation
Committee on City Services and Innovation Technology:

• Order spending $85,600 to increase funding, and how it shall be spent, towards the Boston Public Health Commission as agreed by the recent union deal with SENA. Local 9158. (0963 and 0964) To be discussed in the committee.
• Order spending $32334 to be spent on the Parks and Recreation Department as agreed by the recent union deal between the city and the Boston Park Rangers’ Association. (0965 and 0966) To be discussed in the committee.
• Order authorizing the Department of Innovation and Technology to enter into a 5 year contract for payment of services for 5 years. (0970) To be discussed in the committee.

Committee on Civil Rights and Immigrant Advancement:

• Communication from Councilor Breadnon on documents regarding analysis of proposed redistricting plans of the city. (0975) To be discussed in the committee.

2023 Boston City Council Elections

• Go to https://www.purplely.org/ to get to know all the candidates in this year’s city council elections.

Resources:

• The city council meeting video and minutes are available here
• Use this link to access the city council calendar with meeting agenda and minutes.
• To find information about who your Council Member is, use this link to look up your address.
• To get more details about any bill or resolution, use this link to search by number or topic.
• If you have any questions you would like answered by the city council or any feedback on this newsletter, please email us at [info@purplely.org](mailto:info@purplely.org).
• Sign up here to receive this letter after every city council meeting.

This is a repost sub. I am not the original poster. The OOP is NonPartisan_Truth and goes by the name Lisa.
Fun fact to hide spoilers for our mobile users: The role of Luca Brasi in The Godfather was portrayed by an actual mafia enforcearsonist called Lenny Montana. He was picked for the part after the original actor playing the character died of a stroke. Montana was very nervous about appearing opposite actor Marlon Brando. Director Coppola incorporated this real-life tension into several scenes, showing Brasi repeatedly practising (and later fumbling) his congratulations to Don Corleone.
Themes and trigger warning(s): Traumatic Brain Injury, QAnon, toxic friendship
Mood: a fairly positive outcome

Brand New - 24 Jan 2023 in /QAnonCasualties

I've had an account for years but didn't understand how the site worked and never had time for it. Recently searched for support groups for coming out of far-right extremism and found this site. Hi all!
I guess I've been a follower most of my life. I was liberal, live-and-let live when I was young and paid zero attention to politics. I gradually became more conservative as I got married and had kids. I still consider myself more conservative than liberal, but I'm changing at a rapid rate so will see where I end up. I personally don't want any labels or to identify with any party.
When I was 16, almost 40 years ago, (GASP - probably old enough to be most of your mothers if not very young grandmothers), I met my best friend who remains my best friend to this day. I moved 3 1/2 hours away in 2020 and am moving back to the same area as her where nearly all my family is in a few months.
Anyway, she's always been highly opinionated, a leader, and certain she is right on every topic. She has also been intensely loyal to me, seen me through some terrible times, and we have private jokes going back nearly 4 decades. I don't want to end the relationship, but I need to know how to navigate it moving forward. She's always been the leader of the 2 of us, is wicked smart, and has a way of making me feel like any contrary opinion I express is naive.
M has always been very political and hard right. I smiled, nodded, and changed the subject until covid. Then I thought maybe she made sense. I quickly followed her onto Twitter, got in with a big group of covid deniers, anti-vaxers, and the whole 9 yards. I quite Twitter about 4 months ago after realizing that my best friend since age 16 was a toxic bully. Quoting scripture on one hand, bashing "the libs" on the other.
We text often. No matter what comment I make, she turns it back to politics. Which I now completely ignore. I have no interest in us vs them or being a conspiracy theorist anymore. It's getting to the awkward stage at this point.
What really got me undone is an exchange the other day. My sister has had long covid for 3 years, something M dismisses as not real. I said I had been spending more time with her lately and could easily tell that she is not the same person as before covid. She's going to be getting SSDI for it after 2 appeals - how can it not be real? My sister has a lot of neurological issues, which I also have after never healing from a concussion 7 years ago. My friend has always doubted my sensory issues as well, chalking them up to stress & blaming them on my husband. (who is not stressful in the least).
I am attaching her response that blew me away, yet at the same time didn't surprise me. She is calling my sister a liar, isn't she? And by extension as someone with many of the same symptoms, calling me a liar. I'm also attaching a photo of a little something I did today - got my first-ever covid vax. M would die to the point of disowning me, but I'm tired of being a follower and having my mind clouded with all this crap.
Thanks for reading/listening.
- Lisa
[Comment from OOP in reply to herself:]

I can't figure out how to post a picture with this. I am typing the text my friend said that has my head spinning. This was in response to my her saying long covid is fake & me talking about how I'd spent more time with my sister over the past several months & she's clearly different than she was before. Here it is, in all its "glory."
"No one paid attention to permanent issues people had from the flu or other viruses' pre-China virus (her words), and there isn't a test that isolates -19 now, no matter how hard people believe there is. It was all a set-up for the vax, and it is astonishing how people are dropping dead now in their prime. (Her husband's) vaxed friends are sick all the time. My sisters are a lot, too. I pray every night they don't end up with aggressive cancer or drop dead of heart issues."

Don't Understand Friend's Talk About "FEMA Camps" - 05 Feb 2023 in /QAnonCasualties

My long-time close friend whom I've discussed before lost her mom in November. Her mom is now buried at Fort Snelling Cemetery, a military cemetery in Minnesota, next to her stepfather who was a veteran of WWII. She has made a few references now about "I hate that my mom is in a FEMA Camp" and I absolutely don't get the connection to a military cemetery. I looked up FEMA camps, and sure enough, they're tied to more far-right conspiracy stuff. Any insights?
PolitiFact Claim of FEMA ‘prison camps’ is part of long-running, thoroughly debunked conspiracy theory
[Some comments from OOP in reply to people answering her question and sharing their own stories:]

I don't get why anyone wants to be so paranoid & mistrustful about everything. My mother & stepfather happen to be buried in the same cemetery. Them being in a "FEMA Camp" is something that never crossed my mind. I suppose if I believed this it would be troubling to me.
I just don't understand how she fell into this. She has a master's degree and is a very smart, independent woman. But I think she get something from the adulation of the twitter group.

Seeing Q friend this weekend after 3 months - she doesn't know I've changed - 09 March 2023 in /QAnonCasualties

I've written about "M" before. We have been best friends since high school (84-86) but I don't give her that title anymore.
I fell into the rabbit hole because I followed her into it. She's always been far, far right & strong-willed & opinionated. But I recognized I was wrong & had become a complete asshole & got out of it. Helps that I only truly believed for about 2 years. As is often the case with me, I pushed back doubts for months before a single incident caused ALL the scales to fall from my eyes. Realizing that my pastor who I once thought walked on water spouts all the same stuff as M, from the pulpit, and is insane.
Anyway, haven't seen her since Christmas as I'm currently 200+ miles away but am moving back to the same town at the end of the month to be near family. I've said via text I decided to go back to being apolitical for the sake of my mental health & preferred not to discuss politics. Anytime she has brought up politics since then via text, I've completely ignored it while responding enthusiastically to anything else.
Will be down getting some stuff ready for our new place this weekend & meeting up with her. My immediate & biggest concern is that I feel embarrassed by her in public due to her saying things about politics & covid to total strangers. I find it even more obnoxious now & need to know how to broach the subject of asking her not to when with me. I've always been the follower in the relationship & she is absolutely not used to getting any pushback from me. It would set a precedent.
Most people would tell me just to say it. I get anxious at the thought, almost as anxious as I feel when she does that crap. I know, get a grip, but it's a whole new territory. Any suggestions welcome.
PS - I checked her Twitter today against my better judgment to see if she's still the same. Of course, she is. Here are some gems from just today:

1. Said "Happy Tim Walz (MN gov) Sucks Day" to people at a restaurant. This one is a favorite of her.
   
2. Said there isn't a pandemic now and there never was one.
   
3. Threatened the governor that he will have to stand before God & give an account for his actions someday and that his "handlers" won't be there to protect him.
   
4. Posted scripture, because of course.
   
5. Retweeted a racist, classist post of someone else's.
   

You get the idea. I'm so grossed out I have considered ending the relationship. It's the time (39 years!), decades of memories, and remembering some of the selfless and supportive things she has done for me in the past that have prevented me thus far.

I have to ask..why do you want to continue this friendship?

I really don't. I'm just scared & going through a lot of emotions. Feel it would be wrong to just walk away without an attempt to see her & see if she will respect my boundaries in person. I'm straight, but it's almost like facing the breakup of a marriage I've been in over 2/3 of my life.

You think you can ask her politely to stop being racist around you? I'm not sure that's how it works. If this is what she's tweeting, then her hate is her identity. Hey, I'm an optimist, so I always think you can push back with data and rationality. I'm also almost always wrong.

That is what I have come to realize. Her hate is her identity. It's super painful to admit that. I've loved her like a sister for so long.

You ll be okay, maybe a little rattled, but go get a burger and coffee with mom. We had to do that with an ex friend of many years because she just got out of hand with everyone and like, “ okay that’s enough”. She had a little hissy fit and found new friends really quick. It shouldn’t be hard for her to find a Q-Karen to bully others with. Oh and yeah, totally posts scripture as a bait hook to get people to trust her than she drops her bombs.

My mom's been gone for 8 years. I will just hang out with other (normal) friends and my sisters & daughters, whom I had a strained relationship with for a few years because I was a q'ish weirdo.

Honestly I would devote your time and energy to repairing those relationships and just not even bother with a formal break up with the Qanon friend... seriously consider too that you're going to be living in your new neighbourhood, do you really want everybody seeing you out for coffee with the racist Qanon lady ? That's a really horrible first impression to make, and there might be some better ways to grieve the loss of that friendship ? Hugs if wanted, anxiety sucks

Thanks. I have worked very hard on repairing relationships with my family and am so beyond blessed they have all forgiven me. It rips my soul out that I hurt my young adult daughters. I have owned it. Recognize that I allowed very unhealthy influences into my life, but it's not my friend's fault or anyone else's that I chose to be influenced by them. I'm done, so done. I love my girls, my sisters, my father, and other friends so much. My mom in gone, unfortunately. We used to go out every Friday night. Funny thing is that in all the years we lived in the same town/area (over 25 years), I only ran into her in public once.

Dump her

I like you. Very direct. I need to be more that way myself. Come from a long line of passive-aggressive, beat around the bush types.

Oh boy. I totally understand being mortified by your Q's rude behavior in public! But, I don't have to deal with it anymore, because I left my Q partner and am full no contact. I urge you to do the same with your former friend. The relief of doing so is just profound! Be well (and at least somewhat warm).

Almost there. Besides being God-awful embarrassing, it's dangerous. Who knows the stability of the people she's spouting off at? They usually just look at her confused, but one of these days, she's going to say the wrong thing to the wrong person and end up shot. Her husband is equally obnoxious.

She is number 4 item on her twitter feed to you. Misleading you with her words. Yes you've had a bunch of fun in the past and she has manipulated you with lies so successfully you WASTED two years of a life you only live once on and thankfully finally made your way out of the propaganda. Block he, delete her, don't tell her your plans, don't arrange to see her, just fade away. Tell her you're sorry your busy with work, family or romantic pursuits. I wish you the best.

Thank you. That's what I'm seriously thinking of doing. She knows which apartment complex we're moving to but not the number, so no way of finding me there. [...]

Why the fuck do you want anything to do with this mentally deficient piece of garbage?

I don't as she as now. But just as divorcing my narcistic ex-husband was such an obvious choice from the outside, there's a whole lot of emotion involved here. I guess I held onto hope she would "outgrow" this, but it has only gotten worse.

[One more comment from OOP in reply to a comment that is too long to share here:]

I'm giving it one last shot to go out with her this weekend. She says anything to our server or other diners about politics or covid, it's over.

Update: Cancelled dinner date with Q friend & am letting go of the relationship - 10 March 2023 in /QAnonCasualties

Thanks all for you helpful (and sometimes rather blunt, LOL) responses in the 2 posts I have made about separating myself from my Q and former BFF of nearly 40 years. I decided not to meet up with her when I'm in town this weekend because it is just too stressful not knowing what she's going to say to people in public. I just said we decided not to come down because of the expected snowstorm. I don't need to get into it with her.
And I also decided I will not contact her at all from now on. I'm not going to tell her the apartment number where we're moving at the end of the month so she can't find me. I cried quite a bit yesterday over this decision but know it is the right one for my mental health and for the sake of my relationships with others.
One thing I haven't mentioned too much here is how big of a role my brain injury had in all this. It happened in 2016, and over the next 3-4 years, my personality changed drastically. I already had pre-existing mental health conditions that grew so much worse that by the time covid came around, I became pretty radicalized for aprx [=approximately] the next 2.5 years. It wouldn't surprise me to find a larger percentage of brain-injured people in the Q community than the general population.
As I continued to recover from my injury, I became more like my old self. Physical distance from my Q (we moved 230 miles away in August 2020) & dropping out of our twitter group helped a lot too. I "found myself" in our adopted city/state & am now ready to move back home & resume happy relationships with everyone I had alienated.
Something she said has stuck with me a lot too. She was telling me about some of her husband's cousins who they didn't really know but "who aren't worth knowing because they're all libs anyway." Didn't seem like a very Christian attitude at all, and it really turned me off.

(Because by the definition of “Christian”, Q can’t be one). Hugs. Hopefully you can get back to enjoying life!

I already have! And agree she doesn't embody the spirit of the Jesus she claims to follow. Praying out loud over dinner at restaurants & then trying to fire people up she doesn't even know with political comments. Hypocrisy in action.

The only person I know who loudly prays in restaurants is literally the trashiest guy I know. Coincidence? Idk but…

I actually find that quite embarrassing as well. I have faith/spirituality, but it's a quiet one that shows in my actions towards others. I don't feel the need to broadcast it. We used to go out every Friday night. Servers would come to bring our food while she's praying. And a lot of what she prayed about was hoping things would go Q's way, at least in the last few years.

Your brain injury theory is interesting, my Q uncle fell on the ice a few years ago hard enough to knock himself out and need hospitalization. 🤔

It f's you up good. I fell off a bike in my driveway. Hurt like heck, but I didn't think much of it at the time. I have permanent damage in my left eye and ear that requires me to wear an eye patch & ear plug in public or I will have seizures. But thankfully the mental health crisis it caused is long in the past.

My dad had 2 TBI’s [=Traumatic Brain Injuries] (including one with extended coma) and was headed down the Q path when he passed. I believe strongly in your correlation as well.

It's very real. I hesitated to bring it up earlier because I didn't want it to seem like I was making excuses for myself. But I honestly think I wouldn't have headed down that path had I never had a TBI. I was a moderate who paid little to no attention to politics. And though I'd always had mental health issues, I didn't lash out it anger at people before the injury.

Last Post on This Topic: Letter to Q & I've Blocked Her - 11 March 2023 in /QAnonCasualties

I can't sleep at all. I just emailed this to my former BFF since 1984. If you choose to comment, please keep in mind that:

1. I'm not interested in opinions about Christianity, good or bad.
2. If you would have been much harsher in your response. Yes, my friend has absolutely shitty beliefs and has become so toxic that I can't be around her. She is still a human being. I'm going to treat her, and everyone, with respect no matter what. Because that's who *I* am.

Dear M,
I’m sure you have noticed that I have been quieter than usual lately. I am not mad. I love you very much. If anything, I’m quite sad.
I told you last fall that my mental health was in bad shape again, and that I had decided one of the things I needed to do was remove myself from Twitter and all political discussions in real life. This decision brought me immediate peace and has made me deeply contemplative.
One thing I’ve realized is I have been far too dependent on you over the years for advice and have always sought your approval. That is not your fault, it’s mine. If anything, it was an unfair burden to place on you.
I have stopped believing in Qanon-type stuff, for lack of a better term, over the last 6 months or so. I find that whole way of thinking bizarre and deeply disturbing now. The conspiracy theories are really out there, like the Sovereign Citizen stuff (another Twitter friend) was spouting when we met her. Also racist, classist, sexist, and unnecessarily targeted at gay people.
I’m an obese, divorced, and remarried woman. All 3 are sins according to the Bible, but no one hates on me for any of it. I don’t see why sexual orientation is a greater “sin” than anything else. My job as a Christian is to love and serve others without stopping to consider whether they are worthy of it. I know you are kind to your (lesbian friend from work.) This is what I see in the overall Twitter group I used to be part of. I leave it for God to judge, not me.
I got my first vax in January and the second in February. I was tired of all the arguments about it and wanted to see for myself what would happen if I got it. If I dropped dead, so be it. I am not afraid of that. Absolutely nothing happened either time other than a sore arm for a few hours. No one coerced me, and in fact I didn’t even discuss it with anyone before doing it. (husband) remains unvaxed. That is his choice, this is mine.
This is something I should have told you a long time ago, but I get extremely embarrassed when you or (her husband) say political/covid related stuff to strangers in public. Like the Happy Tim Walz Sucks Day. I think it’s highly inappropriate – and if I’m being honest, obnoxious – to try to engage people with your way of thinking who are just trying to enjoy a meal out or do their jobs. I also worry you’re going to upset the wrong person some day and get assaulted.
I worry about you because I don’t find the obsession with Walz and the Twitter group healthy. That is what I am sad about, and the fact I just find all of it so toxic I can’t be around it. It almost seems like it has become an identity, and in my opinion is a cult. I think you are better than that and that you have been taken in by far-out stories and unprovable lies.
I trust neither “side” and don’t identify with a political party. I will vote by issue when the time comes. Most of my family are liberals. I have no desire to hate them because of it.
I was also deeply troubled by a response you sent me about (my sister's) long covid, saying how no test can isolate it and some other stuff. My sister has been through so much with it and I would have liked to have seen some compassion for her. I see her much more now and I see the effects on her mind and body. They are real and she’s not crazy. I was an awful sister for judging her.
(my sister's) symptoms are real and so are mine. We each had a triggering event, and possibly have a faulty genetic autoimmune response that did not allow us to recover from it. Hers are from covid and mine are from a concussion. (another friend's) siblings died one day apart in October 2020 from covid. It wasn’t from anything else. They were overweight, type 1 diabetics and at very high risk.
I need the space to figure out who *I* am and what I truly believe. This is very painful, and I imagine it’s a shock to you. It’s not something I can say without breaking down, and like I said above, I’m too embarrassed to go out in public together due to the comments made to strangers.
One last thing, and I hope you feel the love and sadness I have and not that I’m attacking you. As a Christian, it offends me to see you post scripture at night and then bash on “the libs” all day long. I feel that will turn more people away from God and not towards him. Also praying over food in restaurants & then wishing someone a Happy Tim Walz Sucks Day.
So, if I don’t respond or want to get together, I wanted you to know why. We have had a heck of a friendship going back almost 40 years. It breaks my heart to say these things to you. It’s just that I can no longer NOT say them. Please allow me space over the next several months as I finally come into my own.
PS – I now think (former pastor) is completely insane. I won’t be going back to that church.
Love, NonPartisan_Truth

How did it go over? I’m assuming you sent it already. No response?

I asked for space for several months & blocked. Maybe cowardly, but I just can't handle with all I have going on in my life. Like planning a long-distance move within the next 2 weeks. I completely know what the response would be though. I'm condoning sin & she's praying for me. I truly don't think it's having a back-and-forth about.

Sorry you lost your friend. Very brave response about what being a Christian really means. But I really also wanted to say sorry to hear about your sister. Long Covid is a bitch. I don't understand why some people expect the medical community to have all the answers immediately, particularly when they don't trust that same medical community. Symptoms like Long Covid (ME/CFS) have been reported for decades but on a much smaller scale so it never received research funding. It took a catastrophic severely contagious and recurrent infection like Covid to finally give it the attention it deserves.

My compassion for my sister was a factor in this decision. M basically thought my sister is a hypocondriac & long covid isn't real.

I believe I responded to your original post. The part about identifying as a Christian but acting very un-christlike is something I've dealt with, with my grown son, and has been sad to behold thru this Trump era. As far as my Qsis & BIL, I have gone mute. There is no way to communicate.

I agree, there really isn't. I would be told some version of the following:

1. I am condoning sin by having gay friends and not trying to make them not be gay. I will have to stand before God & get judged for this someday.
2. I have set myself up for a lifetime of health issues & an early death by getting the vax. Never mind the fact I already have chronic health issues that she doesn't believe are real and that I had no complications from either vax whatsoever.
3. Her judgments on various groups of people are not her choice. She has to follow what God says & she doesn't write the rules.
4. She feels an obligation to help people "wake up" and will continue harassing innocent people in public.
5. I've given into "worldly thinking." I assume that's a direct pass to hell.

Just 5 I can think of off the top of my head.

Shocker: Went No Contact with Former Best Friend of Nearly 40 Years & She Doubled Down - 15 March 2023 in /QAnonCasualties

A few people asked me if my former friend M responded to the letter I wrote her about 5 days ago, basically ending the friendship but in a very loving way. I didn't know because I blocked her on everything. Yesterday, one of my other friends looked at M's Twitter. My letter had 0 effect on her. She's still spouting constant hate & still obsessed with the governor of Minnesota. I know her well enough to know that having a back-and-forth was pointless. But I'm still disgusted. When losing your so-called closest friend of nearly 40 years doesn't get you to self-reflect, nothing will.

You are, unfortunately, correct. It sounds to me like you have taken a big step toward saving your own well-being. Sad, but true.

It was absolutely necessary. I was absorbing her aggressive and ignorant personality.

Q stuff primes them for this exact thing. I’m forgetting exactly when you dipped out of the crazy (fuck yeaaah!! btw), but Q has continuously ramped up how intensely they instill and reinforce messaging about how everyone who doesn’t believe all that bullshit is basically in league with their made up satanic feverdream villains. So much of what they consume online is just endless repetitive ragebait, triggering dopamine and conditioning them how to receive, respond to, and reject any conflicting information/people/ideas/etc.

About 6 months ago. I saw someone describe them as addicted to rage and thought that was spot on.

Wondering if I should alert the Walz administration that my ex-friend stalks him - 18 March 2023 in /QAnonCasualties

If you've read my last few posts, you know that my Q ex-friend is beyond obsessed with Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota. I know she goes down to the governor's mansion, parks, and watches from the street to see if she can catch a glimpse of him coming and going. She makes notes of when the State Patrol is parked out front & when it isn't. She has not actually done anything but look; however, I worry with her increased radicalization. What would you do?
I have questions. See my update at 1:18 pm CST.
Second update: My sister will drive by & get M's license plate number.

I'd report to everyone you can. Sadly some in law enforcement are Q and might not take the report seriously or might even be encouraged by it but by getting as as many eyes on the situation you might prevent it from being ignored. Remember there was a plan to kidnap the governor of Michigan which was foiled.

FBI & MN State Patrol so far. Maybe the St. Paul Police Department, too?

If you don’t actually talk to someone with the FBI, don’t count on a callback. Been there. The police will roll up on her in her car and ask her questions; let her know she’s on their radar. That ll ground her again

Yay! That is exactly what I'm hoping will happen. Once they pull her driving record/vehicle registration with the detailed info I provided, I'm really hoping they catch her outside the mansion directly. She has become completely unhinged in her hatred towards him.

You’ve done her a favor. Better they speak with her beforehand. So many people wish they didn’t make that final step.

My greatest prayer is that she is pulled over & talked to. I don't think she realizes how far gone she is. I was telling my husband she has been completely taken over by evil, and she thinks she's on the right side. It's tragic. She was (still is) so addicted to the recognition she gets for being a wacko on Twitter that she couldn't go to the bathroom without her phone when we'd go out. She became one of the de-facto leaders of that group, and it went to her head. She's also a bit of a Republican darling locally, which only feeds the addiction.

A Little Humor After a Tough Day - 19 March 2023 in /QAnonCasualties

It's not every day you report your former best friend you have known since high school from decades ago to the FBI and state police. I need to calm down after that. I started using weed for sleep about a year ago, but the place we are moving to is 100 percent smokefree. One of my sisters got me sleep gummies combined with THC and CBD in "Evil Minnesota" a few days ago. I love it.
To my great shock, my husband asked for one tonight. Understand he grew up staunch Baptist and doesn't tend to question things. You can imagine what he heard about THC. But he said it helped him relax before bed and I'm so proud of him growing more open-minded.
The funny part is that he found catnip while we're packing to move today. Our 2 cats found it, so our household tonight consisted of two stoned 50 somethings and their 2 stoned cats. It was hilarious. We needed that so much.

Update: Reported Ex-Friend to the FBI and Minnesota State Patrol

Here is what I said for the MSP. It includes new details I didn't share in my previous post. Thanks for your help, new Reddit friends.
I am extremely concerned about the potential of violence from a former friend of mine and her husband towards Governor Tim Walz. I know for a fact she stalks the governor's mansion trying to get a glimpse of him, learn his comings and goings, and determine the State Patrol's schedule for protecting him.
Please check her Twitter account to understand her level of hatred for Walz. The user ID is --- and the profile picture is ---. I would also recommend checking out the people she interacts with regularly on Twitter as they all egg each other on.
I have known her for 39 years and we were best friends. I recently ended the friendship due to her increased radicalization. What really concerns me is that her husband legally owns several guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. I have never known either one to be violent in all that time. However, I'm worried that news of Trump's pending arrest on Tuesday could push them over the edge. They absolute hate all Democrats and will see the arrest as persecution.

Going through 2+ years of texts from ex-Q friend as part of the healing process & for concrete proof of stalking the MN governor - 20 March 2023 in /QAnonCasualties

Holy moly. I started re-reading our texts from January 6, 2021, and moving forward. I think they go back every further. That date, as you can imagine, is filled with cray-cray, both by her and me. As embarrassing as it is, I need to see my own descent into and climb out of Q-related insanity. Husband and I have both taken time off work for the move & I'm going to use part of it to understand WTF went wrong with me.
Her first instance of parking outside the governor's mansion and just watching is from January 2021! Trump was going to be declared the legal president and Walz arrested. I know you will ask, but I have no idea why she thought Walz would be arrested. She's literally obsessed with the idea & seeing him do the "perp walk."
I'm saving all of them in case I'm questioned by law enforcement after they read my reports. And her husband was with her that time, so apparently, I do have something on him. Didn't think I did because I was unaware he'd been there, and all his guns are legal purchases.
I remember her taking me on the route once, and if asked, I will admit to that. She parks around the corner, watches, and then drives behind the alley of the mansion. For what purpose, I'm not entirely sure. It's not like Walz is just going to stroll out and wave to her.
I've covered January and February of 2021 so far, and it's 98 percent politics between us. YUCK. No wonder I was insane. It's all she could talk about, and we texted almost daily despite me living in another state by then. I just want friends I can laugh with, cry with, vent with, and be there for each other. Not this crap.
My healing journey continues. Onward and upward.
[OOP replied to herself with this comment:]

Don't think I mentioned she is so addicted to Twitter that she took it in the bathroom with her at restaurants & paid more attention to it than me while at the table. In between making sure everyone saw her pray & wishing everyone a Happy Tim Walz Suck Day, of course.

Q ex-friend sent me a birthday card - 26 March 2023 in /QAnonCasualties

She sent it to our address in ND because that's the only one she has. I asked my husband to throw it away without giving it to me as I was already back here in MN. I'm glad I never saw it. Just the handwriting would be enough to give me an anxiety attack. It feels a little cold not to acknowledge her effort, but I asked for space, it's way too soon & I don't want to get sucked back in. Her Twitter tells me she hasn't changed at all & actually seems to be getting worse.
Snail mail is the only opening she has to me unless she and/or her husband run into me in public. Everything else blocked.

I took a look through some of your previous posts. As a fellow TC resident, I think you will be surprised how easy it is to live in proximity to someone but never see them. It’s a big ol’ city with lots of places to not see her. You’ve got this!!

Thanks! Have been officially moved in since Friday, and I'm just getting to where I'm not looking over my shoulder or scanning parking lots for her car.

OMG. She's hideous! - 01 April 2023 in /QAnonCasualties

Been looking at Q ex-friend's Twitter this week to see if any indication of being stopped by police since my report a few weeks ago (none) & if she'd flip out over Trump (yes, but the obsession remains with Walz). Just thought I'd share some "highlights" from the last 4 hours!

1. The third world welfare takers in Minnesota number more than anyone would believe. And I’m not talking immigrants or illegals.
2. Mental illness is often a choice. More often than “experts” would lead you to believe.
3. Tucker Carlson was right. A movement filled with people who think they are gods, able to change creation/nature/biology. This is ultimately a war on Almighty God (and remember, friends, they lose - Jesus Christ has already overcome the world).
4. When you understand (MN governor) Tim Walz is owned, this all makes sense. Selling your soul to Satan returns like this.
5. Take away the guns, you still have mentally ill people roaming the streets with knives, rocks, broken glass, a motor vehicle...

As if I needed more validation that I made the right decision. SHE contributed to my mental illness, which by the way, was NOT a choice. I was born with it, grew up in trauma & then had a brain injury. And didn't get better for years exposing myself to this!

Legit fuck her for #2! 20 years ago my dad and every church I went to was selling that shit. I had to wait until I turned 19 to get diagnosed, or get any help for my mental illnesses.

I am so sorry. I've struggled with severe depression & anxiety all my life & then after the brain injury 7 years ago, paranoia, anger, aggression & mental confusion. Mental illness has stolen YEARS of my life. Why would anyone choose that? I just bristle when I see some of her stuff now. I am starting to think she's sociopathic with no compassion for others whatsoever. So, in other words, she has a mental illness. Ironic.

Maybe you should step away from this now, rather than trying to keep following from a distance. Where our attention goes is important. You made your decision and you did it , might be best now to put this relationship behind you and detach from following the latest on it.

You're right. I was doing well for a while but feel compelled to check after reporting her. It's not like she's going to announce that on Twitter.

Today marks one month since I initiated no contact with former best friend of 39 years - 10 April 2023 in /QAnonCasualties

One of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life has turned out to be one of my greatest blessings. She was having a negative influence on me for years, even before Q came around. I don't miss her at all & have no desire for contact. I do occasionally feel sad & wish she would "wake up" (ironic since that group accused everyone else of being asleep or "sheep") but I have no control over that. My relationships with everyone else are so much better with her out of my life and I'm just enjoying everything and everyone so much because I'm not angry/suspicious/judgmental like her.

It would be an entirely different matter if they would either drop the subject when asked or maybe not have that be all that they talked about all the time, right? If you were to talk about football or hockey or, like "Family Guy" once joked, you were one of those people who still keep talking about "The Wire" and "Breaking Bad", and those were the only things you ever talked about everyone would find you an annoying person to be around. Maybe, I dunno, maybe they or he climbed out of it in the past two years? Check them out online and see if maybe they came to their senses and you can talk to your old friend again.

I have checked & had to stop for my own well-being. She's only gotten worse on Twitter. Boundaries disrespected in the past when I requested "no politics."

[Optional reading, OOP's timeline post to her own profile with 155 comments:]

My timeline for leaving Q stuff behind

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What are the must see's for someone who just moved here?
Making Friends		Thread1 Thread2
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Affordable housing		Thread1 Thread2
Insurance		Home1, Home2, Renters, Earthquake, Flood1, Flood2, FEMA Flood Maps - Check your elevations.
Hurricanes, do I need to worry about them?		General Hurricane Prep, Thread1, Thread2, Thread3
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Anything and everything else		Car Inspections, Utility Cost

For making a post in this thread please try and include the following to ensure that you can get the most helpful information:

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Check out the wiki too for some other great information!

Previous threads:

• https://www.reddit.com/Charleston/comments/12a4j8b/april_moving_thread_thinking_about_moving_just/
• https://www.reddit.com/Charleston/comments/mwb768/thinking_about_moving_to_charleston_moving_to/
• https://www.reddit.com/Charleston/comments/n3h1pz/thinking_about_moving_to_charleston_moving_to/
• https://www.reddit.com/Charleston/comments/nqkto8/thinking_about_moving_to_charleston_moving_to/
• https://www.reddit.com/Charleston/comments/pwitra/thinking_about_moving_to_charleston_moving_to/
• https://www.reddit.com/Charleston/comments/s0nnow/new_year_new_moving_mega_thread_thinking_about/
• https://www.reddit.com/Charleston/comments/w1cybd/midyear_refresh_thinking_about_moving_to/
• https://www.reddit.com/Charleston/comments/10cvdd3/january_moving_thread_thinking_about_moving_o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMXLmtLddbI&t=678

The Case Against Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern drenched this adorable village in the most toxic chemical ever tested - Dioxin.
​

1. We start by exploring the history of Dioxin the Toxin and Train Derailments
   
2. Next we outline the corporate decisions leading up to this disaster.
   
3. After that, we’ll break down the chain of events sparked on February 2nd
   
4. Finally we’ll wrap up with my recommendation to these Attorneys General to immediately arrest and prosecute Alan Shaw, CEO of Norfolk Southern, for crimes against humanity, as defined under the geneva convention, as he has clearly demonstrated himself to be an urgent and present threat to the very fabric of our society. By taking clear action, the Attorneys General will establish a clear precident for the next corporate executive who drenches thousands of civilians in the most toxic chemical created by man - Dioxin.
   
5. 1897, Herbert Dow discovers how to produce chlorine from salt, creating a new industry of chlorine-based products. Chlorine is toxic, and chlorine reactions are the only known source of dioxin.
   
6. 1949, A chemical plant erupts in Nitro, West Virginia, resulting in a collossal dioxin release.
   
   1. The disaster was cleaned up by unfortunate first responders, and rabbits were placed in the allegedly clean area, those rabbits died immediately.
   2. Other rabbits were placed further away from the scene, they died in a matter of hours.
   3. These tests were hidden from government, and the public. Internal memos confirm they knew plenty about the danger of dioxin, as early as 1949.
7. In 1971, one resident hired a business to spray oil on the dirt roads in Times Beach, Missouri to control the dust in their air. The motor oil was contaminated with dioxin the toxin, from a nearby Agent Orange factory. In 1982, high levels were found in soil samples, prompting permanent evacuation of Times Beach. The town was declared as a Superfund site, indicating it as one of the most toxic sites in the United States. The cleanup was overseen by the (EPA.)
   
8. January 1979, a Norfolk wreck in Sturgeon, Missouri spills octochlorophenol, exposing the community to just one single teaspoon worth of dioxin. Everyone was forced to leave town. Monsanto denied dioxin the toxin was part of the spill, later testing documented extremely high levels. During the trial lawyer Rex Carr, performed legal miracles, resulting in a court order for Monsanto to reveal its secret dioxin research files.
   
   1. Monsantos chemical engineer, testified that, for seven years, they dumped 40 POUNDS of dioxin into the Mississippi River EACH DAY from their plant. This continued through 1977.
   2. Monsanto secretly tested corpses from dead locals, the test results showed every. body. contained dioxin in its tissue.
   3. Dioxin was the active ingredient in Lysol disinfectant and other cleaning products. One chemist testified that they knew Lysol is recommended for cleaning baby toys with direct human contact, while also knowing it was extremely toxic.
   4. Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act, giving power to the EPA. This law required companies to report dioxin contamination to the government if they discovered it.
   5. Despite this, testimony revealed in 1978 that all Monsanto products were contaminated with dioxin, completely unreported to the EPA, because they didn’t discover it, because they didn’t test for it, because it was, quote, “dangerous to work with dioxin”.
   6. They testified further that the EPA didn’t need to be notified of their dioxin products because the EPA already knew dioxin was dangerous. This type of Broken Logic can be found throughout nearly every environmental lawsuit thats ever been brought to court. Seriously.
   7. “Monsanto sold dioxin products for fifty years.” said their chemist.
      1. Why did Monsanto lie and fail to notify the world about dioxin? He testified that it was “profitable for Monsanto to not inform anyone their products contained dioxin the biotoxin.”
9. 2005: Norfolk Southern trains collide. Nine killed, 250 treated for chlorine exposure.
   
10. In 2013, A dozen tank cars ignite in North Dakota. Thick black smoke rolled from the wreckage as five explosions rocked the town. The collision occurred after a train derailed, and a train hauling oil ran into it. 📷
    
11. In 2019, Railroads and unions start arguing about Precision Scheduled Railroading.
    
    1. PSR resulted in staffing cuts; companies enact strict attendance policies. These policies eliminate free-time requiring workers to be on-call for weeks on end. Workers complain of stress and fatigue.
    2. Due to precision scheduled railroading, Shippers complain about poor service and delays. Workers are concerned with safety due to reduced inspections.
    3. TWENTY THOUSAND railroad workers were laid off in 2019. Large railroads employed 30% fewer workers in 2022 versus 2018.
    4. PSR also impacts safety due to increased train length, up to three miles in many cases. This leads to derailments as well as crew stress and fatigue; due to the enormous difficulty of operating trains at this length, for which the North American railroad network was not designed.
12. February 2022: Unions representing 17,000 workers threaten to strike, Burlington Northern sues and wins a restraining order preventing the union strike.
    
13. March 2022: Norfolk Southern announces $10 billion in stock buybacks and raises its dividend, while refusing to provide its workers with basic benefits such as paid sick leave.
    
14. August 2022, The Netflix movie White Noise described
    
    1. a Train Derailment
    2. an Evacuation
    3. an Airborne Toxic Event
15. September 15 2022, Biden announces a deal to solve a railroad strike. The deal was announced before being ratified by the unions.
    
16. November 30 2022, after firmly rejecting his deal, Biden told congress to pass the agreement into law. the House passed the agreement along with an amendement requiring 7 days paid sick leave.
    
17. December 1 2022, the next day the Senate passed the agreement with only 1 day of sick leave.
    
18. December 2 2022, President Joe Biden signed the agreement (or disagreement, really) into law. A McGill University Professor described his message to rail workers as: "shut up and get back to work." The Biden administration's disagreement was condemned by over 500 labor historians in an open letter to Joe Biden and Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh.
    
19. January 2 2023: precisely 1 month before East Palestine explodes, the CDC releases an updated toxic profile for Vinyl Chloride, 17 years after their previous update. This update removes information about dangers to human health. 📷
    
20. Train Passes through Cleveland ~8pm
    
    1. The train left Madison, Illinois heading to Conway, Pennsylvania.
    2. The crew started their shift in Toledo before the train passed through Cleveland.
21. Train on Fire in Salem, Ohio ~8:12pm
    
    1. Surveillance footage from a factory 20 miles from the crash, shows flaming wheels as the train passes. Not Hot Wheels, Not Flaming Cheetos, but dioxin the toxin in these cars.
22. Train derails in East Palestine, Ohio ~8:54pm
    
    1. The moment of impact can be seen lighting up the area on surveillance camera from Cardinal Welding.
    2. 38 cars derail with fire damaging 12 more.
23. Evacuation order 9:53 PM February 3, 2023
    
    1. 1 hour later, a shelter-in-place order was issued, alongside an evacuation order for the 1-mile area around the railroad crossing.
    2. A shelter is made available at EPHS.
24. Local Emergency Proclamation Issued 9:29 AM February 4, 2023
    
    1. The Village of East Palestine declares an emergency the next morning, describing the event, as well as the evacuation zone and shelters.
    2. 50 cars derailed, with what are described as: “various products,” instead of calling them “toxins,” which they are.
    3. They pulled the firefighters out, leaving unmanned water hoses to fight the fire
    4. Air monitoring is going on with quote “no dangerous reading to report at this time,” failing to explain what chemicals are involved, nor explaining which chemicals they’re monitoring in the air, while claiming that there are “no dangerous readings to report.” >Cut to firey train<
25. Village News Conference 1:30 PM Feb 4 2023
    
    1. Village Officials and EMS hold their first conference, 17 hours after the wreck.
    2. Ex. 31
    3. strange how they keep refering to the Vinyl Chloride as “the product” instead of “toxic biohazard”
26. NTSB holds first news conference 2:30 PM February 4, 2023
    
    1. The National Transportation Safety Board holds a news conference, describing the train.
    2. Ex. 32
    3. They refuse to release information about the chemicals involved, despite having them. They instead cite “air monitoring” which says “all good” >Cut to firey train<
27. East Palestine officials give second update 12:00 PM February 5, 2023
    
    1. Village officials give an update with state and federal EPA.
    2. Ex. 33
    3. James Justice with the Federal EPA steps into the scene with a strong wind of “air monitoring is a valid excuse for not evacuating a large radius around the collossal dioxin spill.” Looks like he’s done this routine a few times.
28. February 6th Norfolk Southern offers 25,000
    
    1. In a press release later scrubbed off their website, Norfolk Southern plainly offers just $25,000 to the town for exploding toxic biohazards in the heart of their community.
    2. Despite removing the article, you can still find the original copy on this website that records historical snapshots of other websites.
    3. Looks like Norfolk Southern learned the hard way, you can’t scrub a toxic spill off the internet either, because every action leaves residue.
29. Gov. DeWine issues evacuation order, deploys national guard 12:00pm February 6, 2023
    
    1. Governor DeWine issued an evacuation order due to "potential of a catastrophic tanker failure" that "could cause an explosion” with “the potential of deadly shrapnel traveling up to a mile." He also "activated the National Guard to assist authorities.”
    2. Ex. 36 sequence
30. Norfolk Southern crews performs a 'controlled release' 4:20 PM February 6, 2023
    
    1. Scientists would later confirm that this was a vent-and-burn, not a controlled chemical reaction.
31. Smoke plume visible on weather radar 5:00 PM February 6, 2023
    
    1. 40 minutes later, the toxic cloud was identified (visible) from High Resolution Radar
32. Gov. Shapiro gives update 7:00 PM February 6, 2023
    
    1. Governor Josh Shapiro gives an update on the vent-and-burn on the Pennsylvania border, after immediate public concern throughout the region.
    2. Ex. 40 sequence
33. Press Release from Railroad Workers United Tuesday, February 7th, 2023
    
    1. They wrote that "the root causes [here] are the same ones that have been singled out repeatedly, stemming from the hedge fund-initiated operating model known as 'Precision Scheduled Railroading' (PSR).
    2. The group noted that the "immediate cause" of the wreck "appears to have been an 1800’s-style mechanical failure of the axle on one of the cars—an overheated bearing—leading to derailment and then jackknifing tumbling cars.”
    3. "There is no way in the 21st century, except for a combination of incompetence and disregard for public safety, that such a defect should still be threatening our communities," wrote RWU, which supports nationalization of the U.S. rail system.
    4. "Forty percent of the weight of NS 32N was grouped at the rear third of the train, which has always been bad practice," the statement continued. "This fact made the wreck dynamically worse. Increasingly the PSR-driven carriers, driven to cut costs and crew time by any means necessary, cut corners and leave crews and the public at risk.”
    5. The crash in Ohio "has been years in the making," the group added. "What other such train wrecks await us remains to be seen. But given the M.O. of corporate railroads, we can no doubt expect future disasters of this nature.”
34. Evacuation order lifted 4:16 PM February 8, 2023
    
    1. Governor DeWine announced the evacuation order was lifted and residents are allowed back home, just two days after the evacuation. The order was lifted after “air samples” quote showed safe readings, governor DeWine claimed. Ex. 41
    2. It’s just eerie how something that should be triumphant, you know, “Hey we saved the day, avoided the explosion,” you’d think they’d be at least slightly upbeat… if they really did everything in their power to save the people.
35. NewsNation reporter arrested during news conference 5:20 PM February 8, 2023
    
    1. During the news conference announcing the lifting of the evacuation order, reporter Evan Lambert was arrested by Major General John C Harris during a live report. TWELVE officers would follow General Harris to confront Evan Lambert, and General Harris is clearly seen assaulting Mr. Lambert. Charges were filed against Lambert for “Resisting Arrest” and “Criminal Tresspassing.”
    2. Ex. 42
    3. Ex. 41.b
36. Asked about the Evan Lambert arrest, D.O.D. press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder said this: February 10 2023
    
    1. Ex. 47
    2. Still no charges have been filed against Major General John C Harris Jr. For violating Mr. Lambert’s constitutional rights.
37. On February 10th, Alan releases his clean-up plan.
    
    1. This document confirms On February 8, 2023, when the evacuation order was lifted, all rail operations resumed
    2. This suggests, heavily, that “vent and burn” allowed Alan to resume making profit very quickly.
    3. This document also provides ZERO detail about what chemicals they are testing the air for.
38. West Virginia water utility takes precautionary measures 5:20 PM February 12, 2023
    
    1. West Virginia American Water said that it’s installing a secondary water intake in case they need to switch to an alternate water source. Read the full story here. This is a large investment for what the EPA claims is basically not a problem at all.
39. Alan announces an additional One-Million-Dollars of support to East Palestine, or roughly $212 per resident. Maybe they realized the initial offer of $25,000 looked a little stingy.
    
40. EPA releases list of hazardous materials on train 6:00 PM February 13, 2023
    
    1. 11 days after the crash, The EPA finally released a list of the biotoxins on board the train provided by Norfolk Southern, providing zero guidance or confirmation about combustion byproducts, such as, you know, Dioxin.
41. Gov. DeWine gives 3rd update since derailment 3:00 PM February 14, 2023
    
    1. Gov. DeWine provided his third news conference on the subject, for the first time revealing that the Norfolk Southern train was not classified as carrying highly hazardous materials, because “only some of the train cars were carrying toxic chemicals.”
    2. Ex. 50
    3. Gov. DeWine said he has no idea what happens when the plume goes up. Seems like something he might want to figure out.
42. PA Gov. Shapiro calls out Norfolk Southern for 'inaccurate information' 6:05 PM February 14, 2023
    
    1. In a letter to Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro expressed "serious concerns" over the company's handling of the Feb. 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio—located less than a mile away from the Pennsylvania border. Full story here. My opinion is that this sounds like the Governor blindly followed the guidance of Norfolk Southern to conduct the “controlled burn,” and after reviewing the aftermath versus what they sold him, he felt lied to.
    2. Ex. 51
43. Ohio AG drops charges against NewsNation reporter arrested 11:00 AM February 15, 2023
    
    1. 7 days after his arrest, The charges against Evan Lambert, the reporter arrested during Gov. DeWine's news conference, were dropped by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. No update was provided on charges being filed against General John C. Harris.
44. Gov. DeWine says municipal water safe to drink 4:30 PM February 15, 2023
    
    1. Test results in East Palestine's five water wells that feed the city's municipal water system showed no sign of contaminants as of Feb. 15, according to Gov. Mike DeWine.
    2. Ex. 54
45. Lawsuit filed against Norfolk Southern 9:30 PM February 15, 2023
    
    1. Morgan & Morgan filed a lawsuit against Norfolk Southern allgeging they “dumped 1.1 million pounds of vinyl chloride into East Palestine, Ohio"
    2. “I’m not sure Norfolk Southern could have come up with a worse plan to address this disaster,” said attorney John Morgan. “Residents exposed to vinyl chloride may already be undergoing DNA mutations that can linger for decades before manifesting as terrible and deadly cancers.” The lawsuit alleges that Norfolk Southern made it worse by quote “blasting the town with chemicals" as they focused on restoring train service and protecting their shareholders.”, according to the highly regarded law firm.
    3. The complaint goes on, saying, rather than taking safer, and more expensive efforts to properly clean up the spill, Norfolk Southern chose a cheaper, less safe method — ………. setting the spilled chemicals on fire, creating a 1-million-pound-plus chemical burn pit, and releasing toxic gas into the atmosphere.
    4. The firm has successfully litigated against major corporations in cases such as the 2010 BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
    5. Ex. 55
46. State Fire Marshal says firefighters likely didn't know about train's toxic cargo 7:00 PM February 17, 2023
    
    1. First responders rushed to put out the fire in East Palestine, but the Ohio Fire Marshal stated they were clearly unaware of the chemical weapon burning in the air around them, as nobody was in hazmat suits. Because the train was not classified as “Highly Hazardous,” none of the authorities had a list of the chemicals involved. Firefighters often do not know what they will encounter, so its our responsibility to keep these innocent heroes prepared for whatever fresh hell corporate america serves up this week, and take the necessary precautions. We already have heard from fire chief Keith Drabick they were fighting the fire until Norfolk Southern arrived and told them to stop. Notification of the material being transported is essential, it can provide advance notice during the dispatch before anyone leaves the fire house. Firefighters obviously need to be in hazmat suits when working in toxic smog. This is a very bad piece of the puzzle for Norfolk Southern.
47. Gov. DeWine announces FEMA to deploy to East Palestine 8:00 PM February 17, 2023
    
    1. 15 days after the wreck, a week after opening the 1-mile-radius back up and telling everyone it’s safe, Governor DeWine and FEMA Administrator Thomas Sivak announced FEMA will deploy an Incident Management Assistance Team (IMAT) and a Senior Response Official to support ongoing assessments of potential long term recovery needs according to a joint news release.
    2. Ex. 57
48. 8:00am February 18th: JD Vance demands dioxin air testing, 16 days after the wreck no tests for dioxins have been conducted.
    
    1. The EPA's handling of this is highly concerning. Despite the known presence of dioxin the toxin, the EPA failed to conduct any testing for it, effectively covering up the potential danger to public health. This lack of transparency and responsibility is unacceptable, and the EPA must be held accountable for its inaction.”
49. Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw visits East Palestine 11:00 AM February 18, 2023
    
    1. 16 days after the wreck, Alan Shaw, president and CEO of Norfolk Southern, showed up to East Palestine where he met with people including local officials, according to a press release from the rail company. Read more here.
50. Beachwood Athletics forfeits girls high school basketball playoff game due to proximity to East Palestine 5:50 PM February 18, 2023
    
    1. The Beachwood Athletics Department decided to forfeit the girls basketball playoff game against Crestview High School due to the "health and safety concerns" given the proximity to the train derailment in East Palestine, 8 miles away.
51. Cincinnati water utility reported no detectable chemicals in Ohio River 12:00 PM February 20, 2023
    
    1. Greater Cincinnati Water Works is reporting there are no detectable chemicals in the Ohio River intakes as contaminated water from the East Palestine train derailment reached the Cincinnati area. This would imply that the chemical slug had fully dissolved into the local ecosystem by that point, or they didn’t have the ability to test for the full spectrum of leaked contaminants.
52. February 20: Norfolk Southern Announces a total of $5.6 million to East Palestine for the inconvenience, roughly $1,200 per resident. This is 224 times more money than their initial offer of $25,000, yet still not close to enough to compensate for derailing 4700 lives.
    
53. 12:00 Noon, February 21: EPA top man Michael Regan holds a press conference
    
    1. Ex. 57
    2. The EPA is very obviously dodging information about dioxins throughout this presentation
54. February 21 A former official at the Federal Railroad Administration confirmed ECP brakes could have minimized or prevented the damage from the East Palestine derailment.
    
55. February 23 an independent environmental tester arrives with a grim warning
    
    1. Ex. 64
56. February 23 NTSB releases their preliminary report, calling the wreck “Completely Preventable”
    
    1. Here’s the NTSB’s statement
    2. She was very clearly NOT on board with the Vent-and-Burn
57. February 23 River Valley Organizing
    
    1. Ex 62 (a)
    2. Ex 62 (b)
58. February 24 Erin Brockovich arrives
    
    1. Ex. 66
59. February 25 FEMA and Department of Health field questions about Dioxin the Toxin
    
    1. Ex.
60. February 26 Residents of east palestine grow outraged
    
    1. Ex.
61. February 27
    
62. February 28
    
    1. Michael Regan addresses east palestine high school
    2. Michael Regan addresses east palestine

So we have a high-quality source that says East Paluhsteen was both preventable and deliberate negligence, yet nobody responsible is behind bars, or even held slightly accountable in any meaningful or significant way, for this crime. against. humanity.
I’ve reported diligently on this topic because it lights me on fire to hear news reporters talking with zero business expertise. The kind of intuition only earned through real life dealmaking.
Until one of these fellas in a suit-coat, gets to spend a serious amount of time in a place that looks like this, the safety of all innocent citizens, will not ever be properly “valued” in their quarterly profit and loss statement.
I’d say, in fact, every time we can point to a “Completely Preventable” crime against humanity, especially one obviously directly tied to corruption at the highest levels such as “ECP Brakes” and “Precision Scheduled Railroading,” I’d say several of these gentlemen in suitcoats could afford to spend a fair amount of time thinking about their actions.
Especially when their initial response amounted to $5.31 per resident in exchange for derailing their whole lives for a month now, and suddenly weeks later we’re learning they lied and drenched everyone in dioxin. Clearly these executives are out-of-touch with the consequences of their actions.
Let’s just do some simple math shall we?
If you get a drunk and disorderly in a bar, say it takes 15 minutes for them to have you in squad car.
Alan Shaw drenched East Palestine in dioxin nearly a month ago and still walks as a free man.
The drunk in a bar disrupted maybe 50 people for 15 minutes, that’s a total of 12 hours.
Alan Shaw disrupted maybe 5000 people for a month, that’s a total of 416 years, so far.
The drunk gets thrown in the drunk tank overnight and society calls it even.
So 30 years a piece for these chemical terrorists, and maybe society can call it even.
So yeah, that’s my recommendation to the States Attorneys General, 5,000 counts of gross criminal negligence, then, for a total of 30 years jailtime per Norfolk Southern Executive.
That would be a fair place to start, in my opinion. But this is a democracy, so instead let’s put it to a vote, then, what do the residents of East Palestine think?
If you don’t know what to think, I asked the superintelligence ChatGPT for answers for you, here’s what it said:
q.1. which dioxin variant would be suspect at the scene of a vent-and-burn of 10 tank cars full of vinyl chloride A.2. The most likely dioxin variant that would be present at the scene of a vent-and-burn of vinyl chloride is (TCDD)
The vent-and-burn is a significant event that would likely produce a large amount of TCDD and other dioxin variants as byproducts of combustion process. It’s important to take appropriate measures to protect the health and safety of first responders and nearby communities in the aftermath of such an event.
q.2. What are the least and most toxic dioxin variants?
A.2. The least toxic is OCDD, and the most toxic is TCDD
q.3. Norfolk Southern and the EPA failed to test for dioxin at the site of a vent-and-burn of tank cars full of vinyl chloride. Might this be considered criminal, and which laws might that have violated.
A.3. The failure to test for dioxin at the site of a vent-and-burn of tank cars full of vinyl chloride could be considered criminal if shown that they acted with gross negligence in violating applicable laws and regulations. The following laws or regulations may have been violated:
​

1. The RCRA is a federal law that governs the management of hazardous waste from cradle to grave. If the vinyl chloride released from the cars is classified as hazardous waste under the RCRA, Norfolk Southern and the EPA may have violated the law by failing to properly manage and test for the presence of dioxin at the site.
2. CERCLA, aka Superfund, is a federal law providing for the cleanup of hazardous waste sites. If the vent-and-burn site is determined to be a hazardous waste site under CERCLA, Norfolk Southern and the EPA may have violated the law by failing to properly investigate and clean up the site, including testing for the presence of dioxin.
3. The Clean Water Act is a federal law regulating the discharge of pollutants into navigable waters of the United States. If the vent-and-burn released pollutants into nearby bodies of water, Norfolk Southern and the EPA may have violated the CWA by failing to properly test and manage the pollution.

If criminal charges are pursued, it would be up to the prosecuting authority to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution and whether the evidence meets the legal requirements for charging and convicting individuals or organizations of criminal offenses.
Q4. The EPA is defending their actions by saying dioxin is an everyday chemical released by regular human activities such as a bonfire. Is this fair or does it grossly misrepresent the relative difference in different dioxin variants?
A4 The EPA's defense that dioxin is an everyday chemical released by regular human activities such as a bonfire is not entirely fair, as it ignores the fact that different dioxin variants have vastly different levels of toxicity. While it is true that dioxins can be formed as byproducts of certain types of combustion, such as the burning of wood or garbage, it is also true that some dioxin variants, such as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), are highly toxic and can cause a range of serious health effects, even at very low concentrations.
Comparing the toxicity of TCDD to that of other, less toxic dioxin variants, such as octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD), reveals that the EPA's defense does not accurately represent the relative differences in toxicity between different dioxin variants. While both TCDD and OCDD are technically "dioxins," the toxicity of TCDD is orders of magnitude higher than that of OCDD, and exposure to even very small amounts of TCDD can have serious health effects.
It is important to accurately characterize the toxicity of different dioxin variants and to take appropriate measures to minimize exposure to those that are highly toxic, such as TCDD. This includes proper management of hazardous waste and pollution, as well as monitoring and testing of potentially contaminated sites to ensure that appropriate cleanup and mitigation measures are taken.
Q.5 is it fair for the government to conveniently not address dioxin, in order to avoid public fears about the widespread release directly into the atmosphere?
No, it is not fair for the government to conveniently not address the issue of dioxin in order to avoid public fears about the widespread release directly into the atmosphere. The government has a responsibility to be transparent with the public about potential risks to human health and the environment, especially in situations where hazardous substances have been released into the environment.
Failing to address the issue of dioxin and its potential health effects would be a disservice to the public, as it could prevent individuals from taking appropriate precautions to protect themselves and their families. In addition, it could lead to a loss of trust in government and other regulatory bodies tasked with protecting public health and safety.
Q6. how far will the dioxin spead over 5 years after vinyl chloride being vented and burned
It is difficult to predict with certainty how far dioxin may spread over a period of five years after vinyl chloride is vented and burned. The spread of dioxin will depend on many factors, including the amount and concentration of dioxin released, the environmental conditions in the surrounding area, and the extent to which the dioxin is transported through air, water, or other media.
Dioxin is a persistent organic pollutant that can travel long distances through the air and water. Its movement can be influenced by factors such as wind patterns, precipitation, and temperature. In addition, dioxin can adhere to soil and other surfaces, where it can persist for years and be transported through runoff or erosion.
Given the persistence and mobility of dioxin, it is possible that it could spread over a wide area over a period of five years after a release event. However, the actual extent of the spread will depend on many factors, as mentioned above. It is important to note that the health effects of exposure to dioxin are cumulative and can take years to manifest, so continued monitoring and testing may be necessary to assess the long-term health impacts of a dioxin release.

March - Themes! For the month of March, what is your favorite park or daytrip in the CHS area?

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Commonly Asked Questions		Links to great discussions
What should I know before moving?		Things to Know, To move or not to move?
Where should I live?	General Area	Thread1 Thread2
	Summerville	Holy Grail of Summerville Thread
	Beyond Summerville (Svl)
	Hanahan
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	West Ashley (WA)
	WA - Avondale
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	Mount Pleasant (MTP)	Rent in MTP MTP Local's Insight, Thread1, Thread2
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	NChas - Park Circle	Thread1 Thread2, Internet Providers
Should I rent or buy?
What does the job market look like?
My budget is XYZ, what should I do?
What are the must see's for someone who just moved here?
Making Friends		Thread1 Thread2
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Affordable housing		Thread1 Thread2
Insurance		Home1, Home2, Renters, Earthquake, Flood1, Flood2, FEMA Flood Maps - Check your elevations.
Hurricanes, do I need to worry about them?		General Hurricane Prep, Thread1, Thread2, Thread3
Moving Companies		Moving companiesMoving Companies 2
Anything and everything else		Car Inspections, Utility Cost

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Previous threads:

• https://www.reddit.com/Charleston/comments/mwb768/thinking_about_moving_to_charleston_moving_to/
• https://www.reddit.com/Charleston/comments/n3h1pz/thinking_about_moving_to_charleston_moving_to/
• https://www.reddit.com/Charleston/comments/nqkto8/thinking_about_moving_to_charleston_moving_to/
• https://www.reddit.com/Charleston/comments/pwitra/thinking_about_moving_to_charleston_moving_to/
• https://www.reddit.com/Charleston/comments/s0nnow/new_year_new_moving_mega_thread_thinking_about/
• https://www.reddit.com/Charleston/comments/w1cybd/midyear_refresh_thinking_about_moving_to/
• https://www.reddit.com/Charleston/comments/10cvdd3/january_moving_thread_thinking_about_moving_o

Hi! I’m a political science student at Boston University. I’m working on a project to inform and connect Boston residents and communities with their local government by creating and distributing a weekly newsletter summarizing Boston City Council meetings. My goal is to make important government proceedings accessible so busy people can understand what is going on in their city and how they might be affected by new policies. If anyone is interested in a quick digestible update on Boston government I have included my newsletter and the link to get free weekly information about local issues important to life in Boston. Previous suggestions have been super helpful so any and all feedback is appreciated!
Boston City Council Meeting: 2/1/2023
Duration: 1 hour 49 minutes
Attendance: All present
Referred from Committee on Government Operations:

• Ordinance establishing an Office of Participatory Budgeting which will include a director and external oversight board made of residents and city leaders to allow residents to engage with the budgeting process and make recommendations for future projects. Will remain in committee. The next hearing is Tuesday Feb 7 at 2:00 pm. (0100) Sponsor: Arroyo

Referred from Committee on Ways and Means:

• $21.6 million authorized to spend on School maintenance, of which $12.7 million will be reimbursed from the state. First reading and passage, assigned for further action. (0111) Sponsor: Fernandes Anderson

Referred from Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice:

• $5 million dollar grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to Boston to reimburse expenses related to the Blizzard of last January. (0114)

Passed unanimously Sponsor: Flaherty

• $2.25 million dollar grant for training and equipment for the Fire Department Training Academy and the tactical rescue division. (0115) Passed unanimously Sponsor: Flaherty

Motions Referred to Committees:
Committee on Government Accountability, transparency, and accessibility

• Hearing to get 9,000 teachers $16 million in back pay. (0341) Sponsor: Murphy

Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation:

• Hearing to discuss regulating ride-share companies and protecting local taxi cab businesses. Councilors suggested money for job training, involving unions to represent taxi drivers and dispatchers, eliminating the double standard of regulation for ride-share companies and taxi companies and grants for electric taxis. (0342) Sponsors: Lara and Baker
• Hearing calling for an end to development on city-owned land in district seven prior to a proposal process. Fernandes Anderson argues public low-income housing developments are already concentrated in Roxbury and should be shared more equitably between neighborhoods. She argues district seven should receive types of community investment seen in other districts such as senior centers, recreational areas, etc. (0343) Sponsors: Fernandes Anderson, Louijeune
• An order temporarily extending Urban Renewal Plans in the City of Boston until 2025 or until passage of a relevant Home Rule Petition. (0324)

Committee on City Services and Innovation Technology:

• Hearing to inform residents not using Boston’s Community Choice Electricity program (CCE), which allows Boston to use collective buying power to get competitive prices for energy, about the higher costs of third-party energy suppliers and encourage them to adopt CCE. Councilors mentioned third party sellers are most common in majority-minority communities, Boston residents are experiencing a 60% increase in energy costs over last year, and Boston’s average cost is 70% higher than the national average. (0340) Sponsor: Lara
• Order directing $164,448 from the reserve for collective bargaining to fund wage increases between 2% and 2.5% within the Boston School Department. (0362/0363)
• Order directing $1,283,486 from the reserve for collective bargaining to fund wage increases between 2% and 2.5% for members of the Painters Allied Trades Council. (0364/0365)

Committee on Arts, Culture, and Special Events:

• Hearing to bring NBA all-star weekend 2026 to Boston. Councilors mentioned: its potential business investment, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has suggested it in the past, the MLB all-star game had a great effect on the city in 1999, and it can raise the profile of the city. (0335) Sponsors: Worrell, Flynn, Louijeune
• Hearing discussing a constituent’s idea for making Boston parks and outdoor events more usable in winter. (0334) Sponsor: Lara

Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice:

• Authorization to spend $1,722,764.20 on Boston Fire Department Hazard Response Team. (0325)
• $300,000 grant from the state Department of Fire Services to fund renovations at Engine 8/Ladder 1 in the North End. (0326)

Committee on Housing and Community Development:

• Hearing for an update on the BHA program focusing on home ownership. (0337) Sponsors: Worrell, Fernandes Anderson

Committee on Labor, Workforce, and Economic Development:

• Hearing to get an update on equity numbers from the administration for city contracts. (0338) Sponsors: Worrell, Fernandes Anderson

Committee on Government Operations:

• Proposal to improve planning and community development. (0323)

Committee on Rules and Administration:

• Hearing to familiarize everyone with the city council rules. (0339) Sponsor: Flynn

Passed Unanimously:

• Resolution promoting the Census around Boston to increase response rates. (0344) Sponsors: Flynn
• Resolution creating a memorial hero square in Jamaica plain honoring WWII veteran Paul Xavier Hogan. (0345) Sponsors: Lara, Flynn, Fernandes Anderson
• Resolution recognizing Feb 27 2023 as Dominican Independence Day. (0346) Sponsors: Lara, Mejia, Fernandes Anderson
• Clerical correction on the spelling of a name in a file waiving the maximum age requirement for a police officer. (0333) Sponsor: Baker

General:

• Celebration of Black History Month Feb 15th in City Hall
• Students at Richard J Murphy School in Dorchester celebrated
• French Exchange Students at Roxbury Latin School celebrated

Late files:

• 0362-0367 added unanimously
• 0366, 0367 placed on file

Consent Agenda:

• Adopted

Resources:

• The city council meeting video and minutes are available here
• Use this link to access the city council calendar with meeting agenda and minutes.
• To find information about who your Council Member is, use this link to look up your address.
• To get more details about any bill or resolution, use this link to search by number or topic.
• If you have any questions you would like answered by the city council or any feedback on this newsletter, please email us at [info@purplely.org](mailto:info@purplely.org).
• Sign up here to receive this letter after every city council meeting.

Hi! I’m a political science student at Boston University. I’m working on a project to inform and connect Boston residents and communities with their local government by creating and distributing a weekly newsletter summarizing Boston City Council meetings. My goal is to make important government proceedings accessible so busy people can understand what is going on in their city and how they might be affected by new policies. If anyone is interested in a quick digestible update on Boston government I have included my newsletter and the link to get free weekly information about local issues important to life in Boston. Previous suggestions have been super helpful so any and all feedback is appreciated!
Boston City Council Meeting: 2/1/2023
Duration: 1 hour 49 minutes
Attendance: All present
Referred from Committee on Government Operations:

• Ordinance establishing an Office of Participatory Budgeting which will include a director and external oversight board made of residents and city leaders to allow residents to engage with the budgeting process and make recommendations for future projects. Will remain in committee. The next hearing is Tuesday Feb 7 at 2:00 pm. (0100) Sponsor: Arroyo

Referred from Committee on Ways and Means:

• $21.6 million authorized to spend on School maintenance, of which $12.7 million will be reimbursed from the state. First reading and passage, assigned for further action. (0111) Sponsor: Fernandes Anderson

Referred from Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice:

• $5 million dollar grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to Boston to reimburse expenses related to the Blizzard of last January. (0114)

Passed unanimously Sponsor: Flaherty

• $2.25 million dollar grant for training and equipment for the Fire Department Training Academy and the tactical rescue division. (0115) Passed unanimously Sponsor: Flaherty

Motions Referred to Committees:
Committee on Government Accountability, transparency, and accessibility

• Hearing to get 9,000 teachers $16 million in back pay. (0341) Sponsor: Murphy

Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation:

• Hearing to discuss regulating ride-share companies and protecting local taxi cab businesses. Councilors suggested money for job training, involving unions to represent taxi drivers and dispatchers, eliminating the double standard of regulation for ride-share companies and taxi companies and grants for electric taxis. (0342) Sponsors: Lara and Baker
• Hearing calling for an end to development on city-owned land in district seven prior to a proposal process. Fernandes Anderson argues public low-income housing developments are already concentrated in Roxbury and should be shared more equitably between neighborhoods. She argues district seven should receive types of community investment seen in other districts such as senior centers, recreational areas, etc. (0343) Sponsors: Fernandes Anderson, Louijeune
• An order temporarily extending Urban Renewal Plans in the City of Boston until 2025 or until passage of a relevant Home Rule Petition. (0324)

Committee on City Services and Innovation Technology:

• Hearing to inform residents not using Boston’s Community Choice Electricity program (CCE), which allows Boston to use collective buying power to get competitive prices for energy, about the higher costs of third-party energy suppliers and encourage them to adopt CCE. Councilors mentioned third party sellers are most common in majority-minority communities, Boston residents are experiencing a 60% increase in energy costs over last year, and Boston’s average cost is 70% higher than the national average. (0340) Sponsor: Lara
• Order directing $164,448 from the reserve for collective bargaining to fund wage increases between 2% and 2.5% within the Boston School Department. (0362/0363)
• Order directing $1,283,486 from the reserve for collective bargaining to fund wage increases between 2% and 2.5% for members of the Painters Allied Trades Council. (0364/0365)

Committee on Arts, Culture, and Special Events:

• Hearing to bring NBA all-star weekend 2026 to Boston. Councilors mentioned: its potential business investment, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has suggested it in the past, the MLB all-star game had a great effect on the city in 1999, and it can raise the profile of the city. (0335) Sponsors: Worrell, Flynn, Louijeune
• Hearing discussing a constituent’s idea for making Boston parks and outdoor events more usable in winter. (0334) Sponsor: Lara

Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice:

• Authorization to spend $1,722,764.20 on Boston Fire Department Hazard Response Team. (0325)
• $300,000 grant from the state Department of Fire Services to fund renovations at Engine 8/Ladder 1 in the North End. (0326)

Committee on Housing and Community Development:

• Hearing for an update on the BHA program focusing on home ownership. (0337) Sponsors: Worrell, Fernandes Anderson

Committee on Labor, Workforce, and Economic Development:

• Hearing to get an update on equity numbers from the administration for city contracts. (0338) Sponsors: Worrell, Fernandes Anderson

Committee on Government Operations:

• Proposal to improve planning and community development. (0323)

Committee on Rules and Administration:

• Hearing to familiarize everyone with the city council rules. (0339) Sponsor: Flynn

Passed Unanimously:

• Resolution promoting the Census around Boston to increase response rates. (0344) Sponsors: Flynn
• Resolution creating a memorial hero square in Jamaica plain honoring WWII veteran Paul Xavier Hogan. (0345) Sponsors: Lara, Flynn, Fernandes Anderson
• Resolution recognizing Feb 27 2023 as Dominican Independence Day. (0346) Sponsors: Lara, Mejia, Fernandes Anderson
• Clerical correction on the spelling of a name in a file waiving the maximum age requirement for a police officer. (0333) Sponsor: Baker

General:

• Celebration of Black History Month Feb 15th in City Hall
• Students at Richard J Murphy School in Dorchester celebrated
• French Exchange Students at Roxbury Latin School celebrated

Late files:

• 0362-0367 added unanimously
• 0366, 0367 placed on file

Consent Agenda:

• Adopted

Resources:

• The city council meeting video and minutes are available here
• Use this link to access the city council calendar with meeting agenda and minutes.
• To find information about who your Council Member is, use this link to look up your address.
• To get more details about any bill or resolution, use this link to search by number or topic.
• If you have any questions you would like answered by the city council or any feedback on this newsletter, please email us at [info@purplely.org](mailto:info@purplely.org).
• Sign up here to receive this letter after every city council meeting.

Hi! I’m a political science student and I’m working on a project to inform and connect Boston residents and communities with their local government by creating and distributing a weekly newsletter summarizing Boston City Council meetings. My goal is to make important government proceedings accessible so busy people can understand what is going on in their city and how they might be affected by new policies. If anyone is interested in a quick digestible update on Boston government I have included my newsletter and the link to get free weekly information about local issues important to life in Boston. Previous suggestions have been super helpful so any and all feedback is appreciated!
Boston City Council Meeting: 2/1/2023
Duration: 1 hour 49 minutes
Attendance: All present
Referred from Committee on Government Operations:

• Ordinance establishing an Office of Participatory Budgeting which will include a director and external oversight board made of residents and city leaders to allow residents to engage with the budgeting process and make recommendations for future projects. Will remain in committee. The next hearing is Tuesday Feb 7 at 2:00 pm. (0100) Sponsor: Arroyo

Referred from Committee on Ways and Means:

• $21.6 million authorized to spend on School maintenance, of which $12.7 million will be reimbursed from the state. First reading and passage, assigned for further action. (0111) Sponsor: Fernandes Anderson

Referred from Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice:

• $5 million dollar grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to Boston to reimburse expenses related to the Blizzard of last January. (0114)

Passed unanimously Sponsor: Flaherty

• $2.25 million dollar grant for training and equipment for the Fire Department Training Academy and the tactical rescue division. (0115) Passed unanimously Sponsor: Flaherty

Motions Referred to Committees:
Committee on Government Accountability, transparency, and accessibility

• Hearing to get 9,000 teachers $16 million in back pay. (0341) Sponsor: Murphy

Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation:

• Hearing to discuss regulating ride-share companies and protecting local taxi cab businesses. Councilors suggested money for job training, involving unions to represent taxi drivers and dispatchers, eliminating the double standard of regulation for ride-share companies and taxi companies and grants for electric taxis. (0342) Sponsors: Lara and Baker
• Hearing calling for an end to development on city-owned land in district seven prior to a proposal process. Fernandes Anderson argues public low-income housing developments are already concentrated in Roxbury and should be shared more equitably between neighborhoods. She argues district seven should receive types of community investment seen in other districts such as senior centers, recreational areas, etc. (0343) Sponsors: Fernandes Anderson, Louijeune
• An order temporarily extending Urban Renewal Plans in the City of Boston until 2025 or until passage of a relevant Home Rule Petition. (0324)

Committee on City Services and Innovation Technology:

• Hearing to inform residents not using Boston’s Community Choice Electricity program (CCE), which allows Boston to use collective buying power to get competitive prices for energy, about the higher costs of third-party energy suppliers and encourage them to adopt CCE. Councilors mentioned third party sellers are most common in majority-minority communities, Boston residents are experiencing a 60% increase in energy costs over last year, and Boston’s average cost is 70% higher than the national average. (0340) Sponsor: Lara
• Order directing $164,448 from the reserve for collective bargaining to fund wage increases between 2% and 2.5% within the Boston School Department. (0362/0363)
• Order directing $1,283,486 from the reserve for collective bargaining to fund wage increases between 2% and 2.5% for members of the Painters Allied Trades Council. (0364/0365)

Committee on Arts, Culture, and Special Events:

• Hearing to bring NBA all-star weekend 2026 to Boston. Councilors mentioned: its potential business investment, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has suggested it in the past, the MLB all-star game had a great effect on the city in 1999, and it can raise the profile of the city. (0335) Sponsors: Worrell, Flynn, Louijeune
• Hearing discussing a constituent’s idea for making Boston parks and outdoor events more usable in winter. (0334) Sponsor: Lara

Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice:

• Authorization to spend $1,722,764.20 on Boston Fire Department Hazard Response Team. (0325)
• $300,000 grant from the state Department of Fire Services to fund renovations at Engine 8/Ladder 1 in the North End. (0326)

Committee on Housing and Community Development:

• Hearing for an update on the BHA program focusing on home ownership. (0337) Sponsors: Worrell, Fernandes Anderson

Committee on Labor, Workforce, and Economic Development:

• Hearing to get an update on equity numbers from the administration for city contracts. (0338) Sponsors: Worrell, Fernandes Anderson

Committee on Government Operations:

• Proposal to improve planning and community development. (0323)

Committee on Rules and Administration:

• Hearing to familiarize everyone with the city council rules. (0339) Sponsor: Flynn

Passed Unanimously:

• Resolution promoting the Census around Boston to increase response rates. (0344) Sponsors: Flynn
• Resolution creating a memorial hero square in Jamaica plain honoring WWII veteran Paul Xavier Hogan. (0345) Sponsors: Lara, Flynn, Fernandes Anderson
• Resolution recognizing Feb 27 2023 as Dominican Independence Day. (0346) Sponsors: Lara, Mejia, Fernandes Anderson
• Clerical correction on the spelling of a name in a file waiving the maximum age requirement for a police officer. (0333) Sponsor: Baker

General:

• Celebration of Black History Month Feb 15th in City Hall
• Students at Richard J Murphy School in Dorchester celebrated
• French Exchange Students at Roxbury Latin School celebrated

Late files:

• 0362-0367 added unanimously
• 0366, 0367 placed on file

Consent Agenda:

• Adopted

Resources:

• The city council meeting video and minutes are available here
• Use this link to access the city council calendar with meeting agenda and minutes.
• To find information about who your Council Member is, use this link to look up your address.
• To get more details about any bill or resolution, use this link to search by number or topic.
• If you have any questions you would like answered by the city council or any feedback on this newsletter, please email us at [info@purplely.org](mailto:info@purplely.org).
• Sign up here to receive this letter after every city council meeting.

Hi! I’m a political science student at Boston University. I’m working on a project to inform and connect Boston residents and communities with their local government by creating and distributing a weekly newsletter summarizing Boston City Council meetings. My goal is to make important government proceedings accessible so busy people can understand what is going on in their city and how they might be affected by new policies. If anyone is interested in a quick digestible update on Boston government I have included my newsletter and the link to get free weekly information about local issues important to life in Boston. Previous suggestions have been super helpful so any and all feedback is appreciated!
Boston City Council Meeting: 2/1/2023
Duration: 1 hour 49 minutes
Attendance: All present
Referred from Committee on Government Operations:

• Ordinance establishing an Office of Participatory Budgeting which will include a director and external oversight board made of residents and city leaders to allow residents to engage with the budgeting process and make recommendations for future projects. Will remain in committee. The next hearing is Tuesday Feb 7 at 2:00 pm. (0100) Sponsor: Arroyo

Referred from Committee on Ways and Means:

• $21.6 million authorized to spend on School maintenance, of which $12.7 million will be reimbursed from the state. First reading and passage, assigned for further action. (0111) Sponsor: Fernandes Anderson

Referred from Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice:

• $5 million dollar grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to Boston to reimburse expenses related to the Blizzard of last January. (0114)

Passed unanimously Sponsor: Flaherty

• $2.25 million dollar grant for training and equipment for the Fire Department Training Academy and the tactical rescue division. (0115) Passed unanimously Sponsor: Flaherty

Motions Referred to Committees:
Committee on Government Accountability, transparency, and accessibility

• Hearing to get 9,000 teachers $16 million in back pay. (0341) Sponsor: Murphy

Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation:

• Hearing to discuss regulating ride-share companies and protecting local taxi cab businesses. Councilors suggested money for job training, involving unions to represent taxi drivers and dispatchers, eliminating the double standard of regulation for ride-share companies and taxi companies and grants for electric taxis. (0342) Sponsors: Lara and Baker
• Hearing calling for an end to development on city-owned land in district seven prior to a proposal process. Fernandes Anderson argues public low-income housing developments are already concentrated in Roxbury and should be shared more equitably between neighborhoods. She argues district seven should receive types of community investment seen in other districts such as senior centers, recreational areas, etc. (0343) Sponsors: Fernandes Anderson, Louijeune
• An order temporarily extending Urban Renewal Plans in the City of Boston until 2025 or until passage of a relevant Home Rule Petition. (0324)

Committee on City Services and Innovation Technology:

• Hearing to inform residents not using Boston’s Community Choice Electricity program (CCE), which allows Boston to use collective buying power to get competitive prices for energy, about the higher costs of third-party energy suppliers and encourage them to adopt CCE. Councilors mentioned third party sellers are most common in majority-minority communities, Boston residents are experiencing a 60% increase in energy costs over last year, and Boston’s average cost is 70% higher than the national average. (0340) Sponsor: Lara
• Order directing $164,448 from the reserve for collective bargaining to fund wage increases between 2% and 2.5% within the Boston School Department. (0362/0363)
• Order directing $1,283,486 from the reserve for collective bargaining to fund wage increases between 2% and 2.5% for members of the Painters Allied Trades Council. (0364/0365)

Committee on Arts, Culture, and Special Events:

• Hearing to bring NBA all-star weekend 2026 to Boston. Councilors mentioned: its potential business investment, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has suggested it in the past, the MLB all-star game had a great effect on the city in 1999, and it can raise the profile of the city. (0335) Sponsors: Worrell, Flynn, Louijeune
• Hearing discussing a constituent’s idea for making Boston parks and outdoor events more usable in winter. (0334) Sponsor: Lara

Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice:

• Authorization to spend $1,722,764.20 on Boston Fire Department Hazard Response Team. (0325)
• $300,000 grant from the state Department of Fire Services to fund renovations at Engine 8/Ladder 1 in the North End. (0326)

Committee on Housing and Community Development:

• Hearing for an update on the BHA program focusing on home ownership. (0337) Sponsors: Worrell, Fernandes Anderson

Committee on Labor, Workforce, and Economic Development:

• Hearing to get an update on equity numbers from the administration for city contracts. (0338) Sponsors: Worrell, Fernandes Anderson

Committee on Government Operations:

• Proposal to improve planning and community development. (0323)

Committee on Rules and Administration:

• Hearing to familiarize everyone with the city council rules. (0339) Sponsor: Flynn

Passed Unanimously:

• Resolution promoting the Census around Boston to increase response rates. (0344) Sponsors: Flynn
• Resolution creating a memorial hero square in Jamaica plain honoring WWII veteran Paul Xavier Hogan. (0345) Sponsors: Lara, Flynn, Fernandes Anderson
• Resolution recognizing Feb 27 2023 as Dominican Independence Day. (0346) Sponsors: Lara, Mejia, Fernandes Anderson
• Clerical correction on the spelling of a name in a file waiving the maximum age requirement for a police officer. (0333) Sponsor: Baker

General:

• Celebration of Black History Month Feb 15th in City Hall
• Students at Richard J Murphy School in Dorchester celebrated
• French Exchange Students at Roxbury Latin School celebrated

Late files:

• 0362-0367 added unanimously
• 0366, 0367 placed on file

Consent Agenda:

• Adopted

Resources:

• The city council meeting video and minutes are available here
• Use this link to access the city council calendar with meeting agenda and minutes.
• To find information about who your Council Member is, use this link to look up your address.
• To get more details about any bill or resolution, use this link to search by number or topic.
• If you have any questions you would like answered by the city council or any feedback on this newsletter, please email us at [info@purplely.org](mailto:info@purplely.org).
• Sign up here to receive this letter after every city council meeting.