Biden administration comes under fire for response while East Palestine residents worry about long-term health implications
Joe Biden received a briefing on Friday on the multi-agency response to the derailment in Ohio of a freight train carrying toxic chemicals, as his administration came under criticism and safety regulators said the incident had been “100% preventable” – although the train crew were not at fault.
The White House said the US president was being briefed a day after transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg visited East Palestine for the first time since the toxic spill and fire three weeks ago.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair Jennifer Homendy expressed concern about rail safety measures, as the agency released an interim report.
“We know for a fact what caused this derailment,” Homendy said on CNN on Friday morning, indicating that it was the dramatic overheating of a specific wheel bearing, and the fact that sensors on the track did not catch that overheating until it was too late.
“The crew did not do anything wrong,” she said, noting that they had responded correctly to an alarm but the train derailed anyway on 3 February.
“Now it’s looking at how we got there,” Homendy said. “What conditions were present to allow that to happen? And then we’re going to look at what would prevent it from reoccurring in the future.”
The NTSB said 38 cars had derailed and that a fire had damaged 12 more. Of those that derailed, 11 carried hazardous materials.
Asked by CNN if the safety systems were “inadequate”, Homendy noted that they were set by the rail company in question, Norfolk Southern, and not by government. “Those temperature thresholds are not set by regulation. They are not set by guidance. They vary by railroad and it’s their decision,” she said.
The NTSB has “a lot of questions”, Homendy added, “about the [safety] thresholds and why they vary so much between railroads. Why aren’t they more conservative? Should they be lower? All these are questions we are going to ask repeatedly in our investigation.”
Homendy also noted that in 2014 the NTSB recommended more categories of chemicals be covered by regulations on hazardous material.
On Friday, Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine, announced that contaminated waste from the spill site will be transported to a site near Detroit, Michigan, for disposal while contaminated water would be shipped to a site near Houston, immediately sparking further environmental concerns about transportation and pollution.
Meanwhile high-profile visits by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) chief and other state and national leaders have done little to counteract the distrust and anger in East Palestine and the region about the official response.
A police officer based in Darlington Township, just over the state line in Pennsylvania, was at the disaster scene within four hours on Friday 3 February, and then for more than 20 hours over the following few days. He spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to discuss the matter.
“We were never given the heads-up about what was on the train, there was a lack of communication, and were never told to put on protective hazmat gear, so I didn’t wear anything. The PPE [personal protective equipment] we have dates back to 2010 anyway, so what good was that,” he said.
He also added: “We’re sending billions to Ukraine, but there’s no money for us.”
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Good News! Alabama Secretary of State Officially Announces State’s Withdrawal from Failed and Corrupt ERIC Voter Roll System
For decades the Democrats and leftists have fought ferociously to prevent the cleanup of State voter registration rolls. Recognizing a potential niche, left wing activists created ERIC to clean voter rolls their way, using their rules. So in 2012 the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) was formed as a membership organization primarily for blue States. ERIC is essentially a left wing voter registration drive disguised as voter roll clean up. But it’s been gaining traction in Red States too. Originally funded by the Soros Open Society, it is now responsible for cleaning the voter rolls in 31 States, plus D.C. A top election official from each member State is appointed a seat on the ERIC Board or as an Officer, all unpaid positions.
ERIC located 17 million new voters for the 2020 election, the most in the history of their organization. For comparison, they only found 5.7 million in 2012, Obama’s reelection.
The ERIC database is comprehensive and would be one of the most coveted by bad actors looking to influence an election. Member States must not only submit all details on inactive and active voters to ERIC every 60 days. But they must also provide every individual in their states Motor Vehicle Department database, both licensed and ID recipients. This combo of data is breathtaking. It’s everyone who could generate a legal ballot. It includes those approaching voting age, even those here illegally yet issued an ID by their left leaning State. This data includes names, addresses, DOB, License #, last 4 of social #, voter activity, phone, email, title and type of citizenship documentation, and much more!
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ERIC Empty: Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen Visits ERIC Headquarters in Washington DC – But Nobody was There, There Were No Servers, There Were No Computers, There Were No Employees
After he won his election, Alabama’s new Secretary of State, Wes Allen, withdrew the state from the ERIC voter registration system.
The Gateway Pundit commends Mr. Allen for keeping his campaign promise to protect elections and secure the personal information of Alabama residents.
However, Mr. Allen was not done with ERIC. He was in the Washington D.C. area last week for the 2023 NASS Winter Conference. It’s the annual meeting for all Secretary of States. In a brilliant move, he decided to visit the published address for ERIC’s headquarters. That address is 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Ste 600, Washington, DC 20036.
Allen said, “Since I was in town, I went to see the ERIC Headquarters. What I found was that there was no ERIC headquarters at that address. There were no employees. There were no servers. There was no ERIC presence of any kind. Instead. I found a virtual office that is rentable by the day. What it was missing was people, servers and any sign of the ERIC team.”
This 12 story location, known as the Longfellow Building, is partly operated by a company called Expansive. They offer virtual workspaces across the country and rent space by the day. Other companies offer this same exact 6th floor Suite 600 address for rent too. In fact, the Global Innovation Fund, Dezenhall Resources, Grassroots Plus, and other businesses have the exact same address, including the same suite number, as ERIC’s headquarters.
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What is ERIC and Why You Should Care
ERIC located 17 million new voters for the 2020 election
For decades the Democrats and leftists have fought ferociously to prevent the cleanup of State voter registration rolls. Recognizing a potential niche, left wing activists created ERIC to clean voter rolls their way, using their rules. So in 2012 the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) was formed as a membership organization primarily for blue States. ERIC is essentially a left wing voter registration drive disguised as voter roll clean up. But it’s been gaining traction in Red States too. Originally funded by the Soros Open Society, it is now responsible for cleaning the voter rolls in 31 States, plus D.C. A top election official from each member State is appointed a seat on the ERIC Board or as an Officer, all unpaid positions.
ERIC located 17 million new voters for the 2020 election, the most in the history of their organization. For comparison, they only found 5.7 million in 2012, Obama’s reelection.
The ERIC database is comprehensive and would be one of the most coveted by bad actors looking to influence an election. Member States must not only submit all details on inactive and active voters to ERIC every 60 days. But they must also provide every individual in their states Motor Vehicle Department database, both licensed and ID recipients. This combo of data is breathtaking. It’s everyone who could generate a legal ballot. It includes those approaching voting age, even those here illegally yet issued an ID by their left leaning State. This data includes names, addresses, DOB, License #, last 4 of social #, voter activity, phone, email, title and type of citizenship documentation, and much more.
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Trudeau rules out public inquiry into Chinese electoral interference
Justin Trudeau is ruling out a public inquiry to examine China’s interference in Canada’s democracy and once again insisted that Beijing-directed influence activities did not affect the outcome of the 2019 and 2021 elections.
Speaking to reporters in Toronto marking the first anniversary of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine, the Prime Minister said he is satisfied with hearings now being conducted by a parliamentary committee into the past two election campaigns.
“I applaud the work by parliamentary committees to monitor the situation,” Mr. Trudeau said when asked if he would set up a public inquiry as requested by former chief electoral officer Jean-Pierre Kingsley.
Mr. Kingsley this week said an independent inquiry is necessary because the Chinese interference operations outlined in leaked secret and top-secret Canadian Security Intelligence Service reports, which were viewed by The Globe and Mail, threaten to undermine confidence in the electoral system. He said Canadians must be able to “trust that the electoral process is not being tampered with by a foreign government.”
On Friday, the Prime Minister continued to insist that any interference by China did not alter the outcome of the two elections, which returned the Liberals to power in minority Parliaments.
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