as-king.bsky.social
Author of books. Maker of art. Speaker of speeches. Part squid/part earthquake. Literacy fanatic. Lover of corn. Ardent supporter of teenagers. Founder of š³ļøāš Gracie's House: www.gracieshouse.com.
She/her https://linktr.ee/AS_King
130 posts
2,173 followers
1,964 following
Regular Contributor
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I needed this guy so much today.
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Hooker is still poisoning peopleāexcept a majority of the men who dumped those barrels are no longer alive.
The chemicals are.
And they will be for a long time.
All to say: in a time of powerful rich men full of toxic lies and propaganda, be a Dobson. Be a Bennett. Be a Lois Gibbs.
Speak up.
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Heroes never really know how their actions will matter until they act heroically.
Dobsonās whistleblowing came after editor Darwin Bennettās refusal to be silenced no matter how heavy the threats.
Sadly, toxic waste doesnāt just go away. In Love Canal, and in all the dump locations. . .
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Warren Dobson was a former worker at the Hooker plant. He reported the illegal dumping. Thatās what broke the story. The heroes willing to speak up. The Michigan DNR came in and did their job. The company was fined and civil suits ensued.
But I keep thinking about the front page of the Observer.
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Hooker chemical employed a lot of people in that little town. Same in Niagara Falls, too, where Lois Gibbs was fighting for her community. Many people felt they had to side with the folks who were poisoning their families. Until they didnāt anymore.
The Michigan story started w/ another brave man.
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āFor weeks Iāve agonized over what to do about these attempts at censorship of the news. . . We will not carry any more news concerning state action against this company, just a blank story where the story should have appeared.ā
āIām sure the firm would rather you call them for any information.ā
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So after the White Lake Observer editor was threatened, rather than print the stories he had about Hookerās crimes, he left areas of the front page completely blank.
And he wrote an accompanying column apologizing for ānot printing all the news this week.ā
It gets better.
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More than 20,000 barrels of [leaking] toxic waste were piled outside the plant there, and there was proof Hooker knew how dangerous their dumping was. They were already trying to brainwash the public through a bold propaganda advertising campaign that worked. Until it didnāt.
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If that name sounds familiar, Hooker Chemical was also the cause of the Love Canal disaster in Niagara Falls, NY, and several other toxic waste disasters around Niagara, Michigan, and beyond.
Anyway. The White Lake Observer was heavily āpressuredā [threatened] by Hooker to not report the story.
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Yeah. It was a memorable letter. On distinctive letterhead. Kinda canāt wait to find it and add it to the archives. It can live forever thanks to librarians. šŗ
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Facts. The rest of the letter was as amazingly out of touch as the opening. I still have it.
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Thank you.
I had far worse things happen after that tragedy. If I told you, your jaw would be on the floor a while. It taught me a lot about people, for sure.
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This. So much this.
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PERFECT ANSWER! *chefās kiss*
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Iāll start.
*I slept in most days until I felt rested.
*I became a cat.
*I got the zoomies.
*I scratched the wallpaper right of the wall because I felt like it.
*I shat on the kitchen floor and then became immortal.
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Yeah. That must be so much better. Itās a lot easier for me on the other side as a researcher for sure.
Itās funny. I have to go to look at some microfilm next week and I asked was it indexed, and the librarian was like, unfortunately no. Oof. I am so lucky I have dates for the articles I need.
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Itās becoming a series.
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I will talk to you all day about toxic waste. And I almost did! š¬
It was so great to hang outāsoon we will do it in person.
Until then, malicious compliance.
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Yes.
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Nope.
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Yes! This one! Ugh. This one.
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"[Re: pregnancy] If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down"
Idk if it's my *favorite* per se, but it's the one I can't get out of my head š«
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Alsoāhow about the mental exertion of HAVING A BABY? I mean, the more I think about this the more I understand how it was never about fragile minds. It was always about control.
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Yeah. That one sticks with you.
Iāll add the NASA guys who gave a woman 100 tampons for one period.
Something tells me they probably didnāt know the answer to that now-favorite question: can women pee with a tampon? either.
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Or how fertility works.
Share your favorite āpolitician explaining ladypartsā examples here.
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You are the kindest human.
Canāt wait to see you soon!
Iām gonna bring a crockpot full of something delicious. š
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Iāve been here a while. But Iām juggling. The usual!