Ohio train disaster: the blame game takes a VERY strange twist
Ohio train disaster: the blame game takes a VERY strange twist
7 hr ago
“Hey, it wasn’t our fault! It was you!”
“That’s what you guys always say. You just want us to pay the damages.”
And around and around it goes.
Even assuming the Ohio train disaster was a terrorist attack, lurking in the background is the day-in day-out transport of highly dangerous chemicals by rail crisscrossing the country.
Who is responsible for THAT?
Here’s an excerpt of a vital article from
:
For its part, the freight rail companies are forced by the federal government to transport dangerous materials regardless of the peril such cargoes represent. In particular, they [the railroads] lament the substantial risk embodied by having to carry Toxic Inhalation Hazard (TIH) chemicals on their lines. Included on the TIH list are ammonia and chlorine, both of which are transported by rail in significant quantities. Here is how UP [Union Pacific Railroad] characterizes the situation from their perspective:
“Under the common carrier obligation, the federal government requires railroads to transport hazmat, whether they want to or not. Trucks and barges do not have this same obligation and may refuse to carry hazmat at their discretion. Union Pacific does not make Toxic Inhalation Hazard materials, own the tank cars that move TIH or decide the origin or destination to which it is shipped. However, the common carrier obligation requires Union Pacific to transport TIH.”
But wait. Are we really supposed to believe UP and other railroad giants would refuse to carry these chemical poisons if they could? And thereby sacrifice giant ongoing profits?
I don’t think so.
The railroads just want somebody to blame. And so does the federal government. And so do the chemical companies who manufacture the poisons and want them transported.
You could even say these three forces are doing THEATER. “You blame me and I’ll blame him and he’ll blame you.”
In my recent podcast about the Ohio Train Disaster, I emphasized the fact that most vinyl chloride is made at the same location where it is then turned into PVC pipe. But still, a great deal of the chemical is shipped long distances to the PVC factories.
Which should be forbidden. Which should be considered a crime.
However, the rail companies are pocketing major fees for carrying the chemical. The feds are mandating this transport. And the chemical companies want the vinyl chloride moved by rail. They’re all in it together.
Follow this bouncing ball: The braking systems for most of these huge freight trains are based on 19th century technology.
This means when the trains are suddenly stopped, the cars tend to bunch up, and you can get a derailment.
The new electronic braking systems avoid this horrendous problem.
The feds want all trains carrying highly hazardous materials to have the new braking system.
But during the Trump administration, federal regulators backed off and basically said: “If a train carries both safe and dangerous materials, we won’t classify the train as a hazard and we won’t demand the train has the new (and expensive) braking system.”
That piece of sly bullshit saved railroad companies a huge amount of money.
The chemical companies, as far as I can see, sat there and said nothing. “Hey, this isn’t our problem.”
We’ll see whether the “investigation” of the Ohio disaster pins blame on the train’s braking system. I’m not betting it does. But if it does, I’m sure Norfolk Southern Railway will find a way to squirm out of their problem by paying a large fine from the fund they’ve set side aside for just such “situations.”
The overriding principle here is: OUR CLOUD OF BULLSHIT HAS TO BE AS BIG AS THE TOXIC CLOUDS WE CREATED.
— Jon Rappoport
Episode 38 of Rappoport Podcasts—“The Wizards of Is: The titanic operation to bury the creative impulse forever and never let it out into the light of day. The entire history of traditional Western philosophy makes no mention of individual creativity—this is called a CLUE”—is now posted on my substack. It’s a blockbuster. To listen, click here. To learn more about This Episode of Rappoport Podcasts, click here.
Subscribe to Jon Rappoport
Thousands of paid subscribers
The Hottest Takes on Culture