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The Fed’s Train Wreck of a Response to a Deadly Ecological Disaster

If you are at all concerned about our environment…

If you think for yourself, rather than be told what to think…

Then please divert your attention away from the traditional sources of news and delve into the facts regarding the train derailment and subsequent atmospheric/ecological disaster that occurred at 8:54PM on February 3 in East Palestine, Ohio. Some fifty rail cars on a very long Norfolk Southern train derailed, eleven of them tankers carrying extremely toxic chemicals.

Within an hour, the Village of East Palestine issued  an evacuation within one mile of the train crash, with the rest of the city sheltered in place.  Okay, this was a decent first move.  Fire fighters were called to the scene as there were flames.  Overnight, information was brought forth regarding the train’s chemical cargo.

That information should have changed everything.

The next morning, February 4,  East Palestine created an emergency declaration and held a press conference that afternoon. The National Transportation Safety Board held a press event shortly thereafter, seemingly downplaying the potential danger.

The next day, February 5, the fires had not diminished, but instead grew. Chemical runoff was detected in nearby streams.

POISON GAS RELEASE

A regional EPA representative spoke to the press with a tepid update on the situation. AFTER the press event it was revealed to Cleveland’s Channel Five, that vinyl chloride was in a derailed tanker car.

Stop the press.

Vinyl chloride, when burning, creates phosgene gas, a chemical warfare agent used in World War One that has been banned by the Geneva Convention. It can kill upon inhalation. It is a known carcinogen. On hundred years later, there are still broad swaths of the French countryside that remain stunted by the deplorable use of phosgene during the war.

Prior to this, apparently, firefighters had not been told they were dealing with vinyl chloride; now they were told to step away from fighting the fires. That evening, Ohio Governor DeWine a ordered a mandatory evacuation of the area. Residents reported noxious fumes some two miles from the derailment.

The next afternoon (Monday, February 6), the Governor’s offices of Ohio and Pennsylvania decided for a controlled release and burn of toxic chemicals from the train cars. By all accounts, vinyl chloride was the chemical burned. A massive fireball followed by a thick mushroom cloud of black smoke could be seen from the wreckage.  The cloud of deadly gas showed up on weather radar screens appearing just like an intense thunderstorm.

The EPA was said to be “monitoring” the air quality–like that would make any difference.

THE WORST ECOLOGICAL DISASTER, EVER?

Please, consider what I am about to say. This atmospheric release of toxicity might well be the worst anthropogenic (human caused) environmental disaster in American history.

The Environmental Protection Agency was created for moments just like this: to protect the environment and therefore protect human life. A major facet of the National Transportation Safety Board was also fashioned for situations like this: to quickly get to the bottom of what went wrong so that further lives can be spared.

President Biden’s administration failed this test miserably. Did the NTSB not have access to immediately determine what chemicals were on board the derailed cars?  Did not the EPA know the potential dangers of such lethal chemicals?

Of course they did.

And why was the first statement from NTSB director Buttigieg made on February 13, ten days after the crash?  He finally showed up in East Palestine on February 22, telling reporters he was trying to strike a “balance” by not showing up sooner.

What kind of deceptive rhetoric is that?

As for the EPA’s Michael Regan, he also visited on February 22, telling reporters, “We’ve mobilized a very high tech airplane, we’ve mobilized mobile vans, we have stationary air monitoring and we’ve been in over 460 homes testing the air quality.”

A high tech airplane and “mobilized mobile vans?”  That is embarrassing.

A lawsuit filed on Wednesday, February 22, in U.S. District court by Morgan & Morgan alleges that the railroad dumped more than 1.1 million pounds of vinyl chloride into the environment during the incident.

According to the attorney who filed the lawsuit, “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 could linger for years or even decades before manifesting as terrible and deadly cancers. The lawsuit alleges that Norfolk Southern made it worse by essentially blasting the town with chemicals as they focused on restoring train service and protecting their shareholders.”

Questions loom, yet Big Media refuses to ask them.  One can only imagine how differently they would have responded if Donald Trump’s administration would have handled the derailment exactly as Biden’s did.

 

 

Enjoy the 4th: My “World Famous Patriot Ribs” Recipe

These ribs really are world famous.

Since I originally posted this recipe in 2009, I’ve received positive feedback from people all over the planet (including from American states that are known for their own awesome ribs).

Well-meaning BBQ aficionados tell me my ribs should have a little more “bite,” but I’ve found the average guy and gal loves having that meat simply fall off the bone.

So, the Patriot Rib recipe is what it is—a delicious crowd pleaser!

By the way, I’ve updated the recipe a bit over the years, with the help of my professional chef son, so this is the latest and greatest version!

Here’s the recipe:

Remove the ribs from the wrapping. DO NOT rinse the ribs. Place the ribs bone-side down in a ceramic, or glass, baking pan. Cover both sides of the ribs with BBQ rib rub of choice (I prefer Kirkland’s Sweet Mesquite BBQ Rub from Costco, but if you have a favorite use it!).  By the way, St. Louis pork ribs work just as well as the baby backs (I cannot guarantee this recipe for beef ribs).

Next, give your hands a good wash  and then pour a nice stout beer (I prefer Guinness Stout)) into the pan, a little less than an inch deep.  Do not try this with anything other than a dark stout beer or the ribs will be ruined.

Cover with aluminum foil and let the ribs sit for an hour on the kitchen counter.

Preheat your oven to 320.  Bake the ribs (in the pan, with the beer, covered with foil) for two hours.

Next, turn off the oven. Let the ribs remain in the closed oven for another 45-minutes.

While the ribs are sitting in the oven,  fire up your BBQ/grill and get the cooking grate nice and hot.

Now we’re ready for “show time.”  Take the ribs out of the oven, and out of the pan, and place directly onto the grate, meat side down. Slather a nice thin layer of sauce (Sweet Baby Rays is a big winner in my household) onto the bone side. Let them cook for 5-minutes.

Next, flip the ribs so the bone side is now down (you may have a rib or two fall away from the meat, but it’s going to be oh, so sweet to eat!).

Slather that sauce onto the meat side. Let them cook for a good 5-minutes  This will allow the sauce to caramelize.

Finally, get those ribs off the grill and onto a big serving plate!  Once served, the meat will literally fall off the bone. If your guests want additional sauce on their ribs make it available—and don’t forget a roll of paper towels in the middle of the table.

God bless you, your family, and America!

Enjoy the ribs!

 

The Daily Devotions Are Here

The Another Chance Daily Devotionals are here!.

God stirred my heart to begin producing a daily, 15-minute or so, podcast designed to encourage and equip you to be the woman or man of God that He has called you to be!

Hope you’ll take a listen and pass the word!

Brian

And now this important message; but first a stroll down Brian’s Broadcasting Lane

As many of you are aware, on October 16th I took a leave of absence from hosting, The KSFO Morning Show.  I’ll be sharing details of what the future holds in an upcoming post very soon.

brian-sussman-radioHowever, in the meantime, please allow me to first take you on a stroll down Brian’s Broadcasting Lane…

It began in the late Seventies. I was in college at the University of Missouri, majoring in Radio/TV/Film production and working two side gigs.  One was as a studio cameraman for the 6PM newscasts at the ABC-TV affiliate in Columbia, Missouri, the other was doing a Sunday overnight on-air shift at the top AM radio station in town, KFRU.  For a young guy who desired a career in broadcast media, this was a super exciting start.

Upon graduation, the owner of the TV station offered me a full-time job overseeing his small newsroom staff by day and anchoring the 10 o’clock news at night.

The station was mess. The owner’s previous employment was in the engineering department of a TV channel in St. Louis.  I believe the story was he inherited some money and decided to launch this ABC affiliate about seven years earlier.  He was the general manager, his wife oversaw the books, and his son was in charge of sales.  While I respected his entrepreneurial spirit, each day at the station delivered a fresh segment of real life drama; some quite hilarious.  I’ll never forget the time our sports guy, Jim, came to work and, first thing as usual, hit the bathroom. It was a one-toilet john and the only such facility in the entire station.  A minute or two after he exited the throne room, the wife of the GM entered it.

She immediately did a U-turn and with a sour expression declared to all, “People! From now on do your big business at home!”

From the TV guide section of the local newspaper, 1979

From then on, Jim did his “big business” at the Exxon up the street.

As for me, the job ended with a clang. I loved television news and, despite not getting a raise after my first-year review, wasn’t complaining. Nobody had received a raise in a couple years and, realistically, I was still new to the business and learning more each day. Finally after two years, en masse, every employee in the station received a minuscule pay increase. We were all rather pleased. However, two paychecks later, without warning, the increase vanished.

Speaking on behalf of my newsroom employees, I asked the owner why the raises disappeared. He curtly replied, “Because no one here is worth it!”

The troops in all departments were up in arms.  For whatever reason, the entire staff (probably about 20 people) was banking on me to fix things with the GM. “We’ve got your back, Brian,” they assured me.

So, on a Friday afternoon, they all followed me into the owner’s office, standing directly behind my back as I took a seat across the desk from our boss. I calmly explained to him how my co-workers were already being paid below-market wages and retracting everyone’s raise was unethical.

The GM sat, listened, and said nothing. When I was done speaking he simply motioned to the door and we went back to our various duties.

Clueless, I entered that weekend not knowing what was about to occur.

My cute wife and I, 1980

By the way, I was married just a few months after graduation (we met in college and remain happily married to this day!). My wife had just finished a Master’s degree in Special Education and had a nice contract teaching in the local school district.  She knew that I enjoyed running the newsroom and being on TV, but she could see that the owner was making me plain miserable.  Before bed on that Sunday night we literally got down on our knees and prayed about my job.  I recall actually saying, “Lord, please, do something.”

No sooner did I walk into work Monday morning, and something did happen.

I was fired.

And strangely relieved.

I recall immediately driving home in my little Chevy Vega station wagon, entering our apartment complex parking lot and seeing my wife leaving for work in her car.  We each slowed down and lowered our windows.

“I think the prayer was answered! I got fired,” I shouted.

“Everything will be fine! Got to get to work. We’ll talk later,” she exclaimed as she sped off.

What can I say?  We were both twenty-four, in love, happy-go-lucky, and believed deep down that somehow everything would work out just fine.

And it did.

MOVING WEST

We next decided that I should look for a TV news job out west.  My wife was born and raised on the coast in Santa Cruz, California, and I had lived the early years of my life in the Los Angeles area, so heading west made sense.  In no time, I took a job anchoring the weekend sportscast and doing general assignment reporting during the week at KOLO-TV, Channel 8, in Reno, Nevada.   A few months into the gig, the weeknight weatherman fell ill and I was asked to stand in.  To make a long story short, that substitution soon led to me becoming the station’s full-time weather guy, sitting next to the iconic Reno TV newsman, Tad Dunbar.  It was at KOLO that I began performing something no other weather people in the country were doing: taking my weather report out of the confines of the station to broadcast outdoors with real people in attendance. I also hosted a popular segment each night on the 11PM newscast, known as Night Scene. These reports highlighted the various acts playing the hotel and casino stages in town and allowed me to interview some incredibly famous people.

KNTV: Jeff Richmond, Doug Moore, Me, Maggie Scura

A couple years later (1983), I was offered the weather position at KNTV, Channel 11, which at that time primarily covered San Jose and the Santa Clara Valley.  Deciding to get serious about this career path, I immediately enrolled in San Jose State University’s highly regarded meteorology program in pursuit of an American Meteorological Society certification and a degree. I continued my outdoor weather shows and began a new weekly educational feature explaining, “How Weather Works.”

In 1985, our newscast with Doug Moore, Maggie Scura, Jeff Richmond and yours truly, blew everyone in Bay Area television away by being bestowed an Emmy for “Best Newscast of the Year.”

BIG BREAK

My big break came in 1987 when I was hired by Group W, a prestigious television syndicate that owned top-tier stations back east and in San Francisco (KPIX, Channel 5).  Among other things, they loved the cutting-edge, live weathercasts I was doing outdoors as well as the educational reports. I became the weekend meteorologist and science reporter at KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was also hired as the substitute weatherman on the nationally broadcast CBS This Morning program, based in New York City.  While in Pittsburgh I also co-produced an elementary school weather curriculum that became popular in schools nationwide. My efforts were eventually honored by the National Educational Association with an award of excellence presented to me in Washington, D.C.

Dave McElhatton, Kate Kelly, Wayne Walker, Anna Chavez, Me

In late 1988, Group W (eventually the company merged with CBS) signed me to a contract in San Francisco where I became the weeknight meteorologist at KPIX-TV, working alongside exceedingly popular anchor, Dave McElhatton (as well as Kate Kelly, Wendy Takuda, Wayne Walker, and eventually Anna Chavez, Dana King, and Dan Fouts). I also continued my fill-in slot on CBS This Morning.  Dave oozed with old school talent and took me under his wing as my mentor.  Prior to TV, Dave had enjoyed a stellar career as one of the top radio hosts in San Francisco. He taught me timing, delivery, how to interview, how to nail a punchline, and the art of winging it with style (plus, knowing we worked in a volatile business, he also gave me the best financial advice ever–but that’s another story for another day).  Dave and I enjoyed dinner together once or twice a week, and on a couple of special occasions we flew in his private plane to lunch in Napa prior to starting our shifts at the TV station.

The KPIX Golf Gang w/ Brides (sans Dave’s Karen)

The lively times with Dave went on steroids when KPIX hired “The Fresh Grocer” Tony Tantillo as a daily feature, as well as Hall of Fame Quarterback and San Francisco native Dan Fouts, (replacing Wayne Walker on sports).  My golf game was never so good, because we all played together often.  A few times we zoomed off to Napa after the late news so we could get a round of golf in before work the next day.  In the summer, once a week we’d hustle over to Lincoln Park golf course right after the closing credits rolled at the end of the Six O’clock News. Our clubs were all in the back of a car parked in the red-zone in front of the station on Battery Street. We’d peel up Broadway Street and (with the assistance of the clubhouse) be on the tee by 7:20. The goal was to play as many holes as possible before sunset. If there was a breaking news story that required us to get back to station ASAP, dear Leona, who ran the newsroom assignment desk, knew how to reach us.

Bay to Breakers: contestant pushing twin stroller with me as fake baby!

I stacked up the professional kudos during those years, including being named “Best Weathercast” in the state eight times by the Associated Press, and a record nine times by the Radio-TV News Directors’ Association.  In 1999, San Francisco Giants manager Dusty Baker and I were co-honored as “Man of the Year” by the Juvenile Diabetes Association. Several times I received “Readers’ Choice” honors as “Favorite Weathercaster” by The San Francisco Chronicle. One year during the crazy Bay to Breakers footrace in San Francisco, thousands of people ran the 7.46-mile contest wearing Brian Sussman masks.

Looking back, I feel fortunate to have worked in television’s major leagues during the last big years of local television news, before those colossal audiences were drained by the deep proliferation of cable, streaming programs, and social media. The talent pool in the large markets back then was astounding, and the lucrative financial compensation was never to be seen again.

BRIAN’S KIDS

Of all the things I was a part of while at KPIX, there was nothing more rewarding than Brian’s Kids. It was a 5-minute segment every Wednesday, wherein we highlighted the life of a foster child who was eligible for adoption.  My wife and I had three kids by this time and two were adopted, so it was easy to put my heart and soul into the project.  Brian’s Kids was extremely successful; during the course of ten-years we saw over 400 children adopted!  It was incredible and personally life-changing, as I will share.

One of the last children ever featured on Brian’s Kids was a skinny little six-year-old named Joshua. There was something about this youngster that touched my heart, and after meeting him I shared his story with my wife.  A get-together was arranged to have Joshua visit our family.  The connection was magical.

Recent family photo, with Josh upper right

After Josh’s visit, we had a family huddle to see if adopting him was the right thing for us to do.  All agreed, we should adopt Josh. However, all also agreed that if we did make him a part of our family, I needed to find another job: the demands of my TV career meant leaving home sometimes as early as noon and returning back home well after midnight.  My kids (and my wife) needed me around in the evening, especially if we were going to add a fourth child.

So, I shocked everyone in the TV news world and quit, mid-contract.

It was 2001.

RADIO CALLS

I casually began talking to radio stations about becoming a talk show host.  Unanimously, the program directors I spoke with couldn’t grasp the idea of a former TV weatherman doing talk radio, especially of the conservative variety.

And then, September 11th occurred. I was listening to KSFO when news broke that America had been attacked.

The Sales Manager at the local Christian station, KFAX-AM, was an acquaintance and knew I was interested in radio.  With the airports all shutdown because of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, DC, the station’s late afternoon host was unable to get back into the Bay Area from a trip he had taken out of the country. KFAX called to see if I could fill-in for a few days, which I did.  The shows went remarkably well (my first guest on 9/11 was bestselling author and commentator Ann Coulter, speaking to us from New York City).  In fact, it went so well that they gave me my own program each afternoon, Monday through Friday.

Within a few months, KSFO heard about my success on the Christian station and, in March of 2002, signed me to a three-year deal to host my own show from 6 to 8PM, as well as to host The KSFO Morning Show with Lee Rodgers and Melanie Morgan each Monday (Lee had negotiated a four-day-a-week schedule).

Eventually I was given the reigns to The KSFO Morning Show in 2009.

In 2010 my first book, Climategate: A Veteran Meteorologist Exposes the Global Warming Scam was published, rocketing to the top-10 in sales during the first week out. In 2012, the follow up book, Eco-Tyranny: How the Left’s Green Agenda Will Dismantle America, also became a bestseller.

Yours truly, with Katie Green and Sheri Yee

That said, for the past decade I’ve been living a dream, and have been the only live and local conservative morning radio host in San Francisco (the only  other conservative on the radio in this market is my friend Michael Savage, whose afternoon show is nationally syndicated).  As for our popular morning program, Sheri Yee has been the producer since its inception with Lee Rodgers in the late Nineties (there is not a better producer in all radio and hosts across the country acknowledge this). The lovely, super-talented, and hilarious Katie Green came on board with us in 2011.  Together we laugh, we learn, and when necessary we can get really fired up.

Katie, Sheri, and me with my Hall of Fame badge

What you likely don’t know is that during my years at KSFO, our morning ratings have steadily and respectably grown, as have our revenues.  Often the show has the largest streaming audience of any local program in America.  To add a little more frosting to the cake, in 2018 the San Francisco Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame conducted a vote of the people and distinguished me as broadcaster of the year.  And then there’s Savage. I’ve been a huge fan since he first hit the KSFO airwaves in the Nineties, you could even say he was an inspiration for me even thinking about going into talk radio. When he asked me to fill-in for him many years ago I was thrilled, and have done it countless times since!

Katie, Savage, Me, Sheri – at Michael’s election night party, 2016

The major highlights from The KSFO Morning Show have been numerous. On a Monday, during an interview with California’s Republican Party chairman regarding the recent increase in the vehicle license fee, I naively asked if it was possible to recall Governor Gray Davis who signed the bill into law. A year later, Gray was gone.

Then there was the spur-of-the-moment plan to demonstrate against (another) outlandish gun-grab by the state legislature. We figured we’d rally a couple hundred people at one of our sponsor’s gun shop in Pacifica (City Arms).  We were all blown away when thousands of listeners showed up. Interestingly, City Arms instantly became so popular they no longer needed to advertise on our program!

Another wild moment was when my first book was published and I was asked to participate in a book signing at the fairgrounds in Pleasanton.  I planned on bringing 500 books, but my wife insisted we bring 1,500. The crowds of listeners were so thick we ended up selling out and exchanging IOU’s with over 500 additional people who were eventually sent a book in the mail.

Then there was the live on-air party we threw for our listeners in the KSFO studios in 2019.  Successful attendees had to be amongst the first 100 people to contact the station in writing. We stopped counting after the first thousand attempted to join us.

Now, as we enter a new decade, these are some of the great memories of a media career that I truly feel so blessed to have experienced.

Thank you for your wonderful support all these many years.

In an upcoming post very soon I’ll share what the future holds.

Thank you,

Brian

Podcast: Busting the Carbon Dioxide-Is-A-Pollutant Myth

This week on Hidden Headlines I take a couple chapters from my bestseller, Climategate: A Veteran Meteorologist Exposes the Global Warming Scam, to tamp down the resurgent flames from the human-caused global warming crowd.

Climategate was the first book to take Al Gore’s movie apart, scene by scene.

I challenged him to debate me many times, but to no avail.

Essentially, we have an entire generation that has been fed this green propaganda since they were in pre-school and now their voices are rising (including the new crop of legislative leaders around the country, led by “AOC”).

This is a podcast I know you’ll want to share.

Listen on this website by clicking here,

Or:

iTunes – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-headlines-faith-family-freedom/id1438686246
GooglePlay – https://playmusic.app.goo.gl/?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&isi=691797987&ius=googleplaymusic&apn=com.google.android.music&link=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fmusic%2Fm%2FI45l7a54emt2hyyt46xnrsf6yb4%3Ft%3DHidden_Headlines%3A_Faith%2C_Family%2C_Freedom%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/4gHaBgDMQrTwpMBzWfQlU3

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About Brian

San Francisco Hall of Fame Broadcaster, weekend drummer, Mizzou Alum, Host of Another Chance Podcast and Hidden Headlines Podcast, KSFO Radio Show.

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