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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Everything is Awful But You Can Help

Everything is Awful But You Can Help

by John Cole|  August 27, 20178:02 pm| 163 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Just want to make sure Cheryl’d post below gets more the attention it needs. Here is anther resource for places to donate.

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Reader Interactions

163Comments

  1. 1.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    August 27, 2017 at 8:07 pm

    I’m just so glad to know that this shit in Texas isn’t really happening, and it’s all fake news, and it must be fake news, since Czar Manbaby told us that climate change is a hoax, as did Ted Cruz, who so memorably spoke against the federal government giving any help to New Jersey, New York and New England when that other fake news-ass storm hit back in 2012. I know that the whole Republican delegation to Congress from Texas will speak out as strongly now against any wasteful government spending going to help clean up a storm in Texas that never happened as they did then, since they’re so intellectually honest about shit like this.

  2. 2.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    August 27, 2017 at 8:12 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): One way we can ensure the aid bills will pass is by making their passage contingent on every other Senator (and why not, Representatives) punch Ted in the face.

  3. 3.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    August 27, 2017 at 8:12 pm

    In other news, we had our two year anniversary three days ago of when Smedley Darlington Mingobat came to live with us from Kentucky. I know he’s as glad to be out of Kentucky as we all here to have him living with us. He’s happily sleeping on the chair next to me as I write this.

  4. 4.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    August 27, 2017 at 8:13 pm

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD):

    Yeah, that’s a demand I could happily live with.

  5. 5.

    sukabi

    August 27, 2017 at 8:15 pm

    How long before Wolf Blitzer gets on the tv and makes amazed comments about skin color again as he did during Katrina.

  6. 6.

    Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)

    August 27, 2017 at 8:18 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): As someone on LGM pointed out, charging every American adult $100 for the privilege would also get rid of out budgeting woes in the immediate future.

  7. 7.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 8:18 pm

    @sukabi:
    What are the Vegas odds? They can’t be very good.

  8. 8.

    Face

    August 27, 2017 at 8:19 pm

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): Close, but the Orange Ogre will demand they attach a debt ceiling raise, PP defunding, and tax cuts to the going-to-happen TX relief bill.

  9. 9.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 27, 2017 at 8:20 pm

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): After reading Sen. Franken’s book, ‘Al Franken, Giant of the Senate’, I don’t think that would be much of a problem. He said, “I like Ted Cruz more than the rest of my colleagues, and I hate Ted Cruz”.

  10. 10.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 8:20 pm

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD):
    Imagine the line. I’d bet that if that line formed that drumpf would be selling hats. And for something that would make america better again.

  11. 11.

    Punchy

    August 27, 2017 at 8:22 pm

    I too look forward to all the TX politicians who so famously decried and dismissed Nawlins rebuild money similarly declining help for Houston on the same principle. Because intellectual honesty and consistency and all that….

  12. 12.

    JPL

    August 27, 2017 at 8:23 pm

    Years of uncontrolled expansion and developing on wetlands have repercussions. Who knew. I don’t mean to be flippant, and I do hope that they can recover from this.

  13. 13.

    Jay S

    August 27, 2017 at 8:29 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: That didn’t sound quite right so I looked it up. The correct quote is

    “I like Ted Cruz more than the rest of my colleagues like Ted Cruz , and I hate Ted Cruz”.

  14. 14.

    Maeve

    August 27, 2017 at 8:33 pm

    Again? A thread to point people who want to donate/help in the immediate is all about what “should” have been done. “Should” is the most useless word sometimes.

  15. 15.

    dmsilev

    August 27, 2017 at 8:34 pm

    @Punchy: You don’t even have to go all the way back to 2005; both Cruz and Cornyn voted against relief aid for Sandy not even five years ago.

  16. 16.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    August 27, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    @dmsilev:

    Yeah, I still can’t understand that. What, they thought they’d never need any help? They thought Texas was immune to storms?

  17. 17.

    Baud

    August 27, 2017 at 8:40 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    They thought (1) Dems are too decent to reciprocate or (2) if not, their voters will blame Dems and not blame them for being dicks.

    They are right.

  18. 18.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 27, 2017 at 8:46 pm

    @Jay S: Did I capture what the Senator was saying? I left out 3 words…

  19. 19.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 27, 2017 at 8:48 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    What, they thought they’d never need any help?

    All they’d need are Thoughts and Prayers.

    They thought Texas was immune to storms?

    They’re God fearing people in Texas, so yes.

  20. 20.

    Davebo

    August 27, 2017 at 8:50 pm

    @JPL: While you certainly have a point, pick the city in the US that can handle 15″ to 20″ of rain in 28 hours without flooding.

    I’ll wait.

  21. 21.

    Davebo

    August 27, 2017 at 8:53 pm

    I’m a bit disgusted. Here I am in a city that voted Obama twice, then Clinton. The first major city with an openly gay mayor.

    And I hear this carping in the middle of an epic disaster? GFY

  22. 22.

    efgoldman

    August 27, 2017 at 8:53 pm

    @Davebo:

    pick the city in the US that can handle 15″ to 20″ of rain in 28 hours without flooding.

    True, but most major coastal cities aren’t in states where it’s against the law even to mention climate change in official actions and documents

  23. 23.

    Mike J

    August 27, 2017 at 8:54 pm

    2000 miles away from How-stun I got to assist in a water rescue today. Terrified as we motored up and I saw something orange floating in the water. Turn out to be a traffic cone attached to a piling to make it more visible. I had visions of every bad thing you can imagine (it’s a person floating face down!) was happy when it was nothing.

    Found the MOB[1]. We had been told he was hanging on to the log boom that makes a lagoon at the north end of our park. He had made it to shore and refused further assistance, so we stowed the boat hooks and lifesling and sent an all clear on 16. When we got back to the dock there were cop cars, a fire truck and paramedics all packing up.

    I think I prefer uneventful days, but it was nice to know we were ready to help (and faster than official responders[2]) if the need arises.

    [1] We typically use the phrase “crew overboard” but emergency radio labels usually say “man”.
    [2] They were there quick, we were just already on site and in a boat. Had it been a real emergency, we would have needed them desperately, but we could have brought the guy to them for treatment.

  24. 24.

    Thoughtful David

    August 27, 2017 at 8:54 pm

    I’d just like to lay out here that Houston went for Clinton by 160,000 votes.
    Not sure what that means with respect to the likelihood of getting hurricane aid if Cruz and Cornyn have anything to say about it.

  25. 25.

    lamh36

    August 27, 2017 at 8:55 pm

    Why this CNN video came across my twitter timeline…

    @mattmfm

    A truly amazing moment on CNN ➝
    CNN

  26. 26.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 27, 2017 at 8:55 pm

    @Davebo: Any flooding or widespread flooding? LA might be able to without widespread flooding.

  27. 27.

    JPL

    August 27, 2017 at 8:56 pm

    @Davebo: You are correct that is this is an extreme case, but Houston has a problem with flooding because of lack of zoning anyway. I understand this is an extreme situation, and I didn’t mean to sound as insensitive as I came across.

    What I find sad is that those living in low lying communities, tend to be the neediest among us.

  28. 28.

    Jeffro

    August 27, 2017 at 8:58 pm

    I see that Kasich has ruled out running on a “unity” ticket, so it’s time for more useless speculation: morons, starting with a bored Aaron Blake at the Post, are talking about Trumpov ‘ditching’ the GOP. You have got to be fucking kidding me. It’s his party now – why would he ditch them when he can single them out and pick them off one by one if/when they oppose him?

    Face it, Republicans: you have no good options here. Find some principles (if you ever had any) and be prepared to take your lumps – a grateful nation might, I say might, not give you the retribution you so richly deserve.

  29. 29.

    Davebo

    August 27, 2017 at 8:59 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Dream on!

  30. 30.

    Baud

    August 27, 2017 at 8:59 pm

    @Thoughtful David: They’ll get aid. Dems aren’t going to block it.

  31. 31.

    Davebo

    August 27, 2017 at 9:00 pm

    @JPL:
    Actually Houston has a problem with flooding mainly because it was built on a swamp.

    No amount of zoning was ever going to change that .

  32. 32.

    ArchTeryx

    August 27, 2017 at 9:00 pm

    @Davebo: No city could withstand that without flooding, yes. BUT, the lack of wetlands both makes the flooding more intense and greatly slows the drainage afterward. Wetlands can soak up floodwater given time. Concrete and tarmac can’t. And Houston is finding that out the hard way.

  33. 33.

    Jeffro

    August 27, 2017 at 9:00 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    They’re God fearing people in Texas, so yes.

    Praying for rain was their strategy for alleviating drought a couple years back, as I recall, and now it can be their strategy for making the rain stop as well.

    One can only reasonably conclude that either God hates Texas, or Texans are praying to the wrong god.

  34. 34.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 27, 2017 at 9:00 pm

    @Davebo: We’ve had rain like that in LA, that’s why they built the infrastructure to handle it. We have dams that have no water behind them. Lots of them.

  35. 35.

    Jeffro

    August 27, 2017 at 9:02 pm

    @Jeffro: Whoops…Kasich “no unity ticket” link is here…’What if Trumpov ditched the GOP?’ nonsense is here

  36. 36.

    lamh36

    August 27, 2017 at 9:04 pm

    @lamh36: I mean wow…not why…smh

  37. 37.

    JPL

    August 27, 2017 at 9:08 pm

    A CNN crew helped rescue an elderly couple and their dog today. Of course, that won’t stop Trump for leading the CNN sucks chant on Wednesday.

  38. 38.

    lamh36

    August 27, 2017 at 9:12 pm

    @JPL: the video link is what I posted

  39. 39.

    Davebo

    August 27, 2017 at 9:14 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Give me a break! LA averages less than 15″ per year! The max in one year was less than 38″.

  40. 40.

    Fake Irishman

    August 27, 2017 at 9:15 pm

    @ArchTeryx:

    Upstream suburban development is also making the situation worse. Water that would have been absorbed in the Katy prairie 30 years ago is now running off parking lots and flooding places that were safe until recently. Climate change of course is another driver.

  41. 41.

    Mnemosyne

    August 27, 2017 at 9:15 pm

    @Baud:

    I still want Chuck Schumer to demand a signed, notarized agreement from Cruz and Cornyn that they will never again block a natural disaster relief bill before he allows a vote, though.

  42. 42.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    August 27, 2017 at 9:18 pm

    @JPL:

    Well, yeah. Trump hates dogs.

  43. 43.

    Fake Irishman

    August 27, 2017 at 9:18 pm

    Right now I am thankful my wife and I bought a house in a place called “The Heights” down here. Roof is a bit leaky, but we are light years better off than many. Thanks to all you for your donations on behalf of all our fellow Houstonians.

  44. 44.

    Davebo

    August 27, 2017 at 9:18 pm

    @Fake Irishman: In fairness, the Katy Prairie 30 years ago was mostly flooded rice fields.

  45. 45.

    Davebo

    August 27, 2017 at 9:21 pm

    @Fake Irishman: I lived in the Heights 20 years ago. You wouldn’t recognize it as it looked then.

    I was on 18th right behind the old hospital and Heights theatre in a 109 year old Victorian that I believe still stands.

  46. 46.

    lamh36

    August 27, 2017 at 9:21 pm

    OT, but apropos…apparently during the commercial breaks during the MTV VMAs, a song is playing called “Fuck Donald Trump”…these kids may just be allright?

    https://twitter.com/ScottFeinberg/status/901972098632916992

  47. 47.

    Zinsky

    August 27, 2017 at 9:21 pm

    The flooding in Texas is nothing a gigantic tax cut for the wealthy can’t cure…

  48. 48.

    Baud

    August 27, 2017 at 9:27 pm

    @lamh36: Nice. Finally some resistance music.

  49. 49.

    Suzanne

    August 27, 2017 at 9:30 pm

    @lamh36: I have been hoping that America’s hip-hop and punk musicians would show up for the challenge of Trump. I went to see Rise Against a few weeks ago, and they are all het up about the current situation, but I haven’t heard a peep out of anyone else.

    So hearing a “Fuck Trump” song makes me HAPPY.

  50. 50.

    BBA

    August 27, 2017 at 9:33 pm

    @Punchy: They’d be perfectly fine with denying all aid to the city of Houston. The very white, very Republican suburbs, on the other hand…

  51. 51.

    trollhattan

    August 27, 2017 at 9:33 pm

    @Davebo:
    There’s water management and there’s flooding. No city storm drain system can handle that much water but hilly cities such as Seattle and SF just direct it to the ocean with no long-term effects. I say this as a resident of the #2 floodprone city behind New Orleans.

  52. 52.

    JPL

    August 27, 2017 at 9:36 pm

    This is such a touching story.. NYTimes reporter trapped in his house because of the flood
    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/27/us/hurricane-harvey-houston-a-reporter-disaster.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=RelatedCoverage&region=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article

    Now there is six inches of water in our house and at least a foot outside.
    I have managed to salvage my Persian rug and hope that hangings and art that I have collected over the years will be safe. Funny how you sometimes think of relatively unimportant things in an emergency, but these things are like the museum pieces of my life. One of our toilets is already backed up, but we’ll have to manage since the local sewage system seems to be completely backed up. We expect to lose our power any time.
    After initially panicking a bit, the three of us got hold of ourselves and got to work. Paola cooked all our meat, figuring it is going to spoil anyway and we are bound to get hungry. Emilie and I filled garbage bags with our plentiful collection of classical and jazz CDs. I wrapped up a beautiful antique lamp I inherited from my father. Emilie salvaged a few bottles of wine, vermouth and gin, knowing I’m probably going to get thirsty for more than water and juice. We laughed together, as we focused on survival mode. This is a character building moment for her, and so I need to keep calm and be a good, fatherly example.

    Sad.

    I do hope that Baud is around to respond more appropriately.

  53. 53.

    trollhattan

    August 27, 2017 at 9:37 pm

    @JPL:
    Please tell me that’s The Onion.

  54. 54.

    Amaranthine RBG

    August 27, 2017 at 9:38 pm

    Texas helped elect Trump.

    Fuck them.

  55. 55.

    Jeffro

    August 27, 2017 at 9:39 pm

    @Suzanne:

    I went to see Rise Against a few weeks ago, and they are all het up about the current situation, but I haven’t heard a peep out of anyone else.

    Every show I’ve been to this year has been one big middle finger to Trump, with the exception of the milquetoast plea for unity that U2 threw out there. Green Day was on him the whole show (and Against Me! opened for them – you can imagine how that went). Mike Ness let him have it. And I bought the last “Dirty Fucker” (with Trumpov’s raging face on it) t-shirt Dave Hause’s merch table had for sale…

    …Hause is great, folks. Go give “Dirty Fucker” and the rest of ‘Bury Me In Philly’ a listen when you have a few minutes.

  56. 56.

    Baud

    August 27, 2017 at 9:40 pm

    @JPL: Wet garbage.

  57. 57.

    Davebo

    August 27, 2017 at 9:41 pm

    @trollhattan:

    So true. My friends in Holland live near the largest pump in the world and 5 meters below sea level. Sure, it floods there at times but it’s controlled and the poor farmer who’s fields are flooded is compensated for his loss.

  58. 58.

    JPL

    August 27, 2017 at 9:42 pm

    @trollhattan: They had the good sense to take it off the front page, after they received calls saying wtf. I assume that’s why they took it off .

    The NYTimes is allowing all to view their hurricane coverage so enjoy the article. There’s a cockapoo that’s upset also.

  59. 59.

    satby

    August 27, 2017 at 9:43 pm

    Just going to repeat what I said in Cheryl’s thread:
    I still have friends working at ARC, so I hate to slag on it, but Charity Navigator has several 4 star charities listed that will be working in the areas affected by Harvey.
    Some of the biggest names, like ARC, are 3 stars.

  60. 60.

    Paul W.

    August 27, 2017 at 9:44 pm

    Hey gang! Long time lurker and infrequent commentator, I’m having a shit weekend because I fell in love with someone who told me I could never be what she wanted. I don’t normally open myself up and she was gung ho so I let it happen. Now I don’t know how to deal but I figured some of the folks here could help.
    Thanks

  61. 61.

    Baud

    August 27, 2017 at 9:47 pm

    @Paul W.: That sucks, dude.

  62. 62.

    Steve in the ATL

    August 27, 2017 at 9:47 pm

    @Paul W.: most of the advice you’ll get here will be “Drink heavily!” or the occasional “That bitch!”. But hang in there–everyone gets hurt some time. The good news is that you don’t have a marriage to dissolve or, much worse, kids to fight over.

  63. 63.

    clay

    August 27, 2017 at 9:47 pm

    From WaPo:

    While Donald Trump was running for president in late 2015 and early 2016, his company was pursuing a plan to develop a massive Trump Tower in Moscow, according to several people familiar with the proposal and new records reviewed by Trump Organization lawyers.

    As part of the discussions, a Russian-born real estate developer urged Trump to come to Moscow to tout the proposal and suggested that he could get President Vladimir Putin to say “great things” about Trump, according to several people who have been briefed on his correspondence.

    The developer, Felix Sater, predicted in a November 2015 email that he and Trump Organization leaders would soon be celebrating — both one of the biggest residential projects in real estate history and Donald Trump’s election as president, according to two of the people with knowledge of the exchange.

    ….

    Trump never went to Moscow as Sater proposed. And although investors and Trump’s company signed a letter of intent, they lacked the land and permits to proceed and the project was abandoned at the end of January 2016, just before the presidential primaries began, several people familiar with the proposal said.

    Nevertheless, the details of the deal, which have not previously been disclosed, provide evidence that Trump’s business was actively pursuing significant commercial interests in Russia at the same time he was campaigning to be president — and in a position to determine U.S.-Russia relations. The new details from the emails, which are scheduled to be turned over to congressional investigators soon, also point to the likelihood of additional contacts between Russia-connected individuals and Trump associates during his presidential bid.

    ….

    The negotiations for the Moscow project ended before Trump’s business ties to Russia had become a major issue in the campaign. Trump denied having any business connections to Russia in July 2016, tweeting, “for the record, I have ZERO investments in Russia” and then insisting at a news conference the following day, “I have nothing to do with Russia.”
    Discussions about the Moscow project began in earnest in September 2015, according to people briefed on the deal. An unidentified investor planned to build the project and, under a licensing agreement, put Trump’s name on it. Cohen acted as a lead negotiator for the Trump Organization. It is unclear how involved or aware Trump was of the negotiations.
    As the talks progressed, Trump voiced numerous supportive comments about Putin, setting himself apart from his Republican rivals for the nomination.

    By the end of 2015, Putin began offering praise in return.

    ….

    Though Putin’s comments came shortly after Sater suggested that the Russian president would speak favorably about Trump, there is no indication that the two are connected.
    There is no public record that Trump has ever spoken about the effort to build a Trump Tower in 2015 and 2016.

    ….

    In an unrelated court case in 2008, Sater said in a deposition that he would personally provide Trump “verbal updates” on the deal.

    “When I’d come back, pop my head into Mr. Trump’s office and tell him, you know, ‘Moving forward on the Moscow deal.’ And he would say, ‘All right,’ ” Sater said.

    ….

    Trump has repeatedly tried to distance himself from Sater, who served time in jail after assaulting a man with the stem of a broken margarita glass during a 1991 bar fight and then pleaded guilty in 1998 to his role in an organized- crime-linked stock fraud. Sater’s sentencing was delayed for years while he cooperated with the federal government on a series of criminal and national security-related investigations, federal officials have said.
    During that time, Sater worked as an executive with Bayrock, whose offices were in Trump Tower, and brokered deals to license Trump’s name for developments in multiple U.S. and foreign cities. In 2010, Trump allowed Sater to briefly work out of Trump Organization office space and use a business card that identified him as a “senior adviser to Donald Trump.”
    Still, when asked about Sater in 2013 court deposition, Trump said: “If he were sitting in the room right now, I really wouldn’t know what he looked like.” He added that he had spoken with Sater “not many” times.

  64. 64.

    Davebo

    August 27, 2017 at 9:54 pm

    @Paul W.:

    Look at it this way. You dodged a bullet.

  65. 65.

    sukabi

    August 27, 2017 at 9:54 pm

    @Jeffro: sooo, pundits are speculating Drumpf will leave the gop, and go where? The American Nazi party?

    It’s not like any other party would have him.

  66. 66.

    Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    August 27, 2017 at 9:55 pm

    @JPL:

    Hard to know what to say to that. I can kind of understand. I have a lot of things I’ve gotten from my family, and I’d hate to lose them. But when people are fleeing for their lives, it seems kind of amazingly stupid to write a column about how worried you are that you might lose your jazz records or your fucking gin. These people need some serious perspective. Or a serious beating. Maybe both.

  67. 67.

    clay

    August 27, 2017 at 9:57 pm

    @Jeffro: When I saw U2 in June, they played a clip from an old Western that had a villain named Trump trying to con a town into building a wall around it. They also played a moving short film about life in a Sryian refugee camp, which was clearly a direct rebuke to Trump’s policies. It was pretty clear what they thought, even if they weren’t direct about it.

  68. 68.

    BBA

    August 27, 2017 at 10:00 pm

    @sukabi: The Donald Trump Party, of course. There’s no classier name in politics anywhere on Earth. It’ll be yuge.

  69. 69.

    Scott Alloway

    August 27, 2017 at 10:00 pm

    @Paul W.: The only salve is time. Went through a situation in 1973 where the love of my life (at the time) went to her best friend’s wedding, became enamored with the groom’s brother, came back, dumped me and married him three months later. Skip to 1980 and we bumped into each other. Went out four or five times and I realized, “No way.” Time teaches us lessons; one of them being what is good now may not be what one needs in the long haul. Your heart will heal and you will find a person who works with and for you. Be kind to yourself.

  70. 70.

    Jeffro

    August 27, 2017 at 10:03 pm

    @clay: I saw those as well (was the villain’s name really Trump, though? I don’t remember that). And yes, being pro-refugee makes one automatically anti-Trump. But still..the rest of the night was full of “can’t we all just get along?”-ish stuff from Bono…my answer then and now is ‘no’.

  71. 71.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 10:04 pm

    @Paul W.:
    Many have fallen for the wrong mate. Life and love happens that way. As a fellow traveler down this road, I can guarantee that it will get better. Might take a while, might not. Learn from this and move on.

  72. 72.

    Baud

    August 27, 2017 at 10:04 pm

    @Jeffro: Yeah, didn’t Jon Stewart try that schtick?

  73. 73.

    Jeffro

    August 27, 2017 at 10:05 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:

    most of the advice you’ll get here will be “Drink heavily!” or the occasional “That bitch!”.

    I don’t think that’s just a BJ thing…

  74. 74.

    Steve in the ATL

    August 27, 2017 at 10:07 pm

    @Jeffro: how about “the best advice you’ll get will be…”

  75. 75.

    Jeffro

    August 27, 2017 at 10:10 pm

    @sukabi: They’re thinking (if you wanna call it that) that he’ll just ‘go his own way’, since he’s so fed up with them. They’re not really thinking it through, as you’ve noted. He can’t come over to the Dems, and he doesn’t have enough supporters to start an independent party that will win anything.

    More importantly, why would he leave the GOP? He’s more popular than any of their other figures, and he can pick them off one by one, as cowardly as they are. Look at how McCain, Graham, Cruz, Perry, Carson, etc all have been. He disgraced them beyond belief – they still lick his boots.

  76. 76.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 10:10 pm

    @Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
    I’ve got a very good friend who has lost 2 houses to fire. One caused by an earthquake and one from an out of control brush fire. Both times they lost everything. OK they got out with their cats and their cars and the clothes on their backs. Everything else ashes. They wanted to save stuff, but they just couldn’t. They replaced stuff and moved on. All of that stuff in the article is just stuff. Can it be replaced? A good amount of it can, some can’t but if stuff is your most important concern then your life isn’t worth a shit.

  77. 77.

    Jeffro

    August 27, 2017 at 10:10 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: true!

  78. 78.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 10:13 pm

    @Jeffro:

    they still lick his boots.

    Seems like they are doing a bit more than that and a bit farther up the trouser leg.

  79. 79.

    Mnemosyne

    August 27, 2017 at 10:18 pm

    @Paul W.:

    Start putting this mantra in your head, Wow, that was a lucky escape. I’m glad she didn’t leave me dangling.

    It’s going to take a few days to click, but it will eventually click, because it’s 100 percent true. You won’t be wasting your time dangling after someone who will never love you the way you deserve, because she was kind enough to cut you loose.

    Take a few weeks to hunker down and lick your wounds, and then get back out there.

  80. 80.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 27, 2017 at 10:18 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: @Steve in the ATL: Oddly, you gave pretty good advice there. Certainly better than “Drink heavily.”

  81. 81.

    Mandarama

    August 27, 2017 at 10:18 pm

    @Paul W.: You are already getting good advice, but I would just like to affirm that “you can never be what I want” is an irresponsible cop-out. It’s not as weaselly as ghosting or an insincere wish to be friends — but it puts implicit blame on you, suggests you are less-than. It allows the speaker to abdicate responsibility for the initial relationship and often have a dramatic preen. I say this as a woman who has seen friends deliver lines like this, and called them on it.

    Just my opinion, but there are direct and honest ways to break up. And you learn a lot about a person from how they choose to do it or how they accept it when it happens to them. Hang in there– time really is a friend in this regard.

  82. 82.

    Another Scott

    August 27, 2017 at 10:21 pm

    @Paul W.: Sorry Paul. It hurts and it sucks.

    We’re all broken in some ways.

    Don’t wall yourself off. Remember the good times, learn from the bad times, and try again when the time is right.

    Hang in there.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  83. 83.

    MomSense

    August 27, 2017 at 10:21 pm

    @Paul W.:

    I’m sorry. Ugh. Someone really close to me is coming out the other side of a bad heartbreak. He’s only coming out of it because he started building a group of friends who are all artists so they share the same passion and similar struggles. Hasn’t found love yet but having a squad is pretty darn good.

    Maybe you can connect with a hobby or an interest and see who else in your area shares it. Please keep us posted. Sending you a hug.

  84. 84.

    daize

    August 27, 2017 at 10:21 pm

    Don’t post much, but. I had been following the storm all week.

    CNN had a live shot of an elderly man being evacuated from his house. Chest high water for him. I just can’t get over it. That poor soul. I am still sobbing. Donated to Red Cross.

  85. 85.

    Betty Cracker

    August 27, 2017 at 10:24 pm

    @Paul W.: I’m sorry. That’s a kick in the teeth. Something like that happens to all of us, not that that makes it any easier for you. Just don’t forget you deserve someone who loves you just the way you are. Sorry to go all Bridget Jones on you, but it’s true.

  86. 86.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 27, 2017 at 10:26 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Sorry to go all Bridget Jones on you, but it’s true.

    Without weight and drink count, it’s not really Bridget Jones, now is it?

  87. 87.

    Jeffro

    August 27, 2017 at 10:28 pm

    @Ruckus:

    Seems like they are doing a bit more than that and a bit farther up the trouser leg.

    1) True, they are, and
    2) Ewww, and
    3) That’s exactly why I can’t believe the writer didn’t take just an additional 30 seconds to think it through: why would Trumpov leave the GOP, it’s his party, it’s his, um, back they’re scratching…

  88. 88.

    BKinNC

    August 27, 2017 at 10:29 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Did I capture what the Senator was saying? I left out 3 words…

    Without those three words Frankin could be interpreted to mean he likes Cruz better than he likes any of his other colleagues — then the punchline turns into “I hate everyone in the Senate,” rather than “Everyone hates Ted Cruz.” Not really as funny.

  89. 89.

    magurakurin

    August 27, 2017 at 10:30 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG: jesus. you are a fucking asshole. Please go die in a fire.

    maybe assholes like Ted Cruz play that game by refusing to help Sandy victims. But us Liberals…we don’t play that game. We help everyone. That’s the way we roll.

  90. 90.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    August 27, 2017 at 10:30 pm

    @lamh36: I would play that song at every Texan, Astro, and Rocket game.

  91. 91.

    Steve in the ATL

    August 27, 2017 at 10:31 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: careful, dude–I don’t want to get a good reputation.

  92. 92.

    Felonius Monk

    August 27, 2017 at 10:34 pm

    @Jeffro:

    I don’t think that’s just a BJ thing…

    Perhaps not, but we seem to have weaponized it.

  93. 93.

    JCJ

    August 27, 2017 at 10:35 pm

    @Suzanne:

    I saw Roger Waters in Milwaukee at the end of July. Before an intermission he did “Another Brick in the Wall.” He had a group of kids dancing on stage wearing orange jumpsuits, then during the song they took off the jumpsuits to reveal they all were wearing shirts with “RESIST” on them. After the song the enormous video screen behind him had RESIST in gigantic letters. After the intermission for the song “Pigs (Three Different Kinds)” had all sorts of imagery of Trump. At the end of the song there were many Trump quotes on the screens and then it ended with “Trump is a Pig.”

    This is from the show in Mexico City

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWLBtMz5OuY

    And thus is “Another Brick in the Wall”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPXk6VqIa6U

  94. 94.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 27, 2017 at 10:35 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: I truly understand your concern. Many of us have dark reputations to uphold. When I was in law school, the “meet your law review editor” questionnaire question regarding me was “What is OO’s favorite color?” and the correct answer was noted as “Black, like his heart.”

  95. 95.

    lamh36

    August 27, 2017 at 10:36 pm

    @FishBlanc 5h5 hours ago
    I have an idea for replacing one of those statues…
    https://twitter.com/FishBlanc/status/901915415856730112

  96. 96.

    Betty Cracker

    August 27, 2017 at 10:36 pm

    Trump a while ago on Twitter:

    HISTORIC rainfall in Houston, and all over Texas. Floods are unprecedented, and more rain coming. Spirit of the people is incredible.Thanks!

    Thanks? THANKS?!? What a weird thing to say.

    @magurakurin: Co-signed.

  97. 97.

    JCJ

    August 27, 2017 at 10:38 pm

    @JCJ:

    From the Milwaukee show
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giHnBk4_oo0

  98. 98.

    Jeffro

    August 27, 2017 at 10:38 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Of course he thanked the people for showing spirit and…making him proud. It’s all about him. They didn’t let him down. This whole Harvey thing is going to go great, because Americans are rising to the occasion and therefore that reflects well on Trump.

  99. 99.

    lamh36

    August 27, 2017 at 10:39 pm

    @Betty Cracker: also too:

    @realDonaldTrump
    Wow – Now experts are calling #Harvey a once in 500 year flood! We have an all out effort going, and going well!

    https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/901797906046439426

  100. 100.

    Jeffro

    August 27, 2017 at 10:40 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Or to put it another way: Americans are helping each out out during this HISTORIC crisis, inspired by Der Leader, by his eminence, He Who Makes It All Happen.

    Otherwise, under that OTHER guy…it’d be all over, abandon ship, Houston!

  101. 101.

    Recall

    August 27, 2017 at 10:41 pm

    https://www.propublica.org/article/boomtown-flood-town-text

    The longtime head of the flood control district flat-out disagrees with scientific evidence that shows development is making flooding worse. Engineering projects can reverse the effects of land development and are doing so, Mike Talbott said in an interview with The Texas Tribune and ProPublica in late August before his retirement after 18 years heading the powerful agency. (His successor shares his views.)

    The claim that “these magic sponges out in the prairie would have absorbed all that water is absurd,” Talbott said.

    He also said the flood control district has no plans to study climate change or its impacts on Harris County, the third-most-populous county in the United States.

    Of the astonishing frequency of huge floods the city has been getting, he said, “I don’t think it’s the new normal.” He also criticized scientists and conservationists for being “anti-development.”

    “They have an agenda … their agenda to protect the environment overrides common sense,” he said.

  102. 102.

    Just one more canuck

    August 27, 2017 at 10:41 pm

    @Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): or a kick in the nuts

  103. 103.

    Jeffro

    August 27, 2017 at 10:42 pm

    @lamh36: He’s ecstatic because now he has a big ol’ crisis on his hands and he gets a chance to claim credit for all the feel-good stories that are going to come out over the next few weeks. (Watch – he will indeed say that Americans were helping each other ‘just as I called for in my Charlottesville remarks’)

  104. 104.

    Jeffro

    August 27, 2017 at 10:43 pm

    OT but funny tweet: “Bernie Woulda Beat Mayweather”
    LOL

  105. 105.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 10:45 pm

    @Jeffro:
    Yeah, that Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww part. I tried to make it as acceptable as possible to read on this fucking family blog.
    But really, isn’t that exactly what they are doing? I don’t care how they feel doing it or how much bleach they have to use to wash out their mouths, have they no scruples at all, I mean not a fucking one?

  106. 106.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 10:46 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:
    Not to worry, we won’t let you up.

  107. 107.

    lamh36

    August 27, 2017 at 10:47 pm

    @daize: yeah…I saw the video on twitter…I posted the link upthread.

    https://twitter.com/mattmfm/status/901935488491249664

  108. 108.

    Jeffro

    August 27, 2017 at 10:50 pm

    @Ruckus: I don’t think so. I don’t think they even understand ‘self preservation’…keeping company with Trumpov will STILL get them dead, politically speaking (to say nothing of their souls)

  109. 109.

    Steve in the ATL

    August 27, 2017 at 10:50 pm

    @Ruckus: Thanks–it’s a great comfort knowing you guys don’t have my back!

    And WTF Donald? And WTF flood control guy?

  110. 110.

    Mnemosyne

    August 27, 2017 at 10:51 pm

    @JCJ:

    An artist in Chicago got permission from Waters to put some Pink Floyd-style flying gold pig balloons up to block the Trump hotel sign there, but the city wouldn’t give permission to do it this fall. They were afraid that far more people would show up to see it than the artist was estimating.

    They’re going to try again this spring to get the permit.

  111. 111.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 10:52 pm

    @Just one more canuck:
    Better yet for a double donation, BOTH. I wonder how many senators would pay to smack and kick that smug asshole?

  112. 112.

    Paul W.

    August 27, 2017 at 10:53 pm

    Steve, monsense, baud, Betty, etc. Thank you for the “chin up” comments, I’m a young(ish) man of 32 living in NYC and it just gets real lonely sometimes. My family is back in Dallas, and this whole brief but painful episode makes me think I need to move on (to where I know not) but first steps are hard.

  113. 113.

    lamh36

    August 27, 2017 at 10:54 pm

    @ReignOfApril
    Rev. Robert Lee, IV. Descendant of Robert E Lee is speaking now. #VMAs

    “We can find inspiration in the Black Lives Matter movement, the women marching in the Womens March & Heather Heyer.” ~Robert Lee, IV #VMAs

    @ReignOfApril
    Heather Heyer’s mom announces non-profit foundation to provide scholarships to join Heather’s fight against hatred. #VMAs #Charlottesville

  114. 114.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 10:55 pm

    @Jeffro:
    I don’t think so either. Not scruple one. Because this isn’t about getting their agenda through, this is sucking up at it’s worst. These shitstains define the words, Fucking Assholes.

  115. 115.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 10:56 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:
    Hey, anytime we can’t be there for you, don’t ask.

  116. 116.

    Paul W.

    August 27, 2017 at 10:57 pm

    Oh, also that drinking does not feel good to me right now. So I guess that’s a plus

  117. 117.

    lamh36

    August 27, 2017 at 10:58 pm

    @BuzzFeed 4m4 minutes ago
    More
    Reverend Robert Mead, a descendant of Robert E. Lee, condemns white supremacy and implores everyone else to do the same. #VMAs
    https://twitter.com/BuzzFeed/status/902001284240297985

  118. 118.

    Just one more canuck

    August 27, 2017 at 10:59 pm

    @Ruckus: open it up to the public and you could wipe out the deficit. I’d drive down from Toronto to do it

  119. 119.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 11:00 pm

    @Paul W.:
    It’s not the location. It hurts the same everywhere. Not saying a change of scenery will hurt but it may not help at all either. Time is your friend. You’ve been wounded, give yourself a bit of time to heal.

  120. 120.

    Steve in the ATL

    August 27, 2017 at 11:04 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    “Black, like his heart.”

    I like that.

  121. 121.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 11:07 pm

    @Steve in the ATL:
    And can believe it.

  122. 122.

    MomSense

    August 27, 2017 at 11:08 pm

    @Paul W.:

    The problem is that you build up expectation that you’ll feel better in a new place and you might for awhile but then when you feel bad again it can be even worse.

    You are a young (no ish about your age) guy in one of the greatest cities in the world. Go do something new that you’ve always wanted to try even if you think it’s stupid.

  123. 123.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 27, 2017 at 11:08 pm

    @JCJ: Where was the show?

  124. 124.

    Immanentize

    August 27, 2017 at 11:08 pm

    My in-laws in Richmond/Rosenberg are still OK but they are heading west soon. The slough is up 10 feet and they are predicting another 4 at least. The problem isn’t the slough as much as it is the Brazos river is backing up all the drainage bayous. They will head to relatives in Brenham.

    Their daughter/sister just died of cancer
    My MIL has stomach cancer herself
    My FIL is having some bone damage from his prostate cancer
    My BIL’s entire business is garage door repair and depends on work from day to day.

    I feel like they are living out “As I Lay Dying.”. Very sad here for a multitude of reasons.

  125. 125.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    August 27, 2017 at 11:10 pm

    @Recall:

    “As bad as the April, the Tax Day flood, was this year, if you look at the number of people affected in Harris County, it’s less than 1 percent of the population. Is the other 99 percent willing to pay for a much more robust system?” he said.

    And Texans put up with a BSer like this ass clown?

  126. 126.

    J R in WV

    August 27, 2017 at 11:13 pm

    @Just one more canuck:

    I would rather kick him in the gonads— can we have a category for that?

    Price no object! Double donation to the Houston area food bank!!

  127. 127.

    Another Scott

    August 27, 2017 at 11:13 pm

    @lamh36: Andy Slavitt‘s response:

    Andy Slavitt ‏Verified account @ASlavitt

    A rule of thumb in anything I’ve ever managed: it’s not going well as long as we don’t know how big the problem is.

    6:56 PM – 27 Aug 2017

    Yup.

    Trump seems to think what’s going on in Texas and Louisiana is something out of a Hollywood movie or reality TV show… :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  128. 128.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 11:14 pm

    @MomSense:
    That letdown that the answer that you hoped would work even when told by experienced experts that it very likely wouldn’t, that can be a real kick in the crotch.

  129. 129.

    Immanentize

    August 27, 2017 at 11:15 pm

    @MomSense: makes me think of Divorce Song by Liz Phair:

    That it’s harder to be friends than lovers
    And you shouldn’t try to mix the two
    Cause if you do it and you’re still unhappy
    then you know the problem is you

  130. 130.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 27, 2017 at 11:16 pm

    @Paul W.: From my divorce, I can say that I did not try to crawl inside a bottle. It would not have changed things.

  131. 131.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 27, 2017 at 11:17 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: Of course you do.

  132. 132.

    MomSense

    August 27, 2017 at 11:17 pm

    @Ruckus:

    Yup. Sometimes love is the worst.

  133. 133.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 11:18 pm

    @Immanentize:
    Speaking of a kick in the gonads. That’s a lot of bad in that one comment.
    Let’s hope that it gets better.

  134. 134.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 27, 2017 at 11:18 pm

    @Immanentize: Jewel’s mother is a horse. I hate that book with a passion.

    ETA: Sorry, insensitive. I apologize.

  135. 135.

    Betty Cracker

    August 27, 2017 at 11:19 pm

    @Immanentize: So much sorrow all at once. Strengthen and courage to you all.

  136. 136.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 11:20 pm

    @MomSense:
    One minute it’s good, the next, maybe not so much. Still, better to have the experience than not.

  137. 137.

    Immanentize

    August 27, 2017 at 11:23 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I love hate it. “I built it on the bevel….”.

  138. 138.

    MomSense

    August 27, 2017 at 11:23 pm

    @Immanentize:

    Oh damn that is too much for one family to bear. I’m really sorry, Imm.

  139. 139.

    Immanentize

    August 27, 2017 at 11:25 pm

    @Betty Cracker: almost biblical. I am quite numb now, but even I am feeling their pain. Brutal.

  140. 140.

    Mnemosyne

    August 27, 2017 at 11:27 pm

    @Immanentize:

    2012 was the year from hell for my extended family. In the span of that year, my father-in-law, my sister in law’s mother, my ex-sister in law’s father, and my father all died. Technically, my dad died three days into 2013, but I think he was supposed to go in 2012 with everyone else and was just too damn stubborn to comply, just like he always was.

    I don’t know why this shit comes in clusters, but it does. You just wade through it as best you can, one foot in front of the other.

  141. 141.

    Immanentize

    August 27, 2017 at 11:28 pm

    @Mnemosyne: so.sorry, Mnem. Please.lend me your waders?

  142. 142.

    JCJ

    August 27, 2017 at 11:29 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    At the Bradley Center

  143. 143.

    Omnes Omnibus

    August 27, 2017 at 11:32 pm

    @JCJ: That is what I suspected.

  144. 144.

    Mel

    August 27, 2017 at 11:37 pm

    @Paul W.: I don’t know if this will help or not, but here are the words that pulled me out of a dark place a few decades ago. My lifelong friend said to me that if a very serious relationship has to end, better that it end before there are children, blended families, and blended finances involved, and while it was devastating to have my heart broken in two by someone I loved and had put my trust in, at least I could try to heal without having to try to caregive at the same time for others whose hearts were broken by the same loss.

    She then said, “Someone either loves you for the good person that you are, and appreciates you the way you are, or they don’t and were going to leave eventually anyway. Better sooner than later. Would you rather find out when you’re 50 that you’ve spent the last 25 years with an asshole that never really loved you, and try to start over then after losing all those years?”

    At first, I was furious and I thought it was one of the coldest things that anyone had ever said to me. As time went on a bit, I started to see that there was some real wisdom in what she said.

    She wasn’t trying to minimize the very real grief and shock and mourning that comes with that kind of relationship ending suddenly; she was trying to focus me on the fact that my immediate job was to take care of myself (emotionally and physically). I needed to talk through the grief, eat right even when I had no appetite, try to get sleep, avoid isolating myself, and look for ways to look forward and to find small pieces of hope and happiness during the grieving process.

    She wanted me to work towards letting go of something that was never going to be a healthy situation in the long run, and to not focus on the heartbreaking (and in my situation, impossible) “what might have been” but to focus on just getting myself through those first days and then weeks as best I could.

    I would just add: surround yourself with the people who love you. Please be kind to yourself. It takes time to get through this, and the grief will likely wax and wane, but eventually it will get better. If you feel overwhelmed at any point, please don’t try to “tough it out” or go it alone. Talking to friends, loved ones, and / or a trusted counselor really helps.

  145. 145.

    chopper

    August 27, 2017 at 11:42 pm

    @Amaranthine RBG:

    houston didn’t.

  146. 146.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 11:50 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    They aren’t relatives but I’ve had 6 people pass away in the last 8 months. One was my best friend I’ve known for over 40 yrs, one a HS friend that was the only one older than me, and only by one yr. He died while I was still going through radiation treatment. One was a friends daughter who was 41. My friends are a year older than me and raising her two kids.
    We are never in a mind set to deal with this but we do anyway. Even though it seems like it comes at us all at once. I don’t have a clue but maybe it’s easier all at once, it’s so bad that we get a bit numb and then we have an opportunity to heal, rather than one after another where you never can catch your breath.

  147. 147.

    Ruckus

    August 27, 2017 at 11:57 pm

    @Mel:
    That was some damn good advice.

    I needed to talk through the grief, eat right even when I had no appetite, try to get sleep, avoid isolating myself, and look for ways to look forward and to find small pieces of hope and happiness during the grieving process.

    This holds true if it’s love or some major health event like cancer. I know this from recent experience. And it never hurts to be reminded of this regularly.

  148. 148.

    Texasboyshaun

    August 28, 2017 at 12:07 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Gov. Goodhair was telling us to pray for rain a couple of years ago, remember. Be careful what you wish for…

  149. 149.

    Mnemosyne

    August 28, 2017 at 12:09 am

    @Ruckus:

    My mother in law’s best friend and a close cousin died within a couple of weeks of my father in law dying. They weren’t married anymore, but they got back together after he got sick … it’s complicated.

    It really seems to run in clusters. I don’t know why.

  150. 150.

    NoraLenderbee

    August 28, 2017 at 12:10 am

    @Paul W.: Do you have good friends you can hang out with? Friends who will be happy to have you around even if you’re sad and no fun, and will let you talk or not talk as much as you want? You need to be around people if possible. That’s what helped me when I went through something similar.

    Or keep posting here. I have no words to lessen the pain, but lots of us here understand.

  151. 151.

    Mnemosyne

    August 28, 2017 at 12:11 am

    @Immanentize:

    My mother in law said that the best thing she did was go to a spousal grief group sponsored by a local hospital. It really, really helped just being in the same room with other people dealing with the same kind of grief. If your Immp is at college (I seem to recall that he is), they should have similar group counseling available with his peers.

  152. 152.

    Texasboyshaun

    August 28, 2017 at 12:20 am

    Thank you John and everyone for the support. Houstonians are tough, we help each other out, we´ll get through this. And maybe I´ll break through my awkwardness enough to start talking about my two pups here. Everything is awful, but we have each other, and dogs, to keep us going.

  153. 153.

    Ruckus

    August 28, 2017 at 12:30 am

    @Mnemosyne:
    I did a group at the VA when I was still going through the acceptance phase of my cancer diagnosis and while not one of us was there for the same reasons, we were all there to learn how to deal with shit in our lives. It was formula counseling which helped some but the better part was just being in the room talking and listening. There aren’t many of us who don’t have some level of shit in our lives, you’d think that as a group of somewhat intelligent creatures we’d have learned to handle it a bit better by now.

  154. 154.

    Mnemosyne

    August 28, 2017 at 12:33 am

    @Ruckus:

    I’ve been begging my own mom to go to something like that for years, but she flatly refuses. She had a really bad psychiatric experience as a teenager (involuntary commitment for depression, apparently) and now refuses any kind of professional counseling. It’s very frustrating.

  155. 155.

    Mnemosyne

    August 28, 2017 at 12:57 am

    Okay, back to the tropical storm — now I can’t find who did the original ink, but this series of tweets has a good explanation of Houston’s flood control strategy and why they decided not to order an evacuation. Short version: the streets and highways are supposed to flood in this situation, they were designed that way, but it complicates evacuations.

  156. 156.

    Ruckus

    August 28, 2017 at 1:27 am

    @Mnemosyne:
    We hate to see people suffer needlessly. That’s a given, there for the grace of whatever go I. But this was and an event that is out of the ordinary. It could be planned for but how much could actually be done? In CA we’ve toughened building codes numerous times and strengthened many structures and roads to make survival better in earthquakes. And it works. Every place has to work with the types of events that they have, the southern coastal areas have hurricanes, we have earthquakes, OK has tornadoes, the northwest had a volcano and all those areas have to work with the probabilities of how bad they normally get and how bad can they get. Nature isn’t all that safe, we have made it safer and can probably do a lot more, but at what cost? So far Houston has had a lot of flooding but few deaths. From a 100, maybe 200 yr storm. That’s pretty good considering the amount of water and the winds that brought it there. Of course we won’t know all the damage and deaths for a while and it could get worse but it seems to not be outside the level of the expected.

  157. 157.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 28, 2017 at 1:39 am

    @Davebo: One break, coming right up. Look, I know how much rain LA gets, I LIVE HERE. I’ve lived in the LA area for 54 of my 57 years. What happened in the early part of the 20th century is that LA was plagued by flooding. In the late 30’s they built a shit ton of infrastructure to prevent flooding from even a 500 year storm. There are huge dams(Sepulveda, Hansan, Wittier Narrows, …) and areas behind them that you can’t build on even with Southern CA real estate prices. There are also dams all over the foothills in tributaries to the major rivers that catch debris from the hills so it doesn’t end up in the basin and back up our rivers. Also the LA basin isn’t flat, it slopes down from about 1000′ at the base of the mountains to the sea in the space of about 25 miles. What we do have problems with is mudslides after fires when all the vegetation is burned off and the hillsides end up in folk’s backyards(and houses sometimes).

  158. 158.

    No One You Know

    August 28, 2017 at 2:00 am

    @Immanentize: I am so sorry. I hope it’s not to naive to think that they are, however effortfully, finding their courage in each other, and discovering anew the strength that is in family bonds.

  159. 159.

    opiejeanne

    August 28, 2017 at 3:04 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Do you remember the catastrophic floods in … ’92 I think? The Sepulveda Basin (I think that’s the right one) flooded and people were rescued from the golf course by helicopter? I love people telling us all about how much it doesn’t rain so it can’t possibly flood, based on average rainfall or even record rainfall. They don’t understand the terrain.

    The cabin we own in the mountains is a mile high. The creeks all start higher up than that and by the time they come down and join with all the other creeks the flooding can be incredible, even with all of the flood control channels. We have people who die in the Los Angeles River or the Santa Ana River or Walnut Creek or Big Dalton Wash every time we have a flooding event. Those are all dry most of the time and visitors from out of state always laugh when they see how big these empty “rivers” are, but all of that water comes off the mountains.

  160. 160.

    Mel

    August 28, 2017 at 3:08 am

    @Immanentize: I am so, so sorry. I wish that I could do something to help. Please know that you, your son, and your in-laws are in my thoughts.

  161. 161.

    opiejeanne

    August 28, 2017 at 3:14 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: I forgot. Chino dairy land was behind the Prado dam, albeit several miles away; after a big flood the water backed up all the way to Chino. A lot of houses were built below that dam in Orange County, beyond Green Canyon so they can’t really let the water out of the dam. They raised that dam so that the water can back up even farther now. A lot of people thought the Army Corps of Engineers were nuts for raising it rather than fixing the drainage downstream.

  162. 162.

    opiejeanne

    August 28, 2017 at 3:24 am

    @Immanentize: I am so sorry for your and everyone’s losses, and to add more illness on top is just the cherry on top of the… well, you know what kind of sundae. I haven’t read the book or seen the movie but I can feel what you’re getting at.

  163. 163.

    satby

    August 28, 2017 at 6:49 am

    @Texasboyshaun: yes, get through this safely with your loved ones (furry loved ones too), and keep us posted! Then tell us all about your pups and anything else on your mind. The more jackals talking, the better.

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