Guv to Brazoria: Hayseeds Butt OUT!

The governor appointed an "evacuation task force" to figure out what went wrong during Rita but didn't include anyone from Brazoria County.
[abclocal]

Banjo's Mini Poll -- Weather forecasters win!

Voting's slowed to a trickle, so here are the results of our question "Did TV weather forecasters overhype Hurricane Rita?"

Yes: 41%
No: 59%

Total votes cast: 71

Now for something completely different -- What do you always seems to lose or misplace? You are encouraged to vote only once. Look to the right sidebar to cast your vote ------>

Clyde Wilson, private eye

You don't hear a lot about Clyde Wilson these days. Guess he's getting up there in years, as we all are.

But now there's a new book about the private dick's exploits, authored by the Bard of Alvin, Bill Crider (pictured), and legendary AP Writer Mike Cochran. They had a book signing the other night.
[bill crider's pop culture mag.]

ConocoPhillips gets knuckles rapped

Under an agreed order, the state plans to fine ConocoPhillips $16,200 for failing to prevent unauthorized emissions at its petroleum refinery over in Old Ocean. [texas register, proposed enforcement order #5]

Stop! Please stop!! You're being TOO IRONIC

Irony can be a beautful literary device.

But sometimes it can taken too far.

Like when the reader doesn't know that the words are intended as irony. When that happens, the readers takes the words literally.

Example: The Houston Press, in its annual "Best Of" issue, named The Facts, based here in Clute, "Best Community Newspaper."

It said:

With a name that's somehow both unassuming and boastful at the same time, The Brazosport Facts sets itself a high bar. And the feisty paper usually lives up to its moniker, providing colorful, comprehensive coverage of Brazoria County. It's not afraid of taking on polluters or the state agencies who don't police them, which can be a rare philosophy in smaller towns dominated by industries. And the staple of community papers -- maybe too thorough coverage of local sports, schools and society -- is presented in a lively way that appeals to more people than just those whose names show up in the stories.

Now that is ironic. And funny. Because obviously they are not reading The Facts that we read. There is just no way. It's impossible. That's why it's so ironic and funny and more than a little confusing. (Congrats to Kuff for being named "best blogger.")
[houston press]

Innocent til proven guilty; 'til then, locked up

Looky here. Brazoria County heads this list of counties for the percentage of defendants locked up before trial. Guess our judges are "tough." And our jail is big. And our taxpayers don't mind paying the freight. I guess. [grits for breakfast]

Evacuating Rita

Department of Public Safety troopers directing traffic on Highway 90A West. One of the advantages of a slow-moving vehicular evacuation is that it provides a lot of time to study the landscape and carefully frame each image, principally because much of the time your vehicle is at a complete standstill. For more pictures, please see Banjo Pics. 

2,500 lbs. of rotting fish

Smelly horror at state fish hatchery!
[the facts]

Air startups = beaucoup emissions

The petrochemical industry shut down across the board as Hurricane Rita approached, resulting in massive emissions; now comes the flip side -- air startups -- that result in massive emissions.

"Dow requests that the agency use enforcement discretion as this event was a result of Hurricane Rita shutdown and evacuation efforts."

Well, if you put it like that, carry on.

A thousand lbs. benzene, 21,000 lbs. ethene, 20 lbs. toulene, a pinch o' salt, a dash o' paprika ... SOUP'S ON!

[emissions report 65371]

Burglaries, fights spike during Rita evacuation

Burglars had a field day after everyone cleared out for Hurricane Rita.

Alvin cops chased down some suspects through Rita's rain.

Assaults increased, too, with most of them apparently of the family variety.

Capt. Chris Kincheloe of the Brazoria Co. Sheriff's Department told The Facts: “There was a lot of stress and a lot of alcohol.”

[The Facts]

DeLay's indictment

Just now on CourtTV, Fred Graham said of the Tom DeLay press release that was issued after the Travis County grand jury indicted the House Majority Leader:

"If a press release could froth at the mouth, this would be foaming."

New radio ratings out

The Box holds onto the top spot while KLTN's regional Mexican fare moves to 2, replacing Magic 102. KODA fades to fourth.

[radio & records]

NEW Banjo's Mini-Poll -- the Rita evacuation

Laurence Simon declares Hoffy in the Houston daily "nails it," meaning that Houston TV weather people got everyone worked up over Hurricane Rita for nothing.

During our 16-hour evacuation to the Hill Country, I privately concluded at least half of the motorists on the highway didn't need to be turning tail, reasoning that the people from west, north and much of central Harris County who left would have been better off (and a heck of a lot more comfortable) staying home.

Easy to say now, I know.

We're happy we left, but we live 10 or so miles from the Gulf. It was the most miserable road trip I've ever experienced, a 4-hour journey under normal conditions that took 16 hours, but the fear of death is a powerful motivator, especially when predictions for a while said the storm has taken dead aim on our Brazosport homestead.

So what do YOU think? Did TV weather forecasters hype Rita TOO MUCH?

Please vote only once.

========================

Here are the results of our last poll, which asked which company should get "naming rights" to the moon in order to help fund the USA's trip back to the lunar surface:

Hooters: 43%
Mountain Dew 14%
Google 14%
Cialis 10%
Budweister 10%
The Simpsons 5%
Outback Steakhouse 2%
Nike 2%
McDonalds 0
Dow Chemical Co. 0

Total votes cast: 42

Good luck & clean living mean everything

They won't say it publicly because it would be, well, unseemly.

But the captains of Dow Chemical Co. are as happy as a puppy with two peters that Hurricane Rita finally headed up the Texas coast to Port Arthur, home of the Janis Joplin Museum but, thank God, a stretch of the Texas Chemical Coast where the company has no manufacturing sites.

How much does Dow have invested in Texas? About a third of its holdings. That's a lot -- about 13 billion samoleans, give or take a few shekels. Its manufacturing plants in Texas are in Freeport (5,000 employees), Garland, Texas City, Seadrift, and Deer Park/La Porte. Dow has a business center in Houston.

Even so, Katrina and now Rita aren't good for bidness.

Dow and other companies already have announced across-the-board price increases as oil and gas production in the Gulf takes a nosedive.


[mlive]

[C&E]

The long & winding road

We've taken to higher ground in the Hill Country.

What normally is a 4-hour drive took 16 hours. Through Damon, Pleak, Rosenberg. On through East Bernard, Halletsville, Shiner, Luling (where they have the water melon-shaped water tower.)

I took lots of pictures. You can see a lot moving at 1 mph, and even more standing still for 20, 30 minutes. Will try to post those here or the photoblog at some point, with a fuller travelogue, but not now.

The most interesting interlude occurred on Spur 10, off US 59, trying to reach Hwy 90 A. I was walking Max the Bassett Hound, after he managed to make an utter mess of things in the Brazosport Newsmobile. (Traffic was at a standstill, after all.) There was, I'm sure, a look of dismay on my sunburned visage. A woman walking her mutt happened by and said, "How's it going?"

"Not good."

She said she gave her dog a little medication for the trip. She gave it a nickname, but I can't remember what it was, cause I'd been up for about the last 36 hours, moving furniture to the 2nd floor (or placing it on upside-down large clay pots that I moved indoors), boarding up windows, swilling coffee and chain-smoking.

Anyway, she said the little pill she gave her dog was Dramamine. "You know, for motion sickness."

Got any more?

She hustled back to her car some 50 yards away and hustled back. "Break it half and just give him one."

Max slept the rest of the way. Dramamine. Hell of a good drug. I saved the other half for the ride home.

Bravo Yankee ... Bravo Yankee

by-by

3:09 a.m. Thursday

DPS numbers lacking

Brazoria County was "promised" 175 troopers to help the Rita evacuation, but they didn't materialize, according to Kent Burkett, right-hand-man to County Judge John Willy.

KPRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Houston, interviewed Burkett on the phone about 2:45 a.m. Thursday.

Eventually, 50 troopers showed up to supplement the 23 who are regularly stationed here in The Land Where Texas Began. Or is that The Land That Texas Forgot?

Nothing ever goes according to plan in these kinda situations, but the state shouldn't have "promised" 175 troopers if they couldn't deliver.

Emissions events by the score

Besides staring into the teeth of a killer hurricane of historic proportions, there is a veritable festival of volatile organic compounds being released right now while the various petrochemical plants shut down. Damn you, Rita. Cough-cough. Just check this list out. Never seen a list of shutdowns like that around here. It jumps to a second page!

What in the Sam Hill am I still doing here? If I disappear for awhile, don't come lookin' for me.

Lonely town, submitted for your approval

Petco boarded up.
=================================


Wal-Mart shuttered.
=================================
The fabulous 24-hour Wal-Mart Supercenter in Lake Jackson, the social and cultural hub of Brazosport, was closed tonight due to Hurricane Rita. It's sort of a Rod Serling moment when this happens. Eerily quiet, just the sound of a lone dog howling in the distance, except I made up the lonely-dog-howling-in-the-distance part. Still, this is like the Twilight Zone episode where everybody left town. Spooky, man, spooky.

The only place to buy gas tonight was the Murphy's USA, tucked in the northeast corner of the Wal-Mart parking lot. There were long lines there this afternoon but only 3 other motorists were there tonight. I filled up for $2.569 per gallon and purchased 3 bags of Cheetos. The gal running Murphy's said she has 1,600 gallons left. They're selling only Super but at unleaded prices, according to their sign. Gee, what a deal. Anyhow, the Murphy's lady said if she has any fuel left, which she figures she will, she will be open Thursday morning. Don't know about the other gas outlets that had their pumps bagged tonight.

Dr. Neil Frank, the weatherman on KHOU-TV, the CBS affiliate in Houston, keeps talking about the "cone of uncertainty." I wish he would stop doing that. It's too sci-fi for my taste, and, between you and me, I'm getting a little nervous.

 

Brazosport newspaper flees Clute headquarters

There will be no Dan Rather/Hurricane Carla dramatics performed by the local paper's journalists, which saddens me.

But, as somebody important once said, discretion is the better part of valor. Which is to say, the local newshounds skedaddled today out of Clute, where they are conveniently located within a stones throw of Dow Chemical & BASF. But they promise to update their web site as often as humanly possible.

Writes Yvonne Mintz, managing editor of The Facts:

...we won’t print out of our Clute building, but we won’t stop bringing you the news, either.

The Facts will have reporters and a photographer stationed in the Emergency Operations Center in Angleton and at the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Department. They will try to be among the first out on the streets after Rita’s initial fury has passed ...
Our production staff of editors will head to our sister paper in Seguin. From the Seguin Gazette-Enterprise, they will edit stories, design pages and update our Web site as often as possible. We will print the newspaper every day from another sister paper, the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.

Notice she said they will "try" to be "among" the first out on the "streets." There are no promises, implied or otherwise, being made here.

What's the over/under on where Channel 13 will have Wayne Dolcefino stationed? Galveston, of course, has the historical link to the 1900 Storm. Surfside or Freeport? No, too outta the way, too obscure, too nowheresville. Maybe Palacious, down Matagorda way. Eye of the Storm, aye. Matagorda, I once read, means "fat grass" in espanol. Now you know.
The Facts

MEANWHILE...

Plywood -- Sold Out. Still some flashlights & batteries here and there.

But Wal-Mart, Target and dozens of other stores are closed and boarded up as of this afternoon.

Sources at Dow say the chemical behemoth's flood maps show a Category 4 hurricane will put six inches of water in homes in the northern reaches of Lake Jackson.

Over in Dickinson, Tom Tyler remains heavily armed. His email report to us & others:

Hello all,

I am busy preparing my home for the hit by Hurricane Rita here on the Texas coast, and will be returning to my Houston -Galveston Area Emergency Blogger Network later

Right now, its board up windows and put things up on higher things time!

I have of course already packed my emergency evac kit, inflated my rafts and made sure the john boat is gassed up and ready to motor out of the garage if the water gets too high!

I am heavily armed, have plenty of petrol and camping equipment, two generators, 200 gallon of water, a deep freeze at 0 degrees filled with gallon water jugs of ice, etc etc.

I will be back later tonight and will begin blogging the storm and the incredible evacuation that is going on outside.

I don't know how many of you realize it but this 9-county area we call "the Houston Area" officially has nearly 6 million residents and I will bet there's another million that's not on the census projections.

A couple of million people are leaving the coast, most of them under a mandatory evacuation order.

They are being directed out in time slots, according to flood plain ( A, B, C etc) and area, and while its packed out on the roads this has got to be the most orderly and successful mass evac of a major metro area since world war II, and it is a highly protected operation with the police and emergency vehicles organized for it.

Anyway, back to work, wish us luck, and I will catch all of you at the blog later.

Be sure to tune in:
http://hougalemergencynet.blogspot.com/

Regards,
ttyler5
Texas Hurricane Rider

==============================

Angleton Mayor says head for the hills

According to The Facts:

Angleton Mayor Matt Sebesta has ordered a mandatory evacuation for the city at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
“People need to be out of town no later than noon Thursday,” Sebesta said.
Angleton Police Lt. Mike Jones, the city’s emergency management coordinator, said people do not need to wait until the evacuation goes into effect. County officials said trailers will not be restricted on evacuation routes.
Hurricane Rita is currently a Category 4 storm and is expected to make landfall between midnight and 3 a.m. Saturday. Further strengthening is possible.

===============================

I shoulda bought a hybrid department

$3-plus gas price predicted due to storm. [msnbc]

Anger Management

===============================

(Editor's note: Felix S., a reader in Southern California, sends us this story, which may or may not be apocryphal. I post, you decide.)

===============================
When you occasionally have a really bad day, and you just need
>>to take it out on someone, don't take it out on someone you know,
>>take it out on someone you don't know.
>> >
>> > I was sitting at my desk when I remembered a phone call I'd
>>forgotten to make. I found the number and dialed it. A man
>>answered, saying "Hello."I politely said, "This is Chris. Could I
>>please speak with Robin
>> > Carter?"
>> >
>> > Suddenly the phone was slammed down on me. I couldn't believe
>>that anyone could be so rude.
>> >
>> > I tracked down Robin's correct number and called her. I had
>>transposed the last two digits of her phone number. After hanging
>>up with her, I decided
>> > to call the 'wrong' number again. When the same guy answered the
>>phone, I yelled "You're an asshole!" and hung up.
>> >
>> > I wrote his number down with the word 'asshole' next to it, and
>>put it in my desk drawer. Every couple of weeks, when I was paying
>>bills or had a really bad day, I'd call him up and yell, "You're an
>>asshole!" It always cheered me up.
>> >
>> > When Caller ID came to our area, I thought my therapeutic
>>'asshole' calling would have to stop. So, I called his number and
>>said, "Hi, this is John Smith from the telephone company. I'm
>>calling to see if you're familiar with our Caller ID Program?" He
>>yelled "NO!" and slammed down the phone.
>> > I quickly called him back and said, "That's because you're an
>>asshole!"
>> > One day I was at the store, getting ready to pull into a parking
>>spot. Some guy in a black BMW cut me off and pulled into the spot I
>>had patiently waited for. I hit the horn and yelled that I'd been
>>waiting for that spot. The idiot ignored me. I noticed a "For Sale"
>>sign in his car window, so I wrote down his number.
>> > A couple of days later, right after calling the first asshole (I
>>had his number on speed dial,) I thought that I'd better call the
>>BMW asshole, too.
>> >
>> > I said, "Is this the man with the black BMW for sale?"
>> > "Yes, it is."
>> > "Can you tell me where I can see it?"
>> > "Yes, I live at 1802 West 34th Street. It's a yellow house, and
>>the car's parked right out in front."
>> >
>> > "What's your name?" I asked.
>> >
>> > "My name is Don Hansen," he said.
>> >
>> > "When's a good time to catch you, Don?"
>> >
>> > "I'm home every evening after five."
>> >
>> > "Listen, Don, can I tell you something?"
>> >
>> > "Yes?"
>> >
>> > "Don, you're an asshole." Then I hung up, and added his number
>>to my speed dial, too. Now, when I had a problem, I had two
>>assholes to call.
>> >
>> > But after several months of calling them, it wasn't as enjoyable
>>as it used to be. So, I came up with an idea.
>> > I called Asshole #1.
>> >
>> > "Hello."
>> >
>> > "You're an asshole!" (But I didn't hang up.)
>> >
>> > "Are you still there?" he asked.
>> >
>> > "Yeah," I said.
>> >
>> > "Stop calling me," he screamed.
>> >
>> > "Make me," I said.
>> >
>> > "Who are you?" he asked.
>> >
>> > "My name is Don Hansen."
>> >
>> > "Yeah? Where do you live?"
>> >
>> > "Asshole, I live at 1802 West 34th Street, a yellow house, with
>>my black Beamer parked in front."
>> >
>> > He said, "I'm coming over right now, Don. And you had better
>>start saying your prayers."
>> >
>> > I said, "Yeah, like I'm really scared, asshole.">
>> >
>> > Then I called Asshole #2. "Hello?" he said.
>> >
>> > "Hello, asshole," I said.
>> > He yelled, "If I ever find out who you are..."
>> > "You'll what?" I said.
>> > "I'll kick your ass," he exclaimed.
>> >
>> > I answered, "Well, asshole, here's your chance. I'm coming over
>>right now."
>> >
>> > Then I hung up and immediately called the police, saying that I
>>lived at 1802 West 34th Street, and that I was on my way over there
>>to kill my gay lover.
>> >
>> > Then I called Channel 13 News about the gang war going down on
>>West 34th Street.
>> >
>> > I quickly got into my car and headed over to 34th street. There
>>I saw two assholes beating the crap out of each other in front of
>>six squad cars, a police helicopter and a news crew.
>> >
>> > NOW I feel much better........ Anger management really works!

Brazoria County judge says GET OUT!

Brazoria County Judge John Willy on Tuesday ordered a "mandatory" evacuation of southern portions of the county where Texas began cause of Lovely Rita, hurricane. As reported by

Brazoria County officials have called for a mandatory evacuation beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday as Hurricane Rita nears.

A voluntary evacuation went into effect at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

A mandatory evacuation for health-care facilities, including nursing homes, hospices and hospitals, goes into effect at 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Brazoria County Judge John Willy called the evacuation and reminded residents that there are no hurricane shelters in the county.

The mandatory evacuation will go in stages, beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Those living in low-lying coastal areas such as Surfside Beach, Quintana and San Luis Pass will leave first, Willy said.

Residents in Zone B, south of FM 2004, should begin evacuating at 2 a.m. Thursday.

Residents in Zone C, which is between FM 2004 and Highway 35, should begin evacuating at noon Thursday.

If Hurricane Rita develops in a Category 4 or 5 storm, residents in all other areas of the county need to be prepared to evacuate, officials said.

Excuse my impertinence, but this business about a "mandatory" evacuation is hogwash. Nobody's gonna make you leave if you don't want. That's not to say you shouldn't leave. But nobody's gonna come make you leave at gunpoint, or under threat of some kinda fine. Unless there's something I don't know. But don't call 911 and expect someone to come rescue you in the middle of a hurricane if you don't leave. That always happens with a few hardheads in Surfside, but maybe not this time, cause of what Katrina did.
[the facts]

Arlo to ride City of New Orleans again

It'll be a December whistlestop fund-raiser on the train made famous by the song penned by the late Steve Goodman.
[radio & records]

FEMA laid bare

FEMA's reaction to Hurricane Katrina wasn't all that unusual. The agency is fraught with a history of incompetence, says the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

The newspaper first revealed that FEMA paid $31 million in Miami-Dade County for Hurricane Frances, even though the Labor Day weekend storm made landfall 100 miles to the north. Subsequent reports detailed how FEMA inspectors receive little training; that the agency paid for funerals for deaths unrelated to the storm; and that some criminals were hired to inspect damage. The reports resulted in recommendations by a U.S. Senate committee and the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security for widespread changes in the way the agency administers its program. FEMA announced last month that it was making some alterations in the way it awards aid. The U.S. attorney in Miami has charged 16 Miami-Dade aid recipients with fraud. Fourteen have pleaded guilty and one was found not guilty after trial.

[So. Fla. Sun-Sentinel]

Lovely Rita, hurricane

It's safe to say, I think, that people already are panicking, including the staff here at The B'port News.

Tonight at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Lake Jackson, they were pretty well cleaned out of flashlights, candles and batteries.

Hurricane Rita is 5 days away.

This afternoon, a lady, a perfect stranger, began talking to me about Tropical Storm Frances, and how when her roof started buckling her husband announced they better leave, and they did, in the middle of the night, and it was a very very scary trip down the highway. A loose electrical line lashed the windshield of their vehicle, but it didn't break, and there were downed trees everywhere, and since it was dark they coudn't really see where they were driving. She and her hubby live down by the water in Freeport. I let her say her piece, said a few "my goshes" and then left, very very quickly.

I think I may go stay with Tom Tyler, specially since the only lethal weapon I have around here is a 5-iron. He lives over in Dickinson. He had this to say tonight:

...At this time, I am making preparations to transfer an 80 year woman somewhere where she won't be cranky, as well as preparing my home for a possible storm ride!

If we are looking at a CAT 5 by evac time, I will leave as I don't think my home will take a 200 mile an hour wind and possibly a storm surge much higher than the door handles. ( I live on a bayou about 15 miles from the Galveston Causeway.)

If it's not a Cat5, though, I know from being here in other, lesser hurricanes that the home will survive and the water won't reach it, so I will stay here and guard it and repair it when its over.

We are not only loaded with flood insurance, I have a big attic, two generators and hundreds of feet of heavy duty industrial extension line, an air compressor, plywood for the windows, saw horses for the furniture, enough tools to build a house or fix a pick up, three heavy caliber pistols, two shotguns, a rifle, an AK47 and enough ammo to defend the Alamo for three weeks instead of just two, a deep freeze full of gallon jugs of ice as well as a ton of food, two 30 gallon Igloo water casks, 6 Igloo ice chests, a boat and 3 rafts, flashlights, lanterns, camp stoves and gas grills, three fans, air mattresses, four medical kits, and on and on. Things accumulate when you live in a huge outdoor recreation, sailing and offshore fishing area that is also a hurricane and nuclear attack zone in one of the the world's largest petrochemical and shipping complexes. I could hold out here for a while!

Anyway, gotta go fill the vehicles and my big 100 gallon stainless steel tank with petrol before the damn price goes through the ceiling!

And I gotta get some BEER, TEQUILA, LIMES, SALT, OJ and CHIPPED ICE!!!! Lots of it! Hurricanes take a lot of MARGARITAS!!!

But as the storm gets closer I will begin blogging it, especially if it makes a direct hit on Galveston Island and blows on over us into Houston.

The blogging will be done at our Katrina emergency site, which will begin carrying Rita emergency preparation info as soon as I can sit down late, late tonite and begin organizing it.

Haven't taken a direct hit on Galveston Island since Alicia went over the east end in 1983 and came right over us, destroying Clear Lake City and sinking thousands of sailboats and motor cruisers, every boat in every marina on the north shore of the lake, just across the street from the space center and Mission Control.

I will never forget finally catching up with some friends who lived in a waterfront condo at Bal Harbour, just up the street from Windamere Marina ( the yacht club next to the Clear Lake Hilton) where our sailing yacht was destroyed along with a hundred others.

I said, " My neighbor Barry ("Ol' Bear" of Superior Waterbeds) can't find his 30 foot ski boat!"

And my buddy Phil said, "Well, tell him not to look for it, I got a 36 foot ketch in my living room!"

Let's hope not this time!

ttyler5

Banjo's Mini Poll: Who should get the naming rights to the moon?

There was a good turnout on our "who failed in New Orleans" during Hurricane Katrina poll. Here's the results:
the feds: 12%
the state: 7%
local and parish govts.: 31%
individuals who didn't evacuate: 8%
All The Above, to varying degrees: 42%

Total votes cast: 119

Recently, the nation's eyes have turned to the moon. President Bush has been asked how the country can afford to go back to the moon while rebuilding the Gulf Coast after Katrina and trying to free Iraq from terrorists. (Never mind the question of why we want to go back to the moon.)

But I had a great idea on how to fund the new moon mission. Sell the naming rights to the moon. Can't you see a big Nike swoosh up there during a full moon? Or McDonald's golden arches? Man, that could bring a pretty penny. We were there first, so we have dibs on naming rights, right? So who should the USA sell the naming rights to?

Who 'dat gonna air dem Saints?

KBME, the sports animal (growl), that's who.

Reports Radio & Records:

KMBE, Clear Channel's ESPN Radio outlet in Houston has created a partnership with the NFL New Orleans Saints to broadcast the rest of the season's scheduled games for "America's New Team." CC RVP/Programming Ken Charles tells R&R, "With almost 200,000 Louisianans in Southeast Texas, we felt it an important effort to try and bring some normalcy to their lives. And nothing is more normal on a sunny fall Sunday afternoon then football!"

[radioandrecords.com]

Dow & dioxins

Our friends at the Dow Chemical Co. and the chemical behemoth's shareholders are facing a possible class action lawsuit in Michigan for fouling the Tittabawassee River with dioxins. (Dioxins are chemical compounds suspected of causing cancer, liver abnormalities and reproductive problems when consumed regularly over an extended time period.) Some 171 litigants want damages. Dow is opposing the class action move. Bad for shareholder value.

Back in 1990, there was a similar problem on the lower Brazos River down here. But there weren't any class action lawsuits. At least not that we know of. The company and the state just told everyone not to eat the fish. Then, seven years later, they said it was OK to eat the fish. I guess that's what they mean when they say Texas is a "bidness friendly" state.

[ourmidland.com]
[texas department of health]

Ye olde "process upset"

The flaring at Dow last night was smokier than usual. The company says today a "process upset was caused by a trip of the propylene refrigeration compressor which resulted in flaring."

Turns out I was sucking in benzene, and all sorts of other blue meanies last night while taking photos (see previous post). No wonder I woke up with a headache.

All righty then.

[emissions report 64559]
[emissions report 64560]

The flares at night, glow wide and bright, deep in the heart 'o TEXAS

Driving home last night, Dow was flaring like a sumbitch.

You could see it well north of Angleton.

It reminded me of one night not long ago when Scooter and Scout were coming home from Houston and phoned the house to ask if the damn town was on fire. I said, no, I don't think so, but wait a minute, lemme go outside. I went out in the backyard and couldn't smell that distinctive smell that fills the air when there's a house fire. Then I turned on the police scanner, just to make sure. Nope, town's not on fire, I told them.

It turned out they just saw one of the Dow flares from a distance.

Anyway, that's sorta how it looked like last night, so I cruised on by the plant to get a look (see pictures!) It was bright to enough to read a book by, if the book you were reading was one of those large print kind. That's pretty bright. 'Course, nobody batted an eye. People just drove on by it, didn't look twice. It's just normal life here in the Petrochemical Underarm.

The air kinda had a heavier-than-usual chemical smell, so if I die tonight in my sleep, get my widow and only offspring a cheap lawyer. Eh, probably just a bunch o' ethylene. Shoot, we pour that on our flapjacks for breakfast.

No emissions reports filed yet, so I'm not sure what kinda product they were burning, or what kinda emissions event might be taking place, but if they file an officials emissions event report, I'll let you know.
[more pictures here]

NFL power rankings by Dr. Z

Interesting tidbit about the New Orleans Saints, whom he ranks 6th.

Here's what I like about them. Paul Tagliabue wanted to address them Saturday night. They said no thanks and chose, instead, C. Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans, who spoke so powerfully about his city and the failure of the administration and the relief efforts and FEMA ... straight from the shoulder, pow!

Nagin can talk the talk. Hence his election as a "reform" mayor. He doesn't know how to be a city administrator. That's when "strong mayor" city governments get into trouble.

(By the way, Saints Head Coach Jim Haslett told the team he was going to award a game ball to Nagin, as seen on the NFL Network tonight.)

Oh, and how 'bout those Houston Texans? Dr. Z ranks 'em dead last -- behind Uncle Bud's Tennessee Titans.

Five turnovers, five sacks, 120 yards of offense, the low number in the NFL on Sunday. Waddya think, does that swing it for the cellar spot?

He's got the Cowboys at 9th, behind Carolina, which lost. Go figure. I'm thinking the Cowboys will be better than I anticipated. I should have included them in Banjo's Mini Poll on who'll win the Super Bowl. But Bledsoe can't move. That's what bothers me about the Pokes.[si.com]

Flare goes poof

Like a candle in the wind, at BP's Chocolate Bayou plant, resulting in 26.51 lbs (estimated) of hydrogen cyanide being released.[emissions report 64432]

Howard Sprague reincarnated

Close your eyes. Turn on the gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Roberts Confirmation hearings. Wait for Senator Arlen Specter to speak. Then listen to the mellifulous voice of Howard Sprague, the kindly city clerk from the old Andy Griffith Show, and let it take you back to Mayberry days, when such vexing issues as Plessy vs. Ferguson did not override problems such as whether Goober was clinically insane or not. Don't pay attention to the words of Sen. Specter. Just let the timbre of his (and Howard's) voice wash over you. There now. See? Isn't that better than listening (and watching) Kennedy, Schumer, Biden et al badger Judge Roberts?

Ron Paul 2 Shane Sklar: Bring It

The Grumpy Gynecologist, US Rep. Ron Paul, R-Surfside, is not fazed in the least by upstart Demo whippersnapper Shane Sklar's criticism of his nay vote on further Katrina relief aid.

Paul attacks FEMA and the top-down federale solution to rebuilding the Louisiana-Mississippi Gulf Coast.

This should appeal to his anti-gummit base while putting Sklar in the position of defending the bureacracy, FEMA and that they entail.

Writes Paul:

Why does Congress assume that the best approach is simply to write a huge check to FEMA, the very government agency that failed so spectacularly? This does not make sense. We have all seen the numerous articles detailing the seemingly inexcusable mistakes FEMA made – before and after the hurricane. Yet in typical fashion, Congress seems to think that the best way to fix the mess is to throw money at the very government agency that failed. We should not be rewarding failure.

Sklar, it seems, might be better served probing Paul's peacenik status, since 14th District voters, by and large, like the idea of killing terrorists, based on the number of yellow "Support Our Troops" magnetic car decals we see everyday.
[lewrockwell.com]

Ron Paul getting kicked in shins by Democratic whippersnapper over Katrina vote

Shane Sklar, the young whippersnapper Democrat who's challenging Republican Congressman Ron Paul, jumped on the grumpy gynecologist for voting nay on federal aid to Katrina victims.

Charles Kuffner calls it "a very smart line of attack."

We're still waiting for Sklar to rip Paul's anti-war stance. If he's already done so, we missed it. But that may be a tough stance for a Dem to take. How do you attack an anti-war Republican? That one may not be in the Demo Playbook.

[off the kuff]

Say "Orthodichlorobenzene" 10 times fast as you can; now do it while patting your tummy

Dow Chemical, over a 5-day emissions event, released 600 lbs. (estimated) of the stuff, a highly specialized class of chemicals containing benzene and chlorine. Mmmm, benzene. [emissions report 64154]

Katrina, take 57

Wonkette has fun with the Chron's domeblog, making Tom DeLay look almost as foolish as Mrs. Bush 41 did when she spoke of the underprivileged people on public assistance not having it so bad in the Astrodome.

But HOLD THE PHONE!

Kevin Whited at BlogHouston posts info that says the domeblog scribe omitted important information & context in the mean-spirited item. It would shock, absolutely SHOCK us to think relevant facts might be omitted to make Mr. DeLay look like an unsensitive, uncaring plutocrat. On the other hand, we remember that time-honored phrase of the Fourth Estate: Never Let The Facts Get In The Way Of A Good Story, but we always thought that was just a joke!

In a happier, more Chron-positive note, Eric Berger, who writes the SciGuy blog for the Houston daily, appeared on Greta Van Susteren's Fox News TV show Friday night, talking about his prophetic story in 2001 concerning a hurricane hitting New Orleans. In a nutshell, everyone hoped real hard that the levees would hold everytime a major storm approached; their luck finally ran out.

Unfortunately, the SciGuy's notes from his now-much-in-demand 2001 story "are gone," he writes. Unsure whether this violates The Chron's Journalistic Code of Conduct & Professional Responsibilities, so Mr. Berger may get off light with an unpaid suspension. If he's lucky.

Dow Chemical faces $43,200 penalty

The Dow Chemical Company in Freeport is getting called on the carpet for:

-- failing to prevent unauthorized emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of carbon monoxide.
-- failing to prevent unauthorized emissions of VOCs.
-- failing to submit an initial report within 24 hours after the discovery of an emissions event.

Under the proposed order, the company will have to pay a $43,200 penalty, according to The Texas Register.


[Proposed Enforcement Order #22]

The Fat Guy makes USA TODAY

Scott Chaffin, who blogs as The Fat Guy, makes the pages of USA Today, not because of his innovative idea of getting folks to donate RVs as temporary housing for Katrina survivors, but because he has a campground that caters to people who don't like to camp.

[the fat guy]

FEMA guy makes up a buncha stuff on his resume, then gets fired

Next,somebody's gonna say the mayor of New Orleans was just a cable guy before taking office. SHEESH!
[time.com]

Buc-ee's co-owner 'splains gas panic

Don Wasek, the co-owner of Buc-ee's, tells The Angleton Observer that the 24-hour gas panic that hit the Brazosport area last week was the result of good intentions that "backfired."

Wasek told S.K. Bardwell, managing editor of the AO, he thought Buc-ee's would be hailed as heroes because of its plan to sell cheaper gas during the Labor Day holiday.

Instead, some customers accused Buc-ee's of trying to maximize its profits. Here's the full story from the Sept. 8 edition of The Angleton Observer:

An imagined gas crisis last Thursday resulted in long gasoline lines, flaring tempers, accusations and conspiracy rumors.
Although it was over by the end of the day Thursday, the experience left Don Wasek, co-owner of Buc-ees, badly shaken.
Wasek said the 10 Buc-ees stores in the area had plenty of gas on Wednesday evening.
But it was $2.74-per-gallon gas, and Wasek, like everyone, knew gas prices were going to soar in the wake of Katrina – for businesses like his as well as for the public.
With the Labor Day weekend coming up, Wasek said, he saw the opportunity for a business coup: He would save that $2.74 gas for the long holiday weekend, when Buc-ees would be able to sell their fuel for 10 cents less per gallon than all the other stations.
“At 6 p.m. Wednesday, I called our 10 stores and told them to stop selling gas,” Wasek said. “But I didn’t tell them why.”
In a normal climate, drivers might have been merely annoyed by having to buy their gas elsewhere.
But the climate was anything but normal. Unnerved by the images and stories they had seen coming from Katrina’s strike zone, and with the first wave of refugees arriving here, many area residents saw the bagged pumps at Buc-ees as a sign of impending disaster, or worse.
Peggy Miller said she left her home in Danbury Thursday morning blithely unaware of the problem but arrived at the Wal-Mart in Angleton to find shoppers and employees alike discussing it.
“A woman in the frozen food section asked me if I’d filled my car up yet,” Miller said. “She said I’d better do it quick, because all the gas stations were going to close before the day was over.
“She said the stations were claiming to be out of gas, but it was really because they wanted to wait until it went up to $5 a gallon to sell any,” Miller said.
“Everywhere I went, that’s what everyone was saying. I got scared,” Miller said. She said she waited in line more than an hour to buy gas she didn’t really need.
Miller’s story was played out by hundreds of drivers all over the area, resulting in lines reminiscent of the 1970s gas shortages.
Wasek ordered the Buc-ees pumps turned back on Thursday, and sold the gas for $2.74. The same day, he said, Buc-ees received five loads of gas at $2.77, and five loads at $3.
“I thought when we showed up on the holiday weekend with gas 10 cents cheaper than everyone else, we’d be heroes,” Wasek said. “It backfired.”
In the heat of the imaginary crisis, several people called the Attorney-General’s Office to complain in advance of price-gouging they believed would happen.
“That’s what they thought,” Wasek said. “And that hurts, real bad.”

The SNAFU certainly has engendered a lot of ill will toward Buc-ee's, whose behind-the-counter employees are among the most cheerful here in the Petrochemical Underarm of Texas.

There's even a boycott Buc-ees website up that's sending a lot of traffic here due its linkage to our armchair commentary.

OK, everybody, just cool off, take a deep breath and count to 10. Put some of that energy into helping with Katrina relief, or welcoming newcomers from Louisiana and Mississippi to our area.

Meanwhile, Enormous Incongruities is keeping the heat on the Buc-ee's bunch.

[via EQ's]
[angletonobserver.org]

Katrina media fatigue hits Slampo

Besides the mere sight of FEMA director Michael Brown's alleged wig, there's the no-small-matter of overuse of the song, "Louisiana 1927."

...could someone issue a cease and desist order against further use of that great Randy Newman song, as performed by the great Aaron Neville, as lulling and sentimental background music for scenes of the flooding? It’s been a good week now, and it’s obviousness in the current context has rendered it a soggy cliché. Next time we hear it we may drop to one knee, throw out our arms and sing out "Mammy ...")

He suggests this as a replacement:

“Give him water
When he gets thirsty
Tell him that water mighty fine when you dry.
Give him attention when he gets sickly
Give him the graveyard
In case he die.”

--- Junco Partner, as performed by Professor Longhair

[slampo's place]

Timing is everything...

...in the Post-Enron Age, that is.
Sandy Berger steals classified documents, stuffs 'em in his pants, lies about it and gets a $50K fine; Martha Stewart gets a tip, sells some stock, lies about it, does hard time and has to wear an ankle bracelet.

[cnn.com]

Dr. No strikes again

The Grumpy Gynecologist, Dr. Ron Paul, the U.S. representative from the 14th District, which includes Brazosport, voted against new appropriations for Hurricane Katrina recovery. He was one of 11 Republicans to vote nay. Jerk.

[redstate.org]

Kinky parties to help furry friends in La.

Kinky Friedman loves animals. Don't believe me? He feeds the rescued critters at his ranch in Medina turkey dinners. Now he wants ya'll to throw fund-raising parties to help the animals in storm-ravaged Louisiana, which, of course, also will benefit his Hail Mary campaign for Texas governor. Laurence Simon, are you listening?
======================
[kinkyfriedman.com/houseparty]

Fantasy football fever

We interrupt our regularly scheduled Katrina coverage to bring you this message:

ANYONE WANNA JOIN MY FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE?

It's free.

There's room for 6, maybe 7. First come, first served.

Win Prizes! (just kiddin')

To sign up, obey the following directions:

go HERE


The League ID# is 600077 and the Password is banjo.

There will be a live online draft on Sat Sep 10 11:00am CDT, but you can let the computer pick your lineup if you wish.

If you choose to participate in the live draft, please arrive at the draft 10 minutes ahead of the scheduled time. That means you have to be "online." The draft will start promptly and may conclude rapidly if only a few managers are logged in.

You might want to pre-rank players in case you can't make it to the draft. Managers can do this at any time by simply going to the Fantasy Football home page and clicking on their team name.

Good luck. (Not really. I will DESTROY YOU.)

The kindness of strangers, part IV

Yesterday, around 130 new students, maybe more, began attending classes in the Brazosport school district. This morning, they returned for their 2nd day.

From first-graders to high school seniors, we are happy to report that teachers, administrators and their new classmates welcomed them.

To say this it will be a bit of a culture shock to these new students is an understatement.

B'port is mostly white. There are more Americans of Hispanic heritage down here than black Americans, and most of the new students are African-American.

Even so, the newcomers of whom we've become aware have nothing but positive things to say about their welcome. We expected nothing less, but still there's a small, faint voice in our collective unconscious telling us there might be, could be a few problems, given the historical record of racial relations and fear in this country.

But then we remembered something that Jerry Jeff Walker once told us about Texas, and what it's like to live here. Jerry Jeff, a native of the State of New York, said to his mind Texas is a place where a "live and let live" attitude prevails.

We think he's right.

Then we remembered that the most famous song Jerry Jeff ever wrote, "Mr. Bojangles," has its roots back to the City of New Orleans. JJ was in the New Orleans drunk tank (for good reason, no doubt) where he happened upon Bill Robinson, known to many as Shirley Temple's tap-dancing partner in films of the 1930s.

Anyway, at the risk of stretching this good karma analogy way too far, Jerry Jeff eventually found a home in Texas, where he is nothing less than a goodwill ambassador for The Lone Star State, and now there are thousands of New Orleanians (and others) who will be making Texas their new home, some temporarily, but many, we figure, permanently, like Jerry Jeff.

So far so good.

So, let's remember what Jerry Jeff said about us and our state: Live And Let Live.
===========================

Half-price "q"

Joe's Bar-B-Q in Alvin, arguably the best "q" restaurant in Brazoria County, is offering half-price meals to Hurricane Katrina survivors.
It ain't crawfish etouffe, but it'll do.
Just show a driver's license from Louisiana or Mississippi, reports The Bulletin, the Angleton-based weekly.
===========================

LJ meeting for evacuees

A meeting for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina will be 10 a.m. Friday at the Lake Jackson Civic Center. [the facts]
Hurricane relief supplies collected. [the facts]

Katrina survivors in Austin & Huntsville and soon on cruise ships docked in Galveston

A man and his wife, a nurse, had this to say after the couple helped Katrina survivors now in Austin:

We heard dozens of stories from the people of NO (part of the job was just to listen to those who needed to talk), but there was one clear pattern. Very few of them had seen any sort of first responder. No police, no firemen, no EMT's. The first help they saw was Coast Guard helicopters.

One of the Austin EMT volunteers said to me after they left, "I can't believe these people were abandoned by their own city." He took it personally, I think. He said that the city has responsibility for the first three days in a disaster. The first responders are supposed to have a plan good for three days, while outside response gears up.

In Huntsville, prison inmates helped.

"They're very thankful that we're here to help," said Shannon Smith, 33, who is serving 10 years for aggravated assault for beating his wife while he was a drug addict.

Some evacuees said they felt blessed and had no fear of the inmates.

New Orleans' loss could be Houston's gain, and we're not talking about good karma gains, but cold hard business gains, kinda like after the 1900 Storm wiped out Galveston.

If the storm works to Houston's benefit, it would not be the first time a natural disaster of extraordinary size sparked some economic dynamism here. The hurricane of 1900 in nearby Galveston, which killed more than 6,000 people and almost leveled the most thriving commercial city in Texas, paved the way for Houston, located 50 miles inland, to emerge as a regional center for shipping and the refining of oil discovered in East Texas fields.

[richard lawrence cohen]
[nyt]
[nyt]

The kindness of strangers, Part III

When Hurricane Alicia hit Galveston in 1983, the emergency generator at City Hall failed. The City Council held an emergency meeting with flashlights and candles. It turned out somebody hadn't put oil in the generator.

What went wrong in New Orleans? Anything. Everything.

Mother Nature. Government. Some people. Everything went wrong.

Someone on TV said the relocation of the "evacuees" will eclipse the great migration of the Dust Bowl in the '30s.

I don't know.

This much I do know. A father from New Orleans, who now finds himself in Brazosport, told his eight kids on the way to church this morning to "pray long and pray hard for the people who lost everything."

"We lost everything," one of his young sons said.

"We have each other," the dad said.

The eight kids prayed long and hard, and so did their mother and father.

That happened today in every town, every shelter and every state where refuge was offered and taken.

They are glad to alive.

What are they grateful for?

If they have a mattress, clean sheets and warm water, they are thankful for that.

If they only have a cot, they are grateful for that.

For the first time in six days, they can really sleep, and maybe watch their children or their spouse really sleep.

In Brazosport, there are at least 23 grateful families, maybe more. In Houston, there are thousands. In Texas and other states, there are thousands more.

What are they thinking about now?

If their kids are OK. If the new schools they'll be attending are good. If the new people in their new towns are nice. If they can find work. If so-and-so is OK, and where old so-and-so is right now.

Some of them, many of them, will never go home.

Let's everyone try to make them feel like they have a new one.
-----------------------------

KATRINA BLOGROLLING

Laurence Martin links to a year-old National Geographic story that predicted a hurricane in New Orleans would prove disastrous.

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency lists a hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the most dire threats to the nation, up there with a large earthquake in California or a terrorist attack on New York City. Even the Red Cross no longer opens hurricane shelters in the city, claiming the risk to its workers is too great."

Slampo sets the scene in Houston, where his daughter reported a brand-new classmate from Louisiana, one of many children who lost everything.

In the coming weeks we want to keep this little girl in mind, her and all the other children housed at the Astrodome and the Brown Center and in hotels and homes and other locations across our city, as the inevitable but justifiable concerns about the costs of our hospitality---both to the public purse, and in the stresses to the social fabric---are raised and argued.

Tom Kirkendall links to a brutally incisive City Journal article and makes note of the politics underlying the response to Katrina.

As one my former professors used to remind me, "they fiddle while Rome burns and, to make matters worse, they do not realize that Rome is burning or that they are fiddling."

In-Exile Chronicle blogger Abram Himelstein says the outspoken mayor of the city he loves is "heroic."

When the national media talks about the "vacuum of leadership" we know that they are talking about George Bush, or the Congress that underfunded our levees. Or FEMA that doesn't know how to give power to someone who understands the way the city works. Because Ray Nagin, our leader, has been heroic.

Some commenters agree, some don't.

NOLA.COM, the online version of the New Orleans Times Picayune, reports that New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson is "leaning" toward moving the team permanently to San Antonio.

“This is like pouring salt into the wound,” (La. State Sen.) Michot said.

Eric Berger, who writes the SciGuy blog in the Houston daily, has learned 5 things from Katrina. One of them: blogging from non-media types during chaotic events is powerful, whether it's by citizens directly affected by breaking news or those who aren't in the eye of the storm.

Anne Linehan & Kevin Whited at BlogHouston have compiled their numerous Katrina posts in one clickable link and also have a handy resources link if you want to help.

Have a happy Labor Day holiday tomorrow.

BANJO'S MINI POLL: Who failed in NOLA?

Pro football seems so irrelevant in light of recent events, so here are the results of our "Who'll win the Super Bowl?" poll.
Indy Colts 36%
New England Pats 24%
Tampa Bay Bucs 12%
San Diego Chargers 8%
Atlanta Falcons 8%
Seattle Seahawks 0
N.Y. Jets 0
(Total votes cast: 25)
------------------------------

Now for a more relevant question: Who failed in New Orleans? Please vote only once.

Buddy, can you spare an R.V.?

Scott Chaffin, who writes The Fat Guy blog up in the D-FW area of the Great State of Texas, is wondering if there are any R.V. owners out there who would lend their rig to be used by folks displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Scott owns an RV park on the Brazos River 90 miles southwest of Dallas.

"Problem is, I ain't gots no RVs.
That's where you come in. Being Texans, you probably know some
hayseed (maybe family, maybe not) who owns an RV that will be parked
for the next few months as we slip into fall and winter. I'm looking
for donations of those idle RVs for temporary housing at my place," he says in an email sent to his blogrollin' buddies.

"I'm also working with a couple of other folks around the nation to
pull together a national dealio of this sort. National attention to
this very easy and cheap method of semi-permanent housing will be
important in the long run, I think. But, there's no reason not to
start here at home, and learn from it," he adds.

If it's just sitting there in your driveway, going unused, why not?

It'll make you feel good, I guarantee. Clink the link below for details if you can help. Appreciate it.

[buck's on the brazos]

"George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People" ...

If you missed "The Concert for Hurricane Relief" on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC last night, there was a priceless moment. It was a moment that may live in TV infamy.

I don't think Mike Myers will be working with Kanye West again. Ever. But the look on the face of Myers was simply shagadelic. Via "Crooks and Liars"

NOLA "exile" blogs for Houston daily

The Hurricane Katrina catastrophe has awakened the Inner Blog of Houston's daily paper.

Yesterday, they started blogging from the Astrodome, giving us a rough draft, seat-of-the-pants look at what's happening inside the one-time 8th Wonder of the World, and now they've turned over the blog keys to a New Orleans "exile" who's staying in Houston with his mother in-law.

Looks like they made a good choice in Abram Himelstein, who was teaching inner-city kids how to write before the hurricane and broken levees wiped out New Orleans.

He has a lot to say and he says it well, even though he avers that he's still operating at half speed, brain-wise:

Something that is not much on our minds: the stuff. Not even the houses matter. Most of us don't know for sure how much of our stuff is gone. And when I say stuff, I don't mean the electronics and clothing. I mean the only copy of a picture of my great-grandfather holding me. I mean the best Mardi Gras Indian Suit Buck ever made. I mean the documents and treasures of our lives. But even those things aren't on our minds much. We want our people.

We want information, news of their safety. We want to find out how our best friends are doing. We want to find out how our parents are doing. we want to find out how our grocer is doing.

I'd like to hear how this blog came to be. Just curious. Maybe he'll tell us. Or maybe one of the other Chron bloggers will tell us.

Either way, Mr. Himelstein's blog is one I'll look forward to reading. Also, that's a pretty cool picture of him, wearing the white t-shit with "New Orleans" scrawled across it in black Magic Marker (see cron link).

That touch, no doubt, came from the blogger himself, who received a bit of pre-Katrina news coverage from the "best bet" section of bestofneworleans.com, which reported he created the t-shirt pictured above left:

Black marker on a white T-shirt, worn by a guy flexing both biceps: "I HATE MYSELF AND MY FRIEND. IN THAT ORDER." This came from Abram Shalom Himelstein -- public-school teacher, pizza deliveryman and co-author of Tales of a Punk Rock Nothing -- who asked 100 New Orleanians to put black markers to fresh white shirts and write the thought that they couldn't get rid of.

Well, dude, welcome to Texas.
And, no, Houston, this is not your daddy's Chronicle.

[chron.com/In Exile]
[bestofneworleans.com]

The best publicity Houston could buy

Ten million dollars couldn't buy the kind of publicity Houston is getting by taking care of Hurricane Katrina's evacuees.

I throw the $10 million figure out because that's what I heard a Houston City Councilman say it might end up costing the city.

Maybe he's right, but just based on the reportage offered tonight on the Fox News Channel from Greta Van Susterern, you can't help but conclude Houston will be repaid 10 times over, if you believe in karma, like I do.

Really. I'm not kidding.

When the Super Bowl was held in Houston, the rah-rah Chamber of Commerce types kept harping on all the free, positive publicity it would yield the country's fourth largest city. While that indeed may have been true, I don't think it can compare to what's going on now, and what hopefully will continue going on.

Tonight, for instance, Van Susteren is reporting to the world that people taking refuge in the Astrodome are saying things like, "I want to live in Houston."

She's interviewing New Orleans people who are saying things like "Houston is on the map."

"We love Houston."

"They are taking care of business."

Said Van Susteren: "Texas should indeed take a bow."

She's absolutely gushing about Houston and Texas and the people who are helping.

Keep your eyes on the prize, everybody. Keep doing what you can.

Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans:

The looters?

You have drug addicts that are now walking around this city looking for a fix, and that's ... why they were breaking in hospitals and drug stores. They're looking for something to take the edge off of their jones, if you will.

And right now, they don't have anything to take the edge off. And they've probably found guns. So what you're seeing is drug- starving crazy addicts, drug addicts, that are wrecking havoc. And we don't have the manpower to adequately deal with it.

Politicians?

I don't want to see anybody do anymore goddamn press conferences. Put a moratorium on press conferences. Don't do another press conference until the resources are in this city. And then come down to this city and stand with us when there are military trucks and troops that we can't even count.

Don't tell me 40,000 people are coming here. They're not here. It's too doggone late.

Now get off your asses and do something, and let's fix the biggest goddamn crisis in the history of this country.

John Wayne, reincarnated

Now, I will tell you this -- and I give the president some credit on this -- he sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get some stuff done, and his name is General Honore.

And he came off the doggone chopper and he started cussing and people started moving. And he's getting some stuff done.

They ought to give that guy -- if they don't want to give it to me, give him full authority to get the job done, and we can save some people.

[cnn via wonkette]

Scenes from the TV

Woman in New Orleans, in her 30s, sitting down in the middle of chaos and ruins. Dead bodies a mere 15 yards away. Camera pans in. Reporter asks what she's been given. "They gave me some water, but they didn't give me ice," she said, throwing her shoulder to the side and tossing her head. "No ice! This is Naw'lins. You gotta have ice. It's hot!"

Yes, New Orleans will rise again. Somehow. Someway.

Buc-ee's convenience chain says "sorry"

A local convenience store chain that temporarily shut off its gas pumps and told customers they were plumb outta petrol apologized after the state attorney general's office investigated.

Rumors of a gas shortage swept through the Brazosport Area after local Buc-ee's convenience stores told customers they were out of gas but would be glad to sell them a 99-cent bag o' ice and an overpriced bottle of Diet Pepsi.

The rumors quickly produced long lines of cars at other gas outlets around the area because nothin' puts the fear of God into Brazosportians like the sight of a 4-wheel drive pickup in the driveway with a bone-dry gas tank.

Naturally, there were numerous complaints to the state AG's office.

Suddenly, the gas pumps at Buc-ee's were flowing again!

"Beaver" Aplin, the convenience chain's co-owner, told the local paper Thursday they didn't run out of gas but were "saving" it for the Labor Day Weekend. He said this in an official statement, so the local paper could not report what type of facial expression he might have been wearing when the aforementioned statement was stated.

Critics said the stores, whose logo features a buck-toothed beaver (not the beaver pictured above left), and which recently placed huge, oversized American flags on towering flagpoles outside its locations, was trying to increase its profit margin by witholding the gas.

There's no word yet whether Buc-ee's plans to change its current motto from "the fun store" to something more appropriate. May we suggest "the dumbass store"?
[the facts]
[Buc-ees.com]

The scene in the Astrodome

The Chronicle's doing a blog from the Astrodome, where thousands of Louisianans have been taken for shelter. Helen Eriksen writes:

It's been less than a day and already the crowds are beginning to take their toll on this gigantic dome turned shelter.

The toilets are overflowing and when Eric went to the restroom he found out only one toilet was flushing.

"Eric" is Eric Harrison of the Chron staff, who apparently is phoning in his info. Here's the full link:[chron.com/domeblog]

Naw'lins memories

The first time I went to New Orleans it was January 1973. Me and two buddies were driving non-stop from Platteville, Wisconsin, in a 1964 Rambler my grandmother had given me. We had driven my grandma and her sister ("Aunt Lois") from Baytown to Wisconsin in a late-model Olds my uncle was giving to his mother. In turn, she gave me her old Rambler, my first car, which I unfortunately totaled about a month later, but that's a whole other story.

We planned to stop in New Orleans, where the brother of one of my friends was living at the time.

As it turned out, while driving through the night down through Illinois, Memphis and on into Louisian, this nut with a gun stationed himself on top of a tall building in downtown New Orleans and began shooting at people. We listened to non-stop radio news coverage of the ordeal until we finally pulled into New Orleans sometime before dawn, where we found the downtown area cordoned off by police. Then we found my friend's brother, who lived over around Tulane, and crashed.

So that was my first New Orleans visit. Everytime I went there after, it was at the behest of a newspaper, though I never did "cover" Mardi Gras, or even attend it as a civilian. Still, I enjoyed going there, especially since I enjoyed a drink or three in those days. That's not to say I have a special kinship to the place, but it's become clear that many people do, and that the events of this week have left them feeling more than a little wistful. Will their New Orleans ever be the same? No idea. But what got me typing this was reading Slampo and his random recollections of New Orleans, acquired, evidently, over a number of years. So read his post. Just click the link. I'll update you on the Katrina refugees here in Brazosport sometime tomorrow or the day after.


[Slampo's Place]

Spencer Tillman is an idiot

Watching the Texans-Bucs game and "color analyst" Spencer Tillman actually suggested the Texans may be distracted by the horrors of Hurricane Katrina (Texans are trailing 17-to-zip, 2nd quarter.) Spencer then related an anecdote dating back to his (short-lived) days with the 49ers, when that team was distracted by the SF earthquake. Earth to Spencer: Katrina didn't hit Houston.

I've been keeping my powder dry concerning Tillman ever since this year's first Texans preseason game, when he spoke of the team attempting to "matriculate" the ball down the field. But this tie-in of the Texans' pitiful performance and Hurricane Katrina is the last straw. THE LAST STRAW, I TELL YOU.

Gas gouging?

A chain of convenience stores in the B'port Area is being accused of temporarily halting the sale of gasoline in order to increase its profit margin. The "bagged" pumps at the convenience stores sent some Brazosportians into a panic over a perceived gas shortage. The pumps now have been "de-bagged" even though there apparently weren't any fuel truck deliveries, reports the local paper. Hmmmm.

Here's selected portions of the email I was sent:

...They are NOT out of gas. He has chosen to shut down and wait
on the prices to go up later today or tomorrow so he can make a huge
profit. He will then purchase gas at a lower price when President Bush
releases
some of the oil reserves and be able to sell it at a premium. He plans
to
"make a killing". This information was received from a reliable source
and
is not here say. I would like to challenge all of you - DO NOT DO
BUSINESS AT (NAME REDACTED)... He is taking advantage of the people of Brazozport
and doesn't deserve our business now or in the future. It is this kind
of greed that has put our country in the shape it is in. We don't need
people
like him. I hope you agree. Please feel free to share this info with
others.

The local paper in Clute has been doing some reporting on this (see links at bottom of this post) and supposedly KTRK-TV (Channel 13) out of Houston is down here preparing a report.

Since I don't know if these allegations are true, I elect not to name the convenience store chain that's on the receiving end of these accusations. We'll see if the mainstream news media (which is to say, not me), or maybe the state attorney general's office, can get to the bottom of it.
[The Facts, story 3]
[The Facts, story 2]
[The Facts, story 1]

Dow to give $3 million

Since I report on emissions events at Dow and other petrochemical companies around here, it's only fair that I note Dow Chemical Co. is pledging $3 million in hurricane relief. Thanks, Dow Chemical. Click the link for more details:
[woodtv.com in midland, mich.]

The kindness of strangers, Part II

A Good Samaritan in Brazosport has leased 17 homes for refugees from Hurricane Katrina.

They began arriving in vans from Houston about 3 o'clock this morning.

There are 84 children of various ages. Most heads of families are single mothers.

All are dirty, exhausted, dazed and very likely in shock. They've had little, if any, sleep for the past three days. They either waded or swam through the floodwaters to survive. All are appreciative of the helping hands that have been extended.

One boy, about 9, took a look at the home he was taken to this morning and asked, "How many families are going to be staying here with us."

When he was told, "It's just for you and your family," his eyes grew wide as he looked around the house. All he could do is look to his mom in disbelief.

One elderly woman said he grew worried as the van started taking her south from Houston. She was afraid she was being taken back to Louisiana, but her fears were relieved when she arrived here.

As much as I'd like to trumpet the name of the Good Samaritan who's leased these homes, that will not be done. The Good Samaritan has insisted on anonymity and I have agreed.

The Good Samaritan, however, agreed to talk to The Brazosport News in hopes that we could get the word out to anyone who wants to help.

What's next? That's a good question.

These folks could be here a month or two or three, or perhaps longer. I suspect their stay will be on the long side rather than the short side. They literally have lost everything. The Brazosport school district has said it will get the kids into classes. Some local business people already have agreed to help out.

Since this local endeavor to help just came to my attention this morning, the Good Samaritan asked The Brazosport News to act as sort of a quasi-clearing house to enable those who want to help to do what they can.

If you want to help, send me an email to Banjo.Jones@gmail.com

I may not respond immediately because I have no idea how many people will read this and respond. And, at this point, I wouldn't know what to tell you exactly what to do. If you're already helping through a church or some other volunteer organization, answering this call probably isn't necessary, since you're already doing what you can.

For the time being, I'll collect your names and email addresses and then be in touch with you via email.

Thanks for reading, thanks for helping and I'll be in touch in the coming days.

The kindness of strangers, multiplied

"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."

The famous Tennessee Williams line, spoken in a play set in New Orleans, now rings true for thousands of people.

It's been disconcerting to hear the naysayers predict that we're only asking for trouble if we extend a hand to these Louisiana folks who now find themselves homeless, dirty and hungry, but somehow we trust our nobler instincts will overcome our fears.

Already there are numerous examples of individuals stepping forward.

Here in Brazosport, a family of 17 was aided by complete strangers. (See, The Facts).

In Baytown, a couple of teen-agers who work at Best Buy suggested the store donate the use of two large-screen TVs and Sony Playstation 2 games to the local community center that's serving as a shelter while a local nurse, who took face paints to the shelter to entertain kids, ended up having her nursing skills pressed into service.(See, The Baytown Sun).

In Houston, evacuees who didn't meet the bureacratic criteria for entrance into the Astrodome were met by kind-hearted strangers who simply showed up wanting to help. (See, Lone Star Times).

There will be hundreds more examples like this to come, which we sincerely hope will prove wrong those who say we should simply do nothing.