September 29, 2008
THE GOOD: As I’ve mentioned once or twice, I’ve switched schools this year. My new school is located in a poor area of town, with most of my students being socio-economically disadvantaged by any measure. And yet when one of the “Points of Distribution” for water, ice, and MREs was established in the community by FEMA but no personnel were supplied to staff it, a couple of folks associated with my school were able to start making phone calls and turn out 130 students over the course of 3 days to help distribute the needed supplies. That is out of a total student body of about 1700 – not a bad percentage.
THE BAD: You know, we were all told that FEMA had learned lessons after Hurricane Katrina. Maybe they did – but only in regards to dealing with New Orleans. They’ve been no help with us, despite our having applied for aid early in the disaster – indeed, I have not received any of the paperwork they have supposedly sent to me, nor have I been able to get any assistance regarding finding a place to live.
THE UGLY: Here’s one that just makes me sick – and I believe I may have met this person at some point in the past, as the name sounds familiar. For that matter, I am friends with several administrators from this person’s school, and nearly ended up working there a couple of years ago. The behavior recounted here, though, is simply too repugnant for words.
Jacki Steinhauer is one of the lucky ones. She has no damage at her Deer Park home, she has power and she doesn't have to work since her school is closed."Life is great after a hurricane when nothing really happened to your house!" Steinhauer says in her blog, "The Secret Life of an Uninteresting Teacher."
The most recent entries brag about all of the free MREs she's been eating -- MREs that are meant for hurricane victims who have no food because they have no power. Some of those victims have no homes.The teacher has it down to a science, according to her blog: "I got Schlotsky's today for lunch and went again to the courthouse in Baytown to get my water, ice, and food. This time, there were different meals, but hopefully as good as the others. Then, i came home, emptied my trunk and then headed off for the Deer Park POD (Point of Delivery)."
"I think that I am falling in love with MREs. They are pretty darn good. I went around 5:30 to go get more MREs and actually got another box of real MREs, water, and ice," Steinhauer wrote on Wednesday. "Right now, I have five cases of water, two 20 pound bags of ice, four 10 pound bags of ice, and four boxes of MREs."
While stocking her pantry and frig with taxpayer-funded freebies, Steinhauer has become quite the MRE connoisseur.
"Yesterday I ate meatballs with marinara sauce, almonds, wheat bread with cheese sauce, pretzels, and the orange punch. Today's meal was chili mac, applesauce, a pop-tart, wheat bread with cheese sauce, fruit punch, and apple cider," she wrote. "It is so cool that you put a little bit of water in the bag with the food and in about a minute, there is hot food. This is great. I don't have school and getting free food!"
The good news? Her district has suspended her pending an investigation of whether or not her conduct constitutes a violation of the ethical standards set by the state and district for teachers – but once again she is getting a freebie off the taxpayers, since it is a suspension with pay. Too bad they couldn’t tell her that she didn’t need a taxpayer check since she has all those taxpayer-financed MREs to eat. In the mean time I’m living in a church hall, and have paid for every meal I’ve eaten since the storm by going to one of the many open grocery stores in the area – despite having had my home rendered unlivable for the next few months.
And to the pair of Bubbas I heard bragging about scoring MREs for hunting season -- may you not get your deer, may the birds fly elsewhere, and may you end up down-range of Dick Cheney on your next hunting trip.
Posted by: Greg at
01:54 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 762 words, total size 4 kb.
September 18, 2008
That is about to change.
This morning we return "home" from Austin, after deciding that it is better to be close than comfortable.
But we will not be in the house, which remains unlivable -- and will for the foreseeable future.
Instead, we will be taking over the "youth room" in the church fellowship hall about 2 1/2 miles inland from our house. It has the necessities of life, including a big kitchen -- and an offer to stay until we can make more permanent arrangements. That means no more long drives, and the ability to go back to school when it resumes (Monday, tentatively, but with 60% of the area without power I have doubts about that).
Besides, eventually we will probably be able to get an apartment or a trailer for us to live in until the house is repaired and we start filling it with new furniture.
So homeward bound -- with a very heavy heart but a spirit that is not (yet) broken.
And I'll again point to the PayPal and Amazon buttons on the side if you feel moved to help with our recovery.
Posted by: Greg at
12:14 AM
| Comments (24)
| Add Comment
Post contains 246 words, total size 1 kb.
) September 16, 2008
Yesterday was my first opportunity to see the place.
At first I was quite hopeful -- the back fence was down and the first pane of a couple of double-pane windows were broken.
And then I noticed the debris piled against the fence in the by the side of the house -- and my buddy Rick spotted the water line two feet high on the side of the house.
It appears the storm sewer backed up and sent water up from the street and into the houses on my side of the street (I don't know about the other side).
We took 2-2 1/2 feet in the garage, and 1 1/2 to 2 feet in the rest of the house. It is, dare I say it, a serious mess, and is going to require a serious rehab.
Thank God for flood insurance.
In the mean time, my district has canceled school until next week, and I'll have to see about finding more permanent quarters closer to home. Paula will remain in Austin for the time being, and I'll be in Houston with a friend trying to work on the house.
Prayer and moral support is always welcome -- as is a click on either the PayPal or Amazon boxes in the right column.
Posted by: Greg at
11:06 PM
| Comments (28)
| Add Comment
Post contains 255 words, total size 1 kb.
D, and 
, and September 14, 2008
Not only are they not answering the number they told us to call for information, but it has been over 24 hours since they have bothered to update their website.
But not to worry -- they do have the manpower to block anyone from coming home to actually check on their property.
Sunday morning, residents of the tiny community of Seabrook near Johnson Space Center began trying to return home. They were met by a roadblock, and three Seabrook police officers standing in the rain, turning folks away. At times the line was six to 12 cars deep."It's gonna be a while," an officer shouted to one man as he made a U-turn. "Just listen to the news."
"Seabrook is a disaster area: no sewer, no infrastructure. It really isn't safe," said officer Charlie Skinner. "It's making residents pretty upset. I understand, but ... There's an order signed by the mayor. We can't let anybody in."
That's right -- the law-abiding folks who followed the mandatory evacuation order are not permitted home and are getting no information. The folks who flaunted it and stayed behind are being allowed to remain.
Seems to me that the approach being taken by the city officials in Seabrook is exactly what should not be done -- and the mismanagement of Mayor Renola, the City Council, the city manager, and the rest of the employees of Seabrook has been so bad that many people will refuse to evacuate in the future for fear of again being denied access to their homes by badge-and-gun wielding cops acting on orders from an unresponsive and unprepared city government.
Seabrook was once known as Recall City USA because of its frequent use of that tactic to get rid of unresponsive politicians. Expect it to happen again with the entire crew currently in charge.
UPDATE: Shortly after 11:00 PM, the city put out phone calls, emails, and updated its website to inform residents that those on the west side of town can return home after 6:00 AM on Monday -- but that the rest of us still cannot. Better late than never -- but it would have been nice for those impacted by this move to get a little bit of extra notice.
Posted by: Greg at
02:40 PM
| Comments (2)
| Add Comment
Post contains 405 words, total size 2 kb.
September 13, 2008
This may explain why.
Two blocks from city hall, two feet off Highway 146.
And 2 1/2 miles from my house.
About 1/3 mile down Highway 146 from the above picture,
near the bridge to Kemah.
So we remain in Austin.
Posted by: Greg at
05:53 AM
| Comments (8)
| Add Comment
Post contains 103 words, total size 1 kb.
September 12, 2008
The storm surge from Hurricane Ike and debris covers a street, Friday, Sept 12, 2008 in Seabrook Texas.
Incredibly, Ike's center was still some 200 miles away when this photo was taken. AP Photo/Kim Christensen
![080912-ike-surge-c-02[1].jpg](http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?s=environment&c=news&l=on&pic=080912-ike-surge-c-02.jpg&cap=The+storm+surge+from+Hurricane+Ike+and+debris+covers+a+street%2C+Friday%2C+Sept+12%2C+2008+in+Seabrook+Texas.+Incredibly%2C+Ike%27s+center+was+still+some+200+miles+away+when+this+photo+was+taken.+AP+Photo%2FKim+Christensen&title=)
This shot was taken about 12 hours before the storm is scheduled to make landfall -- about 1-2 miles from my house. This is a major reason why I am certain that my Darling Democrat, the Apolitical Pooch and I are hiding out in a hotel in Austin.
Word is that there will be a storm surge of 18-22 feet in our area -- and what you see there is at perhaps 8 feet.
I don't want to imagine what we will be going home to -- and can imagine that we might not have a home to go home to.
UPDATE: Additional photos from Seabrook, Texas -- H/T Houston Chronicle
Local resident walking dog -- about 2-3 blocks from picture at top of this post.
See that picture at the top? This would be the same spot, facing the other direction.
See that white house in the center at the very top of the picture?
That is in front of the location with the debris.
Resident wading about 1/2 mile from the debris picture, on a side street.
This would be in the extreme upper left of the photo just above.
Our house would be another 1 1/2 miles past this, at about the same point on a side street -- but with a bit more land (1/4-1/3 mile) between us and the water. Needless to say, I'm not taking much comfort in what I'm seeing here.
Posted by: Greg at
10:13 AM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 277 words, total size 3 kb.
September 10, 2008
Unfortunately, that is going to push a great deal of wind and rain this direction, as well as a storm surge.
It also means that there will likely be a storm surge up Galveston Bay that will flood low-lying areas. That means our house, which in 30 years has never taken so much as a drop of flood water from any storm. I have every reason to expect that run of good luck to end between now and Saturday.
I'm asking for prayers, good wishes and positive vibrations, according to your inclination and tradition -- not just for me, the Darling Democrat and the Apolitical Pooch, but also for my fellow Gulf Coast residents. Pray that this storm is directed so that it hits when, where, and how it will do the least damage to the lives of the least people.
I'll try to get back online tonight and update you on the evacuation. May it not be the sort of fiasco we experienced three years ago during Hurricane Rita.
UPDATE: WE ARE UNDER MANDATORY EVACUATION AS OF NOON TODAY.
Posted by: Greg at
09:20 PM
| Comments (3)
| Add Comment
Post contains 226 words, total size 1 kb.
September 09, 2008
The pressure of staring down Hurricane Ike is on as the storm moves across the Gulf of Mexico on an uncertain path that has officials along the Texas coast waiting to decide which communities need to evacuate — and when.As of late Tuesday, Ike seemed set on coming to Texas, but it remained too early to know whether it would make landfall this weekend somewhere between Corpus Christi and Palacios, drop down into the Rio Grande Valley, or even make a hard turn that would bring it closer to Houston.
"When they get in the Gulf, they tend to do weird things, so we're going to keep watching it," said Francisco Sanchez, of Harris County's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. "We do have a bit of a sigh of relief."
Even if the storm doesn't head directly to Houston, its winds and rains still could be dangerous, said officials, who cautioned residents not to let their guards down.
"We are still in the monitoring stage now," Houston Emergency Center spokesman Joe Laud said. "There is always that chance it could turn back east."
So right now it looks like (probably) no evacuation for me -- but I'm not canceling that hotel room in Austin quite yet, either.
Posted by: Greg at
09:59 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 321 words, total size 2 kb.
September 08, 2008
Over four winters, Harvard researchers matched hacking adults' visits to Boston-area emergency rooms with Census data for 55 zip codes. Flu-like symptoms struck first and worst in the zip codes that were home to the most kids.Every 1 percent increase in the child population brought a 4 percent increase in adult ER visits, researchers reported this summer in Annals of Emergency Medicine.
"The impact of kids and the flu is clear," says study co-author John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Children's Hospital Boston. "It doesn't mean the areas without kids are protected from flu. It just means they experience flu later and at lower rates."
Any parent can attest that youngsters are germ factories. It takes years of nagging before they cover coughs and sneezes. Little ones tend to pick their noses. Even teenagers aren't great hand-washers. Crowded schools, preschools and day-care centers act as incubators.
It's why we have little mini-epidemics at school every year -- and why teachers are eitehr decimated by something new or are gloriously immune after having been exposed to so much crap over the years. We all remember that first year of teaching when we got every byug that walked into our classroom.
And I suspect it is also not just that kids are less sanitary than adults, but also that adults let them inside our personal space more readily than other adults. Think about it -- we'll gladly pass around a baby or hug a sniffly toddler.
Posted by: Greg at
10:30 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 267 words, total size 2 kb.
September 07, 2008
That said, in this case the Congress must act as it is prepared to do in order to safeguard the rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
H.R. 6691 is the latest effort by the National Rifle Association to wrest jurisdiction over local gun legislation from the District's elected officials. It comes as city officials are in the midst of formulating permanent legislation to comply with the landmark Supreme Court ruling overturning the city's long-standing ban on handguns. Sponsors of the measure, 47 conservative Democrats and five Republicans, say that D.C. officials can't be trusted and so they are acting to ensure Second Amendment rights for city residents. It's a maddening argument considering that none of those who signed on to the bill would ever stomach letting Congress dictate local law to their constituents.Equally troubling is that the bill goes beyond the scope of the ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller authorizing gun possession for self-defense in the home. The majority opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia specified that a range of gun regulations are "presumptively lawful." But, if sponsors of H.R. 6691 have their way, the District would be barred from passing any law that would "prohibit, constructively prohibit, or unduly burden" gun ownership by anyone not barred by existing (and weak) federal gun laws. That would mean that the District couldn't require a vision test or shooting proficiency or education about gun safety for children. Gun registration would be abolished, as would the ban on carrying weapons -- even military-style rifles -- in public. It's a scary scenario in a city where political protests, presidential motorcades and visits by foreign dignitaries are routine.
The problem, of course, is that the city has for decades violated the civil liberties of its residents, and after being told so has imposed regulations nearly as burdensome and likely as unconstitutional as those struck down by the Supreme Court this past summer. As such, it is Congress' duty to step in and stop such violations of the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment in the one place where it has the clearest constitutional ability to do so -- the District of Columbia.
I'm curious -- would the Post's editors be quite so upset if the legislation in question were designed to protect the press freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment from a city government that showed them no respect? No, I didn't think so either.
Posted by: Greg at
10:42 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 457 words, total size 3 kb.
I'm talking this blurb:
MSNBC drops Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews from anchor chair... David Gregory will anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night.... Developing...
You mean that utter lack of professionalism might actually have consequences at that discredited network? Granted, David Gregory isn't much of an improvement, but it is something.
Will the various NBC brands ever recover from the untimely death of Tim Russert this summer?
Hot Air is also blogging this one.
UPDATE: NYT has the story -- and here is the money quote:
In interviews, 10 current and former staff members said that long-simmering tensions between MSNBC and NBC reached a boiling point during the conventions. “MSNBC is behaving like a heroin addict,” one senior staff member observed. “They’re living from fix to fix and swearing they’ll go into rehab the next week.”
UPDATE 2: The NYT story on Trig Palin I mentioned above is up -- and it is a reasonably sensitive piece that talks about the pregnancy and how she has dealt with motherhood. And it pretty effectively slaps down the "Trig Trutherism" of Andrew Sullivan, Daily Kos, and the rest of the deranged left.
Posted by: Greg at
02:03 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 217 words, total size 2 kb.
September 06, 2008
Dallas police on Friday searched for a man who robbed a 7-Eleven convenience store in his wheelchair, stealing 10 boxes of condoms and an energy drink before rolling himself out the door, authorities said.
That would qualify as seriously weird.
But then you get this at the end of the article.
Cpl. Janse said he couldn't recall another robbery involving a person in a wheelchair. He believes the culprit was probably intoxicated at the time.
Well, maybe.
Condoms and energy drinks? I'd conclude he was looking for a bit of fun and some "staying power."
Posted by: Greg at
02:47 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 111 words, total size 1 kb.
Texas is infamous for the cavalier way that it applies the death penalty. Still, the case of Charles Hood, who is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday is especially appalling. Mr. HoodÂ’s lawyers have presented evidence that during his trial, the judge was having an affair with the prosecutor. Gov. Rick Perry should grant Mr. Hood a temporary reprieve, and if the reports of the affair are correct, Mr. Hood must be given a new trial.
Only one minor problem there, NY Times editors -- Rick Perry cannot do that in the way you want him to.
You see, the governor does not have that sort of power here in Texas. Call it a remnant of the days of Reconstruction where the power to grant pardons, reprieves, and commutations was so abused by one of the incumbents that the 1876 state constitution effectively removed that power from the governor. For Perry to grand more than a 30-day reprieve, it would require an affirmative vote of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. At best, Perry can grant Hood a single 30-day reprieve -- after which the execution proceeds with no further gubernatorial intervention possible, absent a recommendation from the Board.
But there is one other minor detail -- the romance issue was apparently raised before, and not seen as grounds for overturning the conviction due to the lack of evidence of any inappropriate conduct or rulings that prejudiced Hood's right to a fair trial. That was the ruling of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which this week dismissed an attempt by Hood to raise the issue again (Oh, yeah -- NYT doesn't mention the fair trial issue has already been adjudicated against Hood). I guess that in this case the folks in New York don't really care about that whole separation of powers thing.
Oh, and by the way -- want the best example of how little respect the folks at the Times have for the unambiguous language of the Constitution? It is right here.
We believe the death penalty is, in all cases, unconstitutional and wrong.
However, the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution explicitly permits capital punishment. Unless we are to accept the argument that a part of the Bill of Rights itself is unconstitutional, their entire stance against the death penalty is based upon the belief that the opinions of the Editorial Staff, not the text of the Constitution, is (or ought to be) the Supreme Law of the Land.
Posted by: Greg at
02:15 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 483 words, total size 3 kb.
September 04, 2008
But I am committed to buy one book, as soon as it is published, even without reading it or looking at the reviews.
ItÂ’s title? W3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU7EaDiaMDCiUT">"The Jewel of Medina."
A historical novel about the prophet Muhammad and his child bride that was pulled by Random House over concerns it would anger Muslims has been sold to another publisher, the author said Wednesday."We do have a U.S. publisher," Sherry Jones, of Spokane, told The Associated Press in an e-mail Wednesday. "We can announce that, but not the name until they announce it."
Jones' agent, Natasha Kern, said a publisher for "The Jewel of Medina" in the United States and the United Kingdom will be announced later Wednesday.
Jones said her debut novel will be published in October, two months after it was to have been published by Random House Publishing Group.
Random House caved in after pressure was brought to bear by a feminist Middle Eastern Studdies professer from University of Texas orchestrated a campaign against the work, leading Random House to conclude that the threat of violence was too great to justify the bookÂ’s publication. That act of cowardice was a disgrace to the publishing world, and to the notion that there should be a free exchange of ideas in the world. Instead, fear of the fanatical knuckle-draggers who murdered Theo van Gogh, hounded Salman Rushdie into endless exile, and rioted over a bunch of cartoons from Denmark was grounds for silencing the authorÂ’s voice.
I donÂ’t know if IÂ’ll like the book. I donÂ’t know if IÂ’ll read it all. But I will buy it.
After all, it is important to stand up to the forces of darkness that would impose the mores of seventh-century Arabia on the civilized world.
UPDATE: And the British publisher is -- Gibson Square, a small British publisher. They say the first run will be only 20K. I hope they are ready for a second run, given the interest the book has generated among friends of freedom in the English-speaking world. The US Publisher will be announced next week.
Posted by: Greg at
08:47 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 410 words, total size 3 kb.
September 03, 2008
A homeowner who saw his wife threatened at gunpoint by an intruder wrested the gun from the man, killed him and wounded another intruder, police said.The incident happened early today after two men kicked open the front door of the couple's home in this Fort Worth suburb.
Keith and Kellie Hoehn told police the men burst into their house and one of them pointed a shotgun at Mrs. Hoehn's head. She brushed the barrel aside, and a struggle ensued.
The husband got control of the gun and shot both men. The man who survived is being treated at a Fort Worth hospital.
I’ll be honest – the only problem I see here is that one of them is still breathing, and likely being treated in that hospital at taxpayer expense.
HereÂ’s hoping that the story is widely publicized and has a salutary effect.
Posted by: Greg at
09:33 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 161 words, total size 1 kb.
September 01, 2008
Google Inc. is releasing its own Web browser in a long-anticipated move aimed at countering the dominance of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer and ensuring easy access to its market-leading search engine.The Mountain View-based company took the unusual step of announcing its latest product on the Labor Day holiday after it prematurely sent out a comic book drawn up to herald the new browser's arrival.
The free browser, called "Chrome," is supposed to be available for downloading Tuesday in more than 100 countries for computers running on Microsoft's Windows operating system. Google said it's still working on versions compatible with Apple Inc.'s Mac computer and the Linux operating system.
Sounds interesting, though I still love my Firefox. But I wonder -- will Google's new offering be able to shake IE's status as teh most commonly used web browser?
Posted by: Greg at
10:26 PM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 155 words, total size 1 kb.
Compare the article from the Chronicle to the article from the New York Post.
Interestingly enough, the Chronicle reporters managed to leave out this little tidbit from Irreverend Wright.
“This ordinary boy [Obama] just might be the first president in the history of the United States to have a black woman sleeping at 1600 Pennsylvania legally,” Wright said, referring to Michelle Obama, in a sermon at the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston.
Nah, nothing controversial about that. Nothing outrageous there. Let's leave it out of the article -- it doesn't reflect at all on Wright's message or the iconic black congregation that hosted him.
H/T Malkin
Posted by: Greg at
04:46 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 134 words, total size 1 kb.
64 queries taking 1.5985 seconds, 248 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
