The big Dem “wins” here are:
(a) FEMA’s not broke
(b) We don’t have a huge financial crisis
(c) The government doesn’t shut downGrow up.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) September 8, 2017
Posers and hypocrites, every one. Per the Washington Post:
While parts of Texas are still submerged from the historic flooding wrought by Hurricane Harvey, four members of Congress who represent the state voted against sending it billions in federal disaster aid.
GOP Reps. Joe Barton, Jeb Hensarling, Sam Johnson and Mac Thornberry all voted no on a $15.25 billion aid package Friday that is on its way to President Trump’s desk. Much of that money will boost federal emergency responders and help small businesses and homeowners rebuild. Some of it could go to victims of Hurricane Irma, which is barreling toward Florida this weekend.
These lawmakers say they didn’t like what the Harvey aid was packaged with: a three-month lift of the debt ceiling to let the U.S. Treasury borrow more money and a short-term budget that basically extends last year’s budget for another three months. As usual in Washington, the hang-up sits at the nexus of money and making a political statement about money.
The four Texas lawmakers who voted no all scrambled to make clear they support the government helping their state recover from rainfall totals so unprecedented that weather forecasters had to invent a new color for their maps. Earlier in the week, the entire Texas delegation voted for an $8 billion package for Harvey victims. After Trump made a deal with Democrats on the debt ceiling and budget, that original package died in the Senate, which instead passed a measure with the additional provisions. The House did the same Friday. Estimates for Harvey cleanup go as high as $150 billion.
The members who opposed the bill had the luxury of being able to prioritize their fiscal conservatism on this vote. None of the Texans who voted no represents a coastal area, and they could safely assume their votes wouldn’t actually put the aid package in danger. It easily passed the House 316-90…
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has become a symbol for the hard choice Republicans must make between helping people they serve recover from an expensive disaster and sticking to their financially conservative principles. Cruz, along with nearly the entire Texas Republican delegation, voted against Hurricane Sandy aid. He misleadingly claimed it was full of unrelated spending. But on Thursday, he and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) swallowed their concerns about what got tacked onto the aid package for their state and vote for it…
Same with Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Tex.), who represents Corpus Christi, where the storm made landfall. He voted against Sandy aid, but before Friday’s Harvey vote, he appealed directly to his colleagues to vote yes…
The media will frame all GOP members who voted no on spending/Harvey aid as only being against Harvey aid.
— Andrew Kugle (@AndrewJKugle) September 8, 2017
I, personally, will take note of the fact they knew it would pass and think of them as self-important dipshits who want the attacks. https://t.co/1Y9O1QXr3i
— David Benner (@davidabenner) September 8, 2017
NEW: Mulvaney tells reporters he tried to make case GOP to vote for Harvey/debt ceiling/CR, doesn't mention deficit impart. pic.twitter.com/xilcAk284s
— Kayla Tausche (@kaylatausche) September 8, 2017
The national debt won't matter politically until the next Democratic president puts her hand on the bible. https://t.co/iqWuMn7vnh
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) September 8, 2017
Betty Cracker
5 AM hurricane update puts the track right over my house. Fuck.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Betty Cracker: I think it’d be a good idea not to be there.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
rikyrah
Prayers for everyone in Irma’s path ??
rikyrah
@Betty Cracker:
Oh BC. Please get somewhere safe.
Amir Khalid
@Betty Cracker:
Have you nd the Mister and the girls (human, furry and feathery) evacuated yet?
rikyrah
If the Democrats don’t run ads against these four, they are committing malpractice. I don’t care how much +R these districts are.
eclare
@rikyrah: Please.
Betty Cracker
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yeah, we might have to make a run for it after all. Our thinking was that as long as the eye stayed east of us, we might as well shelter at home because the thing is so damn big, the whole state is screwed, and people to the east of the eye will experience the worst of it in terms of storm surge, wind damage and tornadoes. But with every update over the past 24 hours, the track has moved west. I’m no longer confident the eye will be east of us when it arrives.
rikyrah
@Betty Cracker:
Just go… please.
sharl
@Betty Cracker:
Well, dammit to hell.
Whatever you decide to do, my thoughts and best wishes will be with you and yours. If you are able, an occasional update would be very welcome, and if twitter is easier for that, a number of us know where to find you there.
?️??️
OzarkHillbilly
@Betty Cracker: “How long can you tread water?” Best to not find out. Get to high ground.
Elizabelle
Betty Cracker, be safe. I see a road trip w chickens and other loved ones in your future. Saw a photo of Key West’s street chickens being transported out in a car. Looked like they were wrapped in paper — swaddled is the word, movement inhibited — and they looked calm.
Hunting for that picture now.
Plz keep us posted.
Amir Khalid
It’s never been a secret that among some Republicans, making a political stand against anything Democrats propose is a higher principle than governing, or indeed helping disaster victims.
Elizabelle
Here’s a link. Miami Herald, with Key West’s gypsy chickens, bundled up in newspaper burritos.
They seem OK.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article171996022.html
OzarkHillbilly
Hurricane Jose: storm ‘almost category five’ as it follows Irma’s destructive path .
Mel
@Betty Cracker: Oh, Betty – grab hubby, daughter, those chickens and pups and get to a safe place! Please let us know you guys are okay if it is safe and convenient to do so later today.
Worried about you!!
efgoldman
@Elizabelle:
All my relatives that moved to Florida, are long dead, including my parents. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have people to worry about.
Betty, Adam, all the rest of you, be SAFE!
raven
@Betty Cracker: Our peeps left Ft Meyers at 4 pm yesterday. They are just south of Macon now and they stopped to rest for a bit. He was kicking himself in the ass for going back to Ft Myers but they are ok now. 3 dogs and 2 cats on they way!!!
Are you in touch with Adam? His brother works for NOAA.
Elizabelle
@efgoldman: We are all going to feel even more rootless, tossed about by storms. Ship of fools at the helm.
Al Gore, warning the TV weather was going to look like the Book of Revelations.
Amir Khalid
@Elizabelle:
They were roosters, as I recall from seeing that picture. Someone’s already linked to it in a previous comment. They can’t have been happy about the physical restraints, but at least each guy could see that the others were swaddled too and thus unable to start a fight. That would have helped them stay calm.
Elizabelle
@Amir Khalid: I would guess that’s not going to work for them a lot longer.
Would love to see those four jackholes get punished for their lack of empathy and decency.
I think Mother Nature does not give a fig for the Republicans’ beloved tax cut plans. DOA, please.
efgoldman
@Elizabelle:
I don’t do religion or bang the bible. I believe what the scientists are telling us, though. In 65-70 years, when my granddaughter is about my age, (which I won’t live to see) I wonder what kind of world we will have left for her.
raven
Talking head revealing that people are putting plywood on their windows to keep the water out.
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
Baud
@Betty Cracker: Get those chickens to safety!
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
And in other news, the cat threw up his breakfast. The dog cleaned it up so as to save me labor.
I think I’m a little ill.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Talking heads are revealed as idiots.
OzarkHillbilly
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Dogs are nature’s vacuum cleaners and mops combined.
lowtechcyclist
That’s our politics in a nutshell: it’s a win for the Dems to keep the government functioning and able to provide emergency disaster relief.
One party wants a functioning government, and the other party would cheerfully drown it in a hurricane storm surge, as long as the hurricane doesn’t hit a red state. And even when it does, the fact that they have no information about a shit-ton of toxic chemicals on the loose in the afflicted area doesn’t seem to bother them.
Fuck the GOP. Nihilists, all of them.
Baud
@raven: I hope the sandbags will help with the high winds.
p.a.
Good morning!
@Betty Cracker:Be safe!
Cermet
@efgoldman: Well, that isn’t too difficult to answer if changes (major) aren’t quickly made: first, the world will be far hotter and the equatorial regions will be becoming uninhabitable (think about that.) A billion or so people will have moved away from these regions. War, and vast famines will be routines due to both starvation but mainly due to those vast numbers of people fleeing those uninhabitable regions. Our so-called ‘breadbasket’ will have periodic (and long lasting) droughts. Due to these warmer temps new and far more contagious disease will sweep over the world and combined with starvation, this means the worlds population will have decreased a billion or so (unlike current growth.) Deserts will have grown significantly and soil loss (due to increased rain for any given storm) will continue to decrease crop yields in the few places that get acceptable rain. As for Antarctica, well, just say the ocean rise will be far faster and a few major cities both here and in the world will be mostly under water (could have 5 -10′ ocean rise by then.) Also, due to warmer temps, most current crops will produce less yield and combined with more variable rain, this just makes a hideously bad situation even worse (fools that think extra CO2 equals more crops miss the fact that higher temps decrease crop yield faster than the increase due to CO2.) These are just some of the bad issues – there are more and some, frankly, will, no doubt, be worse ones that we simply cannot foresee …
hellslittlestangel
@Betty Cracker: Your soon to be former house, maybe. New England is lovely this time of year.
Mustang Bobby
@Betty Cracker: Please get out.
Here in Miami-Dade we are braced for tropical storm winds and heavy rain; the first bands are coming ashore where I am (Pinecrest, south of Miami), and the shift of the cone to the west has not let us lower our guard. The NOAA forecasts are showing that the west coast is going to get hammered.
Cermet
Forgot to add something to any one out their with an emergency generator that uses liquid fuels like gasoline: the fumes are very toxic so NEVER place it in your house!!! An attached garage is possibly deadly, too. Also, be aware of were the fumes are going so they do not thru a window into the house. Finally, the voltage from a generator is just as dangerous as house current so be careful about water and the cords and you! Standing in water and connecting cords could be deadly!
To all others – remember, no open flames in a house and during a storm – winds can make debris a killer so stay inside.
OzarkHillbilly
@Mustang Bobby: Irma’s gonna run right up the west coast. Pretty much a worse case scenario as she is able to still pick up some energy and moisture from the gulf while hammering major city after major city after major city.
Stay safe.
MJS
@Betty Cracker: Stay safe Betty. This place needs you.
JPL
@Mustang Bobby: You should be careful also. I thought you planned to evacuate.
Safe travels @Betty Cracker:
mai naem mobile
@Betty Cracker: get the hell out of there and go somewhere safe. It looks horrible on teevee.
Baud
This will get lost in hurricane news, but another scapegoat vindicated.
Raven
@Cermet: I guess there are actually people who don’t know that but here?
MomSense
@Betty Cracker:
Oh Betty. I’m so sorry. Just do whatever is safest.
mai naem mobile
I work with a guy who’s from St. Croix. I guess St. Croix was okay but St.Thomax and St. John were devastated. He showed me clips he had seen from St.Thomas. It looked awful.
Do these Texas morons think that their shitty districts won’t be affected by what happens in the 4th largest city in the country which happens to be in their state?
mai naem mobile
@Baud: The only ‘scandal’ that amounted to anything under Obama was the VA fake no waiting lisr.and i am not even sure Shunseki even knew about it. All the others were bogus.
NotMax
@Betty Cracker
Should anyone need that little bit of extra impetus in order to decide to get the heck out and away, one word:
Crocnado!
Raven
@mai naem mobile: my friend shot the video on St Thomas that has over 300000 hits https://youtu.be/VNiXIJsmwdA
Quinerly
@Betty Cracker:
I’m with Bill and rikyrah. Just grab a chicken….and go. This isn’t something to mess around with. Be safe.
OzarkHillbilly
Putting the miserly in Misery. I could ask no less of these jackasses. After our most recent 500 yr flood (the 2nd in 2 years) my own Jason Smith said he was gonna hold FEMA’s feet to the fire to make sure those of his constituents in need got the help they deserved. Just another typically useless Republican fuck.
Lapassionara
@Elizabelle: can chickens be sedated for transport? A car trip with a restrained and angry chicken seems like a grim prospect.
Quinerly
@Elizabelle:
Please post a picture. I met a few of those chickens a few years ago.?
sharl
@Baud: Thanks for posting that; I for one am grateful for the good news. I assume DoJ saw no legal basis for prosecution, although with the Racist Elf in charge there, who can say what the internal decision-making dynamics were?
Long before there was Twitler and #MAGA, Darrell Issa was screeching in the media with bullshit accusations against her and whipping the wingnut chuds into a frenzy. I doubt he feels any guilt about the resulting death threats and heaps of abuse she received over just doing her job. He deserves a worse fate than he’ll ever meet, but I can at least hope he gets voted out next year.
Quinerly
@Elizabelle:
Did you see where the curator of the Hemingway house and 10 employees are staying? Hemingway house sits on the highest ground in Key West and was built in the 1830’s.
MomSense
@Mustang Bobby:
Be safe Mustang Bobby. I don’t know what or where that means but please choose your safest option.
Quinerly
@Elizabelle:
Thanks. I’m moving slowly this morning.
NotMax
Not intimating there’s a connection with the Irma track, but take a look at which coast was the more rubicund.
Baud
@mai naem mobile:
@sharl:
All the Hillary scandals were bogus too, up to and including the frivolous investigation of her email server.
NotMax
If you haven’t left yet, Betty, one thing which can easily be forgotten in the rush is moving patio furniture and anything else outdoors which can become a projectile (that includes potted plants) indoors.
OzarkHillbilly
@Lapassionara: Chickens are calm animals when constrained in close quarters such as a cage.
lowtechcyclist
Let’s see:
1) Irma’s now headed up the Gulf coast of Florida.
2) My 72 year old MIL is in the ICU in the hospital in Plant City. She’s not ambulatory at this point.
3) *Her* mother is 93, with advanced Alzheimer’s, living in a nursing home in Plant City.
4) My FIL is 75, and gets around (rather poorly) with a cane. But he’s not evacuating and leaving my MIL behind.
I have no idea what plans the hospital and the nursing home have for the hurricane. I presume the hospital has to be built pretty solidly, and has emergency generators and all that. The nursing home is cinder block construction, and is only 2 stories high, so it would take a lot to blow it over. Damned if I know if they have generators.
And my wife and I are up in Maryland, and it’s too late for us to go down there and do a thing to help.
sharl
Yep, absolutely.
Wasn’t the bullshit Benghazi thing used by Issa and (later) Trey Gowdy as a launching board to get into the bullshit e-mail thing? Meh, if it hadn’t been that, they would have come up with something else. Assholes…
Sloane Ranger
Betty get yourself and your family both human and animal out of there, FAST!
The highways look jammed. Maybe try side roads? Might be faster.
Thinking of all BJers in Florida. Please check in as often as you can while emergency is ongoing.
Lapassionara
@OzarkHillbilly: I read that yesterday. What complete jerks. We will call the odious Ann Wagner Monday to register our disgust. Not that she will care.
Iowa Old Lady
@lowtechcyclist: Oh wow. Fingers crossed for them.
Baud
@sharl: You notice how the Republicans are rallying to protect treasonous Trump from the Russia investigation? We didn’t do that when they came after one of our own with their bullshit lies. I remember debating with people here about how frivolous the whole issue was. No improvements in policies will compensate for our side’s spinelessness.
Amir Khalid
@Quinerly:
And the 55 polydactyl cats. Muriel Hemingway did urge them to take the cats and go, saying that human and feline lives matter more than any house.
Baud
@lowtechcyclist: That’s tough. Keeping fingers crossed. I’m sure the building will be ok. Hopefully they have enough backup power.
woodrowfan
@Betty Cracker: head for WV. Cole can put you up. And I want to see pics of your chickens playing with Thurston…
woodrowfan
The Genesis Planet from STIII. From the end of the movie unfortunately.
Kay
@Baud:
The worst part about the fake IRS scandal was Propublica investigated it early. Any other news entity could have used the work they did. They didn’t. Instead they just repeated the accusations over and over and over. If one of the big for-profits don’t pick it up it doesn’t matter- no one reads it.
Part of it was holier than thou First Amendment defenders who didn’t do the most basic reading and decided there was some threat to political speech. They seized on one word “targeting” and (wrongly) concluded that meant the IRS was targeting content when they were actually targeting a category of non-profits regardless of speech content. Supposedly smart people fell for it, and it was pure laziness. They didn’t know what they were talking about.
The basic initial error, mistaking targeting a certain entity formed under a specific part of the tax code with targeting content led to all the bullshit that followed. This happens a lot with these lies- there’s some huge category error early on that just compounds. They’re not thinking, it’s not “research”, it’s thinking– targeting WHAT was the basic question they
didn’t ask.
Mary G
@woodrowfan: That would be awesome.
Lurking Canadian
This shit is getting scary. Please keep us up to date on your status, Betty.
Baud
@Kay: The media is always more than happy to treat GOP accusations against Democrats as credible.
Cheryl Rofer
Others have provided links, but here’s the rooster burrito pic right here.
Just One More Canuck
@Betty Cracker: get safe – send word when you can
leeleeFL
@efgoldman: THIS is the thing I am worried about. My Grandchildren deserved better than what they are getting. I have been a recycling, climate change believing, actively spreading the news HIPPY nearly 50 years, for all the good it’s done. Not gonna Stop, but it’s enough to make you cry when shitheads like Limbaugh and Pruit have influence. Aargh!
hueyplong
Be safe, BC. I’ve got no interest in making up my own trash-talking phraseology at this late stage.
Kay
@Baud:
The nonprofits like Propublica make me sad because it doesn’t matter how hard they work if no one in commercial media picks it up. I don’t know how long they spent on that IRS story- more than a year probably- they reviewed thousands of docs. There was nothing there. It didn’t matter. The hardest thing for me to accept about these big lies is that the investigation doesn’t matter. What matters is the accusation- how long they can possibly spin that out and flog it. The quality of the investigations isn’t the problem- the lack of ordinary thinking at the outset is the problem. Ordinary things- forcing yourself to step back and ask basic questions, like not just repeating “targeting” but figuring out the assumptions behind that one word. There’s always this “we need better investigations, and more of them!” That won’t matter if no one is doing any thinking at the outset of the “scandal”- they’ll just be chasing bullshit over and over again.
BC in Illinois
@Lapassionara:
Correct, on both counts. Keep calling her office – local and in Washington – and speaking to the always polite interns and staffers there. (The very nice intern on Friday was unable to tell me how Ann Wagner voted, and never got back to me as promised, but she was very polite, if not helpful.) And yes – she will not care.
What you get in response to email correspondence is boilerplate such as this:
I added the emphasis. She is in a hard place. What’s a faithful Republican to do? She was a part of the GOP leadership when, in years past, she argued against raising the debt limit. Can she just walk away from that when her leader tells her to do so? In her mind, keeping the government open and paying the government’s bills are not worthwhile endeavors on their own. They need to be coupled with something worthwhile, such as tax cuts for the wealthy, gutting the social safety net for everybody else, and removing the burdensome restrictions on the beleaguered financial industry (her prime backers).
2018 can’t come soon enough.
Cermet
@leeleeFL: The best you can do is encourage your children to both accept what is about to happen, and for them to do their best to be educated in a manner that allows them to weather the up coming slow motion (for now) disaster as best they can. Other then that, not much.
mai naem mobile
@Raven: that may even be the one my coworker showed me. He had it muted so i didn’t hear any narration.I hate the heat in Phoenix but I am glad I don’t have to deal with hurricanes,superstorms and tornadoes. We’ve had a couple of small earthquakes and the fires are in the rural areas. We do have flooding during heavy rain but it’s usually limited.
OzarkHillbilly
@lowtechcyclist: Damn. Just damn.
Kay
@Baud:
When the “voter fraud” bullshit really ramped up, in 2000, the premise was “voter impersonation fraud”. The claim was thousands of people were going to polling places and impersonating other people. This is an extraordinary claim! It’s outlandish. But no one said that. No one said “my ordinary thinking tells me they’ll have to prove this because it’s a borderline lunatic claim that doesn’t make sense”. No one walked thru it- the phrase was just accepted as fact and then we went to how it had to be “prevented”. There are now tens of state laws based on this original lie. It’s falling apart now because of course it is- it NEVER made sense.
Mel
@Lapassionara: The best way is to transport them is in an appropriately sized crate (a sturdy dog crate for several chickens; a cat crate for a single chicken). They need enough room to move and to spread their wings, but not enough to be able to get overly mobile.
They should be watered at least every four hours, or should have a water bottle or two attached to the side of the crate if they are familiar with using those in their home coop.
A generous layer of bedding in the bottom of the crate greatly increases their comfort, and also helps to keep their feathers cleaner. Wood shavings are very good, clean dry hay with no mustiness or mildew will work, and even kitty litter will do in a pinch.
The safest way to keep them calm is to cover their crate with a dark but very lightweight sheet (ventilated, of course) to block light and motion. Simulating night time will encourage them to be still and in ideal circumstances even to go into roosting mode. Limiting any noise helps as well (ie no radio or loud conversations). Being aware of temperature is important, too. Chickens can go hypothermic if car air conditioning is running at full blast.
The noise limitation sure isn’t feasible in an evacuation situation, but the covered crates are a much safer option than the newspaper wrapping. That (careful, gentle wrapping) is an okay spur of the moment, short term emergency option though, as it prevents uncrated birds from fighting, and/or from flapping around and injuring themselves or the transporters.
The above crate scenario would be best for transporting them. Of course, some of it could be impossible in an emergency evacuation when everything is chaotic and supplies and time are not on one’s side.
The quick solution is put them gently into a crate, take along extra bottled water and a dish, throw a sheet with some holes in it over the crate, and go.
Not ideal, but better to get chickens and people out of danger asap and worry about getting the nonessentials (bedding, water bottles, etc.) later.
Sedating birds really requires a vet’s care and monitoring, so the safest option for non vet / non vet tech bird owners is to use the sheet over the crate to try to lessen the birds’ stress level.
OzarkHillbilly
@woodrowfan:
Obviously you’ve never seen what a weasel can do to a flock of chickens.
Frankensteinbeck
I really, really can’t wait until we reach the stage of this process where even cheating breaks down and Democrats so outnumber Republicans that we can fix things long-term. See: California. Unfortunately, the scorched earth part of that process is long and unpleasant. Also see: California.
@efgoldman:
I have lived my life hearing one prediction of the end of the world, usually due to man-made environmental disaster, after another. None of them happened. That goes back at least a hundred years, and before then different causes were in vogue. Armageddon is always, always, right around the corner, and has been for two thousand years. No shortage of bad things have happened, and there will be much to fix, but the world will continue to improve. Among other things, America has stagnated, but most of humanity is much better off than it was forty years ago.
@Baud:
I would say we stand up for our own decently most of the time, unless they’ve actually done wrong. Hillary is an unusual case, and perhaps that is a demonstration of how deep and ugly misogyny is in our culture.
Mustang Bobby
@JPL: I did evacuate to a higher elevation in case of storm surge and to a well-built house with shutters and impact glass. I’m with friends who survived Andrew and built accordingly. We have food, water, a generator, and each other. Now I’m more worried about the people in the Keys and the west coast. We’re getting outer bands, but it’s not going to be hammer blows of the hurricane force… at least that’s what they’re saying now.
Mel
@Mustang Bobby: So glad you are in a safer place and with friends. Take care.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay: Congressional Republicans did 17 committee investigations into Benghazi. The first one found that while mistakes were made there was no culpability on the part of any single person. The next 16 came to the same conclusion. If Hillary had won the election there would be 3 more investigations going on right now. But she lost.
Mission accomplished.
Betty Cracker
@lowtechcyclist: Damn, that sucks. Our only hope now is that the damned thing keeps going west (sorry, TX). For days, we’ve been told it’s turning north. So far, it’s still trucking west.
randy khan
I think it would be nice if those 4 Texas Republicans discovered they no longer were in safe districts. And I wouldn’t exactly be surprised – voting against aid for a hurricane that hit Texas ought to resonate with their constituents, even if they represent places far away from the coast.
OzarkHillbilly
@Mustang Bobby: Good to hear.
pinacacci
We will be on the east side of this thing…the tornado side…with a house full of cranky senior citizens. Laid in a good supply of games and crafts (aside from the other necessaries. Not the first time at this rodeo). Mostly planning for the power being out for some time. Don’t expect to hear from BC for a while, it’s a stressful scramble every time and the phone calls from people out of state just take up time we could be using to button up…Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to hear from people, just don’t expect an answer while people are wrapping up their chickens =D
Quinerly
Interesting piece with a lot of Florida settlement history woven in: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/09/08/hurricane-irma-florida-215586
zhena gogolia
If I believed in God in the primary-school way that most nonbelievers think people believe in God (I don’t), I might say that in His mysterious way He’s sending these horrible storms during the first year of the Trump administration to make us wake up and do something.
But it doesn’t work that way.
God didn’t have to do it; Al Gore told us, and we didn’t listen.
But her emails!!!
@BC in Illinois:
No she’s not. There’s no such thing as a faithful Republican. Yes she can, because the whole argument against raising the debt ceiling is BS. You don’t control spending by failing to raise the debt ceiling, you control it by passing balanced budgets that include sufficient revenue to cover expenses.
Amir Khalid
Woe is me! Liverpool striker Sadio Mane was sent off at Manchester City ten minutes before halftime, and City have exploited their advantage in number to score twice against a rattled visiting team. Liverpool head to the dressing room 2-0 down.
Aimai
@lowtechcyclist: we are in the same boat. 91 year old father in law dying in a nursing home (literally) but they couldn’t place him in hospice because couldn’t evacuate him (or wouldnt). 89 year old MIL alone in house in mid florida. We can’t go there. She won’t evacuate.
zhena gogolia
@pinacacci:
Thank you for making me feel less guilty about not calling our Houston relatives at the time.
debbie
Betty, just get the hell out of there. Last night, Adam said he had room. You know he’s probably the best prepared in the whole fucking state.
GET MOVING ALREADY!!!
OzarkHillbilly
Headl;ine at the Guardian: Trump’s day as a Democratic president enraged Republicans – but there’s peril for Dems too
Sometimes I almost think headline writers should be shot and pissed on.
zhena gogolia
@OzarkHillbilly:
There’s always peril for Dems, didn’t you know that?
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: The Guardian does just enough crap stuff like that that I will continue to read their articles for free.
NotMax
@Mustang Bobby
Gotta ask – is the special car properly sheltered?
Ian G.
Hoping every Floridian here is safe and that their loved ones are safe and that the property damage is minimal.
One thing I can’t help thinking about is the burrowing owls of Marco Island. Do they have the animal sense to head to the mainland and take shelter? I hope so. The critters of Jones Beach and Fire Island somehow rode out Sandy’s storm surge, even the ones like foxes that don’t have wings.
Cermet
@Frankensteinbeck: When you said
Are you serious? Are you that uneducated or have such an inability to read you said something so stupid that it hurts? First off, nuclear warfare and the end of human life by that method is very real and to say “because” it hasn’t happen, such a possible event is impossible makes you beyond stupid – that is a level of stupid for a tRump. No one and I mean NO ONE here has said AGW will end our world. Read what I posted and those events are almost locked in thanks to ass-wipes who – for reasons not unlike yours – refuse to accept that past worries about the ‘world ending’ are not the same as today’s not just worries but facts; read this carefully – FACT: the earth is warming and is already, no matter what we now do – going to exceed 2 C! That alone will cause much of what I stated. Yet, that isn’t what we are heading for – thanks to no actions, we appear to be heading for a 3 or 4 C world wide average increase; this leads to the equatorial regions becoming uninhabitable without AC. That is staggering.
Fucking wake up and read science and get out of your stupid.
OzarkHillbilly
@zhena gogolia: The funny thing is that the article reads like the Republicans came ill prepared and abandoned their own proposal without DEMs doing anything at all:
These people have no idea of what they are doing.
pinacacci
@Ian G.: the critters will be fine. they also have been through this rodeo before. florida will not be wiped off the map, this is not the apocalypse. Yes I take it very seriously but damn ppl need to turn off the tv, it makes ppl crazy.
Mel
@Quinerly:
That is a fascinating article.
I am really worried about the post-event health impacts of these hurricanes. It’s so frightening to think of people having to try to get quality care for injuries and stress-related issues in the immediate aftermath, but all that flooding and water likely means more vector-borne illness as well.
As late as 1919, the Army was still dealing with a lot of vector borne disease in swampy areas. There were over 10,500 Army hospital admissions in the US and territories for malaria between 1917 and 1919, and a decent portion of those were from Florida.
All that flooding, plus newer threats like Zika and West Nile Virus makes for an unsettling equation.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Quinerly: I’ve been to Key West (just this past February actually) and it really doesn’t seem like the highest point on Key West can be even 15 feet above sea level. It is as flat as a pancake. The whole island may be inundated with storm surge. I would GTFO if I were on any of the keys.
On these f’ing Republicans…they have empathy for their own constituents…that’s what’s so enraging. Whenever the disaster affects their home district they vote for aid. They get it. But that only applies to disasters that impact them personally. Their empathy extends only as far as their self interest – they can’t fathom that somebody, somewhere else, might need the same kind of help too because they faced the same kind of disaster.
I really think we’re in a cold civil war at this point. Republicans are obviously OK helping Republicans or Republican dominated areas, but unwilling to help anyone who is a Democrat or majority Democratic areas. They’ve seceded from the social compact as it applies to half the country.
pinacacci
I just want to say- Don’t borrow trouble? It COULD be bad it COULD be apocalyptic there are so many ways it can all go to shit, but in real time people are mostly doing what they can to cover their asses. My county has such an improved response to possible damage, I’m proud of my tax dollars at work.
Please continue to pay taxes
Spanky
@Betty Cracker: GTFO. Period. The End.
Amir Khalid
Liverpool are 3-0 down at Man City and have had a player sent off. It doesn’t look like we’re coming away with any points. Feh.
Amir Khalid
4-0 down. What a let-down after the brilliant 4-0 win over Arsenal a fortnight ago.
pinacacci
hahahahha I said pay taxes and killed the thread =DDD
Mel
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: Agree, agree, agree, except that I’m not sure that their “yes” votes for assistance for their own districts are at all empathy based, at this point. I think it’s pure self interest.
I think it’s likely that they vote “yes” only on the issues where a “no” vote would definitively cause their district base to vote against them in upcoming elections. Gotta hang on to that good old government salary, and that government sponsored health insurance for themselves and their immediate familes, because a living wage and government backed insurance are only bad when all those “other” people are allowed to have them, don’t you know…
Mustang Bobby
@NotMax: Both cars — the Mustang and the Pontiac — are locked in my garage. The door is hurricane-rated as is the roof, which was replaced after Andrew. All I can do is hope that the house itself survives.
Betty
In some good weather news, Jose is well past our island and looks as if he will not hit any land. So just Irma to worry about for now. Sending positive thoughts for the many family and friends in her path.
Baud
@Betty: That’s incredible news. I hope it holds up.
SFAW
@OzarkHillbilly:
Sounds like a rugby chant I heard many years ago:
“He oughta be publicly pissed on
He oughta be publicly shot
And hung in a public urinal [Note: pronounced yur-EYE-nal]
And left there to fester and rot.
Him! Him! FUCK HIM!”
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
I just made a trip to the emergency room at the UofM Small Animal Hospital. I woke up this morning with wet puddles on both sides of me, and Dirk sleeping in the middle of one. They smelled very, very faintly of urine. His list of problems is long: chronic kidney disease, for which he refuses to eat the prescription food; that vet is pretty sure that he’s blind; he exhibits mental confusion consistent with having had a stroke; he’s had a heart murmur since he was a kitten; high blood pressure; and his hind legs, especially the left one, are so weak that he often can’t get into the litter box, so I’ve spread pee pads around them. Until last night, he’s been really good about at least getting to the litter box if not actually getting into it. He didn’t even seem aware that he’d urinated in bed.
I pulled the mattress off of the bed a few weeks ago, since he really likes to sleep with me and he can’t jump up any longer. I’m not sure what to do now. I’d feel terrible about taking that away from him, but waking up in the middle of the night, every night, to a puddle of urine isn’t a viable ongoing situation.
He’s still eating heartily, and drinking (and drinking, and drinking, and drinking), so it’s not like he’s all the way to the end of the line, but it’s just so sad to watch and I just don’t know exactly how to handle it. He’s 17-years old, and I love him, but I also can’t afford frequent vet trips.
ArchTeryx
@Betty Cracker: “She who fights and retreats today lives to fight another day.”
Many folks are recommending you bug out. Add my name to the list. You’re an irreplaceable treasure around here. Ask the folks at Pass Christian how sitting out Hurricane Camille worked out for them…
SFAW
Betty –
I hope you and Mr. Cracker are able to get wherever you need to be to remain safe, and with all your pets, as soon as possible.
Amir Khalid
Man City 5-0 Liverpool at the final whistle. Excuse me while I weep.
Amir Khalid
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
I’m sorry to hear about Dirk. You have my sympathy.
hueyplong
@OzarkHillbilly: “Sometimes I almost think headline writers should be shot and pissed on.”
Is there a video indicating that you have the order reversed?
rikyrah
@Betty Cracker:
Betty….just phucking GO!!
Gin & Tonic
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: Are you sure he doesn’t have diabetes? That was what was diagnosed very soon after our dog started drinking a lot and exhibiting urinary incontinence. Certainly doesn’t help you with the long-term prospects, but at least you’d know.
raven
Ft Meyers entourage in da house!!!!
GregB
Jerbus. Betty and everyone in the danger zone. Be safe and Godspeed.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?:
All those heroic Collier (61% Trump) and Lee (58% Trump) county bootstrapping bootstrappers are going to see the strongest surge and maximum destruction. Lots of vacation and retirement homes valued at $300,000 and above are going to wind up getting rebuilt from the soc!alistical communist national flood insurance programs and have their temporary needs met from Big Tyrannical Government FEMA.
This is as it should be.
However, I would find it difficult to not smack a FEMA water bottle right out of the mouth of an 80 year old MAGA cap wearer.
MomSense
@lowtechcyclist:
Damn, I’m so sorry.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@Gin & Tonic: They tested for diabetes and a bunch of other things a couple of months ago, and it all came back negative. At that time, the vet suspected that he has a tumor somewhere in his abdomen, but testing for that is more invasive than I’m prepared to do to him at this point, especially since any treatment would be even more invasive.
MomSense
@raven:
Phew!!
Gin & Tonic
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: OK. Sometimes doing the right thing is hard, but I’m confident you’ll figure out what’s best for the both of you.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@lowtechcyclist:
Do you know if they have neighbors that can at least keep an eye on him?
SiubhanDuinne
@Betty Cracker:
I hope you don’t see this comment, because I hope you are long gone. Get out of there, Betty.
Jeff
@efgoldman: She will have grown up in it and no nothing else.
Gvg
@Cermet: chill out. Over the top statements like yours make people tune out. There is a normal reaction of don’t tell me what to do and the smart reaction IMO of hysterical people are bad leaders or advisors.
Nuclear war was and even is a really bad real scenario but the way to deal with it turned out to be really boring long and detailed diplomatic negotiations mostly between partner allies but also the enemy. A lesson we are seeing demonstrated again by the lack of said negotiations. Solving global warming will likely be another example.
Hysteria against anyone who doesn’t precisely agree with you won’t be at all useful.
Going back to at least the Middle Ages there were people who were convinced the end of times was next year. It keeps happening. The details change but there are always people who think total disaster is going to happen soon and who also seem to enjoy thinking that. They are really annoying to those of us who are enjoying life or who want practical plans made and followed. Given that GW is really pretty serious, it’s inevitable that it attract some of these emotional drama queens. I don’t have patience with this style.
Gvg
@lowtechcyclist: only comfort I could find I’d wiki says plant city is 128 feet above sea level. That is something though.
Gvg
@Aimai: where in Florida?
sdhays
@OzarkHillbilly: Wow, I just read the article too. It now seems really clear – Trump watched “his guys” come in and fall over themselves trying to get the Democrats to budge. The Democrats stayed firm, and Trump already doesn’t think much of Ryan and McConnell. He knows Schumer, he likes Schumer. So he basically concludes that all of the “leverage” that Republicans in Congress think he gave away didn’t actually exist. Which just happens to be true.
And it really is breathtaking that Ryan opposes ending the debt-limit, even though it’s always described as “politically perilous for Republicans”. Every time it comes up, they’re both whining about having to take this politically difficult vote while at the same time screaming about Democrats demanding they stop punching themselves in their nether-regions.
For pete’s sake, if it’s always so painful that you’re trying to find some place on the calendar when it’s least likely to hurt your politically, why not just stop it?? You’re in charge! If you can’t pass your shit without ginned up drama over the debt ceiling, you’re not going to pass your shit with it either! Just move on, already!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Cermet:Let second what Frankensteinbeck, it’s been the same thing with me too AND added I will die in 10.9 Earthquake. These stories are done to get people off their complacent asses and doing things or you end up like those idiots on Texas drowning like rats because they are to lazy to do something about flood control
MomSense
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
It’s so tough to think about life with our beloved pet companions. I’m sorry you are facing this with uour kitty.
OzarkHillbilly
@hueyplong: Dead people just lay there when you piss on them. Live ones…. Not so much.
Gvg
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym: waterproof mattress cover. You may want to have a set up on floor where you can be beside him lounging, reading books, petting for a few when you are home, and then you get it your own bed for sleep.
Towards the end my cat was having trouble with sides of litter box and always had terrible aim. I bought large clear plastic storage box an cut an entrance in the side with a very low lip and put litter in there. Clear because advice said cats like to see possible enemies. It worked until the end when he had trouble getting up. Then I got a vinyl old couch cushion and put pee pads on it for him to sleep on. The last few weeks he was peeing himself. Just doing his bed as pee pads made it easy to clean up.
JMG
I notice that Ms, Cracker has not been on this thread for some hours. I sincerely hope that means she and hers are on the move.
JPL
@Betty: That is good news indeed. My son and DIL honeymooned at Virgin Gorda, and that island was heavily damaged. I’m glad your safe.
Villago Delenda Est
Three motherfuckin’ words:
Fuck teabagger WATBs.
zhena gogolia
@JMG:
They’re smart, capable people. They’ll do what they need to do. I don’t expect to hear anything from her for quite a while.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@Gvg: Fortunately, the mattress needed replacement even before this started, so I’m not worried about long term damage there; it’s getting replaced as soon as Dirk passes on. But thanks for the advice anyway, because I’d prefer that the house not smell like cat urine (though, as I said, this is so dilute that it barely has any odor at all), and I’d prefer not to wake up wet.
Cermet
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I far over reacted and my apologies for that (English has no real word to replace ‘stupid (i.e.e willful ignorance-yikes, also, not such a good word)) and I should just not use it); it is just upsetting to me to hear that tripe so often; since all (not based on science) predictions didn’t occur then this one will not. Maybe they are correct and the world will get better for people because (something occurs that makes this happen) and I am then wrong. But none-the-less, over reactive posts resulting in ranting do not help (by me.)
Westyny
@Betty Cracker: Get out. And be safe. We’re all pulling for you.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Good to hear. The road could be almost as dangerous as Irma.
Another Scott
@Cermet: Thanks.
It is extremely upsetting to see horrible things happening as a result of human stupidity. But we do, usually, eventually, find ways to mitigate problems before the worst possible case happens. Defeatist rhetoric – even when objectively warranted – is counter-productive. We have to find ways to get people’s attention to force action, while not scaring them away or convincing them that it’s all hopeless. It’s a tough problem.
Hang in there. We’ve got to do what we can to make progress happen.
Cheers,
Scott.
OzarkHillbilly
@Cermet: In the vein of “all is not lost”, I pass on this: Kazakhstan to reintroduce wild tigers after 70-year absence
It may not seem like much, but it is something. People working together to make the world a better place in a not so insignificant way.
Matt McIrvin
If Democrats just wanted to win elections and oppose Trump, they’d let all this stuff go to hell to heighten the contradictions. But there’s the problem of actually caring.
OzarkHillbilly
What has been your biggest disappointment?
“How little money really changes things. It buys doctors but not health, clothes but not taste, makeup but not beauty. When I was young and didn’t have anything, I imagined money had more power.”
-Suzanne Vega
Too true.
OzarkHillbilly
Look for a light show tonight.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@Betty Cracker: I hope you’re on your way someplace safe.
Matt McIrvin
@Gin & Tonic: Our 15-year-old cat Radka just got diagnosed with diabetes. She had been spending half her time drinking and peeing. She’s insulin-dependent–which is startlingly expensive, surely prohibitively so for many, but the injections seem to be helping. The obsessive drinking suddenly dialed way back, at least, and she’s got more energy.
zhena gogolia
@OzarkHillbilly:
Yeah, but it does come in handy sometimes.
Matt McIrvin
@Another Scott: Concerning global warming, I don’t expect the people of the world to be able to keep it under 2C or even 1.5C warming, but I don’t believe “business as usual” is going to happen either, for the simple reason that solar energy is exploding all over the world. Right now it’s just a few percent of total consumption and it’s limited by intermittency, but grid-scale storage is going to become a major player real soon now–we’re seeing the beginnings already. Sooner than we think, we’re going to be getting most of our energy directly from the sun, and most transport and such is going to become electric as well. The writing’s on the wall.
OzarkHillbilly
@zhena gogolia: They say money can’t buy you love but I say it can buy you a reasonable facsimile thereof.
MomSense
@OzarkHillbilly:
The thing is to have time and money. In my experience when I have money I don’t have time and when I have time I don’t have money.
MoxieM
@OzarkHillbilly: I inadvertently put my empty (but not cleaned) dinner plate on the floor one time when having a meal at friends’. Living with dogs for so long, well, I was used to them doing the pre-wash for the dishwasher. Oops. Got some strange looks from that maneuver!
OzarkHillbilly
@MomSense: One has to learn to be content with a little bit of both.
hueyplong
@OzarkHillbilly: Perhaps I’ve been misled as to the nature of the tape.
Lizzy L
I’ve got friends in Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Orlando, and Tampa. My guy in Boca Raton has stage 4 cancer. I haven’t heard from him, which gives me hope that he and his wife have moved the fuck out of there. The others are hunkering down and staying. They are all smart and resourceful people: they will get through this if anyone can. But I’m going to be worried until Irma has passed AND I hear from them.
OzarkHillbilly
@hueyplong: Well, it does depend on the person and how much they paid for the shower.
Gin & Tonic
@Matt McIrvin: We spent 4+ years with an insulin-dependent diabetic dog. Twice-daily insulin injections, monitoring the sugar in his urine, etc., etc. He eventually developed cataracts or glaucoma or something, but was still pretty spunky, and would attempt to chase the ball like in the old days, even though he couldn’t see it. The drinking and urinating stopped as soon as we started treating him.
Sure, it was a bit of a pain, but that’s what we sign up for. He eventually got some sort of seizure and we had to put him down.
SiubhanDuinne
@OzarkHillbilly:
My favourite version is:
OzarkHillbilly
@MoxieM: Heh. I can see me doing that.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
@OzarkHillbilly: Money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you the form of misery that you prefer.
OzarkHillbilly
@SiubhanDuinne: @Tissue Thin Pseudonym: I like those.
hueyplong
@OzarkHillbilly: There is probably a section of the polity that believes in an efficient market for such things. I’m kind of looking at Ryan here.
dimmsdale
@Lizzy L: Hi Lizzy–yeh, my cousin & his wife in Polk City (about halfway between Orlando and Tampa) elected to stay. He’s expecting sustained winds in the 90mph range, and over a period of around 8 hours, if you can imagine. Brand new house, too. He’s tough and smart and resourceful, but gotta say, he sounds a little scared. He also said they expect the peak of the thing to hit at night, meaning all you can do is hunker down and LISTEN. gawd.
james parente
I am a survivore of Sandy. I lost everything I had because of the botched recovery efforts. The path to recovery is being blocked by the Small Business Administration. They refuse to participate in a short sale that is being offered by NY State.
The solution to my problems is $$. It will satisfy the SBA and allow the short sale to New York State to go thru.
I know it is very low class of me to ask for help like this, but I’m desperate. Please, Juicers, help and share my plight.
Also, I’m now living at Ground Zero, Bradenton, Fla. I can’t evacuate. I’m flat broke. Also, the thought of sharing a massive traffic jam with frightened, well armed people is more frightening to me than sheltering in place.
Truthfully, I’m have nothing left to lose, as far as possessions.
I will protect Buddy, my Pup and help my neighbors, if they need me.
Another Scott
@james parente: I’m very sorry to hear of your desperate circumstances.
The link in your post is broken, and I haven’t been able to figure out how to fix it.
Try again?
Hang in there, and good luck!!
[eta:] Here we are: https://www.gofundme.com/jimparentesandyrelief
Cheers,
Scott.
Matt McIrvin
@Gin & Tonic: Yep. Pets get old and develop old-creature problems, and caring for them in those years as best you can is all part of the deal. At least this time only one of our cats is geriatric with involved medical issues–I’ve done two at the same time.
pinacacci
@dimmsdale: yes that is pretty much how it is
Anne Laurie
@Lapassionara:
IIRC, BettyC was planning to transport hers in cat carriers. A box that can restrain an angry cat should be sturdy enough to keep a couple of chickens safely away from the human passengers!
Ruckus
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
So sorry.
My roommates cat was not doing very well and she took her to, in the end, 3 different vets. The last two said she probably had throat or tongue cancer. Now my roommate has had lots of cats, I’ve known her for going on 5 yrs and she had 4 when I met her. But this one was her princess. The other 3 were cats she fed and carried for. She found them good homes and all but she never looked back. This cat was her cat. If we are lucky we find one animal in our lives that we can say that about. My rescue cocker was a ornery bastard, but he was an amazing companion as well. He was my friend.
The point of all of this is that it is hard to deal with an animal that maybe nearing the end and we are all pulling for you. Do what you have to do, for your friend. In the long run that’s the true cost of having pets.
grandpa john
@Quinerly: wonder what they did with the Hemingway house famous cats?
Mel
@Ruckus:
So, so true. Even though it is almost unbearable, in the end we have to do what they truly need for us to do. And when it’s an end of life decision, it’s so hard to not have them be able just to tell us “it’s time”, or “Not yet.” I’ve lost 4 very elderly pets (2 dogs aged 16 and 17, and 2 cats aged 21 and 20) one young cat (8) to cancer over the past 5 years.
I thought it would be easier with the seniors, because at least we knew that they had lived long happy lives. It wasn’t easier. I don’t think it ever is, especially not when a pet that is at end of life or a beloved pet that has to be rehomed is THAT pet – the one that is your kid, your confidante, your best friend all rolled into one.
And as you said, when we’ve loved them with with everything we’ve got and they’ve done the same right back, we have to trust our instincts, their signals, our love for them, and vet advice. I really believe that they do let us know, in their own way. Not that it makes it hurt any less.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Betty Cracker: Houses can be replaced, lives can not, so get to some place safe.
Mel
@grandpa john: As of noon, the plan at Hemingway House was that 10 staff members, including the 72 year old house manager, were planning to stay and try to take care of the house and the cats.
Mariel Hemingway had asked that the staff evacuate and take the cats with them to safety, saying, “…ultimately, it’s just a house. Save the cats. Get all the cats in the car and take off.”
Just sayin'
And the sad part is, one of,the best things humans can do to save our planet is to PLANT MORE F_ING TREES!!!!
We have totally mastered the technology for planting trees, and there are millions of unemployed people to plant the trees… but, no.
It’s against the Capitalist religion to pay people to plant trees!
Chet Murthy
@Gvg:
And yet, @Cermet -is- chill. He’s not talking about any sort of -apocalypse-. That’s for bible-thumpers and morons. He’s talking about what’s actually reasonably predictable. Or didn’t you know that
(a) it’s pretty clear that the Syrian Civil War has its roots in climate change-induced crop failure? That’s what drove the countryside into the cities in the noughties, and their poverty there (in the face of a completely uncaring government, but wouldn’t have mattered if their farms still worked) was the kindling for that war.
(b) I forget the population living in coastal cities, and the value of the built-up physical plant in those cities. But it’s immense. When that goes, it’s going to be -devastating-.
There’s a particular street here in SF (17th St) that goes up a very steep hill. Every time I go up it, I’m reminded of the value of capital investment in physical plant. Roads, sewers, water, power. It’s going to be destroyed in every coastal city on the damn planet. Oh, and yeah, when crops fail all over in unpredictable ways, yeah, there’ll be war and death.
And none of this is some bullshit Revelations millennialism. This is cold, reasonable predictions from -science-.