WHERE’S SCOTT PRUITT?

You know our Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

It’s been a week, and he’s NOT been part of any of constructive counsel/advice in the aftermath of Category 4 Storm Harvey.

Z-E-R-O!

He’s the toad that has been in the midst tearing down ! regulations and any anti-business activities/perceptions as regards the true function, and responsibility, of the EPA.

Well, guess what, Scottie’s needed in Texas and Louisiana this morning, without his stiletto heels.

Answering some very tough questions!

Industrial chemicals manufacturer Arkema SA [French-owned] has a chemical plant located in Crosby, Texas, with some major issues that Scott Pruitt needs to get his ass in gear over – post-haste!!! – before he gets ‘tarred and feathered’ to an inch of his life!

Arkema has had 2 explosions at their Crosby plant, earlier this morning, with black smoke coming from that plant, some 25 miles northeast of Houston.

They said that heavy flooding and the loss of power in the wake of Harvey had hobbled critical refrigeration at the plant, making an explosion likely. The area around the plant was cleared yesterday [1.5 mile radius] after the company warned it had NO way to prevent such a catastrophic emergency.

The France-based company said it was working closely with federal, state and local authorities to manage the situation. It said it had set up a call center for affected residents, and a center that will process ALL relative property claims.

The plant, which was in 6 feet of water, lost primary power and two emergency backup power sources, which led to a shutdown of “critical refrigeration,” North American operations Chief Executive Rich Rowe said.

Local authorities informed the company that the high waters made it too dangerous to get back inside the plant, making it impossible to stabilize ! the chemical compounds, a spokeswoman for the company said a couple of hours ago.

Once again, as I said yesterday, zoning laws would require !!! forethought, a plan that considered the overall safety, long term well-being of its citizens.

That is just part of the problem.

Another issue is Texas law does NOT require companies ! to make public the details of the chemicals they manufacture. And, even with 2 explosions already, their CEO refuses to release !!! further details of what specifically is in that plant, and the quantity levels, as he predicts further explosions are in ALL probability imminent.

If only we weren’t burdened by idiots…

DICHOTOMY of the HUMAN SPIRIT

Yesterday, while watching the 45th president speak on tax reform, from Springfield, Missouri, he began his middle-school assembly rally by thanking various dignitaries in the audience in a way that was reminiscent of an event taking place in an American Legion Bingo hall for the night.

There he was reading a speech-writer’s “heart felt” [supposedly from the sophomoric mind of little Stevie Miller, according to the New York Times] response to the flood victims via his occasionally-used teleprompters he so often criticized his predecessor for using.

There was NO sincerity to his tone. There was a hint of defiance in his voice. It was then I found myself asking, “What happened to my country?”

For the umpteenth time…

When one compares the sleazy appearance [what an incredibly vulgar-looking man] of our current president with the pictures of Houstonians helping Houstonians, it literally takes your breath away.

The Texas devastation is heartbreaking, but the heroism of ordinary citizens in this, as in other disasters, is heartwarming.

Those are NOT descriptive terms one could/would ever use about the Trumps!

I LOVE THE WARRIOR MONK!

It’s wonderful to know that we have such an impeccable grown-up running the Pentagon…

Semper Fi, General Mattis

WHERE is the LEVEL of COMMON COURTESY?

Unabashed media ignorance…

I wonder if any of the CNN reporters, or from the other cable networks, slept at any of the Houston shelters, over the last six days?

There is ALWAYS  a time and place to display human decency.

HARVEY BRINGS SORROW and QUESTIONS

Ever wonder why cities allow so much building in areas that could flood, like the coastal areas? Houston will have thousands of homes left behind with NO intention of repairing the flood damage, home owners will just walk away, let the bank have it.

Where and how will people put their lives back together?

Will the Small Business Administration set-up a permanent office in the greater Houston area, by Friday?

Houston is the largest city in the country without “zoning” laws. What will be the downsides? Trust me, you do NOT need to think about that question more than ten seconds…one word: Devastation.

Remember Barry Obama‘s Sandy Relief Bill ? That was NOTHING but pork…very little money for the victims. Horror stories still abound in many sections of the Jersey shore, even to this day! And, the press and media turned a blind eye, and gave him a pass!

To what level is the government subsidizing people to live in flood prone areas?

Are stormwater systems designed for anything much stronger than a heavy afternoon thunderstorm?

What are the responsibilities and functions of our Corps of Engineers?

How about using this disaster as a launching pad for the 45th president’s infrastructure deal? Certainly looks like Houston could use some new ideas to handle water overflows, as well as roads and bridges’ levels of safety.

“High-minded rhetoric” may be inspiring in the immediacy of a storm like Harvey. But…what counts is the treatment, local – state – federal resources and month-in, month-out support that displaced citizens receive long after the camera crews have left and the rest of the country has “moved on.”

What and how much daily pressure will be put on this White House and ALL elected officials from Texas to come to the aid of every one of these ‘displaced citizens’?

The horror of human suffering, NOT just this week, but for the coming months and years is incalculable, by any of the so-called experts!

Ben Carson is NOT the man to head up HUD! Johns Hopkins wants you back, Dr. Carson…

The number of lives, homes, cars, and jobs destroyed by Harvey will be staggering. With many living paycheck-to-paycheck, and NOT having flood insurance, this hurricane will wreck havoc with/on the economy for years to come.

Just think about this human situation for a moment: NOT having access to a real bed, the comforts of home, hot meals, one’s personal objects of security, medicines, records, and, the loss of everything cherished over a lifetime. The shock has NOT set in! The panic is NOT over!

Think – if you were just wiped out of everything that you owned, your business destroyed, your work is gone, your bills are due, your car is ruined, school for your kids will NOT be starting, you can’t even think about the fact that one plastic bag full of dry clothes is now ALL that you own and you won’t have a home again. How would you feel? You can’t live in a Red Cross shelter forever.

The worse has yet to come for so many…

Put away the stiletto shoes!

Time to wake-up to the new world catastrophic poverty…

THE LADY in PINK

For those of you who have been wondering where Kellyanne Conway has been…well, guess who appeared on the D.C. horizon yesterday…

Still unable to quantitatively answer the question(s)!

Desperation written ALL over her skeletonal face!

Needs a week going through the greater Washington drive-thrus ingesting massive amounts of the #3, with large fries and a large Diet Coke.

Do NOT be afraid, Kellyanne…

HARVEY POUNDS the REFINERIES

Much of the nation’s refinery capacity and chemical production has been concentrated along the swamps and narrow inlets of the Gulf of Mexico, risking ! potential devastation from this monster storm Harvey.

The pounding being endured by coastal Texas will probably be the biggest test of that risk so far, and energy experts say it raises questions about the area’s role as a hub for such crucial and environmentally sensitive industries.

The Texas and Louisiana coasts took on their vital role because they link vast oil and gas resources, both inland and offshore, with Caribbean and Atlantic shipping channels. But the damage from Harvey, which arrived with hurricane force, has exposed a major downside: vulnerability to storms that experts say are becoming more extreme because of climate change.

The full implications are potentially even larger. The environmental fallout could worsen, and if oil and natural gas prices spike [that’s a given at this point] because refineries and pipelines are crippled, renewable energy sources like wind and solar power, along with electric cars, could get a major lift.

The United States could be forced to import more gasoline and other refined products [Comrade Putin would love to hear such a scenario develop in the coming days, weeks and months].

And, a chemical industry that has been expanding rapidly because of cheap natural gas from shale fields could be slowed, or even stalled.

Such a chain of events is for the moment pure speculation since it will take weeks to fully assess the storm damage. But, the damage will undoubtedly be extensive.

God forbid any large-scale environmental spill over the coming days…

OPTICS!!!!! of MADNESS

I would have thought that someone in the White House might have casually mentioned to the FLOTUS that she was NOT exactly rendering the appropriate image leaving D.C. for flood-torn Texas…

Mind-numbing, if one allows themselves to think about these two current residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue…

How many times do you think Carrot Top worn those boot shoes of his?

I hope he has blisters for the rest of the week.

Impeach him!

HISTORIC RAIN FALL

Harvey moved off the coast of Texas but offered NO respite for Houston as floodwaters continued to reach historic highs this morning and the storm threatened another landfall farther east, potentially imperiling Louisiana later in the week.

The storm has now surpassed 49 inches of rainfall in at least one location, making it the largest-ever tropical storm in the contiguous U.S., the National Weather Service said.

Incomprehensible!

Trump met with Texas Governor Greg Abbott and other officials at a firehouse in Corpus Christi, close to where Harvey first made landfall earlier today.

The death toll remains unclear.

The incessant rain in the Houston area did NOT let up throughout the night, adding to floodwaters that have inundated the area and dumping water into already strained reservoirs that officials said this morning would overflow for the first time ever.

Citizen participation in the rescue efforts is of the highest order! People of ALL colors working side by side.

WHAT are WE doing ABOUT KIM?

We have an ignorant and belligerent president [who still doesn’t have time for daily intel briefings], a Secretary of State with NO diplomatic experience [who’s probably on his way out…self-initiated?] and a State Department without the top people who could exercise diplomacy because the Trump administration has NOT nominated anybody in dozens of key slots.

What could go wrong?

The current president said that the next North Korean provocation would lead to “fire and fury.”

North Korea has provoked us. NO response…of any type or kind.

Credibility.

Kim learned what we ALL have known here, since 16 June 2015: Donald John Trump is a paper tiger. He is a bully who is happy to have crowds at his junior high rallies jeer reporters, and roar at his asinine remarks.

But can’t deal with other bullies!

He already has lost the respect ! of most of the free world…..so much so that for the first time since WWII that the United States is NOT the leader of the free world….that’s NOT only “sad”…it’s  pathetic.

Trump said that North Korea displayed “contempt” for its neighbors and for the world by firing another ballistic missile; this time the missile flew over Japan, earlier today, local time.

The 45th president said “all options are on the table” in dealing with this latest threat.

The president’s statement came about 14 hours after the North Korean launch, which was considered one of the most provocative missile tests in years because it flew over Japanese territory, passing the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Is there a compelling reason for us NOT to impose sanctions on the mega Chinese banks  that facilitate Kim’s regime?