All Hat No Cattle

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Stay Strong Texas

Harvey will test new insurance law that could limit lawsuits against insurers
Harvey will be the first test of a controversial new Texas insurance law that takes effect Friday.
Plaintiff's attorneys and a consumer watchdog group are urging people who suffered damages to file written notice of property insurance claims before the law takes effect along with hundreds of other new laws on Sept. 1.

Once the water recedes, more death and destruction will emerge, as in every other hurricane.

The World Is A Safer Place Without ~~Saddam~~ Trump

Just talked to a guy who rescued 6 people. He moved to Houston from Iraq, where he lost his brother and house to the war. Amazing human. - Shelby Webb, Houston Chronicle

How Many More Dots Need To Be Connected?
Donald Trump's company was pursuing a deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow while he was campaigning to become US president in late 2015 and early 2016, it was revealed Sunday.

After Trump is impeached, indicted, convicted and bankrupted, Trump Tower should be converted into subsidized housing for Muslim refugees. - Andy Borowitz

I love Vincente Fox and his country.

Republican Shenanigans

Hey Joel Osteen, the thing about opening your church to help w/Harvey AFTER you get tweet shamed is that your reputation will NEVER recover. - HITEXECUTIVE tweet

This young man walked three miles to Joel Osteen's mega church yesterday. Wow.

Folks, the megachurch carpets just got shampooed so we can't let y'all in; but we do have several thousand jars of hair gel we can donate. - John Fugelsang

______________________

http://www.cwblogsite.com/

____________________

In Trump's prison cell, the audiobook of Barack Obama reading "The Audacity of Hope" should play on a loop. - Andy Borowitz

Rock The Voter News

This tweet contains a complete list of every single Caucasian politician whose birth & education records have been demanded by Donald Trump: - John Fugelsang

Who Are These People?
Thousands of demonstrators carrying signs with slogans like “Stand Against Hate” descended on Berkeley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Park on Sunday for what many hoped would be a peaceful march against bigotry and President Trump.
But it was soon punctuated by tear gas and a scattering of violent skirmishes. Some anti-fascist protesters, wearing black and with their faces covered, chased or beat Trump supporters and organizers who had scheduled and then canceled the “anti-Marxist” rally, citing concerns over safety.

____________________

http://www.wattensawpress.com/

____________________

Business/Tech News

Get Ready America! When Your House Floods, Blame Republicans.
In mid-August, the administration moved to gut a necessary initiative to guarantee the flood resilience of infrastructure.

I've got like 300 satellite channels, and I swear to God 200 are selling useless sh*t like prayer bracelets and vitamins that cure cancer. - Stephen King, author

____________________

Monday, August 28, 2017

Don't mess with Texas

When I was studying for my Florida real estate license in 1979, one of the things I learned was that Texas was one of the worst states for strong building codes, protection for the homeowner and the banks could pretty much foreclose on your home in a blink of the eye. I asked my instructor about all the ads that ran in our local newspaper for 5 acres of land starting at $500 in Texas and New Mexico. My instructor laughed and said, sure, you could buy that cheap land but it had no infrastructure, no water to drill, nada, and it was in the middle of nowhere. Texas had no penalties for false advertising at that time. Florida did, bigtime.

The State of Florida had a horrible reputation for selling unusable swamp land stemming back to the 1920s. Land sales were not doing well because of that. The national media often made note and fun of Florida swamp land during those days. Florida changed all that by having, not only strict guidelines for building and development but very strict regulation of realtors. And the rest is history.

Originally, South Florida was swampland. So was Houston, Texas.

Florida designed South Florida with an ingenius series of canals and drainage ditches to absorb heavy rain, and the natural abundance of plant growth also helped drain the water. Florida even imported plant species that could hold the ground together, some to their regret, but the point is they knew what to do. Ya know, science stuff.

Not Houston, they slapped up concrete structures, ripped up natural forests, allowed building in dangerously low lying areas, even over landfills. Houston has always had flooding and has mostly ignored the scientific data provided to them, to help prevent massive flooding.

So along comes Harvey and the Houston mayor tells people not to evacuate. I could understand that BUT what the mayor failed to do was to offer transportation to a shelter to those living in low lying areas. Why the hell not? They have the buses. They knew this was going to be a huge storm that would be lingering for days.

This isn't rocket science people.

Also, I am not impressed at how Texas has protected its oil refineries which the rest of us depends on.

Not only will gas increase, guess what, Houston real estate is going to skyrocket. So those whose homes survived the flood with no damage, the value of your home will increase 50%-75% if not more.

My home survived a direct hit from Hurricane Ivan in Florida (strong building codes, my roof was designed to withstand 175mph winds). It was worth about 150K before the storm. I sold it for 239K after the storm. Most homes were bought by local people who lost their homes.

No one is going to mess with Texas. It has messed itself up.

And another thing: our president said journalists don't love America. In your face Trump! Ed Lavendera has always been my hero as he guided me through many hurricanes. When I saw this video, it brought tears to my eyes. Honestly folks, I blubbered.

For those seeking immediate relief from this mess:

I will return tomorrow with a normal edition.

Peace.

Friday, August 25, 2017

Cat 5 Hurricane

Border Patrol says Texas checkpoints to remain open during Hurricane Harvey
As thousands of Texans prepare to evacuate their cities due to Hurricane Harvey, the United States Border Patrol said it is not planning to close its roadside immigration checkpoints north of the Rio Grande Valley unless there is a danger to travelers or its agents.

As a survivor of over a dozen hurricanes, Hurricane Harvey is going to be bad, people. Please evacuate if you can. Please.

Imagine what then-citizen Trump might have tweeted if President Obama went to Camp David for the weekend as a hurricane neared Texas. - Philip Rucker, Washington Post

The World Is A Safer Place Without ~~Saddam~~ Trump

The President Is Throwing Away Troops Like They're Trash
The White House is almost ready to issue guidance to the Pentagon on the implementation of President Trump's proposal to ban transgender people from serving in the military.

Dear Donnie: With your "trans ban" in the military, what part of "equal protection under the law" don't you understand? You sicken me. - George Takei

I'm Pretty Sure Trump Wouldn't Do This Due To His Bone Spurs.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte put on a public act of force in Marawi on Thursday, firing a sniper rifle toward jihadists affiliated with the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) after his soldiers recaptured the southern city's grand mosque.
Wearing a military uniform, the Philippine leader traveled to the front lines of the battle against the Maute group, which overran the city of 200,000 in May. He stopped at a military patrol base, taking up arms to show unity with his troops.

Reminder: 2 Republican Texas senators and 8 Republican Texas representatives voted NO on relief for Hurricane Sandy victims. - Eric Boehlert

Republican Shenanigans

Flashback to Oct. 2012: when Hurricane Sandy made landfall, Trump was focused on obtaining Obama's passport/college records. - Chris Lu

Surprise! Trump Is Keeping Us In The Dark About Election Hacking.
The federal government has not notified U.S. state election officials if their voting systems were targeted by suspected Russian hackers during the 2016 presidential campaign, and the information will likely never be made public, a top state election chief told Reuters.

TV news stations are interviewing former head of FEMA Michael Brown about Hurricane Harvey. Jesus that's crazy. - Soledad O'Brien

______________________

http://www.cwblogsite.com/

____________________

Clickbait News killed the Journalist Star. - John Fugelsang

Rock The Voter News

Voices in Trump's Head Say They Can No Longer Work with Him. - Andy Borowitz

What Was James Cameron Thinking?
"Wonder Woman" director Patty Jenkins has fired back at James Cameron for saying her hit superhero film is a "step backwards" for women.

There is a black Muslim and a white guy in a yarmulke sitting next to each other on this train chatting and laughing and I'm tearing up. - OhNoSheTwitnt

____________________

http://www.wattensawpress.com/

____________________

Democrats need to nominate someone more experienced than Trump. I suggest picking randomly from a phonebook. - Jesse McLaren

Business/Tech News

There's no border wall Donald Trump can build that's big enough to hide America's giant 'Help Wanted' sign. - John Fugelsang

Soon, People Will Be Jetskiing Through The Arctic
A Russian tanker carrying natural gas has become the first merchant ship to sail across the Arctic without the help of an icebreaker, finishing the journey in record time.
The ship, the Christophe de Margerie, traveled from Norway to South Korea in 19 days, about 30% quicker than the regular route through the Suez Canal, its Russian owner, Sovcomflot, said this week.

In Saudi Arabia, a 14-year-old boy was detained for dancing to the Macarena. You know, I don’t say this often but I’m going to side with the Saudi government on this one. - Conan O'Brien

Happy 99th birthday Katherine Johnson, NASA mathematician who calculated the trajectory of the Apollo 11 mission.