Surveying The Damage

We have video of the Mayor of Tampa grappling with Irma.

Tampa Mayor on Hurricane Irma damage: ‘We were very lucky’

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn tells TODAY’s Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie his city appears to have missed the worst of the storm, but some parts of Tampa are still under threat as the last of Hurricane Irma passes overhead.

Comments

[matt, deplore me if you must]

Primiero!

[henry]

Yep, cleanup will take a while.

[Janeprobably about 10 minutes after getting there]

Has your mom got power Henry?

[Captain Hate]

narciso reporting in means everyone here's accounted for, no?

[henry]

not that Ive heard Jane.

[Buckeye]

After the debacle in the 'Shoe Saturday night, I knew this was coming.

http://www.dispatch.com/sports/20170911/rob-oller--doubts-about-jt-barrett-urban-meyer-hard-to-admit

Fickle fans are way past the honeymoon stage in C'lumbus.

[Account Deleted]

Raiders 1 and Zero.

Have been cleared to end intravenous antibiotics infusion as of today. Pic line comes out of the arm tomorrow. It's a big deal.

What would TV news do without "weather?"

[Barbara]

From the last thread...

So very glad to read that everyone is safe and that the storm did not hit Florida at CAT 4 or 5 strength. Cuba and some of the outer islands seemed to have taken a beating, though. So far, we haven't heard of any loss of life.

We'll be thinking of those of you in Georgia, Alabama and any other affected areas today. Praying for a quick end to this storm.

I truly admire the way in which the President has handled these storms. Instead of coming in after the fact, he's brought the governors on board and managed the crisis using all the powers and resources available to him as President. This is what he's really good at. The media can carp all they want, and they will, but President Trump gets very high marks for how he's dealt with these events.

Posted by: Barbara | September 11, 2017 at 12:00 PM

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Jacksonville, Florida's downtown is getting tons of water through the storm surge. Looks to be about 2-3 feet of water all over, and they have to go another 2 hours until high tide.

[Janeprobably about 10 minutes after getting there]

Not to be an ass, but anyone know the status of Jose?

[Old Lurker]

Also from the last thread:

Porch and MM. You know I love you both like the good sisters I never had. And I know all three of us want to get to the same place, and all three of us see Trump and his base as our last real chance to right the ship.

Where we get cross-ways with each other is that yes, I do get hyper critical leading to doom saying more than most; I am impatient, frustrated and sense time running out and perhaps that is my age talking. But the two of you almost always argue with me from the extreme other side from which you seem to think that everything Trump is doing is by design and pursuant to a plan that we mere mortals just do not grasp. Rather than belittle and dismiss Alan West, for example, I would rather say he is a very good man to have on our team and if he is speaking out, then perhaps there might be something to the angst in the base which you hear from me so often. I tried a new tack this morning when I suggested that even Trump probably wishes he could get a retake on some of his actions since the election and you two won't even agree with me on that.

You gals are tough cookies.

[Barbara]

Still in storm mode, Hurricane Bannon swept through CBS last night. He left debris all over the place. Charlie Rose is still shell shocked.

[Captain Hate]

Fickle fans are way past the honeymoon stage in C'lumbus

Some Buckeye fans are the absolute worst, specifically those who teed off on Herbstreit for saying Father Flanigan Sweater Vest's Boys Town might not be producing exclusively choir boys.

[Old Lurker]

Kev "What would TV news do without "weather?"

Bash all things Trump 24x7.

Great news on the IV, Kev. You don't do things in half measures do you?

[henry]

Jose cone.

[DebinGA]

College football rankings: That UGA went from 15 to 13 after their sorry performance against ND boggles the mind. Happy to see OK move up to #2, as BOzo and Hillary never won a single county there.

[Clarice Feldman]

http://www.express.co.uk/news/weather/852720/Hurricane-Jose-update-NOAA-National-Hurricane-Center-NHC-track-latest-map-path-advisory

[Clarice Feldman]

Longboat key Fl report:This is a quick & preliminary update to our many caring friends. Early reports appear to indicate we missed the worst of Hurricane Irma. I am told that Sunset Beach withstood the storm & that electricity has been restored. Right now access to the island is restricted. So no staff is there to provide a comprehensive report. My info is based on word from one owner who stayed but had not toured the property as well as on line news reports & pictures. I thought you'd want to know. I'll keep you posted as I learn more. Thank you for all your caring messages.

[Clarice Feldman]

http://nypost.com/2017/09/10/why-trump-should-go-right-on-working-with-democrats/

The Republican workers Party

[Sue]

My niece said she thought Jose had been drinking tequila since he seems to be stumbling all over the place.

[rse]

Steph-agree it is not bad so far but am hearing transformers blow along peachtree dunwoody so something is coming down.

rocco-we stayed at chatham bars inn back in 2000. We were there in july with the kids but a noreaster made it a very soggy week and we all bought sweatshirts except hubby who would rather be cold than preppy. We were there when the concorde exploded.

It is where I had the epiphany with all that moisture that the beach house needed a fireplace for cold and damp days.

[lyle]

I take some small solace that WSU actually dropped in the rankings after beating BSU and going up 2-0. They should be 1-1 and unranked.

No, wait. I'm still po'd.

[Stephanie Nene Not your normal Grandma]

We've got reservations for Marathon the first week in December around mile marker 47.

Just saw a report that Marathon got hit so back that below MM50 it is impassable. The Atlantic side got pummeled and the Bay side got major wind damage. We stay on the bay side.

Report said that in the height of the storm, the emergency responders who were hunkered down on Marathon had to beat feet and evacuate to Islamorada and they lost several vehicles in the caravan. Yikes!!!

Seems several bridges sustained damage and sections of the Overseas Highway got washed out.

[DebinGA]

An explanation of why we're stuck with Speaker Ryan - You can't beat something with nothing.

[Dave (in MA)]

September 11 memorial in the cemetery around the corner from where I live:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJcmtidVYAAQ_QK.jpg

[lyle]

Now that I have that out of the way...

Prayers for the innocent souls lost on this horrible day 16 years ago. RIP. Also grateful Irma seems to have been not nearly as destructive as anticipated. Hoping the upland country gets by with little disruption as well.

Finally, I hope McCain...well, you know the rest.

[Account Deleted]

OL-----> Ma used to say the same thing about me.

The comment usually came after some glaring idiocy.

My cavalcade of worthwhile achievements had a frustrating break even value ("yer supposed to get all A's!")

-----

Surgery info is slow in coming our way. I meet with the surgeon in three weeks when I'll be able to ask detailed questions about what happened.

I met with his assistant recently who mentioned that they had to cut through some muscles. And those cuts will take a few months to heal fully. But she didn't have time to break it down.

I found out two days ago how slow the going is. Tried to lift a 25 pound planter and was jolted by a lightning bolt traveling from side to side through my rib cage.

After hearing about this my family doc said "Yoga yes. Picking up weight over 5 pounds is a no-no."

Plotting my comeback as we speak.

Kev Columbu

[Account Deleted]

Jose be filing for benny-fits and littering the landscape with "dreamers."

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

OL,

Let me try again. Let's start with your supposition, that he shouldn't have had any Washington people on his staff. I am unsure what actions you wanted him to take on Day One, when he hadn't even had all of his cabinet appointed yet, but let's say he came into DC announcing that he was going to open investigations and prosecute people for whichever of the MANY crimes were committed during the Obama administration.

In this scenario you alert ALL of the democrats that you are coming after them. In this scenario you also alienate the GOP because they have their own interests to protect. This would have allowed both parties to mount a huge counter-attack aided by the media. It probably would have ended in impeachment, because he would have had NO ALLIES in the House.

If he hadn't had Priebus and Spicer, he wouldn't have had anyone who knew the relationships in the GOP and RNC. Who would have worked with Congress - Bannon?

Allen West is a fine man, but if I remember correctly he only got one term in Congress before the Swamp decided he was not someone they wanted to have hanging around asking embarrassing questions. I fail to understand why he doesn't understand what's going on.

In his column he at the same time faults President Trump for not being ideological (to which I replied that he IS conservative and offered proof) and cutting a deal with Schumer and Pelosi and at the end praises Reagan for working with Tip O'Neil. Reagan didn't "inspire" Tip O'Neil - he cut deals with him!

So why is whatever Reagan and O'Neil agreed to ok, but Trump's deal with Schumer and Pelosoi not?

And consider the alternative: weeks of rabid fiscal conservatives holding up the hurricane aid while they argued about the debt ceiling. Then West would have been upset about how Trump was bogged down in that! Meanwhile, the public would have gotten a terrible opinion of the GOP which wouldn't have helped anyone on our side, and most certainly wouldn't have helped the hurricane victims.

This is getting to be a boring argument, because you and I are not going to agree on the answer until we have seen definite proof.

All I can say is that anyone who got the hurricane aid flowing smoothly after the incompetence of both Brown under Bush and whoever had it under Obama is obviously operating with an organizational skill far beyond what we have seen in DC over my lifetime. The press has been trying to find fault, and instead Trump has democrat mayors and Bill Nelson praising him. Why, it's almost as good as Reagan and Tip O'Neil!

[Janeprobably about 10 minutes after getting there]

RSE, I worked ar CBI in 1970.

[Rocco]

rse, the Brides father used to invite me to fish on his boat out of Chatham Harbor. At the time, he had just bought his first broken down and beaten up backhoe which he turned into a million dollar business. He's a hard working, self made guy and it was then that we would joke about staying at the Chatham Bars Inn, where "the rich people stayed." He mentioned that in his Father of the Bride speech. I can't imagine the bill for that wedding.

[Old Lurker]

"This is getting to be a boring argument, because you and I are not going to agree on the answer until we have seen definite proof."

And because you and both are always right.

:-)

[Ralph L]

Jose has assessed his chances and turned toward Mexico.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

I look forward to Jose being turned away from the United States because of a WALL of high pressure.

[lyle]

One of the best seafood meals I've ever eaten was in Chatham. Fresh grilled striper. Yum.

[DebinGA]

Speaking of memorials ... Our grandson has 4 weekly (3 hr) gymnastics practices in Cartersville - 30 min. away, and hubs does the Monday run. Yesterday he was reading the info on the tall Confederate memorial on the town square when a ~25 up guy in a car drove slowly by and yelled, "That's really something isn't it?" To which hubs said, "Yeah" thinking that was the end of it. He continued reading until he saw the guy approaching him on foot with something in hand. Turned out not to be a gun but "The First Freedom" newspaper from/about the Bundy folks. Apparently the fellow thought hubs was a reporter getting info for a story and the paper was to give him "the truth". He didn't scare hubs, but he certainly would have freaked me way the heck out, especially as he animatedly talked about what "we" will do if "such and such" happens.

[Clarice Feldman]

About Jose--I'm putting up a MAGA sign to get him to back off. Rumor is that worked in Tampa.

[Captain Hate]

Oh please, God; I don't ask for much:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/sep/11/judge-order-clinton-lawyers-face-bar-investigation/

[Clarice Feldman]

wow, CH..

[Captain Hate]

I didn't get a chance to see the Raidazz game but I heard Tony Romo did a good job in the announcing booth.

[Porchlight]

I order wild beach plum jelly from a little shop in Chatham. The beach plums are running out of places to grow with all the development, but the shop pays for plums, so local foragers who know the secret places can bring them in for cash. Wild rose hips, too.

[Captain Hate]

Kendall getting disbarred would be huge. Mills would be no big whoop, like when it happened to Learned Gland Clenis.

[maryrose]

I have a beautiful ocean scene that I framed from an art store in Chatham.
Good times!

[Thomas Collins]

You all have the Jose play wrong. President Trump, Majority Leader Schumer and Majority Leader Pelosi have negotiated a deal in which Jose downgrades to a tropical storm and gets expedited citizenship! This follows the deal with Irma, who downgraded to a category 2 in exchange for a shopping spree at her choice of upscale stores in Manhattan and San Francisco!

I denounce myself for my stereotypical view of names! I sentence myself to an hour's worth of reading Jill Filipovic's op eds!

[rse]

Definitely picking up here but I live on top of one of those hills near pill hill. It's not bad, but these hardwoods are wet and full of leaves. I had forgotten opal was that first week of october so about three weeks later.

Jane-I think cbi is where my son learned to love eggs benedict. It was part of their breakfast buffet. Once when we were in tucson and he was about 16 we came back at the end of the resort's famous sunday brunch. While the girls and I sat out by the pool he finished off 17 eggs benedict.

When I call him the human eating machine I am not being silly. Good thing he has learned to cook.

[Janeprobably about 10 minutes after getting there]

Wow 17? They should have charged you double!

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

rse,

When my son was that age he used to pull out half of a leftover roast from the fridge and eat it as snack, dipping it in A1 sauce. I am talking like a pound of meat at a time.

[maryrose]

TC:
That is hysterical!
Brown did the best he could with systemic incompetence of the Democrat regime in Louisiana.

[Captain Hate]

The Horde has come up with a new moniker for Curb Dive: DistHillary.

[Momto2]

Great news Kev! I cannot lift over 5 lbs. either...eliminates almost every thing. Trying to remember that this will pass and I be facing never picking up anything again. Blessings counted daily.

Wind picking up in my part of Ga.no power for last few hours. So far no trees down here. So relieved to hear everyone is safe.

[Jim Eagle]

Ari Fleischer remembers 9/11 on Twitter, does it every year. He was there with W, in Florida. Excellent timeline and summary plus it will trigger your own memories.

https://twitter.com/AriFleischer

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/09/10/campus-rape-justice-needs-due-process-editorials-debates/651016001/

Betsy DaVos gets praise for her new campus policy on sexual assault accusations.

[Account Deleted]

CH----> Romo did pretty well. didnt suffer from fanboyitis like Troy and Buck-a-foo do over the QB from Green Bay. Dint watch the whole thing...Romo has a very positive demeanor on camera too.

[Account Deleted]

http://www.wnd.com/2017/09/ex-prosecutor-obama-not-comey-let-hillary-skate/

might be old news but saw it referenced in one of my subscriptions. I'll be catching up for months.

[Momto2]

I *could be* facing. Can't type on pphone very well.

[daddy]

Good Morning, and very glad Jane's house is not drowned!

On that lamb ad, I assumed it would be the Muslims who were offended, but I couldn't make out what the pretty young atheist said as to why Mohammed couldn't make it.

JimmyK,

I believe she says that Muhammed was picking up the kids at DayCare, so thats why he couldn't make it.

[daddy]

I see the DOW is "flirting" with 22,000:)

[anonamom]

" Blah blah blah blah blah. Don’t these people ever get tired of being wrong?"

https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2017/09/11/the-true-conservatives-hype-a-trumpocalypse-in-a-desperate-bid-for-attention-n2379346

[Stephanie Nene Not your normal Grandma]

We've got limbs coming down in the woods next to the house. Creepy when you hear them thud on the ground. Ran to the bank to deposit my filthy lucre from the casino, and there was a tree across the road on the way. Called the po-po and phoned it in. Fire trucks are zooming here and there, but overall it's not too bad.

Did some rearranging and for the first time in 31 years we have two cars in the garage. Just in case I just jinxed our luck.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Jack,

This morning Karl Rove was on Fox and was recounting something I hadn't heard before. After they got the news of the WTC attack at that school in Florida, they got in a motorcade going about 80 mph on the interstate.

He said the phone they had in the car rang and he Bush was quiet while he listened to whoever was on the other side. Then he heard President Bush ask, "Is Rumsfeld alive?"

That's how he learned the Pentagon had been attacked.

I don't believe I ever heard that before.

[Captain Hate]

Kev,

The QB from Green Bay overcame all my prior GB animosity by showing true moxie in his wildcard shootout with HOF Kurt Warner and now his Cal big mouth over extraneous social issues is squandering it. Just shut up and play.

[Jim Eagle]

The only Chatham I have ever visited is Chatham House in St. James, London, where we had many meetings, conferences and seminars. Meals aren't bad but they are catered. Don't remember the baked salmon but I do remember one of the best 'joints' with pudding (yorkshire) I have ever had.

Of course, that was a few months before the hoof & mouth disease shut down most meat on the bone servings in the UK.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

daddy,

You brought me an article that I can encourage Old Lurker to read! (OL, I side with Kurt Schlichter and not Allen West, so there!)

That is exactly how I see things, only Schlichter has a much better way with words.

[Account Deleted]

Here’s the latest from NOAA:

“In summary, neither our model projections for the 21st century nor our analyses of trends in Atlantic hurricane and tropical storm counts over the past 120+ yr support the notion that greenhouse gas-induced warming leads to large increases in either tropical storm or overall hurricane numbers in the Atlantic.”

https://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/global-warming-and-hurricanes/

[anonamom]

KK--patience with this rehab. You have undoubtedly lost significant muscle mass from disuse, let alone surgical trauma. I am confident you will get it back, but don't risk damaging things. We are old, buddy, no matter how young you feel. Time and yoga.

Your eating plan will serve you well. I do most respectfully suggest that you will better and faster with some red meat. Eggs too. Not saying you can't without it, but you'll be better off with it. It's what your people ate. Grass fed.
Keep that nasty corn out of your diet.

[Account Deleted]

http://ijr.com/the-declaration/2017/09/968181-minnesota-high-school-banned-flags-vehicles-students-responded/

Co-exist my ass.

[Account Deleted]

Thanks for the insights, as always, A-Mom.

Kev

[Extraneus]

We've got limbs coming down in the woods next to the house. Creepy when you hear them thud on the ground.

We had a wet snow one early October when I lived on 10 acres in the middle of the woods. The leaves were still on the trees, so the snow was too heavy for the limbs and in the still quiet you could hear the trees' loud cracks and the thuds of the big limbs when they hit the ground. Creepy is a good word for it.

Hope you don't have any big trees over your house! (I did, and during another heavy snow the top of a big pine came right through the roof, missing my sleeping son's crib by just a foot or two, then water gushed in.)

Not good times.

[Ralph L]

Learned Gland Clenis
Love it. For some reason, I assumed Clenis was a white trash name like Cletus.

[lyle]

From a-mom's 1:36:

You remember Establishment Conservatism, right? It is to conservatism as Unitarians are to Christianity

Heh™

Schlicter might have also substituted Episcopalians in there as well. (Full disclosure: I'm a lapsed Episcopalian myself.)

[Captain Hate]

I wonder if Schlichter reads AoS based on this sentence: You remember Establishment Conservatism, right? It is to conservatism as Unitarians are to Christianity.

The Horde has a number of God squadders, ranging to the cool Janet types like grammie winger to an irritating scold who shall remain anonymous, and there was a recent short debate on whether or not Unitarians are Christians. I'm pretty sure the answer was "no".

[maryrose]

KK:
Steady as she goes with the recovery process.
No more heavy lifting.
Sit back and enjoy the fall weather

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/907303264458362880

[Jim Eagle]

General Kelly tells Fox News in an email that [Congressman Louis Guitterez D-Tijuana] is an "empty barrels that make the most noise".

Response to Guitterez's "disgrace to the uniform" comment last week.

LOL

[anonamom]

Limbs down here too.
My trees scare me with every storm. I need to just take them all down.
(Or move! They are gorgeous.)
The ones that are here survived Hugo, which means they are 28 years taller! One is at least three times the hight of the house.

I've unlocked the deadbolts and door locks all the doors, most of which I leave locked all the time, in case I need to get out fast--or have to get back in!

[Ralph L]

janet-napolitano-sues-trump-administration-over-daca Oh, please do.

[Ralph L]

saying the decision was done on President Trump’s executive “whim.” ha ha

[maryrose]

CH:
Your post wrt the Clinton lawyers made my day.
Tucker had Clevenger on his show.
He is a normal person who expressed hope the judge would do the right thing.
Imagine promoting the idea of lack of public interest as a reason not to go forward.
That was the desire of Clinton and she and her flunkies thought she was home free.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Jack,

Classic response from General Kelly!

Ha! It just popped up on my phone as a Fox News Alert! That means a whole lot of pepople on DC saw that!

[Jim Eagle]

Our Unitarian-Universalists here in Southampton are all a bunch of 80 year old ex hippies and left wing nutjobs. One year they got to march in the 4 of July parade and were booed off Main St. One of them is a neighbor down the street who every week writes a letter to the editor of the Southampton Press about Trump this and Trump that and how the world is going to end because of Trump and his voters.

He's a laugh a minute. His sister and brothers are the salt of the earth and true American patriots.

[maryrose]

Anonamon:
I have an oak tree in the front that is 2 times higher than the house extending over the street.
Love it but it will have to go by the time I reach 70.

[maryrose]

Unitarians here in Rocky River had a Black Lives Matter sign outside their church, visible from the street as traffic goes by it to get to the shore way.
Only one in our city.

[Ralph L]

Re: Bannon on 60'. I hope every Republican or person of sense knows to take his own camera to a MSM interview. Decades ago, one of my dad's Navy friends was totally distorted on that show.

[Captain Hate]

HOF Romo. Even if they'd all been wrong he'd still be an improvement over Opie Simms:

https://mobile.twitter.com/Rizzuti09/status/907221312510103553/video/1

[Extraneus]

A knee-slapper from Ralph's link:

Her lawsuit is the latest in a flurry of legal challenges this week. A number of Democratic-led states have also sued, arguing the revocation of DACA is unconstitutional because most DACA recipients are Mexican.

Ms. Napolitano said she’s not making that claim in her lawsuit, though she is claiming another constitutional injury, saying the university and the students’ due process rights have been violated because they’ll lose the “contributions” of those students to the school.

[Captain Hate]

maryrose, I saw what you mentioned.

[rse]

Ex-the 'discourse' in the classroom and desired 'courageous conversations' just can't take place without the presence of the dreamers. It's why the elite privates seem to all believe these students deserve full scholarships.

[James D.]

Just shut up and play.

Well, if the TV ratings keep declining and the advertising dollars start to dry up, the owners will get the message, and start cracking down on their loudmouth moron players.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-11/startling-anecdote-about-online-advertising-restoration-hardware

This is going to cause Google's stock to drop once word gets around.

"I mean, I can't believe how many companies buy their own name and they're paying Google millions of dollars a year for their own name, like maybe if this is webcast, right, a lot of people are going to go, holy crap. They're going to look at their investments. They'd go, maybe we don't need to buy our own name. Google's market cap might go down..."

[rse]

Lights starting to flicker here.

[henry]

Ext... CA judges, then 9th Circuit. Napolitano wins first two rounds.

[BlueOx]

My (now deceased) uncle sent this email to my dad in 2001. I love the way he describes who people are for him. I've re-read it every year.

It's good to be back home again after spending most of last week in Washington, D.C. On Monday, 9/10, I flew to D.C. to spend a couple of days either preparing for or attending a hearing before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee (chaired by Senators Joe Lieberman - former VP candidate,and Fred Thompson -- the Captain of the aircraft carrier in the movie "Hunt for Red October"). The subject of the hearing was "critical infrastructure protection," a topic that I have been working on for over a year.
As I was standing near the boarding gate on Monday in Chicago, waiting for a connecting flight, Senator Lieberman and several people happened by and stood right next to me. Lieberman left for a few minutes (he went to the men's room) and while he was gone, I told his lady companion that it was quite a coincidence that I should see Lieberman at the airport when, in just 2 days, I would be attending his hearing. When Lieberman returned from the men's room, the lady introduced me to Lieberman and we chatted briefly. As he left to board the plane, he turned round and jokingly said to me, "I'll try not to be too grueling on you at the hearings!"
On Tuesday morning, 9/11, I was sitting alone in a small conference room on the 8th floor at NASA HQ. One of our people came by to say that the Pentagon had just been attacked and the World Trade Center had taken a couple of hits. We went up on the roof of the NASA building where we and a
bunch of other NASA employees could see a huge,thick cloud of black smoke billowing out of the Pentagon about two miles away. Someone said there were reports that the State Department had also been hit as had the west wing of the White House (the latter two events of course turned out to be false reports). Needless to say, people were getting pretty nervous. A few minutes later we were all told to evacuate the building. I spent the next hour sitting in a rental car with another OIG employee two floors deep in the basement of the NASA building - - the parking lot emptied at a snail's pace because of the traffic gridlock out in the streets. We later heard on the radio that one of the metro (subway) lines to Virginia was still operating so I left my friend in the parking lot and rode the metro back to
my hotel.
On Wednesday morning, 9/12, Washington was pretty much still in shock. Congress wanted activities to return to normal as quickly as possible so they decided to hold the hearings immediately following a 10:00 a.m. general session of the Congress concerning the attacks. Our hearings ran from 11:00am to 1:00 PM. My boss (the NASA Inspector General) and one guy from GAO
testified the full 2 hours before 7 U.S. senators. I sat right behind my boss so as to be available to answer questions that she could not answer. Only one question came up for which I had to help her with a response.
As Chairman of the Committee, Lieberman gave an eloquent opening statement, referring to the events of the previous day. The Committee asked many questions about the findings in our audit report. The report's overall finding was that government agencies are not doing enough to protect the nation's critical infrastructures, an observation that had considerable relevance given the previous day's attacks. Anyway, as for Lieberman, I
don't agree with his liberal political views but I had to admit that he's quite an impressive guy.
I spent the next 2 days trying to get out of Washington - - flight cancellations were the norm and it was beginning to look like I might have to take a train home. On Friday, I was able to catch a flight out of
Baltimore back to San Jose by way of Charlotte. By the way, on Thursday, they evacuated the capitol building because of a suspected bomb - - the building in which the previous day's hearing was held is located next to the capitol building. The airlines definitely need to make some changes to beef up their security. The cockpit doors offer almost no security at all - - one swift kick could likely knock the door down . . . and gate security is pretty useless too. Anyway, I suspect we're in for a long struggle against
terrorists around the world and we'll likely make many new enemies in the process.

[lyle]

Back in my college days, I was asked to play guitar as an accompaniment to an original chorale written for vocal ensemble by a local composer. It was a surprisingly cool piece. Note: chorales are typically sacred. This one was not. Where was is performed? Our local Unitarian "church." ;)

[Barbara]

I have seen so many beautiful trees topple when the Santa Ana winds come roaring through the area like a freight train. Glendale was originally planned with lots of glorious pines and deodars. My sister's house is bordered by lovely old deodars. They are a "protected species" here. Huge City fines if you so much as trim them. They seem to handle the winds, but many were victims to the drought.

I had a huge ash tree in the back of the property, and always feared it would come crashing down and do damage. The wood is very brittle but heavy. Finally had it removed; the roots were spreading and had already cracked the edge of the patio. Some of the roots were as big as tree trunks. I sleep a lot better now that it's gone.

[daddy]

I don't think the Dem's will have any luck getting Hillary to shut up. She is incapable of shutting up since her entire world is all about her. The only way they can stifle her is to quit covering her, and I don't think the MSM has that self restraint, given how much mind boggling stupid self promotion she continually generates. And with Chelsea the imbecile spontaneously tweeting every fart of an idea that wafts through her own neanderthal skull I think we're stuck with Hillary headlines till the day they both croak.

[Account Deleted]

Trump should initiate audits of all federally-funded research projects at UC.

[Barbara]

Thank you for sharing your Uncle's letter, BlueOx. Quite a memory.

[Ralph L]

I've got a pecan tree (one of several) behind my carport that my great grandparents planted in the 1890's. Thankfully, it leans a bit toward my neighbor's house and not mine. We've had more rain than usual the last month, so I worry about how trees around here will do in heavy wind gusts.

[Account Deleted]

May each passing day bring Hamrod one day closer to a massive physical calamity of some sort.

[JimNorCal]

Who remembers Sen Manchin's daughter and EpiPen price gouging?

What's the over/under that this guy is a Dem?

https://www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2016/09/23/drug-price-skin-gel/