Texas Progressives talk Harvey, Howie Hawkins, Friday Night Lights and more

It's September, which means across north Texas, the season is transitioning from what this blogger knows as the end of "high summer" per the five climatological months of summer the area has to the month of "late summer" that is September. That said, the transition doesn't appear totally smooth, as 95-plus has returned to the area.

And, while the games actually happened in August, the transition to late summer was accompanied by the start of Friday Night Lights. Your blogger, after a few years absence, was back on the sidelines with a few observations about games while shutterbugging.

With that, hopes that you didn't have to work on Labor Day, and hopes that America gets real unions, let's dig in.


Texas politics

At the Observer, Justin Miller notes Greg Abbott still doesn't want to own up his part on fueling anti-immigrant rhetoric. One thing that would make this even better? A folo story asking the likes of Rick Perry and other Texas Rethugs no longer holding state level office if they'd care to comment on Abbott and Danny Goeb. At the Dallas Observer, Stephen Young has similar thoughts.

Also at the Observer, Michael Barajas says that the LegisLater eliminating mobile early polling places will suppress early vote numbers, but by how much?

At least eight people were killed by a mass shooter in Midland-Odessa. Wingnut Legiscritter Matt Schaefer couldn't wait to Tweet that he would oppose any new gun laws. That's as new bad gun laws took effect Sept. 1. Three of the worst? Churches now have to post gun-free signage if they want to be gun free, just like any business. Frankly, I'm wondering if that's a First Amendment issue. Second? Apartment owners and other landlords can't ban guns by renters. Third? Foster homes can allow guns.

John Coby drags Rep. Matt Schaefer for his gun worship.

Green Party prez candidate Howie Hawkins will be in Dallas and Houston in days ahead. Dallas is 2-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, at 2 Guys from Italy, 11637 Webb Chapel Road. Unfortunately, as an afternoon not evening event I may not be able to get there. We'll see. In Houston, he'll be at the house of Don and Laura Palmer, 5402 Bent Bough Lane, Sept. 9. I have a separate piece offering up my take on Howie's controversial-to-some Russiagate comments.

Off the Kuff checks out the Bitecofer Model, which suggests that quite a few Republican-held Congressional seats in Texas could be flipped in 2020.

Rosemary Kowalski eulogizes Lila Cockrell, former Mayor of San Antonio.

Dallas-Fort Worth

The Guardian says RIP to James Leavelle. Who? The Dallas PD detective handcuffed to Lee Harvey Oswald when Jack Ruby shot him, that's who. And, from the memoriam piece, it's clear he believed Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. He was almost surely the last living person with some degree of significant connection to the assassination. The NYT has more. Here's the Sixth Floor Museum's interview history. Kind of laughingly, the Snooze, whatever story it has, doesn't have it pop up in the first page of Google search results. (A 2010 story on his 90th birthday did.) When I limit the search to the last week, ditto. That said, the Observer has nothing up, either. Oy.

Jim Schutze wonders what the hell is behind soaring appraisal values in the neighborhood of South Dallas. Before he even mentioned it, I was wondering if, beyond general development issues, the new management contract for Fair Park was part of it. Like him, I hope the old black residents there don't get screwed.

Stephen Young rolls his eyes at the Engage Texas tactic of politicizing DPS parking lots in the Metromess and elsewhere.


Houston

While I never met him, he occasionally commented on this blog. I join David Bruce Collins and Brains in saying RIP to the blogger known as Harry Hamid, IRL an HIV/AIDS legal support lawyer.

Houston is hosting an Extinction Rebellion event Sept. 8.

The Texas Signal reports from a Houston town hall on health care. Per Brains, the Chronic might have a better take on the popularity of M4A vs the unpopularity of Lizzie Fletcher's Obamacare-plus or whatever.

Harvey 2nd anniversary

Grits wonders how long before people actually get money for home damages, especially home buyouts if needed.

The Observer follows by wondering how many more disasters might hit before that money is all delivered. 

National

SocraticGadfly is disgusted that Christmas Creep is now apparently "officially" being preceded by Halloween Creep.

The Texas Observer writes the kind of story that used to piss off Bernard Rapoport and have him threaten to stop funding it. This time, it's a puff piece about Bob on a Knob O'Rourke's "last chance" for the 2020 presidential nomination, which contains inside it a puff piece about Beto's 2018 Senate campaign.

Per the latest shooting, one of the gun loopholes that needs to be closed is buying imported assault rifles. The law needs to be rewritten tightly enough to eliminate executive agency "discretion" in its interpretation.

Therese Odell is loving the Trump/Fox News slap fight.

Juanita keeps calm in the face of that DARPA announcement.

Is the Corps about to foist an Ike Dike on us? (Updated 1 year later)

Both here and here, I provided various reasons why I did NOT want the hugely anti-environmentalist U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (along with state-level Texas A-M military and civilian engineering toadies) building a so-called Ike Dike for Houston.

In a nutshell:
1. An Ike Dike would do bupkis for Hurricane Harvey inland-generated flooding. Houston has had tropical storms and even tropical depressions, or just plain old weather systems, cause inland-generated flooding. An Ike Dike helps none of that; fixing the Corps-created reservoirs does more.
2. Claims of a Greater New Orleans Barrier in Greater NOLA as a starting point for an Ike Dike are simply bullshit. Oh, and who's already responsible for barriers, levees, etc., around New Orleans? No names, but its initials are C-O-R-P-S.
3. The cost of an Ike Dike would probably be at least triple of what the Corps claims. Other Texans should not be stuck with bailing out Houston, on a state share, nor should the rest of the nation be stuck with bailing out Texas, especially with a state led by climate change denialists.

But the Corps appears ready to foist upon us either an Ike Dike or an Ike Dike Lite. Riffing on my "numbers" worry, the boondogglers have already raised the cost to a $22-30 billion level, far above the $15 billion or less that was being discussed just a couple of years ago. The boondoggling will go higher if the Corps, as is likely given its past history, takes most of BOTH the A&M and Rice ideas into its master plan.

Update, Oct. 18/21, 2019: The Corps is proposing creating 14-foot "natural" sand dunes as part of a 44-mile-long mix of barriers and floodgates from High Island to San Luis Pass.

I don't hate to say I told you so, to Houstonians of all sorts of political stripes, because I did. The Chronic is now reporting these same cost and feasibility issues, just over the first part of the proposal on the sand dune barriers.

Going beyond that, here's my take from the 18th on the Corps announcement.

First, C-O-R-P-S, sand dunes you create aren't "natural." And, depending on how you create them, they may not have the same weathering resistance as actual natural dunes.

Second, you say you'll replenish them annually. That, in turn, probably assumes they weather as well as truly natural dunes. Given that such dunes don't exist there right now, that's probably not a warranted statement.

Third, you say you'll replenish them annually. Per point the second, if they deteriorate that fast (I'm also thinking of many other artificial barrier dune projects, so this point and the one above aren't pulled out of my hat), how much will this cost? If there's no dedicated budget line item in future years, how will people hold you to this?

And my take on the Chronic.

Nick Powell notes that the cost of dredging sand for both the original dunes and the replenishment will be a big cost factor. After all, even before the 1900 killer hurricane, there wasn't much sand on Galveston Island. There's not a lot more on the mainland coast. He also notes the Corps' current cost estimate does not include annual maintenance. I'll add that although the current gate for the Houston Ship Channel is not as environmentally catastrophic as the original, it's still not good.  Finally, A-M Galveston staff criticizing the Corps, per what I've said about A-M elsewhere, are doing so to row their own oar as much as they truly think the Corps is wrong. Don't trust everything they say, either, even if Powell gives them a pass.

And now, back to the original.

Also troubling is that many backers of the Ike Dike, such as John Cornyn on the floor of the U.S. Senate on Oct. 9, won't allow for, or even mention, climate change.

Anyway, the Corps will take both online and in-person comment, as well as holding meetings in Greater Houston. Tell it no.

Oct. 26: Here's details of the survey. Email contact to address the Corps is at top of page 1.

Oct. 31: The Sierra Club's Houston group also raises two/three other questions. They are: What will the long term maintenance costs be (or has anybody calculated this?), and who will pay them?

Update, Oct. 18, 2019:

TX Progressives talk Beto, Harvey

The Texas Progressive Alliance says sayonara to John McCain and also wishes retirement Happy Trails to Manu Ginobili as it brings you this week's roundup.

SocraticGadfly reads the new BuzzFeed longform about Beto O'Rourke and does some deconstruction of its several errors.

Brains and Eggs weighs in about the cult of personality Beto seems to be developing more and more.

Gadfly also had a poll about Beto and debates. Seventy percent of respondents, in his opinion, had the wrong answer:

Question, and POLL! for my Texas politically-savvy friends, based on this blog post: https://t.co/mktlJjihIf
Will Beto O'Rourke roll the dice on debating about debates even to the point of skipping debates with Ted Cruz entirely? .@BetoORourke .@tedcruz

— @realDonaldTrump 🌻 (@SocraticGadfly) August 21, 2018

One year after Harvey, Big Oil wants a federal construction bailout for climate-change related flooding potential problems.

Also one year after Harvey, Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Houston City Council ignore new floodplain-sited residential construction.

Neil at You Must Act Right now was a witness to an act of civil disobedience at the proposed location of the baby jail/family detention jail in Houston.

Raj Mankad explains the Harris County flood bond referendum and the need for a comprehensive vision.

Lara Purser visits Kashmere Gardens a year after Harvey.

David Bruce Collins writes about fauxgressives and fauxcialists.

Therese Odell reacts to the Asia Argento news.

In Dallas, the Observer notes that former Sheriff Lupe Valdez’s former department delayed work by volunteers trying to bail people out of Lew Sterrett.

Grits for Breakfast defends DPS in the matter of their proposed office closings.

Juanita laughs at some unintended comedy from the Fort Bend County Sheriff's office.

Sarah Martinez laughs at an attempt to crown Dallas as "Taco City".

Off the Kuff looks at the latest Senate race poll and compares how Beto O'Rourke is doing to how Lupe Valdez is doing.

TX Progressives talk Memorial Day, runoffs, hurricanes

The Texas Progressive Alliance reminds you that Memorial Day started as a day to honor Union dead from the Civil War, not as the day for Southern Republican whites to think Bobby Lee died for their sins as it offers this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff offered his Democratic post-runoff thoughts.

In additional political blogging, at the Texas Monthly, R.G. Ratcliffe notes Empower Texas and Mucus, aka M.Q. Sullivan, took heavy hits in state lege races. At the Texas Observer, C.D. Hooks thinks little of state Democrats’ fall chances.

At the Statesman, Jonathan Tilove looks further at the upcoming governor’s race, and at the News, James Barrigan asks  if Lupe Valdez can drive general election Latin@ turnout, both writing before Lupe Valdez’ latest kerfuffle, over unpaid property taxes.

In a hot regional race, David Bruce Collins analyzes Lizzie Fletcher’s margin of win in the Democratic CD7 runoff.

Brains and Eggs takes a first look at the Harris County judge general election showdown.

In Dallas, at the Dallas Observer, Jim Schutze says black Dallas has an old guard problem as bad as white Dallas.

Jim Schutze pops up again to note the lawyers for the State Fair billed $1,200 for reading one of his stories, at an hourly rate of $795. Not sure whether the grifting itself or the ridiculous rate is worse.

SocraticGadfly reviews Amy Chozick's "Chasing Hillary" and one-stars it for several reasons to save you the trouble.

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In other Texas blogging news, Alberto reminds us hurricane season has an early start.

 Space City Weather heralds the start of the hurricane season.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board reports Arkema knew well in advance of Hurricane Harvey about flood risks, according to Texas Vox. I noted at that time how self-proclaimed skeptics bashed the media over early Arkema reporting, while turning out to be  pseudoskeptics with a vested interest in the bashing, and tribalism.

Fort Bend County is suing the Corps of Engineers over Harvey-related flooding. Good luck, but you won’t win.

Grits for Breakfast deplores the state scaring people away from calling 911 on drug overdoses.

Colin Strother tries to wrap his mind around the Korean Summit debacle.

Bay Area Houston channels the Congressmen who nominated Trump for a Nobel Prize.

Juanita checks in on Blake Farenthold.

Monica Faulkner analyzes a recent report about youths in Texas foster care who are pregnant or already parents.

The TSTA Blog is not impressed by Greg Abbott's roundtable on gun violence.

Houston Press says thank the European Union for the privacy notices in your email.

TX Progressives look at #Harvey cleanup, more

The Texas Progressive Alliance encourages you to keep supporting Harvey and Irma relief efforts as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff reminds us that we have elections this November and they still need our attention.

As part of job hunting, Socratic Gadfly pays careful attention to some of the fluffery and hyperbolic language in employment ads and job descriptions and translates some for you, likely as part of an ongoing series.

The question "what happened" was not answered by PDiddie at Brains and Eggs, but rephrased as: 'WTF are Democrats going to do going forward?'  (Hopefully not more infighting.)  He also had a good word to say about Houston mayor Sylvester Turner's efforts in managing the city's responses to Hurricane Harvey.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders what is worse?  Denying food stamps to Harvey victims or refusing to register students to vote?

Turning 50 this week, Neil at All People Have Value offered a list of his favorite politicians in life. It is not a long list. APHV is part of NeilAquino.com.

Jobsanger says polls and research show America still has too many racists.

Houston Justice says there may be racism lurking in GOTV events.

Grits for Breakfast helped launch the new podcast by Just Liberty.

David Bruce Collins talks about the renewed "Medicare for All" push from a Green Party POV. More here from a national GP press release, including weaknesses in Bernie Sanders' current plan.

Dos Centavos wonders if there is a head fake in President Trump's alleged deal with Democrats on DACA and a border wall. Salon follows that with a question of who swallowed whose Kool-Aid.

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 And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

 Daniel Williams highlights the continued need for local non-discrimination ordinances in Texas.

 Melissa Law denounces the idea that Harvey was anything but a catastrophe that is still ongoing.

 It's Not Hou It's Me shares her mucking experience.

 Juanita rounds up some of the lesser 9/11 memorials.

Therese Odell rounds up the late night reactions to the Ted Cruz Twitter porn-liking saga.

Michael Li explains what happens next in the redistricting case.

Mean Green Cougar Red examines Harvey-related survivor's guilt.

Dan Wallach goes into detail about the security properties that a voting system needs to have.

Space City Weather looks back at all of the Harvey-spawned tornadoes.

While Houstonians continue to recover from Harvey, former San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan helps Irma work in his hometown U.S. Virgin Islands (which may get hit again, by Maria)/

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#Harvey catastrophe final roundup

The Houston-area damages from Hurricane Harvey happened in large part because of bad politics in Houston and Harris County, followed by some in the state of Texas. Unfortunately, at least one semi-prominent pseudoskeptic in greater Houston wants to double down on that politically conservative state of mind.

That same politics is exemplified in the US Senate by Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, both of whom voted against Superstorm Sandy aid but immediately had their hands out for Harvey help, with Cruz then doubling down on bad manners and ill grace by attacking President Trump for making a deal with Democrats not to link Harvey help to a long-term debt ceiling move.

Could an IkeDike have helped? Besides the fact that it only addresses storm surges, not rainfall-caused flooding, it appears to be a massive boondoggle of the military-industrial complex. It's something that should not be seen as a solution, or even a plausible idea.

Could Houston and Harris County have a better plan for evacuations? Possibly. It at least needs further discussion. Because, storm surge or not, rain-induced flooding, even from less than fully big ones, is going to be an ongoing problem there.

And, maybe part of the problem is that Houston, along with other disaster-prone urban conglomerations, simply has too many people there. Decarbonizing the economy, along with the federal government not favoring right-to-get-fired states, would help with Houston, but not other places.

(And, this hasn't even touched the issue of community, state and federal enforcement of existing floodplain building and rebuilding rules.)

Meanwhile, I, with other Texans, wish the best for Floridians post-Irma. Miami has done some mitigation that Houston has not, but at the state level, it's run by a wingnut governor.

And, Presient Trump's St. Martin property being badly damaged, and Mar-A-Lago at least moderately so, still won't likely lead him to admit the reality of climate change, speaking of Irma.

#Arkema, #Harvey, "the media," kibbitzers and strawmanners

The Arkema explosion, and a "movement skeptic" former Facebook friend's (more on that in a second post) response to media coverage of it led me to say "enough." Kibbitzing about how "the media" is ignorant about chemicals when they report on them all the time in a place like Houston led me to say "more than enough."

(Update, March 12, 2018: Liberty County is now suing Arkema. Alleged are Texas Clean Air Act violations, Texas Water Code violations, Texas Health and Safety Code violations, and common law nuisances as a catch-all. The first three, generally, have an "every single day" penalty on fines. That will surely be sought against Arkema, and part of the court fight will be when the tolling dates should end.

Update, May 28, 2018: The U.S. Chemical Safety Board reports Arkema knew well in advance of Hurricane Harvey about flood risks, according to Texas Vox.)

First, strawmanning the actual individual members of "the media" with the word "chemophobia" is a sure way to have actual individual members of the media treat your pseudoskepticism skeptically, Jeff Wagg, and others like you. (As he posts to "public" on Facebook, no privacy violations on my normal personal terms of talking about Facebook posting.)

Second, I think most people think of "the media" as like "lawyers" — bad guys until one of them is defending YOU or telling YOUR story. The reality is different.

Third, when a friend of yours comes on and starts clit-swinging (can't call it dick-swinging, can I saw that would be more "mansplaining" and more on that in the second post — and since that was the final accusation against me, I have no better way of expressing the sarcasm) about why Texas has chemical records secret AND GETS IT WRONG, you're asking for more trouble yet.

Naomi Baker

Naomi Baker claims this was all due to 9-11. NOT EVEN CLOSE.

It was a year after the West explosion in 2013, where I know first responders who fought that fire or controlled traffic (because my own newspaper was less than an hour away) that then-Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott ruled Texas chemical plant records should be sealed. And cited the West explosion as why. Then said "drive around" if you want to find out.

And, whether you work, or worked at EPA, or not, if you're too ignorant to know that, and claim "9/11," you should SHUT UP. I rarely, rarely, am that direct, and very rarely use all caps. But, you earned it. And you should definitely not accuse someone of "mansplaining." That's doubly true if you live in Texas, which Naomi Baker's FB indicated was true. And, if stereotypical males are the ones who "always have to win," you seemed to be exhibiting that more than me.

(And now, Arkema and TCEQ are playing footsie with each other on non-release of Arkema's Tier Two chemical inventory. Would this also be "chemophobia" for "the media" to report on it?)

But, she worked WITH the EPA, she didn't work FOR it. Her LinkedIn profile says she's worked TWENTY YEARS in the energy industry. And is in Houston right now for a natural-gas processing company, one that works with dirty sour gas as part of their work, apparently. Before that? Dirty oil pipeline company ENBRIDGE! (And, graduated from Odessa Permian High, right in the heart of Texas' oil-besotted Permian Basin to boot.)

She VERY carefully said on Facebook that she'd never worked in the "chemical industry" or, IIRC, a "refinery." Very nice. Or "nice." But hiding a lot of dirty reality. So, she's not ignorant at all. She's #oilsplaining.

Also, if you worked "with" the EPA in Texas, you'd know that the EPA threatened to pull back its state outsourcing of urban smog regulation and similar things from the Texas Department of Environmental Quality because oversight was that bad. And that environmental organizations asked for that to be done. That's just a sample.

Of course, having discovered her real employment history, I know she knows all of this and more.

Now, to background on the actual explosion and regulatory history against Arkema. A "big" $110,000 in fines, pled down to $90,000, is a slap on the wrist. Especially when that was for not hazardous but "highly hazardous chemicals." And, given that the French parent had a  2015 revenue of more than $8 billion, $90,000, or even $110,000, is a slap on the hand indeed. That's not surprising, as Arkema is a spinoff of French oil giant Total. Its most recent net profit was $400 million.

And you'd know that Texas regulators, even more than the feds, have a habit of wrist-slapping, if you've also worked with the Texas Railroad Commission. Given that I've read about, and written stories about, actual dollar amounts of RRC fines, I actually do know that.

(As shown by High Country News, on remediation of abandoned uranium mines, the EPA in general stiffs the general public while hand-slapping big business.)

And, if you weren't strawmanning the media as if they were chemtrailers, Jeff Wagg, you might have read "highly hazardous chemicals" somewhere. And, you might have been a little less butthurt when I suggested, but did not outrightly state, that you were coming close to strawmanning. I only made that statement as a definite after I blocked you.

Ms. Baker, you'd also know that, re your ignorance about (or willful lying about) West, Gov. Abbott, etc., above, that Arkema had long refused to release its risk management plan.

Speaking of the EPA there now, and its TCEQ flunkies, or maybe it's the other way around? Per a story from the Houston Chronicle, aka "the media," this:

Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality described the incident at the Arkema Inc. facility in Crosby as a fire, not a chemical release. 

The agencies said airborne sampling shows the smoke did not contain concerning levels of toxic chemicals.

What is a "concerning level" of a chemical? Ms. Baker, since you have a chemical engineering degree, shouldn't EPA have ppm or ppb DATA on how it defines a threshold for "concerning"?

Answer is "yes," of course. 

Ms. Baker then went on to say, well, yes, Republicans are worse on this, but, these things happen everywhere.

Well, Dear Leader weakened the EPA somewhat himself. Guess his community organizing on Chicago's South Side never touched on economic justice. (And, environmental racism is real.) Also, environmental organizations, the biggest, have chemists and chemical engineers who help advise them.

That said, he didn't so weaken the EPA that it didn't propose NEW chemical safety rules. Rules shit-canned by Trump's EPA head. Ms. Baker, since you've worked "with" the EPA, you surely know that. And, per Greg Abbott's weekend driving suggestions, including through West, Texas, you know this is NOT "9/11."

And, Saturday afternoon, the AP reported it had visited a bunch of Houston-area Superfund sites — on the ground or water by the ground, NOT just "visiting" by air — that the EPA claimed were inaccessible.

If only Ms. Baker, in her working "with" the EPA, could tell me what's hindering the EPA, I would be so enlightened! 

If only Mr. Wagg, in his oh-so-diligent concern-trolling the media, would make sure the AP wasn't committing chemophobia, we'd all be so blessed!

Maybe that's why, per friend and Chronicle columnist Chris Tomlinson, Ms. Baker, Arkema's CEO is a leading (but not solo) example of hubris.

Chris begins:

Richard Rennard, the president of Arkema, shrugged his shoulders when asked what more his company could have done to prevent chemicals from burning at his plant in Crosby. 

He rattled off the systems his company employed to chill the organic peroxides: Grid power, back-up generators, nitrogen coolers and ultimately refrigerated trailers. On Thursday the refrigerator systems began shutting down and the peroxides began burning and blowing the lids off their containers. 

After the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, every facility with dangerous materials should know to keep back-up generators above any potential flood line. Yet that precaution escaped Arkema.

Then, to the PROOF, for the chemical engineer and the movement skeptic:

Rennard's fatalism in the face of a natural disaster is disingenuous. Experts identified the plant as high-risk, and Arkema could have designed a more resilient facility. But it didn't, most likely because management considered the risk too low and the costs too high. 

 We know this because the Houston Chronicle identified Arkema as a potentially dangerous plant in an award-winning 2016 investigative series called "Chemical Breakdown." 

That's almost all I can quote honestly under fair use guidelines. Go read Chris.

But, one more sample. The conclusion, in good sermonic style: 

If we learn nothing else from Harvey, let it be the danger of hubris. Despite claims to the contrary, executives will decide that mitigating a risk costs too much, and subsequent events will prove that they made a horrible mistake. 

That's why regulators, journalists and citizen groups have a role to play in demanding accountability and revealing the risks taken. Because when it comes to chemicals, the public shares in the consequences of a bad decision and often pays the highest price. 

Let's be honest, Harvey is not causing accidents. The storm is revealing the risks executives willingly took. No one has the right to shrug their shoulders and say, "C'est la vie."

And just maybe, both Ms. Baker and Mr. Wagg, you'd learn a little less hubris yourself. On regulators, you might admit the truth about Greg Abbott and about how minimal these fines were. 

One more point. Mr. Wagg, if he had just waited a bit, or not protested so much about a David Sirota link I posted, about how Texas AG Ken Paxton et al helped Arkema dodge more federal regulation, could have learned, as a good skeptic, that Arkema was much more worried about explosion dangers in 2014 than it came off as being this week, per that old Wall Street Journal.

But, you chose to say "the media" instead, claiming the media didn't know what it was talking about. Then, Ms. Baker refused to accept the reality about regulatory issues here in Texas, perhaps because she was in CYA mode. Then both of you started sliming with the "mansplaining."

Finally, as a member of "the media," I know the profession is not perfect. I've said that myself, mainly about the corporations that own it, but, sometimes, about the herd mentality, more than anything else, of writers, broadcasters and editors at its larger mainstream outlets. (I've regularly blogged and Tweeted about some of the "Putin did it" nuttery.) But, for a (former) "movement skeptic" to apply "the media" card, first, and then, to basically present media from multiple outlets in one of the nation's largest metropolitan areas (plus local representatives of national media) as ignorant was over the top.

Update to that: One other person, if not a professional movement skeptic, at least a tribalist, talks about me questioning her professional ethics. I'll let what I saw on the Facebook thread, including the parsing of exactly how she spoke, and the actual facts about chemical reporting in Texas speak for themselves. And he got blocked too.

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Update, noon Sept. 1: Here's a full list of Arkema chemicals at its suburban Houston plant. Please, don't engage in "chemophobia." Please don't strawman that all levels of toxicity are the same. Please don't wonder about the possibility of floodwaters mixing chemicals that are currently separate.

The reality is that you have a variety of chemicals that can form either bases or acids when reacting with water. Their pH causticity would dilute eventually, but, if blown in the air by an explosion, then landing away from the plant, could be more problematic.

And, the alcohols there are of course flammable. So is hexane.

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Update Sept. 7: First responders are suing Arkema. Here's why:

Houston lawyers Kimberley Spurlock and Misty Hataway-Cone launched a legal battle in Harris County court, accusing Arkema of gross negligence. 

Despite past flooding events and advance notice of the impending destruction of Hurricane Harvey, Arkema "ignored the foreseeable consequences of failing to prepare," the suit claims, leaving trailers of volatile chemicals susceptible to explosion after flooding knocked out the electricity and ability to cool the heat-sensitive compounds. 

The first of nine trailers of organic peroxides exploded early on the morning of Aug. 31, landing a number of first responders in the hospital following exposure to fumes from the chemicals, which ignited and left a 40-foot plume of black smoke that officials later compared to a campfire. 

"Although the explosions had occurred, no one from Arkema alerted the first responders who were manning the perimeter of the arbitrary mandatory evacuation area," lawyers said Thursday in a press release. "Immediately upon being exposed to the fumes from the explosions, and one by one, the police officers and first responders began to fall ill in the middle of the road."

But, this is surely more chemophobia. And Ms. Baker would probably add, if I'm guessing her politics correctly, that this is more of the ebil trial lawyers at work.

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Update, Sept. 14: More dead horse to flog! Valero now admits, even per the currently toothless EPA, that it "seriously underestimated" (i.e., apparently lied about) how much benzene, a known carcinogen, and other volatile compounds escaped from its Houston refinery.

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Update, Sept. 19: Superfund site spills under investigation.

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Update, Sept. 22: The newest and possibly most toxic spill yet.

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Update, Sept. 25: The AP reports that the EPA says it has removed toxic waste from some Texas sites, but won't say what they are or where they came from.

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Update, Sept. 26: Chemophobia has hit the Harris County Commissioners Court! Commissioners have voted to sue Arkema on grounds of creating a public nuisance. Update, Nov. 17: Harris County is now filing a larger suilt against Arkema.

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Update, Oct. 2: #Chemophobia? No, "the media," contra a Houston-area pseudoskeptic and her Chicago Wagg-ish friend, want the public to know about petrochemical hazards that the Houston-area pseudoskeptic, and by implication, her Chicago Wagg-ish friend, unless he repents, want to keep hidden, including with the employer of Ms. Baker surely contributing to the soft money, and maybe even dark money, that works to keep this hidden.

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Update, Oct. 4: I guess all these respiratory problems are just chemophobia too.

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Update, Aug. 3, 2018: The EPA is auditing state and federal folks over post-Harvey air quality monitoring and reporting transparency.

AND ... Arkema's CEO has been indicted.

TX Progressives talk #Harvey aftermath, more

The Texas Progressive Alliance suggests a donation to the United Way Houston Relief Fund to help everyone affected by Hurricane Harvey as it brings you this week's roundup.

Off the Kuff celebrates the legal demise of Texas' awful voter ID law.

SocraticGadfly looks at the antifascism movement, and things a lot of it is the old Black Bloc, repackaged.

Senator Ted Cruz goes all in for symbols of racism and slavery.  CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme suggests checking out Beto O'Rourke who is running against him.

There was a lot of news being broken elsewhere while Harvey was banging walls, and PDiddie at Brains and Eggs collected some of it.

The Lewisville Texan Journal noted the Denton County GOP unanimously passed a resolution demanding all Republican state representatives end all support for Speaker Joe Straus.

The Rivard Report says San Antonio is doing its part to help Harvey evacuees.

Dos Centavos reminds us that the roots of the racism that enable the likes of Joe Arpaio and Donald Trump are deep and had a lot of help getting established.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Paradise in Hell translates Trump's Phoenix speech.

Michael Li analyzes the ruling of intentional discrimination in the State House redistricting.

RG Ratcliffe explains how that ruling could affect the future of House Speaker Joe Straus.

The Lunch Tray presents the case for not packing your kid's lunch.

Wendy Lane Cook has good memories of, and good wishes for, the city and people of Rockport as they deal with the effects of Hurricane Harvey.

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Dan Solomon compiled a list of ways to help those affected by Harvey.

#Harvey damages

Not to neglect Rockport or elsewhere, but this will focus on Houston, and on how some damages there will go beyond that city. This will be updated on an occasional basis.

Monday:
First, Exxon's Baytown refinery, one of many shut down, has been damaged by all the rain. No info on how this will make it take longer to reopen. This will further add to gas price issues, possibly.

Second, we know of one chemical spill in the Houston Ship Channel, along with several reports of petrochemical leaks. Expect more.

Third, Joel Osteen's reputation took a hit among those who don't better. Among those who do, his eventual, belated response to finally opening (some small part) of his church as evacuee help looks like PR more than anything. Given that a strip-mall mosque did this much earlier, that's even more true. Specifically, first, a Twitter Moment shows Lakewood was not flooded out. Second, the fact that the church eventually DID open its doors, also per Twitter, is further proof it wasn't flooded out, unless Osteen topped Moses of legend and actually parted waters.

Tuesday:
First, per an AP story, Houston is going to be a public health tragedy and nightmare for weeks if not months. The chemical spill and leaks and many others like it. Backed-up and broken sewer lines. City sewer systems flooded out before this is over is a possibility. All of that shit, literally, in stagnant water, in Houston? Like a welcome mat for mosquitoes. West Nile, Zika and who knows what else among more "traditional" mosquito-borne diseases. More here.
And, black mold among houses that aren't condemned, or that are, but people can't afford to leave.

Wednesday:
The big news is Harvey wreaking havoc on Beaumont-Port Arthur before landfall. The biggest issue that will ripple beyond the immediate area is the shutdown of the nation's largest oil refinery. I doubt, outside of gouging, that gas prices will go $1 a gallon higher, but 15-25 cents?
The bigger yet news is, per USA Today, that AccuWeather claims the total cost of Harvey will equal Katrina PLUS Sandy.

Thursday:
The Arkema chemical plant northeast of Houston has started having explosions that were warned about. Beaumont is officially without city water. Colonial Pipeline is shutting down its pipe that takes the South a lot of its refined gasoline from the coast.

Politics and #Harvey and no, not too soon

This is going to be a roundup of stuff I've posted on Facebook and Twitter, or seen others post.

Houstonians, if Mayor Sylvester Turner won't stand up to developers and if Harris County Judge Ed Emmett lets a climate change denier, Russ Poppe, run the county's flood control board, and Stephen Costello, Mayor Sylvester Turner's flood control czar for Houston, also appears to be a climate change denier, when are YOU going to vote YOUR bastard out of office.

(Note to climate deniers — for every 1 degree Fahrenheit of air temperature rise, the air can hold 4 percent more water vapor. And, for Harvey, Gulf air temps were 2 degrees above normal. Was all of that climate change? Surely not. Was some of it? Surely yes.)

Don't forget Ted Cruz and John Cornyn both opposed federal aid for New York and New Jersey after Superstorm / Hurricane Sandy but immediately had their hands out on Harvey.

Also, if you live in Houston, better file property damage claims by Sept. 1, unless Gov. Greg Abbott finds a way to legally delay a bill — which he won't try to do — that this year's regular session of the Texas Legislature passed that reduces the penalty insurers pay when they chisel you.

Per that link, feel free to shit on Kelly Hancock's Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Why? Insurers give GOP money and the evil trial lawyers give Democrats money.

Local, regional and state politicians all pushing an "open for business" model (some Dems, like Turner, as co-signers) that says yes to everything the development industry wants.

Donald Trump, Tweeting about the Mexico border wall and still insisting on the idea that Mexico would be somehow made to pay for it, during the middle of the hurricane.

Texas Republicans — including old college friends who I know are politically conservative — may say this is unfair.

Sorry, but ... if you voted for these people, no its not. (That said, Turner is a ConservaDem.)

That said, if you live in Harris County and voted for these people, just look around. Start with Houston and Harris County both not having zoning ordinances.

If you support that, then .... to be honest ...

You got what you voted for. (And, you had an "open for business" Democrat Annise Parker running Houston before Turner and another nutbar Republican, Bob Eckels, before Emmett.)

At the local and regional level, especially, you've had 12 years since Rita and 9 since Ike to vote your bastards out. And, you've had Perry, then Abbott, in Austin.

For more on the issues faced by Houston, and how both recent and older politics have contributed, read this collection of articles by the Chronicle.

And, if you voted for Trump?

Well new FEMA head Brock Long (maybe he's also a climate change denier) is also among the politically connected useless idiots:

“You could not draw this forecast up. You could not dream this forecast up.”

Bullshit. Not only do we have ProPublica/Texas Tribune document Houston and Harris County exacerbating flooding, we have, from a year ago, the New York Times Sunday Review with a fictional-for-now essay modeling a Hurricane Isaiah far stronger than this. 

In other words, per an old phrase, if you've been voting for these people, you have "reaped the whirlwind.)

Of course, along with the refusal to have permeable green spaces, as the toxicity of floodwaters likely increases, is a city that has struggled for years with sewer issues.

Meanwhile, Trumpster himself says the National Flood Insurance Program won't go broke over Harvey and won't get caught in debt ceiling politics. And with that, I already see what's coming — he's going to demand the debt ceiling get connected to NFIP funding. Resist. Better yet, Dems need to offer a bill JUST for funding it. Now. Pre-emptively.

Two final notes.

First, "Nature bats last."

Second, per Ed Abbey, "Growth for growth's sake is the theology of the cancer cell."

Per that, if you really think that Rita is the only example on evacuation, not Ike, and that there's no way to truly evacuate Houston, then guess what? You got too damned many people living there.