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What does this mean? Ted Cruz said this in his 'speech'

@jbarro: "The moon might be as intimidating as Obamacare." -- Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is afraid of the moon.


It has to be code for something.

New island emerges off Pakistan coast after 7.7 quake (uncomfirmed)

Lawd!! 7.8 earthquake in Pakistan

@AnnCurry: USGS: a 7.8 earthquake has hit Pakistan, 43 miles NNE of Awaran. Injuries and damage are being reported.

Tribble!

Juuuuust a little bit clingy:

Hurricane Hugo hit 24 years ago.

Hurricane Hugo ate SC.



Hurricane Hugo was a Cape Verde hurricane that became a Category 5 (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) storm in the Atlantic, then raked the northeast Caribbean as a Category 4 storm before turning northwest between an upper-level high pressure system to the north and upper-level low pressure system to the south. Hugo made landfall just north of Charleston, South Carolina at Sullivan's Island around midnight September 22, 1989 as a Category 4 storm with estimated maximum sustained winds of 135-140 mph and a minimum central pressure of 934 mb (27.58 inches of Hg). Hugo produced tremendous wind and storm surge damage along the coast and even produced hurricane force wind gusts all the way into western North Carolina. In fact, Hugo produced the highest storm tide heights ever recorded along the U.S. East Coast.


Rainfall

Most buildings in downtown Charleston sustained significant damage, but the worst destruction occurred in beach towns north of Charleston such as Sullivan's Island and the Isle of Palms where the majority of homes were rendered uninhabitable due to the fact that this area received the strongest winds and highest storm surge. Many old trees were toppled by Hugo's winds, including those at Drayton Hall in West Ashley (image 1 / image 2 - images courtesy of Drayton Hall). Logging operations in the Francis Marion National Forest were permanently ended due to the storm felling more than 1 billion board-feet of lumber (approximately 70% of lumber-quality trees).

Fortunately, Hugo made landfall just north of Charleston as a track slightly farther south along the coast would have produced tremendous flooding in downtown Charleston. In addition, the relatively fast motion of Hugo diminished the amount of erosion along the coast.




http://www.erh.noaa.gov/chs/events/hugo.shtml

FEMA AND THE AFTERMATH
Senator Fritz Hollings was apoplectic about FEMA:
<snip>
"I called FEMA and said, 'We've got to have assistance down here immediately," recalled Hollings, now retired. "(Acting director Robert) Morris said they had to advertise in local newspapers for two weeks, and then state newspapers before they could deliver supplies. I said, 'Are you serious? We need help.' "
<snip>
It was seven days after Hurricane Hugo plowed through South Carolina before FEMA opened its first disaster center in the state. It was a bureaucratic mistake the agency would pay dearly for making. Hollings lit a fire under the federal government, calling FEMA officials "a bunch of bureaucratic jackasses." On the Senate floor.
<snip>
Hollings had used his clout to help the state before the storm even hit, calling on his old friend Colin Powell to send in Marines to help keep order, stop looting and help folks dig out of the mess -- despite the assurances from some state officials that the National Guard could handle it all.

Even the Marines became embroiled in the FEMA mess. The agency said it would not pay for chain saws used to cut away fallen trees because the Marines did not keep a log of each saw's serial number along with the particulars of where and when they were used.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley was another critic of FEMA's slow response, and has often told the story of the response he got when he turned to a FEMA official to ask for advice. "You need to make sure you're accounting for all of your expenses," the bureaucrat replied.
<snip>
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20090921/PC1602/309219933

Clinton put James Lee Witt in charge and FEMA began to run better. Under Bush, it was folded into DHS and we know how well that worked.

I know there are still some people who would give FEMA a piece of their minds if they ever had to come back. It was that bad.

Like parent like child:

I do not want a gun, BUT

I really don't want my name on a list that will lable me as mentally ill and unstable.

I do not trust the people who will come up with the criteria for inclusion on that list. I also shudder at the thought of what the gun lobby will do in pushing this issue.

If they have to convince people that a better method to control gun violence is to control the mentally ill, they will spend eleventy billion dollars to do so. They will scare the bejesus out of people, and fear can make people irrational.

"Mentally ill" is a catchall phrase for many conditions. They can be very different. I don't trust others to make distinctions. In addition, don't tell me that psychiatrists will not allow this. They don't write the laws or choose who legislators consider to be experts. Unfortunately, I have run into some real loons with MDs in psychiatry who have ideas that are waaay out of the mainstream. I have run from them as quickly as I could.

I have never had any thoughts of hurting others. When I am deeply depressed. I am more a danger to myself. Guns make it so easy to choose "a very bad way" to escape the pain. The are quick and final. They offer no way to recover if you do try or have a really bad moment and completely give up. Many people do choose other ways but survive and feel the dark clouds lifting.

There are untold numbers of people who have problems that do need help. Some may just need counseling to get them through and stop the possibility of these problems from becoming a scary issue. Others need more intensive help that can still be provided as out patients. Then there are those in extremis that do need hospitalization.

The cuts in programs to help those with mental issues have consigned many to a living hell. It is beyond cruel to the person with the problem, their families, and others who are close to them. Giving in to continual cuts in these programs and to the sequester have made it exponentially worse. The funds for these services are a drop in the bucket compared to money spent on other wasteful programs.

Sermonette over.

A letter to a young Chuck Jones, the famous illustrator, from his uncle after his dog Teddy died:

In his wonderful book, Chuck Reducks, the late-Chuck Jones — a true legend in the world of animation who, amongst countless other achievements, created characters such as Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, and also directed what is widely considered to be one of the best cartoons ever made: What's Opera, Doc? — credits his beloved "Uncle Lynn" with teaching him "everything [he] would need to know about animated cartoon writing" during his early years, going on to paint him as a hugely positive influence in his life in general and an "ideal uncle" whom he "worshipped."

Uncle Lynn also knew how to write a beautiful letter. One day, soon after the sad death of the Jones's dear family dog, Teddy, Uncle Lynn sent the following to young Chuck and his siblings.