Hurricanes

The night before Ike hit, the ‘Stros beat the Pirates at The Yard 6 zip and were 80-67 and three games back in the Wild Card race. How did we fare the rest of the season?

I remember my first hurricane. It was Carla back in 1961. I was eight. Our house was and still is by Goose Creek. The creek rose and came up to our next door neighbor’s house. A few houses at the end of our block by the creek flooded. Debris washed up with the rising water and I remember seeing toys amidst the debris. My grandfather and Dad told us not to pick up anything because it could be considered looting so we didn’t touch a thing.

The schools were closed for a couple of days. The day after Carla hit, we drove around to see the damage by the bay and there was all this debris in huge piles by the shore and  snakes were everywhere slithering through the debris.

I stayed in town during Rita. I didn’t get to participate in the mass exodus.   I never really thought about leaving. Plus, my Dad was in the hospital at the time having major surgery.

Of course, I posted extensively about Ike. I never want to go through that again. I was out of electricity for nearly 14 days.

I went to the Kroger in the Heights yesterday and folks were stocking up. They were even out of canned tuna.

Now this is dumb. This why you need a consultant. Check this first from the Trib:

SAN ANTONIO — Not long after U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, opened the floor to questions last month at a town hall here, Trish Florence rose to ask the U.S. Senate candidate about “the bromance” — his friendship with U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes, that was cemented by a cross-country road trip in March. 

A few knowing chuckles rippled over the crowd. 

“I really, really want to get behind you,” Florence said, “but I can’t do it if you’re helping Hurd get re-elected.”

O’Rourke held firm in what’s become his go-to answer to such questions — that as a member of the minority party in Congress, he needs to work with everyone he can — including, yes, Republicans like Hurd — to get things done for his constituents. Yet the exchange put on vivid display the awkward position O’Rourke, who is challenging U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, finds himself in as he leads the Democrats’ statewide ticket for 2018 while maintaining a high-profile friendship with their No. 1 target.

The question that Florence and others are now pondering: Will O’Rourke stand on the sidelines as his party goes all out to defeat Hurd in 2018? 

The answer, for now at least, is yes. 

“I can’t work with Republicans if they think I’m trying to screw them by working against their re-election, so I’m going to stay out of that race,” O’Rourke said in a recent interview with The Texas Tribune. “I wish the people of that district the best in choosing the best person to represent their interests. I’m not going to be a voice in that election.”

Here is the entire read: https://www.texastribune.org/2017/08/25/2018-heats-orourkes-bromance-hurd/.

Nope! Tell Beto “no way.” You can’t stay out of this race. You have to be for the Dem. Nope, nope, nope! You can’t be the real deal and try to be cute at the same time. Nope, nope, nope!

From Steve Houston on the petitions:

Marc, despite my previous comments on the petition process, I think most people, including myself, agree the process should be streamlined. My point of contention recently is merely that the same people making false claims of the Mayor holding up the process never once complained about the process in the past so it is merely when their personal interests are at stake do they wail like little children about it. Given the people they hired to assist them in the process, there is no doubt they were aware that there would be no time to verify all the signatures, the group merely playing it like a violin to regain some of the sympathy they used to have before just about everyone in politics tore them a new one this past year (from their hand picked Mayor & city council to the GOP led state legislature and governor, to the courts).

I don’t know if setting a specific deadline for counting is the best way to go, what if several major petitions are submitted at the same time one year, the firefighter fall back plan of letting those who submit the petitions join in with the counting/verification process seems a bit too risky for my tastes, I’m sure you’d howl if a right wing immigration reform group wanting mass deportations offered to count their own signatures for example, but instead of making false claims like the firefighters have done, perhaps offering constructive suggestions (deadlines don’t verify signatures) for improving the nuts and bolts of the process might help?

After Ike hit, the ‘Stros lost the next five in a row and ended up going 6-8 and finishing at 86-75 and four games out of the Wild Card of course.

We still have a four game lead on the Red Sox with 35 left.

Stay safe this weekend!