Saturday night, special.

Sunday morning as I write this, a coolish one that reminds us of what lies ahead, but frankly, delightful to enjoy after weeks of swelter. I slept late because I stayed up late last night. The Schvitz, currently undergoing renovation, hosted a fight night party for the McGregor/Mayweather matchup. Ladies admitted free, freewill offering toward the construction fund appreciated.

I went alone, but met friends old and new, including the owner of a marijuana dispensary. The law is in flux here, with a new city ordinance and a state licensing system set to go online later this year. The old dispensary was closed, but a new one is planned. The owner was optimistic and promised it would be something fantastic. I forget the exact language he used, but he implied a Walmart of weed crossed with Nordstrom-level customer service, or something. Should be amusing to see, once it’s finished.

Was the fight worth staying up late for? Meh. Of course the outcome was foreordained, but McGregor delivered, staying upright for 10 rounds and only fouling his opponent with MMA-ish moves about a million times. I wish I could have enjoyed the memory of watching it a little longer, before reading somewhere — can’t recall where, so no link, sorry — that McGregor was the rooting choice of White America, and they’re taking his brave stand as a victory. Well, bully for those rednecks then. I’m feeling a little cranky these days, and I’m blaming it on TAJ, or Trump-adjusted terms, as the new phrase goes. McGregor won in Trump-adjusted terms.

I miss the days when our president didn’t impose himself into my consciousness so often. But that is the world we live in now.

Honestly, Friday’s events left me feeling discouraged and depressed. The more you learn about Joe Arpaio — and I encourage you to follow this Twitter thread, and click the links — the more repulsed, sad and insert-bad-emotion-here I got. And that was only one of the awful things that happened Friday. In an optimistic moment, it’s possible to see this shitshow as the last gasps of a dying corpse. When I’m feeling less so, I think: 60 million people voted for this shit.

Right now I have to get the house in order. We’re having guests for the “Game of Thrones” finale, and I need to do some prep work. In the meantime…

Remember Kirk Jones, the guy who went over Niagara Falls to his death that I wrote about a while back? The Detroit News did a deep dive — so to speak — on him. Nothing about his life is particularly surprising, and he fits the pattern of so many Niagara “daredevils,” who really should be called desperados, in the truest sense of the word. I still owe you guys a story about the Toby Tyler Circus, Jones’ brief employer. One of these days.

A good NYT piece on the best and worst places to be gay in America. I’m not spoiling things to note that most of the best places are in urban America.

Someone was looking for a book recommendation recently, can’t recall who. I can recommend “Mrs. Fletcher,” Tom Perrotta’s new novel over there on the nightstand. It’s funny and seemingly slight, but it has some interesting things to say about contemporary sex and sexuality. I guess I also have to read Joshua Green’s “Devil’s Bargain,” although I don’t want to, but I probably have to. I’ve heard good things. It’s going on the list.

And with that, off to whip up dessert, then do a little more shopping. Enjoy this lovely day, and give thanks you’re not Conor McGregor, who this morning probably feels like he was in a car accident. See you in roughly 48 hours.

Posted at 11:32 am in Current events, Detroit life |
 

67 responses to “Saturday night, special.”

  1. Suzanne said on August 27, 2017 at 1:31 pm

    My husband has family in Phoenix. Arpaio has nearly bankrupted the county due to all the lawsuits they’ve had to settle over his arresting people, American citizens, who were doing nothing wrong but looking Mexican.

    Things do not look good in Texas.

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  2. Bitter Scribe said on August 27, 2017 at 1:57 pm

    More than a century ago, white people were making a BFD over a white guy fighting a black guy named Jack Johnson. How depressing to think we haven’t changed.

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  3. basset said on August 27, 2017 at 2:05 pm

    Didn’t watch the fight, we all agree at our house that fighting is not a sport. We don’t watch football either, or wrestling, or much of anything to do with sports. Positively un-American, I know… we have started showing some interest in Indy-car racing again, Novo Nordisk runs a car with a diabetic driver so we have some interest in how he does. Seventh on Sat. night, never in contention for the win though.

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  4. Deborah said on August 27, 2017 at 2:32 pm

    There was an article somewhere online recently about how gay friendly Santa Fe is. The mayor is gay, he was married to a woman at one time and has two daughters, he’s Hispanic too. NM has a Republican woman governor (who is despised now), but the legislature is majority Deomcrat. Illinois is the same, a really shitty Republican billionaire governor and a Democratic legislature. All of the senators in NM and IL are Dem now. And all of the Congressional Reps where I live are Dems, So I live in a bubble of diversity and liberalism.

    I remember living in Texas many moons ago and hating it, although I feel for the people living there getting hammered by Harvey, or what’s left of the hurricane. I lived through many hurricanes as a kid in Miami, FL, but they were nothing like the ones they have nowadays, weather gone wild.

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  5. St Bitch said on August 27, 2017 at 3:37 pm

    My take on the Stark family drama in GOT is that Arya is subjecting Sansa to a version of the head-messing brow-beating training she received at the House of Black and White in Braavos. The handing off of the assassin’s Valyrian steel and dragonbone dagger from Littlefinger to Bran to Arya to Sansa (accompanied by accusatory insinuations and revelations) seems to promote this idea more than that of a fully abdicated Bran not deigning to interfere while his reunited sisters wind up for a showdown.

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  6. Ellen said on August 27, 2017 at 3:56 pm

    Things are certainly terrible here in Houston. My own house is still dry, but water is inching up the driveway, and the forecast is for rain through Wednesday at least. Best weather reporting on Houston is here: spacecityweather.com If there is a prize for weather journalism, these guys deserve it. No drama. Just science.

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  7. Suzanne said on August 27, 2017 at 4:20 pm

    Hang in there, Ellen. A friend of mine is visiting her daughter in Houston. She said she’s never seen so many tornadoes. We are all sending dry thoughts and hoping for the best.

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  8. Bitter Scribe said on August 27, 2017 at 4:35 pm

    Just talked to my cousin in Houston. Luckily they have lots of money and can afford a high and dry house.

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  9. basset said on August 27, 2017 at 7:01 pm

    Been there, done that… still remember standing on my deck in Nashville in the spring of 2010, hearing the wind howking and watching the water rise. We all got out unharmed though.

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  10. basset said on August 27, 2017 at 7:01 pm

    Howling, I should say. Or maybe I just made up a new word.

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  11. Deborah said on August 27, 2017 at 7:24 pm

    I like howking, it sounds like something you do after a long night of drinking.

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  12. basset said on August 27, 2017 at 8:24 pm

    Four forties of Old English and three microwaved Hot Pockets, I’m out in the 7-11 parking lot at four in the morning howking up my socks… the cops showed up and all they could do was watch.

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  13. jcburns said on August 27, 2017 at 10:33 pm

    Ah, many’s the dawn we spent hunched over the banks of the Howking River in Athens, howking our guts out.

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  14. Dexter said on August 28, 2017 at 3:24 am

    Beisbol rivals futbol in many countries south of Key West, but reigns supreme in the D.R. & Puerto Rico, and Cuba. I have mixed emotions about the just-finished “Players’ Weekend” which featured softball-like unis and nicknames on the uni backs. A big to-do in NYC where a few trads declared treason as the Yankees would not be wearing home pin stripes for the first time since before Woodrow Wilson was prez. I did feel like this party-style baseball, where players wore gaudy shoes and loud socks and colorful caps , was a nod to winter league style play, and I was surprised vuvuzelas were not handed out to fans…maybe they were. When it comes to baseball, I am a traditionalist. So …this fight, so ballyhooed for months on-end happened in Las Vegas. A friend screened it to his Facebook live, and I peeked in and saw three rounds and Connor or Conor (I see it both ways) McGregor did well. I had no interest until just before the fight when Showtime fucked the pooch and OnDemand was not up. It took a long damn time before they touched gloves. Also, it seems it’s just a guess as to paydays…McGregor from $30M to $100M and for Floyd May. $100M to $300M. Anyway, I’d rather take the over $700M the 53 year-old woman named Mavis won in CT on Powerball. Man, did she EVER screw up…she should have hired a lawyer and a financial expert to do the press and she should have formed a blind trust so nobody knows she won. Now her life is gonna be shooing away assholes looking for a handout or wanting start-up money for some business.
    Our daughter the ER Nurse Practitioner in Las Vegas took the day off and they took the motorhome out of town. Las Vegas was prepared for all sorts of violence which always happens when a big money fight comes to town. She was not relishing the onslaught of guns and knives and the mayhem.

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  15. ROGirl said on August 28, 2017 at 7:24 am

    “I miss the days when our president didn’t impose himself into my consciousness so often.”

    Apart from all the awful things he is actually doing, I think this is what gnaws at me the most, because it’s like psychological torture that no one is immune from, or can escape. We are all going to have ptsd.

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  16. alex said on August 28, 2017 at 7:59 am

    What disturbs my consciousness even more than having an insane president is the knowledge that so many of my fellow citizens could be so fucking heartless and so goddamned stupid.

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  17. brian stouder said on August 28, 2017 at 8:39 am

    What Alex said!

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  18. Peter said on August 28, 2017 at 9:37 am

    I’ll second that Alex.

    Dexter, you’re right about that lady who won Powerball. Decades ago, when the Illinois lottery had a $40 million payout, the winner turned out to be an alum of the same high school I went to. I wondered how long it would take them to knock on the door and ask for a cut; turns out when the winner was introduced the high school principal got to his home before his parents did.

    And finally, I apologize if someone mentioned this before, but what gnaws at me about the Pretty Boy Joe Arpaio pardon is that it really wasn’t necessary – no judge would throw the 85 year old in the slammer, and even if they did, Joe’s attorneys would have dragged out the appeal to well after his demise. Nope, while there are many chilling side effects to the pardon, I think it all boils down to Donnie wanting to be the dominant dog.

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  19. Icarus said on August 28, 2017 at 10:21 am

    “What disturbs my consciousness even more than having an insane president is the knowledge that so many of my fellow citizens could be so fucking heartless and so goddamned stupid.”

    agreed but I’ll add so many of my fellow citizens actually believe The Donald is doing a good job and all these bad stuff is made up or blown out of proportion.

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  20. Jeff Borden said on August 28, 2017 at 10:28 am

    Two great stories in the New York Times.

    On Sunday, a very long dive into what happened when a standard-issue white male with few prospects joined a couple of buddies in defacing a mosque in Fort Smith, Ark. with racist and Nazi graffiti. The schmoe didn’t even do the painting, but just kept watch, yet he was charged with a felony under hate crime statutes. It had a lot to say about a poor family with very few resources –the kid stayed in jail because the family couldn’t afford the modest bond money– and the grace and strength of the Muslim community, which advocated for the young man. It’s just beautifully reported and written.

    Today, there’s a long take in the sports section on Mayweather vs. McGregor and the insane amount of money the “fight” generated. It also looks at the out of the ring actions of both men, neither of whom I would ever like to be around. It’s just a very solid piece of work.

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  21. Julie Robinson said on August 28, 2017 at 11:23 am

    Peter, you’re right about Arpaio, and now I read he wants back in politics, so presumably that’s what the pardon was for.

    I’m a bit insulated from the news cycle, being here with family, dealing with my sister’s myriad problems, planning for a construction project, and right now, waiting for the AC repair guy. I’m following just enough to experience low-grade constant anxiety.

    However, we had a huge high this weekend seeing our son perform in a partially staged concert version of the musical Titanic. Despite the subject matter it was an uplifting production, with a huge chorus, orchestra, and soloists with amazing voices. Matt was fantastic and had the big line closing the first act, Dear God, iceberg right ahead!

    For some reason there are no quotation marks available on the little tablet I’m typing on. I miss my laptop.

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  22. basset said on August 28, 2017 at 11:38 am

    And here in Nashville this morning, Jeff Sessions told a police convention that restrictions on giving surplus military equipment to local police are about to go away.

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  23. adrianne said on August 28, 2017 at 1:18 pm

    Jeff, those were my two fave stories this weekend in the New York Times. Just deeply reported and well written. That’s what they do best.

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  24. brian stouder said on August 28, 2017 at 2:20 pm

    basset – I can see police departments having a need for light armor, for when they have to bust a drug house or address an active-shooter.

    This stuff should come with strings, though.

    For example, they should be very deliberate when it comes to deploying them at a lawful demonstration or protest, for example

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  25. brian stouder said on August 28, 2017 at 2:21 pm

    (thinking Ferguson, here)

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  26. basset said on August 28, 2017 at 3:50 pm

    Brian, one of the arguments against distributing military gear to local police is that it promotes a military frame of mind… we have this armored vehicle, we’re gonna find a reason to use it.

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  27. brian stouder said on August 28, 2017 at 3:58 pm

    Indeed, and agreed.

    The firefighters have all the really cool stuff, plus everybody waves at them and likes them.

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  28. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on August 28, 2017 at 4:35 pm

    Speaking of the Howking River, the Marching 110 led the first year students onto the Green for Welcome Day, the beginning of their 50th anniversary year, my son now a returning sophomore. And yes, he made the halftime show AND pregame for the whole season during band camp, thank you for asking. 😉

    OU, oh yeah!

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  29. Dexter said on August 28, 2017 at 4:45 pm

    Peter: Without even fact-checking I remember it well…his name was Mike Wittkowski and he was 28 and a bachelor. One story had him quoted as saying he enjoyed bowling and via a game of “telephone” the story blew up into “all Mike Wittkowski wanted to do was buy a bowling alley, so he did.” And I accepted that as truth, when there was nothing to it. He split the dough with family, never worked again, and currently lives a middle class existence with his wife and kid. Ok…I just updated what he’s doing now…he drives a two year old Tahoe and his wife is Fran. Since 1984 , when he won, about all he’s done is bowl a little and drink light beer. His $40000000 prize was worth $72M in today’s money. Chicken feed compared to Miss Mavis of Connecticut’s lucky windfall.

    I have always said Houston is the combination armpit and asshole of the United States of America but the poor souls who live there surely did nothing to deserve this. Climate Change denier Trump seems to have passed this catastrophic event on to Pence, while Trump utters a few words and a thumbs-up and a “good luck” and moves on to the golf course. I hear he is visiting “the outer fringe of the devastation” tomorrow. Today he is entertaining foreign dignitaries. I hope this ends soon. I got a feeling…we have Trump until January 20, 2021.

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  30. Dexter said on August 28, 2017 at 4:58 pm

    basset#12: Four Forties of O.E.? I was renown as second fastest beer drainer and second as quantity champ in beer consumption by the owner-bartender of the popular bar I frequented, but to empty four forties and some hot pockets in a car , all in one setting was way out of my limits. Cheers! ( My peak years were 30-35 years back…this year I get my silver anniversary AA medallion) https://i.pinimg.com/736x/5f/96/8d/5f968dca7a063904e1978d7dc3313ca1—year-anniversary-alcoholics-anonymous.jpg

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  31. brian stouder said on August 28, 2017 at 5:07 pm

    Dex – congratulations on the silver!

    And regarding Trump ’til 2021 – these Russians with suitcases full of money keep popping up

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/top-trump-organization-executive-reached-out-to-putin-aide-for-help-on-business-deal/2017/08/28/095aebac-8c16-11e7-84c0-02cc069f2c37_story.html?wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-politics%252Bnation&wpmk=1

    the lead:

    A top executive from Donald Trump’s real estate company emailed Vladi­mir Putin’s personal spokesman during the U.S. presidential campaign last year to ask for help advancing a stalled Trump Tower development project in Moscow, according to documents submitted to Congress Monday.

    Michael Cohen, a Trump attorney and executive vice president for the Trump Organization, sent the email in January 2016 to Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s top press aide.

    “Over the past few months I have been working with a company based in Russia regarding the development of a Trump Tower – Moscow project in Moscow City,” Cohen wrote Peskov, according to a person familiar with the email. “Without getting into lengthy specifics the communication between our two sides has stalled. As this project is too important, I am hereby requesting your assistance. I respectfully request someone, preferably you, contact me so that I might discuss the specifics as well as arranging meetings with the appropriate individuals. I thank you in advance for your assistance and look forward to hearing from you soon,” Cohen wrote.

    and of course, the denials from the Trump people are now flooding the airwaves (so to speak)

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  32. Jeff Borden said on August 28, 2017 at 5:18 pm

    I suppose this is a bad time to remind folks that several Republicans in Congress voted against funds in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, among them Ted Cruz. Apparently, he has changed his mind.

    Two very scary thoughts on Houston and the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. First, as a major center of petroleum and chemical industries, the potential environmental fallout from this disaster could be enormous, but the man running our EPA is an industry-friendly climate denier. How can the agency be tasked with containing whatever toxic stew is created by the flooding? And tens of thousands of people are likely to be homeless and/or looking at huge repair costs to their domiciles, but the man running HUD is a surgeon with no experience in the field. How can HUD respond with an inexperienced toady running it?

    All these assholes who hate the “gubmint” and begrudge their tax dollars going to others are the ones who will scream the loudest for help when the shoe is on the other foot. Bastards.

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  33. Deborah said on August 28, 2017 at 7:52 pm

    We went to Whole Foods today and took advantage of some sales via Amazon, for rib eye steak which we’ll grill tomorrow.

    We did a project today that involved steel wool and later super glue. Now my fingerprint sensor on my iPad and iPhone won’t work. Eventually it will work I know but for now it’s aggravating.

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  34. Dexter said on August 29, 2017 at 2:32 am

    No “Whole Paycheck” stores here, but I am aware that stuffs were marked down as much as 70% today…and still, way more expensive than what I pay at Walmart. Here , Kroger has gotten ahead of the jump…call in your order, give them 30 minutes, pick it up curbside, pay with your phone. Bryan has no Kroger but Defiance and Auburn do and I go there all the time.

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  35. Dexter said on August 29, 2017 at 2:55 am

    http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/2-killed-4-hurt-in-shooting-at-library-in-New-12119008.php New Mexico in the headlines….

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  36. Deborah said on August 29, 2017 at 3:51 am

    I had to look up Clovis, NM, it’s in the far eastern part of the state near the Texas border. Shooting in the public library, wow, do you librarians among the commenters here get training for that kind of situation? Abiquiu has a tiny, tiny library that is in a building where archeologists often are digging around. The state and Rio Arriba county keep cutting back on library funding.

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  37. Suzanne said on August 29, 2017 at 6:19 am

    In the library. So sad.
    I can’t remember for sure how it ended, but I know there was a push in Fort Wayne a number of years ago to allow open carry in the public library, because a good guy with a gun and all that. But if it’s perfectly ok, no one raises an eyebrow when someone struts into a place like the library with a gun strapped to his back. So you can’t call for help because no one is doing anything wrong.
    And the security guards at most low paying public libraries are either old men or nervous looking young people.

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  38. Connie said on August 29, 2017 at 6:28 am

    I have been to one training session re live shooters in the library. We are taught to develop responses based on ” run hide fight.” Do you know your hiding place at work?

    There have been at least two open carry demonstrations that showed up at public libraries in the state. How would you feel if a bunch of guys with big guns showed up at story time.?

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  39. Deborah said on August 29, 2017 at 6:39 am

    There’s a gun shop in the mall near us in Santa Fe. Every once in a while a guy will show up in that mall with a gun slung over his shoulder and I always make a beeline for the nearest exit. One time I was at the train station and a security guard came in with a gun in a holster on his hip, a little girl started crying because the gun scared her. I can’t even imagine how frightening it would be if a bunch of guys with big guns came in during story hour.

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  40. Julie Robinson said on August 29, 2017 at 7:39 am

    Suzanne, that was a state law that passed despite vigorous opposition from the Allen County Public Library and most every other library in the state, and proudly signed by then governors MyPants.

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  41. Julie Robinson said on August 29, 2017 at 8:03 am

    Governor, singular.

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  42. Jolene said on August 29, 2017 at 9:23 am

    Singular, indeed. And thank God for that.

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  43. Suzanne said on August 29, 2017 at 9:32 am

    I couldn’t remember if the open carry in the library (and parks, I think) law had passed but I figured it did. There is no problem in red states, it seems, that can’t be solved by having more guns on the streets.

    Apparently, Joel Osteen is now maybe going to open his church for evacuees. He has been getting nothing but grief on social media for having his doors closed, especially since the guy who runs a Houston area mattress company sent out his delivery trucks to gather up people, brought them to his store/warehouse, and let them sleep on his mattresses.

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  44. BethB from Indiana said on August 29, 2017 at 9:47 am

    Years ago, we had training for intruder situations in our school. I was to shut the library doors, turn out the lights and gather all of the students that were in the library at the time into a inner room that housed our magazine back issues. We had a couple of unannounced drills, and the students were scared to death. It was hard to keep the quiet in a small, crowded room. The kids (junior high age) behaved quite decently, considering the situation.

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  45. Icarus said on August 29, 2017 at 10:12 am

    “I suppose this is a bad time to remind folks that several Republicans in Congress voted against funds in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, among them Ted Cruz. Apparently, he has changed his mind.”

    I wondered about this too; if it was a political move since it would obviously pass but you could spin it as tough on government spending or something. then I found my answer (or at least Ted’s excuse).

    http://time.com/4919599/ted-cruz-superstorm-sandy-hurricane-harvey-spending/

    BTW Didn’t someone who state benefited from Sandy funds also vote against a previous natural disaster fund?

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  46. Randy said on August 29, 2017 at 11:01 am

    Nancy, it looks like Mitch Albom has stepped in it again:

    http://www.freep.com/story/sports/columnists/mitch-albom/2017/08/27/mitch-albom-dropping-kids-off-college-then-vs-now/603928001/

    I hope we get to read your thoughts on this.

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  47. basset said on August 29, 2017 at 11:02 am

    Here’s how long it would take for 50 inches of rain to fall where you are, assuming that you’re in the lower 48 of the USA:

    http://nyti.ms/2xu20Xh

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  48. basset said on August 29, 2017 at 11:03 am

    Let’s try that link again:

    https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/29/upshot/harvey-rainfall-where-you-live.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur

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  49. brian stouder said on August 29, 2017 at 11:19 am

    basset – interesting article.

    And as it happens, we were having a deluge this morning when I was coming to work. A real gully-washer – so that underpasses were filling up and regular roads were covered with (low)standing water

    http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20170829/WEB/170829881

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  50. brian stouder said on August 29, 2017 at 11:20 am

    ….and it was only 3″ (so far)

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  51. Mark P said on August 29, 2017 at 11:36 am

    Where I live the average annual precipitation is 52 inches, and that’s considered a fairly high-rainfall average. I can’t imagine getting that in a few days.

    We visited New Orleans a couple of years after Katrina and were surprised at the remaining damage in the areas away from downtown. My brother also spent a year working in Presbyterian disaster relief in Mississippi and that group left for other disasters before all the work was done there. I wonder how Houston and all the other areas impacted by Harvey will fare.

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  52. Sherri said on August 29, 2017 at 11:52 am

    Seattle just set a record for the wettest October-April ever, and it still didn’t reach 50 inches. We don’t get deluges; my husband says the interval wiper was invented for Seattle.

    Someone who reports to my husband has parents in Houston. His dad was out here visiting, but his mom was at home. Evidently, she had to hack her way out of the attic onto the roof and escape the flooded house.

    From some of what I’ve read about Osteen and his church, it wasn’t a simple situation of not opening the doors. Access to the church was problematic. I’m no fan of Osteen, but it’s easy to gin up the outrage machine from afar without understanding the situation on the ground. Like second-guessing the decision not to evacuate 6 million people along roads that are designed to flood.

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  53. Sherri said on August 29, 2017 at 12:39 pm

    Why I won’t be sending any money to the Red Cross for Harvey, or anywhere else immediately: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/metropolis/2017/08/don_t_give_money_to_the_red_cross_we_need_a_new_way.html

    If you haven’t read Jonathan Katz’s book The Big Truck That Went By, you should. It will make you think about huminatarian aid, giving, what “corruption” is, and how that money really gets spent and who it benefits.

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  54. Suzanne said on August 29, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    I don’t totally agree with the Slate author. I don’t think it’s either/or but both/and. No, just donating $20 to a relief organization is not a long term solution, but these relief shelters need food, and water, and cots, and clothing now and need money to supply that. The Red Cross maybe isn’t the best way to go, but people are in dire straights right now and talking about urban planning options to guard against this isn’t going to help them short term. The time to discuss how to avoid future disasters is after the water recedes.

    I plan to donate something but to whom? Red Cross? Maybe not.

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  55. Suzanne said on August 29, 2017 at 1:18 pm

    Just watched a tiny bit of live Harvey update with POTUS & FLOTUS (we know who she is because she’s wearing a hat that says “FLOTUS”). Trump’s straining to look attentive, but it isn’t working.

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  56. Julie Robinson said on August 29, 2017 at 1:47 pm

    Lutheran Disaster Response has pledged that 100% of designated donations will go to Harvey relief: https://community.elca.org/USHurricaneRelief

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  57. Sherri said on August 29, 2017 at 2:44 pm

    I don’t mean to imply that immediate relief isn’t important. It is, though I recommend finding organizations that are already involved locally or that work with local organizations, rather than parachute in with the solutions. But the immediacy of the story tends to drown out the long term need, as we’ve seen with Haiti and New Orleans. Yes, let’s address the short term needs of the people of Houston, but what are we going to do about the mid and long term needs? Three months, six months, a year from now, there will still be lots of people in need of help, in an area that chooses to ignore the impact of rising sea level and warming water and what the impact of that is on millions of people living on the Gulf Coast and doesn’t believe in taxes or government regulation.

    By all means, give. I will, just not today. The need will still be there.

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  58. alex said on August 29, 2017 at 3:50 pm

    She-who heave-ho. Ho.

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  59. Suzanne said on August 29, 2017 at 4:06 pm

    I contacted a friend who lives in a Houston suburb. She said her Catholic Church has a food bank and is collecting disaster supplies, so I am going to send money to them!

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  60. susan said on August 29, 2017 at 4:15 pm

    bassett @47 – I had been thinking about that very thing the other day, when the forecast for Houston was for 40 to 50 inches of rain. The annual precip where I live is 8″, most of which is in the form of snow. Holy moly, as I figured: That is SIX YEARS of our annual atmospheric H20. I cannot imagine that amount in just a few days.

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  61. Deborah said on August 29, 2017 at 5:58 pm

    The average precipitation in Abiquiu is 10.3″

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  62. Deborah said on August 29, 2017 at 6:16 pm

    I should clarify that is average yearly precipitation in Abiquiu, rain and snow.

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  63. Deborah said on August 29, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    Susan where do you live? I think I’ve asked you that before.

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  64. Deborah said on August 29, 2017 at 6:38 pm

    And further clarification, Abiquiu has gotten more rain than normal the last 3 years or so. I’ve been taking trips to Abiquiu every year since 1988 and I’ve never seen it as green as it has been the last few years. Droughts are cyclical in northern NM the last drought we had lasted 7 years and everything was very brown and dried up. We were really worried and then the rains came. It mostly rains in July and August, we get some snow but not a lot most of the time. I do remember one time it snowed 12″ on New Year’s Eve.

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  65. susan said on August 29, 2017 at 7:39 pm

    Deborah, east of the Cascade Mountains. The dry side. In a giant rain-shadow.

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  66. Ellen said on August 29, 2017 at 8:04 pm

    All dry at my house, but many neighbors, friends, and co-workers are not as fortunate. Here is a link to local Houston charities that could use financial support. https://www.houstoniamag.com/articles/2017/8/29/donate-to-these-local-houston-charities

    My street is still underwater, so I can’t get out to volunteer until maybe Thursday, but friends who have been out volunteering say diapers are especially needed. The Diaper Bank is one group on the local list.

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  67. Colleen said on August 29, 2017 at 8:28 pm

    My cousin’s significant other’s parents lost everything. I gave to their Go Fund Me account, set up by a niece. At least it is going right to the family who needs it.

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