BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Donuel
Date: 31 Aug 17 - 07:03 AM

Acme tells it like it is, better than I. Less than 1 in six will be compensated for their loss. After a person files three times for flood damage they are disallowed another mortgage in a flood zone.

Speaking of Mangos the Bright Yellow ones were magnificent.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Aug 17 - 07:44 AM

Let's please NOT make the good luck of Texans debatable.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Donuel
Date: 31 Aug 17 - 09:15 AM

People are incapable of empathy for 5 to 8 million people but a cute puppy or kitten is so adorable we are glad they will soon be up for adoption in three weeks or so. This is human nature and not a sarcastic criticism. Well perhaps a cynical criticism. I know can't even count up to 1 million.

As for exploding and leaking Chemical companies:

Its legal and normal for chemical companies to refuse to tell the authorities what chemicals are involved or what dangers they face.
First and last responders are all left in the dark.

This system works well for real estate and chemical companies but not the residents.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: leeneia
Date: 31 Aug 17 - 12:09 PM

Now Donuel. Have you ever seen a truck or building with colored diamonds on it, each diamond having a number? I'm sure you have.
Those colors and numbers describe the type of chemical there. This is just the first and most obvious way that business co-operate with fire departments.
=================
I have been reading the news and watching videos. First I thought of the people of the Houston area, then of the pets. Third, I wondered about the alligators.

Here's a video, but people seem vague about what's an alligator and what's a crocodile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4izOM34_Xj4

Given a choice between alligator ris (Texas) and tornado risk (Midwset) I'll take the tornado risk.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Donuel
Date: 31 Aug 17 - 01:10 PM

I am not making assumptions leenia.
Yes trucks do co operate with the transportation dept. to a crude degree. But when there are chemical plant disasters they do not and do not have to c0-operate. I refer you to Rachel Maddow for a sound recording last night of the Archem CEO refusing to disclose what peroxides are involved in the on going explosions.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Donuel
Date: 31 Aug 17 - 01:26 PM

Hey It looks like Trump kept a promise and is helping to drain the swamp
in Texas.

He may end up being a folk hero like Moses or Noah.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: keberoxu
Date: 31 Aug 17 - 02:37 PM

Or the Trumpasaurus Rex might go the way of George W. Bush.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: leeneia
Date: 31 Aug 17 - 05:29 PM

Donuel, the plant is under of water. How would anybody know what tanks are ruptured, which are leaking, which have been swept away. How could anybody make a definite list of the contents of the tanks?

And what good would it be to a bunch of reporters and the general public?
==========
There is enough bad news from Texas without journalists trying to add to the misery by playing the blame game.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Donuel
Date: 31 Aug 17 - 08:34 PM

leenia I refer you to Rachel Maddow Aug. 30 Archema

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 03 Sep 17 - 10:52 AM

Mosquitoes on the grill of a pickup photo posted on Facebook on Sept. 2, 2017 from near Victoria, Texas - one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Harvey.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: gillymor
Date: 03 Sep 17 - 11:05 AM

For anyone looking to contribute to Harvey relief here's an article that might be of use (it was updated Friday):

NPR

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Donuel
Date: 03 Sep 17 - 02:37 PM

CBS illustrates the do and dont's of Harvey relief charity.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/best-intentions-when-disaster-relief-brings-anything-but-relief/


The red cross found mean$ to monopolize Goggle. :^(

Its 3 PM in Texas and most Mothers do not know what or where thier kids will eat tonight.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Sep 17 - 03:30 PM

Well, two minutes ago I went outside for thirty seconds to put something in my car five yards away. I came back in with a vicious mozzie bite on my right shin. So excuse me if I feel nothing but schadenfreude towards those billions of mosquitos splattered on Texan fenders.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Sep 17 - 11:25 AM

I'm extremely disappointed to see the reputational black eye that the American Red Cross has taken in recent years. Whether they didn't explain clearly how planning for disaster relief works back during Katrina or the Haiti earthquakes, or they had bad management in at the top, they have been apparently ceased to be the go-to agency after decades of responding to war and disaster. There is a meme making the rounds that I'm certain is misrepresenting actual numbers, with extremely low percentages of donations making it to victims. That said, I'll be watching for responsible reporting on how they operate, how they conduct themselves, and to see if there is a shakeup to get their management in order. An occasion like Harvey is a horrible time for them to be falling apart.

Red Cross is where we've gone over the years for First Aid and CPR training. Perhaps now they need to offer training in how to plan for disasters.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: leeneia
Date: 04 Sep 17 - 12:40 PM

If you don't trust the meme, why do you do it the favor of spreading the word about it?

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Sep 17 - 12:55 PM

Because I didn't quote it or share it, I referenced it's existence as an example of bad information. That needs clarification and/or correction.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Sep 17 - 04:41 PM

NPR and ProPublica did a report in 2014. Sounds like the problem is largely trickling down from the top. The pay level may be reasonable, but reorganizations can cripple a good business or operation if not conducted well, and she's more concerned with perception than reality.

We'll have to watch for reports out of Harvey, to see if they have cleaned up their act.

It does sound like bringing a "business" individual into a charitable organization has been a major blunder. From another Pro Publica article:

A former AT&T executive who had taught marketing at Harvard Business School, McGovern pledged to make the tough choices that would revitalize the Red Cross, which was chartered by Congress to provide aid after disasters. In a speech five years ago, she imagined a bright future, a "revolution" in which there would be "a Red Cross location in every single community.''

It hasn't worked out that way.

McGovern and her handpicked team of former AT&T colleagues have presided over a string of previously unreported management blunders that have eroded the charity's ability to fulfill its core mission of aiding Americans in times of need.

This one's long, I'll finish reading it later, but am sharing it now to not lose track of it. I still have questions about the numbers circulating, but also have to ask if they don't have a way to get McGovern out and try to repair the functionality and the reputation - and take her AT&T crew with her.

She sounds as bad at running the Red Cross as Trump is as the highest elected official in the U.S. - totally unequipped to do the job.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Jack Campin
Date: 04 Sep 17 - 07:36 PM

I don't think the Red Cross has discredited itself in the same way anywhere but the US.

In the UK, it has a lower profile than it once did, but that's mainly because there are so many other charities doing related work: Oxfam, Medecins sans Frontieres, Christian Aid, Islamic Relief... and DEC, which links all of those as well as the Red Cross itself. The others have often followed where the Red Cross led, so they should be seeing this as a success.

Corporate values are always poison to a charity. The regulatory authorities ought to be keeping the business elite out of charity management.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Sep 17 - 10:01 AM

After the unprecedented damage Harvey did with duration and volume of water, Irma seems to want to one-up with velocity.

#ClimateChangeIsReal

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: leeneia
Date: 06 Sep 17 - 11:12 AM

When you read the linked article about the Red Cross's failings, try to put events in chronological order. That helps eliminate the journalist's tendency to make every article look like a huge expose.

The Red Cross had a budget deficit of $70,000,000 - and that was in a good year. The CEO was told to cope with that. One result was that some long-term employees and mid-managers got worried about their jobs and made foolish decisions, trying to make themselves look vital.

As for the story about the trucks in Tampa, I have serious doubts about it. I have read many books on weather, and I know that the National Weather Service cannot predict hurricane courses very far ahead, no matter how much we wish they could. And to what small city could the Red Cross move a flotilla of huge trucks with a day or two of notice?

All this was in 2012.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Sep 17 - 12:13 PM

The people who were driving the trucks disclosed what they were told to do, that isn't imaginary. Yes, the Red Cross needed help with huge deficits on the books. This woman and her cronies from AT&T weren't a good choice. As the victim of a reorg instituted by someone who brought friends along for good pay, all I can say is that the Red Cross would do well to get rid of all of them (keep in mind what happened to the Susan G. Koman organization when a former Bush rep got in there and tried to shut out Planned Parenthood as a breast cancer screener) - when charities have the wrong people in charge, it does more harm than good.

I understand perfectly well setting aside funds for the next disaster, that was what we understood about some donations to the Haiti earthquake. Planning ahead. But I am finished with the Red Cross until Gail McGovern is out of there, and the friends she brought in with her. She is all about her image, all about the visual of things, not about actually doing the work in a meaningful way.

Subject: RE: BS: Flippin' 'eck, good luck,Texans!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 17 - 10:37 AM

Harvey is quickly becoming "last week's disaster," with Irma bearing down on inhabitants of the Caribbean and Florida, and Mexico convulsing under a massive earthquake.