Reefmonkey

6 hours ago, AnTonY said:

 

They must have had low standards back then.

This  is now the fourth time you’ve made an unprovoked attack on my education, this most recent one being  in response to nothing other than me brushing off your immediate previous attack without responding in kind. How about we do this without  the childish personal attacks, ok? If you’ll agree to stop, I’d be happy to go through the science with you, help you understand it better in a civil and collegial manner, but otherwise I’m not going to continue with a discussion with someone who carries on such behavior. 

2 hours ago, AnTonY said:

So yeah, it's best that you ask your university for your money back, because they did not do a good job at all.

Good grief, are you still at it? There's no money to ask for, I was a National Merit Scholar, full ride (and in grad school, they pay you, with a stipend). Here, since you're all about satellite images, let me show you again that NWS satellite imagery that shows the sediment plumes coming out of Bolivar and San Luis passes that NWS says are responsible for the usual color of Galveston water:

And I know that next to satellite imagery, your favorite thing to talk about is the Mississippi River dead zone, so you should read this:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/explainer/article/dead-zone-hypoxia-gulf-of-mexico-hosuton-8316093.php

Quote

 

Why Texas' Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' is different

 

But that's Louisiana. Texas is different. It has a different kind of dead zone, said Steve DiMarco, an oceanographer and veteran dead zone researcher with Texas A&M, and it's also hitting record size this year after a very rainy spring.

When you put the two contiguous zones together, that's a 600-mile swath of uninhabitable sea from Gulfport, Miss., to south of Corpus Christi, Texas. 

"The dead zone that's off Texas right now has nothing to do with the Mississippi," DiMarco said. "It has everything to do with the Brazos, the Colorado, the Guadalupe, the Trinity."

 

Unlike the Louisiana zona, DiMarco said, Texas' has much less to do with pollution runoff and more to do with natural rain. And Texas has sure had a lot of rain this season.

 

The Texas dead zone was first described in the 1970s, DiMarco said, though evidence suggests it's been occurring for more than 100 years, which predates most chemical fertilizers and many chemical pollutants.

It makes a good Cuban coffee. The mokka express doesn’t quite make a strong enough cup to really be a true espresso, but close, and I’ve used Illy and Lavaza in it as well, and the Bustelo is comparable. 

On 3/15/2019 at 1:05 PM, dbigtex56 said:

Finally!
It's been ~ 15 years since The River Cafe bit the dust. Sad, that this very desirable piece of property has lain fallow for so long.

I really miss River Cafe, that was a favorite brunch spot for me circa 2000.

Cafe Bustelo is my brand of choice, made in my Bialetti Mokka Express, so I am going to have to check this popup out.

Something I didn't know until fairly recently is Galveston's mayor back in the 1930s, Brantley Harris, had traveled along the Atlantic coast and had been very impressed by the public beaches on Long Island, NY, like Far Rockaways, Asbury Park, and specifically Jones Beach State Park. He came back to Galveston wanting something similar to these New York public beaches, and that's how we got Stewart Beach. Donald Boyce, who had been the assistant manager of Jones Beach, was brought in to supervise the construction and to manage the park

I'm sure every other thread here, especially the ones you participate in, solve world hunger.🙄

There are something like 40-some other subforums containing countless other threads if this one isn't to your liking, CaptainJilliams.

Nope, scrounging around for an obscure nearly 50 year old report that doesn't say what you obviously think it says isn't a "checkmate", maybe if you had actually gotten a decent education instead of disdaining those of us who did, you'd understand why.

Tell it to the National Weather Service, I'm done trying to overcome your obstinate obtuseness.

Oh, and looking into the reason for the Memorial Day 2018 beach water clarity, the National Weather Service's West Gulf River Forecast Center explained that on that Monday there were two factors, first, that there was not the typical outgoing tide that dumps large amounts of sediments from the bay system into the Gulf, and second, that Tropical Storm Alberto pushed a large plume of clear water that flushed the existing sediments up the coast and away from the island.

But clearly, the National Weather Service identifies sediments coming from the bay system as the main culprit of Galveston's usual turbidity, and even has satellite imagery showing the usual plumes and where they originate from.

But NWS's satellite imagery clearly must be wrong, because AnTonY says this is impossible:

Quote

And again, ALL Texas rivers except two empty into bays/estuaries, which are loaded with marsh vegetation. The bulk of sediment, therefore, is anchored away/settled out/etc, and the rivers themselves aren't exactly large in terms of volume. That, combined with the sheer size of Galveston Bay, along the the multiple sub-bays adjoining it (i.e. Trinity Bay, Burnett Bay, etc) ensure that any sediment influence on Galveston presently from nearby rivers is minimal.

I think we're done here.

2 hours ago, AnTonY said:

 

This doesn't actually refute the point because it refers to a wide span of geologic time, over thousands of years. When sea-levels were lower, rivers like the Trinity actually went directly to the Gulf to deposit silt/sand/etc. That sediment is what your map refers to, and is what got reworked by the ocean to become Galveston. But since then, the sea-levels rose, and sediment distribution got altered: most of the Texas rivers got drowned out near the coast, becoming the bays that we see today. The Mississippi also experienced change, naturally shifting course over centuries. Today, it empties near the Port of Orleans, fixed by the levee structure. And alot of the sediment ends up in the Gulf....heading towards Galveston to muddy the waters.

You're just babbling at this point, trying desperately to appear to poke holes in what I have said. These are upper-level sediments, extending well out into the Gulf. The current state of the Gulf coast is as it has been for at least 4,500 years. If Mississippi were dumping all these sediments our way, they'd have covered up the Texas river sediments.

2 hours ago, AnTonY said:

 

Again, you're beating around the bush with unnecessary flex. We already know that the two processes are distinct, but it still doesn't change the fact of their relation.  The high nutrient freshwater is laden with sediment. It's pretty clear that the Mississippi River effluent drifts west towards Texas, and affects the turbidity.

 

 

Again, those maps cover thousands of years in time, things weren't the same back then as they are now. But most importantly, the Mississippi sediment won't be shown in the ocean floor around Galveston in those maps, because the sediment IS STILL IN SUSPENSION at that point. It drops offshore near the Lower Texas coast, hence you see that area of purple along that portion of the shore. And  I'm well aware the wave-stirred sediment can affect clarity as well, I'm just saying that the Mississippi sediment suspension contributes heavily to the discoloration. Again, nuance.

 

And surface currents are generated largely by the wind. And it's pretty clear that they aren't static, they vary in strength, extent, and even direction depending on the time of year. In Memorial Day of 2018, it wasn't just calm water, the current was also reversed, coming from the SW. The strength was such as to pin the sediment plumes from the Brazos along the mouth, allowing the Galveston water to become quite crystal clear, to a point never before seen by locals. As seen later during the summer, the water had clearer moments during the calm-days, but not quite like it was during Memorial Day: The prevailing current was still there, but lessened by the calm winds.

 

 

Yeah, you two seemed to be quite up in your feelings. Just look at how @Reefmonkey had his knickers in a twist this entire discussion.

As for the dead zone, all those rivers like the Calcasieu, Sabine, Trinity, Brazos, Colorado couldn't possibly also be contributing freshwater and nutrients that create a plume which could be meeting up with the Mississippi-generated plume, thus expanding the extent westward, could they? Naaaaahhhhhhh.

"beating around the bush with unnecessary flex?" I don't know what "unnecessary flex" even means, but I am certainly not "beating around the bush" when providing detailed information to support the truth that the sediment making Galveston beach waters brown is from Texas Rivers. And you're saying that at least 4,500 years of Mississippi sediment significant enough to perennially keep Galveston's waters brown hasn't settled at all in 4,500 so can't be found when taking surface sediments......yet when the easterly current momentarily stops, all that sediment that it already brought here that supposedly hasn't settled in 4,500 years suddenly drops out and makes it crystal clear......riiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggghhhhhhttttt.

And what even is your "source" for the Memorial Day 2018 current reversal? Oh yeah, it was a Facebook post by the city of Galveston:

Quote

BLUE WATER IN GALVESTON? Whether it's true or not may be a trending debate on social media, but those of us who call this Island home know that these last few days have been incredible. They say it's due to the current changing from east to west.

I love the use of the weasel word "they in "they say it's due to the current changing".

The reason you see the "area of purple" along the lower Texas coast is because you have fewer rivers down there, and the rivers you have are lower-flow than the ones north of the Coastal Bend. And it is the lack of high flow Texas rivers that makes the water clearer down there.

"Up in your feelings?" Try talking like an adult. And don't even start with accusing me of having my "knickers in a twist" when you escalated today's conversation with an insult aimed at my grad degree. What this really came down to is you getting your hackles up because I dared refute your confident but unsubstantiated assertion that the discoloration "clearly comes from the Mississippi" with facts. So you grasped at a few straws, babbled about the Dead Zone and satellite images, provided sources like the "they say it's due to the current changing" Facebook post, but it's all been sound and fury signifying nothing.

And another figure showing sediment distribution showing that Mississippi sediment gets distributed toward the southeast, and Texas river sediment predominant, especially along our stretch of the coast. 

Figure 3.17

Map showing Gulf of Mexico sediment distribution along with sample sites (from Balsam and Beeson 2003: reprinted from Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, Vol 50, Seafloor sediment distribution in the Gulf of Mexico, Figure 4, Copyright 2003, with permission from Elsevier). Contrast this map with that in Figure 3.10

Beachwater turbidity is primarily influenced by wave action, this is why those of us who fish offshore know that the gulf water is very clear just a few miles out. It is why Galveston’s beachwater can get surprisingly clear on very calm days, like it did last Memorial Day weekend. The Mississippi doesn’t stop flowing nor do nearshore currents grind to a halt just because the wind dies down on the Texas coast. When Galveston beach water is brown, that’s because waves are stirring up local sediments, and as the figures I posted show, those sediments are predominately from Texas rivers. Our brown beach waters are NOT from the Mississippi. 

19 minutes ago, AnTonY said:

I met Jack once, he was an interesting person.

 

The fact that the Dead Zone extends west towards Texas, rather than out into the middle of the Gulf, or east towards Florida, actually disproves your point and proves mine. Again, nuance -  those warm core eddies certainly have an effect, but there clearly are other currents at play that influence that westward prevailing direction.

 

While the source material is technically the same, the particle sizes affect the behavior in soil, water, etc, meaning that distinctions aren't arbitrary. The sizes are such that sand tends to be deposited by the beach, while silt and clay are carried farther off-shore before depositing on the water bottom. The bay side of Galveston is where you'll find the silt/clay concentrations, with all those marshes, and that portion is almost entirely separated from the open Gulf by the barrier island itself (the only breaks being the passes). On the other hand, the Gulf-facing composition is largely sand, albeit very fine (which makes it comfortable on the feet, and gets those jeeps stuck at times).

You’r hanging your hat on the dead zone, but it is a layer of stratified high nutrient freshwater floating on top of the denser saltwater below and is a separate issue from sediment distribution. The fact that it stays where it is and doesn’t get dispersed westward demonstrates this. 

For anyone who is interested, this is a great paper explaining sediment patterns in the Gulf. If you have the patience to read through the entire paper, it will become clear that the dominant contributors to sediments in nearshore Texas Gulf waters are Texas rivers.

https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4939-3447-8_3

For a “quick and dirty” snapshot, this figure of mineral group distribution showing Central Texas origin minerals dominating in the Gulf adjacent to our portion of the coast is pretty persuasive. 

Figure 3.15

General map of heavy mineral group distribution in the Gulf of Mexico (from Davies and Moore 1970: reprinted with permission from The Journal of Sedimentary Research). Province I is from the Appalachians; kyanite and staurolite dominate. Province II is from the Mississippi River; augite, hornblende, and epidote dominate. Province III is from Central Texas with hornblende and epidote dominating. Province IV is Rio Grande; epidote, augite, and hornblende are dominant, and Province V is in Mexico; little is known about the heavies in Province V

8 hours ago, AnTonY said:

 

Nope, no misconception. Look at satellite images, look at the direction of the Gulf Dead Zone, look at the course/nature of Texas rivers, etc, and you'll clearly see that the Mississippi is the major contributor to Galveston's brown water. The fact that you're equating silt with sand (two distinct materials) shows that you still have a lot to learn about coastal geography. So much for that Master's degree.

Nope, you don’t know jack —— of what you’re talking about. The position of the dead zone, influenced by the warm core eddies’ deflection of the loop current actually proves my point and disproves yours. And sand and silt are just gradations on a spectrum of the same material based on particle size. Texas’s beaches are colloquially sand, though technically silt.  So much for your nursery school level understanding of ocean hydrology. 

17 hours ago, gmac said:

 

Your plan is no good once the electric car movement gains momentum. Then how do we charge people? Those vehicles don't use gas, but they certainly use the roads. Per-mile charges are forward-looking. If you drive a lot of miles out of state, oh well.

6 hours ago, samagon said:

 

I have, to date, never been credited for gasoline I purchased in this state and then used in a different state.

 

For that matter, 99% of the driving I do these days is not on roads maintained by the state. Should I be paying any tax at all on the gasoline I use? 

 

The majority of charging of electric vehicles, even in the future when you can charge your car in under 5 minutes, is still going to be done at the home. How would you see those taxes collected?

Well, just brainstorming here, electric vehicles require special

 charging equipment, even at home, right? And the electricity for that equipment is coming through your meter. Maybe require people with charging stations to get an extra meter and have the power company add on the state electric vehicle per-kilowatt tax to your bill, and then send that money to the state like utilities have to do with all the other taxes they have to collect?

You mean Turner's libel lawsuit that was overturned on appeal and the appeal upheld by the Texas Supreme Court?

So now you're accusing a reporter who was a winner of 25 local Emmys for investigative reporting, an Edward R Murrow Award, 3 medals from the Investigative Reporters and Editors Association, and 5 awards from the Texas Headliners Foundation of fabricating written source and releasing it - without any evidence to back up your assertion, mind you, just your "feeling". You're bordering on libelous behavior here. You believe what you want to believe, I'm going to believe what I remember, and yes, I am going to believe Wayne Dolcefino's reporting over your "feeling."

So all of the longtime Harris County residents who remember a publicity campaign promising Sam Houston would be free once paid off are suffering a Mandela Effect mass delusion that just happens to exactly echo the language of a brochure published by HCTRA around the time? You're the one suffering from a delusion if you believe that. It doesn't matter that the brochure was published after the vote, it is still HCTRA saying that the tollway would become free, and if they said it right after the vote, there is a very strong likelihood they said it before the vote, too. If you think that's not evidence, you have a very faulty understanding of what evidence actually is.You can keep going on and on about "there should be articles and editorials", (I've looked but Chronicle's online archives only go back to 1985 - maybe that's a reason why editorials from 1983 are hard to come by) but all that is required is one piece of evidence, when it says exactly what I am claiming, and it was published by the organization I claim said it, and that is what we have. I don't know why you are so stubbornly insisting "they never said that" in the face of a brochure published by them where they said it, but you are grasping. At. Straws.

So your response is:

1. You don't trust Wayne Dolcefino for some unspecified reason, enough so that you're willing to imply he manufactured a pamphlet, and claimed he got it from the county's public archives, where anyone else could go in and verify if it was there

2. You're claiming even if the pamphlet is authentic, since it was written after the vote, it means nothing...because it makes total sense that the county would wait until AFTER an election to make a campaign promise it didn't intend to keep.

I'm curious, were you living in Harris County in 1983, and were you old enough to read and watch the news? I was, and I and many other county residents from that time remember the publicity campaign and the promises made. This was pre-internet, a lot of stuff from before 1995 hasn't been preserved for easy retrieval. But you're continuing to hang your hat on the fallacy of absence of evidence being evidence of absence even when we now have evidence.

On 3/8/2019 at 11:48 AM, Houston19514 said:

 

As far as I can tell, they never actually made such claims.  I have seen zero evidence of such advertisements by the County/HCTRA.  Surely someone would have been able to dig one up by now if they actually existed.

 So now thanks to august948 you have seen the evidence and know that they did actually exist. Maybe you weren’t alive yet and/or living in Harris County at the time (like Ed Emmett wasn’t) but a lot of us were and remember full well the advertisements ABC13 was able to dig up. The claims that the toll roads would be free were widely made at the time to sell the public on the ballot initiative. 

Wouldn't want the maintenance, and honestly, might be a target for some hotrodders to plough through, that's how disrespectful to property some people can be. If only they did live up to their name, and "knocked out" anyone who tried to drive through them We're considering a bollard and chain swag barrier, and submitting to the POA for approval. The POA is especially strict and prone not to approve otherwise reasonable additions when submitted by people on corner lots because of their visibility.

I remember 5 years ago the furor that surrounded the Texans' decision not to pick up Johnny Manziel, including Tony Buzbee's billboard on the Pierce Elevated. So I very much enjoy hearing about what a bullet our city dodged by not having this overhyped embarrassment be associated with our city:

https://www.houstonpress.com/news/translating-bill-obriens-combine-press-conference-11239004

Quote

Johnny Manziel, fresh off his first season in Montreal as a member of the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, has been not only released by the team, but barred from signing with any other CFL team.

Quote

As we try and connect the dots for what may have triggered the CFL's jettisoning of Manziel, we must note the issues in his past. First, Manziel has been to rehab multiple times for substance abuse. In fact, his tenure in Cleveland was marked with repeated oversleeping of meetings and general disregard for professionalism. In his years off from football in 2016 and 2017, Manziel repeatedly showed up on social media in all corners of the world looking like a drug-addled zombie. Additionally, in 2016, a domestic assault charge against Manziel in Dallas was dismissed after he took an anger management course and participated in the NFL's substance abuse program.

No, not where it’s needed, POA rules (ie, has to be within front building setback line)

I’m interested to hear where people have discovered cell coverage dead spots in seemingly unlikely (densely populated) areas around town. I drive through one every day, I-10 at Kirkwood, very narrowly located right around that intersection, whether you’re driving on the freeway or on the feeder. It’s worse on the north side (westbound). My carrier is AT&T.