Rammer

Ha, ha, ha...old Phil isn't under the radar anymore!!! Anderson Cooper caught him!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLrupJ1UbdM

Company's that do bad business and are not capable of governing themselves deserve to go into the crapper. Yes, even football teams. Now, small businesses go under everyday in this country, and it isn't because of Govt. deregulation, these small businesses just don't know how to conduct business, or have a bad business model. If you owned a business, would you run it into the ground ? If you ran it into the ground, are you gonna blame the Govt. for not setting regulations on you and the way you conduct business ? In that logic, welfare is the cureall answer for everyone's problems, and we should be a communist country, let everything be state run. Yep, that's the ticket, isn't it Rammer. You must absolutely LOVE your HOA too, Hell, you are probably on the board.

I don't disagree with most of what you stated here.

But there's a happy medium between having TOO many rules vs. having NO rules.

Gramm created financial chaos by eliminating ALL the rules.

My subdivision doesn't have a homeowner's association...and this LACK of rules is why we have ugly carports, people parking cars in the yard, and some of the strangest architecturally designed houses you've ever seen.

You seem to be forgetting that Phil only helped co-author the bill. How companies conduct themselves using the law is NOT on Phil, or anyone else, that signed it into law. I will even give Clinton a pass on it for signing it. It is the companies that have abused the law not the ones who wrote it or passed it. Whether it was authored or passed to help themselves in business, remains to be seen. If you can show me where Phil or Clinton are part of the upper management of AIG or Fannie or Freddie, I will jump on board with your "Crusade".

You couldn't be more wrong.

Let's say that there was a new NFL commisioner. Let's say he suddenly removed many of the rules and restrictions. Let's say that suddenly there was face masking, hitting quarterbacks late, kicking in the knees, poking in the eye. Let's also pretend that he only allowed 2 uniformed officials instead of 7. What would happen to the game?? It would go to crap. Would it be the players(CEOs) fault primarily? NO, it would be the Commissioner's fault(Gramm)!

Phil Gramm snuck the bill past Congress without a full debate. Gramm refused to properly fund the SEC (the referees) - so they couldn't do their job. Gramm's bill allowed the unregulated swaps, derivatives, hedge funds, and speculation that has caused this mess. We didn't elect the greedy CEOs, they don't have the same responsibility that the politicians do. The politicians destroyed our financial system...led by Phil Gramm.

Someone? No not someone, the thread starter did. Had to change bait, wasn't getting much done with the stink bait.

I didn't change the title...someone with HAIF did. I don't remember exactly what I titled it, I think I had something about 'slimy wife Wendy' that they probably didn't like.

By the way, I am a conservative. My big 5 for this mess are Phil Gramm®, Frank Raines(D), Paulson(D), Barney Frank(D), and Chris Dodd(D). Gramm snuck the bill by Congress without a full debate.

THIS IS A GREAT DAY!!

For the first time since I have been writing to the mainstream media about Phil Gramm, there is an actual story pointing the finger at the old doofus. Be sure to read the article today titled 'How Congress set the stage for a fiscal meltdown' in USAToday. YES!!!!!!! USAToday rules!!!

Well, we can add Republican hockey moms to the long list of people booed at Philadelphia sporting events...

Filthydelphia has always booed everybody...from Mike Schmidt to the Easter Bunny.

do you think that the senator from IL has taken the lead because "the economy is essentially sound", or because "Americans have become a nation of whiners"?

I can't imagine Fox not reporting on questionable activities of a conservative icon, or (lol) CNN (lol) being too stupid to know about real news as opposed to blatant sensationalism

I heard Bill O'Reilly say that both parties were to blame, but he only identifies democrats by name.

I wonder if these FOX hosts have been instructed by Rupert Murdoch not to mention Gramm...or else.

and when you guys do finally elect the senator from AZ, and the whiz kid from Wasilla AK, who do think the Sec. of T or the new Chairman of the Fed will be? anyone taking bets?

Phil Gramm was clearly going to be the McCain's Treasury Secretary up until a few months ago.

However, Gramm is still flying under the media radar - FOX won't report his guilt and CNN is too stupid to know about it.

But it looks like Obama will win, so it's probably academic.

Well, Gramm's 'Financial Weapons of Mass Destruction' have fully kicked in now.

His bill allowed unregulated swaps, derivatives, speculation, and hedge funds that have destoyed our country. I hope you took my July warnings to heart...I knew this was going to happen.

I was standing out in front of the house today talking with a friend and two swells from a local news affiliate rolled up cameras blazing. They wanted to know how long it took the City or the debris contractors to clean up the limbs/debris on our street. They had that incredulous tone implying a pending scandal; I guess the hurricane hysteria is slow these days.

On most heavy trash days, the City trucks show up on my block about 7am, I guess their daily route starts here. On the Monday after the hurricane, the City heavy trash crew showed up about an hour late. The driver commented that 'they had a meeting' so they were a little late. They got to work and had my block cleaned up by 8:15am. The only problem we had was that some of neighbors didn't finish cleaning their yards until Monday or Tuesday so we made one common pile on an empty lot on the street.

The two dandys from the news crew were sorry to hear that we didn't have fodder for their scandal. I told them to go over to 11th and Arlington, I thought I saw a suspicious brushpile over there earlier in the week. They moped off in obvious discontent. Guess they'll just have to report on shingle prices tonight.

The limb guys came last Saturday(4th) and did about 10% of our subdivision. There was no sign of them at all Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. They reappeared Saturday(11th) and did another 10%. What the heck is going on? And we're in the FLOOD plain...we should be first!

Centerpoint has it on their restoration update page.

Thanks. I see that it wasn't really I-45, but really more along the western coast of Galveston Bay and then up the East Belt(Beltway 8).

Thanks. I see that it wasn't really I-45, but really more along the western coast of Galveston Bay and then up the East Belt(Beltway 8).

....just east of the East Belt that is.

I apoligize for this stupid question, but I just got my internet back and was wondering if there is a map of Ike's eye path through Houston? I see many maps of Ike's path through Texas and America, but not Houston. I know it went northwest up I-45 to downtown...but then I don't know what happened after that.

I'm watching all these NTB's driving up and down the seawall on KTRK with the waves crashing over their trucks. I guess they think they're bigger men than those with brains who don't.

I bet if they realized what salt water will do to their SUV's they'd get off the seawall immediately.

Members of the media believe they have a special 'media pass' from God...one that protects them from circumstances which would affect the common man. They'll mock a citizen for being in the same exact precarious weather situation that they themselves are in.

don't worry if you wait long enough they will change it back to a 2, and then a 1, and then. . ., etc.

You're right, they just changed the pressure back to 956!

They are obviously having some issues in measuring the science associated with this hurricane.

They said they made a mistake with the pressure reading earlier(it's really 953)...turns out now that it could be a category 3 at landfall. They said Ike will be an Alicia, not a Rita.

At 9:56 the pressure was 956(easy to remember). That's great news!

Nope.

Who needs a movie... WE ARE LIVING IT! ha ha ha

Don't you HATE that?? When they have the actual footage of a famous event...yet they still have the need to grab some moron actors and rewrite history with their bogus 'artistic license'??

But if they do make a movie, hopefully it will be called 'Ike...Republicans always go to the Right'.

Caller: "Is the Galleria area a safe place to evacuate to?"

"Run from the water, hide from the wind. Houston is a safe place to go, just make sure you aren't 10 miles from the coast" - Anthony Yanez, KPRC weatherman.

Ah....a sane weatherman.

Damn those architects with their window fetishes, I don't need half the windows I have on my house!

It's one thing to roll the dice by purchasing a crappy little beach house on the west end of Galveston Island and accepting the consequences. It's something else to spend huge dollars on a vulnerable $$$ eyecatching McBeachmansion. Checkout the homes on De Vaca Ln on Google Earth...while they still exist. (Their other home is probably hanging over the ledge of a California cliff).

Anyone who evacuates north of I-10(in Houston city limits), and who doesn't live in a flood plain - should be fined by the city, branded a coward, and forced to take a meteorology class.

What about the other Oak Forest shopping center....on Mangum just north of 43rd??

The vacant, remote, and forgotten Oak Forest shopping center. Anyone know about its future?

The worst part of this story is that Peter Cantu, the ringleader, is STILL on death row.

He should have been executed FIRST! Remember when he tried to kick the camerman when he was first arrested? How is he still alive???? Some of those punks would probably have not done what they did if it weren't for Peter Cantu.

That is not entirely true. Gustav came in at 110 mph. Katrina was at 125 mph. Katrina did not cause overtopping of the levees through storm surge. Neither did Gustav, but the reason was that Gustav was weaker than feared, and came in just slightly west of where it would have done the most damage. The Katrina problem was failed levees AFTER Katrina had moved through, perhaps due to a different configuration of canal gates than used during Gustav. This has not occurred so far during Gustav.

Billions have been spent rectifying poorly designed levees since Katrina. This has likely helped keep many of the levees from failing, but many weak areas remain. The biggest present New Orleans got was a strong Cat 2 rather than a strong Cat 3 storm.

Katrina had winds of 125 at landfall (just east of Grand Isle, Louisiana) about 80 miles to the south of New Orleans. It's silly to quibble over 15 miles per hour anyway...especially considering wind gusts vs sustained winds and their exact location.

News story quotes:

'Katrina, by comparison, brought a storm surge of 25 feet, causing levees to break.'

'The storm(Gustov) would hold steady as a Category 3, packing winds of 115 mph. Katrina also made landfall as a strong Category 3, which carries sustained winds of between 111 mph and 130 mph.'

This diagram tells the Katrina story:

http://www.npr.org/templates/common/image_...geResId=5419259

The New Orleans moral to the story??

A hurricane slightly to the west doesn't push the beast(Lake Pontchartrain) upon the city like a hurricane slightly to the east does. It's not about clean/dirty side...it's about Lake Pontchartrain.