My charge when Rusty Abe was started was to concentrate on outdoors stories. Since we’ve probably stirred up enough hate and discontent by getting into the political arena, it’s time to get back to the assigned task. BTW, thanks to those of you who’ve shuffled tropics to me. Any of the future items on here that stir up memories for you hopefully will entice you to share them with us. This is YOUR blog, not mine so please don’t be bashful. My job is to throw out ideas for you to grab and run with, okay?

My second job fresh out of school was serving as a forester on the Buffalo (Wyoming) Ranger District of the Bighorn National Forest. One of the pieces of equipment we had available was a Trail King utility scooter, similar in appearance to the popular Cushman street machines. Similar in function to the Tote Goat, the utility machine was geared for low speed while traveling in mountainous terrain. There was a steel box on the back for hauling whatever you could keep in it..

We rigged ours to haul a gasoline powered drill called a Cobra for making holes in boulders blocking forest trails. We used this one to drill about twelve inch deep, 1-to 1-1/8 inch diameter holes in granite boulders causing the frigid rushing snow melt water in the creek bed to wash out the Rock Creek Trail. The holes were packed with dynamite and a length of prima-cord then filled with water. We’d retreat a distance then detonate the charges with a twist type electric blasting generator. When the water, gravel, chunks of boulder and sometimes a few small brook trout quit falling, we’d go back and drill more holes.

I thought the engineers who designed the throttle control were nuts. Instead of the normal configuration where the rider on a motorcycle or scooter rolled his throttle hand back down toward him/herself, this one rolled forward to advance the throttle. It just HAD to be backwards in my mind. My co-workers watched with amusement while I reversed the throttle rotation direction.

When the change was made it was time to take the Trail King up on the side of the mountain above the ranger station. Everything went smoothly while some idiot walked beside the machine and throttled it straight up the mountain. Of course, the whole crew watched as I mounted and commenced to ride around the rocky slope.

The rodeo started when hitting a rock bounced me off the seat. Discretion would have had me letting go of the throttle. That could have stopped all forward progress. However, pride wouldn't allow me to let that thing get away from me. My grip was opening the throttle and it was dragging me across the rocks. “Whoa, you @#$%^&**&^%$#. Whoa you %$#@&*. The laughing jackasses down the hill were nearly rolling on the ground. If the truth were known, they were probably cheering for the Trail King.

The first order of business when the Trail King and my terribly embarrassed, battered, and bruised body reached the shop was to return the throttle grip to its original position. Old Rusty learned a painful lesson, The engineers knew what they were doing after all.

A reader sent this: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 Department of Stop it! You're killing me! Bush says "we"
Oh no. He's getting me started again:

"We can all pitch in ... by being better conservers of energy," Bush said after hearing a briefing at the Department of Energy. "I mean, people just need to recognize that the storms have caused disruption and that if they're able to maybe not drive ... on a trip that's not essential, that would be helpful."
(via Arizona Republic)


Stop it! Ah ha ha ha ha! It's too much, you're killing me! [snort] "We" didn't get invited to the Bush campaign rallies! "We" got thrown out or arrested or beaten up for wearing the wrong button! "We" didn't get invited to the Social Security rallies! "We" don't get any Homeland Security money for the ports, or protection from loose nukes! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Bush says We?!?! It's almost too rich! "We" have to wait in line for hours to vote! "We" have our votes stolen! [chortle] [snort] Oh no... Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Thirty years of Republican propaganda against the very idea that the very idea of "we" is socialism and now.... Ah ha ha ha ha ha!

What you mean "we", Bush man?

How many squawks have you heard about the forced evacuation? Am hearing about poor people who now can't pay their bills after their RITA TRIP. Fortunately, we stayed with our kids. Just going out to eat was enough of a drain.

Don't people have any "emergency money" for things like Rita?

Loon told about his wife laughing at him for taking his SPICES when they fled Rita.

What did YOU get chided for, for taking?

TIM mentioned in hIs blog about the good people he encountered before leaving because of Rita.

FRIDAY, at the main intersection in Giddings the Firemen were handing out bottles of water to travelers, probably to those coming from Houston.

Near the Rosebud-Lott school, one sign said FREE COFFEE in front a house. At the Menonite church up the road they had a RESTROOMS sign out.

HEARTWARMING.

HOWDY: Many thanks to you who sent emails and comments.The kids hollered so much we relented and went to Plano.

Due to our not thinking of evacuating until after the Jackson County manditory order was made, we couldn't even think about leaving before Friday a.m. We left home at 5;22 A.M. Evidently there was gasoline off I-10 at Schulenberg but there was no problem getting around the vehicles waiting in line there.

The first traffic jam after Schulenberg was all those seemingly hunderds (hundreds) of vehicles trying to get into the Exxon station on US 77 in LaGrange. The second station with gasoline and lines,was on the north side of La Grange. The next one we found selling it was the Red & White store in Lexington which was selling Premium only. After we foilled up we quit worrying about the availablility. I don't remember the situation in Giddings. After that there seemed to be gasoline all the way into Waco on 77. We arrived in Plano at 12:30 which is about normal taking that route.

There were more vehicles on 77 today on the way back. Most turned off toward Houston at 6, 190, 290 & I-10. We left Plano about 11:30, stopped for supper at the BBQ place in Hallettsville (brought home doggie plates for lunch tomorrow) and got home about 6:30.

SOOOO glad to have a house to be glad to be home to.

EVERYONE: Here's hoping you all make the right decisions about staying or leaving.4:00 PM WEDNESDAY

WE'VE been informed that Jackson County has a MANDITORY evacuation order. It's too blooming hot and muggy to do all the things needing done before it hits whether we leave of not.

As of now, we're going to fill up both rigs and get ready to load up. We still want to wait until tomorrow THURSDAY to see if that critter turns right or not.

Take care, be safe. We need all the readers and commenters we can get.

Are you folks as tired of hearing, "They (FEMA, RED CROSS, this bunch or that bunch) ain't doin' nuthin fer us." as I am?

I realize it's frustrating to be in the situations the evacuees are in. And, many may have legitimate complaints.

However, there seems to be a lot of ingratitude being spouted over the media microphones. Are we insensitive at our house?

It sure is disturbing to see or hear reporters slanting a news item to their tastes, distorting the truth. For example, on the 9/16/05 issue of the Victoria Advocate opinion page Thomas H. Kean & Lee H. Hamilton had a piece "U.S. remains too vulnerable." They were mentioning the Homeland Security grants to the various states. "Unfortunately, these grants have been allocated... "As a result, in fiscal year 2005 California received $8.05 per person in first responder grants, while Wyoming received $27.80 per person."

Does that seem funny to you since Wyoming is inland and California should be more vulnerable being situated on the coast? Compare California's population at 33,871,648 to Wyoming's 493,782. Now, do the math. At $8.05/head California got $272,666,766.40 compared to $27.80/ head in Wyoming equalling $13,727,139.60. a MINOR difference of $258,939,626.80. The authors are a couple of politicians. Does that sound about right?

SOMEONE SENT US THIS:
Why don't we have a recall?

C'mon, Mr. President, it's time for you to quit while you're behind.

By Bill Maher

America must recall the President. That's what this country needs: a good old-fashioned California-style recall election complete with petitions, finger-pointing and a ridiculous cast of replacement candidates.

Just like Gray Davis had to do here in California, George W. Bush must now defend his job against....Russell Crowe! Because at this point, I want a leader who will throw a phone at somebody. Naomi Campbell can be vice president - only phone throwers, people!

Come on, Mr. President, this can't be fun for you anymore.

You can't spend more of our money because you used it all up. And you can't start another war, because you've used up the troops. And when it comes to reacting to hurricanes, you made your old man look like St. Francis of Assisi.

Your job has turned into the Bush family nightmare: helping poor black people.

The cupboard's bare, the credit card's maxed out and no one's speaking to you - mission accomplished!

Now it's time to do what you do best: lose interest and walk away, like you did with your military service and the oil company and the baseball team.

Time to move on and try the next fantasy job. How about cowboy or spaceman?

Oh, I know what you're saying: "Hey, I've got three more years, and there's so many other things I want to.....touch." Please don't.

I know, I know, there's so much left to do: war with Venezuela, eliminating the sales tax on yachts and diamonds, turning the space program over to the church, handing healthcare over to Halliburton and Social Security to Fannie Mae, giving embryos the vote.

But none of that's going to happen now. Why? Because you're the first American president to lose a whole city. Jimmy Carter never lost a city. Herbert Hoover was a lousy president, but he didn't concede an entire metropolis to rising water and snakes.

You've performed so poorly you should give yourself a medal. You're a catastrophe that walks like a man. On your watch we've lost almost all of our allies, the budget surplus, four airliners, two trade centers, a piece of the Pentagon and the city of New Orleans. Maybe you're just not lucky.

I'm not saying you don't love this country. I'm just wondering how much worse it could be if you were on the other side. Yes, God does speak to you. And he's saying: "Take a hint."

THANKS TO THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS.

FOLKS: My original blog on this is below the dotted line. retrowoman
had this to say on Friday, September 16, 2005 1:26 am
"Do a search for leprosy and armadillos. You'll be surprised"

RETROWOMAN was right. It was a real eye opener to see how much literature on this subject is on the web. Thanks R/W

*********
HEIDI: What light can you shed on this story?

I understand that the rumor that armadillos carry leprosy came from the leper colony up by White Castle on the West bank down river from Baton Rouge.

The story I heard was that a doctor was experimenting trying to find a cure for leprosy when he injected some of the plated piggies, or "possums on the half shell". His test animals, like the nutria from another place, escaped during a hurricane and thus caused a spred of the rumor.

Has anyone else heard this?

An INTERESTED READER emailed me about "What happened to.." about a serious research project conducted in the N.O. area. "What happened to the test subjects and lab cultures?" I'm going to back off that one for now.

INTERESTED READER: Maybe that's where the looters came from. Ya reckon?

It reminds me of a welding x-ray lab truck was going down LaPalco Blvd on the west bank, (near Gretna?)when a radioactive source box bounced off the back of the truck. Apparently, the individual who found it either couldn't read or didn't understand the magenta & yellow markings. The wooden lead shielded box was just about the right size for sitting on when fishing. So that's just what the finder did, ALL DAY.

We're going to miss Tomaso. I think I got into more trouble on his blogs than on anyone elses. Here's wishing him the best. It's understandable about his reason for signing off, maybe keeping my nose out of more comments will give me more time to do what I really need to be doing.

Hey folks, it's been too long since we heard from our Iraq buddy Jose Luis Hernandez Jr.
Hopefully, he's just been too busy to write. Maybe his computer has been zapped or something like that.
Maybe I need to pray for him more.

MARCUS MABRY, commenting on the latest Newsweek Poll on the PFC'S approval rating: 53 percent of Democrats say the federal government did a poor job in getting help to people in New Orleans after Katrina.

But just 19 percent of Republicans feel that way. In fact, almost half of Republicans (48 percent) either believes the federal government did a good job (37 percent) or an excellent job (11 percent) helping those stuck in New Orleans."

WHERE ARE THESE PEOPLE'S HEADS????

For a link click http://www.washingtonpost.c... target='_blank'>HERE

At the Jones High School in Houston this morning the local kids clashed with the New Orleans kids. The local mamas were insensed, "We can't have those kids coming over here and picking on our kids. Take 'em back where they came from." I doubt the N.O. kids out-numbered the Houston kids. I hope this isn't played out all over the country.
Do you think the N.O. kids started this mess?

In contrast, the students at a Lafayette, LA H.S. teamed up, one-on-one with the evacuee kids based upon what their activities and classes were. They are dedicated to make the transition as easy as possible on their guests. Am proud of that bunch.

In response to LOON'S blog about the mall wizards closing the pet store because "it didn't fit the image we want" What are we going to do about it, Cry, pee & moan? That ain't good enough. Birddog sent us their web page addy. If you'll load me down with comments, they'll know how we feel. "Ah ga-ron-tee." Let's jack 'em up folks. Jump on 'em like everyone has Bush, FEMA, the La Governor, Ray Nagin and Mike "You're doin' a heckuva job, Brownie" Brown

http://www.hullstorey.com/

First we the N.O. authority saying "The body recoveries will be conducted in the most dignified manner possible, WITHOUT news media coverage." Later we saw where some court ruled in favor of media and said that they had the right to video the body recoveries." Is nothing sacred?

Would you want to see 'em dragging the well decayed body of one of your loved ones out of an attic on national TV?

In today's Advocate, did you see where Wal-Mart refused to sell guns at 40 stores along the Gulf coast after the looting started?

Smaller stores are eagerly filling the void. Spillway Sportsman, near Baton Rouge, sold 172 guns in one three-day period after the hurricane, when normally it might sell 15. One mother came in to buy her first gun after she and her two children, ages 9 and 12, witnessed a slaying on the streets of New Orleans, said Scott Roe, Spillway's owner.

"Her comment was, 'I was a card-carrying, antigun liberal - not anymore,'" Roe said. "She said, 'I'm going back home, and I am not going back unarmed.'"

iN CASE YOU MISSED THE STORY CLICK
http://www.thevictoriaadvoc... target='_blank'>HERE

There are two schools of thought on this, did they possibly save lives by refusing to sell? Or, did they jeopardize lives?

I interviewed a hunter in SE Oklahoma who left his squirt bottle of Neosyneferin(sp?) in the seat of his pickup while driving to the "deer woods" one morning before daylight. He reached over, untwisted the cap and shot a healthy squirt up both nostrils before he realized something was wrong. The cab light revealed he was holding a similar sized bottle of DOE IN HEAT. He didn't say how sick it made him but I'd bet it cleared his head for awhile.

An old coyote trapper working out around ElPaso told about he and his trapping partner being in a bar one night. Some tightwad kept trying to bum drinks off the trappers. To older one called his buddy over, winked and told him, "Go out to the truck and get him some of that good stuff." A good shot of female coyote urine in the drink cup stopped the begging for a drink. For some reason the guy wanted to fight.

Reminds me of a guy in an Idaho bar one day said, "Hey, how about mixing me a drink?" He didn't say NOT to mix Southern Comfort with orange vodka.

I just finished ALASKA BEAR STORIES by Mike Kaniut. There is some question about female human periods provoking bear attacks. The two 19 year old college girls killed the same night in 1967 at Glacier National Park were having theitr periods. Coincidence? I don't think so. Many years ago, before the boom in scent attractants used by hunters of nearly all kinds of game,it wasn't unusual to hear of guys speculating about hanging used kotex and tampons in trees to attract male deer, bear, etc. There were supposedly documented stories where some gals had pet male deer or elk which they'd been around for years. One time during their periods the animals had attacked and nearly killed the women.

Can anyone supply us with any substantiated facts about this?

Do you think this is possible?

Did you folks hear about the heart broken little New Orleans boy standing on the evacuation bus steps crying, "Snowball!!! Snowball!!! Don't take my Snowball."?
Today's Advocate reported that Snowball is safe in an animal shelter and efforts are being made to reunite him/her with his owner.
It seems most of the reluctance of many folks for evacuating was having to leave their pets behind. How were they to know that valiant efforts would be made to round up and take the pets to safety? Actually, the pets had better efforts made on their behalf, after the rescue started, than their humans had in being evacuated BEFORE landfall.

How many hummingbirds do you folks seem (who can really count them all?) to have at your place?

Had to tell Dave Thompson I was envious of his 10 day trip to Alaska. He's joining a group of shutterbugs planning to shoot bears. They'll be living on a boat for six days with photo work in the mornings and late afternoons. In the early afternoons they plan to fish for halibut. No fireams are allowed in the park where they'll be.
Dave worked for the Wyoming Game & Fish Department when my family was living in the Cheyenne Warden Station. When he retired he was the head of the WY Highway Patrol. Now he has a photography studio and this will surely be a "business" trip.
The patrol boys were a welcome sight the night in 1968 that they saved our tails during a Frontier Days riot in downtown Cheyenne. The Cheyenne P.D. paired up the extra help, some wit called us "rentacops", with their K-9 officers. At 5' 10" and 235# I was the smallest guy on the street corner in a blue uniform. Quite a week.

A friend sent me this: THAT REMINDS ME OF THAT JOHNNEY DEPP MOVIE THAT CAME OUT A COUPLE YEARS AGO WHERE HE'S A RECLUSIVE WRITER IN A REMOTE HICK TOWN AND SOME YOKUM COMES TO HIS DOOR AND TELLS HIM "YOU STOLE MY STORY!"

Does anyone know the name of the movie?

Have you read the reports of all the stealing going on in the Astrodome? They just can't help themselves. Character always seems to show, especially in disaster situations.

It's still encouraging to read and hear of the heros who spent several days rescuing all the folks they could get into boats. One guy was using a 2x4 to paddle a flatboat.

What do you say about the mentality of those thugs shooting at rescue teams?

The only thing RUSTY will add to this is TAKE YOUR MEDICATIONS. A LOUISIANA friend sent this:
> School of Hard Knocks>
>
> If people haven't been learning the lessons from Katrina that they
absolutely need to learn, then they haven't been paying attention.
>
> 1. On Friday evening the National Weather Service predicted the path of the storm heading towards New Orleans. By Saturday morning, it was clear that the storm was growing in strength and it was suggested that people begin evacuating.
>
> 2. By Saturday afternoon it was clear that Katrina was growing in strength.
The Mayor of New Orleans appeared on TV weepy and sad, expressing concern
about what could happen in New Orleans.

> 3. Sunday morning it was obvious that the storm would hit as a Category 4 or
5.

> 4. On Sunday the Governor of Louisiana was crying and worried about the state and asked the rest of us to pray for Louisiana.
>
5. Sunday at 2:00 pm a mandatory evacuation was ordered.>
>
> Now let's look at what has happened so far and what we know after the fact:

> 1. 10% of New Orleans was below the poverty level. It would have been
> obvious (and was obvious) that these people had no means to leave the city
themselves.

> 2. Not a single hospital, faced with mandatory evacuation orders, was
moved. We've not heard of a SINGLE airlift of patients out of hospitals in
> the direct path of the storm, moved to areas outside of the impact zone.

3. Not a single school, public, or charter bus left the city carrying
> people unable to find the means of leaving on their own.

> What should happen now:

> 1. There are hundreds of buses and cars under water in New Orleans and
elsewhere in the regions. The Mayor of Louisiana should be brought up on
criminal negligence charges.

2. The people should understand that you NEVER elect a sympathetic social
worker type to public office. If an individual hasn't served in the
military or in an equivalent capacity of managing huge infrastructures and
people, they have no business running a government.

> 3. The Governor of Louisiana should be brought up on criminal negligence
charges—she did not call up the National Guard, order a single evacuation plan, or organize shelters until AFTER the disaster hit. She, a babbling idiot, should spend the rest of her days behind bars, watching the death and destruction on a continuous loop her a jail cell.

> What people should have learned by now:
> When the government says "leave" you LEAVE! You have ready: 3 days of water
and food, a "grab and go" bag that contains clothing, toiletries, and cash
to get you where you will be safe. If it takes you more than 15 minutes to
evacuate, you're doing it wrong and are not sufficiently prepared. If you
have more time, you should be able to evacuate with three weeks of supplies.

> Every person in your family over the age of about 12 should be trained in
the use of firearms. If you live in an area that doesn't allow you to own
firearms, MOVE. You should have in your possession a weapon for every
member of the family. That includes arming your 12 year old daughter.
Because SHE may become separated from you and will need the means of
> defending herself.

> You must have an evacuation plan. Discuss with family every possible need
to evacuate—what conditions might require you to leave. Plan the routes,
what you'll take, a location to meet up if you are separated, etc. etc.

> Do not leave your neighborhood with an empty seat in your car or truck. Make sure you have filled that seat with one of your neighbors.

> Be prepared to take care of yourself for AT LEAST 3 days. Expect civil unrest and looting. If you value your property more than the lives of your family, YOU WILL DIE. I repeat: IF YOU VALUE YOUR PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS MORE THAN YOUR LIFE OR THE LIFE OF YOUR LOVED ONES, YOU WILL DIE.

> The Federal Government is not going to be able to help you. As with ALL law > enforcement matters and catastrophes, they only come for the clean up. They are not going to help you until AFTER the catastrophe has occurred.

> If I hear one more person making a statement that begins with "The President of the United States should..." I am going to punch him in the nose, kick him in the balls, or knock them over the head with a mallet. This is NOT a Federal matter. There is no way that anyone is capable of doing anything for AT LEAST three days, more likely three weeks.
> The Federal Government is not the authority in charge here. The STATE and LOCAL governments are in charge. If the people you've been electing to
PROTECT AND SERVE you in your local and state are bureaucrats with no
leadership, management, or disaster experience, knowing how to do nothing
more than write welfare checks, you are seriously screwed. MOVE.

> Looters or anyone stepping outside of civilized behavior should be shot on
site—no malice, no concern. You're eradicating pests. Society will be better off without them and the neighborhoods and decent people of the world safer. If a law enforcement official attempts to disarm you while you are shooting looters, shoot the police officer. He's not your friend or your ally. It doesn't matter that the looter is only stealing food or clothing. What matters, is that they've cut in front of the of line. You know the expression "women and children first"? That's what civilized society does in a catastrophe. Civilized people, without prodding and baby sitting from government, form distribution networks to equitably distribute food and clothing from the remaining supplies. Civilized human beings DO NOT loot. SHOOT THEM.

> You have only one ally in such a disaster: YOU. You are responsible for > the health and safety of your family. The looters and thugs of the world WILL crawl from the cracks of society and will prey on you and your
neighbors. This has happened in EVERY SINGLE catastrophe. If you are not
prepared for this, YOU WILL DIE.

> Not a single event of this catastrophe is a surprise, with the exception of the extent of the incompetence of the local leadership.

> You have been warned.
All information in this message is property of Las Cal Corporation.

A former New Orleans neighbor of mine watches FOXNEWS. He said someone there indicated it has been learned that some of the looting was planned. Apparently the gangs targeted the affluent, or maybe effulent, old ritzy part of town along St. Charles Avenue.Maybe David's research abilities can turn up more on this? How about it David?

WHY did abc have to interrupt the last crucial four minutes of the game to tell us that a shriveled up old yankee had died? They could have simply said he was dead. They'll carry on for another two weeks about him and will probably even show a whole day of his funeral.

To jump on ABC you can click onhttp://forums.go.com/abcnew... target='_blank'>HERE

RUSTYOLDBUCKET jumped on 'em. You can too.

This was picked off the Astrodome blog:

For example, Cortez told me a story about a young man, 18 or 19, who lived in a housing project in New Orleans that was completely surrounded by water.

Here is what Cortez told Eric.

The young man said they found about 15 boats. Then he said they stole the boats, Cortez said. And I said to him, no you commandeered the boats. You were doing what you had to do to survive.


Apparently the young man along with some friends used the boats to rescue about 40 people who were stranded in the housing projects.

This guy is a hero, Cortez said.

HOORAY FOR THEM. RUSTY

WE'D BEST BE PRAYING IN EARNEST FOR THE DELIVERANCE OF TEXAS once the harboring of evacuees is over. It's one thing to help all those in need. It's another to add substancially to this state's already overloaded welfare and social programs.

In reading some blogs from NO, it was apparent that the military presense on Sunday night was perceived by the blogger that the reputation and history of midtown NO residents was to riot and loot at every opportunity.

A reader expressed a fear, well founded in my estimation, that a great many of those folks arriving by buses will stay wherever they land and never leave Texas. While mi casa, su casa is a good attitude to have, the fear is based upon Castro's blessing on the refugees he LET escape Cuba. He LET all those criminals and other folks (who are illegal to mention) ESCAPE. In too many instances, this can be happening to Texas right now.

My biased opinion in this matter came from living in the NO area 12 years and constantly hearing about the crime running rampant in the areas most of the Superdome evacuees inhabited.We don't need all the problems of welfare abuse, dope, rampant disease, uncontrolled birth rates, and failure to seek employment, and all the other addictions known about that bunch. Two blogs for your review are:

http://blogs.chron.com/dome... target='_blank'>HERE
http://www.nola.com/weblogs... target='_blank'>HERE

What is your remedy for the looters? At first I'd have shot them all then realized, nope, if they're just getting things like food, water, baby formula and diapers I'd call those things survival essentials. Jewelry, TVS, micfowave ovens, guns, stereos — no way, blast 'em.
A gal at the RED CROSS shelter at the Victoria Airport heard from a cousin whose man is a firefighter said on Thursday that firefighters were being armed by the city of NO. To me it's a shame that those idiots in downtown N.O. are stupid enough to shoot at rescuers and then demand, "Come get me and my family outta here." If it wasn't for the elderly, the infirm and the children involved, I'd remove all rescue efforts from those parts of town.
The people staying in the Victoria shelter were helping bring in whatever was being carried into the building. Now, remember these were people who drove themselves over here.

Yesterday, a friend of ours in Baytown and her friend bought supplies and delivered them to the shelter in Baytown.Teenaged boys, possibly ones BUSSED from N.O. were lying around outside the facility and never offered to get off their lazy backsides and help carry in the donations. My take on this is they have loused around all their lives expecting everything to be handed to them.
I realize that there are reasons that some people have no vehicles in which to escape hurricanes. Spending all their welfare money on lotto tickets, booze and dope are NOT legitimate reasons for not having transportation. They may be the REASONS but they're not legitimate

Our neice runs a SONIC at Gonzales, LA about 35 miles SE of Baton Rouge. They only open during daylight hours because of the insanity there. People have been snatching bought food from the customers and walking away with it. The carhops aren't allowed to carry any change on them. They have to carry customers' money inside and bring the change back out. She said that a busload of Superdome residents enroute to the Astro dome stopped four blocks from her business. About 20 of the young men (?) ran into a church and ransacked it looking for money. The bus driver drove off without them.

I've heard Texans say, probably based
upon such stories, expressed concern about how much of that crap are those ungrateful idiots are going to do in Texas? What happens after all of Texas welfare coffers run dry? For those with nothing to return to, whom rode the busses because they WOULD NOT evacuate when told,I'd say "Don't let them stay in Texas. They were already a scourge on society before the hurricane. Who says they'll change after it?"

I'm all for helping anybody but am highly leary of the people living within walking distance of the Superdome. Some of those are probably among the ones responsible for some 400 murders per year in that area.

HOW WOULD YOU TRY TO REMEDY THE SITUATION OF THE LOOTIN' & SHOOTIN"?

HEY CAPTAIN D,I have an opinion on what YOU'D do. Let's see if I'm correct.

It's been enlightening yet heart breaking to see the Louisiana folks coming into the Red Cross shelter at the Victoria Regional Airport the past couple days.My having worked in the NOLA area about 12 years gives me a rough idea where the hurricane victims were living before the storm. Talk about a bunch of folks who have no idea of how much of a,if any, home they'll have to return to.
The heart warming part has been the overwhelming offers of help from the Victoria area residents. As of early this morning, there was no more room at the shelter for any more bedding, toiletries, bath towels, or food stuffs to be brought to the shelter.
The Red Cross workers are NOT allowed to accept any donations of any kind at a shelter. The ARC can accept monetary donations at their Crossroads Office at 2805 N Navarro Suite 500 in Victoria.
Due to mixups in information, no more donations of any kind can be accepted at the facility located in the Faith Family Church school building 539 Waco Circle. Until we became overstocked, the members of FFC were accepting various donations there.
Donations of gift cards and gasoline cards are being distributed by Mark Longoria, Outreach Minister, at Faith Family Church.
There have also been volunteers sign up to help at the shelter. As of this evening, nurses were needed to help fulfill the requirement of having 24 X 7 nursing care available. Although most shifts are for eight hours, even stays of four hours would be appreciated.
Because of the projected long term duration of shelter occupation, the more volunteer helpers available the easier it will be on everyone manning the facility. Bob Vincent is shelter manager. Kellie Early, as the Red Cross staff coordinator, is marshalling all the meals being donated by various local churches.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?