Houston? We have a problem.
 

Jackasses: I think when they say that "Houston" is a priority, they mean not necessarily just within the limits of the city named Houston, but that area -- which would include Beaumont, Galveston, Texas City, etc. Are you deliberately obtuse, or do your brains switch off once you make a decision about something, and become blind to completely obvious evidence to the contrary?



I think I might be PMSing.


Edited to change to plural to cover both of you people.

Houston? We have a problem.
 

I am not surprised to be called a jackass on this board, but I am surprised to be called a jackass for a post in which I tell someone how to use Google maps to find Houston and the Gulf of Mexico. So perhaps you are PMSing.

Houston? We have a problem.
 

GGG knows how to look at a goddamn map, as you know and I know. So the reason you were responding was to note that Houston is not on the coast, because that (in your mind) bolsters the argument that Houston does not need to be funded from a national security perspective.

I cannot bring myself (at least sober) to type the words "Homeland security." It makes me think of Nazi Germany and the USSR.

Houston? We have a problem.
 

I took his post at face value, and have no opinion about whether Houston is or isn't on the coast. At this juncture, I would like to refer to shrimping again, because it amuses me. Thank you. My reasons for thinking that Houston is not a big-time target do not relate to its proximity to open water, as is also the case for non-big-time targets Honolulu, San Diego, Seattle, New Orleans, Tampa, Miami, Baltimore, and Boston, to name a few. YMMV.

Unrelatedly, I offer this joke:

• Q. How many neocons does it take to screw in a light bulb?
  
  A. Neocons don't bother with light bulbs. They declare a War on Darkness and set the house on fire.

Houston? We have a problem.
 

The big dot in the middle of the concentric loops that says "Houston" is at mile 46 of Interstate 45. The end of the Interstate, on Galveston Island, is at mile 0 of Interstate 45.
Galveston Island is on the Gulf of Mexico. There is a debate about whether or not that constitutes the ocean.

I am now of the firm belief that everyone here is just fucking with me. I am unamused.

Houston? We have a problem.
 

They aren't fucking with *you*, they are just parochial assholes.

Houston? We have a problem.
 

Think miles and miles and miles of this:

[IMG]http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9gnMiWvtZ9GASwApSyjzbkF/SIG=12mrj7mij/EXP=1184958255/**http%3A//media.graytvinc.com/images/BP%2BTexas%2BCity%2BRefinery.jpg[/IMG]

and this:

[IMG]http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9gnMiLntZ9GY5kA_2KjzbkF/SIG=1256oiqap/EXP=1184958311/**http%3A//www.mapllc.com/about/images/Texas-City.jpg[/IMG]

The refineries getting knocked out in New Orleans sent the price of gasoline up by a dollar a gallon. I suspect there is far more refining capacity in and around Houston. They're not talking about protecting The City of Houston, they're worried about disruption of the nation's energy supply.

Houston? We have a problem.
 

Sullivan's growing collection of them is indeed impressive. FWIW, I liked this one better.

• Q. How many neocons does it take to screw in a light bulb?
  
  
  A. That's an interesting question, one that I'm sure future historians will investigate in detail. Look, let me address this issue up front: I don't know who's been installing light bulbs or who hasn't. That's none of my business. There's a lot of different views, there's a range of views, and a lot of concerns, and we are working to accommodate those concerns. We know at this point that we still have some work to do and we are working very hard to address these issues. We're not making estimates. At this point what you've had are some fairly -- you had some dramatic testimony and comments -- by the way, you can expect people to be ventilating these differing points of views in coming days. Our view is you have to have a resolution that offers a solution. And you're going to have people -- there is sometimes, you'll be surprised to hear, a disparity between comments made in public for domestic audiences around the world, and comments made in private, as well. In short, we don't want to comment on an ongoing investigation.

Houston? We have a problem.
 

Are you operating under the assumption that he has the daily amnesia like Drew Barrymore in that movie, and trying to be supportive? We discussed ALL of that YESTERDAY. With bpd statistics.

See, on the west coast and in the northeast, it's often hilly by the oceans/gulfs/bays. Therefore, in their pinhead minds, it is unpossible to have vast flat areas (which enable gridlike road structures) near a major port. Citing the effect of destroying the refinery capability/piping system and/or the disruption to the flow of goods coming into the country really makes no impression.

Everybody asks what it's like down here.
 

Debate? It's the Gulf of Mexico. If it was the ocean, they wouldn't call it that.

AoN, there was some Canadian writng on the NYT op-ed page the other day expressing incredulity at the idea that the US won the War of 1812. I think that we may need to burn Toronto again, or send the USS Constitution sink some herring boats or something.

Everybody asks what it's like down here.
 

Uh, is a gulf a type of separate body of water, like a lake or a pond or a sea? I thought it was a name for a portion of a larger body of water. Huh. Like, the Gulf of Mexico in the Atlantic Ocean.

ETA at least one dictionary defines a gulf as "a part of an ocean or sea extending into the land." http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/gulf

Houston? We have a problem.
 

Thank you, I appreciate this. I now have an image of Houston (well, this and the ground zero image from RT). That image doesn't include the coast - I am sure there is some sort of a bargeway, probably totally poluted and slick with oil (though it makes pretty rainbow reflections in the water, doesn't it?), that meanders through those oil fields.

I have always associated coasts with civilization and culture. The places on the coast have museums, symphonies, concert halls, and, of course, hills and valleys nearby where we go to concerts in the summer. I've never associated Houston and culture, and your images drive home the point. Houston's not like Dallas, which at least had its own TV show with some colorful characters. It's good to know there is no real coast.

But if we can make the terrorists think Houston is important, that's great. After all, it looks just about like Iraq there.

Everybody asks what it's like down here.
 

What does wikipedia say? And does a barge canal qualify, too?

Houston? We have a problem.
 

Fuck you.

Houston? We have a problem.
 

He now is deliberately mocking and trying to make you all defensive. However, you have to admit that there are far more scenic places than Houston. They are just frequently populated by uppity assholes, rather than Texas-y assholes.