UPDATED AND BUMPED Video: Texas fertilizer plant explosion

This is crazy…

Video: (H/T HotAir.com)

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Local coverage via  Houston Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, KHOU, and KWTX

A picture of an Apartment complex near the plant:

Fox News gives the grim details:

DEVELOPING: An unknown number of people were killed and over 100 were injured in a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco, Texas on Wednesday night.

The explosion at West Fertilizer in West, a community about 20 miles north of Waco, happened shortly before 8 p.m. and could be heard as far away as Waxahachie, 45 miles to the north.

Although authorities said it will be some time before they know the full extent of the loss of life, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman D.L. Wilson said just after midnight that an unknown number of people had died.
West Mayor Tommy Muska told reporters that his city of about 2,800 residents needs “your prayers.”

“We’ve got a lot of people who are hurt, and there’s a lot of people, I’m sure, who aren’t gonna be here tomorrow,” Muska said. “We’re gonna search for everybody. We’re gonna make sure everybody’s accounted for. That’s the most important thing right now.”

A member of the city council, Al Vanek, said there is a four-block area around the explosion “that is totally decimated.” Wilson said the damage was comparable to the destruction caused by the 1995 bomb blast that destroyed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

Tommy Muska, the mayor of West, which is a community north of Waco, said at a news conference he did not know yet how many people were injured or killed.

KWTX reports dozens have been killed citing a hospital official, but Fox News has not confirmed the report.
Brett Esrock, CEO of Providence Hospital in Waco, tells Fox News they have received 24 patients and are expecting around 20 more. He said the injuries are mostly cuts, abrasions and some head trauma.

“We’ve implemented our disaster plan and deployed a team of doctors, nurses and other personnel,” Esrock said. “The blast was pretty significant. It did damage several miles away.”

An official from a hospital in nearby Waco tells the Associated Press at least 66 people were taken for treatment there, including 38 who were hurt seriously.

A plea for blood donations from a commenter at HotAir.com:

From Donna Karl at Carter BloodCare in Waco

BLOOD IS NEEDED TO TREAT THE VICTIMS OF THE EXPLOSION IN WEST!

DO NOT GIVE TO RED CROSS. THE BLOOD THEY DRAW DOES NOT STAY LOCAL.

Blood Drive at Providence Hospital will be open 11:00am-5:00pm and the Donor Center will be open at 9:00am (4002 W Waco Drive, corner of Waco Dr and New Rd by On The Border Restaurant) . We are at Corsicana HS also tomorrow and Friday. Please remind folks that we will need blood and especially platelets over the next several days as people are being treated so if they can’t donate tomorrow, we are open on Friday and Saturday. My phone number is 254-297-4002. I will be onsite at my office at 7:30am.

It is imperative that we get donations not only tomorrow, but over the next several days as blood products have an extremely short shelf life. Please donate! Call me if you have ANY questions. 254-297-4002.

lonestar1 on April 18, 2013 at 1:11 AM

If you are in the area; please, in the name of America and of God — give blood, they need it, badly.

I believe that everyone, no matter your religion or denomination — needs to say a prayer for the people of West, Texas.

God be with them…

Also too, I said this on twitter, and I do mean this:

Amen.

Blogger roundup here.

Update: I have been up most of the night taking in what is happening in Texas. I am a bit of a night owl as of late. Anyhow, Here is scanner traffic from the scene in Texas: (VIA ABC 13)

Longer Clip: (via Radio Reference Forums) This has the silence trimmed out.

[podcast]

More to come as I find it.

Video: Obama whines about not getting his way……again.

Here is President Obama whining about not getting his way on the gun bill:

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Whoops! Wrong video…:

Over to you, AllahPundit:

Never mind Benghazi. Where was this supposedly righteous anger after Aurora? The victims in that case weren’t small children, but that can’t possibly explain O’s dramatically more subdued reaction after that shooting. They were innocent people too; many of them were young, if not kindergarteners. No angry Rose Garden press conferences freaking out about Senate inaction after Aurora, though. Any theories why? Anything, maybe, having to do with when that shooting happened vis-a-vis Newtown? Right: One of them came three months before a presidential election and the other came a month after. That’s the difference. As you watch him point the finger here at supposedly gutless senators who care more about retaining public office than Doing Something, remember that there’s hardly one among them who’s as attuned to political self-preservation as O. He kept his mouth shut nice and tight about guns when it was his own ass on the line last year in purple states; he ignored gun control almost completely when he had 60 Democratic votes in the Senate early in his first term; and as we know from the gay-marriage farce, he isn’t above lying outright to voters about his true positions in the name of getting elected. (Let’s not start on the many ways he’s followed Bush’s counterterrorism lead after selling himself to the left in ’08 as the anti-Bush on foreign policy.)

Given his record, there’s every reason to believe that what’s really bothering him is the fact that red-state Dems denied him an easy chance today to demagogue Republicans as the party of child murder or whatever, which he was hoping to use next year as a way to retake the House. Then, once he had a Democratic Congress again, he could pass some new horrible permutation of ObamaCare or immigration or the minimum wage or some other liberal wishlist item that has nothing to do with gun control. Just like in his first term! That’s what he’s mad about, that a political bludgeon was essentially taken out of his hands before he had a chance to use it to achieve unrelated goals.

And now he’s a lame duck, with few opportunities to pass something big and a real chance that he’ll end up with a fully Republican Congress in 2015. He might have no choice at this point but to try to tank the immigration bill too so that he’s got something to scream about next year. I wonder if Democrats will trip him up there too.

I agree with all of the above; and let me add something else here. I think what you might be seeing here, is a little bit of a backhanded political payback for Obama’s lack of leadership on the healthcare bill too. Pelosi could have done a little bit more; but I think she laid low for a reason. The media reported before that Nancy Pelosi and Obama were not getting along. This might just be proof of that. Also too, I look for Obama to tell some of the House and Senate Democrats, “Good luck in 2014 and 2016.” Because if any of the Democrats in the House voted against this, Obama’s progressive arm will go after them in 2014.

Either way, it is good to see that the Tea Party House members held their ground and did not let Boehner steamroll them. Good job guys; thank you for standing for liberty!

Update: Now a Memeorandum Thread.

Video: War Pigs

It’s the third day since the bombing and the authorities, federal and local still don’t know who did it.

People want to know why too; I think I might know why.

A video for you:

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Oh, and you Obama Lovers?

Here’s your picture:

You think things changed, you would be wrong.

Okay, it’s storming here, I have to go!

Update: Okay storm has passed. I posted this, because, quite frankly, as a Pat Buchanan type conservative with a libertarian streak; I happen to know its damned true. The excuses to go to war will be made. Somehow or another, the government will find a way to tie this bombing to Iran and off we will go to war.

You watch, and the neocons will stand behind Obama all the way. In fact, they will cheer his decision.

So, nothing has changed, the Wilsonian’s still control the Government. It’s because they need the power.

So, why did gold crash?

I am not an expert on the subject, but I think here might be a good reason as to why:

Who killed the gold?

 

 

In the wake of gold prices cratering in recent days, more than a few prominent experts have already started pinning the blame on Western central banks — especially the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB). According to numerous analysts, the central bankers are desperate to salvage their fiat currencies and eliminate competition as “monetary authorities” continue to create ever-greater quantities of euros and dollars out of thin air.

Some experts, whistle-blowers, traders, and former officials say the Fed dumped as much as 400 or even 500 tons of “paper gold” on the market — metals that it might not even have — as part of a naked short sale aimed at driving down the prices. Other analysts, especially among the establishment, pointed to the ECB chief’s recent suggestion that struggling European authorities in countries such as Cyprus would have to sell their precious metals to keep receiving bailouts

via After Gold Crash, Experts Point to Central Bank Manipulation.

I do not really want to veer into Alex Jones territory; but it does seem interesting that gold plunges, there’s an attack and the stock market dives too. The events might not be related; but it sure does look a bit suspect to me.

Boston Bombing – 24 hours later

Update: Hmmmm.

—-

…and they still have no clue at all whom has done it or why it was done. I have my opinions on that.

So far, they have questioned a Saudi National. But, his friend says he could not have done it.

They do know that pressure cookers were used, with explosives, nails and ball bearings. This is your traditional pressure bomb.

Now, you all should know; this might take forever to find out who actually did this. If they covered their tracks well; it might years to find out.

Either way, the reactions are interesting, to say the least.

Related:

Blog Reactions, from every corner of politics: (via Memeorandum)

Hit & Run, Salon, Los Angeles Times, ABC 7 Eyewitness News, Informed Comment,Washington Monthly, Telegraph, The Boston Globe, The Week, Algemeiner.com, National Review,Associated Press, Poynter, The Moderate Voice, NPR, The Times of Israel, Talking Points Memo,petitions.whitehouse.gov, The Right Scoop, Business Insider, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, BuzzFeed,Weekly Standard, Doug Ross, The Gateway Pundit, Sister Toldjah, Twitchy, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog, Israpundit, Scared Monkeys, Power Line, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Jawa Report, Alan Colmes’ Liberaland, Jihad Watch, CBS News, Fox News, Atlas Shrugs, American Power, The Hinterland Gazette, The American Conservative, The PJ Tatler, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Reuters, Restoring Liberty, Daily Mail, CBS Boston, The Lonely Conservative, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Daily Kos, Riehl World News, Washington Free Beacon, New York Times, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, ThinkProgress, Vox Popoli,  freerepublic.com, The Hinterland Gazette, Weasel Zippers, Joe. My. God., Riehl World News The Right Scoop, Yahoo! News, Washington Post, The Boston Globe, New York Times, Telegraph,msnbc.com, NY Daily News, Daniel W. Drezner, Business Insider, Daily Kos, NPR, First read, The Hill, Mediaite, Post Politics,  The Daily Caller, Atlas Shrugs, The PJ Tatler, Jihad Watch, Riehl World News, US News, The Moderate Voice, Algemeiner.com, Riptide 2.0, Scared Monkeys,Israel Matzav, Jihad Watch, The Agonist, Atlas Shrugs, The Gateway Pundit, Talking Points Memo, CBS Boston, Taylor Marsh, The Agonist, CNN, Scared Monkeys, National Review, The Atlantic Wire, Mediaite, The Raw Story, Riehl World News, Israel Matzav, The Daily Caller, Politico, The Hinterland Gazette, Post Politics, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Atlas Shrugs, Deadspin, The Hinterland Gazette, Washington Monthly, CNN, The Dish, Guardian, Balloon Juice, Politico, BuzzFeed, CNN, Deadspin, Gawker, Telegraph, Jihad Watch, Talking Points Memo, New York Post, National Review,Business Insider,  Doug Ross, The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider, The Lonely Conservative, Wall Street Journal, The Reaction, Twitchy, Patterico’s Pontifications, Alan Colmes’ Liberaland, CNN, Fox News Insider, Hot Air, Politico, The Hinterland Gazette, Israel Matzav, Weasel Zippers, CBS New York, protein wisdom, Shakesville, The Hill,  Yahoo! News, JustOneMinute, Yahoo! News, Hot Air and Daily Kos, AMERICAblog, Politico, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller and New York Times, ABCNEWS, Yahoo! News, ABCNEWS, nation.foxnews.com, NPR and susiemadrak.com, Dorchester Reporter, CANNONFIRE and The Dish

 

On the terrorist attack in Boston

Yes, I happen to know about THIS HERE.

I have followed the blog coverage and roundup.

I do not think that we had it coming, that would be morbid. However, I will simply say this; seeing that we are doing this HERE and starting unconstitutional wars, occupying foreign lands, which is Wilsonian foreign policy —– what can we, as a Nation, honestly expect?

Just my thoughts.

 

Oh yeah, it’s a nightmare alright

I have one thing to say about this below — Welcome to my world.

The Story:

Close your eyes and picture the scariest thing you can think of. Maybe it’s a giant spider or a giant Stay Puft marshmallow man or something that’s not even giant at all. Well, whatever it is, I guarantee it’s not nearly as scary as the real scariest thing in the world. That’s long-term unemployment.

There are two labor markets nowadays. There’s the market for people who have been out of work for less than six months, and the market for people who have been out of work longer. The former is working pretty normally, and the latter is horribly dysfunctional. That was the conclusion of recent research I highlighted a few months ago by Rand Ghayad, a visiting scholar at the Boston Fed and a PhD candidate in economics at Northeastern University, and William Dickens, a professor of economics at Northeastern University, that looked at Beveridge curves for different ages, industries, and education levels to see who the recovery is leaving behind.

via The Terrifying Reality of Long-Term Unemployment – Matthew O’Brien – The Atlantic.

I have been unemployed for 8 solid years. Now, some of that, is my fault. I got into some of that HERE, when I wrote about my job hunting.  But, some of it; is simply the bad economy here in Michigan and as of 2008; the entire Country.

One part that I quibble with on this piece, is this here:

It’s time for the government to start hiring the long-term unemployed. Or, at the least, start giving employers tax incentives to hire the long-term unemployed. The worst possible outcome for all of us is if the long-term unemployed become unemployable. That would permanently reduce our productive capacity.

We can do better, and we need to start doing so now. We can’t afford long-term thinking in either the short or the long-term.

Okay, let me break this down here:

  1. Our Government is broke. They hardly can afford the people that they have now! They are having to cut hours and staff to stay afloat. So, that is out. 
  2. As for the tax incentives; I just do not think that incentives would even remotely work. What the employers would do, is hire the people; declare it on their taxes and then turn around and let the people or fire them for silly reasons.

What will work is a strongly worded piece of legislation that would make it illegal for employers to discriminate against those, who have been unemployed longer than six months and make damned sure the law is enforced to the hilt. With fines and loss of business license being the penalties for the infraction.

Let me clear here; I am not in favor of big Government statism at all; however, there are times, when, because of the actions of crony capitalists, Government has to take action to protect the American people, namely long-term unemployed Americans, like me — from being discriminated against, for the simple crime of not being able to find a job.  My reasons for not being able to get a job in the field that I trained in are explained here.  Yes, I whacked a pole, trying to make a turn out of a parking lot; that was in 2003. I should have been able to find work with a trucking company locally or at least regionally. I have not, why? Because no one locally or regionally is hiring, outside a big company around here, which is notorious for screwing its employees.

Again, I agree with what this man is saying is this article; I simply just do not believe his solutions are the right ones.

This is just damned wrong

As much as I know that 9/11 was a horrible thing, as much as I know that terrorism is a terrible thing, as much as I distrust the Muslims and their goddamned backward religion —– I just cannot accept what I just read HERE as being normal day operations here in America.

I am extremely shocked and dismayed that more libertarian-minded Conservatives are not shouting from rooftops about this as well. They speak of liberty; but yet, they allow this sort of shit to happen?!?! Are they mad? Have the Neoconservatives frightened them into silence?

Here’s his info via NYT and NPR.

Again, something is wrong, damned wrong with a Nation, who allows this to continue. 😡

Others: ThinkProgress, Guardian, No More Mister Nice Blog, emptywheel, Taylor Marsh, Shakesville, Booman Tribune and TalkLeft

 

I sure hope that Henry Hager has more than one bathroom in that house

Jenna Bush Hager – New happy Mom. (Image via AP)

Because between Mom and Mila, Dad has lost that main one.  Also too, Henry, remember what I said before; you’re just the donor dude. Remember that. 😉

Former President George W. Bush is now a grandfather.

Bush’s daughter, Jenna Bush Hager, had her first child — a girl named Mila — on Saturday.

“Laura and I are thrilled to announce the birth of our grandchild, Margaret Laura ‘Mila’ Hager,” the former president said in a statement on Sunday. “Mila, daughter of Jenna and Henry Hager, is named for her grandmothers. She was born last night, April 13, at 8:43 p.m. in New York City. We met our beautiful granddaughter today.”

via It’s a girl for Jenna Bush Hager – POLITICO.com.

Either way, I am happy for them both. I hope that Mom and Mila continue to do well; and that they have a wonderful time together. I also pray that Henry does not lose too much of his hair! 😀

Others: Scared Monkeys