Bolivar Ferry Gibb Gilchrist In Houston Ship Channel Boat Yard For Work—Free Ferry Is Socialism

Where are boats in the Bolivar Ferry fleet sent when they need maintenance or repairs?

From the picture above that I took last week, I’d say they go to a boat repair yard in the Houston Ship Channel.

Above you see the Bolivar Ferry called the Gibb Gilchrist in a boat repair yard in Houston Ship Channel.

The Gilchrist is the yellow boat in the middle of the picture.

The Bolivar Ferry runs from Galveston Island to Bolivar Peninsula. It is a “free” service run by the Texas Department of Transportation.

Where are the cries of socialism?

I thought a real Texan could cross a few miles of Galveston Bay on his or her own and without help from a meddling government.

Where are the citizen-volunteers to fix the boat, instead of the tab taxpayers are no doubt picking up for whatever work is being done?

Here are facts about who Gibb Gilchrist was from the excellent Handbook of Texas Online.  The upshot  is that Mr. Gilchrist was once President of Texas A & M.

The Bolivar Ferry is a great ride. You can walk on and take a round-trip that will run about 50 minutes. You’ll see big ships and you might see some dolphins.

While you are riding the Bolivar Ferry, you are using a taxpayer-provided government service that enhances the common good.

Bolivar Ferry In The Houston Ship Channel—How About A Tea Party Citizen-Navy?

When the boats that are part of the Bolivar Ferry service need some repairs or a tune-up, it seems that they are taken to the spot you see above in the Houston Ship Channel.

The red boat and the yellow boat in the picture are each part of the Bolivar Ferry.

The Bolivar Ferry is a free government service offered by the State of Texas that takes folks between Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula.

The Bolivar Chamber of Commerce has no objections at all to this subsidy.

The Houston Ship Channel receives all sorts of government funds to stay up and running.

I’m not aware of any large industrial concerns complaining about socialism at the Houston Ship Channel.

Maybe Tea Party cells and small government advocates could muster up volunteer crews to run the ferry and to operate the Houston Ship Channel.

Surely the Tea Party has considered raising a citizen-volunteer navy to go along with all the talk of citizen militias and defending freedom.

(Photo copyright 2011 by Neil Aquino.)

Obama-McCain Debate Summary With Peter Fonda Picture

The first debate between Barack Obama and John McCain is over. It won’t surprise you that I feel Senator Obama won the debate. I’m going to spare you my thoughts because there is no way I would have said Senator Obama had lost the debate even if he had appeared on stage carrying a bottle of whiskey while singing Danny Boy.

Such is my summary of the debate. You can take it or leave it. By Monday we’ll be on to other issues and people will barely recall the debate took place.

(Above is a car buried in the sand on Bolivar Peninsula, part of Galveston County, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. For the purposes of this blog, the car represents how Barack Obama buried Senator McCain’s postions with the truth. The photo is from the Houston Chronicle.) 

In my home we’ve already turned off the post-debate coverage–the debate ended maybe half an hour ago–because it is tedious. We have on an infomercial featuring Peter Fonda discussing a Time-Life collection of music of the 1960’s. The ad says I’ll get extra benefits if I order within the next few minutes. Below is Mr. Fonda, the biker, with Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider.

As Senator Obama moves towards victory, there are a few things I would like my readers to please note—

Well-known political analyst Charlie Cook says Democrats have at least some chance of winning 60 Senate seats.

Sarah Palin still won’t explain why women had to pay for rape kits while she was Mayor of Wasilla.

And for those of you looking for the longer view, Hugh Brogan’s The Penguin History of the United States is the best one-volume history of the U.S. I have read.

Galveston & Rumors About Galveston—After Hurricane Ike Post # 3

Here is After Hurricane Ike post #3.

Today is the first full day I have power at home. It’s nice to make these posts at home instead of at the Downtown Houston Public Library. Though I very much appreciate the resources available at the library.

Today I was able to buy perishable groceries for the first time in over a week. In the days leading up to the storm I figured that power would be going out. As indeed it did. So I just bought water and granola bars. 

Now I have fruits, vegetables and milk at home. 

Here is the link to the Houston Food Bank.

Many are still without power. Life cannot be more normal again in Houston until people have power. Still, I bet there are some, if just the smallest number, who have used the time without power to renew a relationship, read something they might have never gotten around to reading, or to think out a problem.

Everybody needs power back and I know what a frustration it has been for so many, but I hope that for at least some it has also been an opportunity of a kind.

I got a comment on another post today from someone without power for a few days now in Columbus, Ohio in the aftermath of Ike.

The Houston Chronicle today offered up an unhelpful editorial about the failure of Galveston city leaders to as of yet devise a good plan for evacuated residents to come back and see their homes. As I said yesterday on this blog, Galveston officials seem overwhelmed. They need outside help.

I hope the Governor’s office or somebody with insight into the problems Galveston is facing, has offered assistance to Galveston city leaders. Galveston is a poor city of 50,000 people. They have just the resources and talent that they have. Hurricane Ike is a disaster of a scope beyond what Galveston on its own can manage.

Fellow Houston blogger Brains & Eggs has posted about rumors of many bodies being washed out to sea from Galveston and Bolivar Peninsula. I don’t believe these rumors. Some maybe died this way. But not hundreds or thousands.

Here is a report on how bad things are in Galveston right now.

Another Houston blogger, Julie Pippert, wonders about pollution from swamped refineries and chemical plants that may have sludged into Galveston Bay as a result of the storm.  

Julie, of course, is crazy. I recall all the ads on TV a few years ago saying how expansion of the Port of Houston would enhance the environment. All that ship traffic is good for the water. I say that whatever ends up in Galveston Bay is for the best. Mankind will be gone soon enough and Galveston Bay will have millions of years to recover.

Below is Bolivar Peninsula after Hurricane Ike.