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No problem. I've studied Texas City quite a bit. The NFPA report concentrates entirely on the events leading up to the disaster itself, but another book put it into a social context. The Texas City port was there precisely to keep it away from the more affluent areas, and like most frieght dock areas, the surrounding neighborhoods were pretty poor. They knew there were some bad things that could happen, but of course, no one expected something on the scale of the GrandeCamp.

As to the rest of the thread, I don't know enough about the actual people who would be involved in ownership, but I do know this.

There is a serious credibility issue growing up around Bush at this time. While I am totally supportive of his Iraq policy, having a border so porous undercuts his stance of protecting the United States from both a practical and public relations standpoint. With the terrorists being a patchwork of religious based cults spread throughout all Muslim countries, most Americans don't really trust any of them. The democrats may be simply grandstanding, but it's the grandstand that will give them traction. For all their Kumbaya talk, they'll exploit current American concern about Islam as quickly as they exploit black-white relations. This also gives them a big opportunity to secure the high ground on homeland security. There are a lot of people that are sick of being hassled in airports and spending billions on security while the southern border is wide open. They're thinking "Great! NOW he wants to turn the ports over! I also know three people who have had to eat the price of their cars because they've been hit by illegals who have no license or insurance. What gets them even madder is that the cops just kind of shrug and turn the illegals loose. Losing your car takes it from the theoretical to the personal, and the border issue nags in people's minds while they're listening to speeches about security. There's REAL anger out there in the Republican base, and the Republicans no longer have the high ground on controlling spending or reducing regulations. If the Democrats can shut up their lunatics and Hillary and Schumer can claim this bill, it will pull a lot of Republican votes in both the House and Senate. This would put Hillary standing in front of a Congress that "came together" AND give her the high ground on "protecting us from foreign threats."

If I was Bush, I'd fold on this hand.