President Donald Trump holds a press conference aboard Air Force One, talks Irma, Iran deal, DACA and more…

President Trump delivers remarks on his meeting(s) with political opposition in DC as he navigates the DACA negotiations.  President Trump and First Lady Melania are heading to Fort Myers, Florida, to thank first-responders and understand recovery efforts.

Thank you to everyone who is taking the time to explain the downstream impacts of fuel shortages in citizen led recovery efforts – to any public official or agency contact who will listen.  Using every possible communicative tool in your network is working.
Good News – FEMA “Task Force Irma” is listening and pushing the message upward toward critical “leadership”. We received the following email last night:

FYI… following your reports. We are supplying millions of gallons of fuel. I have used your posts to provide leadership insights into life in much of the state. Prayers are with you.

Best Regards,

Steve Shea

STEVEN W. SHEA
Defense Logistics Agency
Liaison Officer to FEMA Region IV DCO
Task Force Irma
4075 Esplande Way
Tallahassee, Florida 32399

My reply:
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President Donald Trump, First-Lady Melania Trump, Vice-President Mike Pence and Second-Lady Karen Pence are all heading to Florida to visit first-responders, rescue and recovery workers and see the challenges first hand – Tomorrow:

Press Secretary Sarah Sanders has shared an expectation that President Trump and First Lady Melania are going to be in the Naples and Fort Myers area; that’s Lee County in Southwest Florida.
I’m hopeful the President brings Homeland Security Advisor Tom Bossert with him to review rescue, recovery and rebuilding efforts.  As a Floridian I find myself having high confidence in Bossert’s articulate approach focusing on root issues, getting government out of the way, and not getting dragged in the weeds and paralysis of bureaucratic analysis. [If there’s one cat who can figure out the logistics of the fuel issues, Bossert seems like the guy to deliver.]
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Wow, talk about life in a bubble disconnected from reality.  Overall these kinds of expositions are excellent for those who are enjoying watching the Democrat party define itself as Hillary Clinton, Tom Perez, Keith Ellison, Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters.
There’s nothing about this interview that’s even remotely alright.  She lost. It’s eleven months later.  However, Ms. Creepy must still have an audience that wants to sit in a circle and talk about where imaginary right-wing frog memes stole their safe place.  Wow.

Did you ever read that little story about the kid walking down the beach throwing starfish in the water, when the old man says he can’t save all of them, so why bother?  Well, that a parable for Day #2 in Irma’s impact zones.  That parable also explains why this follow-up is reaching y’all well after midnight on Sept. 13th.
[Hurricane relief work is a little like keeping a farmers schedule. As I understand it, the work schedule of a farmer extends the necessary shift until the job is done, which has entirely nothing to do with a clock…]
I said yesterday I thought that 50% of the residents of South Florida might be home.  I was wrong.  That estimation was overstated. Maybe a third of the regular residents were home on Day #1 – a few more showed up today (Day #2)…. and based on south-bound traffic observed, a whole bunch more are in in route tonight.
They ain’t going to like what awaits.
First things first.  Yes, we found fuel – it took driving past 47 empty gas stations to find one open with fuel.   More than 100 cars (easily) were around the block for this station at 8am.  We dispatched a volunteer to wait in line, and went about doing what we could w/out fuel, SCOUT.  Three hours later 40 ten gal cans caught up with us.  Oh, and another station opened around noon.
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What a day!!  There’s no fuel to be found in South Florida. We quit looking.
I traded some tools for a 5 gal can and paid another guy $100 to siphon his tank from a farm near Arcadia, FL.
Not having watched the news – has anyone mentioned that Lake Okeechobee breached it’s banks and sent a torrent of water two miles North of the town of Arcadia and into the Peace River? Has this been on the news. Not a peep was on the radio… (f**kers).
En route to the coast we got a ham radio call, well, more of a desperate plea for help on U.S. 17 for a group of families stuck between Wachula and Arcadia.  By the time we got there… yikes, desperate homeowners and families trying to salvage anything amid chest high water actually flowing on US 17.
We were able to get about 5 families and their pets, and a few belongings, relocated about 2 miles away and called for the United Way to get there and help. It was like something out of a farm movie. These people are suffering, and they didn’t have much to start with; and they are so thankful.
By the time we got them to safety, we couldn’t get back to where we came from.  We had to drive 20 miles north; to head West toward I-75 near Bradenton; to head South. On the way across SR64 there were people stuck with the Peace River flowing down the streets and driveways.  We helped who we could amid widespread downed power lines; broken power poles snapped like twigs (East to West wind); and trees as thick as cars that were blown over (North to South wind).
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NOTE: I am posting this for Sundance, who is very busy at the moment. He wrote this last year on September 11. (signed) Stella

I hope he will rejoin us at any moment!

To honor the memory of those lost on September 11th/12th 2012:

The Benghazi Brief

The “Benghazi Brief” remains the most controversial research report we have ever produced. The brief contains over two years of research and hundreds of very specific factual citations supporting it. Two years after it was originally written, and not a single aspect outlined within the brief has ever been identified as inaccurate.
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There are millions of people without power throughout central and south Florida. As a consequence people are turning to broadcast livestreams available from local media on video platforms.  Here’s two livestream media sources for Tampa and Orlando:
♦West Coast –  Tampa, Bradenton, St. Pete (Manatee and Hillsborough Counties) via ABC Action News:

My apologies to those who have written complaining that CTH is not providing the comprehensive coverage of political news.  Unfortunately, home base for all current research consists of three duffel bags, a laptop, generator and a well suited 4×4; loaded with power tools, emergency kits and assorted roughneck supplies.
I will make every effort to return to political research and analysis – as soon as current logistics, community safety and overall concerns with safety/instability are abated.
Fortunately Hurricane Irma is weakening rapidly as the storm made contact with the Florida peninsular at Marco Island.

At 500 PM EDT (2100 UTC), the center of Hurricane Irma was located near latitude 26.2 North, longitude 81.8 West. Irma is moving toward the north near 14 mph (22 km/h), and a north-northwestward motion with an increase in forward speed is expected by tonight, with that motion continuing through Monday. On the forecast track, the eye of Irma should move near or over the west coast of the Florida Peninsula through Monday morning. Irma should then move inland over northern Florida and southwestern Georgia Monday afternoon.
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