'BradCast' 8/28/2017: (Houston flood officials ignored years of warnings; Arpaio pardoned)
b"As unprecedented rains from Hurricane Harvey continue to devastate and overwhelm Houston and surrounding areas with catastrophic flooding, the storm is moving slowly back into the Gulf, where it may regain strength for a second landfall on the Texas/Louisiana border. On today's show, we discuss why evacuation orders weren't issued, and\\xa0 previous warnings from scientists and activists about this type of event amid the recent population boom in Harris County (Houston). As it turns out, the County's top flood manager aggressively dismissed those warnings for years and marginalized the scientists repeatedly offering them, even while denying the threat of over-development, poor (and poorly enforced) flood mitigation regulations, and the increasing devastation of such storms due to climate change.\\xa0 Also today: we are in 'unchartered waters' after the President of the United States issued a pardon to notorious Maricopa County (Phoenix) Sheriff Joe Arpaio as the Category 4 hurricane was bearing down on Houston late Friday night. Arpaio was convicted for contempt of federal court orders. and had, for years, unlawfully and unconstitutionally profiled Latino-looking residents in defiance of the Court. But much of what else he did during his reign of terror as Sheriff was far worse than that, as we detail today.\\xa0 Even more troubling is the intended message of Trump's pardon to both law enforcement officials and the federal judiciary. And, as if all of that isn't enough, as we took to the air today, North Korea reportedly fired a missile that passed over northern Japan. It's another harrowing show today as the wheels continue to come off the world..."