Free Music Friday

They're still at it and Still The Ones... the band ORLEANS has a new CD. Politically active over its 33 years, the band's Sly/Tower of Power-tinged, anti-wingnut "Get A Life" is offered as a FREE download. Click the album cover above and then scroll down to the GET A LIFE - FREE DOWNLOAD button.

The group is donating 10% ($1.50) per CD sale to ACORN, Higher Ground Relief Fund (musician-specific help) and Red Cross Hurricane Relief.

You may remember that last October the RNC / Bush Re-election Campaign used "Still The One" as their campaign theme song. Orleans demanded they stop. The band has since offered Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) the AUTHORIZED use of the song for his re-election bid (Katherine Harris is his opponent)

Quote of the day

"Welcome to the world of the politics of personal destruction, you tubthumping, chin-jutting, Bush humping gits. Welcome to the nasty and partisan world that Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Hugh Hewitt, Grover Norquist, Newt Gingrich, Tom DeLay, and a legion of insignificant lowest-rung toadies like yourselves nurtured into fruition daily with eager, grubby hands, and now look upon with dull-faced faux horror."
-Hunter on Daily Kos

New Jules Shear CD could be released as early as January 2006

It had been a while since my last contact with Jules' manager, Peter Lubin, so I sent an email to him asking if they had made any progress in finding a distributor for the new CD. Here is his reply:

John:

We have found a champion and the record will be released in January of 2006. You will no doubt be contacted before then to pitch in and play a role in the launch! I'm really glad to hear that there's interest.

Best,
PL

How cool is that? I'll post news as I receive it. I need to get with Bangkok Bertha and devise some sort of contest. The winner will receive the new CD when it is finally released.

Friday Bush Monkey blogging

Quote of the day

"The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today. But such oils may become in the course of time as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present time."
-Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the diesel engine said this in 1911

I think it's time that I seriously consider a diesel for my next vehicle. It would be nice to be able to fill up at McDonald's.

A Scary Day with Bill & Willie

The day suddenly got weird. All it took was a simple customer request: "Do you have The O’Reilly Factor for Kids?" I stood there stupefied for a few seconds. Even though I live in Thailand and don’t watch Fox News, I had heard enough about the horrific “O’Reilly Factor” to know what the customer was talking about. I knew that we didn’t have the book in stock – I’d thankfully never seen it - but I played dumb, and went through the motions of looking for the title on our bookshop's computer database. The customer, a man that appeared to be in his late twenties, sighed in disappointment. “That’s too bad. My mother asked me to find that for my sister. I guess I’ll look for it somewhere else.”

You guessed right, buddy. Take a hike! But I was curious; was there really such a revolting book? O’Reilly for Kids? Nice, innocent children will be subjected to this guy’s right-wing drivel? I checked online and, sure enough, found the offensive title listed: The O’Reilly Factor for Kids: a Survival Guide for American Families. Oh that’s great; wrap your narrow-minded views under the guise of keeping families together. Pathetic.

But the day's weirdness wasn’t over yet. After work I stopped by a branch of CD Warehouse and perused the new releases. Some interesting new albums by the likes of Tracy Chapman, Bonnie Raitt, Neil Young, Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Ryan Adams. But there was something else nestled among the fresh titles, something inexplicably odd and revolting: a Willie Nelson reggae album called Countryman. Yes. Really. I’m not making this up. I like old Willie, but the idea of him singing “The Harder They Come” is even harder to fathom. Try Jah Love? In this case, I think not.

If this is a Soft Opening, prepare for a Hard Landing

The big news in Thailand this week was the “soft opening” of Bangkok’s new Suvarnabhumi International Airport. But after the much hyped landing of VIP planes on Thursday, don’t expect any more flights for the rest of this year. In fact, the airport is not scheduled to handle any regular commercial flights until June of next year, and even that goal may be a bit optimistic. Many industry experts say that the real opening could be 12-18 months away.

So why did the Thai government make this mad rush to “open” the airport well before it was ready for commercial air traffic? And why waste so much fuel and manpower just so a bunch of VIPs could parade around in the new terminal? Ah, it’s politics, don’t you know! The Thai government hopes that the swanky new airport will help it achieve its goal of being the region’s aviation hub. The airport has been dubbed by one local newspaper as “the world’s longest running project of its kind” due to the fact that plans for its construction began over 30 years ago! After years (okay, decades) of delays, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra promised the Thai public that the airport would be open by September 29 this year. Sluggish construction made such a goal unrealistic, but Thaksin became obsessed with meeting this deadline, even if it meant only one plane – his plane - would land on the tarmac.

Asked by a foreign reporter why the Thai government decided on the premature airport opening, Thaksin snapped: “I didn’t expect this sort of question from the BBC.” Oh, no? What did he expect? Cooking advice on how to make spicier Tom Yum Goong? Even though he appeared annoyed by the question, Thaksin attempted to explain his reasoning for the rushed opening. “If we didn't set a date, the schedule would slip further behind and this would have cost the country more,” he said. “We set today so that everyone had a goal, so that they could work actively.”

Some of that work, according to reports in the media, included the use of air rifles to “scare away” animals in the vicinity (such as birds, dogs and turtles) that might have impeded the safe landing of the PM’s plane. The waste of fuel used on this glorified publicity stunt (which included test flights the day before, and a second plane full of media on opening day) rivals George W. Bush and his entourage making their myriad hurricane tours to the US gulf coast.

What are the politicians hoping to accomplish, besides a staging a bunch of photo ops and acting like they are actually doing something productive?

Absolut power...

"Meet the new boss - same as the old boss" -The Who

Blunt's Record Shows He's As Corrupt As DeLay

Asshat quote of the day

"You could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down"
-Bill Bennett

via Media Matters

I Maureen

Dancing in The Dark

This editorial is from the New York Times Op-Ed page on Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Maureen Dowd

I can't wait to see what's next.

Dick Cheney carpooling downtown with Brownie? Rummy Rollerblading down the bike path to the Pentagon? Condi huddling by a Watergate fireplace in a gray cardigan?

Maybe now that our hydrocarbon president is the conservation president, he'll downgrade from Air Force One to a solar-powered Piper Cub as he continues to stalk the Gulf Coast towns and oil rigs like Banquo's ghost.

The once disciplined and swaggering Bush administration has descended into slapstick, more comical even than having Clarence Thomas et al. sit in judgment as Anna Nicole Smith attempts to get more of the moolah of her late oil tycoon husband.

We've got the clownish Brownie still on FEMA's payroll, giving advice on cleaning up the mess he made. ( Let's hope the White House is paying him only long enough to buy his good will, not to take any of his bad advice.)

We've got two oilmen in the White House whose administration was built on urging us to consume and buy as much oil and energy as possible. Now they're suddenly urging us to conserve. (Since Mr. Cheney considers conservation a "personal virtue," at least he'll get some virtue.)

The president called on Americans to drive less, and told his staff members to turn off their computers at night, turn down the air-conditioning, form carpools and take the bus.

At the same time, he set a fine example by wasting gazillions of gallons of fuel with all the planes and Secret Service vans and press motorcades and police escorts that follow him around every time he goes on one of his inane photo-ops from the Colorado bunker to what's left of the Mississippi Delta and the Bayou. He did his part by knocking off a few cars from his motorcade on his seventh trip to the gulf yesterday - but if residents had hoped he'd bring them some water, they went thirsty.

"Even so," as The Times's Elisabeth Bumiller wrote, "security dictated that Mr. Bush's still-impressive caravan pick him up at the base of Air Force One in Lake Charles, La. - and drop him off just yards away for a meeting with local officials at an airport terminal."

Noting that the Bush administration has proposed new fuel economy standards that critics say could make huge S.U.V.'s and pickups even more popular, Reuters published some arithmetic about the president's notorious fuel inefficiency.

Air Force One costs $83,200 to fill up and more than $6,000 per hour to fly. Then there's the cost of helicopters and a 2006 Cadillac DTS limo that gets less than 22 miles per gallon.

Karen Hughes, the Bush nanny who knows nothing about the Muslim world and yet is charged with selling the U.S. to it, wasted even more fuel this week flying to Saudi Arabia to tell women covered from head to toe in black how much she likes driving even though they can't.

She knows so little about the Middle East that she looked taken aback when some Saudi women told her that just because they could not vote or drive did not mean that they felt they were treated unfairly.

One thing Saudi women like even less than not having certain rights is to have hypocritical Americans patronize them.

The moment when America should have used its influence to help Saudi women came on Nov. 6, 1990, as U.S. forces gathered in the kingdom to go to war in Iraq the first time. Inspired by the U.S. troops, including female soldiers, 47 women from the Saudi intelligentsia took the wheels from their brothers and husbands and drove until the police stopped them.

They were branded "whores" and "harlots" by Saudi clerics, had their passports revoked, and were ostracized from society for a dozen years. Even their husbands suffered.

The experience made them more angry at the U.S. than at their own rulers. They feel that the Bushes play up the repression of women in the Middle East when it suits their desire to bang the war drums, but do not care what happens to women once the ideological agenda has been achieved.

They feel the administration and the American media have emphasized the repression of Saudi women post-9/11 as a way to demonize Saudi Arabia and paint Saudi men as bullies and terrorists.

When Ms. Hughes goes to Saudi Arabia to introduce herself as "a mom" and to talk about Americans as people of faith, guzzling fuel all the way in a country getting flush selling us oil, I think we can consider it taxpayer money well spent.

W. doesn't really need to worry about turning down the lights in the White House. The place is already totally in the dark.

Dubya sez...

It's been a while so here are few to make it up to you.

"We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job. That's what I'm telling you."
—George W. Bush, Gulfport, Miss., Sept. 20, 2005

"If it were to rain a lot, there is concern from the Army Corps of Engineers that the levees might break. And so, therefore, we're cautious about encouraging people to return at this moment of history."
—George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2005

"Listen, I want to thank leaders of the — in the faith — faith-based and community-based community for being here."
—George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Sept. 6, 2005

"So please give cash money to organizations that are directly involved in helping save lives — save the life who had been affected by Hurricane Katrina."
—George W. Bush, Washington D.C., Sept. 6, 2005

"I can't wait to join you in the joy of welcoming neighbors back into neighborhoods, and small businesses up and running, and cutting those ribbons that somebody is creating new jobs."
—George W. Bush, Poplarville, Miss., Sept. 5, 2005

Happy Days are here again!

It's "Delay has been indicted and Frist is right behind him" day. Some days it just feels good to be a Democrat. Go ahead, do the Snoopy dance. You know you want to.

It's not schaedenfreude if they're wicked. It's justice.

Is evolution an accident?

Many people, and now some school boards, say that life is so complex and improbable it could only have been designed by a higher intelligence. And so we debate evolution vs. intelligent design.

Evolution is relentless in its mindless change. Billions of failures, and far fewer successful improvements, have brought forth today's life. So the better question is whether a designer really created us or, as evolution's survivors, have we in fact created the designer to give our accidental existence meaning.

Luckovich 09/29/2005

Play The Blame Game

(Click image for larger view)

They finally got the boogey-man

Now let's see just how serious they are about prosecuting this prick! Roy Blunt and David Drier both have been considered as replacements. I wonder how much the homophobic Republican base would like to see Drier as majority leader. That would cause a nice little split between the Republican base and its leaders.

DeLay Indicted in Campaign Finance Probe

The Indictment

From the Department of Irony

Dr. Richard (Dick) Chopp is well known in the Austin community for performing Vasectomies. He also enjoys treating patients with metabolic evolution of kidney stone disease, male endocrine urology disorders, prostate disease and Peyronie's disease. He has extensive laparoscopy surgery experience, is on the transplant team and performs Living Donor Nephrectomy.

The Urology Team

Weirdness in the workplace

Last Friday my company announced layoffs. Thankfully I was spared. Now the weirdeness sets in as they reorganize. Blogging will be sporadic at best for a little while as I settle into my new office and tweaked duty list.

Many many thanks to Bangkok Bertha for, once again, taking up the slack and writing better than I could ever hope to.

Here is an interesting blog. Check it out.

Operation Eden

Vonnegut on Bush

Kurt Vonnegut is now 82-years old and no longer cranks out wonderful novels such as Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat's Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions. But he does still contribute occasional articles to various magazines, and he recently published a non-fiction collection of essays called A Man Without a Country. "It's a nice glass of champagne at the end of a life," said Vonnegut of his latest literary accomplishment.

As would be expected, Vonnegut has a few words of criticism for the Bush administration in his new book. Among the many choice nuggets is this observation:

George W. Bush has gathered around him upper-crust C-students who know no history or geography."

Bush & Bowie & Bianca

I found this entertaining snippet today over at Daily Kos:

NEW YORK (AP) Rock diva and human rights activist Bianca Jagger reacted with puzzlement and disbelief Thursday night when told that the President of the United States was looking for her in Washington.

"I've never even met the bastard," said the 60-year old ex-wife of Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger. "Unless it was during my blackout period . . . or his blackout period. Was he ever involved with David Bowie?"

Jagger angrily denied rumors that she had been prompted by White House staffers to ask the president a softball question about his work on behalf of human rights. "Human rights? Are you out of your mind? The man has been a absolute disaster for human rights. The only question I want to ask him is when will he do the right thing and hand himself in to the International Criminal Court . . . Are you sure he was never involved with David Bowie?"

No matter what - or who - David Bowie was doing three decades ago, I think it's safe to assume that he would never have lowered himself and associated with a slug such as Dubya.

Speaking of Bowie, have you listened to his last three albums? Absolutely great stuff! The best albums he has recorded since the early 1980s.

Old Farts & New Music

Even though I now qualify as an “old fart,” I still listen to music every day; and more importantly, I still buy albums. Yes, I'm one of those dinosaurs that still walks into retail stores and buys CDs without downloading them first. Due to my advanced age, I listen to lots of music that some might call “oldies,” but I also buy new stuff on occasion. I suspect a lot of us are the same: we treasure classics from our past, but still have an open ear for good new music, too.

A post on the Mojo Magazine (http://www.mojo4music.com/) website this week asked people to pick the "Best Bands" that have formed in the last 15 years. Anything before 1990 is ineligible. Lots of people chose acts such as Radiohead, White Stripes, Super Furry Animals, Black Crowes (although, if my memory is correct, they started in the late 80s), Beck, Stereolab, Mercury Rev, and the Dave Matthews Band. Some good music there, but none of those artists would have been at the top of my list.

What about you other music freaks out there? I’d like to know if there are any other “musts” that I’m missing. It doesn’t have to be a “band” necessarily; any recording artist will qualify.
Here are my own picks of “new artists” from the last 15 years that I've enjoyed the most:

Jayhawks
Fountains of Wayne
Wilco
Spearhead/Michael Franti
Ben Folds
Patty Griffin
Josh Rouse
Kings of Leon
Coldplay
Ryan Adams/Whiskeytown
Strokes
East River Pipe

The Bush Legacy of Scientific Negligence

Jeffrey Sachs is a professor of economics and the director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York City. Here is an excerpt from an article he recently wrote about the Bush administration's lack of scientific acumen:

"There is a deep disconnect between scientific knowledge and political decisions. Bush bears much responsibility for this. He has proven to be one of America's least knowledgeable presidents when it comes to science - and one of the most ready to turn science into a political issue."

Awesome!

the top ten reasons why beer is better than jesus:

borrowed from skippy the bush kangaroo. hence the lower case letters. skippy does everything lower case.

number ten: no one will kill you for not drinking beer;

number nine: beer doesn't tell you how to have sex;

number eight: beer has never caused a major war;

number seven: they don't force beer on minors who can't think for themselves;

number six: when you have a beer, you don't knock on people's doors trying to give it away;

number five: nobody's ever been burned at the stake, hanged, or tortured over his brand of beer;

number four: you don't have to wait 2000+ years for a second beer;

number three: there are laws saying beer labels can't lie to you;

number two: you can prove you have a beer;

and the number one reason why beer is better than jesus: if you've devoted your life to beer, there are groups to help you stop.

Asshat Quote of the day

Substance abuse seems to be a Bush trait

"Chang is a mystical warrior. Chang is somebody who believes in conservative principles, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism, believes in moral values that underpin a free society. I rely on Chang with great regularity in my public life. He has been by my side and sometimes I let him down. But Chang, this mystical warrior, has never let me down."
-Jeb Bush

WTF?

Update: Maybe 'ol Jeb is schizophrenic. Just a thought.

If you have a few minutes...

..watch this exchange between Phil Donahue and Bill O'Lielly.

Via Crook and Liars

History repeats

"America is committed to the defense of South Vietnam until an honorable peace can be negotiated. We shall stay the course."
-Lyndon B. Johnson - March 15, 1967

"We will stay the course, we will complete the job in Iraq. And the job is this: We'll help the Iraqis develop a democracy."
-George W. Bush - August 3, 2005

Best Buy is the worst

I realize this is a little off topic. I don't usually post items from consumer advocates but this is just horrible. I've had some real problems with Best Buy in the past. So bad that I cut up my Best Buy credit card and mailed it to the store manager (after paying off the balance of course) with a right nasty little letter. Of course I never heard from him.

I won't get into all of that now but I want to share a letter that was written to the Orlando Sentinel's consumer advocate Greg Dawson. Greg is usually pretty effective in dealing with scum but not even he could get Best Buy to do right by the customer.

Dear Greg: In May 2002, I bought a 36-inch Sony TV and a four-year extended warranty at Best Buy. In August of this year, our house took a lightning strike, and the TV was damaged and needs a new main board and power supply. All the repairs are covered under the warranty, but Best Buy says it can't find the parts. I was told if it isn't repaired after 45 days the store will give me a new set, per the warranty. What's up with that? There's nothing in the warranty about my having to wait 45 days.

MARK BLANKENSHIP

WINTER PARK

Dear Mark: A Best Buy spokesman admitted there is nothing in the warranty about 45 days, but it's still company policy. Then he said you will get a new TV, plus the balance of your old extended warranty, if the fried set is not fixed within the nonexistent but apparently binding 45-day waiting period. I wish I were kidding.

I realize that in the grand scheme this is really nothing. There are lots of worse things that retailers do every day to their customers. Hell, the guy was fortunate that Best Buy honored the warranty at all. The moral of the story is STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM BEST BUY! And if you MUST patronize Best Buy, don't get the extended warranty.

No back to our regulary scheduled program...

Photography

I've been remiss in sharing interesting photography with you. Here is a photo that I find striking. It was taken in New Orleans in the flood zone. I found it on a new religious left blog called Street Prophets. Check it out.

I Maureen

Since the NYT has started charging for online access to Maureen and Krugman I wondered if I would ever get my fix again. Then along comes George like a knight in shining armor with a link to Maureen's latest. Thanks G!

Message: I Can't

Letter to Dr. Laura

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the other specific laws and how to follow them:

When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them.

Should I smite them?

I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15:19- 24.

The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations.

A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify?

Why can't I own Canadians?

I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination
- Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree.

Can you settle this?

Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here? Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27.

How should they die?

I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops
in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend).

He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? - Lev.24:10-16.

Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your devoted fan,

Jim

Thanks to JimBob

In the dictionary there is a picture of Dubya next to the definition of INCOMPETENCE

FEMA Sends Trucks Full Of Ice For Katrina Victims To Maine

Quote of the day

"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom."
- Isaac Asimov

The Vent from the AJC

Wednesday

Note to George: You can’t file bankruptcy with our country like you did your two companies.

The reason young Jeb Bush is partying, getting arrested and not in Iraq was best explained by the Hank Williams Jr. song “Family Tradition.”

If you think deregulating the airlines was stupid, wait until you get your natural gas bill this winter.

They’re gonna remove “under God” from the pledge? Next thing you know, they’ll remove “play ball” from “The Star Spangled Banner”!

Jesus is proudest of the churches with million-dollar pipe organs.

Poverty is not just the absence of money, but a condition of the spirit.

Eminent domain is just a fancy name for government theft.

Yes, Atlanta, your aquarium is bigger. But in Chicago, we can safely walk through our clean downtown to get to ours.

Why does the bartender in a cowboy movie never give change?

The sorriest people in the world are you venters who don’t understand that freedom of speech is what America is all about.

Too bad we’ve already spent all of our money on the disaster we created in Iraq.

Everything that has ever been deregulated is screwed up.

Quote of the day II

"The 51st state is the state of denial"
-Kurt Vonnegut

FEMA official ordered a doctor to stop saving a woman's life

Sickening

It's ALWAYS about the oil!

Cheney's Office Gave Orders to a Mississippi Power Company to divert crews trying to restore power to two rural hospitals and a number of water systems in the Pine Belt and make them work instead to restore power to a pipeline that sends fuel to the Northeast.

Veterinarian appointed director of the FDA Office of Women's Health

Symbolic of the importance the Bush Administration places on women's health, a male veterinarian has been appointed by FDA Commissioner Lester Crawford as acting director of the Office of Women's Health. Norris E. Alderson, PhD, has spent the majority of his career at the FDA holding various positions in the Center for Veterinary Medicine.

The Office for Women’s Health, which ensures that the FDA remains gender sensitive and monitors the progress of women’s health initiatives, was most recently headed by Dr. Susan Wood. Wood resigned late last month in protest over the FDA’s refusal to grant over-the-counter status to emergency contraception.

This is seriously fucked up. This makes about as much sense as appointing, say, a horse show official to oversee a large emergency management agency.

Too funny

Google "miserable failure" and choose I'm Feeling Lucky...
This is the result.

Thanks to Brenda- via JimBob

Quote of the day

"This I think is where the problem comes in. You can't fight a war in Iraq that's costing upwards of 200 billion dollars and rebuild Katrina-rebuild N.O. and respond to the aftermath of Katrina-and try to deal with all the other domestic needs that we have, and- then cut taxes for the wealthiest 1% of Americana. I mean there was talk right-immediately after the hurricane that the republicans in the senate were still going to push forward with the repeal the estate tax which is mind boggling I think. We need some adult supervision of the budget process..."
-Sen. Barack Obama

Higher Ground

"When the hurricane struck, it did not turn the region into a Third World country - it revealed one"
-Danny Glover

On Saturday night my wife and I watched the live "Higher Ground" hurricane relief benefit concert that was held at Lincoln Center. It was such an eclectic mixture of talent that I was glued to the TV for the entire evening. Everybody from Diana Krall and Elvis Costello to Robin Williams and Buckwheat Zydeco. It was on PBS so it will probably be run several times. I urge you to catch it if you can. You won't be disappointed.

Go here and scroll down in the body of the story to find a link that says (check local listings) and it should show you when it will be shown again in your area. I'll get to see it again this Friday night. I think I'll tape it this time. It's that good!

Emotions Run High at Katrina Jazz Concert

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Avast ye scurvy dogs. Today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, arrrrrrr, and any squint what is caught not talking like a pirate will have his mangey guts torn from his wretched grog pot and laced round his useless head. Properly warned ye be, says I, and Davy Jones Locker waits for them what disobeys.

The Original Talk Like a Pirate Day Site

My Disaster is Bigger than Yours!

It will take several more weeks to tally the number of people left dead, injured and displaced by Hurricane Katrina. This disaster was big news, mainly because much of the destruction was concentrated on the heavily populated and historic city of New Orleans. If a hurricane of equal force had struck a village in Mozambique you can be most certain that it would not have received the exhaustive 24/7 coverage that the Katrina/New Orleans disaster did.

Just last December the world was shocked by the Indian Ocean tsunami, a disaster that left an estimated 125,000 people dead and over 5 million homeless. Remember the horrific earthquake in the Iran town of Bam in 2003? That occurred exactly one year before the tsunami, leaving over 40,000 dead and almost 100,000 homeless. Then there are the recent mudslides in Brazil, fires in France, starvation in Sudan, and yet more fatal ferry accidents in Bangladesh. Across our globe tragedy abounds on a daily basis. Just last week in Japan, Typhoon Nabi killed over 40 people and flooded over 10,000 homes. Ho hum, just another natural disaster. But really, it becomes pointless to argue which disaster is worse, or which is more devastating. You can start counting the number of dead, the ones injured, or those left homeless; but in the end, every disaster is horrible.

One interesting sociological aspect to these tragedies is seeing how the native populations deal with the initial adversity. After the Asian tsunami, local communities in Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka pitched in to help one another and although there were reports of looting, it was minimal. By contrast, many people around the world were shocked to see images of widespread looting and lawlessness that abounded in New Orleans after the hurricane. Is this just the reaction of a desperate populace or indicative of an America that has gone morally astray?

I read an interview last week with Richard Sennett, a professor of Sociology at MIT, and the author of several books (The Hidden Injuries of Class and The Corrosion of Character). He claims that “what happened in New Orleans was not an event. It was the end point of a long process of degradation of American civic life and the evisceration of the state. The inability to deal with the crisis is, in my view, one of the first signs of the decay of the United States.”

Sennett explained that many citizens, responding to what they perceive as decades of injustice, released “a kind of psychological rage” and resorted to looting and destructive behavior. By contrast, Sennett noted that after the Indian Ocean tsunami the victims “despite their poverty…exhibited an enormous collective solidarity in the wake of catastrophe.” This, he reasoned, was because these people were a “socially visible” presence in their communities and not simply a disenfranchised minority.

The ripple effects of Hurricane Katrina will continue for years. It will be interesting to see how the USA responds to the many problems that have reared their ugly heads in the hurricane’s wake.

Quote of the day

"I'll send my sons if he sends his daughters. Put those two drunk bitchess on a plane and let them go fight."
-Damon Wayans

I give that two snaps up in a Z formation!

Can't he do ANYTHING right?

Thanks to skippy the bush kangaroo.

CRAP!

Several months ago I made the joke to my wife that our children were being "Home-Churched" and now I see that The Onion has picked it up. They presumably sucked it right out of my brain. I hate when that happens.

Report: More Kids Being Home-Churched

Following in Uncle Dubya's footsteps

Jeb must be so proud!

Jeb Bush's son arrested for public intoxication

The new Hummer Laptop

Just as tough, reliable, and go anywhere as a HUMMER, this laptop is the perfect addition to your HUMMER lifestyle! Featuring the latest in mobile technology, it's ergonomically styled, and passes the military standard 810F test for operating temperature and vibration.

And best of all it fits perfectly on the laps of those who have small penises.

How can a faithful nation get Jesus so wrong?

There was a great piece in Harper's last month, "The Christian Paradox: How a Faithful Nation Gets Jesus Wrong" by Bill McKibben. It's about how three out of four Americans believe the Bible teaches "God helps those who help themselves." Is this the Gospel according to Mark? Luke? Nope. Actually, it was Benjamin Franklin.

The thing is, McKibben writes, "not only is Franklin's wisdom not biblical; it's counterbiblical. Few ideas could be further from the gospel message, with its radical summons to love oour neighbor. On this essential matter, most Americans—most American Christians—are simply wrong, as if 75 percent of American scientists believed that Newton proved gravity causes apples to fly up."

Republicans Beware

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.

"The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.

The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said, "You have seen Hell."

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said, "I don't understand."

It is simple" said the Lord, "it requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other. While the greedy think only of themselves.

Thanks to JimBob

Friday Bush Monkey blogging

One day at the meeting...

"Mr. Bush has to go tinkle, pass it on."

One nation, indivisible...

Here we go again. Now that another federal judge has taken the bold step in attempting to remove "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, I suspect that one or more members of the Washington taliban will climb on the bandwagon to pass a constitutional amendment sticking "under God" right back in.

Before that happens, I urge our elected representatives to consider not wasting time on patriotic grandstanding. Spend your time more wisely on the matters of the day such as loss of jobs, the federal deficit, paying for Hurricane Katrina relief and getting our troops out of Iraq.

Most American probably agree that the Pledge of Allegiance issue is no more significant in their daily lives than the "great flag-burning controversy." As seductive and alluring as it may be to whoop and holler about yet another "activist" federal judge being un-American, we, the voters, ask that you keep your eye on the ball --- and on the issues that really matter to us.

Sniff This, Bitch!

Drug traffickers in Southeast Asia have discovered a successful new strategy to smuggle drugs across the Thailand-Laos border: confuse the overworked drug-sniffing dogs used at checkpoints by shipping their illegal contraband in overwhelmingly pungent containers.

According to Adul Prayoonsitthi, a regional anti-drugs official in Thailand, drug traffickers have started hiding their drugs under “piles of strong-smelling products such as onions and garlic, or even pla ra” (a disgustingly strong fermented fish paste).

“We have highly trained sniffer dogs at the checkpoint,” said Adul. “But they’re completely drained when they have to smell strong-smelling stuff. The traffickers take the chance when the dogs become weary.”

The confiscation of drug shipments at the Thai border has dropped sharply this year. Officials are attributing this decline to the various “new tricks” drug traffickers have been using, preying on stressed-out canines being just one of their new tactics.

Dubya's address to the nation from New Orleans

I just subjected myself to about 30 minutes of listening to Dubya speak. His speech will be discussed and dissected all day tomorrow but I wanted to share a few of my initial observations.

1) He reads real well but he can't ad lib to save his life.

2) He can't deliver a speech on any subject without mentioning 9/11 or weapons of mass destruction.

3) He is still an asshole regardless of all the positive rhetoric.

Seems to be working

Since initiating the word verification feature I haven't seen one spam comment. Any thoughts? Is it a pain? Does it discourage you from leaving comments? Let me know.

Just a thought...

After Dr. Ben Marble told Cheney to go fuck himself, he was later visited by the authorities and handcuffed for two hours. Presumably for daring to curse at an elected official. I looked all over the internet and can't find one single story that tells when and where Cheney was handcuffed for telling Sen. Patrick Leahy the same thing.

The Spirit of New Orleans (Baseball Style)

When I lived in Orlando back in the 1980s, one of my great pleasures was going to baseball games at Tinker Field. During the regular season it was the home field for the Orlando Twins, a minor league affiliate of the major league club in Minnesota, and for about six weeks every year - from late February until the first week of April – the Minnesota club held their Spring Training sessions there. One of my favorite Twins players during that period was a guy named Ron Washington. He wasn’t a star or even a regular player, but one that settled into the versatile role of a “utility” infielder. Whenever I saw Ron Washington play or take infield practice before games, I could tell that he was very focused on the game and observant of what was happening around him. I had the chance to talk with him briefly one time in Orlando and was further impressed with his attitude and outlook.

It doesn’t surprise me that after retiring as a player Ron Washington became a highly regarded coach in the majors. During the past decade he has worked for the Oakland A’s, coaching and helping develop the skills of many young players coming up to play in “the show.” Due to Washington’s dedication and the great respect the players have for him, one newspaper dubbed him “the heart and soul of the team.”

A native of New Orleans, Ron Washington was featured in a couple of post-hurricane news reports on sports websites last week. Luckily, his family left town before Hurricane Katrina struck, but their home was damaged and most of their possessions were lost. Last week Washington took a temporary leave from his team and went to Alabama to spend three days in a shelter where his wife and 26 other family members were staying. “It was a humbling experience,” he said. “I wouldn't wish staying in a shelter on anyone. I'm one of those guys who believe you don't try to worry about things you can't control. But the more I watch it on TV, my heart begins to go out to the very poor people who are in New Orleans and don't have anything."

"Wash is a guy who puts everybody before himself," said A's outfielder Nick Swisher, who has known Washington since he was ten. "For someone who's gone through what his family has gone through and to be as upbeat as he is, that sums up Wash."

Washington has been showered with offers of help from his team and even former A’s players such as Jason Giambi. "Fans have reached out and tried to help. Ballplayers have reached out to help. I'm overwhelmed by the love and caring that everyone's showing,” said Washington. “I'll be glad when we can get back to New Orleans being New Orleans. It's my home and I want to go back and do as much as I can to help it come back."

With caring citizens like Ron Washington involved, it’s a good bet that New Orleans will rebuild quickly and the spirit of the great city will indeed come back even stronger than before.

Number 4

I visited Rantzilla and saw his post about how if you Google "daily dose of W" his site is the first result. I decided to Google "dubya sez" and Wild Sects only came in 4th. Gotta try harder.

Fascist much?

This exerpt from former FEMA director Mike Brown's resignation is quite telling:

"I'm turning in my resignation today. I think it's in the best interest of the agency and the BEST INTEREST OF THE PRESIDENT to do that and get the media focused on the good things that are going on, instead of me."

No mention that its in the best interest of the people affected by Katrina or of the country as a whole. The reference that its in the best interest of Der Fuhrer is typical of this regime.

Quote of the day II

"The president should stop haunting New Orleans, looking for that bullhorn moment. It's too late."
-Maureen Dowd

Quote of the day

"According to a poll in USA Today, 40% of Mexicans say they would move to the US if they had the chance. The other 60% are already here."
-Jay Leno

Dubya's "ownership society"

In August, as part of a civil judgment, two illegal immigrants from El Salvador took possession of a 70 acre Arizona ranch. The judgement was against a vigilante leader who allegedly threatened them with a gun when he caught them sneaking across the border in March 2003. The illegals said the ordeal left them with posttraumatic stress.

Does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture? They came into the US illegally and, when someone tried to stop them, they sued the person and got his property. What the fuck is going on in this country? The illegals should never have been able to bring the lawsuit against the property owner. They should have been deported and that should have been the end of it.

What if the vigilante had shot them instead of merely threatening them? I'm not condoning violence but in hindsight he probably now thinks that it might have been a good idea. Do you blame him? His government gave his land to people who shouldn't be here in the first place. I fear that this case will embolden illegals who will be tempted to sue anyone who attempts to stop them from entering the US illegally.

I wish our legislators would get off their collective asses and do something about this. Not only for the citizens they are supposed to represent but also for the safety of the illegals. As I've said before. I'm not against immigration. I'm against illegal immigration. There are reasons that there is a process to enter the US. It's to keep criminals and the diseased out. Am I wrong to think this way?

I'd like to hear from conservatives who voted for Dubya because he was the only one who could keep us safe.

Man who said to Cheney "Go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney! Go fuck yourself, you asshole!" no longer a mystery

Meet Dr. Ben Marble

71 year old woman dies after being struck by Lightning

I apologize in advance - I couldn't resist

Ore. Bicyclist Charged With Manslaughter
Sep 12 12:21 PM US/Eastern

CORVALLIS, Ore.

A bicyclist was charged with manslaughter after he ran through a stop sign and struck and killed a 71-year-old woman, police said Monday.

Jean Calder died at Good Samaritan Hospital after she was struck Friday night as she crossed a street at an unmarked crosswalk, Corvallis police Capt. Ron Noble said.

Christopher A. Lightning, 51, was charged with manslaughter and reckless driving.

"A car and a bicycle are both vehicles and if they are operated in a way that could be criminal, then charges are filed equally in both situations," Noble said. "He was going right through a stop sign."

Lightning was being housed in Benton County jail with bail set at $57,500. He will be given a court-appointed lawyer at his arraignment in Benton County.

Quote of the day

"When people don't want to play the blame game, they're to blame."
-Jon Stewart

Only in America?

George W. Bush has a knack for making inaccurate if not purely stupid comments. And many of the things he says, whether intentional or not, clearly gets under the skin of foreign countries.

Take this statement that he made last week in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:
“In America we do not abandon our fellow citizens in their hour of need.”

Seems innocuous at first, but think about it; is the monkey king implying that other countries actually DO abandon their citizens when disaster strikes? That’s not true at all. Even communist and “Evil Empire” countries such as Cuba and Iran are quick to help their own people in a crisis. Besides having a monopoly on “morals” and “decency” does Bush also think that his “In God We Trust” America is the head of some sort of elite Good Samaritan league? It’s no wonder that other countries think Bush is an inconsiderate jerk and mental midget.

But what if someone said this of America: Why does the world’s superpower abandon its poor, homeless, and elderly citizens in their time of need? Go and visit a Nursing Home or the streets of a metropolitan city and think about what the word “abandon” means. There’s the sad evidence.

Word Verification

You may notice that when leaving a comment, you are now asked to complete Word Verification. After disallowing anonymous comments I thought I had the spam problem solved but now I'm getting even more than before but now they aren't anonymous. They are, however, still spam. The Word Verification prevents automated systems from adding comments to the blog, since it takes a human being to read the word and pass this step. I hope this doesn't inconvenience anyone. If it becomes a huge PITA let me know.

Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard

Paul McCartney is releasing a new CD on Tuesday. Being the Beatlemaniac that I am I'll be buying it. My wife knows that am afflicted with Beatlemania so when she saw the CD single of Fine Line from the new CD she bought it for me. I am a lucky man :-) The album art is excellent. I love that photo. I'll have to do a little research and see who did it. At first I thought it might have been Linda but when I zoomed in I realized Paul looks very youthful. I don't think he knew Linda when he was that young.
Fine Line 3mb

Mike Brown Watch

I suppose that piling on FEMA head Mike Brown will get old eventually, but this is too good not to pass along:

In 2002, a pair of FBI agents showed up at a small, well-known law firm near Oklahoma City, asking questions about Mike Brown, a former employee being considered for a job at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

There, Stephen Jones, a lawyer best known for defending bomber Timothy McVeigh, recalled how he hired Brown fresh from law school two decades earlier. He'd been impressed by Brown's stint on a nearby city council.

But just a few years later, Jones and the other four partners decided to split the firm. To minimize job loss, they unanimously agreed to keep 35 of their 37 employees. Brown was not one of them.

"He did not develop the way we wanted," Jones said this week. "He was average. Maybe that's the best way to put it."

Brown was pleasant enough, if a bit opportunistic, Jones said, but he did not put enough time and energy into his job. "He would have been better suited to be a small city or county lawyer," he said. Jones was surprised Brown was being considered for job at FEMA but figured it wasn't impossible he could have risen high enough in local and state government to be considered for a job directing FEMA operations in Oklahoma.

The agents quickly corrected him. This was a national post in Washington, deputy director of FEMA, the arm of the federal government that prepares for and responds to disasters around the United States.

Jones looked at the agents, "You're surely kidding?"

Loving the feel of Vehicle Modification

One of the many urban problems that the city of Bangkok faces is youngsters racing motorcycles in the street at all hours of the night. Several local neighborhoods have tried to rid themselves from this noisy and dangerous public nuisance but to no avail.

But Bangkok city officials are not unreasonable to compromise and have met with young racers in an attempt to find more appropriate places for them to conduct their high-speed hobby. The motorcyclists have requested a series of four-lane tracks, scattered around the city, so that they can race without disrupting normal traffic and sleeping neighbors. In addition to these designated tracks, the racers have asked for a separate pit paddock, a clinic, and even an ambulance to assist their accident-prone brethren

In an article in the Bangkok Post this week, one teenager defended the street racing, saying that the “love of speed and vehicle modification” brought he and his friends closer together. Ah, yes, nothing like those emotional automotive bonds!

"They're trying to wash us away"

One of my all-time favorite albums is Randy Newman’s Good Old Boys. Released in 1974, that album has been described as “a musical tour of the American South.” Indeed, the songs weave a rich tapestry of southern characters, relationships, and incidents. One song on the album, “Louisiana 1927,” is the musical equivalent of historical fiction. Describing the horrific floods that hit the region in 1927, Newman sings:

“Some people got lost in the flood
Some people got away alright…
Louisiana, Louisiana
They’re trying to wash us away,
They’re trying to wash us away”

Eerily, history does repeat itself as witnessed by the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina and the ensuing flooding of New Orleans. In another verse in the song, Newman let’s us hear President Coolidge making a comment to a chubby journalist:
“The President say, ‘Little fat man isn’t it a shame what the river has done to this poor cracker’s land’ ”

Fast forward 78 years and put George W. Bush in the same scenario and it might sound something like this:
“Hey tubby, ain’t it a shame what the hura’kin done did to these poor black folks land.”

Of course, I’m being charitable in this imaginary conversation. I’m not sure which term the Bush family uses for African-Americans around the dinner table, but I’d guess it’s not “black folks.”

FEMA to Halt Debit Cards, Use Bank Deposit

Quick! What's your bank account number? What?! You don't know it by heart? How are evacuees supposed to know that info when many don't have any more than the shirts on their backs? FEMA, in their infinite wisdom is putting an end to the debit cards and is considering direct deposit. Most of these people are very poor. How many do you suppose even have bank accounts? Of the ones that do how many have access to their bank information and account numbers?

The debit card solution may have not been the best idea but it quickly puts much needed funds into the hands of those who need it most.

Story here

Saturday Pix

25 Mind-Numbingly Stupid Quotes About Hurricane Katrina

1) "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." –President Bush, on "Good Morning America," Sept. 1, 2005, six days after repeated warnings from experts about the scope of damage expected from Hurricane Katrina

2) "What I'm hearing which is sort of scary is that they all want to stay in Texas. Everybody is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this (chuckle) – this is working very well for them." –Former First Lady Barbara Bush, on the Hurricane flood evacuees in the Houston Astrodome, Sept. 5, 2005

3) "It makes no sense to spend billions of dollars to rebuild a city that's seven feet under sea level....It looks like a lot of that place could be bulldozed." –House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Aug. 31, 2005

4) "We've got a lot of rebuilding to do ... The good news is — and it's hard for some to see it now — that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house — he's lost his entire house — there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch." (Laughter) —President Bush, touring hurricane damage, Mobile, Ala., Sept. 2, 2005
5) "Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well." –FEMA Director Michael Brown, Sept. 1, 2005

6) "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." –President Bush, to FEMA director Michael Brown, while touring Hurricane-ravaged Mississippi, Sept. 2, 2005

7) "I have not heard a report of thousands of people in the convention center who don't have food and water." –Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, on NPR's "All Things Considered," Sept. 1, 2005

8) "Well, I think if you look at what actually happened, I remember on Tuesday morning picking up newspapers and I saw headlines, 'New Orleans Dodged the Bullet.' Because if you recall, the storm moved to the east and then continued on and appeared to pass with considerable damage but nothing worse." –Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, blaming media coverage for his failings, "Meet the Press," Sept. 4, 2005

9) "I mean, you have people who don't heed those warnings and then put people at risk as a result of not heeding those warnings. There may be a need to look at tougher penalties on those who decide to ride it out and understand that there are consequences to not leaving.” –Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), Sept. 6, 2005

10) "You simply get chills every time you see these poor individuals...many of these people, almost all of them that we see are so poor and they are so black, and this is going to raise lots of questions for people who are watching this story unfold." –CNN's Wolf Blitzer, on New Orleans' hurricane evacuees, Sept. 1, 2005

12) "Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?" –House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-TX), to three young hurricane evacuees from New Orleans at the Astrodome in Houston

13) "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did." –Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA) to lobbyists, as quoted in the Wall Street Journal

14) "Louisiana is a city that is largely under water." –Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, news conference, Sept. 3, 2005

15) "I also want to encourage anybody who was affected by Hurricane Corina to make sure their children are in school." –First Lady Laura Bush, twice referring to a "Hurricane Corina" while speaking to children and parents in South Haven, Mississippi, Sept. 8, 2005

16) "It's totally wiped out. ... It's devastating, it's got to be doubly devastating on the ground." –President Bush, turning to his aides while surveying Hurricane Katrina flood damage from Air Force One, Aug. 31, 2005

17) "I believe the town where I used to come – from Houston, Texas, to enjoy myself, occasionally too much – will be that very same town, that it will be a better place to come to." –President Bush, on the tarmac at the New Orleans airport, Sept. 2, 2005

18) "Last night, we showed you the full force of a superpower government going to the rescue." –MSNBC's Chris Matthews, Sept. 1, 2005

19) "You know I talked to Haley Barbour, the governor of Mississippi yesterday because some people were saying, 'Well, if you hadn't sent your National Guard to Iraq, we here in Mississippi would be better off.' He told me 'I've been out in the field every single day, hour, for four days and no one, not one single mention of the word Iraq.' Now where does that come from? Where does that story come from if the governor is not picking up one word about it? I don't know. I can use my imagination.” –Former President George Bush, who can give his imagination a rest, interview with CNN’s Larry King, Sept. 5, 2005

20) "We just learned of the convention center – we being the federal government – today." –FEMA Director Michael Brown, to ABC's Ted Koppel, Sept. 1, 2005, to which Koppel responded " Don't you guys watch television? Don't you guys listen to the radio? Our reporters have been reporting on it for more than just today."

21) "I don't want to alarm everybody that, you know, New Orleans is filling up like a bowl. That's just not happening." -Bill Lokey, FEMA's New Orleans coordinator, in a press briefing from Baton Rouge, Aug. 30, 2005

22) "FEMA is not going to hesitate at all in this storm. We are not going to sit back and make this a bureaucratic process. We are going to move fast, we are going to move quick, and we are going to do whatever it takes to help disaster victims." --FEMA Director Michael Brown, Aug. 28, 2005

23) "I don't make judgments about why people chose not to leave but, you know, there was a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans." –FEMA Director Michael Brown, arguing that the victims bear some responsibility, CNN interview, Sept. 1, 2005

24) "I understand there are 10,000 people dead. It's terrible. It's tragic. But in a democracy of 300 million people, over years and years and years, these things happen." --GOP strategist Jack Burkman, on MSNBC's "Connected," Sept. 7, 2005

25) "Thank President Clinton and former President Bush for their strong statements of support and comfort today. I thank all the leaders that are coming to Louisiana, and Mississippi and Alabama to our help and rescue. We are grateful for the military assets that are being brought to bear. I want to thank Senator Frist and Senator Reid for their extraordinary efforts. Anderson, tonight, I don't know if you've heard – maybe you all have announced it -- but Congress is going to an unprecedented session to pass a $10 billion supplemental bill tonight to keep FEMA and the Red Cross up and operating." –Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), to CNN's Anderson Cooper, Aug. 31, 2005, to which Cooper responded:

"I haven't heard that, because, for the last four days, I've been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi. And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you, there are a lot of people here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated. And when they hear politicians slap – you know, thanking one another, it just, you know, it kind of cuts them the wrong way right now, because literally there was a body on the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats because this woman had been laying in the street for 48 hours. And there's not enough facilities to take her up. Do you get the anger that is out here?"

To her credit, Sen. Landrieu later said: "If one person criticizes, or says one more thing, including the president of the United States, he will hear from me - one more word about it after this show airs and I - I might likely have to punch him - literally," That's a quote many Americans can stand behind.

"Freedom" Walk

Does this sound like freedom to you? Sorry to be redundant with this story but it bears repeating. This sounds like the type of freedom they experienced in Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union.

Asshat Quote of the day

"Now, tell me the truth, boys, is this kind of fun?"
-Tom DeLay touring the Astrodome, where children evacuated from New Orleans were playing. DeLay likened their stay to being at camp.

Think Piece - Required Reading

Blasphemy About New Orleans: A God With Whom I Am Not Familiar
by Tim Wise

This is an open letter to the man sitting behind me at La Paz today, in Nashville, at lunchtime, with the Brooks Brothers shirt:

You don't know me. But I know you.

I watched you as you held hands with your tablemates at the restaurant where we both ate this afternoon. I listened as you prayed, and thanked God for the food you were about to eat, and for your own safety, several hundred miles away from the unfolding catastrophe in New Orleans.

You blessed your chimichanga in the name of Jesus Christ, and then proceeded to spend the better part of your meal – and mine, since I was too near your table to avoid hearing every word – morally scolding the people of that devastated city, heaping scorn on them for not heeding the warnings to leave before disaster struck. Then you attacked them – all of them, without distinction it seemed – for the behavior of a relative handful: those who have looted items like guns, or big screen TVs.

Please continue...

Michael Brown relieved of his duties

The article doesn't mention if he was fired or not but I suspect that is the next course of action. I would think that in light of Brown's fudged resume, his bungling of his job and the fact that he is grossly unqualified for the job his firing is inevitable. Of course we're talking about the Bush administration where bad job performance will get you a Medal of Freedom.
Here's the article

New song

Sing it loud - sing it proud!

(To the tune of "Tom Dooley")

Go f*** yourself, Dick Cheney
Go f*** yourself and cry
Go f*** yourself, Dick Cheney
Poor folks are gonna die

This is NOT a trick question

What do you call an event in which participants are screened, surrounded by police, and marched on a fenced-in route, all off-limits to the media?

"Freedom Walk", of course.

Can you say IRONIC? I'm also thinking MORONIC. They're spending millions on their little Iraq = Al Qaida party in the name of honoring those killed on 9/11. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the party should be cancelled immediately and whatever funds are left should be sent to NO. If for nothing else they should cancel it out of condolence for the dead and displaced. Nothing gets in the way of a good old Republican celebration or vacation does it?

Friday Bush Monkey blogging

Luckovich 09/09/2005

Smoking in the Massage Room

According to an article in the Bangkok Post this week, administrators at a local secondary school (grades 7-12) have decided not to protest the opening of a new massage parlour located across the street. Bangkok is riddled with massage parlours, many of them huge multi-floor complexes, all of which provide an array of sexual services in addition to back rubs.

The school's director, Sompong Polsoongnoen, said that he sees the opening of the massage venue as "an opportunity to instill morals in students." It doesn't, however, appear as if he's got any massage field trips planned as part of his agenda. Actually, if you believe everything that Sompong says, his students are the ones that need to be instilling morals in their adult educators. According to Sompong, he and the staff at Triam Udomsuksa Pattanakan Ratchadapisek School (try saying that name three times without tripping over your tongue) have "taken students out to collect garbage left by night visitors, and pointed out the aspects of a bad culture. We've done this and I can say that none of our 2,000 students smoke or use drugs."

Naturally, one is tempted to ask: Just what sort of drugs is this guy on? I mean, come on; even if you claimed that you had 200 students that didn't smoke or dabble in drugs, I'd question the accuracy of the statement. But 2,000? No way! Thailand is a very laid back country and still conservative in many ways. Schools are clean and safe. But many teenagers DO smoke and drugs ARE increasingly becoming a problem on campuses nationwide.

Meanwhile, the police chief in charge of a committee that approved the massage parlour's license, said that the school was invited to attend the license request hearing, but they refused. Maybe the director was too busy taking students out on garbage collecting rounds.

No help for the Living

In another cruel twist of logic, the US government is refusing foreign medical teams from assisting with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts for fear of lawsuits.

Thailand had planned to send 60 doctors and nurses to the US this week to help care for those injured in the disaster. But US authorities advised them not to come, fearing waves of a different sort: a possible rash of medical malpractice lawsuits.

"In the United States they are very sensitive about medical treatment because there are a lot of cases of patients suing the doctors," explained Thai Prime Minister Thaskin Shinawatra. "So they are going to use their own doctors and we will send a forensic team instead."

But the fact that Thailand is sending forensic specialists to an overseas location is raising eyebrows back home in the kingdom. The identification of victims from December's tsunami disaster is still nowhere near completion in Thailand. At the current pace, officials say that it could take another three to five years to identify the remaining bodies.

In addition to the forensic team, Thailand is sending 1,500 blankets, three tons of instant noodles, two tons of canned corn, two tons of canned tuna, three tons of canned pineapple, and 15 tons of rice to the hurricane-ravaged area.

Quote of the day

"No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun _ for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax _ This won't hurt."
-Hunter S. Thompson's suicide note

"Show us what you've got"

This is positively sickening. Nice way to represent America.

Storm Survivors Told To 'Expose Themselves'
Sky News Tuesday September 6, 03:28 PM

A group of female hurricane survivors were told to show their breasts if they wanted to be rescued, a British holidaymaker has revealed.Ged Scott watched as American rescuers turned their boat around and sped off when the the women refused.

The account was just another example of the horror stories emerging from the hurricane disaster zone.

Mr Scott, 36, of Liverpool, was with his wife and seven-year-old daughter in the Ramada Hotel when the flood waters started rising.

"At one point, there were a load of girls on the roof of the hotel saying 'Can you help us?' and the policemen said 'Show us what you've got' and made signs for them to lift their T-shirts," he told the Liverpool Evening Echo.

"When the girls refused, they said `Fine' and motored off down the road in their boat."

At one point he had to wade through filthy water to barricade the hotel doors against looters.

He said the experience made him want to vomit.

Mr Scott also slated the rescue operation, saying police were more interested in taking snapshots of the devastation rather than rescuing the victims.

"I could not have a lower opinion of the authorities, from the police officers on the street right up to George Bush," he said.

"I couldn't describe how bad the authorities were. Just little things like taking photographs of us, as we are standing on the roof waving for help, for their own little snapshot albums"

He added: "The American people saved us. I wish I could say the same for the American authorities."

Mike Brocken, of Chester, said he feared his wife Christine and 18-year-old daughter Stephanie would be raped when they went into the Louisiana Superdome.

The family were also racially abused by other refugees in the stadium.

Mr Brocken, a BBC Radio Merseyside presenter and music lecturer, told the station: "We were going to go inside the Superdome.

"I approached two members of the National Guard and they said to stay outside because they knew it was hell in there.

"One female office basically said under no circumstances take the women in there, because she knew what it was like.

"We were so frightened and we stayed alongside the National Guard for some kind of protection.

"It was at that stage that they started to take us under their wing and eventually managed to get us into the basketball stadium."

He added: "Everyone talks about the National Guard in rather derogatory ways historically, but I've got to say that, but for them, and one man in particular, I may well have lost my family."

Via Bob Harris

Playing catch up

It will be a light day on Wild Sects. I have to catch up from Labor Day and two days of sitting on a jury. Hopefully Bangkok Bertha will check in again with another excellent post like Freedom Before Charity.

Telnaes 09/07/2005

Is the FDA just a puppet?

Freedom Before Charity

The Bush administration continues to show their arrogance and bad judgment at every bend in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Cuban President Fidel Castro generously offered to send over 1,500 doctors and 34 tons of medicine to help with relief efforts, but the Cubans had to wait several days before the US even responded. And of course you know what the answer was. This is what the White House spokesman (master of snide comments) Scott McClellan had to say about Castro’s kind offer:
“In terms of Cuba, we would certainly hope that Castro would offer freedom to his people.”

And that’s that. What jerks these Bush-ites are! A neighboring country offers to help victims of the biggest disaster in US history, and the Bush administration allows petty politics to prevent that aid from ever materializing.

While we are on the subject of this much vaunted concept of “freedom,” let’s ask Bush and Scotty this question:
Why won’t the US allow its citizens the freedom to travel to Cuba?

Why does that sound so familiar?

Thanks to Bob Harris

Wing-nuts at it again - or should I say still?

If you've read a single right-wing blog in the last 48 hours you've come across it at least once, but just in case here's the background: some right-winger somewhere found a picture of 200 school busses immersed in water. The picture is now the rallying cry to blame Mayor Nagin and not Dubya for thousands of people dying in New Orleans, because while Bush recieved memos and briefings days in advance that the city should be evacuated of several hundred thousand people and given temporary housing, the Mayor is actually the one to blame for not ordering imaginary bus drivers to drive 200 busses, fill them with people, and drive them to imaginary states that had imaginary relief centers set up to handle the imaginary Federal State of Emergency that hadn't yet been called at the time Nagin would have done all this.

"Free thought and free expression, that's what we believe."-George Bush

On July 4, Jeff and Nicole Rank went to hear George W. Bush speak in Charleston, West Virginia. Tickets in hand, they found seats ten or 15 rows from the stage. There they sat, quietly, wearing t-shirts that read love america, hate bush and regime change starts at home. Forty-five minutes before the president took the podium, event staffers approached the couple and said, "You need to either take those shirts off or leave." According to The San Antonio Express-News, Jeff Rank replied, "People around us have Bush-Cheney t-shirts, pro-Bush t-shirts. Why can't we express our views?" The staffers left, but a few minutes later, two police officers arrived and told the couple to "cover up, take them [the t-shirts] off or leave completely." The Ranks refused, at which point they were handcuffed, expelled from the event, and briefly thrown in prison. With the Ranks safely off the premises, Bush addressed the crowd, declaring that "on the Fourth of July, we confirm our love of freedom, the freedom for people to speak their minds, the freedom for people to worship as they so choose. Free thought and free expression, that's what we believe." Two days later, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Nicole Rank's employer, told her that, as a result of the incident, she was being dismissed from her assignment in West Virginia.

Firefighters used as props for Dubya

From all across the nation, local fire departments have sent firefighters -- many of them trained in emergency medicine and search-and-rescue techniques -- to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The Federal Emergency Management Agency requested the help. But when the firefighters arrived in Atlanta, loaded down with the firefighting gear FEMA told them to bring, they were sent to a hotel to wait. Some of them have been waiting for three or four days now. Some have been assigned to sit through an eight-hour class on topics that included sexual harassment. And some have been dispatched to the disaster area to work as human props behind George W. Bush as he toured the destruction.

More here FEMA.pdf

Luckovich 09/07/2005

Asshat Quote of the day

UPDATE: It's even worse when you hear the bitch chuckle in the audio.

From the Queen Bitch

"So many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway so this --this is working (CHUCKLE) very well for them..."
-Barbara Bush

Just finished my first day of jury duty

Unfortunately I was chosen from the pool. I'm not supposed to discuss the case so here's a hint as to what it's about. It's a song by an Aussie band I used to really dig. You'll have to listen to it for the hint.

Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons 3.5mb

Words from John Prine

John Prine is an American treasure. The talented singer-songwriter has been recording albums since 1971. That debut album included classics such as the humorous "Illegal Smile," the sweet "Angel from Montgomery" (covered by Bonnie Raitt), and the poignant "Hello in There." Throughout his career Prine has skillfuly merged humor, beauty, sadness, and sheer fun to create a rich catalog of songs. Folk, country, rock, pop; whatever you call it, it's always good.

Prine's brand new album, Fair & Square, is another gem. One of the tracks is called "Some Humans Ain't Human." It's prime Prine, laced with sarcasm, wit, and intelligence. Here are a few lines from the song:
"You're feeling your freedom/And the world's off your back/
Then some cowboy from Texas/Starts his own war in Iraq/
Some humans ain't human/Some people ain't kind/
They lie through their teeth/With their head up their behind/

John Prine and his label (Oh Boy) are donating $1 from every CD that they sell this month to the Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund.
www.ohboy.com
www.johnprine.net

Excellent coverage via

Democratic Underground

Heartbreaking

I want to give you one last story and I’ll shut up and let you tell me whatever you want to tell me. The guy who runs this building I’m in, Emergency Management, he’s responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, “Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?” and he said, “Yeah, Mama, somebody’s coming to get you.” Somebody’s coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody’s coming to get you on Friday… and she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night! [Sobbing]

Read more via Think Progress

This is quite strong

An open letter to the president from The Times-Picayune

Quote of the day

"Finally, a personal thought. We have come through what may have been one of the worst weeks in America's history, a week in which government at every level failed the people it was created to serve. There is no purpose for government except to improve the lives of its citizens. Yet as scenes of horror that seemed to be coming from some Third World country flashed before us, official Washington was like a dog watching television. It saw the lights and images, but did not seem to comprehend their meaning or see any link to reality."
-Bob Shieffer blasting the response to Katrina

That's pretty much the reaction Dubya has to everything.

FEMA is more difficult to manage than horse shows...

... but he couldn't even handle that! Mike Brown, the current head of FEMA, was fired from his last job as the commissioner of judges and stewards for the International Arabian Horse Association, a breeders' and horse-show organization based in Colorado. He apparently couldn't handle the job. After a spate of lawsuits over alleged supervision failures he was asked to resign. After that Brown was invited to head FEMA by his old Oklahoma college roommate Joseph Allbaugh, the previous head of FEMA until he quit in 2003 to work for Dubya's re-election campaign.

Just more of the same from this incompetent administration.

The bastard did it!

Bush just named Roberts to the Chief Justice position. Now he gets to name another neocon-friendly asshole to take O'Connor's place. I thought one of the other sitting justices would be moved into Renquist's spot. So much for Scalia's years of ass kissing. Actually I believe Justice Stevens would have been in line for the top spot but since he isn't much of a conservative...

BREAKING NEWS

I really hope the report I saw was inaccurate. It said that Dubya is expected to name John Roberts to head the Supreme Court. Roberts was originally being groomed to take the place of Sandra Day O'Connor but in light of Renquist kicking the bucket he may be moved to the top spot. What a blatant "fuck you" that would be for Dubya to make such a move.

Dubya will make his statement in 10 minutes. I'll keep you posted.

The Vent from the AJC

Monday

I am fed up and disgusted by Atlantans moaning about high gas prices. You have made the choice to be overdependent on your gas-guzzling cars. No one is stopping you from using public transit. The environment is more important than your morning commute.

The Bush administration couldn't organize a church picnic.

Until I see a gas station owner prosecuted, I'm saying Sonny (Governor of GA Sonny Perdue)is all talk and no action.

Bush says our lives will soon be returning to normal. But his will be returning to normal much, much faster than ours.

Get ready for the new video game, "Grand Theft Airboat: New Orleans."

That vent about George Bush bombing the Atlantic because that's where Katrina came from is so wrong. He would bomb the Pacific.

I'm going to start stealing cars so I can sell gas.

I went to New Orleans for a hurricane party and all I got was a plasma TV and 30 pairs of Air Jordans.

I knew the Louisiana Purchase was a bad idea.

The mayor of New Orleans should have threatened to remove someone's feeding tube. That would have gotten Bush and Congress off their duffs.

Sure would have been nice to have used some of W's tax cut money on New Orleans' levees.

New Orleans, I'm ashamed to be called a compassionate conservative.

If we could airlift food and water to Berlin after WWII, why can't we do the same for New Orleans?

I feel another tax cut coming.

I guess Bush thought New Orleans was in a blue state.

After reading the press reports about New Orleans, I'm glad to be safe here in Baghdad.

Here's a toast to the NRA! The right to bear arms is the only thing giving the
good people of New Orleans the ability to protect themselves from rescue helicopters.

New graphic

In response to the gross incompetence displayed by Dubya in the wake of Katrina I decided to update the graphic that heads the right column. I borrowed the image from Tom. Thanks Tom!

Vacation is Over... an open letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush

Friday, September 2nd, 2005

Dear Mr. Bush:

Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag.

Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with?

Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her!

I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike?

And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ!

On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that.

There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland.

No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this!

You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit.

Yours,

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
www.MichaelMoore.com

P.S. That annoying mother, Cindy Sheehan, is no longer at your ranch. She and dozens of other relatives of the Iraqi War dead are now driving across the country, stopping in many cities along the way. Maybe you can catch up with them before they get to DC on September 21st.

Their Own Damn Fault?

It's becoming common knowledge that FEMA "wargamed" a hurricane strike in southern Louisiana this past July. Among the findings was that a hurricane would "leave 300,000 people trapped in New Orleans, many of whom would not have private transportation for evacuation." By now it's been discussed why many people couldn't just up and leave the city when the evacuation order came: not everyone has private transportation, it was the end of the month and many poor people were out of savings, where would they go if they could find transportation, what if the hurricane changed course and they were docked for missing work as many were threatened with, etc., etc. Nevertheless, Michael Brown, the head of FEMA, still insists on blaming those who "chose not to evacuate" New Orleans. Despite the fact that his own agency knew full well this would happen. Fucking unbelievable. Meanwhile, former Sen. John Edwards looks at the possible bright side and thinks that, at the very least, the New Orleans disaster may actually get people to notice the reach and effects of poverty in the region. Not to mention the ineffectiveness of the Dubya administration.

Goodbye to another rock legend

James Dewar 1942-2002

I am ashamed of myself for not knowing that he died 3 years ago. He was a big part of my teenage years as the bass player and vocalist for one of my all time favorite bands. Robin Trower. I hope this belated memorial urges you to seek out more Trower recordings and enjoy Jimmy's huge talent.

The man whom many have called "The Pavarotti of rock ‘n’ roll" died peacefully in his sleep on May 16, 2002 after a long illness.

Strangely, Jimmy’s career was not to begin with his vocal talents, but as guitar player with Lulu and the Lovers in the early 60s. From that point on, Jimmy’s career was to flourish beyond all his expectations.

Maggie Bell took him on board with the legendary Stone the Crows and the shy man’s voice was soon exposed on classics like The Touch of your Loving Hand. Another young singer had exploded on to the music scene, but the best was yet to come.

Living in London with his wife Martha and their young family, he was approached by Frankie Miller. The two Glasgow buddies were having a small refreshment when out of the blue Frankie told Jimmy that "there might be a job going" with some guitar player called Robin Trower, that the music industry insiders were raving about. "What kind of job?" asked Jimmy. Frankie laughed and said, "Oh, I don’t know. Maybe playing bass, maybe singing". Jimmy applied and got both jobs.

The Robin Trower Band became the hottest thing on the planet and introduced "Stadium Rock" to the USA. Frankie was right! The RTB were the first band to sell tickets by the hundreds of thousands. Gold and Platinum albums were thrown at them like frisbees.

Among James Dewar's biggest fans were Frankie Miller, Billy Connolly, Donny Hathaway, Rod Stewart, not forgetting Maggie Bell and Lulu herself.

The famous Scottish screenwriter, Peter McDougall, still talks of his first experience of meeting Jimmy. When having a drink with Frankie, Peter noticed that the man standing next to him was clothed in snakeskin trousers, cowboy boots and not much else. "Who’s that?" Peter asked. Frankie replied "That’s James Dewar". Peter howled, "Well, I want to be one of them!"

It says it all. Everyone from Metallica to the Stereophonics were influenced by the voice of the Scotsman. The man the music industry recognized as the voice from heaven has finally gone home. We will all miss you James.

I offer you one of my favorite Robin Trower songs with Jimmy on bass and vocals. It's called Little Bit of Sympathy from the Bridge of Sighs album. One line that strikes me now that Jimmy is gone is "When my time is passed is it too much to ask for a Little Bit of Sympathy?"

Little Bit of Sympathy 4.1mb

Quote of the day

Attention all Democrats in Congress!

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men
to do nothing."
-Edmund Burke, British statesman and philosopher

The right has gotten their wish

They wanted an ineffective government and that's exactly what we have. The slow response with aid to NO is what happens when you take away the power of government. The point of effective government is to keep what is happening there from happening to society. There is no better poster boy for the ineffectivity of government than Dubya.

The meaning of Homeland Security, originally a Democratic idea, is that you secure the land you live on. By now the vacuum of leadership is becoming apparent even to TV viewers.

Dubya is oblivious to what's going on around him. It's starting to seem like he's heavily medicated. Do they have him take these long vacations so they can change his meds? What's going on here?

He's got to go. NOW!

Luckovich 09/02/2005

Reason enough for impeachment

In early 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a report stating that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S., including a terrorist attack on New York City. But by 2003 the federal funding for the flood control project essentially dried up as it was drained into the Iraq war. In 2004, the Bush administration cut funding requested by the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain by more than 80 percent.

So how many more deaths and how much more destruction will we have to endure because Chimpy ignores warnings from experts who know what they're talking about?

Read all about it.

Quote of the day

"I don't treat my dog like that," 47-year-old Daniel Edwards said as he pointed at a dead woman in the wheelchair. "I buried my dog." He added: "You (Bush) can do everything for other countries but you can't do nothing for your own people. You can go overseas with the military but you can't get them down here."

Aftermath

There is nothing I can add or cover better than it's already being covered on AMERICAblog. Go read it. It will absolutely break your heart.