And The Good News Just Keeps A’ Comin’

A tropical wave sweeping WNW through the central Caribbean is being monitored for further development. Convection with the system diminished last night, but redeveloped rapidly this morning. Conditions are becoming more favorable for additional strengthening of the system as it pushes toward the northwest Caribbean, so an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft may be dispatched to check out the disturbance tomorrow.
Another disturbance being watched is moving westward in the central Atlantic about halfway between Africa and South America near 10 degrees north. Convection is beginning to develop around a low pressure center associated with the system, so further development is possible.

We’ve only got four terrific name choices left…

Stan ~ Tammy ~ Vince ~ Wilma

…and they’re all getting on my last nerve.

Let Me See If I Understand…

Karl Rove is Evuul Incarnate, and it is a Bad Thing that he is pulling all the strings in Washington. This is a given, no?
So why is my glorious Senator Laughenberg upset that he was not in DC when Rita arrived?

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senator from New Jersey is criticizing White House adviser Karl Rove for planning to attend a North Dakota fundraiser the same day Hurricane Rita is expected to hit Texas.
Democrat Frank Lautenberg sent a letter to President Bush Friday saying “it would be expected that Mr. Rove would be at his post ’24/7′ during this crisis.”

You would think they’d be rejoicing that Sauron was off to inspect the Gulags in North Dakota.
Heck, even the Democrats think he’s swell:

“Rove is putting politics over people,” said Rick Gion, a spokesman for the state Democratic Party. “What is he doing politicking in North Dakota when the people of the Gulf Region need his help?“

Heh.

I Knew There Had to Be An Explanation

Facial bone loss contributes to aging
Study: CAT scans show shrinking volume to blame for wrinkled skin

Whew! I thought it was bad surgery.
UPDATE: We’ve identified the source of the disturbing model for this story…

Read more »

Why Did I Think She Was Bra Shopping…

When I saw this headline:

Pamela Anderson seeks restraining order

It’s Good to Keep Abreast of SCOTUS Matters

Top court to review Anne Nicole Smith’s case
Stripper-turned-reality TV star is appealing ruling on late husband’s fortune

Ah, the law.

Katrina Chaos Redux

Updating our Katrina coverage: The LA Times, of all publications, is jumping into this. Are they channeling Pete King? Other stories that didn’t get out…

Louisiana National Guard Col. Thomas Beron, who headed security at the Superdome, said that for every complaint, “49 other people said, ‘Thank you, God bless you.’ “

Now, how sad is that? And the money quote of the day?

“My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional,” Brown told a special congressional panel set up by House Republican leaders to investigate the catastrophe.
-Former FEMA director Michael Brown

Somebody should have asked us. We could have told him so, free of charge.
ADDENDUM UPDATE: Lest anyone think Pete King and Mr. Brown are overstating the utter DISGRACE that is the New Orleans Police Department…

NOPD says 249 officers were AWOL after Katrina
Compass plans tribunal to judge each case
Missing officers were nearly 15% of force
The New Orleans Police Department has identified 249 officers who left their posts without permission during Hurricane Katrina and the storm’s chaotic aftermath, and is now trying to distinguish out-and-out deserters from those who had compelling reasons to be AWOL.

And there’s this comforting tid-bit…

Mayor Ray Nagin said the city attorney’s office will review Compass’ plan to ensure that it falls within Civil Service regulations that cover all classified city employees.

Privately, they’re worried, because not much of anyone wanted to be a New Orleans cop to begin with.
ADDENDUM REDUX: Thank God Newsweek found someone to explain whose fault it was.

In your opinion, what went wrong with the response to Katrina?
In terms of the preparedness, a lot of the key issues or aspects of disaster preparedness could have been implemented much better [at] all levels, from the top to individuals. At the top we had a president who, in knowing one of major cities in the country was going to take a big hit, elected to continue on vacation.

And Mayor Noggin, Governor Blameco, et al’s culpability quotient ?

How do you think the response to Katrina was handled on the state and local levels?
The blame does not just rest with the federal administration. Louisiana had an emergency response plan and New Orleans had an emergency office. And a lot of lessons and issues that were known could have been implemented better…

I’d call that insightful analysis a get out of jail free card. And Mr. Kelman has one more swipe at the administration in him…

Several Bangladeshi experts said, “If you bring me over I will help.” As far as I know, the U.S. did not take them up on that.

WTF is that? Oh my God,::GASP::, we turned down the Bangladeshis, bless their hearts?!! That’s important enough to mention why? Cheap shot ‘why’, that’s WHY. But I’m equally as sure we thanked them for their kind offer, so I can sleep tonight, even knowing what I do now.

Oh how I love….

battleships!

Mr. Summers, Your Dancin’ Shoes Are Ready

That’ll be $385.

Peter King is a GOD

…the president had no way of knowing that the New Orleans Police and Fire Departments were going to disappear, that the governor wasn’t going to adequately use the National Guard, and that the mayor had not put sufficient water and food into the Superdome.

Chris Matthews lets the wrong guy answer his questions. Aw, jeez, the interview is a thing of beauty. Read it and weep.
A Swill Salute to our good friend, The Radio Blogger.

You Knew It Was Coming…

…but it doesn’t make it any easier to swallow.

WASHINGTON – Whatever the reasons, residents of heavily Republican Texas seemed to get better treatment from the government during Hurricane Rita than the mostly black, poor and Democratic victims of Katrina in Louisiana. The issue of race is likely to linger in the aftermath of the two big storms.
Government mistakes in the first storm, including failure to provide a means of evacuation for tens of thousands of New Orleans residents stranded in flooding low-lying areas, exposed racial and social fault lines.
These divides may be reinforced, rather than diminished, by the government’s far more robust response to Hurricane Rita.
Texas is the president’s home state, has a Republican governor and is the home of big oil. New Orleans before Katrina was heavily populated by poor blacks who vote Democratic.

I wish I could find the link to the article I was reading this afternoon that headlined with how much wealthier that portion of LA and TX were compared to New Orleans. Buried a couple paragraphs down was a ‘not really wealthier, just better off, because these folks owned cars and boats, etc.’ backpedal. It was pretty disgusting. The folks in New Orleans are already pulling a Cindy Sheehan ‘because of Rita, they’ve already forgotten about us!’, with the implied meaning ‘because all them rich Republican Houston socialites are white‘. As far as homes and new lives and a chance to put food on the table, I’ve got a couple forgotten names for you. Charlie, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. There’s quite a few folks in Florida who would consider themselves to be well ahead of New Orleans in line. And quite a few county governments still waiting on FEMA payments for services they were supposed to be partially reimbursed for. Stuff had to get hauled away. Those contractors had to get paid when they did it. We’re one of the poorest counties in the state and we’re still waiting. This ain’t Palm Beach, New Orleans, beaches or no beaches. And you ain’t the Queen of France. Get in line.

We’re #5!!!

It’s an honor to appear on the same page as the “Coalition of Immokalee Workers”!
Hahahaha!

Peggy Noonan takes W..

to task, rightfully so. So much for conservatism……

I for one feel we need to go back to conservatism 101. We can start with a quote from Gerald Ford, if he isn’t too much of a crabbed and reactionary old Republican to quote. He said, “A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.”

Barry Diller, Literary Archivist

…The genteel butler that has been Ask Jeeves Inc.’s face for nearly a decade is getting ousted in a corporate takeover. Jeeves, the slightly chubby and balding English butler based on P.G. Wodehouse’s eponymous and ever-resourceful manservant, isn’t the kind of image that e-commerce conglomerate InterActiveCorp wants representing the Ask Jeeves search engine, according to IAC Chairman Barry Diller…
…Diller announced that his company intends to drop Jeeves as a mascot and shorten the search site’s name to Ask or Ask.com. “Not that I don’t like that fat butler,” Diller said

Nor we the fat cat, classless corporate executive.
Oh, who am I kidding? What’s the percentage of Ask Jeeves users who even know who Wodehouse is to begin with? All gentle things coarsen these days or fade away completely.

Man! What Is It With Scotties?!

I have one of these bad bears. Ebola got it for me when he was working at Best Buy and it is the pride and joy of my life. It can suck the dust out of a pyramid through a roachhole.
Mine in covered in teethmarks. Earned while in use. The Dyson has fared considerably better than the Oreck; that whole headlight/faceplate thing came off in one chomp. But damn. Why can’t I ever get anything that stays shiny and new for longer than the first three days I have it? Check ‘victim‘ in the dictionary. It’ll say “see: sister, tree hugging“.

Another One of Life’s

…odd juxtapositions. Two adjacent stories on MSNBC.com.

• Jury weighs conflicting portrayals of Lynndie England
• Lawyers lay out arguments in key evolution trial

Could they both be talking about the same thing?

“Missed It By That Much”

Actor Don Adams dead at 82
Played secret agent Maxwell Smart in ‘Get Smart’

And we’ll miss you by T H I S much.

And It Wasn’t The LabraDork!

PLANTATION, Florida (AP) — The veterinarian thought the X-ray was a joke.
Jon-Paul Carew has seen strange items get into the stomachs of dogs before, things like kebab skewers and small utensils. But a 13-inch serrated knife in a 6-month-old puppy?
That was a new one.
“I was just flabbergasted,” said Carew, of Imperial Point Animal Hospital in Fort Lauderdale.
The knife was removed this week from Elsie, a Saint Bernard puppy.

But I bet the Labradork was the one who first tried to chew on it:

She thinks one of her six other dogs — four Saint Bernards, a German shepherd and a Labrador — somehow got the knife off a counter and it eventually made its way to Elsie.

These are all in her house?
OMG.

‘Katrina’ Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry

Rumors of deaths greatly exaggerated
Widely reported attacks false or unsubstantiated
6 bodies found at Dome; 4 at Convention Center
In interviews with Oprah Winfrey, Compass reported rapes of “babies,” and Mayor Ray Nagin spoke of “hundreds of armed gang members” killing and raping people inside the Dome…
Four weeks after the storm, few of the widely reported atrocities have been backed with evidence. The piles of bodies never materialized, and soldiers, police officers and rescue personnel on the front lines say that although anarchy reigned at times and people suffered unimaginable indignities, most of the worst crimes reported at the time never happened.

It’s much easier to cover your incompetent, lackluster a$$, when you pump up the story to include firefights, rampaging natives, Swift boats under attack, heroic rescues, bodies in the wat…wait…that was Kerry. No wonder I was confused! Same sh$tty story, just different storytellers.
More Katrina above.

Read more »

A Marine’s Message To The “Minute Men”

Swill Salute to the wondrous Florida Cracker, who doesn’t like ragout.

Bushy McChimphitler Has Destroyed Our Society!

Which is why crime is at a 30 year low:

The nation’s crime rate was unchanged last year, holding at the lowest levels since the government began surveying crime victims in 1973, the Justice Department reported Sunday.

Because, as we all know, Rove has gathered his minions about him in the super-secret lair where they perform their own, unreported crimes! Muwhahahahahaah!
Oh, in case you were wondering which crime victims were surveyed:

Murder is not counted because the bureau’s study is based on statements by crime victims…

Mother Sheehan speaks for them, natch.

…In a separate report based on preliminary police data, the FBI found a 3.6 percent drop between 2003 and 2004 — from 16,500 to 15,910. Chicago was largely responsible for the decrease.

So murders have dropped quite a bit in Chicago, as have the resultant voter registrations.

You Know, I Hate Excuse Makers

But in light of self congratulatory headlines like these:

Defenders of Iraq war counter-rally
Smaller-than-expected gathering follows anti-war protest
WASHINGTON (AP) — Support for U.S. troops fighting abroad mixed with anger toward anti-war demonstrators at home as hundreds of people, far fewer than organizers had expected, rallied Sunday on the National Mall just a day after tens of thousands protested against the war in Iraq.

…I’m given to ponder if there’s, perhaps, a disconnect between the Cindy Sheehans of the world and the Un-Cindys.

Read more »

May be getting to see a movie on Tuesday…

Movie website here.

Joss Whedon, the Oscar® – and Emmy – nominated writer/director responsible for the worldwide television phenomena of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE, ANGEL and FIREFLY, now applies his trademark compassion and wit to a small band of galactic outcasts 500 years in the future in his feature film directorial debut, Serenity. The film centers around Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran (on the losing side) of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. He leads a small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family –squabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal.

Never saw the series on TV it is derived from, but it sounds interesting.

I’ll try to give my thoughts on it once I’ve seen it, but be warned, my tastes in movies is…um…odd.

Today’s ‘Lose Your Lunch, Barf Your Buffet‘ Entry

I will never, ever forgive The Gateway Pundit for this horrific vision.
Some things were never meant to be seen.

Rita and Perdido Key

Kidnapped Major Dad and forced him to drive the car while I snapped.

With the dunes all lost during Ivan, the sand has it’s way with the main drag.

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When the Sharks Are Busy

…you call in the reserve.

Gator found tied to palm tree at Pensacola Beach
PENSACOLA BEACH, Fla. — John Jackson didn’t panic when he saw a six-foot alligator between his home and his neighbor’s house Friday in this barrier island community.
“I wasn’t worried,” said Jackson. “It was tied up.”

We’re non-discriminating animal lovers here. Dog, shark, gator ~ as long as you curb your animal and use a pooper scooper, we could care less.