News – Candid on Camera
North America
Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans was shocked after watching a video that showed Bush being told the day before Hurricane Katrina hit that the city’s protective levees could fail. A tape that shows he straight up lied when he said after the hurricane that no one anticipated the levees breaking. “I want to assure the folks at the state level that we are fully prepared to not only help you during the storm, but we will move in whatever resources and assets we have at our disposal after the storm to help you deal with the loss of property,” Bush says in the video. “We pray there’s no loss of life, of course.”
Bullshit, Bush. Plain and simple. The response during and after has been sluggish and disorganized. Adding the fact that he pretty much lied straight out about the levees only compounds his folly. Why trust this man?
Like Pavlov’s dogs, the Bush administration seems to be learning again, after being smacked. They’re noting investigation of two more companies acquiring assets in America that could have national security implications. Better late than never, I suppose. Pity they still haven’t learned for other aspects of domestic security.
Rep. Clay Shaw, a Florida Republican, pokes the Bush administration, wondering what they’re going to do to prevent Saudi Arabia from participating in the Arab League boycott of Israel. Since WTO rules say WTO members can’t discriminate against other WTO members, take it to the WTO and get Saudi ejected. Of course, if they do that the blowback is likely to hit us just where it hurts most. In oil.
The AFL-CIO wants the US to put a surcharge on imports to help fight the trade deficit. Not gunna happen, considering how anti-tax Bush is.
Middle East
Sectarian violence lingers, it seems. Not at the shattering level that rose after the mosque bombing, but a slow, steady trickle is no less deadly to any hopes to calm and tame the region and troop pullout.
The US seals a nuclear deal with India. Now, after the deal is sealed, Bush talks about working with Congress to change laws. Personally, I would have thought it smarter to change the laws first, then seal the deal. That, of course, won’t clear up the fact that this little deal is against the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, giving India prizes that countries are only supposed to get after signing onto the treaty. Which more or less contributes to making said treaty irrelevant. Then again, Bush is famous for thumbing his nose at international treaties.
A bomb goes outside the US Consulate in Pakistan, killing an American a head of Bush’s India trip.
The parents of three Israeli children killed in suicide bombings send a petition with 32,000 signatures to Hollywood, demanding the movie Paradise Now be removed from the Oscars. Paradise Now is a film that portrays two suicide bombers planning an attack. They’re worried that this film getting acclaim will encourage more to be suicide bombers. They should be more worried about the actions of their leaders encouraging more Palestinians to become bombers. I’ve never heard of this movie until this little story on their petition, showing that their railing against the movie has only increased its exposure to the world, with a minimal chance that the film will be dropped from the Oscars.
Saddam admits that he ordered the trial of Shia villagers and that Dujail farms be destroyed, but maintains that said action was not a crime. He says he specified the farmlands of those who were convicted. Think about this for a moment. At the very least, the destruction of property has a loose parallel to Israel’s own unilateral destruction of homes in Palestine. Israel receives no flack for that, thus I wonder what right there is to convict Saddam of such charges. I’m still musing the admittance of his ordering the trials.
Faik Bakir, director of the Baghdad morgue, flees Iraq after revealing that more than 7,000 people have been killed by death squads in recent months. Considering there might be evidence of Iraqi government death squads doing some of the killing, I wouldn’t doubt he is in fear for his life.
Reza Pankhurst, Maajid Nawaz and Ian Nisbett, three Britons jailed in Egypt for spreading propaganda for an Islamist group, say they were tortured for their political beliefs and forced to sign false confessions. I wouldn’t be surprised, Egypt is hardly a clean ally.
General
A cheat sheet for parents on MySpace.com. If your kid has a spot on the site, make sure to keep an eye on it, to make sure they don’t give away too much personal information. It’s never a bad time to teach your children about safety on the net. Of course, don’t go overboard.
The Blogs look at Bush’s announcement about seeking Bin Laden on his visit to Afghanistan, CBS’s lawsuit against Howard Stern and the first post-Katrina Mardi Gras.
Today’s Papers has a major decrease in fines related to mine safety during the Bush Administration, the feds suing New York State claiming the state hasn’t complied with a federal mandate to toss out its creaky voting machines, Sunni, Kurdish, and secular Iraqi parties pushing for Shiites to withdraw their divisive pick for prime minister, Ibrahim Jaafari and more in the one page news.
Amusements
Firefighters attack blaze with hoses. Homeowner attacks firefighters with sword. Police attack homeowner with stun gun. The circle of life is complete
<A HREf="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=29&art_id=iol114110356674B255″>Police dismayed to discover that burglar who dazzled them with awesome lock-picking skills turned out to be 11-year-old schoolgirl
Bad: You leave your credit card at the store. Worse: Clerks decide to use card to buy items at store. Fark.com: Surveillance video
If you plan to create fake passport, make sure you know how to spell “Ministry” and “Government.” Jailarity ensues
Man showing off his OnStar system ends up getting himself busted for cocaine possession
Yet another Florida man arrested for drugs after driving around without pants. “While it’s not illegal to drive in your underwear, it is certainly strange and I wouldn’t recommend it,” advises sheriff’s office
Bill O’Reilly once dressed like a pimp. The Smoking Gun is there
Even though the case was already dismissed in court, plumber sics bounty hunters on woman for unpaid bill. Hilarity ensues
Man fails pathetically to avoid paying gigantic strip club bill
You can stop reading after the phrase “Penis-Melting Zionist Robot Combs”
World’s first and only Brokeback Mountain PEZ dispensers
Britain discovers two of its satellite phones stolen from a diplomat in Baghdad have been used for a sex chat line for the past 17 months
Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this guy on a mountain
Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this cigarette man
Fark Photoshop Challenge: Theme: The world today if Drago defeated Rocky at the end of “Rocky IV”