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I know what I said, but sweet zombie pastalord.
FEMA is directing Katrina donations to none other than the Rev. Pat Robertson.
Millions of Americans and people around the world have rushed to donate money to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which is shaping up to be one of the worst U.S. disasters in history, if not the worst.
FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is the lead federal agency in the rescue & recovery operation at work in New Orleans and the Mississippi gulf coast.
FEMA has released to the media and on its Web site a list of suggested charities to help the storm’s hundreds of thousands of victims. The Red Cross is first on the list.
The Rev. Pat Robertson’s “Operation Blessing” is next on the list.
You can't make this shit up.
Also, FEMA chief blames the victims. I think I'll take a handful of meds now.
FEMA is directing Katrina donations to none other than the Rev. Pat Robertson.
Millions of Americans and people around the world have rushed to donate money to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which is shaping up to be one of the worst U.S. disasters in history, if not the worst.
FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is the lead federal agency in the rescue & recovery operation at work in New Orleans and the Mississippi gulf coast.
FEMA has released to the media and on its Web site a list of suggested charities to help the storm’s hundreds of thousands of victims. The Red Cross is first on the list.
The Rev. Pat Robertson’s “Operation Blessing” is next on the list.
You can't make this shit up.
Also, FEMA chief blames the victims. I think I'll take a handful of meds now.
Consumers can expect retail gas prices to rise to $4 a gallon soon but whether they stay there depends on the long-term damage to oil facilities from Hurricane Katrina, oil and gas analysts said Wednesday.
"There's no question gas will hit $4 a gallon," Ben Brockwell, director of pricing at the Oil Price Information Service, said. "The question is how high will it go and how long will it last?"
In other news, there are chainsaws and a tree-limb-shredding-machine in full-bore operation just outside the bedroom window. I think it's time to start drinking.
Also worth nothing: the Tulane University website is in emergency-blog mode.
"There's no question gas will hit $4 a gallon," Ben Brockwell, director of pricing at the Oil Price Information Service, said. "The question is how high will it go and how long will it last?"
In other news, there are chainsaws and a tree-limb-shredding-machine in full-bore operation just outside the bedroom window. I think it's time to start drinking.
Also worth nothing: the Tulane University website is in emergency-blog mode.
Though all of my clan seems to be safe, the situation worsens in the hurricane-struck states. Via Boing Boing: an e-mail from a rescue worker in N'awlins, with commentary. First, the commentary:
The poorest 20% (you can argue with the number -- 10%? 18%? no one knows) of the city was left behind to drown. This was the plan. Forget the sanctimonious bullshit about the bullheaded people who wouldn't leave. The evacuation plan was strictly laissez-faire. It depended on privately owned vehicles, and on having ready cash to fund an evacuation. The planners knew full well that the poor, who in new orleans are overwhelmingly black, wouldn't be able to get out. The resources -- meaning, the political will -- weren't there to get them out.
White per capita income in Orleans parish, 2000 census: $31,971. Black per capita: $11,332. Median *household* income in B.W. Cooper (Calliope) Housing Projects, 2000: $13,263.
And snips of the e-mail:
There are dead animals floating in the water, pets left behind. Surely people thought they would be back to collect the pets. Not so. The rescuers smell like gas when they come back in; there's gas in all of the water that consumes the area. Fires are burning all over the place. Our teams are tired and they are thirsty and they are hungry. And they have a place to sleep and water to drink and food to eat. I can only imagine how the people without these "luxuries" are feeling right now....
Maybe it's not our worst nightmare scenario, but it still a nightmare.
The poorest 20% (you can argue with the number -- 10%? 18%? no one knows) of the city was left behind to drown. This was the plan. Forget the sanctimonious bullshit about the bullheaded people who wouldn't leave. The evacuation plan was strictly laissez-faire. It depended on privately owned vehicles, and on having ready cash to fund an evacuation. The planners knew full well that the poor, who in new orleans are overwhelmingly black, wouldn't be able to get out. The resources -- meaning, the political will -- weren't there to get them out.
White per capita income in Orleans parish, 2000 census: $31,971. Black per capita: $11,332. Median *household* income in B.W. Cooper (Calliope) Housing Projects, 2000: $13,263.
And snips of the e-mail:
There are dead animals floating in the water, pets left behind. Surely people thought they would be back to collect the pets. Not so. The rescuers smell like gas when they come back in; there's gas in all of the water that consumes the area. Fires are burning all over the place. Our teams are tired and they are thirsty and they are hungry. And they have a place to sleep and water to drink and food to eat. I can only imagine how the people without these "luxuries" are feeling right now....
Maybe it's not our worst nightmare scenario, but it still a nightmare.
Dad got home last night, took off again this morning, shuttling portable cell phone towers to Alabama. It appears there's an increased demand for them right about now, for some reason.
Maybe it's related to this: Levee breaks, sandbags and pumps fail: nine feet of water expected in the entire east bank in 12-15 hours. Rewritten to remove caps: you can forgive the website for breaking out all-caps and red text this once, I think. Also from the site: Residents will probably be allowed back in town in a week, with identification only, but only to get essentials and clothing. You will then be asked to leave and not come back for one month. Whoa.
Also, even if you're a deputy at a prison, do you think maybe that the safest place to take your family might not be the prison? Jesus. This ain't gonna be pretty.
Maybe it's related to this: Levee breaks, sandbags and pumps fail: nine feet of water expected in the entire east bank in 12-15 hours. Rewritten to remove caps: you can forgive the website for breaking out all-caps and red text this once, I think. Also from the site: Residents will probably be allowed back in town in a week, with identification only, but only to get essentials and clothing. You will then be asked to leave and not come back for one month. Whoa.
Also, even if you're a deputy at a prison, do you think maybe that the safest place to take your family might not be the prison? Jesus. This ain't gonna be pretty.
Televangelist and self-proclaimed Biblical prophecy expert Jack Van Impe denounced Pat Robertson's call for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, comparing Robertson to Osama bin Laden.
"...Not only that, but Mr. Robertson, you are pro-life, and yet you wanted the members of the Supreme Court to die last year, and now the president of Venezuela. We believe this book: Thou shalt not kill; Exodus 20, verse 13. And my Bible says that this is wrong, and I want to challenge you right now to change your ways. Because we as Christians do not need an Osami [sic] Bin Laden leading us."
This is what I've been waiting for -- Robertson to get called out on the obvious hypocricy of his stance, and there's been far too much silence on the matter. Awesome. (Ganked from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dragonscholar.)
In other news, I got OS X 10.3 running at home. W00t!
"...Not only that, but Mr. Robertson, you are pro-life, and yet you wanted the members of the Supreme Court to die last year, and now the president of Venezuela. We believe this book: Thou shalt not kill; Exodus 20, verse 13. And my Bible says that this is wrong, and I want to challenge you right now to change your ways. Because we as Christians do not need an Osami [sic] Bin Laden leading us."
This is what I've been waiting for -- Robertson to get called out on the obvious hypocricy of his stance, and there's been far too much silence on the matter. Awesome. (Ganked from
dragonscholar.)In other news, I got OS X 10.3 running at home. W00t!
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From MetaFilter: the distinction between people who "loot" and people who "find" -- is it simply black and white? (Edit: okay, I feel better -- the AP pics call it "looting," AFP has apparently changed "borrowed" to "finding," leaving the awkwardness of the phrase "finding ... from" in its cutline.)
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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Jose Lima sprinted out of the dugout and threw his arms around Mike MacDougal, who had just closed out Kansas City's first victory in more than three weeks.
A few minutes later, the eccentric pitcher started pouring glasses of Dom Perignon champagne he'd been hiding in the clubhouse for this very moment.
Not quite a pennant or a playoff victory, but no matter.
The Royals ended baseball's longest losing streak in 17 years Saturday night, defeating the Oakland Athletics 2-1 to snap a club-record 19-game skid.
But when the next streak beginstomorrow, don't forget -- there are upsides to losing.
A few minutes later, the eccentric pitcher started pouring glasses of Dom Perignon champagne he'd been hiding in the clubhouse for this very moment.
Not quite a pennant or a playoff victory, but no matter.
The Royals ended baseball's longest losing streak in 17 years Saturday night, defeating the Oakland Athletics 2-1 to snap a club-record 19-game skid.
But when the next streak begins
"If you're so positive that you came from a monkey or a rock or whatever you think it is I suggest you debate Dr. Kent Hovind.
"Dr. Hovind is willing to pay any individual a quarter of a million dollars to anyone who can give any empirical evidence for evolution. He has had this offer up for a long time but even this country's top scientists have gone up against him and lost the debates." Due in no part, I'm sure, to him moving the goalposts. But Boing Boing brings it.
Boing Boing: Boing Boing's $250,000 Intelligent Design challenge (UPDATED: $1 million)
We are willing to pay any individual *$250,000 if they can produce empirical evidence which proves that Jesus is not the son of the Flying Spaghetti Monster....
* Prize to be awarded with Intelligently Designed currency; void where prohibited by logic.
Challenge Grant Update: Recently converted Pastafarians are adding matching reward funds to the Boing Boing Intelligent Design Challenge. Jason Kottke of kottke.org (Link) and Sean Bonner of metblogs (Link) have each offered an additional $250,000. We've been flooded with still more donations, and have decided to cap the purse at $1 million -- in part because the number contains a lot of pretty, round zeroes that resemble holy meatballs. But also because many of you offered sums payable in "whisky and wenches," or "ho's 'n' blow," neither of which really count. Thanks all the same.
"Dr. Hovind is willing to pay any individual a quarter of a million dollars to anyone who can give any empirical evidence for evolution. He has had this offer up for a long time but even this country's top scientists have gone up against him and lost the debates." Due in no part, I'm sure, to him moving the goalposts. But Boing Boing brings it.
Boing Boing: Boing Boing's $250,000 Intelligent Design challenge (UPDATED: $1 million)
We are willing to pay any individual *$250,000 if they can produce empirical evidence which proves that Jesus is not the son of the Flying Spaghetti Monster....
* Prize to be awarded with Intelligently Designed currency; void where prohibited by logic.
Challenge Grant Update: Recently converted Pastafarians are adding matching reward funds to the Boing Boing Intelligent Design Challenge. Jason Kottke of kottke.org (Link) and Sean Bonner of metblogs (Link) have each offered an additional $250,000. We've been flooded with still more donations, and have decided to cap the purse at $1 million -- in part because the number contains a lot of pretty, round zeroes that resemble holy meatballs. But also because many of you offered sums payable in "whisky and wenches," or "ho's 'n' blow," neither of which really count. Thanks all the same.
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FYI, thanks to jim_smith: Batman is on his way. From an ad in a Seattle alt-newspaper.
Batman is coming very soon. I’m talking about the for-real Batman, the one who comes in the end to enforce the law, to administer Justice and to set things straight. I’m pretty sure he’s the one with the famous black helicopters. When he shows up, it’s welcome to the twilight zone in Gotham City. Life gets really gothic at that point. Batman doesn’t mess around. He comes to take care of business. Nothing is ever the same again after Batman shows up and lays waste to his enemies.
There is a gigantic criminal conspiracy going in this world, one with a bunch of criminals who return lifetime after lifetime to continue their conspiracy. I am talking about the deliberate perpetration of a disease called the Oedipus Complex that has been foisted upon the human race by a guy named Satan, a woman named Allah and the son that the father’s ego and the mother’s penis envy ruined when it turned him into the monster named Oedipus, the Antichrist, the boy with the shut-down heart, the one who puts his heart into absolutely nothing at all, whose every action is a pretense. And they have their legions of minions all of whom will be destroyed or brought to justice in the coming days....
jim_smith: Batman is on his way. From an ad in a Seattle alt-newspaper.Batman is coming very soon. I’m talking about the for-real Batman, the one who comes in the end to enforce the law, to administer Justice and to set things straight. I’m pretty sure he’s the one with the famous black helicopters. When he shows up, it’s welcome to the twilight zone in Gotham City. Life gets really gothic at that point. Batman doesn’t mess around. He comes to take care of business. Nothing is ever the same again after Batman shows up and lays waste to his enemies.
There is a gigantic criminal conspiracy going in this world, one with a bunch of criminals who return lifetime after lifetime to continue their conspiracy. I am talking about the deliberate perpetration of a disease called the Oedipus Complex that has been foisted upon the human race by a guy named Satan, a woman named Allah and the son that the father’s ego and the mother’s penis envy ruined when it turned him into the monster named Oedipus, the Antichrist, the boy with the shut-down heart, the one who puts his heart into absolutely nothing at all, whose every action is a pretense. And they have their legions of minions all of whom will be destroyed or brought to justice in the coming days....
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The Royals' consecutive losses at team-record 16, five more for the AL record. C'mon, guys, you can do it.
Good: $50 used iBooks. Bad: resulting stampede. Urinary malfunction, lost flip-flops, crushed strollers, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria....
Overwhelmed at the upgrade from 50 to 100 icons? Need a quick-and-dirty way to make some? Try El Jay icon maker, complete with Firefox plugin. Okay, I'll stop mentioning it now. I just think it's neat.
Happiness in today's TWOP Staff Special Achievement Awards:
Most Questionable Advancement of Disabled Persons
Arrested Development and House tie in this category, the former for showing us the hilarious consequences of having one's hand bitten off by a seal, and the latter for having a main character whose crippledness has helped make him a bitter drug addict who is mocked for his disability at least once an episode. On one hand, it's great to see more disabled people represented on television. On the other hand -- oh, wait. That one got eaten. By a seal.
and
The Manos: The Hands Of Fate Memorial Golden Pen for Best Unintentional Comedy Writing in a Police Procedural
To the Law & Order scribes, for saddling Elisabeth Röhm with the most hilarious departure line in franchise history. No, it's not because you're a lesbian, honey. It's because you act about as well as an oar. From a lifeboat on the Titanic.
Okay, back to Dungeon Siege 2. Ah, Tuesday.
Good: $50 used iBooks. Bad: resulting stampede. Urinary malfunction, lost flip-flops, crushed strollers, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria....
Overwhelmed at the upgrade from 50 to 100 icons? Need a quick-and-dirty way to make some? Try El Jay icon maker, complete with Firefox plugin. Okay, I'll stop mentioning it now. I just think it's neat.
Happiness in today's TWOP Staff Special Achievement Awards:
Most Questionable Advancement of Disabled Persons
Arrested Development and House tie in this category, the former for showing us the hilarious consequences of having one's hand bitten off by a seal, and the latter for having a main character whose crippledness has helped make him a bitter drug addict who is mocked for his disability at least once an episode. On one hand, it's great to see more disabled people represented on television. On the other hand -- oh, wait. That one got eaten. By a seal.
and
The Manos: The Hands Of Fate Memorial Golden Pen for Best Unintentional Comedy Writing in a Police Procedural
To the Law & Order scribes, for saddling Elisabeth Röhm with the most hilarious departure line in franchise history. No, it's not because you're a lesbian, honey. It's because you act about as well as an oar. From a lifeboat on the Titanic.
Okay, back to Dungeon Siege 2. Ah, Tuesday.
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``I love these prices. The higher, the better,'' said Frank Gafke, of Galveston, a senior service leader for Halliburton on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Gafke said Halliburton's profits - and his savings account - had increased markedly since fuel prices began rising. He predicted that prices soon will reach $3 per gallon for automobile drivers, as well as for recreational boaters.
And, he said, relief at the pump probably won't come anytime soon.
``Oil just hit $66 per barrel and gas jumped up 6 cents,'' Gafke said. ``And if we take any action against Iran, that's only going to cause more price increases. But if you can afford the boat, it doesn't matter what gas costs.''
Google: "Don't be evil." Halliburton: "...Oh, go ahead."
Gafke said Halliburton's profits - and his savings account - had increased markedly since fuel prices began rising. He predicted that prices soon will reach $3 per gallon for automobile drivers, as well as for recreational boaters.
And, he said, relief at the pump probably won't come anytime soon.
``Oil just hit $66 per barrel and gas jumped up 6 cents,'' Gafke said. ``And if we take any action against Iran, that's only going to cause more price increases. But if you can afford the boat, it doesn't matter what gas costs.''
Google: "Don't be evil." Halliburton: "...Oh, go ahead."
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I think these were all mentioned in Revelations at some point. Anyhow, the miscellany:
A page from Fillerbunny #3, featuring his new friend Bee Bee. I don't even need to tell you how it ends.
brucha gets props from Lore for disproving the "Penn Jillette is screwing with us" hypothesis. The Force is strong with this one.
BoingBoing's Cory Doctorow reacts to the revelation that Apple's new OS will use Intel's "Trusted Computing" hardware. This may prompt Cory to remove his Mac tattoo on his right bicep (no, really). Could alienating your core support group -- one which could be fairly accurately and occasionally charitably described as fanatical -- be the big red fruit's death knell?
Via MeFi: Urban Dead, the browser-based zombie game! It's like Neopets, but...not...really.
Today's Image of the Day: porcupine vs. dog. That didn't make me cringe as much as watching the awesome Bloody Suckers on PBS last night, though (instead of The Simpsons -- how sad).
A page from Fillerbunny #3, featuring his new friend Bee Bee. I don't even need to tell you how it ends.
brucha gets props from Lore for disproving the "Penn Jillette is screwing with us" hypothesis. The Force is strong with this one.BoingBoing's Cory Doctorow reacts to the revelation that Apple's new OS will use Intel's "Trusted Computing" hardware. This may prompt Cory to remove his Mac tattoo on his right bicep (no, really). Could alienating your core support group -- one which could be fairly accurately and occasionally charitably described as fanatical -- be the big red fruit's death knell?
Via MeFi: Urban Dead, the browser-based zombie game! It's like Neopets, but...not...really.
Today's Image of the Day: porcupine vs. dog. That didn't make me cringe as much as watching the awesome Bloody Suckers on PBS last night, though (instead of The Simpsons -- how sad).
Tags:
- endtimes,
- evil,
- geekery,
- kewl,
- ohgodmyeyes,
- pain,
- television,
- w00t,
- webjunk
First off, hippo birdie to iamthemoon. Because, as the Spongmonkeys would remind us, We Like the Moon (did you catch Google Moon yesterday, and find the Easter egg?).
But gird yourself for Bollywood Harry Potter. In 3D. And this guy (no, he's not the Harry) really should be run through the El Jay Icon Maker.
iamthemoon. Because, as the Spongmonkeys would remind us, We Like the Moon (did you catch Google Moon yesterday, and find the Easter egg?). But gird yourself for Bollywood Harry Potter. In 3D. And this guy (no, he's not the Harry) really should be run through the El Jay Icon Maker.
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Eyewitness Sports confirmed early Sunday afternoon that Wichita State baseball coach Gene Stephenson has accepted the head coaching position at the University of Oklahoma.
Stephenson will be introduced at a press conference sometime Monday in Norman. His two assistants, pitching coach Brent Kemnitz and Jim Thomas, will accompany him to Norman.
To all my Shocker chums, I'm sorry. I, for one, support any effort designed to reduce the number of states by one and make the red dirt glow. Provided we evacuatemissmiah and rewil beforehand.
(Also, check the byline. One name I used to watch on TV all the time and the other I worked with. World's getting smaller.)
Stephenson will be introduced at a press conference sometime Monday in Norman. His two assistants, pitching coach Brent Kemnitz and Jim Thomas, will accompany him to Norman.
To all my Shocker chums, I'm sorry. I, for one, support any effort designed to reduce the number of states by one and make the red dirt glow. Provided we evacuate
missmiah and rewil beforehand.(Also, check the byline. One name I used to watch on TV all the time and the other I worked with. World's getting smaller.)
Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman to serve on the high court and the key swing vote in some of the nation's highest-profile cases, announced her resignation Friday.
Oh, boy. The elections, the Schiavo case, the filibuster impasse -- all just a prelude to this. Replacing a moderate-conservative (and a swing-vote) on SCOTUS is going to be the polarizing event that helps define the culture wars. Very few issues have the capacity to alter the legal fabric of the nation like this one, so the fighting will be tooth-and-nail. The eventual outcome could very well be dire -- but the struggle might be just as bad.
And this is just O'Connor. Imagine what happens if Rehnquist goes, too, which I'm expecting any day now.
Oh, boy. The elections, the Schiavo case, the filibuster impasse -- all just a prelude to this. Replacing a moderate-conservative (and a swing-vote) on SCOTUS is going to be the polarizing event that helps define the culture wars. Very few issues have the capacity to alter the legal fabric of the nation like this one, so the fighting will be tooth-and-nail. The eventual outcome could very well be dire -- but the struggle might be just as bad.
And this is just O'Connor. Imagine what happens if Rehnquist goes, too, which I'm expecting any day now.
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This was a very scary dream, and I'M ALMOST CERTAIN this will come true. I have have several dreams of earthquakes during the last several months, but NON OF THEM were like this. I had a dream that a MAJOR EARTHQUAKE of 9.2 will strike some 375 miles off the coast of central California USA. This WILL produce a tsunami that will KILL millions of people from Mexico to Canada, some places along the west coast of North America will experience a wall of water of over 200 feet high. This will happen very soon, and I will post the date as soon as I figure of any more details.
...This has to do with the major California earthquake dream I had a few days ago, I not exactly sure when it will be, but what I have figured out after hours of meditation is that its most likely to occur in the month of August 2005. It will be a 9.2 and WILL cause a major tsunami that will affect the entire west coast of North America, and the entire east coast of China, Japan, Korea and many other countries.
And a call-to-arms:
There is a terrorist out there that's planning an biological or chemical attack on the USA with the help of Google Maps, please stop him.
Uhm. Okay. Sure. Let me get my utility belt.
...This has to do with the major California earthquake dream I had a few days ago, I not exactly sure when it will be, but what I have figured out after hours of meditation is that its most likely to occur in the month of August 2005. It will be a 9.2 and WILL cause a major tsunami that will affect the entire west coast of North America, and the entire east coast of China, Japan, Korea and many other countries.
And a call-to-arms:
There is a terrorist out there that's planning an biological or chemical attack on the USA with the help of Google Maps, please stop him.
Uhm. Okay. Sure. Let me get my utility belt.
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