Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Wednesday News Roundup

Tara posted the Wednesday News Roundup at 7:45 p.m. For these headlines...
Katrina Refugees Head to Houston
Jehlen Wins in MA
Roberts Info Comes to Light

...click here.

UPDATE: From the comments... In addition to the Red Cross web site posted earlier, you can also donate to hurricane relief efforts through the American Friends Service Committee.

And here's the most recent post by Cindy Sheehan over at Kos:
It was the oil, stupid

85 comments:

  1. Do I get firsties on the new thread? Renee is first.

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  2. Speaking of Roberts:

    Reagan Library found to hold Roberts' papers

    THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

    WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats said that Tuesday's discovery of some unreleased documents from Supreme Court nominee John Roberts could make things tougher for him at his confirmation hearings next week.

    "If these documents reveal significant information about Judge Roberts' views and we are not getting them until the eve of the hearings, there could well be a need for additional time to question the nominee," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of the Judiciary Committee.

    CLICK

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  3. Well, well. Just read on Booman Trib that Halliburton is getting the contract to clean up after Katrina. Unfortunately Halliburton's definition of "clean up" and ours bear to resemblance to each other. Do you suppose W thinks Halliburton is the only company in the U.S.?

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  4. that's bear *no*

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  5. A little something on Austism I stumbled upon.

    "Autism Is Now Believed To Affect 1 In Every 166 People
    Author: Paul Bittle

    What is Autism

    Autism is a developmental disability that affects, often severely, a person's ability to communicate and socially interact with others. It is four times more prevalent in males than females.

    Currently, autism is believed to affect 1 in every 166 people. The rate of people being diagnosed with autism has increased substantially over the past two decades."

    Click for the blog

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  6. Click to see a visual comparison between the DNC and RNC home page today, with respect to the relative amount of attention given to helping the hurricane victims.

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  7. Highest rated charities
    Click link for criteria, although they say 60% is reasonable and I say 80-90% is what you should expect.

    INTERNATIONAL RELIEF & DEVELOPMENT
    PHONE

    AIP
    GRADE
    Africare
    202-462-3614
    A
    American Friends Service Committee
    215-241-7000
    A
    American Near East Refugee Aid
    202-347-2558
    A
    American Refugee Committee
    612-872-7060
    A+
    CARE
    800-422-7385
    A–
    Catholic Relief Services
    410-625-2220
    A–
    Church World Service
    800-297-1516
    A–
    Doctors of the World – USA
    888-817-HELP
    A
    Doctors Without Borders USA
    212-679-6800
    A
    FINCA International
    202-682-1510
    A–
    Grameen Foundation USA
    202-628-3560
    A
    International Medical Corps
    310-442-6622
    A+
    International Rescue Committee
    212-551-3000
    A+
    Lutheran World Relief
    410-230-2700
    A
    Mennonite Central Committee
    888-563-4676
    A
    Save the Children
    800-728-3843
    A
    TechnoServe
    203-852-0377
    A–
    U.S. Committee for Refugees/Immigration andRefugee Services of America/U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
    202-347-3507
    A

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  8. SusanD said...

    Okay, now I want to kill myself. Why the hell are our Democratic leaders not protesting this and protesting LOUDLY. First Iraq, now this. Boy, Cheney must really be raking in the dough.

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  9. I am doing more searching on the charity rankings but so far, Red Cross is not listed on the top of ANY of them. So, I don't think I will donate to them.

    Catholic Relief Services seems to rank high on all of the lists I have found. I will post more.

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  10. I take that back about American Red Cross. They actually got a high rating at the DC office. Their overall score is only 60% but then so many are only that. I will try to find an 80% one.

    Click

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  11. cherYl! Check out this one. (clicky)

    http://www.afsc.org/

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  12. Puddle, researching it now. I would guess it is probably pretty good because once I saw 'Quaker' I figured they must be pretty generous. I know our local Quakers are wonderful.

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  13. Puddle,

    Can you check you email? :)

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  14. I kinda liked the fact that Cindy was right under Katrina. Kinda draws my life together there. . . .

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  15. Oscar ~~ reading minds again. I was just setting up a blank page to take a looksee.

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  16. Puddle,
    Looking at their financials, it looks like they are an 80% org. Thanks, I will bookmark them. 7% goes to administration and 13% to fundraising and the rest to their programs which include: peace education, community relations, international programs and special programs.

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  17. Forgot to link the page. You can also download their annual reports for the past 3 years.

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  18. Well, according to this the Red Cross would fail. They say 65% or more to the programs and Redcross is only 60%. After the 9-11 problems with the money never getting to the victims I have trust issues with them.

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  19. I filled my gas tank today. I just heard on the news Costco (a blue company) is selling gas 10 cents below their cost right now. What a great company. They are doing it locally...not sure about nationally.

    Thank goodness Lois has a hybrid car because we are planning a big driving trip for September and the gas prices will probably be $4 a gallon by then.

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  20. Okay, where is everyone??? This is starting to look like a 'cheryl' blog. :(

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  21. Thousands may be dead in New Orleans. Click

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  22. Sorry Cheryl - I'm tweaking a project right now but I'll be back as soon as I can.

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  23. Gas here in Dayton, OH is already at $3.09. That's if you can find any. A lot of the gas stations have run out of gas and don't know when they'll get their next delivery.

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  24. Wow, Susan. What is the population of Dayton? I am surprised Tucson has not run out because we are a very spread out city with over a million people and no decent mass transit so everyone drives everywhere.

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  25. Somewhere today I read that people are just as angry at the DC Dems as they are at the DC Repubs. They feel that the Dems should have been more aggressive in standing against the Repubs. I certainly agree with that!

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  26. hey! what are you guys doing ove here???

    they even made me add my lucky number to my handle to be able to log in.

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  27. That "s" was me :o)

    Cheryl, I don't know the numerical population, but Dayton is sizable. We're a little smaller than Columbus and Cincinnati.

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  28. I'm not so much worried about gasoline for the cars as I am about heating this winter. That could get really hairy.

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  29. Hey, mprov! How ya doin?

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  30. no gas for the car and i can forget about heating, and eating, and living in a building, and having clothes to wear... i make my living with my car.

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  31. hey susan. goood enough for now. how bout you?

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  32. Glad to see others are interested in the AFSC. I have been promoting them on the other blog. At first, they didn't have their Katrina info up, but now they do. I got interested in afsc.org during poppy's gulf war.

    JayDean

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  33. I'm just trying to stay out of trouble. Hangin' in the shadows. :o)

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  34. mprov ~~ that's too funny! That's what I do when I can't get a name or etc. And that's my lucky number, too!!

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  35. Dayton has about 162,000 people according to my 2005 road atlas. Maybe smaller cities have a harder time with gas supplies than larger ones. All I know is you are really paying a lot. Ours went up 12 cents just since yesterday and they said by the end of the week at least another 10 cents.

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  36. I went to the station which supposedly has the best prices for my zip code: No Gas! Found another one, was 3.00.

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  37. jaydean ~~ I'd seen that, and thank you. I'm a bit prejudiced since I'm a Quaker, though, LOL!

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  38. mprov, you don't have to have your display name the same as your login. If you have mprov13 as your login, you can have just 'mprov' as the display name. That is what I did.

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  39. Puddle, I didn't know you were a Quaker. Good that I had good things to say, lol. Our local group let's us use their meeting house for political stuff all the time. We just make a donation then to help pay their expenses.

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  40. Word is that the price will be a *lot* higher than 3.09 when they get their next shipment.

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  41. puddles, i was born on the 13th.

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  42. cheryl,

    i guess i was just taking the path of least resistence.

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  43. They just interviewed Lucy Lawless who escaped from the flooding in New Orleans. Took 9 hours to get out of there.

    I loved her since Xena. She could make me switch sides, lol. And they interviewed her without a stich of makeup and unwashed hair and she is drop dead gorgeous. Some women get the great genes.

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  44. we've got $3.10 here for regular. i have to drive about 1,500 miles next week for work. yikes!!! good thing i avg. 48 mpg.

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  45. Mark,
    Blogger should really do something about how they have people register. Everyone has complained about it here and I know I had issue on my blog too.

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  46. Karen,
    I guess none of the rest of us should bitch then. ;)

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  47. Mark, at least you get great gas mileage. Do you have a hybrid?

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  48. karen,

    yikes!!! california makes our own gas (standards you know) so we've got out own refineries and supply. likely we'll catch up in a few days with our "just in time" supply philosophy.

    cheryl,

    ya, let's rebell!!! but, how???

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  49. oh, here's my personal web site: http://home.earthlink.net/~fbut/index.html not much to look at though and i haven't updated it for years.

    but: http://dudland.com/ this is a good run for no money!!!

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  50. man this blog has some click action to get used to!

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  51. Mark,
    I had seen your sites before, but you just reminded me of something. That pic that you have labeled 'the absolutely worst picture I could find' is not bad at all. Come on. I am sure you could find one much worse, lol. I know I have pictures of myself that would scare kids!!!

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  52. "there is a town in north ontario..." that's what i'm a listening to. neil's got a new record coming soon! yea!

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  53. Leslie,
    That is what this blog is for. Not to have people choose one or the other, but to still post on BFA and come here when it gets toxic there. I will probably post here more though...for my slow internet connection articles and links seem to go faster in posting here.

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  54. Yikes on the gas prices. And they'll go up come winter. As will heatingoil/propane. And since most electic plants use gas, electricity prolly will, too.

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  55. cheryl,

    no really. that's the worst picture of me i have access to.

    did you have a look at any of the new videos at dudland?

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  56. Evening all,

    Just popped in to catch up before turning in.

    Donated $100 to the Red Cross this evening, which we happily 'found' while balancing the checkbook tonight.

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  57. One of the things I love about blogger, is you're not constantly have to re-register right in the middle of a post where you've added a link!

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  58. Mark,
    Videos rarely load right on my system. After I get my new computer I will take a look.

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  59. leslie, thanks, and you too cheryl. i'm flattered, but just too modest to go there...

    as to the videos, i asked puddles to test some of them for me a while back. there's supposed to be a stream if you click the picture rather than the download links. which is supposed to mean that your computer doesn't have to have the file to play it. but, puddles said they were still really, maybe painfully, slow. and they're large files for the most part.

    can you post an email adress here without the worries? anyone? if so, i'll give you mine, cheryl and anyone else who wants one, you can send me your address and i'll be sure to get a dvd in the mail for you. ok? :>)

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  60. maybe we've got to figure out how to make the non-naked thing an annual thing 6 months off from demfest. i'd love to show everyone around the SF bay area.

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  61. well, san diego's nice. great beaches and all. but, the bay area is the closest thing to european city we've got besides NYC. i go to san diego and i'm really more interested in mexico.

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  62. mprov, after I did the NNbNb, I *really* had a lot more respect for Jessica and what she did with the first DeanFest.

    But it seems like you guys may have enough bloggers in SF to do it anytime you wanted, if you could just get in touch with them. Seems like most of them aren't blogging any more.

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  63. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  64. Hi everyone. I just watched the speech bush gave upon arriving in Washington surrounded by his sycophants, er, cabinet. If the situation weren't so tragic, it would be funny. It's like they spent an hour before the televised speech practicing how to look sincere.

    Didn't work though. Smirks happen.

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  65. This came through an email list I belong to:

    Cindy Sheehan kicked off her cross-country bus tour in Austin today
    at 6 pm. In 2 buses the Camp Casey veterans drove the 2 hours from
    Crawford to Austin for a rally on the steps of Austin City Hall. Did I
    mention it's 100 degrees in Austin today? About 2,000 people were there
    to greeted her vociferously, wildly, with posters and cheering.

    The bigger bus is painted in 3 horizontal stripes -- blue, white and red. On
    the middle white stripe in large letters is written "Veterans for
    Peace.org". Next to that is written "The Impeachment Tour." On the
    front of the bus flies a white flag with a black military helmet. On the
    helmet is a white dove.

    This ain't no Willy Nelson deluxe special bus.
    It's somewhere between a school bus and public transit -- windows
    completely around every side. There's another bus also, a little
    smaller, with anti-Bush slogans painted on the windows. We were greeted
    on stage by a gray-haired veteran who was with Cindy for the entire Camp
    Casey stint in August. The first speaker was Ann Wright, the 25-year
    career diplomat who quit her post to protest the Iraq war. She was with
    Cindy throughout Camp Casey. Next the "Flatlanders", a popular Austin
    trio, sang an anti-war song. Then an Austin poet read a kick-ass poem
    about phoney baloney christians and their bible-thumping war mongering.
    She took no prisoners! One line was about Bush and the religious right
    trying to invade "uterii." Another line: "Bush is pro-life, until
    you're born!"

    The crowd roared at lines like those. Next a woman spoke
    whose son was killed in Iraq in 2003. She said she saw Cindy on tv,
    sitting in the ditch by herself, and she told her husband, "I'm going to
    Crawford." She said a time comes when something inside you snaps, and
    you know what you have to do, and you know you must stand up for what you
    believe, and you stop making excuses for avoiding your responsibility to
    object to tyranny.

    Next a very young woman spoke. She said she has 12
    military personnel in her family, in all branches. One was killed in
    Iraq. She was not a good speaker but she was sincere. As she struggled
    to find her speech, I heard a cell phone behind me and a young woman
    talking flippantly on it. I walked over to her, pointed to the speaker
    and said, "Show some respect." She said, "Sorry" and put it away.

    [Notice that I was ladylike -- I didn't say, "Show some respect,
    goddammit!" ] Then a very tall, young Iraq veteran said a few anti-war
    things. I wondered if he will be punished by the regime for his actions
    with the tour.

    Next Jim Hightower, former Texas Commissioner of Agriculture and a
    syndicated liberal columnist, spoke. He accused Bush of lying (again)
    yesterday when Bush said in Los Angeles, "We are a nation at war."
    Hightower: "No, we're not a NATION at war. If we were, Jenna and
    Barbara would be in uniform, and children of congress persons would be in
    uniform, and children of Halliburton officers would be in uniform.

    Finally came Cindy. (She's about six feet tall, as you know.) The crowd
    went wild until she said with humility, "Ok, that's enough." She spoke
    for about 20 minutes. Her voice is very clear, strong, and humble--not
    high pitched, not low-pitched, pleasant sounding mid-range. A few of the
    highlights: "People say I'm brave, but I'm not brave. Brave people have
    fear, and I have no fear, so I'm not brave. I lost my fear the day my
    son was killed."

    "I want to thank Dick Cheney for not letting George Bush talk to me.
    He wouldn't let him." "What is the noble cause that my
    son died for? Bush finally said it yesterday: to keep the Iraq oil
    fields out of the hands of terrorists.

    That's why our children are dying, to secure the oil."
    "Does it please you that Americans and Iraqis
    are dying so that you can pay $3 for a gallon of gas?" "This unjust war
    was perpetrated against the men, women, and children of Iraq whose only
    crime was being born in Iraq!" "When mothers refuse to send their sons
    and daughters to fight an unjust war for this government, then the war
    will end."

    "Those people across the street [25 people holding pro-Bush
    signs] --if they feel so strongly about the war, they can sign up to
    fight it." She ended with the slogan of her tour, "Not one more!"

    The crowd chanted that for a few minutes, directly at the Bushies across the
    street. Cops and moving traffic separated the Bushits from us, except
    for a few Bushies who crossed the street onto our side. I saw at least
    50cops, but they weren't carrying riot gear. I guess the Crawford police
    had alerted them about the Bushies and their ugly behavior last weekend
    in Crawford.

    From Austin, the Impeachment Tour will drive to Sugarland, Texas, and
    attempt to speak to Tom DeLay. The buses are carrying about 5 to 10 tons
    of leftover supplies from Camp Casey that will be delivered to the
    Astrodome where Katrina survivors will be transported from the New
    Orleans Superdome.

    From there to many other cities, arriving in Wash DC
    on Sep 24 for the big anti-war rally. Cindy said that she will talk with
    every congressional representative and ask each one why they voted for
    the war. And when the war is over, she will not stop until the
    perpetrators of the war are called to answer for it. It ain't called
    "the Impeachment Tour" for nuthin.

    kate

    --------------------------

    My only concern is it might not be safe for her with all the violent people who support Bush out there. I guess I will try to meet Cindy when I am in DC on the 24th.

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  66. "i've got something to say that might cause you pain, if i catch you blogging again, i'm gonna let you down and leave you flat..." i think i just found robert's theme song. let's sing it!!!

    "you can't do that" lennon/maccartney
    © 1964 Northern Songs. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.

    I got something to say that might cause you pain
    If I catch you talking to that boy again
    I'm gonna let you down
    and leave you flat
    Because I told you before
    oh, you can't do that

    Well it's the second time I've caught you talking to him
    Do I have to tell you one more time I think it's a sin
    I think I'll let you down
    and leave you flat
    Because I told you before
    oh, you can't do that

    Everybody's green
    'cause I'm the one who won your love
    But if they'd seen
    you talking that way
    they'd laugh in my face

    So please listen to me if you want to stay mine
    I can't help this feeling I'll go out of my mind
    You know I'll let you down
    and leave you flat
    Because I told you before
    oh, you can't do that, wah

    Everybody's green
    'cause I'm the one who won your love
    But if they'd seen
    you talking that way
    they'd laugh in my face

    So please listen to me if you want to stay mine
    I can't help this feeling I'll go out of my mind
    You know I'll let you down
    and leave you flat
    Because I told you before
    oh, you can't do that

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  67. donna ~~ I always wonder, since babies are born without smirks, what the hell happened to Him ? It's like he's one permanent smirk.

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  68. puddles,

    i only know denise (active blogger), but there are a couple of lurkers that i know of. but, its the mix that matters. the NYC'ers, you, me made a good match. don't you think?

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  69. Yeppers. Might could get the Sacramento people, and some of the Oregonians, and just blog people able/willing to make a trip, or making one about that time.

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  70. BREAKING NEWS: Aug. 31, 2005 --

    According to a Washington, DC-based news network colleague who just spoke to a reporter in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the death toll from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans alone may top 4000. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said "thousands" in his city may have died. Former Mayor Marc Morial said that New Orleans may have to be abandoned like Pompeii. According to the reporter in Baton Rouge, there are hundreds and hundreds of bodies that have been seen by TV news choppers floating in the streets of New Orleans and surrounding communities. Health officials also expect further casualties from disease from people drinking contaminated water. The situation in coastal Mississippi is also dire, with the death toll there also expected to rise precipitously.

    Another contact in Mobile reports that a number of people who attempted to evacuate New Orleans and other surrounding communities were forced to return home after they were caught in the leading edge of Katrina while stuck in long traffic jams and feared being caught in floods. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its head Michael Brown, a Bush political appointee and a partisan Republican operative from Oklahoma, have been irresponsible in planning for Katrina. Department of Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff also bears reponsibility for not ensuring adequate planning for a major disaster that had been predicted for years.

    The global warming predictions by leading scientists are coming about. George W. Bush says global warming concerns are "silly science" based on "fuzzy math." Some five members states of the UN, low lying atolls in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, will soon become "abandoned nations." Now, we may have our first abandoned city in the United States. Venice, the Netherlands, and the Florida Keys are next.

    Wayne Madson

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  71. Teri, email Renee and she will set it up for you.

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  72. I just added your link, teri. mprov's too.

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  73. Teri, I'll send it via email to Renee to make sure she gets it.

    Lol! You're ahead of me, Renee, ignore my email.

    How did school go today?

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  74. "[God] sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:45)

    ~~~

    From a website that has the audacity to accuse homosexuals and New Orleans residents for their tolerance of Mardi Gras, etc, for the destruction caused by Katrina on NO.

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  75. Denise, doing good. Finally figured out my sleep hours for the last week -- Since last Wednesday morning I've had 10 (on thurs night) 4 (Saturday afternoon) 3 (Monday morning) and finally 10 again last night. I seem to be trying to do forty-eight hour cycles. What's up with that, lol?!!

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  76. Sleepless, no wonder you're sleepless! Stay away from websites like that. . . .

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  77. Our Reich-wing Smirker-in-Chief, Jorge "Dubya" Arbusto!

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  78. puddleriver, as far as I know school went okay. First day is still culture shock. We still need to find him some "legal" clothes, but at least other parents have balked that they were caught off guard by the new dress code as well. We've got a lot of work ahead of us, though.

    I only got a couple hours of sleep last night, so I'd better turn in.

    Click my name for a diary by Dancing Larry:
    Plaquemines Parish

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  79. I will try puddle, but I noticed on your site that you haven't been sleeping a great deal either...

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  80. Sleepless, lol, you *would* notice the posting times. . . .

    You should be a detective, if you're not.

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  81. New thread--and national nurse got firsties.

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  82. listener, if you come on the thread today, I apologize about always starting your name with a capital 'L' but will problably continue to make the mistake. I often times type out of habit and you always start a paragraph or letter with a capital so that is why I keep erring. Sorry!

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