Good Luck Big Easy

God help these folks. Sad to say, this is the paragraph that jumps out at me:

Experts have warned about New Orleans' vulnerability for years, chiefly because Louisiana has lost more than a million acres of coastal wetlands in the past seven decades. The vast patchwork of swamps and bayous south of the city serves as a buffer, partially absorbing the surge of water that a hurricane pushes ashore.

Update 10:00 PM PDT Now this is an angle I hadn't even considered. Jesus, talk about Third World conditions.

Coolest toy all week!

Thanks to my dear neighbor George...

Why do Americans hate America? 2

Great Leader wonders why the terrorists have won.

Why do Americans hate America?

Great Leader would really like to know.

Nope, he'll become a queer that way

Another concerned parent who finds Dr. Dobson a better child rearing expert than Dr. Spock.

The Drug War: Plus Ca Change...

Lock up your children! The plague of [insert drug name] will ruin the country!

The end of Six Feet Under

This column nails it--and why this show has, soap opera be damned, has had such an impact on people (like me) who came to love it.

Let's Privatize! 1

Yeah, that's the free-market safety net: for the shareholders, I mean.

And it will make you richer!

Forget Tony Robbins--I think the original enterpreneurial blueprint was drawn up by P.T. Barnum.

We love Great Leader! 16

Because we are richer, safer, and more moral.

RIP--Godmother of L.A. Punk

Sigh... a little nostalgia for my youth here. This woman reminds me that the great thing about punk rock was that anyone could do it, and just about anyone was likely to, for just about any reason: rage, contempt, desire to get loaded/laid, get rich (ha!)...

We love Great Leader! 15

An overwhelming 54% of us in Texas, even!

We love Great Leader! 14/Heroine of the Week 2

Damn shame about your kid, but I gotta go off and balance my life.

Bad Ravisher of Interns! Bad!

What a difference five years and a change of regime makes.

Wishful Thinking

Sad to say (not), Republican hopes that their shared hatred of gay people will be the bridge that brings African American voters to their party appear to be a big, steaming load.

I am not a good person

For sure, this is a sad story, and my heart goes out to the victim for the pain she suffered.

But. How do I conceive of a charge of "Assault with a Turkey" and not laugh?

Public Transit

Interesting to me that even in the heart of Oil America, people are recognizing the need to supplement freeways with alternatives that carry more than one rider per vehicle.

Feeling Safer? 7

Or are you one of those damn America-hating Democrats? (Pointed by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.)

Great Leader II, Meet The Human Scum!

And please invite Political Dwarf to accompany you.

D'oh!

What the fuck were we thinking??? Oh, wait!

Great Leader Rattles the Sabres

Enjoying gas at $67 a gallon? What, too cheap? How about $100?

Oh, and I hear you're enjoying that little war we started too. Just be careful--it's harder against a real army.

Remember that War on Terror? Never mind!

This story is so American: we're scared shitless of terrorists (most of all in deep Red State backwaters no self-respecting terrorist would be caught dead in) and want assurances of security, but not if it means we have to wait a half hour extra to get on our airplanes! Or that we'd have to raise taxes on multimillionaires!

And mark my words: before too long, the An Armed Society is a Polite Society crowd will be pushing for people (other than pilots, whom our compliant Congress has already authorized to pack heat) to be allowed to carry concealed guns on airplanes.

It'll be fun to watch them go up against the guys carrying bows & arrows and ninja stars at 36,000 feet.

We love Great Leader! 13!

Just not how he's flushing the economy down the crapper.

Rock and F*@#in' Roll, Dude! 1

"I've kept it quiet for 25 years, but at the right time a command could be given and the spaceships will rise from the pyramids."

Sky Saxon, leader of The Seeds, quoted in The Stranger

God Damn Job

I know it don't thrill you, I hope it don't kill you.

Great Leader, Meet Great Leader II

How the party of Bush Jong-Il does it.

Next up: golf at the Gulag!

This kind of thing could start to give tourism a bad name.

Fo' Shizzle!

Buy your pimpadelic ride at employee prices! Rims, crushed velour seat covers, and wet bar not included.

Great Leader Speaks on Science

Of course the thoughts of the great are controversial. How could they not be?

Amen! A prescription for my party

village voice > news > Here's an analysis I can totally get behind.

One we'll miss

Reading obituaries always makes me a little sad. So many unique, hence irreplaceable, people in the world. I never heard of this guy before today, but he embodies a lot of qualities I care about, most of all the ability to care with a sense of humor (and a flair for the dramatic).