I saw that LJ yesterday. Didn't much like the sense I got of the guy, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's lying.

Yeah, I'm with you. Not entirely sure what to think, but I do get a weird vibe off the guy.

OK, this is the most depressing thing I've read about NO: Mayhem hampering hospital evacuations

Acadian, based in Lafayette, Louisiana, is trying to evacuate some 2,000 patients from hospitals before nightfall Wednesday, including dozens of critically ill babies at medical facilities with no electricity or water.

The firm's priority is getting out 25 critically ill infants from Children's Hospital and 100 babies from Touro Infirmary, said spokeswoman Julie Mahfouz.

Zuschlag said part of the reason Touro requested the evacuation of its 175 patients -- including 100 babies -- "is the unrest in New Orleans."

He said his workers have been victims of the looting and mayhem across the city.

Patients at that hospital have died due to lack of electricity.

Here's a good clip from Special Report w/ Brit Hume on 8/29 for rising blood pressure (Barnes is Fred Barnes of the weekly standard):

BARNES: ...But my problem with it is that, in some of these areas, like a below- sea-level city like New Orleans, they're not -- they want the rest of us to insure their risk. As people who live on the San Andreas Fault in California, where they know there are going to be earthquakes, people who live along the Mississippi River in these low farmland areas...

HUME: Floodplains.

BARNES: ... near the river, the floodplains. They know they're going to flood. And when these things happen, they want the taxpayers all over the country to pay, and they do.

HUME: So they can rebuild, right?

(LAUGHTER)

BARNES: Yes, right, exactly.

KONDRACKE: Yes, well, the question is, where do you draw the line? And that's the problem. Do you draw it at the Barrier Islands? Do you draw it at Vero Beach, you know, where Fred has a beach house?

HUME: How did your house, by the way, do over the weekend?

BARNES: Well, it did fine, because we were on the Atlantic coast and the hurricane went to the Gulf Coast. So it missed it entirely.

HUME: It got rained on, right?

BARNES: But last year, when there were two hurricanes, and I got a new roof, I paid my part. My private insurance company paid the other part. The federal government and taxpayers paid no part.

HUME: What about the cover on your swimming pool? Did the government...

BARNES: I paid all of that.

As an aside, odds are that his private insurance is subsidised by the government.

She is spared my wrath.

Then she explained she's going to start learning to play an instrument. Either a violin or a harmonica. Based on which looks prettier.

We also analyzed thoroughly the two different shades of pink (where is msbelle?) of her shirt, and which matched which on her bracelet. She didn't manage to have such a conversation with any of the other students in the building (all failed to notice the difference in said shades of pink, sadly enough).

[Edited so that it won't seem like there's only one other student in the building.]

In ?California you can't buy private insurance for eathquakes. I have a loan on my house so I must have insurance. and the insurance I must buy - California Earthquake authority. Not federal - but it doesn't cover things like roads...

[link]

Site that allows you to send text messages without a cell phone. Text messages have been a godsend with the hurricane, because even when cell phones aren't working, text messages are generally getting through.

I'm about to leave for the airport for DragonCon. If you hear of someone getting arrested for licking Jamie Bamber, that might be me.

Dana, I hope you have a wonderful time! You definitely deserve some fun and relaxation after this week.

a larger percentage of men than women tend to fall apart.

There are many values for "fall apart." During my sophomore year, there was a dorm fire early Sunday morning. I did fine during the actual crisis -- woke my roommate (even though he only had 2 hours of sleep after working Saturday night) and got us out of the building. Once we were out of the building, I fell apart (capped by a 2-week bout of insomnia).

He then read an address of a quality more appropriate for an Arbor Day celebration: a long laundry list of pounds of ice, generators and blankets delivered to the stricken Gulf Coast.

Blankets? BLANKETS?!?!?!?!?! In 90+ heat??????? Even if the one in charge should be reading off laundry lists, there are a lot of higher priority items needed right now.

BARNES: But last year, when there were two hurricanes, and I got a new roof, I paid my part. My private insurance company paid the other part. The federal government and taxpayers paid no part.

Well, except for the part where the National Flood Insurance Program is part of FEMA. And that, if he got a federally-related mortgage on that house ("federally-related" defined so that, for practica purposes, that should read, "if he got a mortgage"), federal law required him to get that insurance.

If you hear of someone getting arrested for licking Jamie Bamber, that might be me.

Don't lick him without me!

That... well, I suppose that didn't come out wrong after all.

I'm leaving work in a couple hours. See you tonight!

a larger percentage of men than women tend to fall apart.

Really? Do you have a number? Some statistics to back it up?