David, I think there are 4-5K people dead in NO who are out in the open. By the time they go house to house and count those who died in hospitals, etc. I do think the total will approach 10K. I hope I'm wrong.

That BBC article is very powerful. "No one could have anticipated" indeed....

I'm more headachey than I like, but I'm going to go to Yoga anyway. I hope to hell the instructor doesn't use a lot of incense.

Newsweek Article: Bush faces a new storm of his own.

[link]

Washington Post:

Why the poor stayed in New Orleans.

[link]

So, the governor of LA hired the FEMA director under Clinton, James Lee Witt, to be her liason between FEMA.

Check out Witt's background:

In 1988 Witt was appointed by then-Governor Bill Clinton to be the head of the Arkansas Office of Emergency Services where he reorganized the state's emergency management process.

When Bill Clinton was elected President he appointed Witt to head the Federal Emergency Management Agency and he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1993. During his tenure Clinton elevated the Director of FEMA to cabinet status. Witt's term of office saw approximately 348 Presidential declared disaster areas in more than 6,500 counties and in all 50 states and territories. Witt supervised the response to the most costly flood disaster in the nation's history, the most costly earthquake, and a dozen serious hurricanes.

and what he's been doing since then:

Founded in 2001, James Lee Witt Associates (JLWA) is a crisis and emergency management consulting firm based in Washington, DC with offices in Atlanta, Chicago, and Sacramento. JLWA has unrivaled experience and hands-on knowledge of public safety, disaster mitigation, continuity of operations, and emergency management issues. JLWA bridges government agencies and non-profits with industry and constituents, advises educational institutions, and assists state and local governments, as well as international bodies to prepare for and recover from disasters and crises.

Can you imagine what the difference in response would have been if Witt were director when this happened? This man has actual disaster experience. For decades.

Gronk.

My dog goes to bed by 10 pm every night. (Her bed, not mine, FTR.) Why can't I remember to do the same? Now I'm stumbling around half conscious and she's all antsy and has been bugging me to get up and go out for the last 45 minutes. And she is a supreme pest when she wants to be.

Her latest trick when she really wants my attention is to pull books off the shelves. Today it's Herodotus and Wole Soyinka. At least she's well read.

William Rehnquist died.

Looks like Pat Robertson's prayers were answered.

Stolen from another board:

The Top 10 Ways To Get Bush To Immediately Help The Gulf Coast

10. Tell him they're performing late term abortions in the Moriale Convention Center.

9. Have an ordained minister perform several hundred gay/lesbian marriages on Bourbon Street.

8. Tell him that they're about to disconnect the feeding tube of a brain dead woman in Biloxi Mississippi.

7. Suggest that they're doing stem cell research in the Superdome.

6. Get Halliburton to submit a no-bid contract to rebuild the levees.

5. Tell him some Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are stranded on Grand Isle, Louisiana.

4. Get word to him that some "Pioneer" or "Ranger" campaign donors are trapped on Magazine Street.

3. Tell him some billionaires who need tax breaks are in Jefferson Parish.

2. Put a golf course down Canal Street.

and the number 1 way to get Bush to pay some bloody attention to the horrible crisis in Louisiana and Mississippi:

1. Tell him that Osama Bin Laden is in Arkansas.

Here's a website with video from various network sites in case you missed some of the video over the past week. Some featured:

Anderson Cooper beating up Lott (unfortunately, not literally)

David Brooks becoming ticked with the Bush administration (!)

Geraldo Rivera getting irritated with Hannity (!)

[link]

From Neil Gaiman's blog:

Dear Neil,

Thanks for posting the news about Keplers. I was devastated to hear (I'm a former employee) but there may now be a chance for it to be saved - councilmember Kelly Ferguson is holding a rally on Tuesday, Sept 6th at 5 pm, outside the store - Rick Opaterny is organizing people at www.savekeplers.com - and there's even been NY times coverage. Clark Kepler is apparently meeting with interested investors as well! Could you please post asking everyone in the Bay Area who cares about independent booksellers to show up to the rally this Tuesday? Thanks so much - and thanks for the blogging!
SAVE KEPLERS RALLY
Tues, Sep 6th, 5PM outside store . followed by a 6PM work session at Menlo Park City Hall to marshall community resources in support of this beloved local institution. For more info contact micloss@earthlink.net.

Best,
Dara in LA

I'm hoping that this whole clusterfuck will metaphorically put a stake through the Shrub's shrivelled caraway seed of a heart, politically speaking. Especially now that Renquist has died. If Bush will be politically useless, or even a liability for Senators up for re-election next year, perhaps the remaining non-neocons will rediscover the storage facility where they left their balls/ovaries. Especially since they'll now be voting on at least two Supreme Court justices in the coming months.