Good news.

##########

17th Street Canal breach fixed Monday, 1:55 p.m.

By Jeff Meitrodt Staff writer

With assistance from the Army Corps of Engineers, repairs have been completed to the 17th Street Canal breach, responsible for the post-Hurricane Katrina deluge into New Orleans, the state Department of Transportation and Development announced during its mid-day briefing.

The next step, transportation public affairs officer Cleo Allen said, is to get the floodwater out of the city. Authorities said the Mounes Pumping station has power and they expect to start it up this afternoon.

“We will get the smaller pumps, which should dry out the larger pumps,’’ he said.

Authorities are uncertain about the condition of the 17th Street Canal pumps, and Corps engineers are trying to determine whether the canal’s walls are stable, Allen said. “When that happens we will have considerable more capacity,’’ he said.

Crews will move next to the London Avenue canal, he said.

A trio of Duke University sophomores say they drove to New Orleans late last week, posed as journalists to slip inside the hurricane-soaked city twice, and evacuated seven people who weren't receiving help from authorities.

The group, led by South Carolina native Sonny Byrd, say they also managed to drive all the way to the New Orleans Convention Center, where they encountered scenes early Saturday evening that they say were disgraceful.

"We found it absolutely incredible that the authorities had no way to get there for four or five days, that they didn't go in and help these people, and we made it in a two-wheel-drive Hyundai," said Hans Buder, who made the trip with his roommate Byrd and another student, David Hankla.

[link]

Blanco is saying she asked Bush to walk hand-in-hand with her at the church.

OOOH! HOT GOVERNOR ON PRESIDENT ACTION!!!

Also,

At the second stop -- a visit to an emergency operations center -- Bush kissed Blanco on the cheek, but it wasn't clear whether they had made up. The two said little publicly during the appearance.

I guess they have made up....

eta:

"I know I don't need to make any other introduction other than `Mr. President,' " Blanco said tersely, turning the microphone over to Bush after thanking emergency workers for their hard work.

I'm not in politics because it would be hard for me not to wipe my face with my hand if the Shrub attempted that.

King Felix: Lord over the A's Nation today.

And we Mariners fans will enjoy this, because that's probably the last time we'll beat the A's this year.

The fate of various NO landmarks: [link]

OOOH! HOT GOVERNOR ON PRESIDENT ACTION!!!

Ok... Not the worst potential governor for such speculation... And now I'm worried about the next time Florida gets hit...

We'll never take aid from Cuba. It would be admitting the failure of our government to take care of its own.

Well, if we won't even take an urban search and rescue team from Canada, I suppose this is no surprise. It is a failure of our government to take care of its own, but at least Bush has his head buried firmly in the sand.

"Nobody, especially the president, would have left people unattended on the basis of race."

I really don't think that Bush is racist. I think it's one of the few good things about him. I think that he doesn't care very much for people he doesn't know, and that he pretty much only knows some superrich people. But honestly, I think he would have been just as much of an insensitive ass if they were white.

Trent Lott on MSNBC claiming he is "just like everybody else" because he lost his house.

Yep. Just like everyone else. Except he's rich, white, dry, and has multiple other residences. You know, other than that he's just like everyone else.

And in completely frivilous news, I have now seen six episodes of Farscape from my new Netflix sub. Damn. I still like Firefly better, but this is impressive.

I have now seen six episodes of Farscape from my new Netflix sub. Damn. I still like Firefly better, but this is impressive.

If you like it that much after only the first six eps, Lib, you're going to have fun. Because you're not even on the rollercoaster yet. You're, like, in the middle of the line.