Let the censorship begin:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When U.S. officials asked the media not to take pictures of those killed by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, they were censoring a key part of the disaster story, free speech watchdogs said on Wednesday.

The move by the Federal Emergency Management Agency is in line with the Bush administration's ban on images of flag-draped U.S. military coffins returning from the Iraq war, media monitors said in separate telephone interviews.

"It's impossible for me to imagine how you report a story whose subject is death without allowing the public to see images of the subject of the story," said Larry Siems of the PEN American Center, an authors' group that defends free expression.

[link]

Then there's this:

While watching the MSNBC program, CONNECTED, COAST TO COAST with Ron Reagan, a man from the Evergreen Foundation was on air spinning the myth that the President had to "beg" the Governor of Louisiana to take action.

Having been on this show several times I called one of the bookers, Susan Durrwatcher, to alert her to the fact that this man was misrepresenting what happened. I offered Susan the following objective, documented facts (see timeline below).

Susan thanked me for my "opinion" and said "we just have a different perspective."

Stunned, I asked her by what standard of journalism that an objective fact was mere opinion? I asked her to simply look at the documents and correct the record. She declined.

Timeline: [link]

Did they ask or did they tell? Only one is censorship.

Wolfram, well here's from more of the article:

But on Tuesday, FEMA refused to take reporters and photographers along on boats seeking victims in flooded areas, saying they would take up valuable space need in the recovery effort and asked them not to take pictures of the dead.

Nobody was in charge.

Of course, the whole point of FEMA is to be in charge in an emergency. Or, maybe it is just to stand around looking cute in coordinated casual-wear?

In other news, what is with stupid ballplayers unable to understand what does and what does not show up in pee? I mean, come on! You have had 80% of a season to figure it out by now.

(I'm halfway convinced that Jason Giambi is using something that is blood-borne, but not metabolized, which is why that mid-season return to steroidal form. Cause, all the sorry in the world can't make you turn back into a homerun hitter, and I think he would go to great lengths to be idolized again.)

libkitty, I'm gonna go ahead and take the clothes to this place, which needs clothes for Katrina survivors right now. I've already got 3 bags of Grabien clothes, a nurse here has 2 more bags in her car, and various folks have promised a total of another half dozen or so bags of clothes in the next couple of days. My apartment building has two tiny storage rooms that are already nearly full; I can't hang onto the clothes for too long or my neighbors will keel me ded.

But my dad's business is also collecting clothing and they can ship anywhere, so if you can get the San Antonio address for me I can pass it on to my dad and he can get his stuff on its way ASAP. Thanks!

I've been looking for ways to donate to the evacuees who started arriving in Chicago last night. I've only found info on cash donations, so I'm about to trek out to Trinity Lutheran in Rosell. They're packing a semi full of stuff to take to Mississippi.

Re: 'roids

an old Weekend Update routine from "Saturday Night Live"

CHEVY: And now with an editorial comments on a recent story is Weekend Update viewer, Miss Emily Litella.

GILDA: What's all this fuss about baseball players on 'roids? Since when is that news? Ballplayers have been on 'roids for years. Why, I remember that adorable George Brett when he was on 'roids. And it enhanced his performance. He almost hit .400 that year. And then the way he attacked the umpires over that pine tar incident? That had to be a case of 'roid rage. And I wouldn't be ...

CHEVY: Miss Litella?

GILDA: Yes?

CHEVY: That was hemorrhoids George Brett suffered from. The controversy is over anabolic steroids. Not hemorrhoids. Steroids.

GILDA: Oh. Well that's very different.

CHEVY: Yes, it is.

GILDA: Never mind.

LeN, I'm not saying that FEMA had the best intentions, but telling reporters they won't take them on rescue missions because they need the room on the boat does make sense. And asking the media not to take pictures of the dead is not the same thing as a ban or censorship. The media can get their own helicopters, boats, whatever and snap all the pictures they want.

A heads up on what's coming up in the next two weeks on The Daily Show (from TWoP):

Upcoming guests: We 9/7: Samuel L. Jackson
Th 9/8: Brian Williams
Mo 9/12: Chris Mooney
Tu 9/13: Kurt Vonnegut
We 9/14: Special evolution guest panel
Th 9/15: Gwyneth Paltrow

And all next week:

"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" presents "Evolution Schmevolution: A Daily Show Special Report" airing nightly from September 12-15 at 11:00 p.m.

NEW YORK, September 7, 2005 -- Science vs. Religion. Evolution vs. Creation. It is an age-old battle whose time has come. "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" will gather together all the experts (or at least those who will talk to them), travel to the places that matter in the debate (basic cable budget permitting) and ultimately settle the controversy once and for all. "Evolution Schmevolution: A Daily Show Special Report" will premiere on Monday, September 12 and air nightly at 11:00 p.m. through September 15.

For one full week, "The Daily Show" goes in-depth, around, through and quite possibly under, one of the hottest hot-button issues facing our nation: evolution. It's the accepted theory on the origin of life by an overwhelming majority of the world's biologists, but maybe they're all wrong. What’s so great about the scientific method anyway?

"Evolution Schmevolution" will explore: What other theories are out there? Who's on the frontlines of this debate? Should your child's curriculum really be decided by experts in their respective fields?

The media can get their own helicopters, boats, whatever and snap all the pictures they want.

Are reporters allowed to go in by themselves to shoot pictures?