Roy Hallums, a contractor who was kidnapped last November, has been freed in Iraq.

Dr. Rusty is, of course, thrilled with this news. As well he should be: he not only broke the story, but kept it alive and running when the mainstream media lost interest. Go and share in his happiness!

Posted by: Kathy at 11:59 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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If you're in need of a little levity in these dark times, I present you, my devoted Cake Eater Readers, with "The Disaster Pr0n Stars of Cable News."

Part I and Part II .

{Hat Tip: Robbo}

Posted by: Kathy at 11:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The husband gets rave reviews. (scroll down to the 9/5 entry)

Or maybe it was just the Cuervo talking.

Heh.

(I'm just screwing with you, Katie.)

And, yes, the husband does indeed look like Russell Crowe. Or rather Russell Crowe looks like the husband. Because I'm loyal that way. Same body type, same hair color, same eye color, same facial shape. They could be brothers. And, no I'm not joking.

Posted by: Kathy at 04:26 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I wish I'd written this.

A small sampling:

{...}Much has been said regarding how much more massive an event Katrina is relative to lower Manhattan. But the fact remains that firemen went up the stairs when people were coming down, and one ordinary group of people on an ordinary flight on an ordinary day defeated the very best that the global terror network could put together. Our ladies junior varsity squad whipped the living shit out of their Super Bowl A-team over Pennsylvania that day, and they did it because for one brief shining moment enough passengers on that airplane went Grey.

And in Louisiana last week the governor cried and the mayor blamed everyone but himself, and half the country bought every single stinking Pink lie about global warming and missing National Guard units and blamed the sheepdogs while the wolves raped and pillaged and looted everything in sight.

Hundreds of New York firemen and policemen never came home, never came home, but New Orleans Police Chief P. Edwin Compass III said, of his men, “If I put you out on the street and made you get into gun battles all day with no place to urinate and no place to defecate, I don’t think you’d be too happy either… Our vehicles can’t get any gas. The water in the street is contaminated. My officers are walking around in wet shoes.”

Well, Chief, IÂ’m sorry your menÂ’s feet are wet, but getting their feet wet is part of their fucking job. New YorkÂ’s Finest arenÂ’t complaining about wet feet or places to pee because they died doing their jobs. They were sheepdogs.

{...}So, on one hand, we have a very blue city – New York – confronted, out of the clear morning of a perfect fall day, with no warning – with a terror attack, and they march toward the sounds of screams and falling bodies and die by the hundreds. One the other hand, we have New Orleans law enforcement – also blue – whining about wet shoes and helping themselves to the happy period of lawlessness that followed an event that had been expected for no less than seventy-two hours.

In New York, we had a governor who got every available resource on the ground as fast as it could get there, and in Louisiana we have a governor who...cried. Governor, your job is to not cry. Your job is to be strong. We have plenty of civilians crying. You want to cry, cry in the car on the way home like everybody else did four years ago. Crying Governors, race-baiting mayors and looting police do not a Finest Hour make.

In New Orleans we have a mayor who left some 400-500 buses sitting fueled and underwater in the Ray Nagin Memorial Motor Pool saying that evil white conservative America was selling out his people within 24 hours of the catastrophe, from a safe and dry and adequately toileted location, while four years ago we had a Mayor who ran to the site of the disaster so quickly it is a full-blown miracle he was not killed when a building collapsed literally on top of his magnificent, combed-over head.

Now, much has been made of the fact that Ray Nagin is an incompetent, race-baiting black man, and Rudy Giuliani, who was neither, is white. Also, feminists are upset that people dare attack Governor Blanco because she is incompetent, weak, indecisive, and also a woman. And no doubt there are salivating long-haired, short-cortexed idiots just waiting for this to be over so they can sail into the comments section and tell me what a racist and misogynist I am.

Well, hereÂ’s the news flash: Nagin isnÂ’t incompetent because heÂ’s black. HeÂ’s incompetent because heÂ’s incompetent. Condoleeza Rice is black. Colin Powell is black. Ted Kennedy, a man well-acquainted with rising water crises is as white as they come. Kennedy is incompetent; Rice and Powell are two of the most competent people on the planet.

This is about tribes, all right: not black and white tribes, but rather a battle between the capable and the culpable. {...}

Go read the whole thing. It's long, but it's well worth your time.

Posted by: Kathy at 01:56 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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What the hell is the matter with Technorati? I can't get the Cake Eater search page to come up...and haven't been able to for the past two or three weeks! We're experiencing a large volume of traffic right now. Check back later. You know what, dude? I HAVE been checking back later and the stupid thing still doesn't work then, either. It's so highly annoying.

I realize they're trying to expand their business into other realms, but for the love of God, don't screw with the thing every blogger uses, eh? I'd like to know who is linking me if they don't have trackback. It's not that hard. Buy some more servers or something.

Posted by: Kathy at 09:49 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Grab the smelling salts now and keep them handy. I have some news for you, my devoted Cake Eater Readers.

Ahem.

I had a social life this weekend!

I know. Pretty unusual, eh? Tell me about it. But it was nice to actually have not one, but two parties to go to before it starts getting cold and no one leaves their house again until next summer. (Yes. That really is the way things work here in the frozen tundra. Unless you're into ice fishing or somesuch winter sporty crap. Then you probably get out and about regularly. But those of us who despise winter, well...to put it bluntly,we're fucked, thank you ever so bloody much.) On Labor Day, we had an alley barbeque with the neighbors and that was nice, but it was really nothing to write home about. But Sunday night, well, last night was the MOB (Minnesota Organization of Blogs) Bash, which was held at the Town Hall Brewery near the U in downtown Minneapolis. Feeling festive, I threw on some nice strappy black high heels and, with the husband in tow, scooted off to meet some more bloggers!

I'm REALLY bad with faces and names, so I was pretty happy when I recognized Noodles from the last MOB event and he and his lovely wife, Susie, allowed me to latch onto them while I got my bearings. I chatted briefly with Ringer and met Andy from Residual Forces, yet another member of the Kennedy v. The Machine Gang of Four. Another KvM crew member, and a blogger whom I read regularly, Doug from Bogus Gold appeared and it was really nice to finally get to know him. Doug also squired me around and introduced me to many people, for which I'm grateful, because if he hadn't kept asking me "Do you want to meet some more people?" I probably would have sat at our table all night long, waiting for people to come to me. Which wasn't really going to happen as I am not the Queen of the MOB. Nevertheless a few people did come to our table and included in their number was Sandy from M.A.W.B Squad, who is one super duper cool chick, Ben from Hammerswing75 who was smoking clove cigarettes (mmmm) Steve from Giggle Pundit, the Night Writer, and the social butterfly of the evening: Mr. Mitch Berg, who was the host with the most, flitting from table to table, catching what I'm sure was the best of all the conversations taking place.

When we actually got up and started meandering, we were introduced to Dan, the Northern Alliance Wannabe; I had a brief chat with David Strom, who was happy to open up his portable humidor and let me take a peek inside. I was also happy to meet the Nihilist in Golf Pants, who did not have a copy of Sartre's Being and Nothingness sticking out of his plaid pants pocket because---ahem---wasn't wearing golf pants. Now, forcibly DRAG your minds out of the gutter and realize that the reason he wasn't wearing golf pants was because he was sporting an attractive socks and loafer look with a pair of shorts (which were not plaid), hence I believe he left the Sartre at home as it wasn't "summery" enough. I also briefly met Learned Foot and Pinkmonkeybird---who was sporting a hat with his URL on it, which, through the haze of chardonnay, made it really easy to figure out who he was. Thanks, Dude!

Unfortunately, for all the people I did get to meet and chat with, I did not have the chance to chat with any of the Fraters or {insert drumroll here} Lileks, who I am still scared of meeting because I know I will suffer from the worst case of verbal incontinence ever recorded if that meeting should ever occur.

I'm sure I've forgotten someone in this long listing, so if I have it's my fault, not yours and you can verbally abuse me in the comments.

I did have a nice time and I'm definitely thinking I'll have to shoot down to Keegan's one Thursday night in the not so distant future to hang out again with these guys. I heard a rumor of trivia; I shall have to investigate to see if it's true.

Posted by: Kathy at 01:33 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 I'm entirely unsure Mom of two teenagers qualifies for "super duper cool chick", but I'll TAKE it and shove it in the kids faces next time they deem me UNcool. 'Twas a treat to meet and the trivia crowd is just as fun and welcoming, even if you suffer from Trivia Anxiety Syndrome and can only remember that the capital of Thailand starts with a B or are absolutely confident that Costa Rica is in South America, (of course it's central Am.), like I do. See you at Keegan's soon! (However, I was right about the whole no-envelope-licking aspect, so I got that going for me.)

Posted by: Sandy at September 06, 2005 09:23 AM (k5iLc)

2 Yeah, but they did make t-shirts, so I'm thinking they'll nail us with the envelope licking thing soon enough

Posted by: Kathy at September 06, 2005 10:06 AM (QKvIa)

3 I find that my URL cap is a great way to pick up women. If things are going well I get around to asking, "Your URL or mine, Babe?" And since it's right on top of my head, well there's no chance of getting lost. If I have had too much to drink, she can drive me there and deposit me on the front curb. So to speak.

Posted by: pinkmonkeybird at September 06, 2005 03:36 PM (LFOcg)

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That's wonderful.

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Shaq needs to look up this kid and---ahem---learn from him.

(You'll need to download/install Google's video player to watch, but it's painless, so you really don't have an excuse.)

Posted by: Kathy at 11:45 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Sean Penn's cluelessness gallantry on display in New Orleans

It's good to know Sean can still do comedy, eh?

{Hat tip: LMC}

Posted by: Kathy at 10:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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While there's been some great news about fundraising via the web, there's also been some bad news about phishers, scammers, etc., trying to take advantage of people's suffering via the world wide web. So, it's really nice to have one more good story to add to the lot. The domain Katrina.com has been owned by a web designer named Katrina for years. She's been offered thousands of dollars by not-so-wholesome people over the past couple of days for the domain. She has refused ALL of these offers and instead has set up boards so people can locate the missing, relief information, etc. on her site to help the victims of Katrina. Katrina.com has become a roundup of valuable information because one woman is good.

That's nice to hear.

{Hat Tip: Tech Dirt}

Posted by: Kathy at 04:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Blaque Jacques Shellac Chirac had a "vascular accident" last night.

Politics aside for the moment, one has to wonder what happens when one has a "vascular accident." Did his red blood cells crash into the white cells? Did a vein protest a ticket along the roadside of Blaque Jacques' aterial system, thereby causing a crash? Did his arteries collapse, like a freeway that's structurally unsound?

The possibilities are endless.

But, quite seriously, I think this means Blaque Jacques hasn't been imbibing the red wine in "moderation." Fausta wondes what this means for EU/French politics. I'm wondering what this means for the French whine wine industry.

The consequences could be quite severe.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:59 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Oy.

{...}Rev. Bill Shanks, pastor of New Covenant Fellowship of New Orleans, also sees God's mercy in the aftermath of Katrina -- but in a different way. Shanks says the hurricane has wiped out much of the rampant sin common to the city.

The pastor explains that for years he has warned people that unless Christians in New Orleans took a strong stand against such things as local abortion clinics, the yearly Mardi Gras celebrations, and the annual event known as "Southern Decadence" -- an annual six-day "gay pride" event scheduled to be hosted by the city this week -- God's judgment would be felt.

“New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion -- it's free of all of those things now," Shanks says. "God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there -- and now we're going to start over again."

How much do you want to bet that good ol' Pastor Shanks prefers an Old Testament God to the touchy-feely-happy-go-lucky God of the New Testament?

Five bucks? Ten? Twenty?

The New Orleans pastor is adamant. Christians, he says, need to confront sin. "It's time for us to stand up against wickedness so that God won't have to deal with that wickedness," he says.

Believers, he says, are God's "authorized representatives on the face of the Earth" and should say they "don't want unrighteous men in office," for example. In addition, he says Christians should not hesitate to voice their opinions about such things as abortion, prayer, and homosexual marriage. "We don't want a Supreme Court that is going to say it's all right to kill little boys and girls, ... it's all right to take prayer out of schools, and it's all right to legalize sodomy, opening the door for same-sex marriage and all of that.”

That's kind of funny if you think about it. It's blasphemy to equate yourself with God and to put yourself on par with Jesus Christ. The good reverend here thinks that believers are "God's authorized representatives on Earth." That, technically speaking, is blasphemy. Which, of course, leads to the next question: what sort of natural disaster is going to wipe out the reverend's sin for equating himself with God?

{Hat Tip: Andy, who got it from Radley Balko}

Posted by: Kathy at 10:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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When I was a kid, I had this bad habit of putting other people's rings on my fingers. If you left a ring lying around, well, one way or another it would find its way onto my finger, just because I didn't have any rings of my own and I was fascinated with the stupid things. So, I'd slip this ring that didn't belong to me on my finger, stare at it for a while admiringly and then...well, that's where the trouble would begin.

My stomach would drop through the floor as I would struggle to get the ring back off my finger. I would get panicked. The anxiety would rise and I would start to get sweaty and my stomach would come back up from where it dropped to settle somewhere in my throat. This is when I would have to calm myself. I had managed to get other rings off my fingers. I just had to calm down and to do this, I would remind myself that where there is a will, there is a way. Meaning, if I could get the ring on, and if I wanted it off, I could do so: I just had to figure out how. This of course usually meant a frantic licking of my finger to loosen the ring, but it generally worked out.

This thought has been running around in my brain since I read this post by RP earlier. RP is concerned and I can understand why he is. I am as well. But, for one brief moment, while we worry about what we can't do, let's look at a few things the human race has achieved to remind ourselves of our capabilities. Let's take a look at all the things the human race has achieved to remind ourselves of the truth of "where there is a will, there is a way."

We built this

And this

and this

and this

and this

and this

A genius believed this form was just lying in wait in a slab of marble and that it was up to him to reveal it.

A man spent years painting an image with little tiny daubs of paint, only to show us how images are truly formed in the first place.

We eradicated this disease and we're working on eradicating this one. We found a way to treat infections in mold spores.

We have walked here

And because we're curious creatures and going to our own satellite wasn't enough, we regularly send probes here

If we can do all of these things we can rebuild New Orleans. Because there is a will to do so. And there is a will, no matter what the freaks over at Kos and Denny Hastert have to say. Hence we will find a way.

Posted by: Kathy at 03:55 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Go and read this.

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One of the first things they teach you when you're a political science student is that the opposite of law and order is anarchy. People, on the whole, don't like anarchy, so they are prepared to give up a bit of their own autonomy for the safety that comes in numbers. If government cannot provide law and order, people will turn to whomever can. This is why the mafia still rules the roost in Sicily. This is why gangs flourish all over the world. People will ally themselves with whomever can lead them to the solution to their problems.

New Orleans is in anarchy right now. No one can honestly argue the opposite. There's no law. There's no order. And all is chaos. Who is going to lead the people of New Orleans now that their government has failed them? The better question is where are they going to be led?

It just breaks my heart to read this.

NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans descended into anarchy Thursday as corpses lay abandoned in street medians, fights and fires broke out, cops turned in their badges and the governor declared war on looters who have made the city a menacing landscape of disorder and fear.

"They have M-16s and they're locked and loaded," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said of 300 National Guard troops who landed in New Orleans fresh from duty in
Iraq. "These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so, and I expect they will."

Four days after Hurricane Katrina roared in with a devastating blow that inflicted potentially thousands of deaths, the fear, anger and violence mounted Thursday.

"I'm not sure I'm going to get out of here alive," said Canadian tourist Larry Mitzel, who handed a reporter his business card in case he goes missing. "I'm scared of riots. I'm scared of the locals. We might get caught in the crossfire."

The chaos deepened despite the promise of 1,400 National Guardsmen a day to stop the looting, plans for a $10 billion recovery bill in Congress and a government relief effort President Bush called the biggest in U.S. history.

New Orleans' top emergency management official called that effort a "national disgrace" and questioned when reinforcements would actually reach the increasingly lawless city.

About 15,000 to 20,000 people who had taken shelter at New Orleans convention center grew ever more hostile after waiting for buses for days amid the filth and the dead. Police Chief Eddie Compass said there was such a crush around a squad of 88 officers that they retreated when they went in to check out reports of assaults.

"We have individuals who are getting raped, we have individuals who are getting beaten," Compass said. "Tourists are walking in that direction and they are getting preyed upon."

Col. Henry Whitehorn, chief of the Louisiana State Police, said he heard of numerous instances of New Orleans police officers — many of whom from flooded areas — turning in their badges.

"They indicated that they had lost everything and didn't feel that it was worth them going back to take fire from looters and losing their lives," Whitehorn said.

A military helicopter tried to land at the convention center several times to drop off food and water. But the rushing crowd forced the choppers to back off. Troopers then tossed the supplies to the crowd from 10 feet off the ground and flew away.

In hopes of defusing the situation at the convention center, Mayor Ray Nagin gave the refugees permission to march across a bridge to the city's unflooded west bank for whatever relief they could find. But the bedlam made that difficult.

"This is a desperate SOS," Nagin said in a statement. "Right now we are out of resources at the convention center and don't anticipate enough buses."

At least seven bodies were scattered outside the convention center, a makeshift staging area for those rescued from rooftops, attics and highways. The sidewalks were packed with people without food, water or medical care, and with no sign of law enforcement.

An old man in a chaise lounge lay dead in a grassy median as hungry babies wailed around him. Around the corner, an elderly woman lay dead in her wheelchair, covered up by a blanket, and another body lay beside her wrapped in a sheet.{...}

New Orleans is in absolute and complete anarchy. There is no law and order. Women and children are being raped. The elderly and infants are dying. People are acting like jackasses and shooting off weapons for, what it seems, is the hell of it because no one is there to tell them not to. And, of course, you have the looting. Who are the people, the victims, to turn to when their own government lets them down? Because you know they won't trust the government now, after all the delays. And, honestly, I can't blame them. All would have been fine had the levees not broken. But they did and the situation that was tolerable turned intolerable quite quickly.

I mentioned in this post that my brother, Steve, is co-owner of a Chrysler-Jeep dealership on Canal Street. Initially we were worried about flooding. To see what the dealership looks like, go here. They, conveniently, have a showroom on the second floor of the building. They put all the used cars up on the second floor because, for some reason that I don't know about, those cars are uninsured. The new cars were on the first level, because they were insured. Steve said that if the water goes higher than the dashboard on any of them, they're done for. Last I heard the water was six feet deep at the dealership.

Now, given the anarchy, I have to wonder if the dealership even exists anymore.

This just saddens and worries me so much. I adore New Orleans. The trip my mom, dad and I took when I was a senior in high school was amazing. I was really hot on the place because I'd just read Interview With the Vampire and was completely in love with Louis. I made my sister in law go and visit the French Quarter's graveyard and I had to hide my smile because she was freaking out. I remember trolling down Bourbon Street and wanting to gag because it smelled like booze and puke. But the architecture is wonderful and the place just drips with history and charm. I had a great Nikon 35mm camera at the time because I was on the yearbook staff and I had swiped a load of film from the stash in the journalism lab to take loads of pictures with while I was in New Orleans. I didn't take hardly any shots, though, because it was so gorgeous there that I couldn't decide what I wanted to photograph and I didn't think I had enough talent at that stage of my photography career, as it were, to get it right. Does that make any sense? I hope it does. I just didn't feel I could do the city justice with my limited photography skills and I didn't want crap pictures of New Orleans, so I didn't bother. And, until now, I didn't regret it. But I have to wonder if I will. With everything that's going on, it's hard to believe New Orleans will ever get back to normal. I know it probably will, and yes, it will probably be a tourist haven once again, but still...it's kind of hard to imagine right now.

This is one of the few pictures I have of my trip to New Orleans. My mom took it. That's my Dad and I outside of St. Louis Cathedral, where we'd just gone to Palm Sunday Mass. I'd never been to a Palm Sunday Mass before where they could have gone outside to get the palm branches.

I sincerely hope that one day, sometime in the future, I can take another picture in front of the Cathedral on a sunny Palm Sunday.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:39 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Ummmm, if you're a mugger, I'd recommend staying away from this chick.

Just Damn.

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{this post will stay at the top of the page all day Thursday, September 1, 2005}

So, there's a bit of a blogburst going on today to help raise awareness and CASH MONEY for charities that are assisting in the relief efforts needed because of Hurricane Katrina.

You can either go to Instapundit or to NZ Bear to see all who's participating and who is recommending what charities. I'm choosing the American Red Cross because, let's face it, they're the big dog when it comes to natural disaster relief. I want the money to go to people who know what they're doing and who are going to get the biggest bang out of the bucks donated.

Clicket on that image and it will take you directly to the American Red Cross' donation page. Do what you can, kids.

It also bears mentioning that the American Red Cross is always hurting for blood donations. If you are perhaps a wee bit strapped for cash and would like to help out in some way, but lack the cash, it's time for you to go to your local chapter of the Red Cross and donate a pint. You'll be helping an organization that's helping those in need---it's just as good as giving cash. And, really, it's doesn't hurt that much. I promise. Plus you get a donut and juice when you're done! What more could you ask for?

I know some people will balk at the idea of sending money to the Red Cross given the International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent's anti-American bias. But as Fausta reminds us: "A quick reminder that the American Red Cross has nothing to do with the policies of the International Committee of the Red Cross and has in fact withheld funds from the ICRC to protest its blatantly biased agenda." Don't let the ICRC stop you from donating to the American Red Cross.

In case you'd like a little somethin' somethin' in return, Phin and Sadie---the fabulous owners of Apothegm Designs---are auctioning off a custom blog design to the highest bidder, with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross. Go on over and start going crazy!

Technorati Tags: Hurricane Katrina, flood aid

(And if you're a blogger and the Red Cross is your charity of choice, feel free to swipe the image and use it on your own site.)

Posted by: Kathy at 11:58 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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If you've got miniblinds in your house and you have no idea how to get them clean here's a tip for you: take them down, remove the plastic stick thingy, dump them in the bathtub, fill bathtub halfway with hot water and add a dose of Tide laundry detergent. Let soak for ten minutes, rinse and dry with a towel.

You don't have to scrub your blinds this way! It's FREAKIN' AMAZING!

And lest you think I'm exaggerating, know that as a former smoker my blinds were supposed to be a light beige color but were, in actuality, a sort of brownish-yellow. If you're a non-smoker you should know that smoke sticks to stuff. It leaves a sticky, yellow-ish film on EVERYTHING. Glass, walls, clothes---you name it, if you smoke in your home, it's got this film on it. Including your blinds. But, thanks to this handy tip, my blinds are now completely clean and I did not have to scrub them.

WOO-FREAKIN'-HOO!

Posted by: Kathy at 03:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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