Talk about an identity crisis! Ophelia has been upgraded to Hurricane status for the fourth time!
Meanwhile, hundreds of people are getting out of the way. Obviously Katrina has had an effect on the attitude of those who would have otherwise rode this one out.
Six years after Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a deadly rampage through Columbine High School, the killer’s parents are fighting to keep their “basement tapes” from public view.
Reporters have already seen and written about the Columbine “basement tapes” of killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold showing off their arsenal and eagerly talking about their plan to attack their high school.
But the gunmen’s parents are fighting a newspaper’s request for public release of the videos, audio recordings and writings Harris and Klebold made in the months before they killed 12 students and a teacher in April 1999.
The Colorado Supreme Court was scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday from The Denver Post, the parents and the Jefferson County sheriff’s office, which also opposes the release.
Forget about the legal issues regarding the Harris and Klebold families, the Denver Post or the Jefferson County sheriff’s office for a moment. I can’t see any benefit to releasing these tapes. Aside from then becoming hot tickets on the Internet and P2P file sharing networks, what purpose will they serve?
The videos will only prove what we already know. Eric and Dylan were troubled kids…really, really messed up in the head kids, and a terrible thing happened because of it. There is nothing new to ‘understand’ about these two.
That’s it, that’s all.
As we move further from that day in 2001, more information is released on what did and did not happen.
“Ten minutes after American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) controllers in New York saw United Airlines Flight 175, heading “right towards the city,” but thought it was aiming for an emergency landing at a New York airport, according to FAA documents released this week under the Freedom of Information Act and posted on the web by the National Security Archive. Minutes later, Flight 175 hit the south tower of the World Trade Center.”
More here.
Been having a difficult time finding Hurricane Katrina images on Google? Try Yahoo instead.
Bush gets no slack from La Shawn:
“Your problem, Mr. Bush, is that you’ve failed to harness the power of a conservative government, squandering precious time and resources. Under your reign, the government has grown to ridiculous proportions, more than Ted Kennedy ever dreamed would be possible. And the war on terror started with a bang, but limps along with a whimper. I can only wonder what it would be like to have a real conservative in the White House.”
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I predicted this would happen.
Profiteering ghouls have been using debit cards distributed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina – intended to buy essentials for evacuated families – in luxury-goods stores as far away as Atlanta.
“We’ve seen three of the cards,” said a senior employee of the Louis Vuitton store at the Lenox Square Mall in affluent Buckhead, who asked not to be named. “Two I’m certain have purchased; one actually asked if she could use it in the store. This has been since Saturday.” Two women who had made purchases with the card each bought a signature monogrammed Louis Vuitton handbag in the $800 range.
The distinctive white cards were distributed by the Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency and carry a value of up to $2,000.
Just wait for it…the Left will claim that these people deserve to use government assistance to purchase $800 handbags, because it makes them feel good and not “less than”.
Unbelievable. I’m outraged by this.
15 days after Katrina, Mayor Ben Morris sent a message to the citizens of Slidell, Louisiana, containing some amazing announcements.
To the Citizens of Slidell,
The Weather Service reports that Slidell had sustained winds of 176 mph and gusts of 190+ mph during Hurricane Katrina. In addition, Slidell was hit by a 23’-26’ storm surge that devastated much of the city. This has been very difficult for everyone, but I want to report that we are making great progress thanks to the many city workers, police officers and firefighters, citizens and volunteers who have worked so hard over these last two weeks.
Here is the latest:
- Our water service is now operational and the drinking water in the City of Slidell is safe to drink and cook with. You do not need to boil your water first.
- Our sewer system is also operational.
- Telephone service is back up and running; however, Charter Communications has still not recovered.
- Clean up is still in progress, thanks to our city work crews and the efforts of over 400 United Stated Marines from around the country.
- Security remains tight throughout the City of Slidell. Curfew is still in affect from 9:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m. and is being strictly enforced. The Slidell Police Department is receiving assistance from police officers from across the nation, as well as the Louisiana National Guard and the Alabama National Guard.
- Cleco (power) continues to do a tremendous job. There are working lights now on major thoroughfares throughout the city and in some subdivisions. Considering the catastrophic damage to the system, it is absolutely amazing that we have come as far as we have.
Yes, truly amazing.
Follow the link above to read the full message. There’s lots of good news for the people of Slidell.
The CBS News blog ‘Public Eye’ opened it’s eye for the first time today. So far, it ain’t nothing big. Yeah, sure…today was the first day, but Vaughn Ververs (oy vey, that name!) already has me yawning. Why? Because of stuff like this:
“In the weeks since Public Eye’s announcement, the most difficult task I’ve faced has been simply explaining it. The questions, asked over and over again, in many ways still seem unanswered. What is it? Why is it a blog? How often are you going to update it? What are you going to write about? How is this thing going to work?
All seemingly easy questions, yet in launching something so new and unique, I quickly realized the challenges of answering them. In many instances, I don’t have the answers. There is no model to follow here, no formula, no directions for assembly. It will evolve, change and develop over time.”
No model? No formula? If you’re gonna call it a blog, then there certainly is a model and a formula. Go look at any one of the tens of thousands of blogs already in existence. Most are updated daily, with the current date and the top, and titles with articles underneath. Seems pretty formulaic to me.
I’m betting Vaughn will quickly get tired of having to submit something (let alone multiple posts) on a daily basis. Keeping the description of ‘Public Eye’ loose helps him cover his caboose. (Hey, I rhymed!)
In a reference to the blogosphere:
“In ways, this proliferation of media critique can be viewed as illuminating and even performing the service of keeping the Fourth Estate on its toes. But, all too often, it’s confusing and ponderous, as with arguments over the coverage of the Katrina catastrophe, with the press accused both of unfairly blaming the administration and covering up for its performance.
We hope that Public Eye will help CBS News join and improve this big, new conversation about journalism in a way that is honest, open and even idealistic.”
Blogs are confusing and ponderous? Yes Vaughn, they are…but that is what makes them unique. Blogging is a different medium (still in its infancy) and it shouldn’t be compared to anything else. If you’re going to be a real blogger, you have to understand and accept that. We’re not about trying to be the New York Times. We’re the ‘anti-New York Times’. And I don’t think ‘Public Eye’ will change that.
Vaughn goes on to describe the kind of content his blog-non-blog will contain:
“Who decides what makes the ‘Evening News’ and what doesn’t? What are the factors that go into that decision? Why was a particular expert interviewed on a given topic? What did they say that wasn’t included? How difficult is it to put together a package that runs just one minute and 30 seconds? Why wasn’t a certain piece of information mentioned? Those are but a few examples.
Sounds just like the Broadcast News 355 class I took in college. It wasn’t riveting then, and it doesn’t jack me up now.
How open and transparent will ‘Public Eye’ really be?
“We won’t always get the answers we want and, at times, we’ll get no answers at all. But you’ll be the first to know when that happens and why, to the best of our ability. There are legitimate reasons for CBS News to hold some things back, be they legal, competitive or business related. We’ll try to spell those out for you to understand.”
Ah-ha! There it is. It’s their “Get Out of Jail Free” card.
Want to accuse ‘Public Eye’ of not being forthcoming on a news item? “Nope, lawyers say we can’t.” Want to know why CBS only reported half of a story? “Nope, for competitive reasons we can’t tell you about what we may or may not broadcast.”
Yawn.
“In the end, our success will be determined by you, the audience. We will make our best efforts to gain your trust by being honest, accurate and fair. We will try to provide informative details along with critical assessments of CBS. We will do our utmost to answer the questions you have and those we ask ourselves.”
Yes Vaughn, the success of ‘Public Eye’ will be determined by us (bloggers) and them (the reading, non-bloggers). We’ll only need to read a few of your articles to know where you’re coming from, and you won’t have a lot of time to prove yourself.
The honeymoon will be short. Just ask Arianna. I’m sure she’ll agree.
Over at World Magazine’s Blog: ‘Durbin’s Arrogance’
In his opening statement today in the John Roberts confirmation hearings, Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin tried to talk tough, but wound up vacillating between condescension and arrogance. He said Mr. Roberts would have to explain to Sen. Durbin’s satisfaction his Reagan-era writings on civil rights because “we can’t assume that time or maturity have changed your views.” Later, apparently to display his fairmindedness, Sen. Durbin told Mr. Roberts that the hearings would “give you your chance…to establish why you were worthy” of Mr. Bush’s nomination, but promised the judge that if he refused to answer questions, “the results would not be…positive.” Note to Sen. Durbin: Left-of-center Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg often refused to answer questions during her confirmation hearings. Perhaps you can recall her from the high court using your outsized sense of self.
If only the electorate was engaged enough to wise up and kick these guys out of Washington D.C.
Durbin wasn’t the only Senator in bloviation overdrive today.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D) — “Today, the devastation, despair facing millions of our fellow Americans in the Gulf region is a tragic reminder of why we have a federal government, why it’s critical that our government be responsive. We need the federal government for our protection and security, to cast a lifeline to those in distress, to mobilize better resources beyond the ability of any state and local government — all of this for the common good.”
What does this have to do with Roberts?
Sen. Teddy Kennedy (D) — “The powerful winds and flood waters of Katrina tore away the mask that has hidden from public view the many Americans who are left out and left behind. As one nation under God, we cannot continue to ignore the injustice, the inequality and the gross disparities that exist in our society.”
Uh (hiccup), what does (hiccup) this have to (hiccup) do with (hiccup) Roberts?
And it wasn’t just the Democrats who were overacting.
A television camera behind Sen. Tom Coburn (R) caught the senator working a crossword puzzle. But Coburn went from detachment to emotional overdrive when it was his turn to talk; seconds after asserting that “a super-legislator body is not what the court was intended to be,” he paused and wept.
Colleagues looked alarmed. One GOP committee aide put his hand to his mouth. It was the biggest Senate choke-up since Sen. George V. Voinovich (R) cried while opposing the nomination of the ambassador to the United Nations — and Coburn has to get through three more days of hearings.
Take the cameras out of the room and it would have been a different day. Remove the spotlight, and you instantly eliminate the drama. It’s showbiz, and it’s hard for me to stomach.
He wept?
I think I’m going to hurl.
Department of Water and Power does not know cause of mass outage. LAPD put on tactical alert. One can’t help but wonder what this is especially after the release of the al Qaeda video tapped terror warning yesterday, which specifically mentioned Los Angeles as a target.
AP has more.
A large portion of Los Angeles (search) was blacked out Monday when electrical power was lost. The power got knocked out shortly before 1 p.m. after two power surges. Traffic lights throughout downtown and the San Fernando Valley were not working, causing major traffic problems, according to video from helicopter news crews.
Downtown highrises also were darkened. The city’s department of water and power said it was investigating the cause and extent of the outage.
UPDATE: Slowly, electricity is coming back up. Solar Flare and Terrorism Discounted As Cause.
UPDATE II: ‘Dept of water and power worker snapped a power line‘ – 90% of customers back on.