According to WWL-TV (live video stream - WMP), who themselves have evacuated to the LSU School of Journalism's facilities in Baton Rouge, the staff of the legendary Times-Picayune newspaper have evacuated their staff from the city.

Flood waters from the breach in the levee system continue to innundate the city. A number of the pumps have failed. Officials fear that the waters will rise to the point that the water level in Lake Pontchartrain will equal that of the water level in the city of New Orleans.

Interstate 10 is not useable by traffic in either direction out of New Orleans.

President Bush has cut short his Texas vacation, and is returning to Washington as a result of this disaster.

Unconfirmed reports at this hour indicate that the USS Iwo Jima, currently on station in Norfolk, VA, will be heading to New Orleans in order to help with rescue and recovery efforts.

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In a surreal scene, more than 50,000 topless virgins participated in a contest to see who would be chosen as the 13th wife of Swaziland's 37 year-old king this week.

King Mswati III, sub-Saharan AfricaÂ’s last absolute monarch, arrived dressed in a leopard-skin loincloth to watch the Reed Dance ceremony, which he has used since 1999 to pluck new brides from the girls dressed in little more than beaded mini-skirts.

Wielding machetes and singing tributes to the king and queen mother, also known as the Great She-Elephant, the girls danced around the royal stadium in the hope of catching the eye of the 37-year-old monarch.

Critics say Mswati, who has courted controversy for his lavish lifestyle while two thirds of his subjects live in abject poverty, sets a bad example by encouraging polygamy and teenage sex in a country where 40 percent of adults live with HIV.

Just damn.

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As now-Tropical Storm Katrina continues her inexorble march northeastward, residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia begin to pick up the pieces left behind.

According to some reports, up to 80% of New Orleans is underwater. Many buildings have windows blown out. The levee has been breached in multiple places, allowing floodwaters to enter the city. At least some of the pumps have failed. The Louisiana Superdome, used as a shelter-of-last-resort for more than 10,000 people, had the skin of it's roof torn off; multiple holes in the domed stadium's concrete and steel roof allowed wind and rain into the interior. Interstate 10, the main highway to access the New Orleans area, is impassible both west of New Orleans as well as east of New Orleans.

Other areas of Louisiana east and south of New Orleans are in worse shape. Thousands are virtually homeless in Louisiana alone. The death toll in and around The Big Easy hasn't even been imagined, but with the scale of damage, the numbers are expected to be staggering.

On the Gulf Coast, east of New Orleans, the port cities of Biloxi and Gulfport were badly battered. Local reports say that at least 80 people are dead in that area alone. The ABC television affiliate in Biloxi, WLOX, had it's roof snatched off and it's transmission tower destroyed. Buildings have been scoured from their foundations. It's as if God took a giant steel wool pad and scrubbed the surface of the ground.

In Mobile, yet further east, water innundated homes, buildings and overran bridges. An oil rig, torn free of it's foundations, floated freely until it slammed into a bridge in Mobile wedging itself underneath the bridge.

Back to New Orleans, the water is rising, the power is out, there is no potable water, hard line telephones are out, cellphone service is very spotty at best, some buildings are on fire, many cars are underwater, many people are stranded.

Going inland, there is damage across all four states with winds, rains and tornadoes damaging buildings, trees being brought down, and power being disrupted. A tornado in Carrollton, GA, outside Atlanta destroyed 30 homes and damaged another 100. Power in and across central Mississippi is out this morning, as the full extent of this disaster continues to unfold.

Live streaming video from New Orleans NBC affiliate WDSU is available; Mobile's CBS affiliate WKRG is also streaming wall-to-wall coverage of the aftermath of this disaster.

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I have never seen a warning like this from a governmental body.

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED

HURRICANE KATRINA
A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969.

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS.

ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE OUTSIDE!

If you are in the path of this thing, for God's sake, get out now. You still have time, but the window of opportunity is closing.

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The National Hurricane Center has issued a Hurricane Warning from Intracoastal City, LA eastward to the Florida/Alabama state line, including Lake Pontchartrain, Mobile Bay, and the cities of Mobile and New Orleans.

Hurricane Katrina is presently a category 3 storm, and is expected to become a cat 4 tomorrow, and quite possibly may become a cat 5 storm before landfall.

The NHC official track is set to make landfall in southeast Louisiana Monday morning at around 8A ET.

This is the monster scenario that scientists have talked about for years.

Many scientists have pointed out that because of the geography of New Orleans and the surrounding area, a direct hit of even a cat 3 storm would be catastrophic. A cat 4 storm, as the NHC is suggesting, would create a major disaster of monumental proportions, and if Katrina arrives in Louisiana as a cat 5 storm, the damage could be of Biblical proportions -- we're talking "hand of God" sweeping-everything-off-of-the-table-top territory.

If you're reading this from along the Gulf Coast, stop right now and leave. I pray that the storm bypasses you, but you must do whatever you can to save your life and those of the people around you.

I've got family in and around New Orleans, and I know that I'm concerned about them; please do whatever you can to save your friends and loved ones also.

Video streaming links:

"IÂ’m like if I truly was a media whore do you think I would like maybe get myself fixed up a little bit before I went on?"

--Cindy Sheehan

'Nuff said.

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Hurricane Katrina blew through Miami-Dade and Broward Counties in Florida overnight with lots of flood damage and causing four deaths in metro Miami. Katrina became a hurricane just before landfall, and retained hurricane strength as it sucked energy out of the Everglades west of Miami.

It moved back over open water before daylight this morning, and rapidly intensified. The storm raked the lower Florida Keys, including Key West during the morning hours today. The storm is now pulling away to the west at 7 miles per hour.

The storm's sustained winds are now up to 100 miles per hour, making it a category two storm.

Katrina is expected to turn to the northwest and then the north, bringing it toward the Florida panhandle in the Pensacola/Panama City area by the end of the weekend. Katrina is then expected to make a bee-line for the Atlanta area, and then run up the eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains running northward.

I really feel for folks along the panhandle area of Florida. They've had to deal with multiple storms last year; now Katrina will become the second major storm for them this year.

Time for me to batten down the hatches yet again.

UPDATE - Joe Bastardi at AccuWeather is reporting this morning in Yahoo Weather's video report (WMP) that he sees Katrina becoming a category 4 storm before landfall in the Florida panhandle Monday morning.

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Illegal aliens throwing rocks forced a Border Patrol helicopter to make an emergency landing near Andrade, CA yesterday.

17 illegals were apprehended after the incident, and the pilots weren't injured, but ten other illegals got away.

The A-Star helicopter was two miles west of the U.S. Port of Entry in Andrade, Calif., on Tuesday when a group of immigrants began throwing rocks at the aircraft.

One baseball-sized rock gashed the rotor, forcing the pilot to land nearby, said Michael Gramley, spokesman for the Border Patrol sector based in Yuma, Ariz.

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Ghetto Fries are a concoction that is sold at an Italian Beef stand on the north side of Chicago, and as you can imagine, some people are upset with the owners of the restaurant.

The fries are thinly sliced, fried potatoes smothered in Italian beef gravy, Bar-B-Que sauce, onions, cheddar cheese, and hot peppers.

Some customers at Max's Famous Italian Beef at 5754 N. Western Ave. raise their eyebrows at the name.

The owner says the fries were named after the employee who came up with the combination. He says it was the employee's nickname, and it was done in fun.

I'd be willing to try 'em. They don't sound like they'd be good with my diet though.

As for the PC folks? The heck with 'em!

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Word out tonight that Al Sharpton is headed to Crawford, TX to join protest queen Cindy Sheehan.

Sharpton's office said Thursday he would participate in a prayer vigil Sunday with Sheehan in Crawford, Texas. Sheehan returned on Wednesday to Camp Casey, named after her 24-year-old son, Army Spc. Casey Sheehan, who was killed last year in Iraq.

Sheehan began her vigil on the road leading to Bush's ranch Aug. 6, vowing to stay through his monthlong vacation unless he met with her. She left last week to visit her 74-year-old mother, who had suffered a stroke, in Los Angeles.

Sheehan plans to leave Crawford at the end of August and embark on a bus tour ending in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24.

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Cindy Sheehan has returned to her Traveling Roadshow and Flying Circus in Crawford, TX, and taken up where she left off with her constant foot-in-mouth bouts.

She has started up by referring to Osama Bin Laden as an "alleged terrorist." This on the heels of referring to President Bush as a terrorist.

When asked by reporters, Sheehan said she believes that while she supports the continued hunt for Osama bin Laden she believes the U.S. should withdraw from Afghanistan and “stop bombing innocent people.” She also described Osama bin Laden as being “allegedly” behind the attacks of 9/11.

To those who have criticized her political stance, which includes allegations that the war in Iraq was “done for Israel” that George Bush is “the world’s biggest terrorist” and that al Qaeda may not be behind attacks on America, Sheehan said, “I know my son better than anyone else. I don’t want anymore of my buddies killed just because I’m dead.” I know when it’s my time to greet him, he’s going to say ‘Good job, Mom.’ He’s not going to accuse me of dishonoring his memory.”

Now that she's referring to Osama as an "alleged terrorist," and the President as a terrorist, how long before she says that Osama was justified in his actions regarding 9/11?

Cindy Sheehan claims to be patriotic, but increasingly, I'm convinced that she's not only being paid by the George Soros' and Michael Moores of the world, but that she truly would be more happy with the failure and downfall of the United States. She is no better than Fred Phelps, the Wichita, KS pseudo-preacher who goes around celebrating at the funerals of American soldiers, claiming that God wants them to die and go to hell. I wouldn't be surprised if she had already been in contact with Phelps and his cohorts.

Posted by: mhking at 03:29 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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According to a broadcast report last night, Fulton County Courthouse shooter Brian Nichols has a cellphone in his jail cell.

WSB-TV's investigative report, broadcast last night, interviewed employees of the Fulton County Jail, and confirmed rumors regarding Nichols' possession of a cellphone. According to the report, Nichols' telephone use is unmonitored. In addition, WSB reports that Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman is aware of Nichols' phone, and has not taken steps to remove it, nor to even investigate guards who are at the center of the controversy.

Jailhouse rules require that detainees be escorted to a wall telephone in order to make calls. That phone is monitored and recorded. A cellular phone, obviously, would not be.

The WSB report points out that recently in Tennessee, a man being transported to a courthouse from a local jail had been able to use a cell phone to call his wife and to have her stationed outside the courthouse with a gun. One deputy was killed in that instance, and the couple escaped. (They were ultimately captured in Columbus, OH several days later)

The report has caused a lot of consternation among officials, who are reserving comment for now.

After all the other problems that FulCo Sheriff Myron Freeman has had to deal with, and despite lumping many of those problems on former Sheriff Jackie Barrett, many people are beginning to agree with the call from some quarters for a voter-driven recall of Freeman.

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Actor Brock Peters died yesterday after a long bout with pancreatic cancer.

Peters was known to many for his role as the wrongly-accused Tom Robinson in To Kill A Mockingbird, though in more recent years he was more widely known as creole restaurant owner Joseph Sisko, the father of Captain Ben Sisko in episodes of Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Peters also played Admiral Cartwright in the motion pictures Star Trek IV and Star Trek VI.

Peters' film career began with a role in Otto Preminger's Carmen Jones, and was vast, with roles on the big screen as well as television. In recent years, Peters lent his voice to cartoons as well as the video game Starfleet Command III.

Peters was wonderful actor, and he will be sorely missed.

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Tropical Storm Katrina is in the vicinity of Nassau, Bahamas at this point, and is strengthening.

The National Hurricane Center expects Katrina to get to minimal hurricane status by the time it hits the Florida coast north of Miami late tomorrow.

The more difficult thing to fathom and predict is that Katrina is expected to cross the Florida peninsula and emerge into the Gulf of Mexico by late on Friday or early on Saturday.

Then it's expected to take a hard right and head for a second landfall around Monday. In or near the Pensacola/Panama City area. Yet again.

Current projections take Katrina inland as a hurricane, with it dropping more water in my lap by Monday or Tuesday.

It's gonna be a character builder, I can tell you that much.

Hurricane City (Real Player) is set to go live from Miami-Dade County, FL tonight at 8P ET. Other streaming coverage will be available from WFOR-TV/DT Miami and ABCNews Now.

Stay tuned.

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Pat Robertson, under fire for comments on Monday's edition of The 700 Club, is now saying that by "take him out," he didn't mean to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Robertson says that actually, he meant for Chavez to be kidnapped.

Conservative U.S. evangelist Pat Robertson, who called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said on Wednesday he was misinterpreted and there were a number of ways to "take him out" including kidnapping.

"I said our special forces could take him out. Take him out could be a number of things including kidnapping," Robertson said on his "The 700 Club" television program.

"There are a number of ways of taking out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted," Robertson added.

What he's saying is anathematic to Christianity.

UPDATE: Robertson formally apologized in a written statement this afternoon for calling for Chavez's assassination.

"Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologize for that statement," he said in a written statement.

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[BLAM!]

I love Reno 911.

Watch this (WMP) and you'll see why...

Posted by: mhking at 09:46 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Thanks to Pixy & all the folk involved in getting us back up and running...

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Pixy (He who keeps this place running and to whom I'm eternally grateful) tells me that blog spammers have lost their happy little minds again. Provided they can be kept at bay, things should be OK.

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ABC talk radio station WMAL/Washington has officially fired morning host Michael Graham for his comments regarding Islam in general, and Islamic terrorism in particular.

Graham was suspended at the end of July after demands from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Graham's comments (truthful comments as far as I'm concerned) referred to Islam as a terrorist organization. CAIR called those statements "hate speech," and demanded Graham's suspension. WMAL management capitulated on that point and suspended Graham.

CAIR demanded that Graham apologize for his comments. Graham refused.

CAIR then said that Graham's suspension was not enough. They wanted Graham fired. Obviously the notion of free speech and commentary by talk show hosts is foreign to CAIR. Amazingly, WMAL management complied with CAIR's demand, and fired Graham.

WMAL President and General Manager released a statement indicating that Graham's comments went "over the line," and that the reason that Graham was fired was that he disobeyed a direct order from management -- that he apologize on-air for his comments and back down from his position.

Graham released a statement on his firing yesterday.

On July 25th, the Council on American-Islamic Relations demanded that I be "punished" for my on-air statements regarding Islam and its tragic connections to terrorism. Three days later, 630 WMAL and ABC Radio suspended me without pay for comments deemed "hate radio" by CAIR.

CAIR immediately announced that my punishment was insufficient and demanded I be fired. ABC Radio and 630 WMAL have now complied. I have now been fired for making the specific comments CAIR deemed "offensive," and for refusing to retract those statements in a management-mandated, on-air apology. ABC Radio further demanded that I agree to perform what they described as "additional outreach efforts" to those people or groups who felt offended.

I refused. And for that refusal, I have been fired.

I cannot join ABC Radio in bowing to CAIR's wishes. And I will not apologize for my opinions or retract the truth.

WMAL's capitulation to CAIR opens the door for CAIR to go after talk show hosts, columnists, and perhaps even bloggers who are poltically incorrect and make what they perceive as "offensive" statements.

How long before they invade the blogosphere and demand that certain blogs be removed?

A lot sooner than you might think.

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On The 700 Club yesterday, Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, referring to him as a danger to the safety of the United States.

Chavez, a major critic of President Bush, has been suggested to be a supporter of state-sponsored terrorism and potential harbor of Islamic terror in the Western Hemisphere.

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson said. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

Robertson accused the United States of failing to act when Chavez was briefly overthrown in 2002.

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said.

"We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," he continued. "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

I've said that Robertson is unstable at best, but this statement shows that he's completely off his rocker and unhinged. Robertson's statements certainly put the Christian faith in a bad light, and embarrass me (for one) as a Christian.

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