My Quiet Life

A good article in the Post describes conditions in the Superdome. For what is probably an outer circle of hell, the pictures of sunlight streaming in onto the field sure are eerily beautiful.

Via Drink Soaked Trotskyists etc..., I founda bit about ol' George Galloway. I don't really know much about George except that he became somewhat of a poster-boy for the anti-war opposition here in the US because he's been a vehement opponent of the war in Iraq, despite being, as far as I can tell, a preening egomaniacal git (if I am criticizing a British MP, I get to use British slang -- that's the rule). Well, he's maintaining his reputation with this bit of nonsense:

Salman Rushdie clashed with George Galloway yesterday in a debate about TV and religion and a hypothetical small-screen adaptation of the novelist's controversial book The Satanic Verses.

Mr Galloway, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, said TV executives had to be "very sensitive about people's religion" and if broadcasters did not show sufficient sensitivity they "had to deal with the consequences".

He said: "You have to be aware if you do [offend people's beliefs] you will get blowback. You should do it very carefully, especially if you are a public service broadcaster."

A "blowback"? For fuck's sake, man, they put a fatwa out for his DEATH!! NOT COOL, man, NOT COOL! But, of course, Rushdie (for whom Amanda would instantly leave me. she's told me so.) can hold his own, here:

Describing Mr Galloway's argument as "craven", the author said: "The simple fact is that any system of ideas that decides you have to ringfence it, that you cannot discuss it in fundamental terms, that you can't say that this bit of it is junk, or that bit is oppressive ... we are supposed to respect that?"

I love the history of cities. Cities are continuously evolving, being torn down and rebuilt over and over again. You never know when you're sitting right on top of something completely unlike what's there now.

I was browsing around tonight and found this thread that has a picture from Nashville flooded badly in 1937:

(Click to Enlarge)

This picture amazes me mostly because I don't recognize anything in it, and I only live a few blocks away! Well, except smack in the center, which I do know is the old Sulphur Dell baseball park, so I know that's 4th and 5th on its borders, but everything else is foreign. Much of it was probably wiped out in the very flood captured in that picture. The density of the residential neighborhood is amazing -- a far cry from what the area is like now. I hope the construction of the Veridian and projects in the Gulch will help revitalize downtown and reintroduce some element of community back into it that it's sorely needed for so long.

This post is going to sound like ass-kissing, but I swear it's not.

I read several hundred blogs in my RSS aggregator, making it generally my sole pit-stop on the internet for aggregated information. It's rare that there are sites I bother to go to directly to check for updates.

WKRN's blog, Nashville Is Talking has become one of those sites (which is probably self-evident in how often/quickly I comment over there).

Kudos are in order for Brittney, who has done a great job in walking the fine line between being a relatively unbiased aggregator while still being a voice of opinion. And she's good at starting arguments, and everybody loves a good argument.

WKRN is going to be better off for embracing blogging (I understand the Weather Blog is a big hit too), and everyone involved should be commended for helping create a newly thriving community.

Read this post by S-townMike, whose ability to eloquently say what I am often thinking is impressing me more and more.

Browsing through historical pictures on on the NOAA's site, I ran across this:

(Click to Enlarge)

Incredible..

This is an incompetently and inflammatorily written essay that is a perfect example of why it's tough to get anyone to take the problem of global warming seriously.

This quote from Kathleen Blanco is on nola.com's blog:

Blanco said part of the population in the Dome are
people “who do not have any regard for others.” But
“many good people” also are living in the Dome, she
said, including mothers with babies.

What does this even mean? It doesn't give any context.. I wonder what she is talking about?

CORONADO, California (AP) -- President Bush will cut short his vacation to return to Washington on Wednesday, two days earlier than planned, to help monitor federal efforts to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina, the White House said Tuesday.

Well, that's nice of him -- we all realize the sacrifice involved in holding the office in the country, but cutting a 5-week vacation short by two days is really above and beyond.

Okay, what the hell? What is with the fuckin 150pt font? Why don't they just go ahead and add "YESSS!! FINALLY, SOME DEAD PEOPLE!!!"

I have kept my eye on CNN this entire time, as you've probably noticed, as I keep posting the various things that disgust me. Why do I keep going back? I don't know. Why are people entranced by car wrecks? But I think it's interesting to note that none of the mainstream media sites really provided me with a single ounce of worthwhile or timely information.

Most everything I learned as this unfolded: how many people were holed up in the Superdome, how much water was on the ground in the quarter, what the wind was like -- it all came from blogs. I am not exactly a super-hey-hey-blogs-are-revolutionary type guy, but that's an impressive change, I think. The only reason I kept checking CNN et al was to see how long it took them to pick up the things I already knew from reading various blogs. The funniest thing, to me, though, is Miles O'Brien's "hurricane blog" -- which I notice now has finally been removed from the front page. It is the most pathetic thing ever. My favorite entry is the one from this morning:

8:17 a.m. ET

Katrina is arriving in Baton Rouge. The wind and rain are picking up significantly.

Wow! Thanks, Miles! And then there's this gem, later:

When it was all over, LSU Chancellor (and former NASA boss) Sean O'Keefe led us to a campus cafeteria for some breakfast. After arising at 2 a.m. CT and working until 9 a.m. in the driving rain -- I found the school fare pretty darn close to perfection. I guess they have improved institutional food since my college days -- or maybe my standards were a little lower this morning.

I bet CNN is really glad that they dispatched Miles to Baton Rouge so that we could all get a first-hand glimpse at LSU's cafeteria. Do I smell Pulitzer here? Mmm? I think so!