With all that’s going on the last couple days, it’s really hard to think about something fun, but if you’re looking for a work-day distraction, try this and/or this.
The World’s Ugliest Dog
Anybody seen a dog uglier than this thing? I can’t say that I have.
Update on 9/4: Here’s another lovely picture of the ugly thing.
More New Orleans Links
First off, we all probably all know what’s going on on the Gulf Coast right now. New Orleans is an underwater mess, looting is rampant, there is no control or communication as to what is going on, and the Army Corp of Engineers still hasn’t plugged the levy breaks. As I mentioned before, I hope something really bad happens to the jerks who are looting for the sake of profit and not for the sake of feeding their family. I also hope that all the morons who are trying to impede rescue efforts by forcing police to head to the streets also get what’s coming to them.
Anyway, these are the links about this whole mess that I’ve seen the last couple days (in no particular order at all).
- Blogs being used to find missing
- Gas at $6 per gallon?
- New Orleans newspaper raised levy funding issues many times in the past, but federal money was never available because it was being sent to Iraq.
- Racism in News Coverage
- Boing Boing’s Katrina Tech Aid Ideas Part I and II
- Before and After Sattellite Imagery
- LiveBlog from a New Orleans datacenter
- Make sure you give to recommended charities.
- Round up of impact on communications infrastructure
- Some people saw this coming a couple years ago.
- BoingBoing just has a ton of links…check them out.
- How should New Orleans be rebuilt?
- Who’s responsible for folks not evacuating? (More on Jeff’s site)
- The College Media convention is moving.
- Good photos and videos from New Orleans.
- Katrina Check-In
- Another New Orleans blogger
- Local Newspaper’s putting coverage online
- Katrina Blog-a-thon.
- Donate
- Memories of Betsy
- Craigslist Free/Discount Housing, Volunteers, Community Noticies and Lost and Found.
- National Association of Broadcasters encourages TV stations to encourage donations.
- HAM Radio Operators are taking up the communications cause
- Lots of good resources from Al.
- The plan is to tap the nation’s strategic oil reserve (and more information on when it’s been tapped before).
- More to come….
Meanwhile, don’t forget to donate. I’m basically broke, but my wife and I are going to be digging up some cash to send along (as we did with the Tsunami). You should, too.
Transfer Succeeded
As I mentioned earlier, I was trying to get my five-year old into a closer school via a district transfer. Finally, one week before school starts and after several phone calls and meetings, it’s official: The transfer is going to happen. I’ve gotten confirmation from both schools, and my daughter is, needless to say, excited and can’t wait to go to school (and they even had an opening in our preferred morning time slot).
Now That They’ve Declared Martial Law, Can They Shoot the Looters?
Obviously, I can look it up and figure out what the declaration of Martial Law entails, but I just hope it means that somebody in Army camo with a big M16 machine gun can round up all those bastard looters in New Orleans and shoot ’em. Food to feed your family is one thing, but the idiots breaking into stores for the sole purpose to steal valuables (like clothes, electronics, etc…, like many of the looters were doing in full view of TV cameras) need to get beaten to death.
</rant>
New Orleans Is A Mess
Needless to say, the newspaper there isn’t printing today (despite a mention on their site yesterday that they were going to try to use a printing press in Baton Rouge). But they have produced and distributed the entire paper online in PDF format. You can also view Newspaper front pages from around the world at Newseum.
It’s certainly a mess in New Orleans right now. And to think that if I still worked for my previous company, I’d probably be in New Orleans in October, though there’s a small chance the convention might not be held, as it was scheduled to be held at the Hyatt in New Orleans which was pummeled by the storm.
While it’s sad that there was all this destruction in that are, and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody, it’s hard for me to feel sorry for the idiots who, despite plenty of warning, stayed around to watch the storm out. I watched plenty of footage on CNN of folks stranded up on rooftops, having to be rescued by Coast Guard helicopters. But I have ask: Why the hell are you still there? You knew this was coming, you had plenty of warning, so unless you’re part of the clean-up or rescue efforts or some other important official (some media is important, as are some government officials), you should’ve gotten the hell out of town a long time ago. This thing was a Category 5 storm as it moved across the Gulf — I would’ve left town a long time ago.
I also wonder about the idiot who drove his car into a road-turned-lake while a news reporter was on camera. He had to drop his microphone and run into the water to rescue the moron, pulling him through his car window. That clip got played a hundred times on CNN last night and wondered about the sanity of both the reporter for being out in that storm and the nit-wit who drove his sedan into the flood.
As usual, Wikipedia has a ton of links and information regarding the storm, its effects both physically and economically, and a bit of science about the storm as well. For journalists (and even the general public), Al has a bunch of tips and useful links.
People Love Their Pets Too Much
I can’t say that I’d like to meet the people who would buy a stuffed-animal urn to put their deceased pet’s ashes in. That’s just disturbing.
Easier Ego-Surfing For Bloggers
Search Blogdigger, Blogpulse, Daypop, Feedster, and Technorati all via one interface. Link via SEW.
Be Careful Before You Believe A Cute Little Girl
Back in my college newspaper days, I can’t honestly say that this wouldn’t have happened to us. I’d like to think we would’ve done our homework and the research needed to verify her story, but it’s hard not to believe an innocent looking little girl when she says her father died in Iraq. But, in reality, the little girl was part of a bizzare, elaborate hoax pulled on the campus newspaper by an alumni of the school. The little girl wasn’t who she said she was, nor did her “dad” exist. She just thought she was acting as part of a movie.
The newspaper obviously apologized and campus reaction was mixed. The former editor of the paper called himself a bad journalist, but said that he’s innocent of the charges that say he was involved in the scheme.
More coverage in the Chicago Tribune, as well as in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
Moral of the story for journalists? Always check your sources. Even if it’s your mom, always do a background check. Don’t believe anything unless you can prove it yourself.