Potemkinville, MS

“It’s amazing, isn’t?”
- George Bush basking in his own self-importance in Biloxi

"Mr. Bush delivered his remarks at an intersection in a working-class Biloxi neighborhood against a carefully orchestrated backdrop of neatly reconstructed homes. Just a few feet out of camera range stood gutted houses with wires dangling from interior ceilings. A tattered piece of crime scene tape hung from a tree in the field where Mr. Bush spoke. A toilet seat lay on its side in the grass."
- From the same NYT article

"There's a sense that the government doesn't care about poor people -- war, buying bombs and rebuilding another country is their priority."
- John Penny, criminology professor at Southern University, New Orleans

One more Katrina article on the state of race and racism since the hurricane. A startling piece of the article is that New Orleans is currently a white majority city. I think the last time that happened two French guys were splitting their last plug of tobacco while pitching a tent.

Meanwhile, more on racist Republicans, plus a sad and pathetic attempt by George Allen to make up for his racist comments.

Meanwhile, John McCain continues to Speaking to a Iraq War widow, who basically wanted to know why her husband had to die, he responded with the ever-so-sensitive "I'm not going to have a philosphical debate over politics." Oh yeah, nice guy.

Now we find that Bush likes to rip farts in order to see the response on his intern's faces. I'd like those of you who thought voting for this bland, ignorant imitation version of Bluto Blutarsky was a good idea to kindly injure yourself in the groin.

Hey, I almost have good Bush news. He's finally managed to stop adding people to the poverty rolls. We have managed to stabilize those earning less than enough to survive on at 12.6%. Hey, I did say "almost" good news, didn't I? That said, those without health insurance now comprise 15.9% of Americans. Those and other not-so-encouraging economic stats can be found here.

SAT scores are down; more proof that the more Republican-leaning we get, the dumber Americans are.

Work related news. There are, apparently, certain employers who encourage their employees to take a nap. Not all of us are so lucky. Meanwhile, if you aren't so lucky (hey, I'm not either), you can use the following info to good use. According to some recently published research, screaming can reduce stress by as much as twenty-five percent. So go ahead, yell at the top of your lungs; it's good for you.