Bad Astronomer: Some Creationists are still dangerous even when they're in jail for tax evasion.

Mother Jones: Laura Rozen War and Piece interviews journalist Douglas Farah, co-author of a new book on Viktor Bout Farah tells how the Tajik-born arms dealer forged a lucrative career skirting U.N. embargoes to sell weapons and air transport services to warlords and despots—not to mention the U.S. military and its contractors in Iraq.

Truly Equal: Iraqi refugees forced into prostitution.

James Fallows: The Iraq speeches, take two...

Balloon Juice: John Cole provides a dandy analysis of the latest faux controversy roiling wingnuttia...

guest round-up by Blue Gal.

Crooks and Liars celebrates the return to the blogosphere of Baghdad Burning. Much love and good wishes to Riverbend and family.

As we crossed the border and saw the last of the Iraqi flags, the tears began again. The car was silent except for the prattling of the driver who was telling us stories of escapades he had while crossing the border. I sneaked a look at my mother sitting beside me and her tears were flowing as well. There was simply nothing to say as we left Iraq. I wanted to sob, but I didn’t want to seem like a baby. I didn’t want the driver to think I was ungrateful for the chance to leave what had become a hellish place over the last four and a half years.

The Syrian border was almost equally packed, but the environment was more relaxed. People were getting out of their cars and stretching. Some of them recognized each other and waved or shared woeful stories or comments through the windows of the cars. Most importantly, we were all equal. Sunnis and Shia, Arabs and Kurds… we were all equal in front of the Syrian border personnel.

We were all refugees- rich or poor. And refugees all look the same- there’s a unique expression you’ll find on their faces- relief, mixed with sorrow, tinged with apprehension. The faces almost all look the same.

The first minutes after passing the border were overwhelming. Overwhelming relief and overwhelming sadness… How is it that only a stretch of several kilometers and maybe twenty minutes, so firmly segregates life from death?

The situation in Darfur continues to get worse and George Clooney spoke to the U.N. Security Council today about the problems and to urge help.

Clooney: So after September 30th, you won’t need the U.N. You will simply need men with shovels and bleached white linen and head stones.

Download | play - WMV Download | play - QT

God bless George Clooney and his dedication to this crisis. The right likes to attack "liberal Hollywood" for speaking out on political matters but isn't that their right and responsibility as Americans? As fellow members of the human race? Clooney (and every other person on the face of this earth) has that right and responsibility to do their part in trying to bring an end to preventable mass killing and suffering.

(H/T Mike for the post)

here's some of the transcript

Continue reading »

Steve has the flipping and flopping of Speaker Hastert.

That Colored Fella has some thoughts on New Orleans, Wall St., and gas prices.

Katrina Home Sharing Registry is a registry for people who have available space in private homes to accommodate Katrina victims. It provides info to refugees on available space in other cities.

Laura, over at War and Piece says: "My lord, the guy heading FEMA has no qualifications
What was he doing before getting pulled into FEMA by the Bush administration in 2003? He was an estate planning lawyer in Colorado and of counsel for the International Arabian Horse Association Legal Department. And yes, it is the same Michael D. Brown."

NOLA.com: Times-Picayune Breaking News Weblog: An angry Gov. Kathleen Blanco demanded that Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., apologize for his statement that it might not make sense to rebuild New Orleans. It was “unthinkable,” Blanco said, that Hastert would “kick us when we’re down. I demand an immediate apology.”

Yellow Dog Blog: George W. Bush's Parasitic Existence
What was he doing before getting pulled into FEMA by the Bush administration in 2003? He was an estate planning lawyer in Colorado and of counsel for the International Arabian Horse Association Legal Department. And yes, it is the same Michael D. Brown."

Blondsense: We had no idea.... NOT! Jerry Springer just asked: If there were young, white women holed up in the Superdome, do you think they would be starving, thirsty and dying?

d r i f t g l a s s

Science and the wondrous inventions and perils knowledge and creativity produce blaze around us with such profligacy that I sometimes just don’t notice. I forget how staggeringly lucky I am to live in this miraculous age – at this moment in history. I perhaps forget to laugh at the sheer dumbass irony of the fact that Aurora-Borealis-haired Fundy rodents who slicker the Great Wad (thanks Harlan) out of their sofa change by bashing modernity and intellectualism...

...do so through a network of satellites and cable-stations, cell-phones and Blackberrys, using wireless laptops to crunch their numbers and spam their flock while jetting hither and thither to drive home the message that Science is the Devil.

Of course it is desperately sad that there are so many people in our rich, dumb nation who are so hysterically frightened of The Future and The Other that they can be gulled into making war with both based on a tissue of lies, but c’mon; it’s also a goddamned funny, these dimwit refugees from Green Acres being conned out of their votes, their socks and their cousins by the Travlin’ Preacher Man over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. Read on...

UNITED NATIONS - U.N. refugee chief Ruud Lubbers told Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Sunday he was resigning because of a lack of confidence in him over sexual harassment charges.

Lubbers' letter of resignation as U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees was sent to Annan on Sunday, a spokesman said