I'm so surprised!

John Leo at US News:

Which politician emerged from the mess of Katrina as the biggest bonehead involved? No, it's not Michael Brown, George W. Bush, or even the bumbling Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco.

The clear winner is New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who made every conceivable mistake during the crisis.
...
So today the New York Times has a news profile of the mayor. How does it treat Nagin? You guessed it–he's a hero. The lead of the story is "Hurricane Katrina has given the nation a new political celebrity, the mayor of beleaguered New Orleans." (Nation to city: Can we please give this alleged celebrity back?)

How do the folks at the Times keep a straight face?

Today's Hoot!

Professor Bunyip:

Good manners in our multi-culti age demand that, if you can't say anything nice about another group, then you must say nothing at all -- an observance that has worked mightily to the benefit of soccer. If decent folks were free to speak their minds, they'd concede that it's a decent enough sport for little kids and girls, especially the ones who get their tops off, but somewhat beneath the dignity of men. Once, in less liberated times, the code no doubt served a purpose: a socially acceptable means by which excited men might kiss each other in front of large crowds.

The good professor is a little tough on "snooze ball," but what he is really on about is this year's finals in a real man's sport, Australian Rules Football. It's been centuries since I've seen a game, but I seem to recall that it consists chiefly of a mob of hearty ruffians without pads bashing each other while loosely moderated by guys in white coats waving flags according to some incomprehensible rules. Sort of like a samurai war movie where the troops wear shorts.

I guess Australia doesn't have a pond scum shortage either

Tim Blair:

One in five Labor Party candidates at the last federal election believed the United States was a threat to Australian security, a new study has showed.
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and one in five said they were either not very proud, or not at all proud, to be Australian.

The US is a threat and Australia is shameful. Nice thinking, dregs.

Sounds like a job description for today's Democrat party in the USA.

Another reason to send the Hollyweirdos to Russia!

Want a pirate DVD? Try the secret nuclear bunker:

DURING the Cold War the West spent billions of dollars trying to spy on the military installations of the Soviet Union. Now Western governments are targeting secret Russian military facilities in a new conflict, this time over the piracy of music, films and software.

The Russian Interior Ministry has revealed that millions of pirated DVDs, CDs and CD-ROMs are being produced at factories on secret military facilities beyond the jurisdiction of the police. The ministry said: “Some of the counterfeit production is being made in commercial structures installed in secret and top-secret facilities.”
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Russian police have had little success in clamping down on the factories, which can churn out an estimated 250 million discs a year, of which 90 per cent are pirated. In a kiosk less than 500 metres from the Moscow office of The Times, Anatoly offered a pirate DVD copy of the Adam Sandler comedy The Longest Yard — released in Britain on September 9 — for only 150 roubles (£3). “Tomorrow I’ll have Revolver,” he said, even though Guy Ritchie’s latest film had its premiere in London only this week.

Industry experts say that of the 42 factories known to be producing bootleg films, music and software at least 12 are on restricted government or military sites, many in or around Moscow. Konstantin Zem-chinkov, the director of the Russian Anti-Piracy Organisation (RAPO), said: “They want to make it difficult for police to come in and raid them. The military knows about it and the Government knows about it.”

The problem, he said, was that much of Russia’s vast military industrial complex was moribund and desperate for cash. “They have to have some money but the Government can’t supply it.”

Maybe the "stars" can put on a benefit show for them?

New Orleans Clown Posse Update!

Aaron Broussard - the trials of a thespian

If you're like me, you just can't get enough of the scamps, scalawags, and scoundrels that populate New Orleans local government. It's like The Three Stooges only with a larger cast!

Anyhow, in the last episode, you may recall that Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard was taking some heat for his scenery chewing performance on Meet the Press. It was so bogus that even NBC had to issue a statement, fetchingly titled An emotional moment and a misunderstanding: Story of a mother’s desperate calls from nursing home skewed. I guess that's what the MSM calls pulling one out of your butt. Cut to a Wuzzadem update:

I think it's worth noting that anyone who's watched the interview can plainly see that Broussard is reading from prepared notes throughout. If this was a misunderstanding, it was one that was carefully prepared.

Sheesh, he didn't even learn his lines! Well, I hope he does more prep work before he talks to the Feds about the Jefferson Parish bribery scandal.

And speaking of scandal, the Clown Posse cast just got a new member and he's already off to a good start (H/T: Florida Cracker) - Donations Found at La. Official's Home:

Police found cases of food, clothing and tools intended for hurricane victims at the home of the chief administrative officer for a New Orleans suburb, authorities said Wednesday.

Officers searched Cedric Floyd's home because of complaints that city workers were helping themselves to donations for hurricane victims. Floyd, who runs the day-to-day operations in the suburb of Kenner, was in charge of distributing the goods.

Police plan to seek a charge of committing an illegal act as a public official against Floyd, and more charges against other city workers are possible, police Capt. Steve Caraway said.

The donations filled a large pickup truck four times. "It was an awful lot of stuff," Caraway said.

The donated materials must be processed as evidence but eventually will be distributed to victims. "We have lots of families that are begging for these supplies," said Attorney General Charles Foti, whose office assisted in the investigation.

Let's all give Cedric a warm welcome! Oh, and the garage sale at his place this weekend has been canceled.

Like father, Like son

"There is not a day that goes by without me inhaling the perfume of the discreet violet"

E-Nough! alerts us to some hijinks in high places in France:

Better call Father so he can stop the cops from arresting me.

WHEN Arthur de Villepin was caught by police following a drunken brawl in Paris, he knew there was only one man he needed to call - his father, the French prime minister.
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Arthur is also a part-time model, posing last year for the Italian designer Krizia, which said it had chosen him for "his natural elegance, his aristocratic beauty and his strong personality despite his young age".

Hit the link for more laughs including the disappearing police records and a photo of the young sprig who seems er, well, rather "ambivalent."

Maybe Dan Rather could give it a try!

Maybe he already did? Dutch Talk-Show Host to Take Heroin on Air:

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A television presenter on a new Dutch talk show plans to take heroin and other illegal drugs on air in a program intended to reach young audiences on topics that touch their lives, producers said Wednesday.

The show, scheduled to premier on late-night television Oct. 10, is called "Spuiten & Slikken," or the "Shoot Up and Swallow" show.

Hey, Hans! That's some really good smack!

The Shoot Up & Swallow show's main hostess will interview guests about drug use and abuse, while Wesselink and another presenter will carry out in-the-field experiments with sex and drugs.

Woohoo! Experiments! No mention of Rock & Roll.

Wesselink, 26, plans to smoke a heroin pill, said Ingrid Timmer, a spokeswoman for the show's producer BNN.

"It's not our intention to create an outcry. We just want to talk about subjects that are part of young people's lives," Timmer said.

Translation: we couldn't think of anything else to do to hype ratings.

In other segments of the show, Wesselink plans to go on a drinking binge in a series of pubs. He also plans to take the hallucinogenic drug LSD — on his couch under the supervision of his mother.

Barfing in the gutter and giant lizards on the ceiling alert! "There, there, Sonny! I won't let the giant lizards bite you." Sheesh, what a bunch of poseurs. But hold on a sec - what happened to the sex?

BNN has drawn viewer complaints for programs in the past, including a sex education program called "This Is How You Screw." One segment discussed how to have sex in a nightclub and featured life-size mannequins with sex organs.

They seem to have a surplus of life-size dummies.

Today's Words of Wisdom

Never shake the bucket of nuts before you're tied to the yak rope.

Hey, Ray! This is how it is done.

Since ole Ray Nagin apparently played hooky from Mayor's school on the day they covered evacuations ahead of natural disasters, he might want to pay some attention to the city of Galveston. (Hat tip: rebelbase)

Tears of a Clown

My apologies to Smokey Robinson, but the only other title I could come up with was Old JO gets all sniffly about NJO:

Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather said Monday that there is a climate of fear running through newsrooms stronger than he has ever seen in his more than four-decade career.

Somebody stole the New Year's Eve party fund?

Addressing the Fordham University School of Law in Manhattan, occasionally forcing back tears, he said that in the intervening years, politicians "of every persuasion" had gotten better at applying pressure on the conglomerates that own the broadcast networks. He called it a "new journalism order."

Sounds like another one of Dan's bogus stories. I wonder if someone FAXed him the details from Kinkos?

He said this pressure -- along with the "dumbed-down, tarted-up" coverage, the advent of 24-hour cable competition and the chase for ratings and demographics -- has taken its toll on the news business. "All of this creates a bigger atmosphere of fear in newsrooms," Rather said.

I guess being an egotistical, pompous ass with a mile wide bias and a proclivity for making up stories just doesn't cut it any more.

Rather was accompanied by HBO Documentary and Family president Sheila Nevins, both of whom were due to receive lifetime achievement awards at the News and Documentary Emmy Awards on Monday evening.
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Nevins took up the cause for Rather, who was emotional several times during the event.

"When a man is close to tears discussing his work and his lip quivers, he deserves bosses who punch back. I feel I would punch back for Dan," Nevins said.

Ruh Oh! Sheila must pull her documentaries out of her butt too.

But not to worry, Captain Dan! There are little people in newsrooms all across America who are following in your footsteps! Take Shadi Rahimi at the New York Times who comes up with beauts like:

Many New Yorkers said yesterday that Ms. Sheehan gave them back hope that was lost when war was declared on Iraq.

The only New Yorkers ole Shadi mentions are the Stalinists that hover around Cindy like flies on a cow flop, but I guess there must have been some more back at the NY Times newsroom. Of course, some of them won't be there too much longer - 'Black Tuesday' Continues: NYT Co. Cutting 500 Jobs. Follow the link for a nice snap of Arthur "Punk" Sulzberger Jr. and the details of the layoffs at the Times and Boston Globe. The reference to "Black Tuesday" is because a number of other big dailies around the country also chose today to announce layoffs. Had to happen - the news is more accurate in the Weekly Shopper and the ads are better.