Chaos

'600 dead' in Baghdad stampede

This is an example when law and order breaks down. The US and its ever decreasing coalition don't have a grip on the situation and life is not getting any better for ordinary Iraqis.

New Orleans plunged into a nightmare by Hurricane Katrina

Death toll rises amid the devastation

Unrest grows in flooded New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- As parts of flooded New Orleans slip into chaos and Gulf Coast communities struggle to deal with the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana's governor is declaring Wednesday a day of prayer.

Where is the leadership? Oh I forgot he was playing golf. Nero fiddle while Rome burned, Bush golfed while New Orleans drowned. The Bush Junta is wasting time and money on the hopless cause of Iraq while a fine old city like New Orleans drowns, Bush never really cared for his citizens, callous bastard.

What we are seein in the Crescent City is a total lack of law and order due to the lack of national guards to keep the peace since Bush keeps sending the National Guard to Iraq. The after effects will get much worse over the next couple of days.

There are 20,000-60,000 people in the SuperDome without flushable toilets, the conditions are set to deteriorate. The people are trapped with no way out while the water rises.

I ask again where is the leadership?

Iraq

US air strike 'kills dozens' in Iraq town

Sunnis in crisis over Iraqi constitution

Sunni call to reject Iraq charter

Doesn't seem Iraq is getting any better still. Iraq will probaly not end up a 'shining beacon of democracy' but as a war torn theoracy, where women rights are slowly eroded away and religion is law. On top of that the Sunni will feel left out because both the Shia and the Kurds have access to the oilfields, the Sunni will be stuck in the dusbowl centre with little or no representation. Even with a united Shiite front various groups e.g. Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army will vie for power with the Iranian influenced Shiite cleric Ali al-Sistani.

Iraq will become a vortex of anarchy sucking in surrounding countries like Turkey, Iran and Syria.

Through stupidity, ignorance and hubris the Bush Junta have created a place no human being should live under.

Hurricane Katrina

Oil prices hit new high

US crude oil prices hit a new high today as most oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico shut down after Hurricane Katrina hit the region.

Crude oil for October delivery was up $3.50 (£1.96) at $70.70 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in morning trading. It traded as high as $70.85, its strongest level since oil futures started trading on the exchange in 1983. In London, Brent crude was up $3.55 at $68.42 a barrel.

Conditions deteriorate for Superdome evacuees

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Desperate for fresh air, dozens of refugees from Hurricane Katrina slept on the walkway surrounding the Louisiana Superdome as conditions inside worsened and even more people were brought to the huge arena Tuesday.

Katrina death toll 'rises to 80'

· Storm could cost up to $26bn
· Mississippi the worst-hit state
· New Orleans flooded

Dozens feared dead in Hurricane Katrina's wake

Much of New Orleans, a city of 1.4 million is below sea level, making it prone to severe flooding, and Mayor Nagin told local media as much of 80 percent of the city was flooded.

New Orleans was so lucky to avoid a direct hit but it is sad to hear about the flooding and the poor people trapped in the Louisiana Superdome. As with disasters its the after effects which are the worse, the lack of power, dirty water, danger of fire ants and snakes. It must be horrific for the survivors.

The Photos of the after effects of Hurrican Katrina are astonishing, and very scary.

Also check out NOLA's Hurricane Katrina photos.

Mother Nature can be so terrible. Hurricane Katrina and the floods and forest fires in Europe not to mention the thawing of the Siberian Tundra and the disappearance of the Glaciers are clearly a sign global warming is having a serious effect on our climate. Natural processes are beng altered or sped up. I hope is not too late to preserve whats left of our planet for further generations.

My Niece Seity

Hurricane Katrina slams Louisiana coast

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Louisiana coast on Monday with 140 mile per hour (224 kph) winds as the powerful storm came ashore from the Gulf of Mexico and took aim at low-lying New Orleans.

The coast, much of it lightly populated swamps, was being pounded with high winds and heavy rains while New Orleans, 55 miles northeast, braced for the worst of Katrina.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm, now Category 4 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, was not quite the monster it had been in the open Gulf, but still packed a powerful punch. It had been a Category 5 with 175 mile per hour (280 kph) winds.

Hurricane closes in on New Orleans

Hurricane Katrina update







New Orleans orders 3m to flee as hurricane nears

Rain lashes US coast as Hurricane Katrina weakens slightly

Oil leaps above $70 as Katrina rips through US Gulf

Hurricane Katrina has been downgraded to a Category 4, which can still cause much deversation.

a Category 4 Hurrican invovles

More extensive curtainwall failures with some complete roof structure failure on small residences. Major erosion of beach areas. Terrain may be flooded well inland.

example storms include: Galveston Hurricane of 1900, Hurricane Hugo, Hurricane Iris and Hurricane Charley

Hurricane Katrina



US city evacuated as storm nears

Katrina gets stronger, New Orleans evacuates

My thoughts are with the peoples of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana, the more I read up on Hurricane Katrina the more it sounds frightening.

Oil could reach $70 a barrel this week or possibly higher since Hurricane Katrina will take out the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale a Category 5 hurricanes potential damage includes

Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings. Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over or away. Flooding causes major damage to lower floors of all structures near the shoreline. Massive evacuation of residential areas may be required.

Example storms: Hurricane Camille, Hurricane Gilbert and Hurricane Andrew

If you want to find more infomation about the hurrican you can find it at the The Weather Channel and The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

2005 Atlantic hurricane season

Hurricanes

In meteorology, a tropical cyclone (or tropical disturbance, tropical depression, tropical storm, typhoon, or hurricane, depending on strength and location) is a type of low pressure system which generally forms in the tropics. While they can be highly destructive, tropical cyclones are an important part of the atmospheric circulation system, which moves heat from the equatorial region toward the higher latitudes.

Leak shows Blair told of Iraq war terror link

You do not need to be a genius to realise that invading Iraq could prove unpopular to certain segements of Britain's muslim community.

Iraq's Sunnis reject constitution

As Iraq slides closer to civil war, Blair and Bush have very little show progress wise, they have a country racked by violence, divisions and poverty. The entire Iraq 'war' is looking pointless.

Blair is another leader who lives in denial over Iraq, his slavish following of Bush's misadventure shows he is a spineless individual and a sanctiomonious prick.

Iraq crisis deepens as Sunnis reject deal

Last-ditch attempts to rescue Iraq's political process appeared to have collapsed yesterday when negotiations over a new constitution acceptable to all three major communities ended in failure and disarray.

As Sunni negotiators accused the Shia and Kurdish coalition of failing to make any movement towards consensus - effectively rejecting the draft document - officials from the Shia-dominated government insisted the talks over the long-delayed document were complete and that it would be presented to the Iraqi parliament for ratification today.

The apparent steam-rollering of Sunni objections after marathon talks ended yesterday led to Sunni claims that the failure of the talks had brought the country another step closer to civil war.

Iraq takes yet another step closer to civil war

What a mess the Bush Junta has created in the Middle East.

An Iraqi civil war would end up causing the surrounding countries to get sucked in, which could prove destablising for the ME and cause widespred devastation.

The Bush Junta was very stupid in dimissing the Iraqi army without pay or food, this created a nucleus for the insurgency which has been infiltrated by outsiders led by Ayman al-Zawahiri. So now the Occuptation has a Native and Foregin based insurgency fighting against the occupation troops. America simply has not enough troops to occupy a country like Iraq and now they are paying the price for that oversight.

The Bush Junta ignored warnings and did not listen to their own Generals, in a fit of hubris they thought they could reshape Iraq in their own image, well that delusion has been shattered, shame their supporters don't see this, they contiue to pedal the same myths that Iraq was a major threat and linked to 9/11 and that democracy is alive and well there, guess what you idiotic wingers Iraq wasn't a threat or linked to 9/11 and democracy is not alive and well, womens rights are being tossed out the window and civil war is most likely just round the corner. On top of that there is a lack of infrastructure, widespred corruption by the western reconstruction companies and sheer inefficiency.

The ammount of stupidity and delusions from Iraq clusterfuck supporters angers me no end.

History part Deux

The fact businessmen see Iraq as a way to fill their coffers is nothing new

Where ever the Roman army went, their businessmen followed. This caused quite a bit of resenment due to them bleeding the locals dry in the Roman province Asia so it was not suprising that they gave their support to Mithridates VI of Pontus when he launched an attack against the Roman Republic.

The Equites (the two upper social classes of the Roman Republic) often had business links with the provinces and when their interests were threatened they usually demanded action e.g. when Jugurtha of Numidia sacked Cirta (modern day Constantine in Algeria) he masscred the businessmen there so a Roman army was dispatched to teach him a lesson.

Friday Cat Blogging

George





Heidi

History



Bush should look at what happened to Marcus Licinius Crassus who was desperate to add military glory to his wealth and influence so he decided to pick a fight with the Parthian Empire which used to ecompass all of modern Iran, Iraq and Armenia, parts of Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and, for brief periods, territories in Pakistan and Syria.

Big mistake, ended up losing at the Battle of Carrhae where the final figures for the Roman Republic's defeat was 4,000 wounded, 20,000 dead, 10,000 captured.

Crassus head was sent to the Parthian king Orodes II

Cindy Sheehan Back In Crawford: “When I Look Into The Eyes Of The Kind And Gentle Souls Who Have Come Here, I See Casey And The Faces Of All The Others Killed”…

No truer words have been spoken about this terrible clusterufuck that is Iraq.

Cindy Sheehan still suffers being slimed by the right wing propganda machine who want to squash any dissententing opinions about the war. They are really sick in the way they claim to speak for her dead son, like they know better than a mother.

The Bush Junta and their sycophantic press cannot accept the consquences of their actions, Bush behaves like a spoiled child emperor when things doesn't go his way.

The Iraq War is a terrible tragedy for everyone invovled and it has not made us any safer.

News and Views Today

Confusion over Iraq constitution

Abbas accuses Israel of wrecking peace amid bloodshed

Afghan security for polls 'fragile'

MILITARY MANEUVERS CEMENT CHINESE-RUSSIAN RAPPROCHEMENT

At Least 34 Dead, Dozens Wounded / Guerilla Platoon Attacks Police in Baghdad / Bloody Shiite on Shiite Clashes in the South

Dying for Israel by Billmon

Iraq parliament cancels constitution session

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The Iraqi parliament has cancelled a meeting to vote on the country's draft constitution.

"The meeting has been postponed without setting a new date... until meetings are finished and (leaders) reach an agreement on pending issues," an official at the national assembly's media department told AFP on Thursday.

Drafting of the constitution, which was initially due to have been submitted to parliament on August 15, has been dogged by disputes over a number of key issues including federalism, the role of Islam and sharing of oil wealth.

I personally did not think the Iraqis were given enough time to write a constution, events like creating a constutution cannot be rushed.

The Bush Junta only cared about its image and the flagging support of the war, a nice shiny constution would go someway to showing that the misadventure in Iraq was not just a pointless clusterfuck.

Israel orders Palestinian land seized

Well this doesn't surpise me one bit. Pulling out of the Gaza Strip allows Sharon to consolidate the settlements on the West Bank.

What people fail to realise with the pullout of Gaza, is that the Israelis have left a broken country, the Gaza Strip has little or no infrastructure. so I don't see how it can survive on its own. The international community might be praising the move but I see it as window dressing.

Clarke reveals terror deportation rules

This just proves the point the government does not need any more leglisation to deport people who are causing problems, the leglisation works just fine.

The question we must all ask is why they did not do this before?

All this talk about 'deporting extremists' is about politics and reacting to it so I remain pretty cynical of any government action.

Evangelist tells 7m TV viewers: US should kill Venezuela's president

This means batshit crazy Pat Roberston can be deported for his extreminst views advocating violence if he ever visited Great Britain.

Midweek Cat Blogging

Me and my niece

U.S. Christian Leader Calls for the Assassination of Venezuelan President

This confirms what I have thought all along the wingers and their Xtian fundie buddies are all bat shit crazy.

They remain in denial about the clusterfuck that is Iraq, they view women's rights as not essential for democracy and now they want to assassinate democratically elected leaders.

news worth checking out today...

Sunnis threaten civil war as Iraq constitution deadline extended

Iran's oil export revenues to hit $59b by end of 2005 they can thank Dubya for that windfall!

Chinese oil company to buy PetroKazakhstan

De Menezes report due at Christmas

Now You See It, Now You Don't

Coup in Baghdad/ Unfinished Constitution Presented, vote Delayed

Will Iraq's Constitution Be Irrelevant? by Ivan Eland

Album Review



Went out and brought Goldfrapp's latest album Suprnature today, and so this is my review of it. Please excuse if its not brilliant just my first time writing a music review.

A wonderful album....

Starts off with the very sexy Ooh La La and contiues with sultry synth sounds through out.

Pure pleasure for your ears.

Definate glam rock/80s synth pop feel to it.

I would give this album 10/10!

Worth checking out

Ten Things Congress Could Demand from Bush on Iraq by Juan Cole

Leaderless on the left - The mood in America is shifting against the Iraq war, but it has found inadequate expression in Congress by Gary Younge

Brazilian delegation to seek answers over shooting of innocent man

Iraqis locked in constitution talks as deadline nears

Why Are We In Iraq? The invasion not only killed innocents and decimated the country, it also empowered tyrants – so why are we still there? by Justin Raimondo

Millions embezzled at Iraqi ministry

PNAC says women's right are not important to democracy

Slouching Towards the Islamic Republic II

via Eschaton

PNAC flunky on MTP:


In 1900, women did not have the right to vote. If Iraqis could develop a democracy that resembled America in the 1900s, I think we'd all be thrilled. I mean, women's social rights are not critical to the evolution of democracy. We hope they're there. I think they will be there. But I think we need to put this into perspective.

Well its nice to know PNAC have their priorities straight, women's right are not important for democracy...so does that mean the Neocons don't think women deserved the vote or a right to education or even having a job? Women's rights are essential for democracy, it angers me how flippant they can be over the state of Iraqi women.

So now I am confused why the wingers went into Iraq in the first place...I mean first it was the mythical WMD, then it was 'democracy' and now what? creating a Shia theoracry and throwing women's rights out of the window? Proves how pointless invading Iraq was, PNAC and the Bush Junta have accomplished nothing, all they have created is a chaotic destablising country.

You only see how the wingers treat Cindy Sheenhan to see how they despise women.

Why does the Bush junta hate women so much?

Bookshelf Blogging

Police rethink shoot to kill policy

Menezes reports 'needed clarity'

I first heard about the shooting of Mr de Menezes while on holiday in Tunisia and I was quite shocked.

I was not suprised the Met tried to cover up the cock up over Mr de Menezes's death. It was a clear case of panic on the officers part, the periods after the July 7th and 21st attacks had created an atmosphere of danger and suspicion which led to the tragedy at Stockwell Station.

It is important this be investigated by an independent inqury not an internal investigation. We don't want Britain to turn into a quasi-police state.

Blair seems determined to take away our liberty and our lives with each new repressive measure. Ok so you may say its not total fascism and that we still have our freedoms but I ask for now long? Those who would support such fascistic measures would be the first to welcome a fascist dictatorship.

We must not sacrifice our liberties for the temporary exchange of security!

Bountiful Friday Cat Blogging

George and Heidi


Kitchen Cats



Heidi




Which is the real cat?

George

Which British Band Are You?

Depressing

Sadr City ~ Photo Essay, Electronic Iraq, 16 August 2005

Kurdish Gunmen Open Fire on Demonstrators in North Iraq

In Defense of Cindy Sheehan Drink-soaked Trotskyite popinjay slimes antiwar Mom by Justin Raimondo

Iraq morgue 'receives 1100 dead'

How wingnuts and their leaders can harp on about Iraq being ok when you read news like this, Iraq isn't getting any better.

Its depressing that the wingers cannot accept reality and prefer to live in this fanatasy idealised vision of Iraq when the cold light of day show Iraq to be a clusterfuck riven with sectarian strife and with little or no infrastructure, places like Sadr City lack basics like water and electricity, where raw sewage runs in the street and there are no ammenities, this is the real Iraq, maybe if the MSM journos and the politicans left their cushy Greenzone they would see that the constution is not high on Iraqis list of piorities, get the basics fixed first before you start trying to create a constituion.

Midweek Cat Blogging

Israeli Withdrawal



Israel seals off Gaza, marks begin of disengagement

Compensation if you are displaced, unless you are Palestinian

It is a step in the right direction removing the settlements from the Gaza Strip, but you can't help but wonder if Sharon plans to consolidate his holdings in the West Bank through building more settlements and the wall.

My friend, a native Palestinian who works at a Rafah hospital in the Gaza Strip has often told me as Israel pulls out there what they leave behind is destruction.

For the most part the disengagment is symbolic, a gesture from Sharon. But to my Palestinian friends they do not trust him and worry that he is just strengthening Israeli presence in the West Bank.

The Isreal/Palestine conflict has no end in sight, it remains an open wound on the Middle East.

The Palestinians themselves have been treated shodily by their Arab neighbours, the Israelis and the Western Powers. It saddens me that such a great people could suffer so much.

I believe in a one state option if it will ensure peace.

Iraq's Non Existant Constitution

Constitution likely Not Achieved ~ 30 More Bodies of Police Found in Baghdad

Deadline looms for Iraq constitution

On Eve of Deadline, Key Disputes Remain On Iraqi Constitution

Iraqis claim pressure in drafting constitution

Iraq is an artifical country created by Britain with a disreguard for cultural and historical boundries. Its not supposed to exist. The Sunni, Kurds and Shia have competing visions for what they want in a country and I fear it won't be cohesive and the civil war will come out into the open.

The 'goverment' itself is considered a puppet which relies on US troops to prop it up which means if the US ever pulls out (which they probaly won't) the 'government' would collapse, not to mentoin that the Iraqi 'government' is mainly made up of middle class exiles from the west, I don't see how they can have empathy with the poorer Iraqis, many who have no electricity, water or jobs and are in the direct line of fire between the ever dwindling coalition and the insurgency (native and foreign). These should be sorted out first before a constution is even created.

Without a firm infrastructure Iraq will remain a place of extreme poverty and misery plus a traning ground for the 'terrorists' of the future.

The sheer corruption and incomptence of the reconstruction disgusts me. The Neocons/Bush Junta don't care about democracy, they don't even care about Iraqis, all they care about is power and profit and will trample on dead Iraqis to get it.

America is behaving very much like Britain and France did when they had the run of the Middle East. The 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement still reverberates around the Middle East today. In their spheres of influences Britain and France crafted countries by drawing lines in the sand, Britain created constutional monarchies while the French created republics.

America is trying to impose their Judeao-Christian vision on a Muslim country, which is utter folly and totally patronising. Democracy must come from the people and it must have root in their culture/religion, just like our secular democracy has a basis in Judeao-Christainity, so any democracy in the ME must come from Islam, it has to be organic and a popular movement.

Cindy Sheenan



A shot in the arm for protesters ~ Mother's vigil raises hope that anti-war sentiment will fuel a national momentum

I remain appalled at the way the wingnuts smear and yell abuse at Cindy Sheenan, one of the founders of the Gold Star Families for Peace. A mother who lost her son in the tragedy that is Iraq. Why is it so hard for the wingers to accept that she has a right to grieve and show her anger at Bush's misadventure in Iraq.

Bush shows how aloof he is by refusing to visit her, he dislikes it when reality comes a knocking at his fake ranch. It shows quite clearly that Bush is a sociopathic cowards as are all his cronies.

Will Bush start locking up these mothers who dare to disagree with his policy? After all the Bush junta fails to listen to other opinions, they prefer to live in the fantasy that everything is going really swell in Iraq. Well wake up cause its NOT, Iraq is a clusterfuck and will remain so due to the incomptence and corruption of the Bush junta.

IRAQ: TUBERCULOSIS ON THE RISE

15 killed when attacked U.S. patrol returns fire -doctors

The Aid Bottleneck

Wedding cake blogging

Friday Cat Blogging

George





Heidi

Birthday Blogging


My grandfather's birthday cake


Miska my Grandparents elderly mixed Baliense cat

British press split down the middle on Blair's anti-terrorism moves

Deportation plans anger rights groups

Blair is all about grabbing headlines. which is what his whole speech was about, nice soundbites for the hacks

Blair is worried about looking bad in the press or being called weak.

I mean banning extremnist groups websites? surely its easier to keep track of a group if their are out in the open and not underground? not to mention the said group could just reform and select a less offensive name?

The government just wants more and more control over people's lives.

"Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich."-- Peter Ustinov

"They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."- Benjamin Franklin

"We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it." Thomas Jefferson

Friday Cat Blogging




George and Heidi snoozing


George


Heidi