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New Orleans' critical 17th Street Levee has apparently been plugged, but more work remains. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a 1999 report, National Register Evaluation of New Orleans Drainage System, that discusses changes to the system throughout its history. It's worth noting that delays in implementing sewage and drainage improvements go back to the 19th century, even after the American South confronted the deadly Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878 (the last U.S. case was in 1996). More inside...
posted by cenoxo at 11:30 PM PST - 9 comments

Aircheck is an excellent program on the legendary free-form radio station WFMU, showcasing vintage radio. Highlights include the deeply blasphemous Bob Lassiter, the "Paul is Dead" broadcast, and Cleveland DJ Murray "It's FRIIIIDAYYYY!" Saul.
posted by starkeffect at 10:34 PM PST - 10 comments

The Accidental Panhandler I found a great corduroy blazer in a thrift shop and I loved it. I was out handing out flyers to drunk college boys that night in my lovely new coat and several of them each handed me a dollar. When a fifth person offered me a buck I asked why people were giving me money. "Aren't you out here asking for money?" "No. I'm here promoting for a film festival." "Oh! Well that can't pay much." "Dude, they rent me an apartment, a car, fly me all over the country and I make money o'plenty." This guy who'd intended to be generous then turned angry. "Yeah! Then why the hell are you wearing that stupid coat!" He left his dollar and moved on. I was handed three more dollar bills that day and did not protest. Wanting to be true to the lifestyle I'd found myself in, I spent the money on fortified wine. How much do panhandlers really make? Can you possibly make a living at this? How much of a difference does a funny sign make? Will people give to a guy in a banana suit? Does every sign have to say "God Bless?" Important questions. I aim to find the answers. Give me a dollar. God Bless. Panhandling Worldwide
posted by caddis at 8:50 PM PST - 58 comments

Nice Cup Of Tea And A Sit Down
posted by Silune at 6:22 PM PST - 45 comments

Leonard Cohen is broke. The legendary singer's manager allegedly helped herself to more than $5 million of Cohen's savings while he was busy training as a Buddhist monk. Cohen's manager also convinced him to sell his back catalogue and continuing royalties—profits from both sales were allegedly taken by the same manager.

At the age of 70, Cohen's retirement savings have been depleted to under $150,000 and he is being forced to return to full-time touring and recording.
posted by huskerdont at 6:02 PM PST - 67 comments

How To Win An Argument. Plus, if you scroll down, you'll find an argument about "How To Win An Argument." (Which may remind you of a Monty Python skit.) What do you think of this guy's strategy? Compassionate or passive-aggressive?
posted by grumblebee at 5:31 PM PST - 56 comments

Michael Homan rode out Katrina in New Orleans and later "escaped" one of the freeway-based collection points. His is the first of what will surely be many firsthand accounts appearing on blogs. Why not collect your link finds here?
posted by mwhybark at 5:21 PM PST - 29 comments

Yet to draw national sympathy--and shock? Some hurricane survivors are being allowed to return to check their homes and authorities are working to deal with the dead. But how many people may remain in mortal peril? The NOLAView weblog reports some ongoing, hair-raising situations: "Kathy Frank is stranded and trapped at 1737 Valence Street. She is text messageing. . . . Right now it is Monday at 12 pm." "[A]rson fires have been set in the Bywater and criminals are still in control of the streets at night." And this is within New Orleans. What about rural areas--struggling and receiving little or no federal assistance? And the spread of infectious disease and other post-hurricane threats?
posted by flug at 11:47 AM PST - 48 comments

BEHIND THE CURTAIN.... George Bush's photo-op tour of New Orleans yesterday has apparently driven Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu over the edge. Today she blasted FEMA for its feeble response to Hurricane Katrina and Bush for his phony, stage managed promises of action:
posted by Postroad at 10:10 AM PST - 133 comments

Fascinating video (wmv,08:45) about recent Thracian tomb excavations in Bulgaria. With over 15000 mounds unexplored in the region it is a race against the mafia to uncover the golden treasure.
posted by stbalbach at 9:47 AM PST - 20 comments

Help process survivor data for missing-persons network (via BoingBoing) The Katrina PeopleFinder Project is an effort to gather online data on missing Katrina disaster victims into an easily searchable database, so their loved ones can be more easily contacted when they are finally found. Via a wiki-style site, volunteers are organized and assigned to enter information gathered from various blogs and online resources.
posted by PsychoKick at 9:25 AM PST - 8 comments

Patrick Flanagan hates flying clay objects!! trick shooting exhibition- embedded wmv
posted by jonson at 9:20 AM PST - 24 comments

The almightyness of a search engine? And here's other interesting info about it: Google's non-existing data retention policies, Google's new "We make Phone-Companies needless" Software, , Google tracks our postage, our Mails, our everyday life (not YET in realtime). Google is threatening businesses, records every single one of our steps in the virtual world. The more we live in a data world, the more we get into Google's Matrix.
posted by seitensprung at 5:46 AM PST - 42 comments

Bush Nominates Roberts As Chief Justice
President Bush has nominated John Roberts to succeed William H. Rehnquist as chief justice, and called on the Senate to confirm him before the Supreme Court opens its fall term on October 3rd. Is he really the right person for the job? This piece on him, by Harold Evans of the BBC, makes me wonder.
posted by tomcosgrave at 5:38 AM PST - 96 comments

Yesterday Venice had its annual Historical Regatta, a traditional rowing competition whose origins date back to the 13th century and is held each year on the first Sunday of September. As it coincided with the Venice Film Festival, photographers were probably busier snapping pictures of George Clooney and fellow stars... so there's not much online about this year's event yet, but for your visual enjoyment here's a quick selection of images from past editions of the regata (more from this gallery of last year's event), showing both the rowers in the actual competition as well as the historical parade in traditional costumes; a few black and white images from the past (sorry, small and not good quality but still interesting): the regata in 1918, in 1956, in 1969, and in the 1970's; and, from the age before photography, famous paintings and engravings.
posted by funambulist at 3:26 AM PST - 7 comments

"It's as if the entire Gulf Coast were obliterated by a -- the worst kind of weapon you can imagine" ~ George W. Bush September 2, 2005
Another Presidential slip of tongue? Is this evidence that Katrina was steered toward New Orleans using scalar technology? This is not too far-fetched considering the U.S. Air Force's own doctrine of Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather in 2025 (.pdf). Senator Kay Hutchison seems convinced enough to have proposed S. 517: A bill to establish a Weather Modification Operations and Research Board, and for other purposes. Considering the U.S. government's history of secret human experimentation, I wonder just what other "purposes" this bill would have in store for us considering the vast uses of EM/scalar technology? Check out this video of Soviet Weather Engineering over North America
posted by augustweed at 2:39 AM PST - 165 comments

The Inequality Taboo - Charles Murray defends his ideas, published in the controversial book The Bell Curve.
posted by Gyan at 1:29 AM PST - 71 comments

A little local color to remind us of what we're fighting for.* Not to mention all these folks: too pretty for another city. Then there's this guy, who needs a place to return to, slasher movie-style.
*The woman's 80 years old, fer crissakes!
posted by brundlefly at 12:45 AM PST - 6 comments

N [note: flash, sound, some blood, and ninja killing robots]
posted by crunchland at 12:05 AM PST - 8 comments