• Mood: numb
• Music: NPR-Morning Edition

Waking up to more good news, not.

NPR is reporting that there are over 600 casualties, mostly women and children from a panic and stampede during a Baghdad religious festival. The website doesn't mention it, but the on-air coverage also says that many people were poisoned during the event, by cookies and tea traditionally handed out to festival participants.

From the Department of Schadenfreude, however, I'm pleased to note that one of our two usually lackadaisical daily papers (They're owned by the same company, print a joint Sunday edition, and one's supposed to be the more conservative and the other the more liberal rag. I wonder if they actually think they're fooling anybody), The Las Vegas Sun has stirred itself to do a little digging and is noting that Michael O'Sullivan of the Nevada White People's Party is a convicted felon who has been operating illegal halfway houses.

Yes, there is such a thing as the Nevada White People's Party. I'm not going to link them, because frankly, I don't want to give them the Google rank help, but they're easy to pop up on a search engine. More of those charmers from the National Alliance.

It's enough to make me wish I was black. :-P

ETA cmpriest on So, why didn't those people just leave? A thoughtful analysis of what it means to be poor in a time of disaster.

And on that note, "Everybody must leave New Orleans." Now the busses come. Oh, and there are those Navy ships were were wondering about. Enroute, pecunium, daveamongus.

New Scientist offers a theory on the storm's destructive power.