Nuts to both.

Katrina, New Orleans, George W Bush, Hugo Chavez, Pat Robertson, Venezuela

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Germany's Minister of the Environment, Jürgen Trittin of the Green Party, doesn't understand why people are upset over what he said:

By neglecting environmental protection, America’s president shuts his eyes to the economic and human damage that natural catastrophes like Katrina inflict on his country and the world’s economy. ... [M]any Americans have long been unwilling to follow the president’s errant environmental policy. Indications are multiplying that Bush has more than Katrina’s headwind blowing in his face... When reason finally pays a visit to climate-polluter headquarters, the international community has to be prepared to hand America a worked out proposal for the future of international climate protection. The German Government stands ready.

It's America's fault. So what else is new?

If the Americans had listened the Green Party,
the waves would have only been this big.

Katrina, New Orleans

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They're considering the idea.

Katrina, New Orleans

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From the Government of Canada:

The Deputy Prime Minister added that she has contacted U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and advised him that Canada stands ready to provide assistance if needed. In addition, the Minister of Health, Ujjal Dosanjh, has directed the Public Health Agency of Canada to contact the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and offer any assistance that may be helpful, such as emergency medical supplies contained in the National Emergency Stockpile System.

And from the Leader of the Opposition, Stephen Harper:

Conservative Leader and Leader of the Opposition Stephen Harper issued the following statement today:

“On behalf of the Conservative Party of Canada I would like to express our sympathy to all the victims and their families of Hurricane Katrina. As my wife Laureen and I watched news reports of the disaster with our children we were shocked by the magnitude of their loss.

As Leader of the Opposition, I extend our support and offer of any assistance that we can provide. Natural disasters such as this remind us that when our close friends and neighbours are in trouble we, as Canadians, are always ready to help out.”

Normally, I would say that such an offer would be appreciated, but politely declined. But the scale of the devastation makes me wonder if maybe this time the Americans might take us up on it.

Whatever the US decides to do, it's nice to know that maybe, just maybe, Canadians have grown up a bit and become ever so slightly less smug, compared to the way we were back in 1973.

For those who are interested, some details about the National Emergency Stockpile System:

The NESS contains everything that you would expect to find in a hospital, from beds and blankets to a supply of pharmaceuticals and a range of antibiotics. It includes 165 "field hospitals", or mobile hospitals, with 200 beds in each. These are positioned throughout the country. The units can be deployed on short notice (within 24 hours) to be set up in existing buildings such as schools and community centres.

[Other international reaction.]

Katrina, New Orleans

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A reader points me to this startling bit of news. Apparently blaming George W Bush for Acts of God is German government policy.

Katrina, New Orleans, George W Bush

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Kate at small dead animals informs me that because of server problems, her blog is down.

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The events in New Orleans might be instructive to emergency planners and city engineers. But there might be lessons that we would hope that some people won't learn.

news and politics, Katrina, New Orleans, terrorism, Osama bin Laden

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Martin Sheen congratulated Cindy Sheehan on her vigil, and evoked some bits of Irish history and tradition. My own cursory examination of Irish traditions failed to reveal the specifics of what he was talking about. Now a far better educated student of history casts doubts too.

news and politics, Cindy Sheehan, George W Bush, protest, Crawford, Martin Sheen, Irish tradition, vigil

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Cindy Sheehan continues to lose the grip on the media, both in terms of sheer coverage and in sympathy.

news and politics, Cindy Sheehan, George W Bush, protest, Crawford, Al Sharpton, media

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News today of a complaint filed against York Regional Police Services Chief Armand LaBarge, who went on a tour to Israel to study anti-terrorism and law-enforcement strategies:

Tomorrow, Khaled Mouammar and a few other members of the Arab community will ask the York Regional Police Services Board to publicly apologize for approving Chief LaBarge's week-long trip to Israel in March.

''Chief LaBarge's visit to Israel will definitely reinforce the stereotype of Arabs and Muslims as terrorists,'' he wrote in a letter to David Barrow, chairman of the board.

To be fair to the chief, it is Arabs and Muslims blowing themselves and the people around them to smithereens that reinforces the stereotype.

But then Khaled Mouammar and his whole family are quite engaged in the Palestinian cause. Violently so, on occassion.

That is not to say that they don't also work in Canada's interests. Khaled and wife Mary serve, or have served, on the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, making decisions about who is a legitimate refugee claimant, and who might be trying to take advantage of the refugee system for their own ends, like Fatah or Hezbollah members looking to set up shop in Canada.

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News from Texas that, as they were racing back to the airport after leaving Camp Casey (why the rush?), Al Sharpton's car was pulled over for speeding. The story gets more complicated, and then more complicated again the deeper you look.

Cindy Sheehan, Crawford, Al Sharpton, Jarrett Maupin

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A prayer for Mary and her little charges.

Katrina, New Orleans

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According to this Canadian blogger, bloggers north of the border are spending too much time on Katrina:

Blogs are the new media and are different than the "tired old media". If that's the case, then why is every fucking blogger in Canada wasting so much time covering a bloody storm in the US just like that supposed "tired old media"?

Right then.

I'll erase my earlier posts and replace them with this one:

New Orleans: Rain is forecast

I guess that's plenty. I mean, it's only Americans, after all. Not like it matters. Good Canadians (socialists all) shouldn't care about the cost of gas anyway -- we're all riding bikes to help reach our Kyoto goals, right?

[Readers of Michelle Malkin wondered "how this hurricane is being covered throughout the world". Well, here's one answer -- too much!]

Katrina, New Orleans, media, blogging

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Martin Sheen's visit to Camp Casey was complete with Roman Catholic dignity as he led the crowd in the recitation of the Rosary.

Of course, Sheen and the Gold Star Families for Peace managed to politicize the Rosary.

I wonder if either Martin Sheen or Cindy Sheehan, alleged Catholics, even know what the Rosary is for.

So what the heck, I'll take a moment to explain what the Rosary is really about.

Cindy Sheehan, George W Bush, protest, Crawford, Martin Sheen, Roman Catholic, Rosary

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Martin Sheen, who plays President Josiah Bartlett in the NBC drama "The West Wing", came to Camp Casey and regaled the crowd with a speech invoking a centuries-old Irish tradition.

Problem is, I'm not sure what tradition he's talking about.

news and politics, Cindy Sheehan, George W Bush, protest, Crawford, Martin Sheen, Irish tradition, vigil

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From some idiot:

If 3,000+ people die because of this hurricane, do you think Shrub [President George W Bush] will declare "A War on Hurricanes" and declare himself "The Weather President?"

No he won't because he's not as stunningly as stupid as you appear to be for for making such a remark:

The tide came in, just as it always did. The water rose higher and higher. It came up around the king's chair, and wet not only his feet, but also his robe. His officers stood before him, alarmed, and wondering whether he was not mad.

"Well, my friends," Canute said, "it seems I do not have quite so much power as you would have me believe. Perhaps you have learned something today. Perhaps now you will remember there is only one King who is all-powerful, and it is he who rules the sea, and holds the ocean in the hollow of his hand. I suggest you reserve your praises for him."

The royal officers and courtiers hung their heads and looked foolish. And some say Canute took off his crown soon afterward, and never wore it again.

So to every dim bulb out there who thinks to blame George W Bush somehow, or thinks he's not doing enough, or that he could have limited the damage somehow, or that if only it wasn't for the War in Iraq, or whatever, there are limits to what he can do, and I suspect that as a man of faith, like King Canute, George Bush knows that far better than many of his fans and most of his detractors.

(Hat tip to Michelle Malkin)

Katrina, New Orleans, George W Bush

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Wow.

Katrina, New Orleans, Louisiana Superdome

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Word is that the Pope is about to sign off on a document that will ban homosexuals from the priesthood, and identify homosexuals already serving and removing them.

How long before a homosexual priest in Canada decides to sue for his job?

news and politics, Pope Benedict, Roman Catholic Church, priesthood, homosexuality, Church and State, abuse scandal

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Michelle Malkin echoes the thoughts of many readers who wonder if foreign countries are likely to offer much in the way of help to the United States as New Orleans is lashed by Hurricane Katrina. Thirty-two years ago, the great Canadian Gordon Sinclair ranted about that point exactly.

news and politics, Katrina, New Orleans, Gordon Sinclair

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Al Sharpton is guaranteed to flutter moth-like to any event where he is likely to have his picture taken.

I guess he picked wrong today. With Katrina hitting New Orleans, and Cindy Sheehan losing steam, it looks like Reverend Al would have done better to have gone to a New Orleans shelter to help with relief efforts than to hang around with Cindy Sheehan and her increasingly tiresome grief show.

Actually, if Reverend Al had gone to New Orleans and helped with setting up a shelter as the storm approached, he would have earned a measure of respect from me, even if he was motivated by a desire to be in the public eye.

He is sometimes called a "media savvy buffoon" by his detractors who grudgingly concede his ability to play the media. Today he's just a buffoon.

Katrina, New Orleans, Cindy Sheehan, George W Bush, protest, Crawford, Al Sharpton

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