Silflay Hraka

A New Orleans police officer is seen carrying DVDs at the Wal-Mart on Tchoupitoulas Tuesday. Many police officers said they felt helpless in enforcing the looters, which were found all over the city.

And in all manner of dress, it would appear–unless of course the DVDs in question have been taken into custody for their own protection, perhaps liberated from the clutches of one of the ubiquitous looters–obviously an action that would be a top priority in a martial law situation.

Photo via the Times-Picayune

Before we judge too harshly, consider the Lord of The Flies nature of the situation in the Big Easy.

The looting was widespread and unabashed. Families pushed shopping carts downtown, full of things they had taken from the Wal-Mart on Tchoupitoulas Street.

”They said, ‘Take what you need to survive,”’ shrugged one woman carrying a Dyson vacuum cleaner. A man accompanying her pushed a shopping cart with two sets of dishes still in the box, two jugs of laundry detergent, a baby’s playpen and several cases of soda.

Judge not! Just because you can survive without a playpen, soda and a brand spanking new Dyson vacuum doesn’t mean others can.

There was a riot on the streets
Tell me where were you?
You were sittin’ home watchin’ your TV
While I was participating in some anarchy
First spot we hit it was the liquor store
I finally got all that alcohol I can’t afford
With red lights flashin’, time to retire
And then we turned that liquor store into a structure fire
Next stop we hit, it was the music shop,
It only took one brick to make the window drop
Finally we got our own P.A.
Where do you think I got this guitar that you’re hearing today?

–Sublime, from April 29th, 1992

Update: News footage of N.O. police looting the Tchoupitoulas Wal-Mart can be downloaded here.

Diamonds are not forever (August 2005) – News – PhysicsWeb

Chutzpah

The looting was taking place in full view of passing National Guard trucks and police cruisers.

One man with an armload of clothes even asked a policeman, “can I borrow your car?”

Commenter Scorpio took umbrage with my critique of Cindy ?don?t dare criticize me, my son died at the hands of freedom fighters? Sheehan?s positions on a range of issues, including her support of the would-be Hamas extermination of Israel. He said that quoting her statements is character assassination. Well, my friends, I hate throwing the sewage of extremist politics in your face, but this Cindy Sheehan thing needs some further discussion.

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Cindy Sheehan’s anti-war / astroturf campaign continues.

She says all sorts of things on taped TV interviews that are generally edited to make her sound halfway reasonable. I’ve caught some of the live, unedited stuff though, and it’s different. She usually calls for an end to all wars (good practical solution, there); get Israel out of Palestine (I guess they can go to Germany?); gimme a do-over on capitalism; nobody in the media ever airs non-Republican viewpoints; and so on. She’s doing better in the live interviews lately; I guess that’s what happens when Fenton Communications shows up to coach you on interviewing skills.

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Doctor in trouble for calling patient obese.

The 153rd edition of the Carnival of the Vanities is hosted by The Big Picture this week.

If you’d like to host the Carnival, drop us a line. Information on how to join the Carnival can be found here. If you would like to be added to the Carnival announcement list, send an email to cotvanities-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

August 31st – Incite
September 7th – Sorta Pundit
September 14th – Silflay Hraka – The Three Year Anniversary
September 21st – the skwib
September 28th – expatriots united
October 5th – TechnoGypsy
October 12th – The Uncredible HallQ
October 19th – The World According To Nick
October 26th – Baboon Pirates
November 2nd – Free Money Finance
November 9th – Ravings
November 16th – The Examining Room
November 23rd – Don Surber
November 30th – File It Under
December 7th – Denali Flavors
December 14th – Open
December 21st – Ravenwood’s Universe
December 28th – Chicken Soup For The Damned

All other dates are currently open for hosting. Also, be sure to check out the Carnival’s multitudinous offspring, most of which can be found via the Meta-Carnival.

Is there a scion of the Carnival missing? Drop us a line and let us know.

Finally, if submitting to the myriad of carnivals spawned by CoTV has proven difficult, head over to the Conservative Cat and take a look at his tool.

An entry for Andy’s bumper sticker contest–though admittedly one that’s not quite along the lines he intended.

Image courtesy makestickers.com

What strikes me as odd is that the Fareed Zakaria column on SUVs and gas mileage was published literally the day before the government proposed higher fuel-economy standards for SUVs, minivans and pickups, yet no one mentions this curious timing. Could Fareed have been tipped off or otherwise encouraged to write on this subject by a government source prior to the release of the new proposals? It’s not like this administration hasn’t already done something similar.

As for me, you can have my Explorer when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers–but I’m all for increased mileage standards, and with the UNC employee discount on regional bus passes, financially it makes more sense for me to ride the bus whenever gas prices rise above $2.22 a gallon, so that’s what I do.

Which brings me to this;

Image courtesy makestickers.com

Went fishing with family and friends on Saturday near Rich’s Inlet. North of Figure 8 island. Caught 5 sharks, 2 Blues, 1 Cobia, 1 Spanish, 1 Lizard Fish and 1 Oyster Toad.

Not bad, eh? Sister in law caught a nice size blue, a nice size spanish and 1 small cobia in less than 40 min. can you believe that?

When Ngnat was potty training, the inspirational songs I sang to her came from Broadway; I Made Poopies and Urea

Must have been first child syndrome, because the source for Scotty’s first potty song isn’t nearly as highbrow.

“P” is for Poopie

“P” is for Poopie
It comes right out of me.
“P” is for Poopie
It goes in the potty.
“P” is for Poopie
It’s smelly and stinky!

Oh, Poopie, Poopie, Poopie starts with P!

As you might imagine, the tune is quite a hit with the kids, though the wife is oddly less appreciative of the lyric, as well as its inevitable sequel.

“P” is for Pee Pee

“P” is for Pee Pee
It comes right out of me.
“P” is for Pee Pee
It goes in the potty.
“P” is for Pee Pee
It’s clear or yellowy!

Oh, Pee Pee, Pee Pee, Pee Pee starts with P!