Telling it like it is

A quick trip to the opticians today confirmed what I'd thought - the prescription for my left glasses lens was too strong. They re-did my eye test and backed off the left eye by half and things are much better now. I'm not getting the swimming at the edge of my vision and the eye strain in my left eye - the one which is better without glasses.

I've come to the conclusion that not only is B*sh a liar, but he's a pathological liar. He's incapable of telling the truth. Everything he says is a lie, yet I believe he thinks he's telling the truth. For example - he's just been on TV telling us that the New Orleans convention centre is secure, but CNN then cut to their reporter on the spot who said there was no sign of any change or security inside or outside the centre. It's "mission accomplished" all over again. B*sh went to war on a lie, and sent huge numbers of his country's troops overseas, so many that there's not enough left to deal with any crisis at home. B*sh has cut $30M a year from the Army Corp of Engineers budget. B*sh has got so many local governments tied up with finding his fucking war that New Orleans hat to cut or cancel their funding for levy maintenance last year. B*sh has sorted it out so that people in Iraq get regular airdrops of food and water, yet its taken him 5 d...

Jack Straw is frantically denying a report that the UK has sent 12 oil tankers full of crude off to the US to help out with the current post-Katrina issues. The result is the price of petrol back in England has shot up and people are panic buying because they think supplies are going to run out. Ahhhhh. That takes me back to September 2000 when I brought England to its knees with the fuel blockades :-) Dump the pump!

It looks like a chemical plant has gone up this morning, and there are a couple of big fires burning in downtown New Orleans on Poydras street. There's an enormous oil slick forming in the Gulf, south of N.O, coming from two 2-million barrel oil tanks which are leaking at one of the refineries. B*sh helpfully admitted that the initial federal response was "unacceptable" (that's Big of him), and the Ray Nagin - the mayor of N.O - has given up with political correctness and told the feds to "get off their asses and get the fuck down here". Three cheers for Ray Nagin. Now there's your politician who's in touch with what's going on. He stayed on the ground throughout the whole thing so far, and this pic from CNN shows he's not exactly thrilled to be speaking to B*sh. Frankly I'm surprised B*sh even had the stones to land - the pussy normally flies around stuff like this observing from the air. Meantime, the official reported version of event...

The real military are starting to flood in to New Orleans. Just heard that Congress is going to reconvene for an emergency session and pass Katrina legislation. The Posse Comitatus Act restricts the military from domestic use, unless Congress approves it. Sounds like that's exactly what is about to happen. Let's hope there's some shoot-to-kill policy in there because now snipers are trying to pick off national guard troops who are trying to evacuate New Orleans' Charity Hospital. I'm using peercast to listen in to the national guard scanner. Sounds like bloody Kosovo.

From the N.O blogger still online : It's raining now and I guess that's a relief from the heat. It's hot as hell down there in the sun. Crime is absolutely rampant: rapes, murders, rape-murder combinations. In case anyone in national security is reading this, get the word to President Bush that we need the military in here NOW. The Active Duty Armed Forces. Mr. President, we are losing this city. I don't care what you're hearing on the news. The city is being lost. It is the law of the jungle down here. The command and control structure here is barely functioning. I'm not sure it's anyone's fault -- I'm not sure it could be any other way at this point. We need the kind of logistical support and infrastructure only the Active Duty military can provide. The hospitals are in dire straights. The police barely have any capabilities at this point. The National Guard is doing their best, but the situation is not being contained. I'm here to help in an...

I always thought that Stephen King's description of the chaos that ensues in The Stand was more dramatized than it would be in real life - but New Orleans has proved me wrong. I always thought that the US government, especially in the post-9/11 world, would be ready to deal with epic disasters in an expedient and appropriate manner - after all that's what Homeland Security and the Patriot Act was all about - but New Orleans has proved me wrong. I always thought that, at the least, the B*sh administration would be capable of handling another crisis like 9/11 - but New Orleans has proved me wrong. The federal government is responsible for stepping up to bat immediately in situations like this. B*sh declared disaster areas before the storm hit, which was a good start, but then went back on vacationing for two whole days . He sat and watched from his Texas ranch as the Mississippi and Alabama gulf coasts were levelled, as Slidell was blown off the map, as New Orleans filled with...

You know yesterday I said I had all the sympathy in the world for the victims of the hurricane? I'm changing my mind on a select group of them now, notably the ungrateful idiots who started shooting at the rescue helicopters at the Superdome this morning. To add insult to injury, they then started rioting and setting fire to other buildings. So now the fire brigade have had to stop their rescue efforts to put out more fires. I know you people that are doing this can't read my blog - no power or infrastructure etc (actually I doubt they can read), but as you really have so little regard for the people trying to help you, you deserve to die in a typhoid-induced coma. Frankly, you're not worth wasting the time and effort to get out of there. If I was on those military helicopters being shot at, I think I'd return fire and get rid of the scum of the earth like you so we could get on rescuing people who do need help. Disasters like this bring out the best in most people, bu...

New Orleans was today ordered to be completely evacuated. The death toll is now thought to be in the thousands, and the floodwaters are filled with dead bodies, raising fears of typhoid and cholera. Meanwhile the "experts" are preparing the public for the $4 gallon of gas. Apparently there simply isn't enough oil to meet demand. Seems that even the 700M barrels B*sh has in the strategic oil reserve won't help. Wait - 700 million barrels? What the fuck, B*sh? You bitch and whine about oil being in short supply, and then turn around and tell us you have 700 MILLION barrels of oil just sitting there in reserve? You hyppocritical son of a bitch. There is plenty of goddamn oil - its the lack of refining capacity and the goddamn Iraq adventure which are driving prices up. The strategic oil reserve has the equivalent of 59 days of US imports and can be run at 4.4M barrels a day for 90 days if necessary. It takes about 13 days for the oil to hit the markets as petrol after ...

In the wake of Katrina, the obvious but unthinkable has happened - the levees surrounding New Orleans have given way. 80% of the city is now under 20 feet of water, steadily filling up from Lake Ponchartrain. Worse - the concrete levees surrounding the city centre, designed to keep the sea out, are now keeping the lake water in so drainage is all but impossible. Both airports are now underwater too. The interstate is in pieces, the flooding is now 6 miles inland. All the previous shelters are now being evacuated along with all the hospitals via airlift. A 50-inch water main break has left the city without drinkable water, and the massive power outages have cut off 1.7M people. Gas main have exploded and parts of the city not underwater are now on fire. In Alabama, most of the state is without power, and the tail end of Katrina spawned three F-4 tornados which have done even more damage.

In the wake of Katrina, the oil companies have reaped massive rewards, with the price of petrol shooting up today for no good reason. Oil production has been re-started in the Gulf of Mexico, and even then it only accounts for 15% of the US market. Yet people have been fed the line that supply lines have been hampered because of the hurricane, and as a result, the oil companies have free reign to apply whatever price they like at the pump. With the price of petrol going up by the day, something IS going to happen pretty quickly. I'm not sure what, but it's crippling the American economy yet B*sh is doing nothing about it. The cost of petrol is a factor in the cost of everything from food and clothes up to luxury items. It affects everyone in the country, yet B*sh is standing by whilst the oil companies rape the American public.

I had an amusing 5 minutes on the way to work this morning. At three consecutive sets of traffic lights, some guy in a black H2 with spinning rims, a billion-watt hifi and gold (yes gold) external trim, seemed to be convinced his H2 was faster than my BMW motorbike. Three times he revved the engine, and crept forwards at the lights, and three times I left him for dust. That's a pretty clear indication of the type of person he was - he has no taste (gold trim), he has no common sense (an H2) and he has no concept of speed (trying to race a motorbike). Made I larff.

Hurricane Katrina is currently dismantling Gulfport in Mississippi. This morning, the east side of New Orleans was under five to six feet of rising water after three pumps failed. There is extensive and life-threatening storm surge flooding, an oil rig has broken loose and slammed into the Mobile River bridge and there are total structural failures in parts of New Orleans. The Superdome, where 10,000 people were hiding from the storm, has had its protective coating ripped off the roof and there is now a gaping hole with wind tearing at the inside and rain pouring into the structure. This is making hurricane Andrew look timid.

Paula was reading a magazine this afternoon when she came across an advert for Topamax - a new drug to hit the market which supposedly combats migraine. The small print for Topamax is 2 pages of 8-point print in a full-size American magazine. Most horrifying of all is the list of common side effects. This came from a clinical trial of 487 people. Think of that number, then look at the side effects. They are: Cystitis, renal calculus, urinary tract infection, dysuria, micturition, fever, paresthesia, diarrhea, weight decrease, anorexia, mood disorders, attention deficit, cognitive problems, nervousness, viral infection, rhinitis, upper respitory tract infection, bronchitis, sinusitis, alopecia, asthenia, leg pain, chest pain, paresthesia, dizziness, hypoaesthesia, ataxia, hypertonia, constipation, dry mouth, gastritis, acid reflux, somnolence, memory loss, insomnia, depression, anxiety, psychomotor slowing, confusion, decrease libido, vaginal hemorrhage, anemia, dyspnea, rash, pruriti...