Linkatharsis: There's no one right way to suffer

Dude, I'm too lazy for a full post and it's 5:10 pm Friday. I'm just going to bump my old post from earlier this morning. So sue me.

I try not to make a habit of posting about my personal life here, but I do it sometime, if only to give this site a context, sort of, I guess. Blogs aren't written in a vacuum after all. That, and I'm an attention whore.

A few weeks ago, I posted about an unfortunate, nay, painful development in my life that affected me greately, and I received a lot of sympathetic responses to (much appreciated). Now, I'm getting the questions - "How are you hanging in?", "Will there be a happy ending?", and "Why don't you grow some balls, make a clean break and move on?"

Well, I am sorry to say, my right knee is still giving me trouble. At this moment, I only feel a slight tenderness, but if I go running, the sharp pain around the outside of the kneecap comes back and I would be in pain for the next 24 hours or so. How bad is it? Not New Orleans bad, for sure, even better than Biloxi, I'd say. I think it's somewhere between Baghdad and Baton Rouge, basically functional though not perfect by any means.

Thanks for your concern, everyone.

My favorite Katrina post of the day by Ian over at Sexy Results!.

My other post of the day, for sheer volume than anything else: The Big Ticket: shock & awe (for real this time)

The Times-Picayune has done a great job providing invaluable up-to-date coverage under great stress, but shit, they could've categorized this photo a little better, right?


The caption reads:

Katie Maucher talks to a friend on her cell phone at the College of Charleston, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005, in Charleston, S.C. Maucher transferred to the College of Charleston after Hurricane Katrina damage Tulane University in New Orleans.

(from NOLA.com Photo Galleries)

Possibly the only blog still coming out of New Orleans: The Interdictor, as seen on Wired.

Anderson Cooper, not taking no shit form no one:

"Excuse me, Senator, I'm sorry for interrupting. I haven't heard that, because, for the last four days, I've been seeing dead bodies in the streets here in Mississippi. And to listen to politicians thanking each other and complimenting each other, you know, I got to tell you, there are a lot of people here who are very upset, and very angry, and very frustrated."

First thing I saw on Gothamist yesterday morning, Fire in Astoria. I no longer live in the 'hood I affectionately called Ass-toria, but damn, that Twins Donuts was the best place to go at 3 am when you're drunk and just came home from bridge-and-tunneling in the city.

If this series about wacky terrorists doesn't make it to a network, the terrorists will really have won.

via Productshop NYC:

"I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees."
- George W. Bush, August 31, 2005

Um.... (raising hand)

From our sidedish friends Cole Slaw Blog:

He always sees strength via death and destruction. He is terrifying.Hundreds of thousands of refugees, a city turned into a toxic waste zone, armed gangs run amok, a breakdown in infrastructure, and a wholly incompetent leadership class: It's looking as if we live in a third-world country. He sees strength.

Not to keep piling on Bush but dipshit is as dipshit does: Bush's worst war analogy yet:

...it's a tossup which aspect of this rhetorical game is more egregious: the fact that the two wars are so vastly different in nearly every way imaginable, or the fact that, if they were as similar as President Bush proclaims, he is doing so remarkably little to wage this one.

In case you needed any more sobering thoughts, NBC Nightly News' Daily Nightly blog:

Those who don't have flood insurance will likely lose everything. As for the renters, many of whom lived near the poverty line, it's likely many opted to go without renter's insurance. Without it, they too probably lost everything.

You gotta wonder how many people getting rescued off rooftops had any insurance on their property.

Re: NYCLU report on NYPD's crowd control at last summer's RNC:

"Protests are not a criminal event," Christopher Dunn, the NYCLU's associate legal director, said at news conference. "They should not be treated as a law enforcement problem." The 65-page report, "Rights and Wrongs at the RNC," criticized police Commissioner Raymond Kelly for "refusing to acknowledge the department made any mistakes in its handling of the convention protests."

Seems fair enough. Care to respond, Commissioner Kelly?

Kelly fired back with a statement calling the department's efforts to secure the convention against terrorism and control protesters "a model of expert planning, professionalism and restraint. "

That's cute.

More Slate-yness: Why the hurricane may hurt the economy more than 9/11:

The problem is that New Orleans lies at the heavily trafficked intersection of the Old and New Economies. The region's economy is based on agriculture, water transport, and natural resources. But moving and selling goods requires an intricate web of supply chains, pipelines, and commercial arteries that connect producers to consumers. The networked economy isn't just about bytes and fiber-optic cable, it's about oil, grain, and sugar. And when the infrastructure of these networks gets damaged, it can't be replaced easily or cheaply.

Oh crap, not the cover jinx.

And in the more tragic world of European soccer, Gabriele Marcotti asks, should we share a tear for Michael Owen and Alessandro Del Piero, the former at the English football Siberia of Newcastle and the latter a persona non grata at Juventus?:

It could be that Owen and Del Piero are paying a price for their candor and class. Neither has been controversial or aggressive over the years, neither has complained or rocked the boat. If that's the case, it would be a shame.

But don't feel too sorry for them. Between them they'll be making close to $70 million over the next three years. With that kind of paycheck, you forfeit the right to be depressed.