Leave the gun, take the cannoli

Gotti Jr. wants a shot at a normal life. Prosecutors aren't so sure.

"You never leave the mob," said Bruce Mouw, former head of the FBI's Gambino squad. "Sometimes you're wishing you'd never gotten into it, when there's a contract on your life or you're going to jail. But you never leave."

I mean, camaan, this is family we're talkin' about...

Kinda interesting

Hugh Hewitt is the moderator of One True God, a religion (more Christian) based discussion blog that attempts to relate real-life issues (demons in movies, Katrina, etc.) to Scriptures. Of course, as you may all know, I'm not Christian but I still think it's interesting to see how some people are trying to address tough questions using their faith in God.

Some fine flying

I caught a glimpse of this little ordeal on the news yesterday... pretty crazy stuff. Props to the pilot.

Apollo on steroids

A 13-year, $104 billion blueprint? I'd really like to know where this money is coming from. Don't get me wrong though, I'm all for space exploration. But right now I think it's safe to say we have some BIGGER fish to fry...

Rita

Talk about some serious poundage still yet to come along the Gulf Coast...

Even worse, after what happened with Katrina, people still resist evacuation??

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued Monday for the Keys, but many residents insisted on staying. The evacuation was the fifth ordered for the Keys in the past two years.

"In the Keys, a lot of people are stubborn," said Craig Fugate, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

CNN's Dan Lothian reported from Key Largo that he saw some people still putting up boards on their windows as late as Tuesday morning.

No good.

Responsibility

From the NYT:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 - President Bush said on Tuesday that he bore responsibility for any failures of the federal government in its response to Hurricane Katrina and suggested that he was unsure whether the country was adequately prepared for another catastrophic storm or terrorist attack.

Well, it's a start.

Again with the media

Hugh Hewitt cites NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen:

Jay's reaction --that the media couldn't have contributed to the decision of many people to try and ride out the storm-- doesn't match with common sense. Don't expect the anti-Bush MSM to ask any hard questions of themselves, but I'd love to see if some relative of the dead has a chance to confront Anderson Cooper or the legion of posers with microphones on their contribution to the wreckage all around.

I agree. The media has unparalleled influence on peoples' decisions. They just simply weren't doing their job this time around.

The college lifestyle

I realize I've been awful about updating this blog these days. I haven't yet fully adjusted to my new way of life, and am finding it difficult to juggle all of the things I have to attend to in a set 24 hours (among them is much needed sleep). So I'm basically asking you all to bear with me, because I have not forgotten the thrill of blogging. Sadly though, handing in a few posts to my professor instead of an essay isn't going to cut it grade-wise. A shame.

Roberts baby

Anyone's better than Rehnquist at this point.

This is America

Disturbing:

THE white people got out. Most of them, anyway. If television and newspaper images can be deemed a statistical sample, it was mostly black people who were left behind. Poor black people, growing more hungry, sick and frightened by the hour as faraway officials counseled patience and warned that rescues take time.

Shameful.

Blatantly racist

I couldn't believe this when I read it.

Been wondering that myself

Josh Marshall asks, "Where is Cheney?" No idea.

Some sympathy

See, there really are some grateful people in the world that care about what happens to Americans.

Ain't that the truth

Welcome to my world. Yeah, and Billy Crystal is the man.

Waking up to energy independence

Ouch:

Prices have already topped $5 in some areas closest to Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, sparking accusations of price gouging, long lines at gas stations and concerns over possible shortages, according to news reports.

Even before Hurricane Katrina hit earlier this week, the one element in the market that "labored under terrific stress was the refining infrastructure, and that has borne the full brunt of the storm," said Michael Fitzpatrick, an analyst at Fimat USA.

"Some refineries may be able to restart operations within one to two weeks, but others may take several months to resume making gasoline and other petroleum products," he said, citing a statement released by the Energy Information Administration.

My friend is telling me that even in New Hampshire, notorious for low gas prices, the average is about $3.25 to $3.50 a gallon right now, which is unheard of. Basically, we're screwed.

Initial reactions

I'd hate for this to become a regular occurence (i.e. having this blog become an outlet for my complaints), but I felt the need to share a few observations I've made so far about academics. For one thing, they are inherently brilliant, but often times lack the the necessary expository skills to convey that brilliance. A shame... I nearly fell asleep in one of my seminars today. Not that I wasn't interested in the subject material (although Greek philosophy can be very dry at times), but the professor's lack of animation simply failed to catch my attention. I guess, sadly, many of these guys are hired for the brains and the brains alone.

Insanity

Imagine having your town literally wiped off the map. It's so hard to grasp the gravity of the situation from such a safe distance. At least my college has been trying hard to raise money for the Red Cross and such. The freshman class raised $1,400 the other day in one sitting, just from passing around a few plates at an event. Props.

On gas and martial law

Rob has pictures. I'm not sure if it's just the media or what, but it seems like the whole damn country is on the verge of collapse right now. Although, if you think about it, the fact that a tropical hurricane and a spike in gas prices are happening at the same time really doesn't mean anything.

Leadership

Wes Clark thinks that in the wake of all that is going on (i.e. Katrina, gas prices, and the war), we are not witnessing any good leadership coming from the Bush White House (he also cites this NYT editorial as reinforcement). In an environmental sense, I would have to agree. The administration is very short-sighted in that regard to allow things to get so out of control. I can't stand to think that my generation will be left with such a huge burden to gain every inch of energy independence that it can. There has simply been a severe lack of progress made in that direction since Bush came to office. Besides energy, initial reports are suggesting that the government was in fact made quite aware of the dangers facing New Orleans and the Gulf Coast but that it failed to take action, choosing instead to allow "developers... to destroy wetlands and barrier islands that could have held back the hurricane's surge." Come on now. What was that whole thing about "judging me [Bush] by the company I keep"? I thought the whole point of that was: I may be dumb, but I have smart people to run the country for me. Apparently those smart people are taking their five-week vacations right now as well.

Google Scholar?

Well this sure looks damn handy for college students and academia. If you learn how to use it effectively, it give you access to scholarly material for almost any subject imaginable. Google has clearly become an unstoppable Internet machine. Now, if only they could make a cooler messaging program...