Nothing quite like Google for reading the thoughts of the world as expressed on the web. Try a Google search on the word "failure" and what's the first entry? The official White House web site's biography of the George W. Bush.

That would be a lot funnier if it wasn't for the thousands of people left dead, maimed, or destitute because of Bush's criminal and incompetent behavior. But hey - a Google search for "impeachment" brings up www.VoteToImpeach.org, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark's organization devoted to giving W the treatment he has so richly earned.

You know, it occurs to me that in a few months, after all the Katrina refugees have at least been fed, families reunited, and have roofs over their heads again, the impeachment of George W. Bush would make a great Christmas gift to them.

A federal appeals court has ruled that all the government has to do to make inconveniences like due process go away, is label you a "suspected enemy combatant". They can then hold you indefinitely without charge, even if you are a United States citizen.

Yet another bold step forward by our government in freeing itself from hindrances like the Constitution.

Forwarded to me by our good friend Mike Gurklis:

LARRY BRADSHAW and LORRIE BETH SLONSKY are emergency medical services (EMS)
workers from San Francisco and contributors to Socialist Worker. They were
attending an EMS conference in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck.
They spent most of the next week trapped by the flooding--and the martial
law cordon around the city.

Hurricane Katrina-Our Experiences

Larry Bradshaw, Lorrie Beth Slonsky

Two days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, the Walgreen's
store at the corner of Royal and Iberville streets remained locked.
The dairy display case was clearly visible through the widows. It was
now 48 hours without electricity, running water, plumbing. The milk,
yogurt, and cheeses were beginning to spoil in the 90-degree heat. The
owners and managers had locked up the food, water, pampers, and
prescriptions and fled the City. Outside Walgreen's windows, residents
and tourists grew increasingly thirsty and hungry.

Ok, I know that this article about a shortage in brain donation for medical research deals with a serious matter...but really, all I can think of is Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein. "Abby someone. Abby who?" "Abby Normal".

Reuters reports on a study showing that exercise and healthy eating may help prevent aging-related memory loss. They specifically cite omega-3 fatty acids and their anti-inflammatory effects; unfortunately, the article mentions only fish oils as a source of these, neglecting the plant based sources which may provide better results.

Anyway, whenever I hear of some new study like this, I always remember the words of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, when confronted with a purported "immortality" serum: "[L]engthen lives? Poppycock. I can do more for you if you just eat right and exercise regularly.".

So let's say you're a Katrina refugee - sorry, that's not PC, evacuee, but that's another story - and you've found refuge at a friends' house. And let's say said friend has a computer. Can you go to register for aid from FEMA on-line? Only if your friend does business with a corporate criminal, Microsoft. MSNBC (ironically, a Microsoft - NBC joint venture) reports:

The good news: If you've survived Hurricane Katrina, the government will let you register for help online. The bad news: But only if the computer you're using is running Windows.

The Death of Bob Denver, TV's Gilligan put me in mind of this explanation of Timothy Leary's Eight Circuit model of the brain using the characters from Gilligan's Island. Feed your head.

The Baltimore City Paper printed my letter, along with a response from Brian Morton where he defends his old boss Barry McCaffrey as a kinder, gentler sort of prohibitionist. (I originally posted the letter here.)

Well, we can see where George W. gets it from. The Nation reports:

Commenting on the facilities that have been set up for the evacuees -- cots crammed side-by-side in a huge stadium where the lights never go out and the sound of sobbing children never completely ceases -- former First Lady Barbara Bush concluded that the poor people of New Orleans had lucked out.

"Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality. And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this, this is working very well for them," Mrs. Bush told American Public Media's "Marketplace" program...

Pity Jason Striegel. He got his AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) account added to a list of sex chat bots...and can't convince IM'ers that he's really human. Read "How I Failed the Turing Test".

The Turing Test, for those not familiar with it, is a test of artificial intelligence proposed by Alan Turing, in which a computer program tries to act like a human in conversation. Turing envisioned using teletypes to hide the machine, but the 'net does the job even better.