Assistance

I finally donated to Habitat for Humanity's Katrina rebuilding fund. I think they'll actually put the money where they say they will, and there's going to be a lot of people without housing.

I just can't stomach the American Red Cross. They lied and killed people during the early AIDS years, they drive up the price of blood by selling it to brokers, they take money for causes and spend it how they wish, and they charged my grandfather for coffee during the First World War. BLEAH.

Thanks to rroseselavyoui for the list of donation possibilities. I actually went direct to habitat.org because I figured that site probably shaved a bit off the top.

Looting, finding, and blogging

Much is being made of the "looting" versus "finding" picture captions on Yahoo! and the implied racism of the black people looting and the white people finding. I don't think it warrants the blogerati outrage it's generating.

It should be pointed out that the "looting" caption is from the Associated Press and the "finding" one is from Agence France-Presse. So not only did two different editorial staffs issue those captions, but one of them is a translation from French. If Yahoo! actually put these right next to each other that was at best not managing an automated setup and at worst a shoddy piece of layout.

Maybe there's other bad coverage like this, but comparing those two particular captions isn't going to be fruitful.

I do think that showing America's {white|black|blue|orange} underclass looting after a spectacular natural disaster is unhelpful and a form of fear porn for the middle class watching their TVs. Look what happens when disaster strikes! All those tweaker skinheads, gangbangers, and welfare moms will come to your house and take your widescreen TV! Dogs and cats, living together. PANIC GODDAMN YOU!

During the L.A. Riots there was a shitload of looting which was pretty much done by everyone who felt like it. Friends of mine living in a lower middle class part of South L.A. had their neighbors ring the doorbell and say "We're going to the mall to loot. Wanna come?" and college kids busted into the Ralphs to get the good liquor, while at the same time people in South L.A. were looting bottled water and diapers because everything was going to be shut the fuck down for a week. My friend Rhonda saw a woman loot one shoe from a Payless near her house on Crenshaw. She said "Woman, what in the world are you doing to do with one shoe?" and the lady just flipped her off and got in her car.

During the Blitz in London, a time that we're supposed to remember as Brave Little England bearing up with grace under bombs, it was common for thieves to go into theatres and similar places after the alerts had gone off to find purses and valuables that had been dropped in the panic to get to the shelters.

Cyril Connolly wrote of this phenomenon: "Perfect fear driveth out love".

A strong America needs dirigibles!

As much as I loathe the military-industrial establishment...

...I inherited from my father a great love of airships.



Defense Tech reports the latest developments in the Walrus project to build a bigass blimp that will carry troops, spy on us from above, and host elegant piano bar soirées other military crap.

I'm holding out for a real dirigible though, and not just a big blimp. If I ever become as rich as a supervillain my preferred transport will be my private airship. Quiet, luxurious cruising, 500 feet in the air, looking down at the little people from my flying hotel and sipping champagne.

Product Showcase: Lucas Oil Fuel Treatment

I try to keep away from product endorsements. When I blog, I think about my future as a possible Top Blogger, and Top Bloggers shouldn't shill. We all have our little ways of making extra cash — I myself have amassed the sum of $0.90 from Amazon Associates — but it's not considered cool to push stuff on your blog. Only bOINGbOING Pals can really get away with that.

However I have to say that I'm a big fan of the Lucas Oil Fuel Treatment. I have a 2001 Acura that's rated at 29 mpg fuel economy highway, which is a fictitious number. In general duty with a long commute plus local driving I got maybe 22 or 23 miles per gallon for the first few years. But behold, at 90,000+ miles I started using this stuff and I get 27.5 miles per gallon on long trips now. It's quite the boost. I can't really tell if the engine runs smoother or I have more power because it's so subjective. But damn. This stuff pays for itself in fuel economy alone. Highly recommended, especially now what with the fuel costs approaching nearly a third of what Europeans pay!


Lucas Oil Fuel Treatment: The Official Fuel Additive of substitute!