Friday Pet Blogging | Otis Blank(et)s Out

Pet Blogging returns to Prophet or Madman! Milo and Otis fans rejoice!! (Hey, I know it's not my writing that brings folks here. I harbor no illusions whatsoever in that regard ... I know you come here for the cat pics!).

"Must ... defeat ... blanket ... beast!"

If there is one thing Otis loves to play with (and it's not just one thing, it's almost anything), it's the bedclothes ... particularly when Mrs. Brainwise is in a hurry to make the bed. Click the pic for the larger image on Flickr. And now for the standard Pet Blogging Closer:

The Modulator has a compilation of today's pet posts from other bloggers. Previous Milo & Otis appearances on Prophet or Madman are indexed here ... just in case you missed one. And do keep your eyes peeled for the next installment of the Carnival of the Cats, served fresh every Sunday.

Theater Lackey Update: It's Criminal

A new post at Confessions of a Serial Theater Lackey, my theater blog, talks about my upcoming appearance on CourtTV's Forensic Files.

Levee

This political cartoon by Bill Mitchell seems pretty darned accurate. It originally appeared on Sept 16, 2005. You can see more of his work here. Here is the basic blurb that accompanies each of his 'toons:

Mitchell's cartoons used to appear in print. Then during a National Arts Journalism Fellowship, he was given a T-1 connection, a Mac and shown the Web. He's been AWOL from newspapers, living in the Northern Rockies and publishing online since '95. Comments? Yell at Mitchell.

Theater Lackey Update

There's a new post over at my theater blog, Confessions of a Serial Theater Lackey, providing an update on my current projects.

Overwhelmed

Sisyphus 

 That's the only word to describe how I am feeling and why there have been no updates since last Friday. I have, of course, been completely taken with the devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. But I have not been able to digest everything that is going on and then make some coherent posts. The enormity of the situation is only part of the cause for my apparent case of writer's block. But I also have quite a full list of documentation projects at the office, and too much of my spare time has been spent at the theater, preparing for a show that opens later this month. I have started a few posts, and they exist in draft state for now. I will try to get them in some kind of finished state because I really need to comment on the Katrina relief response, Rehnquists' death, John Roberts' re-nomination to the post of Chief Justice, the prospect of two GWB SCOTUS appointees, Multilayered Spirituality, Mythos over Logos, Operation: Pat Robertson Freedom (really!), and a bunch of other things. Stay tuned, your favorite Prophet or Madman will be back on track as soon as possible.

Friday Pet Blogging | Noah's (and Moo's) Wish

Moo, the "house" kitty at Bucks County VETS (Veterinary Emergency Trauma Services), wants to remind you that many pets have been stranded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. And that you can help them with a donation to Noah's Wish. Noah's Wish is dedicated exclusively to keeping animals alive during disasters. That's all they do! From their "Who We Are" page:

We are not involved in any other animal welfare issues. It's not that we are not concerned about all the ways animals are abused and exploited. Noah's Wish would like nothing more than to see all suffering stop. Fortunately, there are a multitude of national and local animal welfare organizations who are tackling the issues that adversely affect animals. No other organization has made the commitment though to just focus on disaster relief work for animals. That's the void we are filling. [source]

For information on how you can help Noah's Wish in their work, go to their Donations Page. They have a list of items they need (do not send food), as well as a PayPal link for monetary donations.

Join the Noah's Wish mailing list

Email:

The Modulator has a compilation of today's pet posts from other bloggers (and it's a special "Katrina Relief Edition" today). Previous Milo & Otis appearances on Prophet or Madman are indexed here ... just in case you missed one (yeah, yeah .. it's still not up to date ... I've been busy!). And do keep your eyes peeled for the next installment of the Carnival of the Cats, served fresh every Sunday.

Reality Check on the Gulf Coast Disaster

I just read an excellent post regarding the devastation and loss of life in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and why it is pointless to try and pin some kind of blame on someone, anyone. I have quoted the beginning of the piece below, and archived the entire thing at brainwise.org. The archival copy includes links to the original occurrence.

This is required reading!

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Ok, the President has spoken, and I believe it is now time for all of us to being speaking bluntly. It has been my policy for the last few days to look for and point up the brightest news I could find, because I knew what we might be facing long before Katrina ever made landfall. In my opinion, the time for optimism has passed. New Orleans did not dodge a bullet, New Orleans suffered a worst case doomsday scenario. But this is far far bigger than New Orleans alone. By my count, America has lost not one city, but nine of them. New Orleans, population 1.2 million, Slidell, pop. 26,000, Bay St. Louis/Waveland pop. 12,000, Long Beach, pop. 17,000, Gulfport, pop. 71,000, Biloxi, pop. 50,000, Ocean Springs, pop. 17,000, Psacagoula/Moss Point/Gautier, pop. 42,000, and Mobile, pop. 198,000. I have figures in my possession that indicate a total maximum death toll of 410,000 Americans and a minimum death toll of 41,000 Americans. I derived these figures as follows. During the Hurricane Ivan mandatory evacuation, 600,000 people answered the call for mandatory evacuation, out of a total population of 1.2 million in the metro area. 600,000 remained behind. If half of those remaining behind did not survive the storm, or will not survive from this point onward, then the death toll in New Orleans alone will rise to 300,000 people. This is clearly a pessimistic approach, but I would remind the doubters that total rescue efforts yesterday saved, by the most optimistic estimates, 3,000 people. 3,000 out of potentially 300,000. On the brighter side, if the pre-storm estimates prove to be true, then only 300,000 people did not evacuate in the greater New Orleans metro area, 100,000 of those within the city limits as claimed by the Mayor of that city. If only one in ten of the people trapped in attics and on their roofs died, or will die before they are rescued, the death toll in New Orleans alone will rise to 30,000 souls lost. One in ten stay, one in ten of those die, 30,000, total. Just in New Orleans. These numbers are speculative, and, having demonstrated the method used in deriving them, you may judge for yourselves their validity. Before you dismiss them out of hand, you should be aware that pre-storm death-toll estimates from the Red Cross ranged from 25,000 to 100,000 for New Orleans alone. Engineers tasked by the City with estimating worst case scenarios estimated a death toll of 40,000. FEMA estimates were 50,000 deaths for New Orleans alone. It is my personal view that any final death toll under 41,000 will be considered a victory. The more the final count falls short of this, the luckier we will have been. Though these numbers are speculative, other data is not...

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