Via Towleroad...

Katrina Updates

Aid from Canada being blocked by Homeland Security: "Canadian agencies are saying that foreign aid is probably not being permitted into Louisiana and Mississippi because of 'mass confusion' at the U.S. federal level in the wake of the storm."

CNN: FEMA and Cst Grd suspending some operations due to gunfire...

Not in my job description: Condi Rice laughs it up at Monty Python farce, goes shopping for shoes: "A fellow shopper, unable to fathom the absurdity of Rice’s timing, went up to the Secretary and reportedly shouted, “How dare you shop for shoes while thousands are dying and homeless!” Never one to have her fashion choices questioned, Rice had security PHYSICALLY REMOVE the woman."

"No One Can Say they Didn't See it Coming"

Yesterday, as he surveyed Katrina's destruction from Air Force One, Bush reportedly declared, "It’s devastating. It’s got to be doubly devastating on the ground."

Former Clinton advisor Sidney Blumenthal says the Bush Administration was warned:

"In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war...

...A year ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed to study how New Orleans could be protected from a catastrophic hurricane, but the Bush administration ordered that the research not be undertaken."

National Guard military policeman stationed outside of Superdome: "This is mass chaos. To tell you the truth, I'd rather be in Iraq. You got your constant danger, but I had something to protect myself. [And] three meals a day. Communications. A plan. Here, they had no plan."

Crooks and Liars: "Anderson Cooper was visibly upset today by the fact that 'person after person' came up to him asking why the federal government hasn't shown up to help out yet." Video.