Last year I posted this diary in which I listed the most Exremely Annoying commercials. Prominent on my list was freecreditreport.com. And I won't plug them by linking them, because their ads are all over. You can't get away from them, whether you're watching TV, listening to the radio, or online. And there's even a new one.

Below the fold is a tribute to the persistence of this company with its misleading name in annoying us. Which will be followed by pooties.

The other day I got an e-mail from Netroots Nation with their ideas for the Democratic platform and calling for suggestions. Below the fold is what I sent them last Friday.

Also, I'm recruiting diarists for the Katrina Blogathon which is scheduled for the 3-year anniversary of Katrina and the federal flood. Unlike previous Blogathons, this will last three days--Wed., Aug. 27-Fri., Aug. 29, 2008.

But my life just got even more disjointed and surreal. I've been in the position of trying to make it on $466 per month in unemployment--which first of all caused me to default on June's and this month's mortgage payments. Monday morning I had to go to the post office to pick up a certified letter from my lender on my delinquency. It says they're prepared to initiate foreclosure proceedings.

Back in 1988 when the Exxon Valdez ran aground, I can recall at least a few weeks of steady coverage by both the three major networks and cable news (just CNN at the time) of the disaster, its environmental impact, and efforts to clean it up.

But the fuel oil spill that happened in Louisiana earlier this week proves to be a much larger disaster with farther-reaching consequences--yet for some news briefs I've seen on NBC Nightly News and a couple of cable channels, there hasn't been the major coverage it should be getting. Why aren't the MSM taking it seriously?

And scorpiorising says,

it is somewhat shocking to me, given the size of the spill and its potential impact on fragile wetlands, that there isn't more help coming to help wildlife, and to help with cleanup.

For anybody who thought Louisiana would get a far better deal from BushCo under GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal than she did under Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco, they'd better think again. For Bush's pattern of abuse against Louisiana seems to transcend her politics. According to the Baton Rouge Advocate,

Bobby Jindal,  angered over the increased costs that storm-wounded Louisiana must shoulder for construction of hurricane protection levees, asked Washington for more time — and a little fairness.

Under the latest war spending bill, Louisiana must kick in $1.8 billion by 2011 in order to activate $5.8 billion in federal funding needed to strengthen the New Orleans-area levee system.

Jindal said Louisiana’s share for repairs to the 360-mile, federally maintained levee system, is higher post-Katrina, than before the storm. "It seems ridiculous," Jindal said, tersely.

by Marya Hornbacher is the shattering sort of memoir about which I've a   personal rule of not starting to read before bedtime. Because I won't want to put it down until it's finished.

When we first meet Marya, she's lying on the bathroom floor in a pool of blood, having severed an artery while cutting herself. This is what draws us into the living hell of her condition--rapid-cycling Bipolar I, the worst form of the disease.

My personal life has been yin and yang lately. The part of my anatomy to which I refer above is (appropriately for a Kossack) my right knee. In April I felt a pop in that knee, followed by excruciating pain. Several weeks later I had the knee x-rayed, and the doctor told me there are mild osteo-arthritic changes in that knee. And since then the knee has either not hurt, or has hurt to varying degrees. But to play it safe I always carry a cane along because when my knee hurts it'll really hurt and I need the cane for support. It seems I've discovered the sure-fire way to make the knee really start hurting--leave the cane at home!

going on regarding what politicians and other people have been saying about this current flooding and what they said after the federal flood about New Orleans and those it impacted. I was cynical enough and had had my suspicions as I noticed that something was missing.

To wit: Nobody, even though some of the currently-affected communities along the Mississippi which had also been affected in the flooding of 1993 have been flooded again, has been telling the folks in these communities that they should not rebuild......

This is in light of the fact that not only could I not get anyone to commit to a June Blogathon, I was also unable to think of anything fresh and new myself to write on regarding New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Region.

Besides this, lately I haven't felt up to writing on the subject. I've felt burned out. And I find my own lack of good ideas and passion far more frustrating and discouraging than not being able to sign other people up.

Tired of all the Obama/Clinton/Obama/McCain/Obama.... diaries? I am, so I've finally created my first pootie (and other animal) diary. After finally having (low-tech gal that I am) figured out which code to use in posting images from PhotoBucket. Woo Hoo!

The next Daily Kos NOLA/Gulf Blogathon has been scheduled for Wed., June 18th and Thurs., June 19th. (Time slots to sign up for are below the fold.)

While, as with all previous blogathons, all in the DKos community are invited to publish diaries on anything having to do with New Orleans, Katrina, and Rita, and even a good rant will do, I wish to extend special invitations to all Front Pagers who would like to do so to post diaries presenting and defending their opinion that New Orleans and recovery from Katrina and Rita are not worthy of being covered on DKos' front page. More below the fold.

This diary is intended as something of a rant. Because this saddens me and makes my blood boil every time I think about it.

But before I vent, here's a caveat: as I said in yesterday's diary, 9/11 tore me apart. So this is by no means intended as a put-down of the trauma 9/11 survivors went through or a complaint about the well-deserved sympathy and support they've gotten.

Rather, what pisses me off is is the fact that survivors of 8/29--whether of Katrina, the federal flood, or of Rita--have not been receiving the equal aid, synpathy, or other treatment to that received by 9/11 survivors, that they deserve. What blueintheface brings up--the fact that Daily Kos hasn't been paying enough attention to New Orleans and Katrina, is the tip of a very big iceberg involving the MSM and many politicians that has been keeping storm and flood survivors from getting the attention they have a right to receive.

I've often imagined many in the DKos community have been wondering why I care so much and have been so passionate in my support of New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Region from afar, after having been to New Orleans but once, over 30 years ago. And how Hurricane Katrina and the federal flood have had such a tremendous, shattering impact on me though I witnessed them safe and dry far from the sea in central Illinois. And how not only could I be well-deservedly hard on BushCo, but even take Clinton and Obama to task for not paying enough attention to New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Region. And why I feel so strongly about this I started the NOLA/Gulf Blogathons. I'll go into that in more detail below the fold--but first I'll tell you how 9/11 impacted me.

It's rare for me to have anything good to say about the mainstream media, and even rarer for me to watch a "reality show," because "reality television" isn't.

But after seeing it promo'ed Saturday night, I determined that a reality show that was going to air Sunday night was going to be "Must-See TV." Because I knew it would have socially-redeeming value. I have only kudos for the show, ABC, and all who contributed to it for because it was heartwarming and inspiring to see and left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling.

More below the fold.

The April NOLA/Gulf Blogathon took place approximately two weeks ago, and in spite of the crush of campaign diaries, it was, thanks to all who wrote diaries and otherwise participated, a success. The diaries were all very thought-provoking and deserved more attention than they got from the DKos community because all raised questions regarding what BushCo was, and is, really up to regarding the federal flood.

This is to announce that the next NOLA/Gulf Blogathon has now been scheduled for Thurs., May 15th and Fri., May 16th. Hopefully by then the campaign stuff will have started winding down--and hope to see you there!

Yesterday on a campaign stop replete with photo-ops in New Orleans, Sen. John McCain made an attempt to distance himself from the failings of the Bush Administration during Katrina and the federal flood by saying "Never again..." and spinning himself as someone who would have been more proactive than had Bush regarding this disaster.

But does McCain really represent a change from BushCo incompetence, if not outright genocide, in New Orleans? Would a McCain administration really aid New Orleans' recovery? Is McCain a friend of New Orleans, or a foe?

This is Part 2 of an Earth Day-themed series on  environmental issues in the Gulf Region after Katrina and the federal flood.
In the first part of this Earth Day series, the environmental devastation experienced by New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Region was discussed. This installment will focus on Louisiana's wetlands which are being washed away and the sinking of New Orleans and the rest of southern Louisiana.

This is the first part of a 2-part Earth Day-themed series on environmental issues in the Gulf Region.

Not only were Katrina, the federal flood, and Rita massive human tragedies, they were for reasons which will be detailed below easily this nation's biggest environmental calamity.

And their potential impacts on human health and life in New Orleans and in the rest of the affected area are still being assessed over 2 1/2-years later. More below the fold.....