Five day projections on the path of hurricane Gustav have it moving directly toward New Orleans.  It is expected to pick up significant strength during the next 5 days, and may reach category 4 strength by the time it makes land fall.

Given that the Bush Administration is still in charge of FEMA, and given that no indications are currently available that FEMA is making plans to anticipate this storm, it's time to think seriously about moving out.

Update:  With a HT to Wordie.  More urgency from the locals.

Study: New Orleans Repeating Deadly Levee Mistakes - AP Study Shows NOLA Could See Future Threats.

When future generations look back on this moment, they will shake their heads in disbelief at the fact that the first African-American nominee faced such blatant bias and hostility from a corrupt media establishment. While Americans should be focusing on this great progressive achievement and the Democrats' vision for the future, the media has used a small group of internet conspiracy theorists to distract the country with a petty red herring. Their goal is simple: to deny Barack Obama the traditional privilege of a convention where he and his supporters can speak directly to the American people. Instead, the pundits and producers have drowned out the actual story in Denver to carry water for John McCain and demoralize Democrats.

Well, if you're in Denver, you can fight back. The media is desperate for controversy, and there is no reason we should not be using this against them. Follow me below the fold to find out how you can help.

I fully expect the Republican Party to come and attack Obama during the convention.  That is all they have.  If they distorted the life of John Kerry, a decorated veteran, to make him look like a traitor it is pretty certain that they are going to try their hardest to do this to Obama and his supporters.  

Well, not this time.

Instead of waiting for the attacks let's take it to them.  I like to be on offense rather than defense, how about you?  Put yourself on the line. Be a walking advertisement for the Democratic Party.  Wear your Obama t-shirt(s) or your Democratic Party T-shirt(s) during the convention.

Follow me after the fold.

I know, I know .. it's sort of repetitive, but here's what I have noticed in the last 20 minutes or so of watching CNN. I had to shut it off when Soledad O'Brien just called it the Democrat National Convention.

The number of distortions and lies were almost too many to count.

Carl Bernstein was on one panel, and he brought into focus these lies [paraphrasing now] 'the Democrats will finally be able to show during the Convention the public what you [corporate media] have refused to do. The polls are meaningless, and issues that matter will be highlighted'.

That was a bright spot.

Bill Schneider was another bright spot, as O'Brien tried her best to work the PUMA theme, he blurted out, almost in desperation that [paraphrasing]  '40% of Republicans are not happy with John McCain, and many Republicans  are voting for Obama - and where was the reporting on that?'

I had to shut it off, because I was simply too enraged.
I felt powerless against this 24/7 blaring noise machine.  

I am a native of Denver, who unfortunately can't be at the convention this week. But there is something I'm trying to do, and it would be great to have help. The main local news outlet in Denver is 9news, http://www.9news.com. It is the NBC affiliate in Denver. On their new website, they have the ability to register as a commenter and post responses to certain news stories. These comments automatically come up when the story is clicked on.

Don't forget to make plans to attend a spectacular Atlanta area Obama acceptance speech party next Thursday at Amsterdam Bar and Cafe, hosted by AtlantaKos and a number of other Democratic groups and progressive organizations.

You can RSVP here.

More details on the flip....

McNicotine doesn't know how many houses are his.

McNicotine doesn't know what car he drives.

At this rate, he'll forget whether Chicken of the Sea is chicken or fish.  At least nobody expects Jessica Simpson to be smart.  At least she looks and sounds MUCH better than McNicotine.  Also, at least Jessica Simpson isn't promoting another 100 years in Iraq, a draft, or the bombing of Iran.

But the killer (pun intended, unfortunately) question is: Does McNicotine know that he has a tobacco lobbyist for a senior adviser?

John McNicotine is now for the tobacco lobby after years of working against it.  He not only opposes the cigarette taxes he used to support but also opposes FDA regulation of the tobacco industry after years of supporting it.  McNicotine is an ex-smoker and should understand just how addictive nicotine is, and he even acknowledged the exceptionally high death rate for tobacco users when he joked that cigarette exports to Iran were part of his plot to kill Iranian citizens.  For McNicotine to cave in to the tobacco cartel is the ultimate flip-flop:
http://www.boston.com/...

Why has McNicotine caved in to the interests of the tobacco drug cartel?  It couldn't possibly have anything to do with hiring tobacco lobbyist Charlie Black as his senior adviser.  Move along folks.  There's nothing to see here:
http://firedoglake.com/...

Now let's use the traditional Rethug "moral values" and "sanctity of life" frames against McNicotine!  There's more in the flip.

When you spend your time, as I do, immersed in politics and the issues that said politics purport to solve or at least endeavour to solve, it is easy to forget that many -- indeed, most -- people in this country have neither the time, energy nor inclination to wade into such a bog, let alone devote any significant block of time to that political swamp for fear they might emerge from it as mentally pruny and wrinkled as the fingers of a child after an hour in a paddling pool of equally questionable water quality.

The reasonable fear of sensory overload combined with the unreasonable burdens of economic hardship, deliberate disinformation propaganda campaigns of over thirty years by a corporate-owned media and a dying, decaying educational system have conspired to create what we now are as an America society: An apathetic, barely participatory citizenry in what is laughably called a "republic" but what is, for all intents and purposes, a plutocracy.

Sorry I don't have a lot of time.  I've been very busy lately.  But growing up in Colorado I just saw the following:

First.

Denver Post and Water

and

ColoradoPols and Water

    Canvassing for Obama today in a very conservative small city in this battleground state (Wisconsin), I came off the streets  after 5 hours feeling . . . elated.  That is not an exaggeration, and it's not because of finding lots of  Obama supporters.

Welcome back to Austin, TX for the very first Camp Obama of the general election cycle! There are also sessions in Los Angeles today, and in New York City next weekend. The focus of this Camp Obama is to train people who can commit 5 weeks of their time to solid volunteering. These folks will become leaders wherever they go, and some of them might work with all of you when you find your way into an Obama campaign office this election cycle. It’s really exciting to be part of this grassroots organizing. I’m looking forward to hearing about what brings these folks in to participate.

Join us in Austin below the jump for photos and session recaps, to be updated throughout the weekend.

Important: There are Camp Obamas scheduled next weekend for Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. More info below!

I have been a lurker here on Daily Kos for a long time, commenting maybe twice and never doing a diary.  But the recent success of the wonderful hummingbird photo breaks by juliewolf and a desire to help an endangered species have convinced me to finally lose my Daily Kos diary virginity and take the plunge in the hopes that this community can help save a pretty cool bird.

10,000 Birds is the place that I, along with two other bloggers, inhabit in the blogosphere. Bird blogs are a small niche habitat on the interwebs, but we have managed to survive and even thrive through hard work, a great online community, and humanity's nearly insatiable desire to learn about the natural world.  And while writing about the birds we see is rewarding in and of itself, we at 10,000 Birds have made the collective decision to not only write about birds but try to help them, because, after all, it is one thing to see a bird and share a picture but it another thing entirely to help ensure that the species will be there for others to experience.

So a Sharp Whatnow?  What is that?  Read on kossacks...

On June 25, 2008 the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 passed by a whopping 402-17 vote in the House. Sometime in September, the full Senate is expected to begin floor action on the Senate bill (S.3406). It currently enjoys the sponsorship of 65 Senators, and the endorsement of a wide variety of business and disability community organizations, so it's widely expected to pass, but your help is needed to provide just that little bit of insurance so that the opportunities and protections intended by Congress in the original ADA are certain to be restored to persons with disablities. We need to pass this with a veto-proof majority!

After the fold, there's an action request (the links are toward the bottom of the diary) as well as background information on why it's so important for the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) to pass...

Note: I'm posting this quite late - it's nearly 2AM! - and won't be able to stay awake to respond right now to any comments. So here's a shameless pitch: please, my fellow night owls, help me out and rec this diary up, so that people may have a chance to see it in the morning. It's not campaign-related, but it's such an important issue!

This is a short diary.

Anti-choice protesters in Cleveland, Ohio have begun videotaping patients, doctors and clinic escorts at local abortion providers.

Please help stop this blatant invasion of privacy.

Cokie Roberts is an idiot who needs to be fired... plain and simple.  Somehow Hawaii isn't  American enough for Cokie... good to see Hawaii's Senator Daniel Akaka taking her to task for this stupidity

"Saying our 50th state is somehow 'foreign,' does a great disservice to the hard working, patriotic Americans who call Hawaii home. For months people have been asking me, 'when is Sen. Obama going to come home?' I'm so glad he found time to visit his sister and his grandmother, show his daughters more of his home state, and relax a little. Hawaii is a great U.S. destination, just ask the 5.5 million Americans who visited last year for business and pleasure."

Below the fold for the repeated Cokie Roberts assertions that Hawaii isn't Americana enough for her conservative tastes... it's too "Exotic" and "Foreign" for Barack Obama... it doesn't take a pundit or PhD to understand the not too thinly veiled references here...  Also note in the NPR piece she incorrectly claims  on Obma that "He makes such a point of being the boy from Kansas & Kenya""... subtle there Cokie, real subtle.

It is time to start flooding Pelosi's office with DEMANDS.

We must demand Congress be immediately recalled from vacation.

We must demand Congress immediately begin impeachment proceedings against VP Cheney, and if the investigation leads to it, Bush, Rice, etc.

Ron Suskind's book is just the latest evidence of high crimes committed by the Bush administration.

The evidence is everywhere, and it is overwhelming.

A neighbor and I were out canvassing our neighborhood tonight, in the first blast into our precinct since the primaries. I am tired and wanted to get to sleep, but this is bothering me so much that I thought perhaps I could get some help, via all of the experience represented at here at DailyKos.

I live in a low-income area of a relatively liberal Oregon town. I believe we are still considered a swing state, as Obama's majority may be well under 10%. It is polling under 7% right now, and with all the smears, it could get close.

So, now I come across people who are too progressive to vote for Obama, and a couple of mellow but firm republicans, and I can't sleep. I don't know what to say to convince them to help us to  get this thing done. I watched the video about McCain promising more wars, and I can't sleep without asking for your help. More below...