You may have already seen this story

but if you haven't read the connection between failed levees and Iraq, yes, there is one and it's fairly straightforward. We can feed the war or take care of our infrastructure, can't afford to do both. Go read.

We're having gas shortages and hoarding already - a crisis born of pure damn selfishness - neither of my kids could get near a gas station to fill up yesterday, lines were around the block. My son called to report that the stations he tried were full of people filling their boats and jet skis and big honkin' SUVs (with W stickers on the back). Never mind getting to school and work, it's so nice to know that the Excursion driver will not have to face Labor Day weekend with an empty jet ski. There are some sacrifices that are just too great to ask, you know?

And...Sigh. Didja notice how the media glossed over the remarkable tidbit that Dubya "visited" the Gulf Coast by flying over it at 5000 ft. on Air Force One?

What on earth are we going to do with those thousands of suddenly jobless and homeless people?

And I just keep thinking how long it took to clean up after last year's storms, and how the debris piles sat around month after month, because there wasn't the manpower to pick it all up. And that now looks like nothing at all, like fussing over a drizzle.

New regular on the reading list: Last Left Turn Before Hooterville.

In knitting news - because this is officially a knitting blog - I ripped and restarted the green cardi below. I kept looking at it, stretching it this way and that, and debating whether the gauge was actually too tight. An unusual problem for me, because I am a Loose Woman, gauge-wise, and generally go down a needle size. Technically I was on gauge, but it's supposed to be a loose, oversized sweater and somehow it looked a bit skimpy and stiff to me. Went to the needle size called for in the pattern, and I'm much happier with the results.

And I LOVE my little Axim! An extravagance, but a worthwhile one.

More to come, must shower now. Murphy's going to the groomer this morning. He's way overdue for a haircut - Dudley chews on him affectionately and his coat is just a mess. Pictures later if the rain holds off.