The sky's not the limit
-The World is not Enough-
Hurricane Katrina survivors are pissed. Really pissed. Lawsuit pissed. Insane lawsuit pissed. According to the report, "Of roughly 489,000 total claims, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it has received 247 for at least $1 billion apiece, including the one for $3 quadrillion."
You read that right -- three quadrillion dollars. That's not a made-up number like a bazillion. That's $3,000,000,000,000. To put that into perspective, that very well may be all the money, anywhere. In the world. And then some. The US gross domestic product was $13.2 trillion in 2007 -- or a mere 0.4% of the damages sought. The report tells us that a "stack of one quadrillion pennies would reach Saturn" (Who figures that stuff out?).
"I understand the anger," Loren Scott, a Baton Rouge-based economist said. "I also understand it's a negotiating tactic: Aim high and negotiate down." Given the inconceivable amount of money sought, I'd say they're looking to negotiate way down. If they can't, I say we pay in pennies -- I'd kind of like to see those three copper pillars to Saturn. (AP)
-Headline of the day-
"Giuliani Says Immigrants Must Speak English, Airs Political Ad In Spanish." Air America's Rachel Maddow and MSNBC's Dan Abrams shared a laugh on Abrams' show over Rudy's latest gaffe. According to the report, "Rudy has been pretending to be tough on illegal immigration and has repeatedly said that he believes all immigrants should be able to read, write and speak English in order to become U.S. citizens -- then turns around and airs a campaign ad in Florida... wait for it... in SPANISH."
Rudy Giuliani, folks -- America's Mayor of 9/11 and untroubled by the hobgoblin of a foolish consistency. C and L has the video, which you've got to see. (Crooks and Liars, via reddit)
-Bonus HotD-
"Pentagon Backtracks On Naval Confrontation With Iran, Says Threat May Not Have Come From Iranians."
Turns out that Iranian speedboats may not have "harrassed" three Navy ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The boats were there, zipping around, but that's probably what they always do. The "let's all freak out!" moment came when one ship received a radio message saying, "I am coming to you. You will explode after a few minutes."
Needless to say, there was no exploding. Turns out that the message could've been sent by pretty much anyone, not necessarily one of the boats. It was sent on an "internationally recognized bridge-to-bridge radio channel" and those in the know say the accent wasn't Iranian.
The backpedal was in typical, noncommittal Pentagonese. "I guess we're not saying that it absolutely came from the boats," a Navy spokesperson says, "But we're not saying it absolutely didn't."
Here's an idea, don't start freaking everyone out before you know what the hell's going on, OK? Seriously, you're literally killing us with this stuff. (Think Progress)
