Shipping ice to Maine

So it seems a little light has been shed on those 200 truckloads of ice FEMA sent to Maine.  You see, it turns out it wasn't actually FEMA who sent them there ... it was the Army Corps of Engineers.  Why did the Army Corps of Engineers divert 200 truckloads of ice to Maine?  Simple:  because FEMA sent 85,000 tons of ice to New Orleans -- that's 170 million pounds -- and the Corps of Engineers didn't have any idea what to do with it all or anywhere to store it.

One of those cases, I guess, in which one can have too much of a good thing.  I'm reminded of Soviet-era factories producing 40 million green lampshades, or 60 million left shoes, because they could manage higher production numbers that way -- never mind that without right shoes, the left shoes were useless, or that everyone already had all the green lampshades they wanted and no-one was buying more.

Ruminations on the spread of jihadism

Time Magazine has an article online talking about the way radical Islam is recruiting among second-generation Muslims who feel they are rootless and have no home.  luxobscura pointed the article out to me in neph_politics.)

( I find this article thought-provoking.... )

No second chance for Second Chance?

( Cut for length )

Coolness from the depths

Courtesy of smandal: Smile, Architeuthis, you're on candid camera.