9/8: Morning Communique

THESE DAYS

With crude oil and gasoline prices surging to record highs after Hurricane Katrina, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) yesterday introduced legislation to tax some of the extra profits big oil companies are earning.

Please consider giving to the New Orleans Musicians Hurricane Relief Fund.

Internet giant Yahoo has been accused of supplying information to China which led to the jailing of a journalist for "divulging state secrets."

MINNESOTA BLOG OF THE DAY

Scott Warmka on the Supreme Court, Katrina, and stem cells at The Troglodyte.

TIME WASTERS

Flickr photoset of the Astrodome

In this sluggish flash game, maneuver the Flying Spaghetti Monster to convert heathens to Pastafarianism. [via Pharyngula]

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

"When are they gonna go home? There aren't any homes to go back to."

-- St. Bernard Parish President Junior Rodriguez, when asked by an anchorman when his residents would be able to go home

"Television made it impossible for government officials to say the situation was under control; we could see that it wasn't. Television made it impossible for government officials to say they couldn't get into New Orleans to help; if Harry Connick Jr. could make it in, so could they. Indeed, NBC put Connick on TV so often, you might have thought he was the head of FEMA."

-- USA Today's Robert Bianco