James Earl Carter, voyeur?

In his 1976 Playboy interview, Jimmy Carter confessed to committing adultery in his heart. Times change. Nearly three decades later, he seems to have moved on to stronger stuff:

Carter recalled . . . a young Ethiopian girl’s eagerness to demonstrate that she, like her brother, could use the small latrine their father had made for them.

"She spread her skirt out very carefully and she squatted down to relieve herself." Carter said.

Carter added jokingly, "We took some pictures of it."

Hat Tip: Jim Taranto

Pervez Musharraf is in NYC today

Heavy security presence around his appearance at the Time-Life building (CNN interview today?).

Hurricane Katrina

Peggy Noonan has a good column on Katrina and its implications for Bush. As frequently happens, Ms. Noonan gives eloquent voice to things felt but difficult to phrase. The federal response to this natural disaster has been disastrous as well, and claims of local and state incompetence, however true, smack of an "everybody else is doing it" defense. The president has a lot of work to do to reassure the public that we are prepared for another disaster (or terrorist attack).

Louisiana 1927

Randy Newman wrote a great song about the flood in Louisiana in the 20's. Aaron Neville did a beautiful cover. If you've got Rhapsody, you can listen to these songs here. Otherwise, it's worth getting from iTunes or on CD.

Hell is . . .

Excellent piece on Hunter S. Thompson at Godspy.

Let 'em eat sex

To a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail. Planned Parenthood of Houston confronts the most terrifying problem faced by survivors of the disaster in New Orleans. Starvation? Nope. Disease and unsanitary conditions? Nah. Homelessness? Guess again:

Did you escape the hurricane without your birth control? As a courtesy to women fleeing Hurricane Katrina, we will offer one free cycle (one month) of birth control or one free Emergency Contraception kit to women presenting to a PPHSET clinic with a valid Louisiana or Mississippi driver's license. We also are offering one depo injection at a total fee of $41.00 (we are waiving the office visit charge, and offering the depo at a 50% discount). This offer is good until September 10th.

Hat tip: The Corner.