I've been staying away from the news, lately. Hasn't hurt that I've been out of town for a couple of days; and the only time I've been near a live TV has been passing through hotel lobbies, but now that I'm home I still just don't want to watch.

Got an email from a dear friend who lives in- or at least, lived in New Orleans. She reports that there's been a shark sighting in in the flood waters around the Landmark Hotel in the Metairie area.

A fucking SHARK?!!

Jumpin' Jeebus on a pogo stick. Not enough to have sewage, filth, bodies both animal and human-- and now you have to look out for a fucking shark.

Meanwhile, as our fellow citizens suffer and die, depressing news has reached Fat Castle: I've heard that the United States Government has refused help from Russia, Canada, Venezuela, and a lot of other countries. We'll get back to that sometime soon.