Kerry Howley of Reason interviews Kirby Dick, who's promoting his film This Film Is Not Yet Rated:

Reason: Has there been any retaliation from the MPAA since they saw your film and slapped it with an NC-17 rating? KD: They pirated my film. ... The attorney from the MPAA who makes the animated appearance in my film calls me up and says "Kirby, I have to tell you, we have a copy of your film. But you don't have to worry, because it's safe in my vault." Well, you can imagine how reassuring that was. ... The MPAA, this paragon of anti-piracy, has taken my film eight months before its theatrical release, and has copies circulating I don't know where. Maybe the film is in Malaysia by now. I hope so.

A wonkalicious collection of government, think-tank and NGO reports.

VATICAN CITY (AP) A Vatican document posted on the Internet by a Catholic news agency says sexually active homosexuals are not welcome in the priesthood unless they have gotten over homosexual tendencies for at least three years.

So how do we know? Odometers in their pants? Homo-sexo-meters?

WASHINGTON (AP) Michael Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, pleads guilty in conspiracy to bribe public officials.

He's not even thirty and already has pseudonyms? What a slimeball pimp.

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) State-run TV announces the resignations of 11 top officials, including the national security adviser, in the wake of Jordan bombings.

North Korea Sends a 'Message to the World' Secretive State Welcomes Visitors for Month-Long Celebration of Patriotism, Talent From Washington Post Foreign Service:

"You are about to see the true identity of our great nation," a North Korean guide proudly told a cluster of South Korean tourists as one evening session opened last week. "Please pay attention. This is our message to the world."

Please, people, just pay attention. Hello? I'm talking to you Malaysia! Lebanon, please sit down, the lesson is about to begin... please! Angola, put down the rifle! Mongolia, don't wear your fur hat indoors. Saudia Arabia--- stop passing secret notes to Syria-would you like me to read that aloud to the class?

Times Picayune, June 8 2004

For the first time in 37 years, federal budget cuts have all but stopped major work on the New Orleans area's east bank hurricane levees, a complex network of concrete walls, metal gates and giant earthen berms that won't be finished for at least another decade.

"I guess people look around and think there's a complete system in place, that we're just out here trying to put icing on the cake," said Mervin Morehiser, who manages the "Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity" levee project for the Army Corps of Engineers. "And we aren't saying that the sky is falling, but people should know that this is a work in progress, and there's more important work yet to do before there is a complete system in place."

...

"I can't tell you exactly what that could mean this hurricane season if we get a major storm," Naomi said. "It would depend on the path and speed of the storm, the angle that it hits us.

"But I can tell you that we would be better off if the levees were raised, . . . and I think it's important and only fair that those people who live behind the levee know the status of these projects."

...

The Bush administration's proposed fiscal 2005 budget includes only $3.9 million for the east bank hurricane project. Congress likely will increase that amount, although last year it bumped up the administration's $3 million proposal only to $5.5 million.

"I needed $11 million this year, and I got $5.5 million," Naomi said. "I need $22.5 million next year to do everything that needs doing, and the first $4.5 million of that will go to pay four contractors who couldn't get paid this year."

Scientific American, Drowning New Orleans,October 2001

A major hurricane could swamp New Orleans under 20 feet of water, killing thousands. Human activities along the Mississippi River have dramatically increased the risk, and now only massive reengineering of southeastern Louisiana can save the city.

The American Prospect, May 2005, What would happen if a Category 5 hurricane were to hit New Orleans?

In the event of a slow-moving Category 4 or Category 5 hurricane (with winds up to or exceeding 155 miles per hour), it's possible that only those crow's nests would remain above the water level. Such a storm, plowing over the lake, could generate a 20-foot surge that would easily overwhelm the levees of New Orleans.

The Real ID Act, passed by a 261-161 margin in February, states: "[T]he Secretary of Homeland Security shall have the authority to waive, and shall waive, all laws such Secretary, in such Secretary's sole discretion, determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction" of barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border. All laws?