Mike's Minutiae

An Australian man built up so much static electricity in his clothes as he walked that he burned carpets, melted plastic and sparked a mass evacuation.

Frank Clewer, of the western Victorian city of Warrnambool, was wearing a synthetic nylon jacket and a woollen shirt when he went for a job interview.

As he walked into the building, the carpet ignited from the 40,000 volts of static electricity that had built up.

Investigators also will carefully examine whether federal employees have been abusing government-issued credit cards since their purchase limits were hastily raised to $250,000 to help pay for hurricane-related expenses.

Previous government audits have shown that the credit cards, which typically have a purchase limit of $2,500, were improperly used to pay for prostitutes, gambling activity and even breast implants. About 250,000 federal employees have the government credit cards.

They named a low, wrinkly crop of rock Uchben, after the Mayan word for "ancient," and a spot on the rock Koolik, which means "cut down."

"We started running out of Mayan city names," she said. "The people who had to spell them were really getting annoyed."

So they moved on to 1970s pop music: ABBA, the Bee Gees and Engelbert Humperdinck.

Corzine told Burlew, "We expect our citizens to act in a professional manner," to which the crowd responded angrily.

"Did you know that Jim Morrison had the smelliest trousers in rock? He had appalling BO because he refused to wash." ~~Andy Partridge of XTC

"Just because you do something that's not harmful or (is) beneficial doesn't make it legal."

[David] Fincher is also collaborating with Trent Reznor and Chuck Palahniuk in developing a musical based on the novel Fight Club.

FYI: Apple's label, Sony, never shelved the record.

Some White House staffers were watching the evening news and thought the president needed to see the horrific reports coming out of New Orleans. Counselor Bartlett made up a DVD of the newscasts so Bush could see them in their entirety as he flew down to the Gulf Coast the next morning on Air Force One.

One common misperception is that the body of a person who died as the result of the hurricane and is still in the city poses a risk of infection.

"Decaying bodies pose very little risk for major disease outbreaks," says Berkelman. Furthermore, mosquitoes do not spread disease by feeding on dead bodies. There is, however, a risk of mosquito-borne diseases such as West Nile because mosquitoes breed in standing water. Appropriate pest management, including addressing the need to get rid of standing water, is an important public health measure, she said. A bacterial disease, leptospirosis, may be caused by exposure to water contaminated by rodent urine and can be treated successfully with antibiotics.

Time magazine breathlessly declared "Chaos" to be McCartney's first album that matters since the Beatles broke up 35 years ago.

Everywhere she turns, Angella Day sees people carrying portable music players, often with the ear buds stuffed firmly in place. "They're very widespread," says Day, a senior at Chicago's DePaul University who regularly listens to music on her own iPod while studying or working out. "So addicting."

What she and others may not realize is that many people their age have already damaged their hearing. And researchers fear that the growing popularity of portable music players and other items that attach directly to the ears — including cell phones — is only making it worse.

1. Marcia Ball, "Louisiana 1927" (1997)
   
2. Neville Brothers, "Shake Your Tambourine" (1994)
   
3. Joe Liggins & the Honeydrippers, "Going Back to New Orleans" (1950)
   
4. Wild Magnolias, "New Suit" (1975)
   
5. Professor Longhair, "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" (1974)
   
6. Lucina Williams, "Crescent City" (1988)
   
7. The Hawketts, "Mardi Gras Mambo" (1955)
   
8. The ReBirth Brass Band, "Tipitina" (1990)
   
9. Fats Domino, "Walking to New Orleans" (1960)
   
10. Sonny Landreth, "Congo Square" (1995)
    
11. Earl King, "No City Like New Orleans" (1993)
    
12. The Meters, "Talkin' 'Bout New Orleans" (1975)
    
13. Harry Connick Jr. (with Dr. John), "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" (1988)
    
14. Dr. John (with Mavis Staples), "When the Saints Go Marching In" (2004)
    

But "A Concert for Hurricane Relief," a heartfelt and dignified benefit aired on NBC and other networks Friday night, took an unexpected turn thanks to the outspoken rapper Kanye West.

Appearing two-thirds through the program, he claimed "George Bush doesn't care about black people" and said America is set up "to help the poor, the black people, the less well-off as slow as possible."

The show, simulcast from New York on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC and Pax, was aired live to the East Coast, enabling the Grammy-winning rapper's outburst to go out uncensored.

There was a several-second tape delay, but the person in charge "was instructed to listen for a curse word, and didn't realize (West) had gone off-script," said NBC spokeswoman Rebecca Marks.

West's comment about the president was cut from NBC's West Coast airing, which showed three hours later on tape....

Concluding the hour a few minutes later, Lauer noted that "emotions in this country right now are running very high. Sometimes that emotion is translated into inspiration, sometimes into criticism. We've heard some of that tonight. But it's still part of the American way of life."

Russell witnessed a shootout between police and citizens near the Convention Center that left one man dead in a pool of blood. Police, perhaps caught off guard by their sudden arrival on the scene, slammed Russell and the photographer against a wall and threw their gear on the ground as they exited their SUV to record the event.

The journalists retreated to Russell's home Uptown where they hid in fear. They planned to flee the city later today.

Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency continue to coordinate with state authorities in Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, and have prepositioned supplies in areas expected to be affected, [White House spokesman Scott McClellan] said.

Patricia Brach, public information officer for FEMA, said Saturday that her agency has prepositioned emergency service teams already posted away from the coast so they can rush aid to where it is needed. Stocked at the sites are ice, water and medical teams, including veterinarians.

"We're doing it all," said Lt. Col. Pete Snyder, Louisiana National Guard public affairs officer. "We’ve mobilized nearly 3,600 National Guard to assist in the hurricane effort."

Snyder predicted that the shelters in Louisiana will have enough water, cots and Meals Ready to Eat for those forced from their homes by the storm. Guard troops are providing security and screening for New Orleans residents seeking shelter at the Superdome, and Snyder said the Louisiana Guard was also standing by with helicopter support, if necessary.

The officers were rushing to a break-in next door at the Sports Authority, desperate to secure the store's stockpile of guns and ammunition.

"I think we ran them off before they got any of it," said the commanding officer at the scene. The cops secured the store with heavy plywood before moving on to other emergencies.

At about 2 p.m., the officers rushed back to disrupt a second break-in at the sporting goods store. An officer in a squad car tried to chase a Bell South utility truck that fled the scene, but he lost the truck amid fallen trees.

Upon surveying the thefts, the officer said the most conspicuous missing items were all the weapons from the store's knife case.

Before boarding up again, the officers took some essential supplies for themselves: socks, T-shirts and Power Bars. As officers were pounding the last nails the commander yelled: "Let's roll it, someone's driving around in a mail truck."