Lawrence O'Donnell has been one of my favorite Washington insiders since he dropped the Libby bombshell on McGlaughlin Group oh so long ago, before most of us knew who Fitzgerald was.

Today he gives us a fascinating insight into the relationship between Hastert and his chief of staff, Scott Palmer. You remember Scott Palmer, right? Palmer's the guy Kirk Fordham swears he told about Foley over a year ago. Palmer categorically denies Fordham ever warned him about Foley.

*Updated:* MSNBC reports an anonymous House source confirms Palmer knew about (and spoke to Foley about) the pages long before last November. Drip, drip, drip! Jump with me..

Remember the reports of a 2001 FEMA assessment ranking New Orleans as one of the three likeliest catastrophes facing the US? I've been searching for a copy of the report (on and off) for the last two weeks. I finally found some answers worth sharing.
Looks like there may not be a report. Eric Berger, the author of the Houston chronicle article most frequently cited as the source of this report, explains the details in a recent post at "SciGuy: a science blog with Eric Berger".

(Eric's post in quotes below. Please forgive the lack of the gray box quote format, I still haven't figured out how to do that)

"Did FEMA really rank New Orleans as one of three likeliest catastrophes?
The short answer is yes. Now allow me to share the long version...

Ok, this is shameless diary pimping, but I have not posted a diary since June, so I hope you'll cut me some slack.

Kid Oakland posted a powerful diary late last night, and linked to an even more powerful piece at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. I urge you all to take the time to read both.

Kid Oakland's diary from late last night:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/9/11354/12510

Be sure to follow the link to the Van Jones response to New Orleans tragedy, and his nine point plan to take back our government.

Not in MY country. NEVER AGAIN.

Streaming live on C-Span3: testimony being given regarding irregularities in the awarding of contracts, and in the execution of contracts. The first panelist has finished speaking. I didn't catch the names of the folks testifying, but I believe theses are all whistle-blowers.

01:30 PM EDT
2:00 (est.) LIVE
 Public Hearing
Contracting in Iraq
Senate Democratic Policy Committee
Henry Waxman , D-CA
Byron L. Dorgan , D-ND   Update [2005-6-27 15:35:35 by juliesie]: links to stream provided as requested by Clever: "Please put up top so others can watch [if they don't know where to go already]: Realplayer: http://www.cspan.org/watch/cspan3_rm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS3 Windows Media : http://www.cspan.org/watch/cspan3_wm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS3" Update [2005-6-27 15:57:14 by juliesie]:Hearing ended, but audio will be available at DemBloggers. Thanks, everyone!

Quoted from an article by Larisa Alexandrovna - Raw Story Staff

Senator Kerry (D - MA) sends letter to Senate Intelligence Committee pressing for answers on the Downing Street Memo and other Downing documents. The letter leaked to Raw Story, is also signed by Senators Johnson, Corzine, Reed, Lautenberg, Boxer, Kennedy, Harkin, Bingaman, and Durbin. The text of the letter is below.  

article here