Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Aug 29, 2011

Political Racket /Dirty Tricks:

Texas Congressman and GOP presidential candidate RON PAUL said Saturday that the U-S would be better off without the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
Paul has been a long-time critic of the federal agency, which he employs 7,600 people and he calls it "a great contributor to the national deficit." (Annual budget hovers at around $6 billion.)
Paul said the devastating 1900 Galveston hurricane showed that people could rebuild the community on their own.
"We should be like 1900; we should be like 1940, 1950, 1960," said Paul. "I live on the Gulf Coast. We put up with hurricanes all the time."
Back in those days, after hurricanes would strike, communities would remain devastated, with thousands of people homeless and hungry, for weeks. And eventually they would beg the Federal War Department for help. The Galveston hurricane of 1900 killed more than 8-thousand people, and left more than 30-thousand homeless. A very wealthy city before the storm, it never really recovered from the catastrophe.
But Paul is true to his ideals: In 2008, Hurricane Ike ripped through his Congressional district and Paul voted against a bill that would have given billions to the area. (Maiman)

Five reasons hurricanes are like Christmas (Internet):

5. Out-of-state family and friends call you.
4. Last minute shopping in crowded stores.
3. Some of you will get a day off from work.
2. Candles.
1. At some point, you know you're going to have a tree in your house.

Filling a need:

Gotta love the New York Times, which dropped its pay-per-view wall for people who were hungry for storm-related news, moving all of its hurricane stories to the front of its site over the weekend. It's the first time that the Times' site allowed access for anybody since it went subscriber-only in March of this year.

Add KRISTIN CAVALLARI from "The Hills" to the celebrities going to this fall's Marine Corps Ball.
TMZ.com says although Kristin may be part of the "Dancing With The Stars" cast (we'll find out tonight), her manager is working to make it happen after Marine JONATHAN BURKETT sent her an invitation via Twitter.
"Wanted to know if you want to go the the Marine Corps Ball with me in San Diego?! Would make a video but still deployed!" he tweeted.

Designer Update:

We have great news for ladies that love to tease their hair and are obsessed with a good tan --NICOLE "Snooki" POLIZZI is freelancing as a fashion designer. The guidette was answering questions via Twitter.com when a fan asked if she would ever do a clothing line. The "Jersey Shore" party girl broke the news that she was already "working on it." (Lee)

Tampering with Mother Nature:

Last week's East Coast earthquake quickly became an afterthought as Hurricane Irene barreled up the Eastern Seaboard. But on the West Coast, earthquakes remain the big threat and seismologists are once again predicting that California is due for a "full rip nine" megaquake. "When that earthquake hits, it's going to shake for a long time," said one geographer.
"Three to five minutes or more. You're going to feel lucky to survive. Then guess what. You rode out the quake? Congratulations. Now you have 15 minutes to get above 50 feet of elevation."
Megaquakes are occurring with unusual frequency --first the quake that set off the Sumatran tsunami in 2004; then the Chilean quake in 2010; and then the Japanese earthquake this year. All these earthquakes took place in the Pacific's Rim of Fire. "Make no doubt about it," said another geologist. "We're in the middle of a global cluster of megaquakes. The reason it's downplayed is that nobody's figured out a mechanism --how and why they're happening now." (Maiman)