The Beeb is reporting that more than 20 million residents in Pakistan have been forced out of their homes due to the widespread flooding that has left more than one-third of the country under water and an estimated 2,000 people drowned.

Cholera and other water-borne illnesses are widespread, with the World Health Organization (WHO) estimating that more than 200,000 people are suffering from acute diarrhea and about that many people also experiencing acute respiratory problems.  Another 3.5 million children are at risk of water-borne illnesses, according to the United Nations.  The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that a quarter million farm animals have been killed to date in the flooding and 700,000 hectares of farmland are destroyed.  The Pakistani government has been unable to respond to the crisis, with more than 6 million citizens living in the open countryside with no potable water or food.

The weather forecast for the coming weeks is more rain during the monsoon season. Read more »

Title: “Give Us Liberty: A Tea Party Manifesto”

Authors: Dick Armey and Matt Kibbe

Rank: 45

Blurb: “This groundbreaking manifesto is essential reading for tea party activists — or any American seeking to understand what the Tea Party is fighting for and what’s next for the movement.”

Review: “A WORD OF CAUTION: If you join the Tea Party movement and begin speaking out and taking action to defend our US Constitution, there is a very high chance that those who call themselves progressives (who fight to remove our Constitutional rights) will become offended. And because they don’t have a high regard for following laws, (because they equate liberty with the freedom from moral discipline), there is a high chance that they will treat you in the same way they treat conservative politicians and they will try to accuse you falsely of wrong doing. They will lie about you and perhaps call you a racist. All of these things are meant to harm your reputation.”

Customers Also Bought: “The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America,” by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer.

Footnote: You forgot the “Or”.

Give Us Liberty [Amazon]

Buy or Die [Stinque@Amazon kickback link]

“A climate change protester managed to breach security at the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland by making an appointment to speak to an adviser and then glued herself to a desk.” [The Scotsman]

Farting around on Wikipedia last night – did you know that Herb Alpert is a nice Jewish boy from Ellay? That none of the members of the Tijuana Brass is Mexican?  Neither did we.

Now that was just weird.

Another car you might (not) be able to buy – the Fisker Karma:

Jalopnik sez:

Fisker, the plug-in hybrid startup that’s won $828.7 million in government and private backing but delayed production of its Karma plug-in three times, has managed to assemble the first Karma commercial. If it’s on video, it must be real, right?

But we sez – wait until the price comes down a bit.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott, in run-up to today’s election over in Oz:

I am always very conscious of trying to avoid being a burden on the taxpayer and I would try not to do anything voluntarily that would add to the burdens on the taxpayer.

Mitt Romney.

[slamming down of cold oil can of Fosters, with appropriate sound effects]

Beer.

[Yeah, I tried really hard to come up with something funny.  Maybe it worked.  But it almost certainly didn’t.  Come on — I know jack squat about Aussie politicking.  Give me some credit for trying.]

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