NOLA.COM’S HURRICANE BLOGGER has a picture of the Superdome with the roof peeling off.

There’s another picture here, along with a report that there are 10,000 people (not the 40,000 other outlets are reporting) inside.

UPDATE: Here’s a photo from Biloxi, via Flickr. Note roof damage. Still, it seems that things haven’t turned out as badly as they might have.

BOOKS LIKE THIS ONE ON THE ACLU, which I just got in the mail, are probably no worse than the myriad of hatchet jobs done in the past on, say, the NRA or (more recently) the Federalist Society. But I think that demonizing the ACLU is a bit silly. I do feel that they’ve become overly partisan in recent years, but they still do good work (I’ve worked with them in the past, on the New Orleans rave case for example, and will probably do so again.)

HERE’S A WEBCAM ON THE L.S.U. CAMPUS. (Via Baton Rouge local-blogger Josh Britton).

GLORIA SALT has a new URL. Make note of it.

SUPERDOME ROOF DAMAGE: The WDSU Hurricane Blog reports:

A 3-by-5-foot chunk is missing, and people are being ushered off the field of the stadium. Although the roof has been breached, those inside are remaining calm. A heavy mist is reported inside, and some are now wearing raincoats.

I’m really glad not to be there. I guess this headline will have to change . . . .

SUSAN DUDLEY offers some depressing news:

Before leaving town earlier this month, Congress approved nearly $300 billion in increased spending. But spending, supported through taxes, is not the only way the federal government diverts resources from the private sector to accomplish its goals. The other is through regulation and, in recent years, that too has increased at an impressive rate. . . .

The FY 2006 Budget requests that Congress allocate $41.4 billion for regulatory activities, up from $39.5 billion in 2005. This reflects a 4.8 percent increase in outlays directed at writing, administering, and enforcing federal regulations. The regulators’ budget is growing at a faster rate than other nondiscretionary spending, which the President’s budget held to only 2.1 percent in 2006. Since 2000, the regulators’ budget has grown an amazing 46 percent, after adjusting for inflation.

Jeez. My expectations that Bush would shrink the government were modest enough, given the realities of American politics. But it’s fair to say that, modest as they were, they’ve still been disappointed.

TERRY TEACHOUT has updated his list of hurricane-bloggers.

THE IRAQI PARLIAMENT has accepted the constitution over Sunni objections. Mohammed at Iraq the Model has a number of thoughts, including the suggestion that Shiite clergy have overplayed their hand.

MICKEY KAUS and Arnold Kling are unimpressed with Malcolm Gladwell’s latest on health insurance. I found the opening unpersuasive — is Gladwell suggesting that we should aspire to British standards of dentistry?

KATRINA has weakened a bit to Category 4. It seems to have veered eastward a bit, too. Let’s hope that will make a difference.

OLD MEDIA VS. NEW MEDIA: An interesting transcript of an interview between Hugh Hewitt and Tim Rutten of the Los Angeles Times.