The conservative magazine, based in Calgary, published the controversial cartoons of Muhammed yesterday. The editor, Ezra Levant, defended their publication and accused the “mainstream media” of failing to protect free speech by publishing them.

Ezra Levant, publisher of The Western Standard, says publications that refused to show the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad did so out of cowardice, and hid behind political correctness and religious sensitivity.

“The (Toronto) Star doesn’t want to offend religion?” he said. “The Star pokes fun at Christian ministers and (U.S. President) George Bush’s Christianity … we live in a liberal society where we get to debate these things without fear. And the Star probably goes farther than anybody, except maybe the CBC, in offending Christians.”

From today’s Toronto Star.

From the New York Times:

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Bush administration officials said they had been caught by surprise when they were told on Tuesday, Aug. 30, that a levee had broken, allowing floodwaters to engulf New Orleans.

Investigators have found evidence that federal officials at the White House and elsewhere learned of the levee break in New Orleans earlier than was first suggested.
But Congressional investigators have now learned that an eyewitness account of the flooding from a federal emergency official reached the Homeland Security Department’s headquarters starting at 9:27 p.m. the day before, and the White House itself at midnight.

…

Michael D. Brown, who was the director of FEMA until he resigned under pressure on Sept. 12, said in a telephone interview Thursday that he personally notified the White House of this news that night, though he declined to identify the official he spoke to.

White House officials have confirmed to Congressional investigators that the report of the levee break arrived there at midnight, and Trent Duffy, the White House spokesman, acknowledged as much in an interview this week, though he said it was surrounded with conflicting reports.

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