Updated

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

A black activist from Raleigh, North Carolina has called for genocide against white people. Dr. Kamau Kambon (search) told a Howard University Law School panel that white people "have retina scans, they have what they call racial profiling, DNA banks and they're monitoring our people to try to prevent the one person from coming up with the one idea. And the one idea is, how we are going to exterminate white people because that, in my estimation, is the only conclusion I have come to. We have to exterminate white people off the face of the planet to solve this problem."

He went on to tell the audience "White people want to kill us... they want to kill you because that is part of their plan." By the way, Dr. Kambon is a self-proclaimed opponent of the death penalty.

Pork Projects?

The Louisiana State Bond Commission (search) has voted to postpone rebuilding projects in hurricane-stricken areas and instead redirect a $45-million spending package to projects in other parts of the state. Among the 73 projects approved by the commission: $1 million for a horse arena in Morehouse Parish (search), $975,000 for reservoir projects in Richland and Washington parishes, $300,000 for "recreational, picnic and multipurpose development" by the Avoyelles Port Commission and $1.4 million to study a proposed cargo airport.

Conservatives, including Republican Senator David Vitter, oppose the decision, saying frivolous spending will ultimately hurt the state's chances of getting federal funding for reconstruction. (Source: The Times-Picayune)

Say What?

Fending off criticism of the decision to go to war in Iraq, U.S. Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes (search) told a group of Indonesian students in Jakarta that Saddam Hussein had gassed to death hundreds of thousands of his own people.

Although at least 300 thousand people were killed under Saddam Hussein's regime, the number of Iraqis who were gassed to death is closer to 5,000. Hughes twice repeated her statement after being challenged by journalists. Her office later made a call to the Associated Press saying Hughes had misspoken.

Pulled the Plug

Former President Bill Clinton (search) stepped out to voice his support for New York mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer (search) Thursday, but his speech turned out to be voiceless. Clinton and Ferrer aides who planned the campaign event in the South Bronx were spotted arguing over logistics, particularly where the two men should stand and whether or not there should be amplified sound.

The New York Daily News reports that as a result of the dispute a Clinton aide removed an audio box from the press forcing reporters to hand their microphones over to children who were then able to record Clinton's remarks. Aides from both offices downplayed the incident as minor, saying it was a matter of miscommunication.

— FOX News' Aaron Bruns contributed to this report