Monday, December 21, 2009
HELP Needed in the Parish
St. Bernard Parish sheriff's detectives are looking for the SCUZZBUCKETS (my word) who stole Christmas from dozens of kids and seniors, in a break-in at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Violet.
The church was preparing to give toys and clothes to 60 children, when someone broke in over the weekend the took everything.
"They actually unwrapped every single gift, and took what they wanted and left very little," said Pastor John Arnone of Lady of Lourdes.
The church had just reopened last month after being shuttered by Hurricane Katrina. Father Arnone said some parishioners took it hard when they came to church Sunday morning and learned of the break-in.
Anyone wanting to help can call the church at (504) 281-2267. Anyone with information about the crime, or wanting to help, can also call the sheriff's office at (504) 271-2501.
Friday, December 18, 2009
An embarassment
A lot of attention has been given to the "Unknown Who Dat" in the two weeks since the Washington Redskins game. Some people have romanticized the fan as the "typical New Orleans Saints Fan" of 40 plus years. I beg to differ. This guy - while a true Saints Fan - is an embarassment. Watch this and decide for yourself
Do you know what the national media is going to do with this? Ugh. The Who Dat Nation deserves better than this. This is the unknown fan's 15 minutes. Call me a snob, but I don't find this man a poster child for the New Orleans Saints Fan.
I like what "Hakim Drops the Ball" has to say at this link .
| The Unknown Who Dat comes to New Orleans |
Do you know what the national media is going to do with this? Ugh. The Who Dat Nation deserves better than this. This is the unknown fan's 15 minutes. Call me a snob, but I don't find this man a poster child for the New Orleans Saints Fan.
I like what "Hakim Drops the Ball" has to say at this link .
Sunday, December 13, 2009
We're not the only mis-pronouncers
A great website that provides the correct prononciation of common words.
examples
100 Most Often Mispronounced Words and Phrases in English Now that Dr. Language has provided a one-stop cure for the plague of misspelling, here are the 100 words most often mispronounced English words ("mispronunciation" among them). There are spelling rules in English even if they are difficult to understand, so pronouncing a word correctly usually does help you spell it correctly. Several common errors are the result of rapid speech, so take your time speaking, correctly enunciating each word. Careful speech and avid reading are the best guides to correct spelling.
Don't say Do Say Comment
ANo: acrossed | Yes: across
It is easy to confuse "across" with "crossed" but better to keep them separate.
No: affidavid | Yes: affidavit
Even if your lawyer's name is ''David,'' he issues affidavits.
No: Old-timer's disease | Yes: Alzheimer's disease
While it is a disease of old-timers, it is named for the German neurologist, Dr. Alois Alzheimer.
No: Antartic | Yes: Antarctic
Just think of an arc of ants (an ant arc) and that should help you keep the [c] in the pronunciation of this word.
No: Artic | Yes: Arctic
Another hard-to-see [c] but it is there.
No: aks | Yes: ask
This mispronunciation has been around for so long (over 1,000 years) that linguist Mark Aronoff thinks we should cherish it as a part of our linguistic heritage. Most of us would give the axe to "aks."
No: athelete, atheletic | Yes: athlete, athletic
Two syllables are enough for "athlete."
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
11 & 0
"You have to give New Orleans credit,” Belichick said. “They were obviously the better team tonight. It wasn’t a competitive game like we thought it would be or like we needed it to be. We got to coach better, we have to play better. We have to do a lot better than we did. … We have to do a lot better to compete with a team of this caliber.”
New England Patriots' Sore Loser Coach
WHO DAT!
How loud was the crowd in the dome? Check it out here!
New England Patriots' Sore Loser Coach
WHO DAT!
How loud was the crowd in the dome? Check it out here!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Plaques of Bay St. Louis Bridge
A few weeks ago we walked the Bay St. Louis Bridge to photograph the bronze plaques. Here's a slideshow.
Six Month Reprieve
A collective sigh is going out all along the Gulf Coast and eastern seaboard.
Today is the end of the 2009 Hurricane Season!
Today is the end of the 2009 Hurricane Season!
A Must See Photo Exhibit
Visual Story of the Lower Mississippi River Delta
The Port of New Orleans will host an exhibit “The End of the Great River: Photographs of the Lower Mississippi River Delta” December 1st through 18th featuring the work of New Orleans-based photographer Matthew White.
The showing of White's work will consist of fine art landscape images of the Mississippi River Delta, from Port Sulphur in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana south to the end of the three passes that drain the river into the Gulf of Mexico: Pass a Loutre; South Pass and Southwest Pass.
This delta-full of history, culture, and industry-is sparsely populated and rarely seen in detail by outsiders, but is a landscape of vast beauty.
Lower Plaquemines Parish was decimated by Hurricane Katrina, and has quite a long history of fighting coastal erosion with other notable storms of the past. The goal of this photo collection is to raise awareness for the unique beauty of this fragile locale through an artist’s eye and to encourage the creation and preservation of images of the Mississippi River Delta and its disappearing habitat for future generations.
Photography for the project began in the spring of 2000, shot on both black and white film and in color digital and has continued to the present day. In this collection, White has shot nearly every named location in lower Plaquemines Parish and has compiled a sizable collection of documentary-style often contemplative photographs of the most remote areas of the parish.
One such location is Pilottown, where the Crescent River Port Pilots’ Association has maintained an outpost for piloting ships for the last 100 years. After it was almost destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, White returned in April 2008 to photograph this one-of-a-kind town, the last manned outpost on the Mississippi River before you reach the Gulf of Mexico. He was able to document a few pilot houses that were being rebuilt, while the remainder of former homes along the river completely vanished.
To see previews of this exhibit, go to this link.
About Matthew White
Matthew White Grand Isle Juried Art Exhibit, The New Orleans Photo Alliance Elemental/Environmental Space Exhibit, and as part of a permanent museum exhibit for Parks Canada in New Brunswick. White is represented by Big Vision Media (www.bigvisionmedia.com).
Sponsored in part by Plaquemines Parish Economic Development, the exhibit is being held in conjunction with PhotoNOLA, an annual showcase of photography in New Orleans. The exhibit is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm in the lobby of the administrative building at the Port of New Orleans. A reception will be held on December 10, 2009 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm and the public is invited to attend.
The Port of New Orleans will host an exhibit “The End of the Great River: Photographs of the Lower Mississippi River Delta” December 1st through 18th featuring the work of New Orleans-based photographer Matthew White.
The showing of White's work will consist of fine art landscape images of the Mississippi River Delta, from Port Sulphur in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana south to the end of the three passes that drain the river into the Gulf of Mexico: Pass a Loutre; South Pass and Southwest Pass.
This delta-full of history, culture, and industry-is sparsely populated and rarely seen in detail by outsiders, but is a landscape of vast beauty.
Lower Plaquemines Parish was decimated by Hurricane Katrina, and has quite a long history of fighting coastal erosion with other notable storms of the past. The goal of this photo collection is to raise awareness for the unique beauty of this fragile locale through an artist’s eye and to encourage the creation and preservation of images of the Mississippi River Delta and its disappearing habitat for future generations.
Photography for the project began in the spring of 2000, shot on both black and white film and in color digital and has continued to the present day. In this collection, White has shot nearly every named location in lower Plaquemines Parish and has compiled a sizable collection of documentary-style often contemplative photographs of the most remote areas of the parish.
One such location is Pilottown, where the Crescent River Port Pilots’ Association has maintained an outpost for piloting ships for the last 100 years. After it was almost destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, White returned in April 2008 to photograph this one-of-a-kind town, the last manned outpost on the Mississippi River before you reach the Gulf of Mexico. He was able to document a few pilot houses that were being rebuilt, while the remainder of former homes along the river completely vanished.
To see previews of this exhibit, go to this link.
About Matthew White
Matthew White Grand Isle Juried Art Exhibit, The New Orleans Photo Alliance Elemental/Environmental Space Exhibit, and as part of a permanent museum exhibit for Parks Canada in New Brunswick. White is represented by Big Vision Media (www.bigvisionmedia.com).
Sponsored in part by Plaquemines Parish Economic Development, the exhibit is being held in conjunction with PhotoNOLA, an annual showcase of photography in New Orleans. The exhibit is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm in the lobby of the administrative building at the Port of New Orleans. A reception will be held on December 10, 2009 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm and the public is invited to attend.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
MRGO lawsuit victory
Could not find on the LOCAL news website, NOLA.com. Imagine that.
found at Bloomberg dot com
Hurricane Katrina Victims Win $719,698 From U.S. in First Trial
A A A By Margaret Cronin Fisk and Leslie T. Snadowsky
Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Katrina victims were awarded $719,698 in damages by a judge in a lawsuit claiming a canal dredged by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico destroyed a natural barrier to a storm surge.
U.S. District Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr., who heard the trial in New Orleans without a jury, yesterday found in favor of four residents and one business, while rejecting the claims of the owners of another property. The decision will support the claims of about 100,000 residents and business owners in the area, plaintiffs’ lawyers said.
Residents sued the U.S. and the Army engineers, claiming negligence in designing, constructing and maintaining the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, the canal known as Mr. Go.
Duval said the Army engineers are liable for the “negligent operation and maintenance” of the canal and not for faulty design or construction. Duval said in April at the beginning of the trial, the first over the Mr. Go lawsuits, that his finding would be used as a guide for other claims.
“Once the corps exercised its discretion to create a navigational channel, it was obligated to make sure that channel did not destroy the environment surrounding it thereby creating a hazard to life and property,” Duval said yesterday in his 156-page opinion. “When the corps designed the MRGO, it recognized that foreshore protection was going to be needed, yet the corps did nothing to monitor the problem in a meaningful way.”
Flooding after the 2005 hurricane drowned much of New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward and nearby St. Bernard Parish.
‘Engineering Blunders’
“By 1988 it knew that indeed all of the engineering blunders that it had made now put the Parish of St. Bernard at risk,” Duval wrote.
The residents said the canal made New Orleans and the surrounding area more vulnerable to hurricane-induced flooding. They claimed the corps was warned repeatedly that the Mr. Go operation had removed natural buffers to floods, killing trees and infusing the marshland with saltwater.
The lawsuit, filed in 2005, was the first to go to trial on claims against the corps. The plaintiffs were seeking unspecified damages at the trial.
“The people of this community have finally been vindicated and now they’re going to be compensated,” Joe Bruno, a plaintiffs’ attorney, said yesterday in a phone interview.
‘Monumental Negligence’
“This is a landmark victory,” said attorney Pierce O’Donnell, who also represented the New Orleans residents. “It’s the first time ever the Army Corps of Engineers has been held responsible for its monumental negligence.”
The finding of negligence in the maintenance and operation of the canal supports the claims of about 100,000 residents and business owners in the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish, Bruno said.
Duval’s finding that the corps isn’t liable for negligent design of the canal will affect claims from about 80,000 property owners in east New Orleans, Bruno said.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers will be seeking a global settlement with the U.S. to cover those residents too, Bruno said.
Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment yesterday.
The U.S. said in court filings that it isn’t responsible for the flood damage caused by Katrina.
“This catastrophe would have occurred regardless of the Mr. GO and regardless of the way the channel was maintained prior to the flood,” the U.S. said in an April pretrial brief.
The corps said the levees were inadequate to withstand the force of Hurricane Katrina.
Witnesses for the plaintiffs said the Army knew or should have known that the canal would increase risk of flooding.
Corps Warned
“They knew in the mid 1970s, and they certainly knew it by 1981,” Sherwood M. Gagliano, a geologist and former consultant to the corps, testified. He said he submitted multiple reports to the corps warning about potential adverse effects.
The government didn’t undertake any of the remedial efforts he recommended, he testified. This led to “one of the greatest catastrophes in the history of the United States,” he said.
The U.S. wasn’t negligent and didn’t block remediation of problems, Gregory Breerwood, formerly the highest-ranking civilian with the New Orleans division of the corps at the time of Katrina, testified.
If anyone “suspected or determined that a project would have been detrimental to the public, we would have taken steps to either go to the proper authorities or to the proper offices to assure that that particular deficiency was dealt with and remedied,” he said.
Contemplated Suicide
One of the plaintiffs, Norman Robinson, a news anchor at the NBC affiliate in New Orleans, told the court he contemplated suicide when his home was destroyed.
Robinson said he “felt like an idiot” after hearing the testimony of multiple plaintiffs’ experts who said the corps knew about the probabilities of flooding because of the Mr. Go project.
“I should have known what they knew,” he said. “I never would have placed my family in jeopardy.”
Robinson and his wife weren’t awarded any damages in Duval’s ruling.
“The corps is only exposed to liability for negligent operation and maintenance of the MRGO and is not liable for any negligence relating to the original design and construction of the channel,” Duval said.
The decision eliminated the Robinsons’ claim because it relied on allegations of design flaws, he said. He found that the Army didn’t have a duty to construct a surge-protection barrier.
Funnel Effect
Duval said the corps was aware the MRGO could produce a funnel effect, which ultimately increased the height of Katrina’s storm surge and the magnitude of destruction. The canal acted as a funnel bringing water into the city and strengthening its force, Duval said.
The corps considered a remedial action to prevent this funnel effect in 1967, he said. “The plan was eventually rejected as not economically justified, detrimental to the economic interests of the local participants, and was so broad that it would require Congressional review,” he wrote.
The case is Robinson v. U.S., 06-cv-02268, and the cases are combined in In re Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation, 05-cv-04182, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans).
To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Cronin Fisk in Southfield, Michigan, at mcfisk@bloomberg.net; Leslie T. Snadowsky in New Orleanst .
Last Updated: November 19, 2009 00:01 EST
found at Bloomberg dot com
Hurricane Katrina Victims Win $719,698 From U.S. in First Trial
A A A By Margaret Cronin Fisk and Leslie T. Snadowsky
Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Katrina victims were awarded $719,698 in damages by a judge in a lawsuit claiming a canal dredged by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico destroyed a natural barrier to a storm surge.
U.S. District Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr., who heard the trial in New Orleans without a jury, yesterday found in favor of four residents and one business, while rejecting the claims of the owners of another property. The decision will support the claims of about 100,000 residents and business owners in the area, plaintiffs’ lawyers said.
Residents sued the U.S. and the Army engineers, claiming negligence in designing, constructing and maintaining the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, the canal known as Mr. Go.
Duval said the Army engineers are liable for the “negligent operation and maintenance” of the canal and not for faulty design or construction. Duval said in April at the beginning of the trial, the first over the Mr. Go lawsuits, that his finding would be used as a guide for other claims.
“Once the corps exercised its discretion to create a navigational channel, it was obligated to make sure that channel did not destroy the environment surrounding it thereby creating a hazard to life and property,” Duval said yesterday in his 156-page opinion. “When the corps designed the MRGO, it recognized that foreshore protection was going to be needed, yet the corps did nothing to monitor the problem in a meaningful way.”
Flooding after the 2005 hurricane drowned much of New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward and nearby St. Bernard Parish.
‘Engineering Blunders’
“By 1988 it knew that indeed all of the engineering blunders that it had made now put the Parish of St. Bernard at risk,” Duval wrote.
The residents said the canal made New Orleans and the surrounding area more vulnerable to hurricane-induced flooding. They claimed the corps was warned repeatedly that the Mr. Go operation had removed natural buffers to floods, killing trees and infusing the marshland with saltwater.
The lawsuit, filed in 2005, was the first to go to trial on claims against the corps. The plaintiffs were seeking unspecified damages at the trial.
“The people of this community have finally been vindicated and now they’re going to be compensated,” Joe Bruno, a plaintiffs’ attorney, said yesterday in a phone interview.
‘Monumental Negligence’
“This is a landmark victory,” said attorney Pierce O’Donnell, who also represented the New Orleans residents. “It’s the first time ever the Army Corps of Engineers has been held responsible for its monumental negligence.”
The finding of negligence in the maintenance and operation of the canal supports the claims of about 100,000 residents and business owners in the Lower Ninth Ward and St. Bernard Parish, Bruno said.
Duval’s finding that the corps isn’t liable for negligent design of the canal will affect claims from about 80,000 property owners in east New Orleans, Bruno said.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers will be seeking a global settlement with the U.S. to cover those residents too, Bruno said.
Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment yesterday.
The U.S. said in court filings that it isn’t responsible for the flood damage caused by Katrina.
“This catastrophe would have occurred regardless of the Mr. GO and regardless of the way the channel was maintained prior to the flood,” the U.S. said in an April pretrial brief.
The corps said the levees were inadequate to withstand the force of Hurricane Katrina.
Witnesses for the plaintiffs said the Army knew or should have known that the canal would increase risk of flooding.
Corps Warned
“They knew in the mid 1970s, and they certainly knew it by 1981,” Sherwood M. Gagliano, a geologist and former consultant to the corps, testified. He said he submitted multiple reports to the corps warning about potential adverse effects.
The government didn’t undertake any of the remedial efforts he recommended, he testified. This led to “one of the greatest catastrophes in the history of the United States,” he said.
The U.S. wasn’t negligent and didn’t block remediation of problems, Gregory Breerwood, formerly the highest-ranking civilian with the New Orleans division of the corps at the time of Katrina, testified.
If anyone “suspected or determined that a project would have been detrimental to the public, we would have taken steps to either go to the proper authorities or to the proper offices to assure that that particular deficiency was dealt with and remedied,” he said.
Contemplated Suicide
One of the plaintiffs, Norman Robinson, a news anchor at the NBC affiliate in New Orleans, told the court he contemplated suicide when his home was destroyed.
Robinson said he “felt like an idiot” after hearing the testimony of multiple plaintiffs’ experts who said the corps knew about the probabilities of flooding because of the Mr. Go project.
“I should have known what they knew,” he said. “I never would have placed my family in jeopardy.”
Robinson and his wife weren’t awarded any damages in Duval’s ruling.
“The corps is only exposed to liability for negligent operation and maintenance of the MRGO and is not liable for any negligence relating to the original design and construction of the channel,” Duval said.
The decision eliminated the Robinsons’ claim because it relied on allegations of design flaws, he said. He found that the Army didn’t have a duty to construct a surge-protection barrier.
Funnel Effect
Duval said the corps was aware the MRGO could produce a funnel effect, which ultimately increased the height of Katrina’s storm surge and the magnitude of destruction. The canal acted as a funnel bringing water into the city and strengthening its force, Duval said.
The corps considered a remedial action to prevent this funnel effect in 1967, he said. “The plan was eventually rejected as not economically justified, detrimental to the economic interests of the local participants, and was so broad that it would require Congressional review,” he wrote.
The case is Robinson v. U.S., 06-cv-02268, and the cases are combined in In re Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation, 05-cv-04182, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana (New Orleans).
To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Cronin Fisk in Southfield, Michigan, at mcfisk@bloomberg.net; Leslie T. Snadowsky in New Orleanst .
Last Updated: November 19, 2009 00:01 EST
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Activites for a November Weekend
Friday:
Check out the bronze bearing plates along the mile markers along the Bay St. Louis Bridge.
Saturday:
Three Rivers Art Festival in Covington
Beautiful weather, great art, food, carmaraderie.
Sunday: Louisiana Renaissance Fesitval in Hammond (now thru December)
Our first adventure and probably not our last.
Check out the bronze bearing plates along the mile markers along the Bay St. Louis Bridge.
Saturday:
Three Rivers Art Festival in Covington
Beautiful weather, great art, food, carmaraderie.
Sunday: Louisiana Renaissance Fesitval in Hammond (now thru December)
Our first adventure and probably not our last.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Veterans' Day
Heartfelt thanks to all those who are serving and all those who've served.
This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.
~Elmer Davis
This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.
~Elmer Davis
Sunday, November 08, 2009
WHO DAT
Saints 30, Carolina 20
Take that, Jake Delhomme and the very one sided announcer Thom Brennaman.
WHO DAT
Take that, Jake Delhomme and the very one sided announcer Thom Brennaman.
WHO DAT
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Clicks for Cans
I borrowed this post from Mike Styborski's over at Humid City
Campbell’s is donating soup to NFL teams which they will distribute to local food banks. In our case this will be Second Harvest. 1,000 cans of soup will be donated to each team regardless of the voting outcome. The team receiving the most votes for the AFC and NFC get an additional 12,000 cans and the overall winner gets another 5,000 cans. This means if you lazy kids out there can click a button enough times for the Saints, you could help bring in 18,000 cans of soup to help feed people. And not watered down MRE soup, but so-chunky-you-could-eat-it-with-a-fork-but-use-a-spoon Chunky Soup!
The contest goes on through the end of the season when the four AFC and NFC teams with the most votes enter single elimination “playoffs” for three weeks to crown the overall winner. This means each of you reading this can add over seventy votes for the Saints from here on in! Just go to Chunky’s website and click the Vote Now button, then pick the Saints matchup and choose our home team. And hurry! As of this posting the Saints 5,042 votes are second to the Packers 8,971 this week. In the time it took me to type that and double check the numbers the Pack gained four votes and the Saints gained none, so get your fingers moving and help feed some people in New Orleans!
And don’t forget to blast this to everyone you know!
So go vote, y'all. It helps our local Second Harvesters Food Bank. Tis the season!
Campbell’s is donating soup to NFL teams which they will distribute to local food banks. In our case this will be Second Harvest. 1,000 cans of soup will be donated to each team regardless of the voting outcome. The team receiving the most votes for the AFC and NFC get an additional 12,000 cans and the overall winner gets another 5,000 cans. This means if you lazy kids out there can click a button enough times for the Saints, you could help bring in 18,000 cans of soup to help feed people. And not watered down MRE soup, but so-chunky-you-could-eat-it-with-a-fork-but-use-a-spoon Chunky Soup!
The contest goes on through the end of the season when the four AFC and NFC teams with the most votes enter single elimination “playoffs” for three weeks to crown the overall winner. This means each of you reading this can add over seventy votes for the Saints from here on in! Just go to Chunky’s website and click the Vote Now button, then pick the Saints matchup and choose our home team. And hurry! As of this posting the Saints 5,042 votes are second to the Packers 8,971 this week. In the time it took me to type that and double check the numbers the Pack gained four votes and the Saints gained none, so get your fingers moving and help feed some people in New Orleans!
And don’t forget to blast this to everyone you know!
So go vote, y'all. It helps our local Second Harvesters Food Bank. Tis the season!
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Scuzzbucket Ed Blakely
He's such a wacko (albeit "educated") himself, isn't he? Note to NOLA dot com: the word is lambast, not lambaste.
An editorial in the Times Pic details the small list of Blakely's accomplishments and takes him to task for his cowardly words in the interview
Here are reactions from the NOLA blogosphere:
Cliff says that NOLA shouldn't be mad at Ed because he's telling the truth
Pistolette thinks NOLA brings out the worst in outsiders
Richard over at metroblogs talks about Blakely's lack of understanding about the real recovery going on in the city because he was hanging around with a bunch of buffoons on Perdido Street
Library Chronicles' take on the matter
Michael Homan uses humor to answer to Blakely's claim about the "white man put their foot back on black people's throats".
Adrastos dicusses the "reign" of the "recovery kaiser".
Oyster's take
American Zombie takes on Blakely's mis-statement about NOLA not taking responsibility for recovery
NOLA-dishu has the videos of the Blakely interview.
An editorial in the Times Pic details the small list of Blakely's accomplishments and takes him to task for his cowardly words in the interview
Here are reactions from the NOLA blogosphere:
Cliff says that NOLA shouldn't be mad at Ed because he's telling the truth
Pistolette thinks NOLA brings out the worst in outsiders
Richard over at metroblogs talks about Blakely's lack of understanding about the real recovery going on in the city because he was hanging around with a bunch of buffoons on Perdido Street
Library Chronicles' take on the matter
Michael Homan uses humor to answer to Blakely's claim about the "white man put their foot back on black people's throats".
Adrastos dicusses the "reign" of the "recovery kaiser".
Oyster's take
American Zombie takes on Blakely's mis-statement about NOLA not taking responsibility for recovery
NOLA-dishu has the videos of the Blakely interview.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Happy Bday, Saints
from WetBankGuy rt marienola On this day 1966, All Saints Day, NFL awarded franchise to New Orleans. calling team The Saints.
Happy 43rd Birthday Saints!
Happy 43rd Birthday Saints!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Honoring those who have passed
November 1 is traditionally a day in this part of the country for people to honor their dead by cleaning up the graves of their departed relatives and lighting the graves at dusk .
from an article found at suite101 dot com:
In south Louisiana, above-ground tombs are almost a necessity due to the low elevantions of the land. Prior to the days of affordable granite monuments, most Cajun tombs were constructed of brick or concrete and quickly became blemished by the elements of nature. It became a common custom to "whitewash" the tombs with a thick mixture of lime (calcium hydroxide) and water. Those Cajun families who had a little more money to spend would apply white paint to beautify their tombs. At least once a year, the gravesites were cleaned with bleach and another coat of white was added to the mortar surfaces. New floral arrangements were put into place, and the tombs took on a freshened appearance prior to the annual cemetery blessing by the local priest.
It's a beautiful tradition that ushers in the winter season for me....the beginning of the "falling back" of daylight savings time and the accompanying shorter days. There's something ethereal to witness this custom in person.
While at time dot com tonight I ran across this picture that depicts how people in Hong Kong honor their dead:
Wall of Memories
People sweep their ancestors' graves during the Chung Yeung Festival at a vertical cemetery in Hong Kong.
America generally honors her dead on Memorial Day
Latinos recognize their loved ones who have passed during Dia des la Muertos (Day of the Dead). As in many Latin American countries, Mexico commemorates the Day of the Dead or All Souls’ Day on November 2nd.
The ancient Egyptians mummified their dead, and used stele .
From the quick reading I've done, the stele looks as if it was used to tell the story of the deceased. Seems like the stele was the inspiration for the gravestones we use today.
So if you're out and about in the Slidell/Lacombe area tomorrow at dusk, stop to witness the people here honoring their dead, while La Toussaint takes place in France.
from an article found at suite101 dot com:
In south Louisiana, above-ground tombs are almost a necessity due to the low elevantions of the land. Prior to the days of affordable granite monuments, most Cajun tombs were constructed of brick or concrete and quickly became blemished by the elements of nature. It became a common custom to "whitewash" the tombs with a thick mixture of lime (calcium hydroxide) and water. Those Cajun families who had a little more money to spend would apply white paint to beautify their tombs. At least once a year, the gravesites were cleaned with bleach and another coat of white was added to the mortar surfaces. New floral arrangements were put into place, and the tombs took on a freshened appearance prior to the annual cemetery blessing by the local priest.
It's a beautiful tradition that ushers in the winter season for me....the beginning of the "falling back" of daylight savings time and the accompanying shorter days. There's something ethereal to witness this custom in person.
While at time dot com tonight I ran across this picture that depicts how people in Hong Kong honor their dead:
Wall of Memories
People sweep their ancestors' graves during the Chung Yeung Festival at a vertical cemetery in Hong Kong.
America generally honors her dead on Memorial Day
Latinos recognize their loved ones who have passed during Dia des la Muertos (Day of the Dead). As in many Latin American countries, Mexico commemorates the Day of the Dead or All Souls’ Day on November 2nd.
The ancient Egyptians mummified their dead, and used stele .
From the quick reading I've done, the stele looks as if it was used to tell the story of the deceased. Seems like the stele was the inspiration for the gravestones we use today.
So if you're out and about in the Slidell/Lacombe area tomorrow at dusk, stop to witness the people here honoring their dead, while La Toussaint takes place in France.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Moronic Scuzzbuckets
You would think that a school that has the reputation of producing intelligent people would have common sense. Not so at Brother Martin High.
Today's Times Pic carried a story about clueless school administrators that allowed Brother Martin students to wear black masks during a pep rally before last Friday's football game against St. Augustine High School, an historically black school. Brother Martin President John Devlin avers that Brother Martin had no intention of igniting a racial controversy and that the students were spoofing the Batman movie "The Dark Knight," (St. Augustine teams are known as the Purple Knights). Mr. Devlin, did you THINK about this scenario? Is there anything in place at your school where adults oversee "skits" done at pep rallies. This is the 21st century, for gawd sakes!!
Today's Times Pic carried a story about clueless school administrators that allowed Brother Martin students to wear black masks during a pep rally before last Friday's football game against St. Augustine High School, an historically black school. Brother Martin President John Devlin avers that Brother Martin had no intention of igniting a racial controversy and that the students were spoofing the Batman movie "The Dark Knight," (St. Augustine teams are known as the Purple Knights). Mr. Devlin, did you THINK about this scenario? Is there anything in place at your school where adults oversee "skits" done at pep rallies. This is the 21st century, for gawd sakes!!
An Appropriate Appointment
The country's newest Surgeon General has been appointed.
The Senate has finally confirmed Dr. Regina Benjamin to be the U.S. surgeon general, making her only the third African American to hold the position as the nation's top doctor.
The Senate nod came by a voice vote Thursday night, an expression of unanimous consent of both parties.
The 53-year-old family practice doctor had spent most of her career tending to the needs of poor patients in a Gulf Coast clinic she founded two decades ago in Alabama.
She was the first African-American woman board member of the American Medical Association, and she just served a term as chairwoman of the group's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs.
Regina is a Katrina heroine and I'm so happy to hear of this appointment. She'll do us proud.
The Senate has finally confirmed Dr. Regina Benjamin to be the U.S. surgeon general, making her only the third African American to hold the position as the nation's top doctor.
The Senate nod came by a voice vote Thursday night, an expression of unanimous consent of both parties.
The 53-year-old family practice doctor had spent most of her career tending to the needs of poor patients in a Gulf Coast clinic she founded two decades ago in Alabama.
She was the first African-American woman board member of the American Medical Association, and she just served a term as chairwoman of the group's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs.
Regina is a Katrina heroine and I'm so happy to hear of this appointment. She'll do us proud.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
MRGO Update
When Army Corps of Engineers contractors pounded the last of the steel-reinforced, 140-foot-long concrete "soldier" pilings deep into the marsh and clay that underlies the MR-GO and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, it marked the ceremonial end of an era. The work closes a shipping corridor that destroyed critical marsh and made the region more vulnerable to hurricanes.
Each piling is 66 inches in diameter and had to be moved into place using three of the five largest cranes available in the United States, corps representatives said. Once in place, cages of steel rebar were lowered into each piling before they were filled with concrete. (taken from the TimesPic)
At the website, MRGO must go, they've listed five broad-scale initiatives needed to fix damage caused by MRGO and protect people from hurricanes. Included with each initiative are the projects necessary to reach the goal of each task, the benefits from each project, the existing committments and the next critical steps.
MRGO, as you may recall, was instrumental in the flooding of the Ninth Ward, New Orleans East and St. Bernard Parish during Katrina.
This is one small step towards saving Louisiana's coastline.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Vote for CNN Hero of the Year
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Drumsticks in hand, Derrick Tabb has found a way to transform New Orleans children from troublemakers to tuba players.
Derrick Tabb's program provides free tutoring, instruments and music instruction to more than 100 students.
Tabb, wearing a gold chain and a baseball cap, doesn't look the part of a typical band teacher. But every weekday evening in the French Quarter, he beats out the rhythm on his music stand as students play their chosen instruments. In doing so, he gives them an alternative to New Orleans' rough streets.
"I tell everyone I'm competing with the drug dealers," said Tabb, 34. His program, The Roots of Music, offers free tutoring, instruments and music education to more than 100 students. Vote now for the CNN Hero of the Year Voting continues until Thursday, November 19, 2009 (6 a.m. ET). There is no limit on the number of times you may vote for the Hero of the Year. Each of this year's honorees will receive $25,000 in recognition of their work.
So go support this local hero.
Derrick Tabb's program provides free tutoring, instruments and music instruction to more than 100 students.
Tabb, wearing a gold chain and a baseball cap, doesn't look the part of a typical band teacher. But every weekday evening in the French Quarter, he beats out the rhythm on his music stand as students play their chosen instruments. In doing so, he gives them an alternative to New Orleans' rough streets.
"I tell everyone I'm competing with the drug dealers," said Tabb, 34. His program, The Roots of Music, offers free tutoring, instruments and music education to more than 100 students. Vote now for the CNN Hero of the Year Voting continues until Thursday, November 19, 2009 (6 a.m. ET). There is no limit on the number of times you may vote for the Hero of the Year. Each of this year's honorees will receive $25,000 in recognition of their work.
So go support this local hero.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Getting Fired UP!
New Orleans Saints 48 New York Giants 27
The Saints are fired up, folks!!! Five wins, no losses
Here's a video of Drew Brees firing up the team. Got to love it!
The Saints are fired up, folks!!! Five wins, no losses
Here's a video of Drew Brees firing up the team. Got to love it!
Autumn's Colors
We spent last week driving from Louisiana to Maine to witness autumn colors. We were not disappointed.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Scuzzbucket in Tangipahoa Parish
I noticed that this story made headlines all over the country
Louisiana Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell Refuses to Marry Interracial Couples
Dear Mr. Bardwell, go back into the woods that you came out of, you redneck racist.
From Politics Daily, Ria Misra writes
As the child of an interracial marriage -- and someone who isn't suffering anymore than is usual for a girl wearing soggy boots and a damp skirt after being caught in this afternoon's rain -- I'm always annoyed when someone tries to pin their own anxieties about multiracial children onto children instead of onto themselves.
What's really appalling though is that Bardwell has done this before -- and without being removed as a justice of the peace. Bardwell told the AP that he's refused to marry four interracial couples in the last 2 1/2 years. Bardwell also claims that at least one office of Louisiana's state government had been made aware of his refusal years ago.
Louisiana Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell Refuses to Marry Interracial Couples
Dear Mr. Bardwell, go back into the woods that you came out of, you redneck racist.
From Politics Daily, Ria Misra writes
As the child of an interracial marriage -- and someone who isn't suffering anymore than is usual for a girl wearing soggy boots and a damp skirt after being caught in this afternoon's rain -- I'm always annoyed when someone tries to pin their own anxieties about multiracial children onto children instead of onto themselves.
What's really appalling though is that Bardwell has done this before -- and without being removed as a justice of the peace. Bardwell told the AP that he's refused to marry four interracial couples in the last 2 1/2 years. Bardwell also claims that at least one office of Louisiana's state government had been made aware of his refusal years ago.
Mr. Obama's NOLA visit
I was driving through the Shenandoah Mountains on Thursday when the president came to New Orleans, so I missed it. But Eli was there and has nicely documented the visit here , along with his discussion on significant signs of progress specific to our region during the administration's first nine months.
It's a great read.
It's a great read.
Friday, October 09, 2009
Monday, October 05, 2009
2009 VOW Festival
It's time again for the Voice of the Wetlands Festival at the beautiful Southdown Plantation in scenic Houma Louisiana!
We attended a few years ago and enjoyed the music. The food could've been better, though.
President of the VOW, Louisiana born bluesman Tab Benoit has been putting on this fest since right before Katrina, when he realized how fast the Louisiana Wetlands were disappering and decided to bring this tragedy to a national audience. VOW is just one outlet. Tab performs over 300 days a year across the country to bring this news to anyone who'll listen.
There's a great musical lineup found here and lots of hotel rooms in Houma if you want to spend the night. Unfortunately, hubby and I will be on our East Coast Roadtrip this weekend, so can someone go for us and let us know if the food got better?
We attended a few years ago and enjoyed the music. The food could've been better, though.
President of the VOW, Louisiana born bluesman Tab Benoit has been putting on this fest since right before Katrina, when he realized how fast the Louisiana Wetlands were disappering and decided to bring this tragedy to a national audience. VOW is just one outlet. Tab performs over 300 days a year across the country to bring this news to anyone who'll listen.
There's a great musical lineup found here and lots of hotel rooms in Houma if you want to spend the night. Unfortunately, hubby and I will be on our East Coast Roadtrip this weekend, so can someone go for us and let us know if the food got better?
On this rainy, humid Monday in October.....
Those of us in the Gulf Coast region are oblivious to the weather conditions because
THE SAINTS ARE 4 AND 0!!!!!
Bless you, Boys!
THE SAINTS ARE 4 AND 0!!!!!
Bless you, Boys!
Friday, October 02, 2009
Jindal repeatedly is the anti governor
We who voted for Bobby Jindal were so happy when he won the election, thinking that FINALLY, this state was going to move forward. Then came the reality, in so many ways. The latest reason to regret our votes for the child governor came when we found out that Jindal doesn't have the balls to
go for a project that may have helped the southeastern part of the state .
Once again, Jindal is soooooooooo wrong for Louisiana.
go for a project that may have helped the southeastern part of the state .
Once again, Jindal is soooooooooo wrong for Louisiana.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Happy Birthday HG Wells
Science fiction author H.G. Wells would have celebrated his birthday today.
To commemorate this occasion, Google's home page has this image:
to celebrate Wells' novel "The War of the Worlds".
Thanks for making us think Google. Well, those of us that don't wake up knowing EVERYTHING every day, that is.
To commemorate this occasion, Google's home page has this image:
to celebrate Wells' novel "The War of the Worlds".
Thanks for making us think Google. Well, those of us that don't wake up knowing EVERYTHING every day, that is.
The Constant Scuzzbuckets
Sourgrapes or just plain outright racist? I am sickened by the people in this country who are so blatanly hateful against President Obama. These sheep follow people like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Lou Dobbs who spew poisonous hate over the air waves day after day. Their tirades are licked up by smallminded human beings across the country who feed on xenophobic hate. Vicky Moos alerted me to the following article:
Found at Alternet dot org
At this summer's "tea parties," town hall meetings and the recent march on Washington organized by Fox News talker Glenn Beck, signs with Obama portrayed as an African witch doctor, complete with a bone through his nose, and signs claiming Obama is the rightful president only of Kenya and other thinly disguised racial markers have been commonplace.
Clearly, these demonstrations of inchoate rage are about more than public policy. Former President Jimmy Carter stepped into the fray this week, stating the obvious: "intensely demonstrated animosity" toward Obama, the 39th president said, is "based on the fact that he is a black man." This elicited a torrent of angry denunciations from right-wing media.
While Carter might have overstated the degree to which the anger is motivated by racial animus -- saying it was behind "an overwhelming portion" of the criticisms lobbed at Obama -- it's clear not only from the street protests, but also from the rhetoric employed by the conservative media elite that racism is indeed alive in "post-racial America," and is certainly ratcheting up the temperature of the country's discourse.
We took a tour of that discourse and present 10 recent examples of the kind of racially charged barbs that played a part in Carter's statement.
1. Oh no! Evil monkeys stole our balls!
You know who really had their act together? British colonists in India. But oppressing a country of hundreds of millions for more than a century was not without its dangers. For instance, sometimes monkeys descended on the Brits' golf courses and stole their balls.
And that it is how former House Representative Roy Blunt, R-Mo., chose to illustrate the challenges facing conservatives in the Obama era. Friday, AlterNet's Adele Stan reported Blunt's words to the conservative Values Summit:
"... Something they didn't anticipate was monkeys came running out of the jungle, and they grabbed the golf balls ... and they might throw the golf ball back at you. ... So for this golf course, and this golf course and this golf course only, they passed a rule, and the rule was, you have to play the ball where the monkey throws it."
The crowd roared with laughter.
He went on to say that he recently saw a bumper sticker he liked that read: "Don't let Obama find out what comes after a trillion."
2. Rush Limbaugh, worried about future of favorite cookie, blows off steam by making racist joke about Obama
In a July broadcast, Rush Limbaugh voiced his displeasure -- nay, outrage -- about food-safety advocates potentially "going after" Oreo cookies. Added the great wit: "Might have to put that off until Obama's out of office, but they'll eventually go after Oreos."
Get it?
3. When you weren't looking, Obama snuck reparations into the health care bill
This is why we have to be vigilant. According to Beck and Limbaugh, Obama is using health reform to force reparations for slavery from white America. Beck: "Everything getting pushed through Congress -- including this health care bill -- is transforming America. And it's all driven by President Obama's thinking on one idea: reparations. ... He believes in all the 'universal' programs because they ‘disproportionately affect' people of color" (All of whom Obama knows personally, cause … you know … ).
Not one to be outdone, Limbaugh cast a wider net, saying: "Obama's entire program is reparations!"
4. Addendum: When you weren't looking, Obama snuck affirmative action in the health care bill
Obama's plan to make African Americans the white man's evil overlords doesn't end with secret reparations: Apparently, the health care bill is also being used to smuggle in affirmative action. "The medical schools will get more federal dollars if they have proven … that they are putting minorities ahead" according to Beck.
5. Obama responsible for school bullying
Last week, a Drudge headline screamed: "White Student Beaten on School Bus; Crowd Cheers."
Drudge is presumably aware that this isn't the first time school children have engaged in fisticuffs. But in highlighting the item as breaking "news," the site was clearly trying to tap into the bizarre race paranoia sweeping Wing-Nut Nation. It did not take long for Limbaugh to make Drudge's implicit race bating explicit:
"In Obama's America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering, 'Yay, right on, right on, right on, right on,' " said Limbaugh, in a very accurate approximation of how black kids talk, of course.
6. Limbaugh comes up with a solution to America's complex race issues: Separate but equal!
Then, Limbaugh used the incident to essentially propose a return to the doctrine of "separate but equal," saying, "I mean, that's the lesson we're being taught here today. Kid shouldn't have been on the bus anyway. We need segregated buses -- it was invading space and stuff. This is Obama's America."
Or, you know, the black kids could just sit in the back of the bus.
7. Our president is angry?
Obama comes across as a pretty even-keeled, pleasant person. But maybe it's all an act, meant to mask his true nature, which, according to Limbaugh, is that of a really common racist archetype: the angry black man.
"[T]hey're finally hearing me. 'He's an angry black guy.' I do believe that about the president. I do believe he's angry. I think his wife is angry."
Surprisingly, Limbaugh did not add that Michelle Obama was also good at nursing other people's kids or preparing pancakes.
8. Birther conspiracy
A while back, a bunch of people felt kinda weird publicly saying that Obama shouldn't be president because he's black. They came up with this enterprising solution: latch onto an insane conspiracy theory claiming that the president is illegitimate because he's not a natural-born citizen of the U.S.
One of those people was Lou Dobbs, who managed to destroy the last shreds of his reputation and dignity by pushing the birther conspiracy onto prime time on CNN.
9. Half-white president hates whites?
Carter's remarks that many of the attacks against the president are fueled by racism really, really hurt conservatives' feelings. Beck, for example, sniffed (but didn't break into wild sobbing, as he often does) that it was wrong to accuse someone of racism without hard evidence. This lesson in etiquette is one Beck must have learned recently, because less than two months ago, the shock-jock accused Obama of being a racist with a "deep-seated hatred for white people … and white culture."
Beck did not elaborate on what he meant by "white culture."
10. General tea-baggery
Conservatives are trying to sell town hall disruptions and the various forms of tea-bagging going on as legitimate protests against the Democrats' agenda. While that's certainly true of many people who show up at these events, it's hard not to be a little wary of the real reason some people take part, when we see signs like this, this, this and this.
Found at Alternet dot org
At this summer's "tea parties," town hall meetings and the recent march on Washington organized by Fox News talker Glenn Beck, signs with Obama portrayed as an African witch doctor, complete with a bone through his nose, and signs claiming Obama is the rightful president only of Kenya and other thinly disguised racial markers have been commonplace.
Clearly, these demonstrations of inchoate rage are about more than public policy. Former President Jimmy Carter stepped into the fray this week, stating the obvious: "intensely demonstrated animosity" toward Obama, the 39th president said, is "based on the fact that he is a black man." This elicited a torrent of angry denunciations from right-wing media.
While Carter might have overstated the degree to which the anger is motivated by racial animus -- saying it was behind "an overwhelming portion" of the criticisms lobbed at Obama -- it's clear not only from the street protests, but also from the rhetoric employed by the conservative media elite that racism is indeed alive in "post-racial America," and is certainly ratcheting up the temperature of the country's discourse.
We took a tour of that discourse and present 10 recent examples of the kind of racially charged barbs that played a part in Carter's statement.
1. Oh no! Evil monkeys stole our balls!
You know who really had their act together? British colonists in India. But oppressing a country of hundreds of millions for more than a century was not without its dangers. For instance, sometimes monkeys descended on the Brits' golf courses and stole their balls.
And that it is how former House Representative Roy Blunt, R-Mo., chose to illustrate the challenges facing conservatives in the Obama era. Friday, AlterNet's Adele Stan reported Blunt's words to the conservative Values Summit:
"... Something they didn't anticipate was monkeys came running out of the jungle, and they grabbed the golf balls ... and they might throw the golf ball back at you. ... So for this golf course, and this golf course and this golf course only, they passed a rule, and the rule was, you have to play the ball where the monkey throws it."
The crowd roared with laughter.
He went on to say that he recently saw a bumper sticker he liked that read: "Don't let Obama find out what comes after a trillion."
2. Rush Limbaugh, worried about future of favorite cookie, blows off steam by making racist joke about Obama
In a July broadcast, Rush Limbaugh voiced his displeasure -- nay, outrage -- about food-safety advocates potentially "going after" Oreo cookies. Added the great wit: "Might have to put that off until Obama's out of office, but they'll eventually go after Oreos."
Get it?
3. When you weren't looking, Obama snuck reparations into the health care bill
This is why we have to be vigilant. According to Beck and Limbaugh, Obama is using health reform to force reparations for slavery from white America. Beck: "Everything getting pushed through Congress -- including this health care bill -- is transforming America. And it's all driven by President Obama's thinking on one idea: reparations. ... He believes in all the 'universal' programs because they ‘disproportionately affect' people of color" (All of whom Obama knows personally, cause … you know … ).
Not one to be outdone, Limbaugh cast a wider net, saying: "Obama's entire program is reparations!"
4. Addendum: When you weren't looking, Obama snuck affirmative action in the health care bill
Obama's plan to make African Americans the white man's evil overlords doesn't end with secret reparations: Apparently, the health care bill is also being used to smuggle in affirmative action. "The medical schools will get more federal dollars if they have proven … that they are putting minorities ahead" according to Beck.
5. Obama responsible for school bullying
Last week, a Drudge headline screamed: "White Student Beaten on School Bus; Crowd Cheers."
Drudge is presumably aware that this isn't the first time school children have engaged in fisticuffs. But in highlighting the item as breaking "news," the site was clearly trying to tap into the bizarre race paranoia sweeping Wing-Nut Nation. It did not take long for Limbaugh to make Drudge's implicit race bating explicit:
"In Obama's America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering, 'Yay, right on, right on, right on, right on,' " said Limbaugh, in a very accurate approximation of how black kids talk, of course.
6. Limbaugh comes up with a solution to America's complex race issues: Separate but equal!
Then, Limbaugh used the incident to essentially propose a return to the doctrine of "separate but equal," saying, "I mean, that's the lesson we're being taught here today. Kid shouldn't have been on the bus anyway. We need segregated buses -- it was invading space and stuff. This is Obama's America."
Or, you know, the black kids could just sit in the back of the bus.
7. Our president is angry?
Obama comes across as a pretty even-keeled, pleasant person. But maybe it's all an act, meant to mask his true nature, which, according to Limbaugh, is that of a really common racist archetype: the angry black man.
"[T]hey're finally hearing me. 'He's an angry black guy.' I do believe that about the president. I do believe he's angry. I think his wife is angry."
Surprisingly, Limbaugh did not add that Michelle Obama was also good at nursing other people's kids or preparing pancakes.
8. Birther conspiracy
A while back, a bunch of people felt kinda weird publicly saying that Obama shouldn't be president because he's black. They came up with this enterprising solution: latch onto an insane conspiracy theory claiming that the president is illegitimate because he's not a natural-born citizen of the U.S.
One of those people was Lou Dobbs, who managed to destroy the last shreds of his reputation and dignity by pushing the birther conspiracy onto prime time on CNN.
9. Half-white president hates whites?
Carter's remarks that many of the attacks against the president are fueled by racism really, really hurt conservatives' feelings. Beck, for example, sniffed (but didn't break into wild sobbing, as he often does) that it was wrong to accuse someone of racism without hard evidence. This lesson in etiquette is one Beck must have learned recently, because less than two months ago, the shock-jock accused Obama of being a racist with a "deep-seated hatred for white people … and white culture."
Beck did not elaborate on what he meant by "white culture."
10. General tea-baggery
Conservatives are trying to sell town hall disruptions and the various forms of tea-bagging going on as legitimate protests against the Democrats' agenda. While that's certainly true of many people who show up at these events, it's hard not to be a little wary of the real reason some people take part, when we see signs like this, this, this and this.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Today in History
2005 President George W. Bush, addressing the nation from storm-ravaged New Orleans, acknowledged the government failed to respond adequately to Hurricane Katrina and urged Congress to approve a massive reconstruction program.
fuck you bush
fuck you bush
Concert to Save Charity
from Humidcity dot com
September 19th, 2009 is a significant day and not just because there’s an amazing musical line-up. It is the fourth anniversary of the shuttering of Charity Hospital without the legislative approval required by law. The decision to close Charity Hospital at that time remains a huge setback for our city.
Contrary to the claims of state officials, Charity Hospital was not destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. In fact, teams of doctors, nurses, and military personnel from the U.S.S. Iwo Jima worked around the clock to scrub the hospital clean so that it was ready to receive patients on the day it was shut down. Click here to see what the hospital looked like the day it was closed down.
Help stop this injustice. If you can't attend the concert, then spread the word that Charity Hospital is ready for business .
September 19th, 2009 is a significant day and not just because there’s an amazing musical line-up. It is the fourth anniversary of the shuttering of Charity Hospital without the legislative approval required by law. The decision to close Charity Hospital at that time remains a huge setback for our city.
Contrary to the claims of state officials, Charity Hospital was not destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. In fact, teams of doctors, nurses, and military personnel from the U.S.S. Iwo Jima worked around the clock to scrub the hospital clean so that it was ready to receive patients on the day it was shut down. Click here to see what the hospital looked like the day it was closed down.
Help stop this injustice. If you can't attend the concert, then spread the word that Charity Hospital is ready for business .
Monday, September 14, 2009
RIP Patrick Swayze
After a long battle with pancreatic cancer, talented thespian Patrick Swayze is gone.
read it here.
One of my most favorite roles that Swayze played was as Vida Bohemme in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar . He played a man (excuse me if I don't get this right) in drag so eloquently that you could believe that the people in the film BELIEVED that he was a woman.
From wikipedia:
After entering a local "drag queen of the year" contest in New York City, Noxeema Jackson (Wesley Snipes) and Vida Bohemme (Patrick Swayze) win a trip to Hollywood to take part in an even bigger, national drag queen contest. pictures here Before they depart, Vida persuades Noxeema to take along the inexperienced 'drag princess' Chi-Chi Rodriguez (John Leguizamo) as their protégé (the duo initially refer to Chi-Chi simply as a "boy in a dress" rather than as a fully-fledged drag queen). In order to do this, they trade in their airplane tickets for cash and buy a stylish but old Cadillac convertible with money given to them by John Jacob (Robin Williams) and the three of them set off for Los Angeles by car.
I love this movie and I'll miss Patrick Swayze's talents. His passing has made me very sad. May he rest in peace.
read it here.
One of my most favorite roles that Swayze played was as Vida Bohemme in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar . He played a man (excuse me if I don't get this right) in drag so eloquently that you could believe that the people in the film BELIEVED that he was a woman.
From wikipedia:
After entering a local "drag queen of the year" contest in New York City, Noxeema Jackson (Wesley Snipes) and Vida Bohemme (Patrick Swayze) win a trip to Hollywood to take part in an even bigger, national drag queen contest. pictures here Before they depart, Vida persuades Noxeema to take along the inexperienced 'drag princess' Chi-Chi Rodriguez (John Leguizamo) as their protégé (the duo initially refer to Chi-Chi simply as a "boy in a dress" rather than as a fully-fledged drag queen). In order to do this, they trade in their airplane tickets for cash and buy a stylish but old Cadillac convertible with money given to them by John Jacob (Robin Williams) and the three of them set off for Los Angeles by car.
I love this movie and I'll miss Patrick Swayze's talents. His passing has made me very sad. May he rest in peace.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Beauty
In a world where everything that we see and hear lately appears to be negative, I present this four minute video which will make you smile. Enjoy
NOLA needs hospitals, dammit!
This short piece shows the dire straights that New Orleans is in regarding the lack of adequate institutions to handle an overwhelming number of people in fragile mental states of mind.
h/t EJ
h/t EJ
Monday, September 07, 2009
The "Castro Speech"
before the weekend started, I'd heard somewhere that there was a cadre of ignorant people saying that they didn't want their children to hear this speech because it reminded them of a speech Fidel Castro gave 40 years ago, trying to "steal" the childrens' minds.
To all of you who believe Obama is the new satan, suck on this
Hello, everyone -- how's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through 12th grade. I'm glad you all could join us today.
I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could've stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.
I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday -- at 4:30 in the morning.
Now I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."
So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.
Now I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked a lot about responsibility.
I've talked about your teachers' responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.
I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.
I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working where students aren't getting the opportunities they deserve.
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
And that's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.
Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.
Maybe you could be a good writer -- maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper -- but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor -- maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine -- but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
And no matter what you want to do with your life -- I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can't drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.
And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.
We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that -- if you quit on school -- you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.
Now I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.
I get it. I know what that's like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn't fit in.
So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I'm not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.
But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our first lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.
Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.
But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life -- what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home -- that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That's no excuse for not trying.
Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.
That's what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.
Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.
I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three. He's endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer -- hundreds of extra hours -- to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he's headed to college this fall.
And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.
Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same. That's why today, I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education -- and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you'll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.
Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.
I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you're not going to be any of those things.
But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.
That's OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. JK Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures define you -- you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.
No one's born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. It's the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust -- a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor -- and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.
And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you -- don't ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.
The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best. It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.
So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?
Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down -- don't let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.
To all of you who believe Obama is the new satan, suck on this
Hello, everyone -- how's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we've got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through 12th grade. I'm glad you all could join us today.
I know that for many of you, today is the first day of school. And for those of you in kindergarten, or starting middle or high school, it's your first day in a new school, so it's understandable if you're a little nervous. I imagine there are some seniors out there who are feeling pretty good right now, with just one more year to go. And no matter what grade you're in, some of you are probably wishing it were still summer, and you could've stayed in bed just a little longer this morning.
I know that feeling. When I was young, my family lived in Indonesia for a few years, and my mother didn't have the money to send me where all the American kids went to school. So she decided to teach me extra lessons herself, Monday through Friday -- at 4:30 in the morning.
Now I wasn't too happy about getting up that early. A lot of times, I'd fall asleep right there at the kitchen table. But whenever I'd complain, my mother would just give me one of those looks and say, "This is no picnic for me either, buster."
So I know some of you are still adjusting to being back at school. But I'm here today because I have something important to discuss with you. I'm here because I want to talk with you about your education and what's expected of all of you in this new school year.
Now I've given a lot of speeches about education. And I've talked a lot about responsibility.
I've talked about your teachers' responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.
I've talked about your parents' responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don't spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.
I've talked a lot about your government's responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren't working where students aren't getting the opportunities they deserve.
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
And that's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.
Every single one of you has something you're good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That's the opportunity an education can provide.
Maybe you could be a good writer -- maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper -- but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor -- maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine -- but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a senator or a Supreme Court justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
And no matter what you want to do with your life -- I guarantee that you'll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You're going to need a good education for every single one of those careers. You can't drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You've got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.
And this isn't just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you're learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
You'll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You'll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.
We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don't do that -- if you quit on school -- you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country.
Now I know it's not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.
I get it. I know what that's like. My father left my family when I was two years old, and I was raised by a single mother who struggled at times to pay the bills and wasn't always able to give us things the other kids had. There were times when I missed having a father in my life. There were times when I was lonely and felt like I didn't fit in.
So I wasn't always as focused as I should have been. I did some things I'm not proud of, and got in more trouble than I should have. And my life could have easily taken a turn for the worse.
But I was fortunate. I got a lot of second chances and had the opportunity to go to college, and law school, and follow my dreams. My wife, our first lady Michelle Obama, has a similar story. Neither of her parents had gone to college, and they didn't have much. But they worked hard, and she worked hard, so that she could go to the best schools in this country.
Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don't have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there's not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don't feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren't right.
But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life -- what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you've got going on at home -- that's no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That's no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That's no excuse for not trying.
Where you are right now doesn't have to determine where you'll end up. No one's written your destiny for you. Here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future.
That's what young people like you are doing every day, all across America.
Young people like Jazmin Perez, from Roma, Texas. Jazmin didn't speak English when she first started school. Hardly anyone in her hometown went to college, and neither of her parents had gone either. But she worked hard, earned good grades, got a scholarship to Brown University, and is now in graduate school, studying public health, on her way to being Dr. Jazmin Perez.
I'm thinking about Andoni Schultz, from Los Altos, California, who's fought brain cancer since he was three. He's endured all sorts of treatments and surgeries, one of which affected his memory, so it took him much longer -- hundreds of extra hours -- to do his schoolwork. But he never fell behind, and he's headed to college this fall.
And then there's Shantell Steve, from my hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Even when bouncing from foster home to foster home in the toughest neighborhoods, she managed to get a job at a local health center; start a program to keep young people out of gangs; and she's on track to graduate high school with honors and go on to college.
Jazmin, Andoni and Shantell aren't any different from any of you. They faced challenges in their lives just like you do. But they refused to give up. They chose to take responsibility for their education and set goals for themselves. And I expect all of you to do the same. That's why today, I'm calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education -- and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you'll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you'll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you'll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you'll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don't feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.
Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it.
I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work -- that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you're not going to be any of those things.
But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won't love every subject you study. You won't click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won't necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.
That's OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who've had the most failures. JK Rowling's first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, "I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
These people succeeded because they understand that you can't let your failures define you -- you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn't mean you're a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave. If you get a bad grade, that doesn't mean you're stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.
No one's born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You're not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don't hit every note the first time you sing a song. You've got to practice. It's the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it's good enough to hand in.
Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and to learn something new. So find an adult you trust -- a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor -- and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.
And even when you're struggling, even when you're discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you -- don't ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.
The story of America isn't about people who quit when things got tough. It's about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best. It's the story of students who sat where you sit 250 years ago, and went on to wage a revolution and found this nation. Students who sat where you sit 75 years ago who overcame a Depression and won a world war; who fought for civil rights and put a man on the moon. Students who sat where you sit 20 years ago who founded Google, Twitter and Facebook and changed the way we communicate with each other.
So today, I want to ask you, what's your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?
Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I'm working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you've got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you. So don't let us down -- don't let your family or your country or yourself down. Make us all proud. I know you can do it.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
A Beautiful Tribute
Rex Dingler has written the most beautiful Katrina plus 4 post here .
excerpt
In the end, I will celebrate as a New Orleanian should. I will celebrate my friends who have returned and still fight the specters of the past. I will celebrate the many new faces who have come to New Orleans not to take from it her riches, but to lend their positive spirit to the greater whole. I will celebrate those who come to gawk at our history and drink on our streets, enjoying the freedoms we take for granted in this city. Rex raises his glass to you all!
excerpt
In the end, I will celebrate as a New Orleanian should. I will celebrate my friends who have returned and still fight the specters of the past. I will celebrate the many new faces who have come to New Orleans not to take from it her riches, but to lend their positive spirit to the greater whole. I will celebrate those who come to gawk at our history and drink on our streets, enjoying the freedoms we take for granted in this city. Rex raises his glass to you all!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
August 29th
Have you ever looked at the calendar and keep repeating that date to youself, knowing that it means something? A birthday, a holiday, an anniversary?
Well, I don't think anyone who was on the Gulf Coast on this day in 2005 will ever forget what it is. Yes, to you "why don't you just get over it" crowd, we haven't gotten over it yet. There's still too much to remind of of nature's wrath.
While 98% of the news focused on the city of New Orleans and the engineering failure that flooded the city, others around the area dealt with the aftermath of a behemouth storm.
New Orleans is struggling to rebuild despite the residents who re elected that waste of oxygen Ray Nagin. Rebirth is in the hands of grass roots movements and citizen groups, which is probably the best way to rebuild, seeing what the politicians have done for them.
The Mississippi's West Gulf Coast is busting butt to sell themselves and rebuild their infrastructure. It's amazing to see their comeback. We try to visit them at least once a month to measure their progress. That plus we enjoy their company.
Today is a measuring stick for all those who experienced Katrina. We're four years past that experience - one that will live with us for the rest of our lives. Things are looking up, I think I see a small speck in the horizon that tells me that there may be a light at the end of this horrific tunnel. We shall see..........
Friday, August 28, 2009
Katrina Links
An oral history of Americans about their Katrina experiences....there's talk about the hurricane its aftermath and survival.
a list of katrina's victims
From Greg Peters' Suspect Device blog, a link to a study that claims that the count of Katrina's victims could be even larger, based on a study by this website
The author, Robert Lindsay, an independent journalist and blogger, claims that the deathtoll related to Katrina could be as high as over four thousand people. The guy appears to be a bit wacko, but I get what he's trying to say. In the months following the storm, the obituaries of the Times Picayune were multiplied by at least 4 on a daily basis until December 2005.
Trouble the Water
Hubby and I just finished watching "Trouble the Water" on this eve of the fourth anniversary of Katrina.
Very good movie. The characters - real people - are what made the movie.
I suggest anyone who is interested in the Katrina experience rent this movie.
Very good movie. The characters - real people - are what made the movie.
I suggest anyone who is interested in the Katrina experience rent this movie.
Tribute to Father Red
On the fourth anniversary of his storm-related death, friends of the Rev. Arthur Ginart -- "Father Red" -- will gather Saturday for a memorial Mass celebrating the larger-than-life character who once dominated life in a small Catholic community at New Orleans' edge.
Old friends will assemble to remember the superloyal Saints fan with the red hair and rough-cut sense of humor, the priest who for 29 years lived simply in a trailer behind the church. They'll also reunite for one of the few times since Hurricane Katrina.
Some hope it will be the beginning of a tradition.
"We're not going to let his memory die, " said Linda Giroir, a friend helping organize the 4 p.m. celebration at Resurrection of Our Lord Church in eastern New Orleans.
Neither Ginart nor his parish, St. Nicholas of Myra, survived the storm. As Katrina approached, Ginart, as usual, refused to leave his low-lying church far out on Chef Menteur Highway, near the community of Venetian Isles.
Ginart's nephew, St. Bernard Councilman Mike Ginart, said "Uncle Red" initially suggested to relatives that he would leave for safer confines at Notre Dame Seminary if Katrina seemed to be a lethal threat. But the evening of the storm, he turned aside pleas from volunteer firefighters that he leave the rectory.
In previous storm seasons, Ginart's stubbornness proved a valuable resource.
"The whole time a hurricane was going on, people would call Father Red. He'd tell them whether there were alligators on the church steps, how much water was rushing through the Chef Pass, " Giroir said. "This time, we should've made him leave. But second thoughts are no good now."
Katrina's winds and surge destroyed the church four days past Ginart's 64th birthday. His body was never recovered.
Months later, the Archdiocese of New Orleans closed the little parish.
(personal reflection here: NO Archdiocese is a group of worried old men with no cares for its parishoners.....)
A few weeks after the storm, the archdiocese celebrated a memorial Mass for Ginart in Baton Rouge, its residence in exile. And on a crisp fall day, Archbishops Alfred Hughes and Philip Hannan led family and friends in another memorial outdoors in front of the bare skeleton of the ruined church, Giroir said.
But since then, Giroir said members of the church community have scattered. And some still feel the need to come together occasionally in his memory.
Ginart grew up Irish in the 9th Ward, a ruddy extrovert whose earthly passions included a 1950s jukebox in his trailer-rectory, celebrating St. Patrick Day at Parasol's in the Irish Channel, and the Saints, for whom he sometimes exhorted extra prayers after Mass -- or blistered, when they were foundering.
Giroir said that during the woeful days of the "Aints, " he once followed his altar boys away from the altar with a paper bag over his head, his shoulders heaving with silent laughter as the congregation laughed aloud.
While Ginart was protective of his remote parish, he also didn't relish sharing living space with others during an evacuation, his nephew said.
"He didn't do well with other priests, " Ginart said. "He was very set in his ways."
In nearly 30 years at St. Nicholas, he promised families in the small, tightly knit parish that he would quit rather than take another assignment.
"Our parish was not a place to go to church, it was a whole family. It used to take us as long to leave church as it did for Father Red to say Mass, " Giroir said. "People would tell each other where the fish were biting, whether the crabs were running. It was one big family atmosphere."
Giroir said parishioners still feel a sense of loss.
Since the storm, many have scattered to other churches. The Giroirs sometimes attend nearby Mary, Queen of Vietnam, which hosted a memorial to Ginart last year, Giroir said. "They're so gracious, so welcoming. You can't say enough for them, but that's such a big parish, and you don't see your friends there, " she said.
A memorial Mass was said for the Rev. Arthur Ginart on Nov. 22, 2005, outside what remained of his church near Venetian Isles. The priest's body was never recovered.
Giroir said that after the archdiocese closed St. Nicholas, parishioners offered to rebuild on their own and asked for a part-time priest. She said they sent petitions to the archdiocese, but never heard anything back.
"We've never healed from losing Father Red, " Giroir said. "A lot of people I talked to stopped going to church because of Father Red's death. That's no excuse, I know. But the archdiocese has not done anything to help us heal those wounds."
Archdiocesan spokeswoman Sarah Comiskey noted the two memorials services for Ginart led by Hughes, but said she could not say whether an archdiocesan representative visited parishioners to discuss the closure with them.
Giroir said a few members of what was once the parish's ladies altar society still have a little money. She said they want to use a bit every year to memorialize Ginart: to put a plaque in his honor in another church, or perhaps buy a bench under an oak tree at Resurrection of Our Lord parish.
"We're going to have a memorial Mass for him every year, " Giroir said. "We're going to use the money for little gestures for him.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Scuzzbucket on the Air
From Suspect Device,
word that Neal Boortz is at it again.
Spewing his hate filled feelings all over the air waves, such as this:
Boortz has also called the overwhelmingly black, poor victims of the Katrina disaster in New Orleans “human parasites” and “deadbeats,” even suggesting that a victim of Hurricane Katrina consider prostitution instead of “sucking off taxpayers.” Although Katrina’s devastation cost this nation $80 billion, killed thousands, and displaced a million people, Boortz believes “Katrina cleansed New Orleans.”
word that Neal Boortz is at it again.
Spewing his hate filled feelings all over the air waves, such as this:
Boortz has also called the overwhelmingly black, poor victims of the Katrina disaster in New Orleans “human parasites” and “deadbeats,” even suggesting that a victim of Hurricane Katrina consider prostitution instead of “sucking off taxpayers.” Although Katrina’s devastation cost this nation $80 billion, killed thousands, and displaced a million people, Boortz believes “Katrina cleansed New Orleans.”
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Pontchartrain Beach Nostalgia
Some may have seen this site....I like it, even though I didn't grow up here.
click here for Pontchartrain Beach history.
note: the typos aren't mine!
click here for Pontchartrain Beach history.
note: the typos aren't mine!
Another Guilty Verdict
Supa Gangsta Michael Anderson has been found guilty on all five counts of capital murder.
T.P. picture by Chris Grainger
Anderson was out on bail when police said he gunned down the five teenagers June 17, 2006, first taking out the driver of the Sport Utility Vehicle and then systematically shooting the rest of the passengers before dawn at the corner of Josephine and Daniel Streets. The victims were brothers Arsenio Hunter, 16, and Markee Hunter, 19, along with Warren Simeon, 17, Iraum Taylor, 19, and Reggie Dantzler, 19
Anderson, 23, is accused of murdering the five teenagers in a predawn attack June 17, 2006, an ambush that prompted the state of Louisiana to send in the National Guard to help patrol a city still freshly traumatized by Hurricane Katrina.
The jury of eight women and four men will return to Criminal District Court tomorrow for the penalty phase, during which prosecutors will ask the same panel to sentence Anderson to die by lethal injection.
Congratulations to the jury.
T.P. picture by Chris Grainger
Anderson was out on bail when police said he gunned down the five teenagers June 17, 2006, first taking out the driver of the Sport Utility Vehicle and then systematically shooting the rest of the passengers before dawn at the corner of Josephine and Daniel Streets. The victims were brothers Arsenio Hunter, 16, and Markee Hunter, 19, along with Warren Simeon, 17, Iraum Taylor, 19, and Reggie Dantzler, 19
Anderson, 23, is accused of murdering the five teenagers in a predawn attack June 17, 2006, an ambush that prompted the state of Louisiana to send in the National Guard to help patrol a city still freshly traumatized by Hurricane Katrina.
The jury of eight women and four men will return to Criminal District Court tomorrow for the penalty phase, during which prosecutors will ask the same panel to sentence Anderson to die by lethal injection.
Congratulations to the jury.
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