Well, she looks better than me...

Scarlett sings:

http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--59655778

Vacancy

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/29/headlines#13

Number of Vacant Homes in US Reach 18.6 Million
In other economic news, the number of vacant US homes has hit a record of 18.6 million. This is because more homes are in foreclosure and many homeowners are finding it increasingly difficult to find buyers. Nearly three percent of all owner-occupied homes in the country are now empty.

John "have my cake and eat it, too" McCain - working class man

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080427/ap_on_el_pr/mccain

McCain calls Obama insensitive to poor people

McCain...the road to Raygun

While you're sitting in amazement that John McCain bashed the administration's response to Katrina while he was in the Lower Ninth yesterday, don't forget that he and Dubya were eating birthday cake at his party while people in New Orleans drowned. Maybe he doesn't remember.

We're counting on you, Bob!

Bob Breck, I'm calling out to ya, dude. Please send good weather mojo for our first JazzFest Thursday since Katrina. Come on y'all, send out good weather thoughts! Come on....together...we will have good weather...we will have good weather!

Everyone - hang up!

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/bills_require_new_drivers_to_h.html

Bills require new drivers to hang up

This bill is a great first step. Needless to say, the traffic around NOLA is too much for anyone to navigate, much less new drivers. You shouldn't be eating your Value Meal, putting on your make up, texting, yapping, getting dressed, or arguing while you're driving. As a matter of fact, I'm doing a photo series on this very premise. From what I've seen, most people's driving skills can't handle any distractions, so everyone needs to hang up! This is not a game, people - people's lives depend on your level of concentration and skill.

Bill Quigley on Democracy Now

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/24/the_us_role_in_haitis_food

The US Role in Haiti’s Food Riots
As people around the world continue to protest the soaring prices of basic food items, the World Food Program has described the crisis as a silent tsunami. The head of the Food and Agriculture Organization blamed the current global food crisis on “inappropriate” policy decisions over the past two decades. Nowhere is this more clear than in Haiti, where hungry people are rioting in the streets because they cannot afford to buy rice. Haiti imports most of its rice from the United States, which in turn remains heavily subsidized. We speak with human rights lawyer, Bill Quigley.

Discrimination is a good idea if you're a white guy

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/24/headlines#2

Senate GOPers Block Pay Discrimination Bill
On Capitol Hill, Senate Republicans have blocked a bill that would have overturned a Supreme Court ruling limiting pay discrimination lawsuits. The Senate fell four votes short of considering the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, named for a female employee of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company who was paid 40 percent less than her male colleagues doing the same job. Ledbetter lost her suit against Goodyear after the court ruled she did not file a complaint in time. Republican presidential candidate John McCain joined forty-one other Republicans in voting against the measure.

Don Siegelman on Tavis Smiley

Welcome to Big Brudda Land

I've written about the dreaded camera lights, but now the revenue enhancement program is going too far - cameras looking at cars parked in lots, to see if they have unpaid tickets (from a nola.com article that has disappeared)? Somehow I think the brunt of NOLA's cashflow problems are going to be unproportionately borne by your "Average Joe"....and I can't imagine that the city of New Orleans would ever ticket or boot the wrong car!

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl042308jbboot.917662e4.html

City demonstrates new "SmartBoot" technology

This merits a larger font

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/22/headlines#12

Bush Has Highest Disapproval Rating in History of Gallup Poll
Meanwhile, President Bush has set a new record. He now has the highest disapproval rating of any president in the seventy-year history of the Gallup Poll. In the most recent USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, 69 percent of Americans disapproved of Bush’s job performance. The previous record was held by Harry Truman, who had a 67 percent disapproval rate in 1952. Bush also holds the record for having the highest approval rating of any president in Gallup’s history. In September 2001, in the days after the 9/11 attacks, Bush’s approval spiked to 90 percent.

Please don't do us any more "favors"

Because of Bush and his cronies' (including the president of my future home, Mexico, when John McCain wins) visit to NOLA to "help the city," I-10 will be shut down, both directions, part of the day, as well as several streets in the CBD. Does anyone know what time they'll be shutting down I-10 tomorrow? I can't find any info anywhere.

It's always such a pleasure to have Dubya visit. Please leave as soon as possible - we've had enough damage done to our city.

Rove "in a state of panic"

"Rove has been described to me by several of my GOP sources in Alabama as being in a state of panic."

http://markcrispinmiller.blogspot.com/

Scott Horton on Rove's letter to Dan Abrams
Rove's open letter to Dan Abrams

Smellovision arrives!

It was a good weekend. Wonderful hubby and I decided to take in some food Friday night at Casamento's before they close for the summer. I had the small oyster plate; I know how they get that crispy, amazing crust on their fried seafood, and I don't care! We decided to head down to the Napoleon House and pick up a Pimm's Cup after that, but they were closed Friday night at 7 PM! I'm not sure what's up with that. We decided to substitute the Swizzle Stick Bar, instead, and sipped Mojitos with all the tourists.

Saturday, we took a walk in Audubon Park since it was such a gorgeous day, and imagined what it must be like to live in one of those mansions lining the park (but thank goodness, I don't have to pay for the insurance).

Sunday, we were back in the park for our Earth Day service at church. Last night, my friend, Michelle, and I went to the Hornet-delayed Rush concert. We had just picked up a couple of pieces of pizza at Slice before the concert, but we entered the arena and I was immediately hungry because there was some heavenly scent wafting through the air that I had never smelled before there (and we were just there for V to the 10th). Finally, when Rush got onstage, they uncovered three wheeled rotisserie chicken ovens towards the back of the stage. Occasionally, during the concert, a person in a chef hat would come out and tend to the whirling chickens, basting them. That was the first time that I had ever encountered smellovision at a concert. Did the Arena sell more food because of that? Was there some meaning behind this? I felt like my chain had been yanked for three hours!

And getting Rove to tell the truth...well...

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i_LLY8gc6av_Whr8kdxbeuy5EFXwD903T0FO0

House committee asks Rove to testify about ex-Ala. governor

Ain't gonna happen

Telling the Corpse of Engineers to make something clear is like telling a teenager not to stay up all night.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/corps_told_to_make_risk_clear.html

Corps told to make risk clear

Vitter doesn't hear you

Speaking of Mr. Vitter, lookie what I just got in my inbox: more BS from David about healthcare, and families "owning their health insurance." I don't know about you, but I don't want anything to do with my health insurance. Write David Vitter here and tell him we DO want national healthcare!

http://vitter.senate.gov/?module=webformiqv1

HELPING LOUISIANA FAMILIES WITH THE COST OF HEALTH CARE
Last week I joined with six other senators on a health care initiative designed to highlight how we can best help individuals and families own their health insurance and prevent government bureaucracy from running our health care. I hear from thousands of Louisianans each year about their struggles to pay for rising health care costs. Some members of Congress have misconstrued this call to action as a mandate for a government-run health care system. But a federal government take-over of health care will only lead to a system mired in even more bureaucracy and will remove choice from doctors and patients – where it should stay.
Health care must be centered on the doctor-patient relationship, and patients must have the opportunity to choose the most suitable plan for themselves and for their families. Over the next eight weeks, this group of senators and I will discuss these conservative health care principles that we know can reform this broken system and bring a patient-centered, high-quality and low-cost system of health care to you and your families. Your health care is too important to wrap in red tape and place in the hands of a government bureaucrat.

Perhaps you can get student loans in Iraq

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080417/bs_nm/studentloans_salliemae_outlook_dc

Sallie Mae affirms outlook, warns of "train wreck"

I think I already asked this

http://www.alternet.org/rights/82426/

Why is David Vitter Still in Office and Not Eliot Spitzer?
Eliot Spitzer may have been a major hypocrite on prostitution -- but Vitter built his career on "traditional" family values and moral purity.

Amateur curmudgeons and armchair editorialists

http://blog.nola.com/chrisrose/2008/04/paying_respect_to_ashley_morri.html

Chris Rose: We'll miss the blogger next door

No confidence

"There's no reason for anyone to worry," Herr said. "That floodwall isn't going anywhere."

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-28/1208323232243710.xml&coll=1

Corps starts digging near levee leak
Debris creates path for seepage

Baton Rouge won't be the only city with an Apple Store

From Craig's List:

Apple Retail - Inventory Control Specialist - Metairie, LA - (Lakeside Mall)

Not that I would ever encourage anyone to do this...

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/15/war_tax_resistance_how_a_portland

War Tax Resistance: How a Portland Couple Have Refused to Pay Taxes for Over 30 Years to Protest Military Funding

There's got to be a name for a band here

Job listings from Craig's List:

$10,000 a Month Being Lazy not Predator...New Orleans

Warning Naked People earning $10,000 in 6 days...New Orleans

and we want a pole dancer with a rack:

Professional Pole Dancer Needed For Holographic Shoot

Bad citizen

I figured out that Monsanto was not a good corporate citizen when my ex-husband went to work at Monsanto in the mid-nineties (only for six months). He would come home with interesting tidbits about chemicals and trivia, like if the globe on the Monsanto property blew up, it would take half of Pensacola with it (we didn't know if it was true or not). Well, here's more of the dirty stuff on Monsanto from Vanity Fair. They have targeted Kleinpeter Dairy, now. I've been using Kleinpeter buttermilk for a while, but now I'm going to buy all my milk from them!

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto200805

Movies rented from the library

Wonderful Hubby loves the Eastbank Regional Library - he just loves to get free books. I keep explaining to them that they're not free - we pay for them through our property taxes - and that's one of the best examples of socialism in action. Nobody would propose to get rid of libraries or fire stations, yet, these are gleaming examples of things the government does right and we demand to have from a government (are you listening, critics of national health care?!).

Anyway, he rented two movies from the library: Ultimate Crop Circles and The Atomic Bomb Movie (we're on the FBI List, for sure, now). I tried to caution him that I didn't think this Atomic Bomb movie was going to be filled with awesome, pretty (?!) examples of atomic bombs exploding. As I expected, it depicted a militaristic society justifying extremely dangerous tests with careless disregard for residents and animals, verging on the brink of destroying our planet. A blatant example of what happens without regulation. Paranoia on the loose - insert enemy x to justify our actions (not that that has happened recently)! This movie made me utterly hopeless about civilization - I don't recommend renting it.

On the other hand, it sounds wacky, but you have to rent Ultimate Crop Circles! I thought of it prior to watching this movie as an interesting phenomenon, but now I want to get on the Internet and study it. Although it sounds like a bad 50s science fiction film, this is the account of Colin Andrews, a very believable and intelligent fellow and how he devoted his whole life to this study. There is even video of crop circles being made on the video. Very fascinating stuff!

PS: They're making a movie about Colin Andrews' life. Watch the trailer:

http://www.circularevidence.com/Promo.htm

Jennifer Beals steals the show

With the cast of The L Word.

Christine Lahti

Doris Roberts talks about "down there"

V to the Tenth from the nosebleeds

The Internet-ready version of the LED sign. This is the only time you'll ever see this in the Arena.

Amy Goodman at Barnes and Noble

I'm sorry if you missed Amy's inspirational speech last night, but you can still catch her at the Superdome this afternoon:



ORDINARY PEOPLE DOING EXTRAORDINARY THINGS
4:15-5:10 PM
Progressive journalist and Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman will then moderate a discussion about everyday activists doing extraordinary things: Jodie Evans, co-founder of CODE PINK, Oraia Reid, co-founder of RightRides for Women’s Safety, and Sunni Patterson, NOLA-based activist.

Have the coolest shirt at the Fests

http://www.rememberashleymorris.com/

My rant on red light cameras

One of the things that's really bugging me right now is cameras that give tickets at red lights. I applaud city governments that want to do something about people who totally disregard red lights. I don't know how many times I have almost been plowed into by trucks who ignore the red light as I'm exiting my neighborhood. BUT these cameras are criminalizing people who obey the law, too. But that's good news for the city or parish that is benefitting from these cameras. They are making HUGE amounts of money off these things.

Take for example, the intersection at Earhart and Carrollton. I found out the other day, as I slowed down and waited for the light to change rather than risking being caught in the middle of the intersection, that if you don't floor your car, you won't make it from one side of the intersection to the other before the light changes to red. This is now my strategy - they are making me drive like I'm in a freakin' NASCAR race - if the light has been green a while, I creep up to the light, waiting for it to change to red, and giving me a huge space between me and the car in front. If it doesn't change, then I keep it in first gear and nail it through the intersection, because if the light changes during that time, it's the only way to make it through legally, without speeding through the intersection (the other way to get a ticket). Isn't this freakin' absurd???!!!

As if $3.50 a gallon for gas didn't discourage you enough, as well as costs in NOLA that make you have to take out a second mortgage for car insurance, in addition to 12 year olds who want to steal your car if you don't equip it every second of the day with a club, an alarm, and a pit bull, now you have to have a ***damn strategy in order to drive our streets! I mean, *UCK!

Dubya said on February 28th that we weren't headed for a recession

And I'm afraid it's not just going to be just the US.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/7/headlines

Four Die in Food Riots in Haiti
In Haiti, at least four people have died during protests over the rising price of food. The prices of rice, beans and fruit have gone up by 50 percent in Haiti over the last year. The protests began on Thursday and continued over the weekend.

Food Riots Spread in Africa
Similar food riots have been occurring across Africa in recent weeks. In Burkina Faso, a nationwide strike has been called for Tuesday. Food riots have also been reported in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mauritania and Senegal. Last week, African finance ministers warned that the rise in international food prices “poses significant threats to Africa’s growth, peace and security.” In Sierra Leone the cost of rice has risen by 300 percent.

World Food Program: World is Facing “Perfect Storm”
Last month, the World Food Program issued an urgent appeal for an additional $500 million. Bettina Luescher of the World Food Program says the enormous spike in food prices is caused by a variety of factors.

Bettina Luescher: “I think what we are facing is a perfect storm. More and more people are going hungry and need food aid. At the same time, we’ve got the lowest food reserves in some thirty years on the markets. At the same time, prices have gone up tremendously, sometimes doubled in the last few months, and you’ve got climate change with less harvest, droughts, floods. So the situation is really critical, and we have to act now. We cannot waste time. We have to act now.”

Food Pantries in NYC Report Major Shortages
Meanwhile, here in this country food pantries are reporting major food shortages. Aina Duggan says the Food Bank for New York City has seen a sharp drop in food donations over the past year.

Aina Duggan: “We have less food in our warehouse. We’re practically seeing empty shelves every week in the warehouse, when we used to be brimming over and able to turn food around really quickly. What that means is that there’s less food in food pantries and soup kitchens around the city, and you literally have people standing in line for hours at a time waiting for food, only to be turned away because the food runs out.”

US Economy Loses 80,000 Jobs
In other economic news, the US economy lost 80,000 jobs in March, the biggest drop in five years. The official unemployment rate rose to 5.1 percent. Since the start of the year, over 230,000 jobs have disappeared.

Brian Fabbri, chief economist of BNP Paribas: “The job losses that we’ve seen over the first three months of this year are basic confirmation of the fact that we probably have been in recession all year long. The idea, I think, is that not only will job losses make things more difficult, it will obviously cause consumer confidence to plunge, but it will also make it more difficult for people to actually go out and buy more things. And this is the downward spiral then that lost jobs create for the economy.”

Posted too many times, but it's never enough

Please contribute to Ashley's fund

Our fellow blogger, Ashley Morris, left a wife with three little kidlets - if you have any cash that you can spare, please go to this site and contribute:

http://www.rememberashleymorris.com/

I am sure that anything you can give will be most appreciated.

Opening at BECA Gallery

Hurst (the miracle patient!), Wonderful Hubby, and Ray at BECA Gallery.

Thanks to all my friends who came to the opening last night, as well as Chef Chris, who got me fortified with some mighty good risotto prior, at the Delachaise!

Why is this man still our Senator?

More BS from David Vitter's office:

Dear Friends,
I hear from thousands of Louisianans each year about their struggles to pay for rising health care costs. During this important election year, health care has become an issue of national debate, and this month I joined with six other senators on an initiative designed to make sure that debate includes discussion about how we can best help individuals and families own their health insurance and prevent government bureaucracy from running American’s health care for them.

If you are interested in hearing more about this effort, please click on this link for video of my official statement on the initiative.

Now, more than ever, Americans are turning to Congress to fix a broken health care system. Too many of our neighbors are uninsured or cannot afford to pay for their prescriptions or doctor visits , and access to quality medical care is becoming more and more limited. Some members of Congress have misconstrued the public’s call to action as a mandate for a government-run health care system. But a federal government take-over of health care will only lead to a system mired in even more bureaucracy and will remove choice from doctors and patients – where it should stay.

Health care must be centered on the doctor-patient relationship, and patients must have the opportunity to choose the most suitable plan for themselves and for their families. There is a clear contrast between a liberal, government-controlled health care system and conservative reforms that can provide American families with choice and control.

Over the next eight weeks, this group of senators and I will discuss these conservative health care principles that we know can reform this broken system and bring a patient-centered, high-quality and affordable system of health care to you and your families. Your health care is too important to wrap in red tape and place in the hands of a government bureaucrat. This is your health – your family’s health – and the choices you need to make should be made by you and your doctor. My colleagues and I want to ensure that this power remains firmly in your hands and not in the hands of the federal government.

In recent years, my work to improve health care for you and your families has included authoring several amendments aimed at breaking down the barriers against reimporting safe, cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and at promoting the expansion of health savings accounts, among other measures. We need focused attention efforts like these to fix our broken health care system, and in the coming weeks we’ll be highlighting some of these concepts for reform.
-----------------------

My reply:

Senator Vitter,

Regarding your email on health care, the shape that New Orleans AND the country is in shows that the Free Market will NOT save us. The same is true for health care. Studies now show that a majority of physicians (and they're the ones who should know) favor a single-payer health care system. If I could sign up for Medicare right now, I would take it over the Blue Cross policy I have. Every other major "civilized" country in the world has national health care. Unfortunately, it is because of people like you that are out of touch with what's happening with real people that we don't have it here.

Sincerely,

Vicky

This is very sad...

...and is indicative of what is happening in our city and country. I happened to be driving down Magazine Street and shot this picture out of the car window.

More background:

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/wrecking_crews_demolish_magazi.html

Wrecking crews demolish Magazine Street home

More coverage of the Siegelman case

60 Minutes, Part II, Sunday, 6 PM
Dan Abrams on MSNBC, Monday, 8 PM.

These times are NOLA time (Central).

New Orleans has lost its biggest cheerleader

Ashley on the right - taken from his blog.

I read at lunch on his blog (http://ashleymorris.typepad.com/) that Ashley Morris passed away Wednesday, and I'm still trying to process the news. I didn't know him very well; I read his blog each day and we exchanged emails about some topics he wrote about, but I had the utmost respect for him. He said what he thought, and of course, there was no bigger cheerleader for this city. The country really can't afford to lose another person who's just "to the left of Che Guevera," either. And surely, Ashley contributed the term "fuckmook" to the English language. If he didn't coin the term, he certainly popularized it. It seems unreal that I'll no longer be able to click on his blog musings every day. I send my heartfelt sympathies to his wife and little kidlets; I can't even imagine what they're going through.

From Les Evenchick

Defend Public Housing and Working Class Activist Mike Howells

Jail the Real Criminal, not the Heroes

Long time New Orleans-based activist Mike Howells will be tried in Criminal Court on Thursday, April 3rd at 8:30 AM for his arrest during the December 20, 2007 city council hearing on public housing. In the macabre justice we have in this country, the victims, not the real criminals are being tried. Although Mike and others were a victim of police riot on December 20th, they are being tried, not those that illegally tear gassed, tasered and beat people that were simply trying to attend a city council hearing to express their opinions on a vital public policy issue. Come out Thursday morning to show your support for Mike, democratic rights, and to reject the criminal police state tactics used to silence dissent .

Thursday, April 3 8:30 AM
Orleans Parish Criminal Court
Tulane and Broad
Les Evenchick
New Orleans
piratefish@yahoo. com

Countrywide "we will charge you to winterize your flooded house" Mortgage to open records

I can't imagine that they've done anything wrong...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23923762/

Judge to let feds look at Countrywide records
Justice Department investigating whether lender abused borrowers

Sorry, I'm first in line

April 10, 2008
New Orleans, LA

Award-winning journalist Amy Goodman, host of the daily, grassroots, global, radio/TV news hour Democracy Now!, is on a national speaking tour to mark DN!'s 12th anniversary and launch her third book with journalist David Goodman, Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times.

WHEN: 7pm
WHERE: Barnes and Noble at 3721 Veterans Boulevard in Metairie, LA
DESCRIPTION: A talk and booksigning with journalist Amy Goodman.
TICKETS: Free

I believe I already warned you about this

Did you really think that Jindal was going to unleash some surplus to help rebuild NOLA? That would require acknowledging that New Orleans is part of the state of Louisiana! I guess we should be happy with our handout to open 100 mental health beds (although that's dreadfully short of what is actually needed). I will reserve judgement until the session is over; hopefully, with the state's surplus, that's just the beginning. I'm not holding my breath, though. After all, it is more important to help people who want to send their kids to private school.

http://www.fox8live.com/www/NewsItem.aspx?NewsID=4404

Legislative Session Begins

And so do I

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/4/1/headlines#5

We're at the end of healthcare. Or at least I am. I can't go to the doctor unless I'm dying or until we get new insurance.

59 Percent of US Doctors Back National Healthcare Plan
In medical news, a new survey shows nearly 60 percent of US doctors said they support a national healthcare plan such as a single-payer system. The survey of 2,000 doctors was published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Dr. Ronald Ackermann, the co-author of the study, said, “Across the board, more physicians feel that our fragmented and for-profit insurance system is obstructing good patient care, and a majority now support national insurance as the remedy.”