A Few Words In Defense Of Our Country

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

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We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Complete Text

Yesterday and Today

The first Persian Gulf War in 1991 was a watershed event for CNN that catapulted the network past the "big three" American networks for the first time in its history, largely due to an unprecedented, historical scoop: CNN was the only news outlet with the ability to communicate from inside Iraq during the initial hours of the Coalition bombing campaign, with live reports from the al-Rashid Hotel in Baghdad… Wikipedia

As the age of newspapers seems to move closer to its end, and real-time, online, and citizen journalism grows in strength and credibility, this incident may in fact turn out to be an important part of media history: The day when the best news of the day was brought to you in 140 characters or less. Yahoo News

Maybe CNN should have taken CNNi feed last evening. But it was middle of the night in Iran, and even journalists have to rest sometimes. Howard Kurtz

This is CNN irrelevance

June 16th

Happy Bloomsday!

Okay, so this post is becoming a yearly thing. Folse has new content and a suggestion for some June 16^th activities.

As for me, much like last year, I’ve been rather busy. I didn’t make it to Dublin, or to Davy Byrne's pub for a Guinness…and I never finished Ulysses, for that matter, either.

STATELY, PLUMP BUCK MULLIGAN CAME FROM THE STAIRHEAD, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. A yellow dressing gown, ungirdled, was sustained gently-behind him by the mild morning air. He held the bowl aloft and intoned:

-- Introibo ad altare Dei.

Halted, he peered down the dark winding stairs and called up coarsely:

-- Come up, Kinch. Come up, you fearful jesuit.

Solemnly he came forward and mounted the round gunrest. He faced about and blessed gravely thrice the tower, the surrounding country and the awaking mountains. Then, catching sight of Stephen Dedalus, he bent towards him and made rapid crosses in the air, gurgling in his throat and shaking his head. Stephen Dedalus, displeased and sleepy, leaned his arms on the top of the staircase and looked coldly at the shaking gurgling face that blessed him, equine in its length, and at the light untonsured hair, grained and hued like pale oak.

And here's a little Minutemen for your entertainment...

Waiting For The Man

Nagin, who is in Australia attending a conference on climate change, told The Associated Press that after a series of offers and counteroffers, Chevron has accepted the city's bid of $8 million, which he said is the property's appraised value. TP

So it appears that Nagin might actually accomplish something he said he would. But I have to qualify that by pointing out that buying the building and actually moving City Hall are two very different things. And it is when that word “actually” crops up with C Ray, that thing usually fall apart.

But I will give him this, it looked like this was one of his usual “visions” that get no further than the teleprompter.

This is of course totally ignore the issue of whether this is a good idea and whether this is the appropriate time to move forward on it.

Personally, I am tepidly in support of the idea for various reasons. I am not unswayed by the arguments against it, just that I find the scale tipped a tad to the “for” side at this point. There are a lot of things that could change the equation for me, so don’t consider me a cheerleader for this by any means. One positive point is that with C Ray on the case this will progress on a glacial/FEMA timescale so there will be plenty of time and other administrations to assess and re-asses everything.

I Ain't Got Nobody

Gone, but never to be forgotton…I was blown away at his first and only 2002 Jazz Fest performance.

Keith Spera has a great write up of the 7^th ward original

"Louis's ace-in-the-hole was Sam Butera," said Gia Prima, the fifth of Louis's five wives and the singer in his band from 1962 to 1975. "That animal attraction that they had, with Sam's honking sax and Louis's jumping and jiving -- without Sam, Louis couldn't have pulled it off."

Here he is with Louis Prima in their prime:

Death’s Door

Apparently a camel farted somewhere in Africa and the Corp(se) of Engineers assures us that we’re all going to die be safe, so we should all set our hair on fire and run to get in line now, fubar FEMA’s got the popcorn ready.

Its June 1^st. So get your gris gris on and make nice with that one legged god, and keep repeating the word "earth".

Crawling Back to You

A week after she was indicted on federal racketeering charges, former state Rep. and New Orleans City Councilwoman Renee Gill Pratt has taken an unpaid leave of absence from her job at Southern University at New Orleans. TP

And the saga continues…

Gordon Russell has a great article on Mose Jefferson, the indicted brother and behind the scenes power broker of indicted former Congressman Bill Jefferson in today TP. Here is a quote that jumped out at me.

A candidate backed by the Jefferson establishment could count on certain things: armies of street workers canvassing voters on election day, fliers in every mailbox, signs in many yards. TP

Some would call that the good-ole-days.

I believe that we may be seeing the end of last great era of the old school of politics/corruption/good-ole-boy network in this town. I am not directing this at one particular often identified group to which it could be said Gill Pratt belongs (other than the Jefferson clan). Lots of people have had their hand in running the city into the ground for personal gain, fun and profit over the years, and they are all scrambling in the new post-K political environment. And for most of them the reality of that has not even begun to sink in.

What I’m getting at is this. I think a lot more people than are given credit had a come to Jesus moment during Katrina and its aftermath. I think people of all stripes realized that they had been getting sold a bill of good over the years, that the very people who pledged to do for them, were really only doing for themselves. Or they realized that the corruption in those neighborhoods across the road they had accepted or ignored really was their problem.

Many people who had been willing to tolerate it, or thrown up their hands at it before, realized they couldn’t abide or abet it anymore. Some got involved, others chose to stay home on election day and let the chips fall where they may, most simply paid attention and tried to make the best decision they could. That may not have always worked for the best, but the saga of Rene Gil Pratt probably confirms that often it did.

The most tantalizing development of post-Katrina New Orleans is the lack of most of the old time operatives to “deliver the votes” neatly packaged with a bow in the ways they once did. Some would “blame” the displacement of the storm for this, and that was a factor for a time, but the loss of Bill Jefferson to a Republican of all people really showed something.

But this is not just a Jefferson thing, nor a “black” thing or a “white” thing. Lakeview sent the Burneau clan packing and that story has been repeated in all corners of the city (the Audubon or “Kings of Carnival” crowd will, however, continue to back unelectable candidates in hopes of some grand restoration of their status as lords of the city while the wedding announcements continue to reveal that “the couple will reside in Atlanta/Houston/Beigeboxland).

It has not always worked out for the best, but the saga of Rene Gil Prat and Jefferson’s should give us some hope. And despite the best efforts of a lot of desparate people and a spineless newspaper, I do not think a race war is apon us. On the contrary, I think we could (with a push and a little bit of leadership) be heading for what might be called the first "post-racial" election in the cities history.