Tuesday, October 23, 2007

CLICK HERE !!



NEW GOURMET BREAKFAST


Perk up your day with breakfast at Marigny Perks!


Have a delicious breakfast from Billy’s Bites. Yes, that’s the same Billy who provides our Red Velvet Cupcakes, Quiche, Banana Bread and more. Most are right at $5.00. What a deal!


There's a different selection each day. Here are only a few of what available:

A single serving frittata of eggs, smoked provolone, and roasted vegetables, sandwiched in a savory blue cheese walnut buttermilk biscuit. Served with cheesy grits and a sweet potato casserole muffin.


Spinach/Feta quiche served with three pimento cheese corn mini muffins and a homemade sweet potato casserole muffin.


Hash browned potatoes, onions, peppers, and scrambled eggs, served over a thick slice of cheddar onion toast and topped with cheddar cheese. Served with a homemade sweet potato casserole muffin.


A single serving frittata of eggs, smoked provolone, and roasted vegetables, sandwiched in a savory blue cheese walnut buttermilk biscuit. Served with cheesy grits and a lemon poppy seed cheesecake muffin.


Spinach/Feta quiche served with three pimento cheese corn mini muffins and a lemon poppy seed cheesecake muffin.


Baked French toast, stuffed with fruit, sweetened cream cheese and walnuts.


Hash browned potatoes, onions, peppers, and eggs, baked over grits toast and topped with cheddar cheese. Served with a lemon poppy seed cheesecake muffin.


Monday, October 22, 2007

CLICK HERE !!

NEW gourmet breakfast

Perk up your day with breakfast at Marigny Perks! Starting Monday, October 22nd, we’ll have a new and delicious breakfast from Billy’s Bites. Yes, that’s the same Billy who provides our Red Velvet Cupcakes, Quiche, Banana Bread and more.

We’ll have a daily special in addition to our usual menu of breakfast items. Monday’s feature breakfast item is baked French toast, stuffed with fruit, sweetened cream cheese and walnuts. Every day or so we’ll add another selection. We’ll have:

A single serving frittata of eggs, smoked provolone, and roasted vegetables, sandwiched in a savory blue cheese walnut buttermilk biscuit. Served with cheesy grits and a sweet potato casserole muffin.


Spinach/Feta quiche served with three pimento cheese corn mini muffins and a homemade sweet potato casserole muffin.


Hash browned potatoes, onions, peppers, and scrambled eggs, served over a thick slice of cheddar onion toast and topped with cheddar cheese. Served with a homemade sweet potato casserole muffin.


A single serving frittata of eggs, smoked provolone, and roasted vegetables, sandwiched in a savory blue cheese walnut buttermilk biscuit. Served with cheesy grits and a lemon poppy seed cheesecake muffin.


Spinach/Feta quiche served with three pimento cheese corn mini muffins and a lemon poppy seed cheesecake muffin.


Hash browned potatoes, onions, peppers, and eggs, baked over grits toast and topped with cheddar cheese. Served with a lemon poppy seed cheesecake muffin.

Monday, October 15, 2007

CLICK HERE !!

Three stories from the highway:

A Bloomington, IL policeman had a perfect spot to watch for speeders, but wasn't getting many. Then he discovered the problem - a 12-year-old boy was standing up the road with a hand painted sign, which read "RADAR TRAP AHEAD". The officer then found a young accomplice down the road with a sign reading "TIPS" and a bucket full of money. (And we used to just sell lemonade!)

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A motorist was mailed a picture of his car speeding through an automated radar post in Peoria, IL. ..... a $40 speeding ticket was included. Being cute, he sent the police department a picture of $40 bill. The police responded with another mailed photo of ...............................handcuffs.

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A young woman was pulled over for speeding. An Illinois State Trooper walked to her car window and flipped open his ticket book. She though humor might help the situation so she said,"I bet you are going to sell me a ticket to the State Troopers Ball. He replied, "Illinois State Troopers don't have balls." There was a moment of silence while she smiled, and he realized what he'd just said. He then closed his book, got back in his patrol car and left. She was laughing too hard to start her car!!.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Click here for fun!

A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though it was a very large mammal its throat was very small.

The little girl stated that Jonah was swallowed by a whale. Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human; it was physically impossible.

he little girl said, "When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah".

The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"

The little girl replied, "Then you ask him".


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Kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's work.

As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was?

The girl replied, "I'm drawing God."

The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like."

Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing, the girl eplied,
"They will in a minute."
_______________________________________________
Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the commandment to "honor" thy Father and thy Mother, she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"

Without missing a beat one little boy (the > oldest of a family) answered,"Thou shall not kill."

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

K-Ville at Marigny Perks

Join us each Monday night at 8pm to watch the next installment of K-Ville on the TV at the shop. For those who care to, we'll be getting together about 7pm to discuss the series. Come and bring your opinions.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

NEW! All Humor

I'll be putting up humor regularly on the "Coffee Talk" page. When you click on the Blog link, it'll take you to current news about the shop programs as well as more humor.

Something to laugh about

KIDS IN CHURCH
3-year-old Reese: "Our Father, Who does art in heaven, Harold is His name. Amen."

A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am."

After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, "That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys."

One particular four-year-old prayed, "And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets."

A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they were on the way to church service, "And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?" One bright little girl replied, "Because people are sleeping."

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin 5, and Ryan 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. "If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, 'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.' Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus!"

A father was at the beach with his children when the four-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore where a seagull lay dead in the sand. "Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked. "He died and went to Heaven," the Dad replied. The boy thought a moment and then said, "Did God throw him back down?"

A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" "I wouldn't know what to say," the girl replied. "Just say what you hear Mommy say," the wife answered. The daughter bowed her head and said, "Lord , why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

Friday, September 7, 2007

Want to buy or sell property?

We'll have a mortgage expert on the weekly program this Thursday, 9/13 at 6pm. It is not hopeless! Vivian Lehmann has over 20 years experience in all aspects of the mortgage business. Her expertise in FHA, including 203K, VA, Conforming, Non-Conforming, Rehab, One Time Close, Investment and Residential purchase and refinance transactions affords a comprehensive loan product review.

Monday, September 3, 2007

Colin Powell Redux

Paul Krugman has alerted us to yet another Bush scam. You can read his article on the "Coffee Talk" page and there's a place for your comments. Its time to email our elected officials and the media to let them know we want journalists to be skeptics, not stenographers and we want politicians who are independent thinkers. We can demand it and we should. (Coffee Talk is at http://www.marignyperks.com/)

Friday, August 31, 2007

Welcome Decadence Visitors

Come for the Java, leave with Joe. We're open early and open latte. Its coffee, with perks. There's a Rainbow Flag flying over our door and a warm welcome inside. Stop by the little shop in the Marigny or visit us online at www.marignyperks.com.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

What's happened to the Republican party?

What is it with these sexually frustrated Republicans? Lets look at the list. Most recently, Senator Craig has been caught looking for sex in a public bathroom.

Then there was Mark Foley of Florida, who quit the House last year after exchanging sexually explicit e-mail messages with under-age male pages, or Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist whose dealings with the old Republican Congress landed him in prison. They are old news, replaced by a fresh crop of scandal-plagued Republicans, men like Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, whose phone number turned up on the list of the so-called D.C. Madam, or Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska and Representative Rick Renzi of Arizona, both caught up in F.B.I. corruption investigations.

Washington does not have a monopoly on the latest trend among Republicans. Just ask Thomas Ravenel, the state treasurer of South Carolina, who had to step down as state chairman of Rudolph W. Giuliani’s presidential campaign after he was indicted on cocaine charges in June.
Or Bob Allen, a state representative in Florida who was jettisoned from the John McCain campaign last month after he was arrested on charges of soliciting sex in a public restroom.

Other than William Jefferson, the Democrats can't compete in the corruption derby. What has happened to the modern Republican party?

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Free Coffee Drink

Click on "Coffee Talk" to find out how you can get a free drink. Go to www.marignyperks.com

Beloved fry cook

A legendary Burger King employee, known across the land for the heroic and selfless deed of randomly inserting a single onion ring among the french fries of unsuspecting customers, is believed to have recently resurfaced in this sleepy Illinois town, sources reported Monday.
"That onion ring was such a pleasant surprise," said Burger King patron Richard Jameson, 37, who claimed that he caught a blue-and-yellow blur out of the corner of his eye, but before he could personally thank the mysterious figure, the "Employees Only" door was already closed. "If you're reading this, good sir, thank you."
While none can predict when or at which Burger King franchise the beloved fry cook will strike next, he will not rest as long as his evil nemesis continues placing shriveled-up, nasty brown fries in people's orders

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

FDA approves second helpings

WASHINGTON, DC—In a surprising reversal of its longtime single-helping policy, the Food and Drug Administration announced its approval of seconds Tuesday, claiming that an additional plateful of food with every meal can greatly reduce the risk of hunger as well as provide an excellent source of deliciousness. Have another croissant.

Sunday, August 19, 2007

How to measure success in Iraq

Click on Coffee Talk for the definition of success in Iraq. Coffee Talk can be found at www.marignyperks.com

Friday, August 17, 2007

Contacting me

When you post a comment, you are anonymous and I'm unable to reply. If you want me to respond, post your comment on the Coffee Talk page at http://www.marignyperks.com/. That's a forum designed for dialogue. Alternatively, you can write to me directly at marignyperks@yahoo.com. Either way, I'm happy to hear from you.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

The damage they've done

What's so familiar? It's not that the headlines remind me of prior administrations. Its that this one is so alarmingly consistent. They are incompetent, dishonest and arrogant. I don't have any hope for change as long as they are in power. Some of the damage is probably permanent. Some can eventually be repaired.

I wonder if the truth about Bobby Jindal will come out. If it does, it won't be good for Jindal.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

More headlines

Not General Petraeus: White House To Write September Iraq Evaluation

US Mine Safety Czar Is Another Bush Fox Guarding the Henhouse

Government Spy Satellites To Be Used On Americans

Pentagon: Army Suicides At Highest Rate In 26 Years

Its all so dreadfully familiar.

Eggs on the sidewalk

Somehow, "it's hot" doesn't quite capture it. Only the tourists and the muggers remain on the streets. At night, a hustler languidly leans against a lamp post in the French Quarter. Men in jeans and tee shirts sweat profusely. Women fan themselves to move the hot, damp air around a bit. Air conditioners run constantly, struggling to cool the baking buildings.

When I was a child, growing up in New Orleans, the urban legend was that you could cook an egg on the sidewalk because of the heat. I never hear that anymore and wonder if its just children who spread such stories.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Be Offended

Lets consider four words and how the media presents them. The words are: liberal, conservative, moderate, and extremist.

Liberal and Conservative are political philosophies. Moderate and Extremist describe intensity and degree and may be adjectives to describe either liberals or conservatives.

In its rush for ratings, television likes to present extremist liberals and extremist conservatives in debate and call it balanced. That is as balanced as standing with one foot in boiling water and the other foot in ice water. In this formulation; the calm reasonable voices of moderates are not heard at all.

Bush does this for political reasons. Fox does it to fire up the conservative base. CNN does it for ratings. They all polarize the national conversation and, in the process, insult us.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Today's headlines

Here is the state of affairs, as told by today's headlines:

This, of course, is only a slim sampling.

There are Republican scandals that seem to be erupting regularly now. (The latest is the head of the college Republicans accused of giving a blow job to a sleeping guy. His defense was that it was mutual. It wouldn't matter if they weren't so holier than thou.)

There are Republican political dirty tricks, showing that their leaders lack both moral and ethical standards

You say, "But they all do it". Actually, no. They do not all do it. The current crop of conservatives set high records of low behavior. It is not because they are conservative. It is because they lack a moral and ethical compass, are intellectually dishonest, and suffer from hubris.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Click on Coffee Talk

Haved you seen the Borne Ultimatum? I thought it was the best of the three. Its at the Prytania, which is the last locally owned, neighborhood movie theater in town. There are a couple of interesting movies at Canal Place I want to see. What about you? What's your next movie to see? You can find Coffee Talk at www.marignyperks.com.

Monday, August 6, 2007

Hillary looks like Bush?

Obama calls Hillary's foreign policy "Bush lite". Would Hillary as President be a continuation of Bush style governance? Read on:

August 6, 2007
Op-Ed Columnist
The Substance Thing
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Two presidential elections ago, the conventional wisdom said that George W. Bush was a likable, honest fellow. But those of us who actually analyzed what he was saying about policy came to a different conclusion — namely, that he was irresponsible and deeply dishonest. His numbers didn’t add up, and in his speeches he simply lied about the content of his own proposals.
In the fifth year of the disastrous war Mr. Bush started on false pretenses, it’s clear who was right. What a candidate says about policy, not the supposedly revealing personal anecdotes political reporters love to dwell on, is the best way to judge his or her character.
So what are the current presidential candidates saying about policy, and what does it tell us about them?
Well, none of the leading Republican candidates have said anything substantive about policy. Go through their speeches and campaign materials and you’ll see a lot of posturing, especially about how tough they are on terrorists — but nothing at all about what they actually plan to do.
In fact, I suspect that the real reason most of the Republicans are ducking a YouTube debate is that they’re afraid they would be asked questions about policy, rather than being invited to compare themselves to Ronald Reagan.
But didn’t Rudy Giuliani just announce a health care plan? No, he vaguely described a tax cut proposal that he says would do something good for health care. (Most experts disagree.) But he offered no specifics about how the plan would work, how much it would cost or how he would pay for it.
As Ezra Klein of The American Prospect has pointed out, in the speech announcing his “plan” — and since no policy document has been released, the speech is all we have to go on — Mr. Giuliani never uttered the word “uninsured.” He did, however, repeatedly denounce “socialized medicine” or some variant thereof.
The entire G.O.P. field, then, fails the substance test.
There is, by contrast, a lot of substance on the Democratic side, with John Edwards forcing the pace. Most notably, in February, Mr. Edwards transformed the whole health care debate with a plan that offers a politically and fiscally plausible path to universal health insurance.
Whatever the fate of the Edwards candidacy, Mr. Edwards will deserve a lot of the credit if and when we do get universal care in this country.
Mr. Edwards has also offered a detailed, sensible plan for tax reform, and some serious antipoverty initiatives.
Four months after the Edwards health care plan was announced, Barack Obama followed with a broadly similar but somewhat less comprehensive plan. Like Mr. Edwards, Mr. Obama has also announced a serious plan to fight poverty.
Hillary Clinton, however, has been evasive. She conveys the impression that there’s not much difference between her policy positions and those of the other candidates — but she’s offered few specifics. In particular, unlike Mr. Edwards or Mr. Obama, she hasn’t announced a specific universal care plan, or explicitly committed herself to paying for health reform by letting some of the Bush tax cuts expire.
For those who believe that the time for universal care has come, this lack of specifics is disturbing. In fact, what Mrs. Clinton said about health care in February’s Democratic debate suggested a notable lack of urgency: “Well, I want to have universal health care coverage by the end of my second term.”
On Saturday, at the YearlyKos Convention in Chicago, she sounded more forceful: “Universal health care will be my highest domestic priority as president.” But does this represent a real change in position? It’s hard to know, since she has said nothing about how she would cover the uninsured.
And even if you believe Mrs. Clinton’s contention that her positions could never be influenced by lobbyists’ money — a remark that drew boos and hisses from the Chicago crowd — there’s reason to worry about the big contributions she receives from the insurance and drug industries. Are they simply betting on the front-runner, or are they also backing the Democratic candidate least likely to hurt their profits?
All of the leading Democratic candidates are articulate and impressive. It’s easy to imagine any of them as president. But after what happened in 2000, it worries me that Mrs. Clinton is showing an almost Republican aversion to talking about substance.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Weak Foundations

A bridge and the Bush presidency were built on weak foundations. The bridge lacked strength. The Bush reign lacks honesty. Neither the bridge nor Bush are competent to carry the load.

We will replace both and maybe learn something as a result of these disasters. Engineers will study the bridge to improve future bridge construction and safety. We, as voters, need to question politicians in the future. We let Bush scam us and the price for that is terrible. Next time a president sounds like a used car salesman, resist.

The answer in our civic life is to question.

Friday, August 3, 2007

Marigny Perks Contest

There was a tie for first place: Billy with his "drink coffee, you can sleep when you're dead" table and Aly with his New Orleans table. Both were awarded a gift certificate for an astrological forecast by D.K. Brainard. The runners up will get a week of free coffee. Johnel received a special award for her "Queen of the Perks" table, along with a chocolate cake.

There was a good turnout and Princesse Stephaney charmed the group as the Mistress of Ceremony.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

TONIGHT ! Friday

Come to the shop at 8pm and enjoy Princesse Stephaney as she conducts the awards ceremony for the table decorating contest. Have some free snack food and a good time at the shop tonight. Directions, a map and more are on the web site at http://www.marignyperks.com/

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

And the winner of the table decorating contest is ------

The votes are counted and the winner is ---going to be announced at an Award Ceremony at 8pm this Friday, Aug. 3rd and Princesse Stephaney will be the Mistress of Ceremony. We'll have snacks available at no cost.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Gossip

I think there are more trinkets to come from the Vitter float in the Scandal Parade. I hear that Mike Foster had Vitter investigated when Foster was promoting Bobby Jindal for Governor and Vitter was running against him. There were stories floating around that Vitter was into kinky sex with prostitutes and, supposedly, Foster got the goods on him and forced him out of the race.

If that's true it would prove that these people have no shame - and no integrity.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Saturday at the Perks

Here are current events at the shop:

this Saturday, the 28th, meet at the shop and we'll all go together to see Hairspray at Canal Place. We'll leave the shop at 7:00pm.

next Saturday, Aug. 4th, the awards ceremony for the table decorating contest is at 8pm. The fabulous Princesse Stephaney will be the Mistress of Ceremony for the event. Don't miss it!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Crock Pot Gumbo & Hairspray

There's an interesting recipe on Coffee Talk. Just click on the link and it'll take you right to it. What do you think? How does it sound to you? Just go to http://www.marignyperks.com/ to get to the Coffee Talk page.

We're going to see Hairspray at Canal Place this Saturday night (July 28th). Meet at the shop (go to web site for address and map) at 7pm and we can car pool over to the movie.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

A moral failure

What shall we do about Iraq? It is widely thought that a bloodbath will follow our departure if we leave now and that it will take 5 to 10 years to stabilize the country if we stay. It will be a moral failure if we leave, yet that is what we must do. Bush points to "progress" in Iraq but its must more of his political trickery. Of course, our military prevails when it can engage directly. But everybody agrees that we cannot succeed without a political solution. Certainly, it would help to reach a political solution there if our military could provide stability and put a lid on the violence. However, I don't think the political system in Iraq could function even in a stable, violence-free environment. The surge is necessary but not sufficient. The country has no history of democracy, it lacks the institutions and traditions, and it lacks the desire. None of the parties there want to compromise - they want to win.

We invade their country, wreck a lot of it (there is less electricity now than when Saddam was in charge), and leave. Bush is gradually forcing us into a moral failure.

Failure at the top

The people in charge of our country have failed. They don't seem to have a firm grasp of reality - or truth. How striking it is that the bright spot is the sight of our Secretary of Defense in tears.

Did you see the clip of Defense Secretary Gates chocking up as he spoke movingly of the loss of life and limb in Iraq? It was a relief to see a top official acknowledge the awful cost of this war. The arrogant Rummy was dismissive. The obtuse W. seems incapable of understanding how inappropriate his sunny spirits are. And the callous Cheney’s robo-aggression continues unabated. At least Gates gets it.

Gates and Secretary of State Rice have teamed up to try to bring reality into our policies. (One White House official was quoted as saying, "We create our own reality". That is a diagnosable mental illness.)

We don't hear much about "victory" in Iraq anymore and we never hear the phrase, "cut and run". Now we hear about competing exit strategies. Bush clings to his Iraq fantasy as the sons and daughters of the nation loose life and limb. Almost everyone else realizes we have lost. The Iraq Parliament is about to go on a month long vacation (which was originally a 2 month vacation, until the Bush administration talked them out of it). The only reason for the surge in troops is to buy time for a political solution. Even if our military is completely, 100% successful; the political solution it would provide breathing space for is nowhere in sight.

Bush's political advisor, Karl Rove, is expert at spin and manipulation. He knows how to tell part of the truth to mislead the listener. He is clever at conflating unlike or even contradictory elements into a false statement that sound good. He is a master of the reasonable sounding non sequitur.

It is a disgrace that all Rove's cleverness is being used by Bush to trick and mislead America.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Click on Coffee Talk

Tell us something about yourself: home town, school, hobby, relationship, etc. As for me, well today it seems like my life is all about coffee in the morning and ice cream at night. Everything else is just filler.

I saw Bush being confident again. That does not reassure me. Its frightening. He's so divorced from reality he should have therapy, not an army. All his shuckn and jivin and dancing around facts and truth looks like a criminal's behavior when caught in the act.

We are spending about 12 billion dollars a month in Iraq. That's billion, not million. Where is all that money going? Is anybody auditing the books? Are there any books to audit?

The Home for the Criminally Insane is being run by the inmates.

PS........Coffee Talk is a page on http://www.marignyperks.com/

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Boys gettin' hitched

Check out the post on the Coffee Talk page and add your opinion. Its interesting. In my usual Unitarian way, I come down firmly on both sides of the question. Unitarian, by the way, is a free and liberal religion with no required creed. Its a very old religion and someday I'll write about it. It requires independent thinking to work well. We are the people who pray To Whom it May Concern. The Coffee Talk page is at www.marignyperks.com .

Bagdad Summer

The New York Times has a "must read" this morning. It is well worth your time. I've posted it at www.marignyperks.com. Click on "Coffee Talk" and its the first post listed. Read it and post your comments about it.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Ya' just can't trust these guys

Frank Rich wrote scathingly about Michael Chertoff, the homeland security chief who was President Bush's fallback choice for secretary of Homeland Security after Bernard Kerik (who turned out to have somewhat of a criminal background). Chertoff is best remembered for his tragicomic performance during Katrina. He gave his underling, the woeful Brownie, a run for the gold.


It was Mr. Chertoff who announced that the Superdome in New Orleans was "secure" even as the other half of the split screen offered graphic evidence otherwise. It was Mr. Chertoff who told NPR that he had "not heard a report of thousands of people in the convention center who do not have food and water," even after his fellow citizens had been inundated with such reports all day long.


With Brownie as the designated fall guy, Mr. Chertoff kept his job. Since then he has attracted notice only when lavishing pork on terrorist targets like an Alabama petting zoo while reducing grants to New York City. Though Mr. Chertoff may be the man standing between us and Armageddon, he is seen as a leader of stature only when standing next to his cabinet mate Gonzo Gonzales.


But even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Last week, as the Bush administration frantically tried to counter Republican defections from the war in Iraq, Mr. Chertoff alone departed from the administration's script to talk about the enemy that actually did attack America on 9/11, Al Qaeda, rather than Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the jihad-come-lately gang Mr. Bush is fond of talking about instead. In this White House, the occasional official who strays off script is in all likelihood inadvertently coughing up the truth.


Mr. Chertoff was promptly hammered for it. His admission of "a gut feeling" that America might be vulnerable to a terrorist attack this summer was universally ridiculed as a gaffe. He then tried to retreat, but as he did so, his dire prognosis was confirmed by an intelligence leak. The draft of a new classified threat assessment found that Al Qaeda has regrouped and is stronger than at any time since 2001. Its operational base is the same ungoverned Pakistan wilderness where we've repeatedly failed to capture Osama bin Laden dead or alive for six years. That news doesn't fit with Mr. Rove's political agenda, so Bush tried to dilute it by saying that it wasn't as bad as it would have been without his "war on terrorism". What????


Bush continues to conflate 9-11 with whatever his political agenda is at the moment.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Lazy Journalism

Here we go again. No sooner had President Bush commuted the sentence of Scooter Libby than the media launched into its usual, knee-jerk attempt to analyze the response to the decision in terms of right vs left.

Airwaves and news pages were quickly filled with talk of "outrage from the left," "criticism from the left," and how the commutation "will further drive the left crazy."

It's positively Pavlovian. Ring the issue bell, and reporters start to drool about right vs left. Even when the facts show that the Libby commutation -- like the war in Iraq, like the war on drugs, like global warming -- is not an issue that splits along right/left lines.

In a SurveyUSA poll taken immediately after the commutation was announced, 60 percent of those surveyed said they disagreed with the decision, including 35 percent of conservatives. And, in an earlier Time magazine/SRBI poll, 72 percent said they would disapprove of a pardon. So unless "the left" has recently had an incredible growth spurt, a lot of people on the so-called "right" are feeling outraged too.

Is it really that hard for the media to address this issue without the left/right crutch? Or, if journalists and pundits insist on hobbling along using that musty terminology, can they at least do a little research and see that there are plenty on "the right" who aren't exchanging high-fives over Libby dodging the prison bullet?

Can someone please alert the media: not every issue fits your cherished right/left paradigm. Indeed, that way of looking at the world is becoming less and less relevant -- and more and more absurd.

Its even worse when the media claims balance by presenting two extremists (one liberal and one conservative).

That's like claiming balance when standing with one foot in a bucket of boiling water and the other foot in a bucket of ice.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Vittermania, Part 2

There is more about the Vitter affair. I had been reading about Vitter's diaper fetish and now the AP is reporting it. There are two points to be made beside the obvious hypocrisy.

One is that he called the prostitute from the halls of Congress, on government time.

The other is that he characterized it as a sin and went on to say he had asked for and received forgiveness from his wife and God (wonder how he knows God forgave him) - thereby putting an end to it. I'm less concerned about his sins than his crimes and he also committed a crime.

I think there is more on the diaper fetish. Do you want to know?

Friday, July 13, 2007

Get your mug in Marigny Perks

Check out the stylish new mugs for sale. There are two designs of these Faubourg Marigny commemorative mugs and each is $8.00.

I want to encourage everyone to go to the web site (www.marignyperks.com) and look at the page, "Coffee Talk". Its a forum page and we need participation to get it going. Take a look and jump in.

Vittermania

Stories about David Vitter fly around the Internet - maybe there's some truth in them. I just looked at his website and there is nothing on it about his current troubles. I read that a former Democratic governor is on the prostitute's call list. Well, at least we know it wasn't Edwards. He's safely tucked away.

Vitter's troubles are our troubles. The same is true of Congressman Jefferson. We need strong leadership in Congress to help secure our fair federal aid for Katrina recovery. These two lost their influence and effectiveness in representing our interests. Did you know that New York after 9-11 and Florida after hurricane Andrew were both forgiven the 10% local match requirement to get FEMA funds. Louisiana has been refused forgiveness of the 10% match requirement. A community reeling from a natural disaster is in no position to come up with up front matching funds. We need strong and influential representation in Washington and these guys don't help. If we still had John Breaux and Robert Livingston we would be in a better position.

Tomorrow: How the media weakens our country.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Starbucks looses

A reader points out that Starbucks could re-open one of the two stores they abandoned on Mag. St. after Katrina.

I can think of only one at the moment but that one is interesting. It sits on the corner of Magazine and Nashville, across the street from a locally owned coffee shop. I met with the owner of the local shop and she told me it was a struggle to compete with Starbucks, but she held on. Now Starbucks is gone and the local shop is still open.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Starbucks in the French Quarter

Last Friday there was an article in the paper about Starbucks in the quarter. I'll do a little copy and paste below:


"Starbucks Coffee Co. has withdrawn its lease application for a premiere retail site at the corner of St. Ann and Chartres streets on historic Jackson Square.


La Madeleine French Bakery and Restaurant, which operated at the site for 23 years, did not reopen after Hurricane Katrina because it failed to get a concession on its lease payments. Several other retailers in what is known as the Lower Pontalba building were granted such concessions by the Louisiana State Museum, which owns the building, because they were struggling to cope with the post-storm slowdown in tourism. In May, news that Starbucks was seeking the former La Madeleine location prompted support from local merchants who believed the coffee giant would attract foot traffic. But still other local business owners said the chain would be out of place in the historic atmosphere. This week the museum issued a brief statement saying that Starbucks withdrew its lease application and that the only other applicant, local chef Scott Boswell, was still being considered. Boswell, owner of the Stella! and Stanley restaurants, wants to put a restaurant in the location"



What do you think? Would you want Starbucks in the quarter?

Monday, July 9, 2007

The comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought

Our myths are formed by beliefs we hold that have no basis in fact. Its our myths that allows us to have the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. Thus we accept new information that may be irrational or false as long as it fits our mythology. We reject clear facts and logic if they conflict with our myths. Its how we elect idiots to high public office and how we fall in love. We are irrational beings in an irrational world.


Our myths are also formed by irrational thinking. I hear people extrapolate to the whole from their own narrow experience and the result is an illogical conclusion. When you hear someone reach a conclusion because "everyone I know is.........." or " I don't know anybody who is........." you are hearing illogical thinking. People will accept anecdotal evidence as if it were statistical evidence. An anecdote proves only that instance but when the anecdote is a compelling story it can lead to an unshakable and illogical conclusion. We are irrational beings in an irrational world.

It is possible to think rigorously and critically but if we substitute myth for thought we provide the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Bulls on Bourbon

The Big Easy Rollergirls embraced Spain’s 41-year rule over New Orleans on Saturday morning with a running of the bulls on Bourbon St. They formed up at 7am on Bourbon.; as some hearty party animals were winding up from the night before. The run started at 8am on the same day as the original Spanish event occurs in Pamplona.

Over a dozen of the Big Easy Rollergirls were guest bulls in the first ever San Fermin in Nueva Orleans on Saturday, July 7th. The rollergirls wore horns on their helmets and wielded wiffle ball bats. The matadors (runners) wore all white with read sashes. The girls hit the runners with their bats as they made their way past the deadly rollergirls! The festivities began at The Three Legged Dog Bar (400 Burgundy) on the corner of Burgundy and Conti in the French Quarter. Spanish Wines were available to enhance “valor” before the run with the "bulls" The run ended at the Sidebar (620 Conti) on the corner of Conti Street and Exchange Alley.

Deep into the summer, New Orleans can be a very strange place.

My ideal cell phone

The introduction of the iPhone has led me to think about my ideal phone. It would be a phone on permanent roam that would chose whatever network was providing the best service. Imagine, for example, using your cell phone to talk on Sprint because it had the best voice coverage in Alaska, while at the same time using Verizon's 3G network for Internet access.

The iPhone has Wi-Fi access, which is a giant step forward. Wi-Fi has been kept off American cell phones for years, for reasons that have never passed the smell test ("for security reasons" or "to protect battery life"). The real reason the cell providers have kept Wi-Fi out? To keep consumers eating up minutes on the carriers' networks and to prevent people from grabbing ringtones and other media from their computers, which the industry calls "revenue leakage." Don't you love "revenue leakage"? Only corporate thinking could give us that.

But while the iPhone has Wi-Fi, it doesn't let you do one very obvious thing with its Wi-Fi connection: make phone calls. In an ideal world, you might want to use AT&T when on the road and have your phone switch automatically to Skype or Vonage when at home, since they're much cheaper and can have better voice quality.

I hope the development of the iPhone will spur others to think outside the box.

Friday, July 6, 2007

The accumulation of little lies

I was talking with a conservative friend the other day and he casually mentioned that Saddam had kicked the weapon inspectors out of Iraq. This is a good example of the power of the little lie. Saddam never did kick them out. Bush did. Saddam, toward the end, completely cooperated and that was reported in the news at the time. So why did my friend get it so wrong? Its the power of the little lie.

This lie is one of many that were (and continue to be) repeated over and over again by the conservative echo chamber. The same lie, in the same words, and even in the same tone of voice is drummed into the heads of the American public. It becomes "conventional wisdom". The truth is reported at the time and then not repeated. There was no counter balancing propaganda effort and Fox News and other Bush supporters dominated the propaganda. The little lie is repeated over time while the truth is not.

When I pointed out the error of his statement, my friend just brushed it aside and went on. It didn't fit with his beliefs and attitudes and he didn't stop to examine it. The accumulation of little lies was so great it formed a firm, and irrational, belief for him. So what are we to do?

The answer is to question.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Time's Up!

I'm tired of spineless Democrats who won't push back when Bush acts like a political bully. I'm tired of members of both parties who let him get away with outright lies. I'm tired of reporters who meekly take whatever Bush hands out and don't dig for facts. I'm really tired of Fox acting like administration propaganda is news.


To be fair, things are getting better. But they are only getting better at the margins. I want to see Congress demanding answers from the Bush administration about the Iraq war and their illegal spying program, and not backing down until they get them. Cheney won't testify? Subpoena him. He won't come? Hold him in contempt of Congress and send over the police. And if that doesn't work, impeach the guy.

Bush and Chaney are risking the future of American and soiling our present.

Its time to stand up to them and not back down.

Don't pity Libby

The Bush pardon of Libby won't go away easily. Bush's reason is so transparently false that one wonders what the real reason might be. (The sentence was the normal one for the crime and others in the same circumstances as Libby served the time. The Supreme Court recently ruled on a case that was almost identical and upheld the sentence.) As an aside, I remember many times thinking that Bush's reason was false and wondering what the real reason might have been. My favorite was the original reason for his tax cut for the super rich: we had too much money in the treasury. Then he gave it away and we went into debt. His next reason for his tax cut was that we didn't have enough money in the treasury! The rich were going to get their tax cut no matter what. The same goofy reasoning was used in whipping up support for the (unnecessary) invasion of Iraq.

Before I get too sidetracked, back to Libby. Being kept out of jail and "taken care of" will assure that Libby will continue to keep his mouth shut. He knows what went on in Chaney's office and some of what went on in the Oval Office. Bush can't afford for Libby to tell what he knows. Libby's supporters are claiming that probation and the fine is punishment enough. I've heard them on TV loudly expressing pity for poor Libby for having to come up with the $250,000 for the fine. Nobody challenges them. The fact is that the fine is meaningless because he will certainly not be paying it himself. His legal defense fund, supported by the friends of the president and vice president, boasts a treasury of $5 million. He has been well taken care of.

I expect he'll quietly be appointed to a paid, do-nothing position a corporate board, be given consulting fees, and generally live a life of comfort in the bosom of the right wing.

Don't let them fool you into pity for Libby.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Bush's gift to trial lawyers

“By saying that the sentence was excessive, I wonder if Mr. Bush understood the ramifications of saying that,” said Ellen S. Podgor, who teaches criminal law at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. “This is opening up a can of worms about federal sentencing.”

By yesterday morning, in fact, Mr. Bush’s arguments for keeping Mr. Libby out of prison had become an unexpected gift to defense lawyers around the country, who scrambled to make use of them in their own cases.

Indeed, Mr. Bush’s decision may have given birth to a new sort of legal document.
“I anticipate that we’re going to get a new motion called ‘the Libby motion,’ ” Professor Podgor said. “It will basically say, ‘My client should have got what Libby got, and here’s why.’ ”

Bush did not run his decision through his own Justice Dept., where there is a special section for just such actions. Not having that legal input; Bush simply blundered ahead.

The U.S. vs. Lewis Libby

In the case, U.S. vs. Lewis Libby; Bush sided with Libby. Bush kept him out of jail. Lucky for Libby that he isn't poor and black.

Once again, Bush is managing to mismanage and in the process, even screwing his fellow Republicans. He commuted the sentence instead of pardoning Libby. Later, he'll decide about a pardon. A pardon would have ended the matter well in advance of the 08 election. As it is, the matter will drag on and on. No Republican candidate wants Libby hung around his neck.

I remember the outcry from conservatives over a couple of Clinton pardons at the end of his second term. Now the same people are advocating for a pardon (of Libby). Its not about principles.

Could it be that Hillary has been silent about Libby until now because she does not want to re-kindle the memory of her husband's controversial pardons?

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Ruthie, the duck lady

I had intended to post this a while back, when I was writing about characters in the French Quarter but somehow, Ruthie slipped away from me. Ruthie was prowling the streets of the quarter when I was in my teens and I was prowling the same streets - but for a very different reason.

A fixture on the streets since the ‘40s, Ruthie came to epitomize the unregimented, unconventional and permissive side of Vieux Carre culture, the kind of insouciant charm that has seduced thousands over the years and burned, in those who paid attention, a memory of street life unlike anywhere else in America, maybe the world.

With her trademark roller skates and legions of pet ducks – often sitting on bar stools next to her – Ruthie was what the Quarter’s street life was all about. She was brash, with a sailor’s tongue. Colorful. Congenial and snakebite mean, sometimes at the same time. She lived on a diet of Budeweiser and Kools. She wore a wedding dress just for the hell of it and danced and flirted and cussed in French Quarter barrooms until she was eighty-sixed, which was often.

I remember Ruthie skating up to me and nearly demanding a cigarette. I'd seen how she would curse out others who failed to come up with the cigarette and I wanted to avoid that experience.

Those were my formative years.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Candidates and Katrina

Below is a copy and paste job - its about what the Democratic candidates would do about Katrina recovery:

A question about whether the candidates would support a federal law guaranteeing a right to return for New Orleans residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina produced one of the most spirited discussions. The Democrats roundly condemned the Bush administration for its response to the storm and offered a series of pledges to use the power of the White House to help rebuild the ravaged city. Former senator John Edwards of North Carolina said he would appoint a White House counselor with the responsibility to report to him daily on the pace and progress of reconstructing the city.
"What we should do is allow the people of New Orleans to rebuild their own city," he said. "We ought to pay them a decent wage, give them health-care coverage, instead of having big multinational corporations get billion-dollar contracts with the government."
Clinton, touting a 10-point plan for Gulf Coast recovery, said rebuilding must come before repatriation. "This administration has basically neglected, with almost criminal indifference, the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, in particular New Orleans and the parishes," she said. "So even if we were to give people a right, there is nothing to return to."
Obama said that what may be most critical is having a president who is in touch with the problems of a city such as New Orleans before disasters hit. "Part of the reason that we had such a tragedy," he said, "was the assumption that everybody could jump in their SUVs, load up with some sparkling water and check into the nearest hotel."

loose change and big bucks

The auto entrance of the Ritz Carlton hotel is the ground floor of a building that was originally a dime store. "5 cents, 10 cents and 25 cents" is still visible, carved above the Ritz Carlton sign. Its just a little irony, in a city full of ironic contrasts.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Fiddler on the roof

In the late afternoon yesterday several of us were sitting outside at the coffee shop when we noticed a strange and annoying noise. We finally traced it to the roof of a house across the street. A boy was standing at the very top of the pitched roof playing a guitar. The kid is young - 12, 13 or so. Certainly too young to be climbing up on the roof of his parents' house.

Its why we put up with so much to live in New Orleans.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Leftward Ho!

I've written several times lately that the country is drifting to the left. The following is from today's New York Times:

New Poll Finds That Young Americans Are Leaning Left
By ADAM NAGOURNEY and MEGAN THEE
Young Americans are more likely than the general public to favor a government-run universal health care insurance system, an open-door policy on immigration and the legalization of gay marriage, according to a New York Times/CBS News/MTV poll. The poll also found that they are more likely to say the war in Iraq is heading to a successful conclusion.
With the leftward drift in general and the immigration position of conservatives loosing Hispanic voters; the Republican Party has less and less to look forward to. The Democrats aren't doing a good job of taking advantage of all this but they can't help but inherit some gain.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Summer in the Shire

You may wonder what its like in the Shire during summer. Well, my friends, its wet. It rains every day in a steady downpour. We huddle under the awning and watch the rain bounce off of the street. Every plant and shrub grows like crazy in the rich soil and semi-tropical climate.

Its hot, of course, but mostly its humid. It is possible to break out in a sweat simply sitting still. Only the tourists and criminals move fast. Those of us who live out our lives in this strange place know to pace ourselves to get all the way from dawn to dusk.

Every so often a high energy, hyper person bounces in and we stare in awe. Then we resume our leisurely pace and life drifts on. Life is slow and we have the time to notice one another and to pay attention. Our culture is person centered. We care how others are doing more than what they are doing. We are human beings, not human doings.

The small scale of the Shire supports human interaction. It is an ancient urban design imported from European villages and it is the model for "the new urbanism". City planners copy the Shire for new developments.

We, however, already have "the new urbanism" in our Shire. Our Shire is known as the Marigny, where the past and the future of urban planning come together.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Planet Chaney

Here's an update on the previous post:

Washington, D.C. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel issued the following statement regarding his amendment to cut funding for the Office of the Vice President from the bill that funds the executive branch. The legislation -- the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill -- will be considered on the floor of the House of Representatives next week. "The Vice President has a choice to make. If he believes his legal case, his office has no business being funded as part of the executive branch. However, if he demands executive branch funding he cannot ignore executive branch rules. At the very least, the Vice President should be consistent. This amendment will ensure that the Vice President's funding is consistent with his legal arguments. I have worked closely with my colleagues on this amendment and will continue to pursue this measure in the coming days."

I'll be writing more about Planet Chaney in the next few days.

Vice President Voldemort

The amazing Mr Chaney has gone from hiding in a secure, undisclosed location in the capital to hiding in a secure, undisclosed location in the Constitution. He declares himself beyond the law and, in effect, a 4th branch of government.

After four years of refusing to cooperate with the government unit that oversees classified documents (housed in The National Archives) , the vice president tried to shut down the unit rather than comply with the law ensuring that sensitive data is protected. Tricky Dicky Chaney refused to cooperate with an Executive Order signed by Bush on the grounds that he is not a part of the Executive Branch of government (because he also serves as the president of the Senate). The National Archives appealed to the Justice Department, but who knows how much justice there is at Justice, now that the White House has so blatantly politicized it?

After claiming executive privilege to withhold the energy task force names and protect Scooter Libby, Chaney now acts outraged that he should be seen as part of the executive branch.


Cheney was able to bully Colin Powell, Pentagon generals and George Tenet when drumming up his fake case for war, but when he tried to push around the little guys, the National Archive data collectors — wonky types with glasses and pocket protectors — they pushed back.

Congressman Henry Waxman has the job of oversight here and he's hanging onto it like a pit bull. We could be heading into a major conflict if congress cuts off funding for Chaney's office.

Someday there will be a dark and scary movie about Chaney.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Seasons

New Orleans has its own relaxed rhythm anytime, but in the summer, the pace slows to lethargy. The soundtrack behind our rhythm is mellow and sweet. We are not interrupted by the sound of construction or road repair. The faint aroma of decay is mingled with the smells pungent cooking and acrid gunpowder that accompanies the sound of shots that startle and punctuate the easy pace.

We rouse ourselves and pay attention, then slump back into the sloth that is built into The Big Easy. Even those who are disinclined to exertion are alert to a party or a parade or a scandal. We are not unlike the ancient Romans who were distracted by “bread and circuses”. We note and then ignore the crooks at the top because we are busy preparing for the next party or festival.

In the fall, it all changes. The soundtrack of our lives gets faster and louder. We move to an anticipatory beat – knowing what’s to come. The big holidays will come again and we’ll ride the wave all the way onto the beach of next summer.

It’s all in the seasons of our lives.

Friday, June 22, 2007

A tourist at home

The next time you drive on Canal St. in front of the Sanger Theater, look at the fa̤ade behind the neon sign in front. The original front of that building is now partially covered by a tacky 1970ish neon sign Рbut you can still see enough behind it to appreciate how grand that building once was.

The same is true of the Fairmont Hotel. Look about the canopy over the main entrance and you’ll see the original façade. Across the street the same is true of the Orpheum Theater.

While many of the lovely old downtown buildings have been completely covered; you can still appreciate the architecture of these three. There are gems in almost every block of the CBD. Stately old buildings with character and style put to shame the bland towers of glass and steel.

Take a sightseeing trip to the CBD some day. Be a tourist at home.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Dangerous words

I saw in the newspaper that Sears was having a Baby Sale. Now you know its not legal to sell the little buggers.

That's a little bit like the novel in which you read, "He spoke the unspeakable." No, no, no.....its not unspeakable once he spoke it.

Have you ever heard someone say, "I just can't stand it"? Chances are, they are standing it at the moment they are saying they can't.

My favorite is the formulation, "they should".....or one of its many variations. How do you know they should? Who decides what should be? Most likely the speaker means something isn't the way he wants it to be. That should word is dangerous.

There are lots of ways we abuse reason and language. Sometimes it results in humor. Other times it results in our upsetting ourselves.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Thinking and speaking

I sometimes hear a sentence like this: "I mean, its like, phew.....weird.....ya know what I mean?" Well actually, no. I can't know what you mean unless you say something. That string of words does not qualify as a sentence. First of all, the word "like" is much too over used. Consider the sentence, " I was, like, hungry." That says it is as if you were hungry.......not that you actually were hungry. "like" is a weasel word that slides away from a forthright declaration. Then our sample sentence rests on the word "weird" as the only subject of the sentence. "weird" means unearthly or bizarre. I have heard it applied to many things and none of them were unearthly or bizarre. The sentence in question was applied to traffic conditions that were all too earthly and too usual. The entire subject of the sentence was misused.

One more example and I'll leave it alone. The word "awesome" applies a religious experience primarily. If you find tennis shoes and tacos awesome, how do you think of the nature of God? Do you use the same word? How do you make a distinction?

Its not just schoolmarmish - we think with words and if we lack clarity and vocabulary we will diminish our ability to think. Then we will elect idiots because we can't think critically.

Did you know?

Few coffee shops actually make their own cold brew for their iced coffee. Its a lot of trouble and its time consuming. One shop I know of just saves its (stale) left over coffee at the end of the day to make iced coffee with.

Marigny Perks makes cold brew from scratch, which results in a richer, smoother coffee. We choose our own blend of beans for our cold brew and grind them fresh for each batch. We steep the ground coffee for a minimum of 12 hours and a maximum of 24 hours. Its started on one shift and ready on a later one so we have little notes with the date and time each batch was started.

Our iced coffee is made to be served cold, over ice. You can taste the difference.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Drama on the street

Today we had 5 police cars in front of a house across the street from the shop. It has no running water but it does have two people living there. Or it did. This morning the man stood on the front steps and urinated onto the sidewalk. Uck. As if that weren't enough; the woman there walked outside naked from the waist up and threw glass bottles at passing cars. What a pair! The police called the owner of the house (who did not know it was occupied) and hauled away the squatters.

There was some real drama for a while.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Perkin' at the Perks

Marigny Perks has got it going on. If you've reached this from www.marignyperks.com you know our web site is on the way. I've got great plans for the site and I think you'll want to visit it often. If you're in New Orleans, stop by and say hello in person.

Friday, June 15, 2007

The new team

Here is a little about our new ambassador to Iraq:

"Crocker's experience and his vast knowledge of Middle Eastern cultures, history, and languages make him one of the State Department's leading experts on Middle Eastern affairs. He has received a Presidential Distinguished Service Award and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Civilian Service. In January 2002, he was appointed interim envoy to the new government of Afghanistan, and was confirmed as Ambassador to Pakistan in October 2004."

Now you may wonder why such an ideal candidate for that job has not been sent there already. Maybe, just maybe, its because he publicly opposed the invasion and warned about the dangers of civil war back in the beginning. Crocker is one of the State Department and CIA experts who publicly, and in writing, contradicted the picture painted by Bush and his neocons. They did not get much publicity but I remember at the time thinking how much more likely they were to be right than the hard sell from Bush.

Lieutenant General David Petraeus has taken over the military leadership in Iraq. He's been lavishly praised so you might wonder: since he's so good, why hasn't he been sent to Iraq already. Well, maybe, just maybe it because he contradicted Rumsfield's policy. Petraeus literally wrote the book (an Army manual) on insurgency warfare. To this day Bush has a hard time admitting that we are stuck trying to put down the tar baby of insurgency. Bush prefers to call it terrorism and slyly link it to 9 -11. Petraeus knows that the insurgents are using terrorist tactics but that the people who attacked us on 9-11 were not Iraqis and and that currently Al Queida is only a small part of the Iraq problem.

At last, Bush is using the talent he should have been using all along. Its a stunning retreat for Bush.

Monday, June 11, 2007

The comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought

Forty-five years ago today, JFK, speaking to the graduating class at Yale, said, "The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie -- deliberate, contrived, and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic ... Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." He urged the students to "move on from the reassuring repetition of stale phrases to a new, difficult, but essential confrontation with reality." Kennedy was urging the students not to let the establishment, which he represented, get away with anything. Submit its rhetoric to the fiercest scrutiny. Think for yourself. It was an invitation that reflected his own education, two years earlier, in the wisdom of doubt.

Today we have a president who experiences no doubt. Without doubt there is no introspection and no self knowledge. Myth replaces analysis. We owe it to ourselves to reject the easy myth and to think independently. Bush and his supporters tirelessly repeat the talking points assigned to them by Mr. Rove. The same stale phrases are repeated relentlessly until some people believe them to be true.

When you hear the same words over and over; beware. You are hearing myths being made.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

The streets of New Orleans

The streets of New Orleans flow around statues like water around a rock. They swirl and curve and angle off in dizzying patterns. There is almost no grid here. Its called the Crescent City because it sits in a long crescent of the Mississippi River. The streets parallel to the river follow the crescent in their own gentle arc.

Historically, the river was the primary transportation route and lots facing the river were long and narrow so as many people as possible could have access to the river. The streets that run perpendicular to the river are at angles to each other to accommodate multiple slices of river front property. (It also has something to do with our "shotgun" houses.)

So here we have it: a city with quirky street patterns that are a reflection of the city itself. There is an unpredictability to street patterns and to life here. Both are idiosyncratic and neither are like anywhere else. The streets merge into triangles and little parks are formed. Street names change suddenly, for no apparent reason. Driving in New Orleans is a free form exercise, much like living in New Orleans.

Our history and geography combine to shape our streets and our lives.

Monday, June 4, 2007

full of sound and fury

I've been watching the chest thumping politicians trying to outdo each other in sounding tough. They so badly understand foreign affairs that they wind up sounding dumb.

For instance: Giuliani casually lumps together Iran and Al Qaeda. Mitt Romney goes even further and lumps together Shia, Suni, Hizbullah, Hamas and Al Qaeda. These groups are very different and in some cases are enemies of each other.

How can people get to that level in political life without knowing that Iran is a Shiite power and actually helped the United States topple the al Quieda-backed Taliban in Afghanistan. Or did they know it and ignore the facts? Some members of Congress don't know the difference between Shiite and Suni. Reporters don't know enough about the culture of the mideast to ask good questions.

We can't use our military power to solve political problems and tough talk without understanding the problems is just dumb.

Sunday, June 3, 2007

The candidates debate

I just watched the Democratic candidates debate on CNN. First of all, CNN didn't impress me. Wolf Blitzer persisted in asking dumb questions that are not worthy of the candidates or the process.

I thought all of them did better than in the last debate. I was more impressed with Hillary than I was before, even though I have serious reservations about her. Obama's style and experience don't lend themselves well to a debate format. He let one opportunity after another go by without challenging Hillary. She slid away from direct answers without anyone calling her on it.

I'm particularly concerned about Hillary's original vote to allow Bush to go to war against Iraq. She dances around it without directly explaining her vote. A lot of smart people opposed the war. She claims to be misled. Were they smarter than her? My impression is that her vote was the result of a political calculation of the worst sort.

Hillary was more presidential than any candidate in either party. She struck me as the most qualified to hold the job - even though I wish it was someone else.

I've written before that I'm seeing a gradual drift to the left in the country as a whole. The debate last night confirmed that. There was unequivocal and unanimous agreement that gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military. The only disagreements about universal health care were about the details. Those liberal positions are consistent with signs in the popular culture that the mainstream flows to the left now.

Next up, the Republicans debate again. What fun!

Conservative pretzels

I've been reading conservative writers lately and they are twisting themselves into irrational pretzels over Iraq.

Their basic war paradigm is deeply flawed. They look at Iraq and see only us against those who attacked us on 9-11. Their enemy is Al Queida. Neither comports well with reality. The absolutist conservative world view is all black or white, with no shades of grey. They live in an "us vs. them" world. Their victory-or-defeat set of choices leaves no room for diplomacy and their war model is failing them.

Now for the pretzel. There is reason to think we've already lost. There isn't much reason to think we will accomplish much more in that poor country. Conservatives are now blaming the Iraqi people for conditions there. Its close enough to the truth to serve as a moral fig leaf to cover their flaccid policy. They will see a defeat and surrender but they will not call it ours. It will be Iraqi. It'll be just as much a defeat in January '08 as it would be tomorrow. They need more time, however, to confect their puff pastry of shifting responsibility.

I've seen conservatives blame the patient for being sick before. Now they are doing it again.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The shop and the blog

This post is about Marigny Perks coffee shop and this blog.

Billy is working on a web site for the shop and when its up, I'll transfer the blog to it. I plan to pluck out the best posts and migrate them to the web site. (Billy, as you may know, is the man behind "Billy's Bites" - purveyor of wonderful pastry, quiche, soup, and more)

At the shop, I've traded a generator I had left over from Katrina to a carpenter for more shelves. Travis painted them and I'm going to display merchandise on the upper shelves and use the lower ones for much needed storage. I'm waiting for a catalogue to come in so I can buy logo coffee mugs, t shirts, etc to sell. In general, there is a lot more waiting to doing business than I would like.

I'm always trying new food items. Those that go over well wind up on the menu. Those that don't, disappear. I've got fliers stuck all over the place there and it looks too cluttered. I'm looking for a message board so I can use it instead of fliers. Actually, finding a dry erase board is easy. Finding a place to put it in the shop isn't easy.

Its time to start thinking about hurricane preparation. I'll talk about that soon.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Bush's magical thinking

In Bush's last press conference, we saw the bedraggled president he has become—defensive, doctrinaire, scattershot, and either deceptive or delusional.Iraq has dominated his agenda for four years now, yet he still sees the conflict through a prism rife with cliché. The topper, which he has recited several times before, is that if we fail in Iraq, the terrorists will follow us home. He uttered a few variations of the line in his latest press conference: "If we were to fail, they'd come and get us. … If we let up, we'll be attacked. … It's better to fight them there than here."Clearly, this is nonsense. First, the vast majority of the insurgents have nothing to do with al-Qaida or its ideology. They're combatants in a sectarian conflict for power in Iraq, and they have neither the means nor the desire to threaten North America. Second, to the extent that the true global terrorists could attack us at home, they could do so whether or not U.S. troops stay or win in Iraq. The one issue has nothing to do with the other.

I think he may be loosing his grip on reality. Its more than just spin - its a breakdown of logic. Recently Bush said that the American people agree with him on Iraq. He said we are not satisfied with conditions in Iraq and want him to find a new way to "win". There is no poll that supports that conclusion. The public opinion is overwhelming in favor (62%, last I looked) of leaving Iraq.

Bush has now lost his last shred of credibility.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

I wish we had a president who could think, reason, and speak. It does not appear that this president has mastered any of those tricks.

As Maureen Dowd put it, "The president is on a continuous loop of sophistry: We have to push on in Iraq because Al Qaeda is there, even though Al Qaeda is there because we pushed into Iraq. Our troops have to keep dying there because our troops have been dying there. We have to stay so the enemy doesn’t know we’re leaving. Osama hasn’t been found because he’s hiding."

For all the president's ranting about staying the course and the catastrophe our leaving would be - Bush is planning on withdrawing half the troops within months. When the Democrats talk about leaving Bush calls it "defeat". I wonder what he'll call it when he talks about leaving.

Betcha it won't be "defeat".

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Our culture

Barak Obama recently made an observation that I want to share with you. He pointed out that we are a country that prizes the inconsequential at the expense of the important.

He said: "We see . . . a media culture that sensationalizes the trivial and trivializes the profound, in a 24-hour news network bonanza that never fails to keep us posted on how many days Paris Hilton will spend in jail but often fails to update us on the continuing genocide in Darfur or the recovery effort in New Orleans or the poverty that plagues too many American streets,"

Bush encourages this trend. He glorifies being inarticulate and disdains books. His responses to serious questions are often trivial, if not downright silly. But the worst offender is TV news. Even the "serious" TV news shows skim across their time slot like a pebble of inquiry skimming across a pond of issues. Only C-Span and Public TV attempt to dive into an issue.

Magazine and newspaper circulation is down, but the print media do have serious content and a devoted readership. More and more, we are going to the Internet to get news. How many of us only read the side of a controversy that supports our own opinions. How much debate is there on the Internet?

Still, the Internet and print media offer the best alternative to TV and to the trend that Obama spoke of recently.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Xenophobia as public policy

Republicans have side stepped issues that would be divisive in their party while cleverly exploiting issues that are divisive in the Democratic party. Now, Bush has plucked the worse possible divisive issue for his party and shoved it forward.

Immigration is especially perilous for the GOP because it is what might be called a "double-edged" wedge issue. It not only pits the party's base against a large and quickly growing pool of potential new Republicans -- 41 million Hispanics -- but also pits two key parts of the existing base against each other. The Wall Street wing of the GOP, which finances the party, wants to keep open the spigot of pliant and cheap Spanish-speaking labor. It finds itself opposed by much of the Main Street wing, which provides millions of crucial primary and general election votes and would like to build a fence along the Mexican border as high as Lou Dobbs' ratings or the pitch of Pat Buchanan's voice. And it's simply impossible for any political party to win if it has to choose between money and votes.

The Hispanic population is growing at the rate of 3% a year. They are too important to the future to be ignored and the Republicans are doing even more: they are alienating them. Bush got an astonishing 40% of the Hispanic vote in 2000. By 2004 his Hispanic vote had shrunk to 28%. The Republicans plans for making inroads into the black vote drowned in Katrina. The future of the party is grim if it looses both groups for long.

My guess is that the Immigration Bill will never make it to Bush's desk. I think the Republican Party's xenophobic base will kill the bill and wound the Republican Party. The question is: how badly will the party hurt itself and for how long.

xen·o·pho·bi·a /ËŒzÉ›nəˈfoÊŠbiÉ™, ËŒzinÉ™-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[zen-uh-foh-bee-uh, zee-nuh-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

At the beach

I remember going to Ponchatrain Beach as a child; the Zephyr and the Tilt-a-Whirl, the Penny Arcade and the free shows on the beach, learning to swim in the lake and walking and walking to get into deep enough water, and falling in love there almost all through high school.

I remember going to Canal Street to shop. We had lunch at D.H. Holmes and looked for records at Werleins. We took the bus everywhere and never felt in danger anywhere. I remember Ramblers, where we swam and rode horses and learned to dance. On some Friday nights we would cover the family dining table with newspaper and pile boiled crabs in the center. We'd eat crabs and drink beer and talk into the night. After church on Sunday we would go to a long lunch at the Friendship Inn on the Gulf Coast, or Brennan's in the quarter, or somewhere uptown.

Later, after high school, I wandered the streets of the French Quarter at night. I drank and walked and watched the nightlife. During the day I'd go to the beach to read and swim and nurse my hangover.

One summer my parents had gone to Europe and I was home alone. I met two guys from Chicago who were sunning themselves on a blanket at the beach. The three of us drove to Chicago that night and I spent a long weekend with them. My parents never found out.

Those were the New Orleans summers of my youth.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Lets talk about sex

One statistic seems to me to give the lie to all the rhetoric about abortion, and it’s this: one in three women under the age of 45 have an abortion during their lifetime. One in three. All politicians — Democrat and Republican — say they want to make abortion at least rare (as Giuliani did in Wednesday’s debate). On, this they could reach agreement. But it’s clear they haven’t been serious; the U.S. has 1.3 million abortions a year.

Reducing unintended pregnancy is the key — half of pregnancies are unintended, and 4 in 10 of them end in abortion. For a while now, we’ve had solid evidence about how to effectively do this. But it requires getting specific about two subjects that are perilous in politics: sex and contraception.

We don't have a national campaign to educate the public about contraception and we are not going to get one. Other countries do it and don't fall into moral decay. We, however, persist in living in ignorance.

Sex, for us, is still "dirty". How juvenile.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Bush's base

From the New York Times:

" What we need to realize is that the infamous “Bush bubble,” the administration’s no-reality zone, extends a long way beyond the White House. Millions of Americans believe that patriotic torturers are keeping us safe, that there’s a vast Islamic axis of evil, that victory in Iraq is just around the corner, that Bush appointees are doing a heckuva job — and that news reports contradicting these beliefs reflect liberal media bias.

And the Republican nomination will go either to someone who shares these beliefs, and would therefore run the country the same way Mr. Bush has, or to a very, very good liar."

What will it take to wake up this 27% or so who continue to support Mr. Bush? I suspect only Fox news can change their opinions. These are the people who don't know anything that they have not learned from Fox news. Their entire body of belief, information, and opinion is formed from one source: Fox news. They hear echo's on talk radio and from their right wing pulpits in their narrow conservative churches. They live in a echo chamber with no alternatives allowed.

Bush's pitiful base.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

The disease of Hubris

The experience of Mr. Wolfowitz at The World Bank is a symptom of the disease called Hubris.

Like Mr. Wolfowitz, Mr. Bush’s approach to governing is to circle the wagons rather than build coalitions; they both antagonize fence-sitters by coming across as unilateralist, sanctimonious, arrogant and incompetent.

The disease of Hubris has spread across our government and poisoned our relations with others with whom we share the planet. Hubris has weakened us morally and economically. Those who have the disease of Hubris don't even know they have it.

The only cure is to rid the body politic of the disease - and its carriers must be avoided so the disease does not spread.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

The unraveling

Another high ranking Justice Department official has resigned. That means that the whole top tier is gone, leaving Gonzales alone. What we know about is disgraceful but what about actions that have not been reported. I would bet that we know only the tip of this unethical iceberg. Watch for the last ditch defense of, "No laws were broken" - as if not being a criminal is good enough.

I wonder if we are in for a relentless march of scandals from now to the end of Bush's term. I know of terrible performance in other government agencies that have not bubbled up to the evening news. I suspect they will be on our TV screens, computer monitors and newspapers in the near future.

The mismanagement and corruption in Iraq has directly contributed to our problems there and cost billions. Yes, billions. Some of those stories are being drowned in the sea of bad news. Ultimately, we pay and we suffer the consequences (along the the Iraqi people and the innocent in Afghanistan, etc.).

We are watching the unraveling of our government itself.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Moral castration

I wondered in an earlier post if we are drifting to the left. It looks more and more like the country is moving leftward. Republicans are either out of touch or captured by their extremist right wing base. The 3 leading Republican candidates are more liberal than the base and are dancing around their positions instead of embracing their principles and values. They have been morally castrated.

David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter, issued a warning to readers of the conservative magazine National Review: “Have Republicans absorbed how much trouble their party is in? To the (limited) extent that we do, we tend to attribute everything to Iraq - as if Katrina, the Schiavo affair, corruption in Congress and the intensifying irrelevance of our domestic-policy agenda did not exist. And so we demand from our candidates ever more fervent declarations of fealty to an ideology that interests an ever dwindling proportion of the public.”

A Newsweek poll last week had the three leading Democratic presidential candidates beating the three top-tier Republicans in every matchup. That’s nine potential races, and nine Democratic victories

Thursday, May 10, 2007

And while Rome burns

I'm hearing the white house and its allies complaining that its critics are trying to "micromanage" the war and that decisions about it should be left to the military. Whoa! The Democrats and a few Republicans are trying to stop the war, not manage it. It is the role of congress to declare war, not generals.

Another amazement: the legislative body of Iraq government had planned to take off two months for vacation this summer. Wow. After a lot of pressure from us, they decided to only take off one month or even maybe just a few weeks. Its staggering to think that these people are about to loose their American security blanket because of a lack of political progress and, knowing that, decide to stop work (and stop progress) for two months.

These are the people we are there to help. These are the people for whom our soldiers die. Americans will be killed in Iraq while they take vacation.

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Presidential debates seen from Mars

Questions From Mars.
Q What is the purpose of these debates?
We are in the process of selecting our president, and debates are a way of learning more about the candidates.
Q What is the president?
The president is the most important person in America, the person who drives the national agenda and is the center of media attention.
Q So the current president is Paris Hilton?
Yes.
Q Then why is President Hilton going to jail?
She plunged America in a disastrous war based on false assumptions, she filled government with political hacks and she values mindless loyalty over competence.
Q And your presidents go to jail for such things?
No, they usually get reelected for such things. But we are making an exception.
Q We could not help but notice that all the Republican debaters in Simi Valley were white males. Are all Republicans white males?
Yes.
Q Then how do they create more Republicans?
Ah, you have been studying our ways! I was kidding. There are Republicans who are not white and not male. But they are not allowed to run for president.
Q Are all Republicans otherwise alike?
No, they sometimes disagree. The most revealing thing about the Republican debate was that three of the candidates -- Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee and Tom Tancredo -- say they do not believe in evolution.
Q What is evolution?
Evolution is the process by which humans developed from single-cell organisms to the superior and complex beings that they are today. This happened through a process called "natural selection," which is also sometimes called "survival of the fittest" or "politics."
Q And what do Brownback, Huckabee and Tancredo believe?
That a deity created the entire world and everything on it about 6,000 to 10,000 years ago. This is called "creationism."
Q What do you believe?
Well, if evolution results in superior and complex beings, how do we account for Brownback, Huckabee and Tancredo?
Q We noticed that the Democrats had a woman and a black man among their debaters. Can women and black people become president?
Of course. We are an advanced and civilized country.
Q How many women have become president of your country?
None.
Q How many black people have become president of your country?
None.
Q What does this mean?
We are still evolving.
Q We also noticed that three Democrats -- Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards -- said they have never had a gun in their houses. What is a gun?
A gun is a symbol of American independence, a tool by which we gained our freedom and conquered a wilderness. You can also use one to shoot somebody who you don't like.
Q Are the positions of Clinton, Obama and Edwards popular within the Democratic Party?
No. Democrats used to be for gun control, but now the deep thinkers in their party are for guns. They believe getting the votes of gun owners will be their key to victory next fall.
Q So Clinton, Obama and Edwards are doing badly?
No, they are leading in all the polls for the nomination.
Q We are confused.
In that case, you have become Democrats.
Q Is Mike Huckabee gaining weight?
We think so. Or else he is about to create another Republican.
Q One last question. Can you tell us who Mike Gravel is?
You mean he's not a Martian?
.................from politico.com

Monday, May 7, 2007

Terrorism

Bush talks about a war on global terror but, as Joe Biden says,

"Terrorism is a means, not an end, and very different groups and countries are using it toward very different goals. If we can't even identify the enemy or describe the war we're fighting, it's difficult to see how we will win."

"Terror is a tactic. Terror is not a philosophy," Biden said. "The war in Chechnya is a war of liberation -- it engaged in terrorist activities, but it it is fundamentally different."Bush's insistence on seeing Iraq, Afghanistan, and other conflicts as fronts in the same war, Biden said, is "the reason why [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's gotten away with murder."

We should all remember how tricky Bush and his gang can be. This slippery phrase of his allowed him to make it mean whatever he wants it to because, fundamentally, it doesn't mean anything at all.

Sunday, May 6, 2007

The truth

The media likes to report in sound bites so they tell us that Bush's low approval rating is due to Iraq. The reality is more complex. I believe Katrina tore off the curtain of competency behind which Bush hid like the wizard of Oz. It is not just Iraq policy. It is also mismanagement, corruption, and attitude. We don't think of our country as an arrogant bully, which is what Bush looks like.

This administration continues to lie to us. And, lie is the right word. Ms Rice is on TV, rewriting history. She even lies about provable matters of fact. They are desperate and sinking.

This is not good for our country and I take no joy in it. But Bush and his people have to be held accountable and the truth must be exposed.

Friday, May 4, 2007

The flaccid state of the 4th estate

This morning I'm moving back to politics and current events and I want to look at why we have been and are so deceived by Bush. The main reason Bush gets away with deceiving us is the flaccid state of the fourth estate. Just recently the press has found its backbone and recalled its duty to investigate. They still tend to act as stenographers. Too often they accept the Bush narrative and frame and report within it. We still get bland acceptance when we need skepticism.

I watch the talking heads on TV and read the "wise men" who write newspaper columns. They are chummy with the politicians they write about. They accept the premise and the honesty of the politicians. They miss the point that most of us get.

The Bush administration can still establish story lines as fake as “Mission Accomplished” and get a free pass. To pick just one overarching example: much of the press still takes it as a given that Iraq has a functioning government that might meet political benchmarks (oil law, de-Baathification reform, etc., etc.) that would facilitate an American withdrawal. In reality, the Maliki “government” can’t meet any benchmarks, even if they were enforced, because that government exists only as a fictional White House talking point. As Gen. Barry McCaffrey said last week, this government doesn’t fully control a single province. Its Parliament, now approaching a scheduled summer recess, has passed no major legislation in months. Iraq’s sole recent democratic achievement is to ban the release of civilian casualty figures, lest they challenge White House happy talk about “progress” in Iraq.