A Blog of Current Events and Ancient Issues.
The European Union insisted Friday that governments and the private sector must share the responsibility of overseeing the Internet, setting the stage for a showdown with the United States on the future of Internet governance.
The bill would require the government to compensate property owners if steps to protect species thwarted development plans. It also would make political appointees responsible for some scientific determinations and would stop the government from designating "critical habitat," which limits development.
The changes were pushed through by the chairman of the House Resources Committee, GOP Rep. Richard Pombo. The California rancher contends the current rules unduly burden landowners and lead to costly lawsuits while doing too little to save plants and animals.
Everything that American media could throw at a story, it threw at New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. No expense was spared. All hands were on deck. And yet not one news organization produced anything like complete coverage of the events unfolding inside the city's convention center or the Superdome. Horrific stories of murders and rapes spread like wildfire, reports of little girls with their throats slashed stunned Americans, and hysteria gripped many in the MSM. Weeks later the Los Angeles Times and others began to examine the collapse of the media's own levees that traditionally hold back rumor and urban myth.
Given this failure to capture the true story in New Orleans even with all of the combined resources of all the MSM working around the clock, why would anyone believe that American media is accurately reporting on the events in Iraq from the Green Zone, in the course of a bloody insurgency fought in a language they don't understand? If the combined forces of old media couldn't get one accurate story out of the convention center, why for a moment believe it can get a story out of Mosul or Najaf?
this is the first time since it was adopted in 2001 that the unbalanced schedule has resulted in season-ending Yankee-Red Sox matchup. In 1999 and 2000, when the Yankees finished 4 and 2.5 games ahead of the Red Sox respectively, the final regular season games between the two clubs were on September 11 and 12, almost three weeks before the season's conclusion. All of which is even more stunning when you remember that the Yankees and Red Sox have finished first and second in the AL East respectively for the last seven straight seasons. Major League Baseball switched schedule makers prior to this season for the first time since 1981. Now, entering the season's final weekend, four of the six teams that have niether clinched nor been eliminated from the postseason are playing each other, including the first scheduled season-ending series between the Yankees and Red Sox to mean something since 1949. Kudos to baseball and the Sports Scheduling Group for correcting an obvious flaw in the system.
In an item yesterday, we noted a curious quote from Jerry Edwards, an Arkansas aborter who was offering to evacuate the wombs of women who evacuated New Orleans free of charge. "If we didn't provide it now," Edwards said, "they would get it later--a late-term abortion that would give greater risk to the mother's health."
Needless to say, we were flummoxed. "How would the timing of a woman's choice affect her mother's health?" we asked. But several readers have written with a theory that, if true, is shocking: that by "the mother," Edwards meant the woman who is exercising her constitutional right to choose.
The implications are chilling. Of course it's possible that some of these women are mothers, as a result of previous pregnancies during which, tragically, they were too poor or uneducated to make a choice. But Edwards is sweepingly characterizing all women exercising their constitutional rights as "mothers." And think about what that means: If a woman availing herself of her right to choose is a "mother," then the fetus is a "child" rather than what science has definitively proved it to be, which is just a clump of cells.
Now if people want to reject science and believe in superstitious nonsense like this, they are entitled to do so. After all, the same Constitution that guarantees the right to choose also provides for a limited "freedom of religion." But when even abortion clinics are being run by antichoice fanatics, American women, and even enlightened male-Americans, should be afraid--very afraid.
Gold Medal: Some day, when we compile our list of the wildest games any pitcher has ever been mixed up in, we're betting a June 10 evening in the life of Kansas City's Zack Greinke will be on it. Here's his fascinating little pitching line in Arizona:
4 1/3 IP, 15 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 3 HR allowed -- and 1 HR hit.
But what was the most incredible part of all? That he gave up all those hits and all those runs and didn't even get a loss out of it -- since the Royals somehow roared from nine runs back to get Greinke off the hook (but then lost anyway).
Facts of the day: According to Retrosheet's Dave Smith, Greinke was the first starting pitcher in the last 45 seasons to give up 15 hits and 11 runs in one game without taking a loss. He was also the first starter in the last 45 seasons to give up 11 runs in a game in which he homered. And he was just the second starter in the last 74 years (joining Scott Sanders, in 1998) to give up 15 hits without getting 14 outs. How 'bout that night in the desert?
But the Senate is currently slated to clamp down on the Joe Citizenry of Coburn. Senate rules currently allow those who practice medicine, such as U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, to continue to do so free of charge to their patients. Coburn wants just enough to cover overhead and continue to serve his patients.
A Senate Ethics Committee ruling would have Coburn shut down his medical practice by the end of September — citing a potential conflict of interest in his profession as an obstetrician — or risk censure by the Senate.
But censuring him is simply a bad prescription.
Coburn won't be shut down, however. He has insisted: "I'm going to continue to practice medicine either way, one way or the other."
A Travis County grand jury today indicted U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on one count of criminal conspiracy, prompting the Sugar Land Republican to give up his leadership post in Congress.
"I have notified (House Speaker Dennis Hastert) that I will temporarily step aside from my position as majority leader pursuant to rules of the House Republican Conference and the actions of the Travis County district attorney today," DeLay said in a statement.
The charge, a state jail felony punishable by up to two years incarceration, stems from his role with his political committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, a now-defunct organization that already had been indicted on charges of illegally using corporate money during the 2002 legislative elections.
State law generally bars corporate money from campaign-related activity. DeLay and his associates have insisted the corporate money was legally spent on committee overhead or issue advertising and not campaign-related activity.
"When he was running for governor in 2003, he sat in my office twice and told me he would not expand the gambling industry," said Donald E. Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, a conservative social policy organization based in Tupelo. "His constituency was the money people and the moral people, but he's chosen to split his constituency and side with the money people. Well, they may have the money, but we have the people, we have the votes, and he's going to pay."
Mr. Barbour, a Republican who was once the national party chairman, said his position was entirely consistent with what he said during his campaign, since all he had promised was to stop the spread of gambling to new Mississippi counties.
But Mr. Perkins said: "Well, it all depends on what you mean by expand. We certainly understood him to mean that the way the casinos were was the way they would remain. What he's talking about here sure sounds like expansion to us."
When casinos were first legalized in Mississippi, gambling was limited to a few boats that would pick up customers and ferry them offshore to gamble. Then, legislators decided to allow the casinos to operate even if they were permanently moored to the shore, as long as they remained on the water.
And last year, the legislature voted to allow the casinos to sink pilings into the sea floor, to more safely secure the structures. But before such construction could be undertaken, Katrina came along and destroyed most of the coast's gambling boats.
Under Mr. Barbour's proposal, operators could build casinos as much as 1,500 feet inland, as long as they also had some sort of structure right on the beach like a hotel that linked the casino to the water.Religious leaders, however, said the proposal could eventually lead to casinos overrunning the state until there were slot machines in almost every gas station and saloon, as there are in neighboring Louisiana.
"We keep taking little baby steps toward what we fear is a total takeover of the state by the gambling-political complex," Mr. Perkins said.
But today protests of this sort have become so ritualized, so controlled, so derivative and predictable that it is a wonder anyone bothers. There is no particular tension, no threat of violence — power is not in the streets, and the whole world got bored with watching a long time ago.
Requiring a photo ID to vote, as the Carter-Baker commission recommends, would have a chilling effect on voter participation. It would block some Americans from the political process.
The Carter-Baker recommendations are so restrictive that even a valid U.S. passport or photo ID issued by the U.S. military isn't good enough. Voters must have a driver's license that meets the requirements of the controversial Real ID Act, which set strict standards for obtaining state-issued licenses.
According to a 2001 election-reform report, 6% to 10% of voting-age Americans don't have driver's licenses, and requiring them would be a "burden that would fall disproportionately on people who are poorer and urban."
Peace mom Cindy Sheehan didn't change her opposition to the war in Iraq after meeting Tuesday with one of its supporters, Sen. John McCain, a Vietnam veteran whom she called "a warmonger."
Although McCain has criticized the handling of the Iraq war, he has supported President Bush's call to stop terrorism abroad before it reaches the U.S. Sheehan, whose son, Casey, died in Iraq last year, has energized the anti-war movement with her call for troops to be brought home.
"He is a warmonger, and I'm not," Sheehan said after meeting with McCain. "I believe this war is not keeping America safer."
Hastert believes it is not just the privilege but the duty of a House member to deliver federal projects to his constituents.
Commander in Chief delivers Geena Davis as Mackenzie Allen, America’s first female president. Even as novel as the show’s premise is (which isn’t as novel as its marketers probably hoped it would be), Commander displays a remarkable lack of imagination: The travails of the first woman in the Oval Office are exactly what you would guess they would be. But Commander in Chief is interesting; interesting as a liberal fantasy (the New York Times’s description, not mine). An almost Freudian bomb is buried beneath its cliché shots of D.C. monuments lit up at night: Deep down, liberals like the ones who wrote Commander harbor a repressed desire to be like George W. Bush.
Commander is an archetypal liberal tale: A hero is challenged by blind prejudice but rises to show us that when we embrace equality and diversity, it all works out.
Every time a character remarks how she would be the first female president, another shoots back “and the first independent.” In the glorious future, with the issues so perfectly framed, “Democrat” and “liberal” have withered away, and everyone presumably knows that their choice is between upright, sincere independents like Allen and icy, extremist Republicans. Ah, to dream.
How does the federal government pay for the damages caused by Katrina? Does anyone asking that question actually know how the government pays for anything? Essentially, the federal government pays for things in just one way — it credits a member bank account. Let’s review the process: The federal government writes a check to a construction company to pay for a bridge. The construction company deposits the check at a bank. When that check clears, the Fed credits the bank’s reserve account at the Fed, and then the bank credits the company’s bank account with “good funds.” Bottom line: Operationally, virtually all of the federal government’s spending per se consists of the Fed crediting an account — that’s all. The federal government doesn’t have any “box of money” that gets “filled” from tax collections and the proceeds from new Treasury securities and then gets “used up” by spending or lending. This is an operational reality. In today’s world of non-convertible currencies, spending is necessarily nothing more than “score keeping.” (If one football team scores a touchdown, and 6 points are added to its score, does anyone ask where the scorekeeper gets the points?)
So, the actual “paying for Katrina” is not the issue. The issue is the real economic ramifications of the proposed spending or the proposed tax increases — the impact on inflation, output, growth, employment, distribution, etc.
To be against war and militarism, in the tradition of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, is one thing. But to have a record of consistent support for war and militarism, from the Red Army in Eastern Europe to the Serbian ethnic cleansers and the Taliban, is quite another. It is really a disgrace that the liberal press refers to such enemies of liberalism as "antiwar" when in reality they are straight-out pro-war, but on the other side. Was there a single placard saying, "No to Jihad"? Of course not. Or a single placard saying, "Yes to Kurdish self-determination" or "We support Afghan women's struggle"? Don't make me laugh.
Today, many Americans get the news by reading the headlines on the Yahoo!, Google or Microsoft Web portals. Many more Americans learn about current events by using a search engine from one of these companies. In China, however, such behavior can get you thrown in prison - sometimes with the cooperation of the U.S. companies that tout their supposed commitment to goodness and freedom.
Indeed, Yahoo! is so enthusiastic to comply with "local law" - however tyrannical and unjust - that in 2002 Yahoo! signed the "Public Pledge on Self-Discipline for the China Internet Industry" (www.isc.org.cn/20020417/ca102762.htm). Thus, explains Reporters Without Borders, a Chinese Web user who runs a Yahoo! search query for a controversial topic such as "Taiwan independence" will "retrieve only a limited and approved set of results." If "you try to post a message on the subject in a discussion forum, it never appears online."
Google and Microsoft have also signed the so-called "Responsibility" code. After the Chinese government blocked Google in 2002, Google modified its Chinese search engine. Google maintains on its own servers a cache of various Web content, so a Chinese surfer previously might have been able to find forbidden content by using the Google cache, rather than reading the content directly from a banned Web site.
Neither President Bush nor congressional leaders will tolerate tampering with the drug subsidy, the president's least popular initiative among conservatives. While the White House would be happy to see some highway pork eliminated, the House leaders absolutely refused. At stake here is a basic disagreement over the philosophy of government within the Republican Party as it nears the end of its 11th year controlling the House of Representatives.
Hastert believes it is not just the privilege but the duty of a House member to deliver federal projects to his constituents. Many younger conservatives could not disagree more, but most -- like Pence -- are loyal Republicans who are loath to criticize their leaders.
(Internet) sites should only post news on current events and politics, according to the new regulations issued by the Ministry of Information Industry and China's cabinet, the State Council. The subjects that would be acceptable under those categories was not clear.
Only "healthy and civilized news and information that is beneficial to the improvement of the quality of the nation, beneficial to its economic development and conducive to social progress" will be allowed, Xinhua said.
"The sites are prohibited from spreading news and information that goes against state security and public interest," it added.
While the communist government encourages Internet use for education and business, it also blocks material it deems subversive or pornographic. Online dissidents who post items critical of the government, or those expressing opinions in chatrooms, are regularly arrested and charged under vaguely worded state security laws.
The justice, an opera lover and a strict conservative, was part of a Juilliard symposium on American society and the arts that put him in the company of the soprano Reneé Fleming, the composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, and the historian David McCullough. He acknowledged the incongruity.
"The First Amendment has not repealed the basic rule of life, that he who pays the piper calls the tune," Justice Scalia said. "When you place the government in charge of funding art, just as when you place the government in charge of providing education, somebody has to pick the content of what art is going to be funded, what subjects are going to be taught.
"The only way to eliminate any government choice on what art is worthwhile, what art isn't worthwhile, is to get the government totally out of the business of funding," he said.
A University of Iowa law professor says the school is promoting homophobia and will challenge whether Iowa is violating N-C-A-A rules by painting a visitors' locker room pink.
Erin Buzuvis moved to Iowa from Boston in the fall and discovered the visiting team's locker room at Kinnick Stadium was pink -- something she says promotes sexism and homophobia.
But officials with the school's sports department say they won't change the pink walls -- which is a long-time facet in Kinnick Stadium.
The color was introduced decades ago by former Hawkeye coach Hayden Fry to soften opponents. But recent stadium renovations added more pink items to the locker room, including lockers, sinks and urinals.
Buzuvis plans to speak with a school committee compiling a report on Iowa's compliance with N-C-A-A regulations. The report is conducted every five years and does not yet address the pink locker room.
Roberts will sail through next week with the support of all 55 Republicans and perhaps half of the Senate Democrats, and the country will wonder what all the fuss was about. Roberts is a bland careerist with a fine legal mind whose heart may not be as big as his head, but he’s the best a left-wing partisan could hope to get out of this White House. Someday there will be another Democratic president, and Democrats may be setting a standard that could come back to haunt them.
Two national gun rights groups yesterday joined individual Louisiana gun owners in a federal lawsuit to stop authorities from confiscating firearms from private citizens in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, seeking a temporary restraining order to halt the seizures of guns from law-abiding citizens. They described the confiscations as "arbitrary," "without warrant or probable cause" and thus "illegal."
Given the lawlessness in New Orleans, residents who remain in the storm-ravaged area there need their guns for protection, said Mr. LaPierre.
"Things are worse at night, and people say their gun is the only source of comfort they have, the one thing they can depend on to save themselves and their families," Mr. LaPierre said, noting that a "third of the New Orleans Police Department walked off their jobs" during the Katrina emergency.
"In fact, the Second Amendment has really been the underpinning for [New Orleans] citizens to stay alive," he said.
Opponents of private gun ownership often say that public safety is their goal, "but in New Orleans, there was a complete collapse of government's ability to protect anyone," Mr. LaPierre said. "Citizens could only count on the looters, robbers and rapists."
Attempts to reach the New Orleans Police Department yesterday about its gun confiscation policy were unsuccessful.
Plaintiffs in the suit against the City of New Orleans are two local gun owners. One, whom Mr. LaPierre identified as Buell Teel, was on a boat rescuing people. "To protect himself, he had a firearm on the boat," which police saw and seized, Mr. LaPierre said.
Boxer Leavander Johnson died Thursday from injuries sustained five days earlier in a lightweight title fight with Jesus Chavez.
The 35-year-old died at University Medical Center, where he had been hospitalized since being injured in the fight Saturday night at the MGM Grand hotel-casino.
A hospital spokeswoman said Johnson was pronounced dead at 4:23 p.m.
Johnson was put in a medically induced coma after undergoing brain surgery less than an hour after his fight with Chavez. Doctors were initially unsure he would make it through the night, but the next day expressed cautious optimism after tests showed improvement in brain function.
Johnson spent 16 years as a professional fighter before finally winning a version of the 135-pound title in June. But, in his first defense, he took a beating from Chavez before finally being stopped by a flurry of punches in the 11th round.
Dear Ric,
I’m interested in your thoughts on Tom Delay’s assertion that the government is lean and there are no more spending cuts to make. It seems like every year Washington takes a bigger chunk of money out of the private sector to finance the kinds of things that localities wouldn’t waste their own money on. The recent transportation Bill is full of examples.
Delay’s statement bothers me because once Republicans resemble Democrats in operation, it will only take more handsome or well spoken Democrats to come along and grab power. Eisenhower had a chance to slash the New Deal and his lost opportunity gave way to Kennedy. Bush 41 broke his tax pledge and it led to Bill Clinton.
The Republican Congress is headed for the same fall if they cannot show leadership on the reduction of the size of government. It’s the Democrats that need to cast themselves in gold and be worshipped by the people unwilling to help themselves. Republicans need to represent productive people. It’s been more than ten years since the Gingrich revolution and more than four years since we won back the White House and I can’t think of a single government program that we cut equal to the size of the Medicare drug benefit.
The Republicans have been given a pass because of 9-11 and the war, but Americans have short memories and the Republican inability to be fiscally conservative will give an opening to Democrats to use the same rhetoric that Newt once used. They’ll give the credit for the 90s surpluses to Clinton not Congress. What will a Republican Congress have to run on then?
I appreciate your support for tax cuts, Ric. I hope you share these other concerns with me. What government programs do you think we should cut and how do you plan to introduce them? I have some ideas if you don't.
Tom
- President Bush is not doing enough to get Americans back to work, create more jobs, and get the economy moving again?It doesn't ask if you think it is true, just how concerned you are about it.
- the massive budget deficits caused by Republican economic and tax policies will inevitably result in drastic cuts in Social Securty, Medicare, education, and social services?I don't like the massive budget deficits either, but hello, Congress controls the money and that is you.
- Administration proposals for Homeland Security underfund crucially important first responders, such as firefighters, police officers, and local health agencies?I don't see where this even makes sense. How do federal security issues even affect local agencies? Republicans not only want to starve grandma and foul the water, but the bastards also hate firefighters!
- ongoing Republican proposals to privatize Social Security by investing some of it in the stock market and putting the retirement of millions of Americans at risk?Please explain fully why you think investing in the American stock market is a loser.
- the Bush Administration continues to weaken environmental laws designed to protect our air, water, and wilderness areas?The GOP really should be more focused on destabalizing education and slashing the benefits of firefighters.
- social conservatives who now control the Republican Party will ultimately deny women their reproductive rights by stacking the Supreme Court and overturning Roe v Wade?Because that is the central mandate of the Republican Party. Women should vote Democrat.
- our children will continue to lose teachers and classrooms because of the Bush Administration's failure to adequately fund public education?If we have not yet adequately funded the war on stupidity, then perhaps it is time to overhaul the system.
- the Administration's unilateral policies have reduced our number of allies and endangered our national security?As evidenced by zero attacks on US soil in four years.
- George W Bush could shape the fate of the Supreme Court for decades to come?Isn't this the same threat as overturning Roe v Wade?
The Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, said Tuesday that he would oppose the confirmation of Judge John G. Roberts Jr. as chief justice, surprising both the White House and fellow Democrats still conflicted about how to vote.
In becoming the first Democrat to declare formally how he intended to vote, Mr. Reid may have made it more difficult for fellow Democrats to support Judge Roberts. Many Senate observers expected Mr. Reid, who comes from a Republican-leaning state and is opposed to abortion, to support Judge Roberts.
In announcing his decision in a lengthy speech on the Senate floor, Mr. Reid questioned Judge Roberts's commitment to civil rights and said he was "very swayed" by the civil rights and women's rights leaders who testified Thursday in opposition to the nomination - and with whom Mr. Reid met privately that same day. Liberal advocacy groups, who raise millions of dollars to support Democratic candidates and who have been putting intense pressure on Democrats to oppose the nomination, were elated.
Voted YES on criminal penalty for harming unborn fetus during other crime. (Mar 2004)
Voted YES on banning partial birth abortions except for maternal life. (Mar 2003)
Voted YES on maintaining ban on Military Base Abortions. (Jun 2000)
Voted YES on banning partial birth abortions. (Oct 1999)
Voted YES on disallowing overseas military abortions. (May 1999)
Rated 29% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record. (Dec 2003)
| Program | Savings | Rationale |
| Farm subsidies: cut in half | $10.6 | Wasteful and have negative environmental and trade effects |
| NASA: cut in half | $7.9 | NASA is obsolete with the arrival of private manned space flight |
| Energy research and subsidies | $6.2 | Private sector responsibility |
| Subsidies to airports | $5.8 | Airports should be privatized as in dozens of major foreign cities |
| Community development grants | $5.4 | Projects such as parking lots and sidewalks are a local responsibility |
| USAID (foreign aid) | $4.7 | Duplicates Bush Millennium Challenge Corporation foreign aid agency |
| Army Corps of Engineers | $4.6 | Civilian activities should be privatized or devolved to the states |
| Homeland security grants | $4.2 | Homeland security grants to states have been mired in scandal |
| Foreign economic aid | $2.7 | Foreign economic aid does not work |
| Rural subsidies | $2.5 | Wasteful and unfair to urban taxpayers |
| Bureau of Indian Affairs | $2.4 | BIA is scandal-plagued. Tribes earn $19 billion annually from gambling |
| Davis-Bacon Act: repeal | $2.0 | Repeal Davis-Bacon and the Service Contract Act to cut federal costs |
| Air traffic control | $1.6 | "Privatize air traffic control as in Canada and Britain" |
| Trade adjustment assistance | $1.0 | Unneeded giveaway that is in addition to unemployment insurance |
| Amtrak | $0.4 | Privatize the rail system |
| Total | $62 | |
| Source: Chris Edwards and Stephen Slivinski, Cato Institute, based on Budget of the U.S. Government, FY2006. | ||
When judges interpret the law as written, rather than deciding to write it themselves, the preferences of the people are honored and protected. On the other hand, when judges impose their individual policy preferences under the guise of interpreting the Constitution, the nation may be stuck with those preferences for a long time.
There is little indication Judge Roberts would ever seek to impose his personal views on the nation from the bench. This is important in many areas, but perhaps none more than the war on terrorism. In the end, this is why members of both parties should support Roberts.
The last time the Steelers and Texans played, the Texans left Heinz Field with a stunning 24-6 win.
The victory was not only surprising because the Texans were an expansion team at the time, but because the Steelers beat them in every aspect of the game, except the one that mattered most – the final score.
The Steelers defense gave up only 47 yards in the game, allowed three first downs, had four sacks, and allowed only three pass completions for 10 yards. “It was one of those games you couldn’t believe it turned out that way,” said linebacker Joey Porter. “It was very disappointing for the simple fact that we set a record that day and it didn’t get talked about because we lost the game. We held them to 47 yards on total offense and lost.
“It’s a stat that will probably never be done again as far as the defense playing that well. You should never lose a game when you play like that. It’s one of those fluke situations.”The Texans scored all three of their touchdowns on defense, with two interception returns and one fumble return.
“That was one of the craziest games, at least statistical-wise, in NFL history,” said cornerback Deshea Townsend. “The main thing we always say is win, and they did it that day. That was one of the weirdest things ever. I can’t imagine anything like that really happening. You could see it happening on television or whatever, but not in real life. It was crazy."
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an "ongoing victory," and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget.
Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, "Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority we've pared it down pretty good."
New test results released by the federal Environmental Protection Agency Sunday evening confirm that toxic chemicals contained in floodwaters in New Orleans and Metairie are in concentrations too small to be an immediate threat to humans. But
so much saltwater has entered the city that it could be very difficult to grow a lawn for a very long time, according to Wilma Subra, an independent chemist from New Iberia who often advises environmental groups.
Folks: There are some bright spots!
1. The New Orleans Airport will open Concourses A and B to scheduled passenger jet service on Tuesday! Cargo service began Saturday. Talked to Roy Williams, aviation director. He said there would be police checkpoints to prevent your driving into Jefferson or Orleans until they are reopened. The remainder of the airport, Concourse C and D, will remain dedicated to the relief effort. Up to 20 percent of the 10 million passengers a year are from parishes other than Jefferson or Orleans.
2. The draining is going faster than they had anticipated. See the map I sent previously to check flood levels on your block.
3. The Picyaune (I smell a Pulitzer) quoted Entergy as saying power would be restored to the CBD by the end of this week and to the Quarter and Uptown within 2 weeks. This means your air conditioning will come back on and cut down on the mold and mildew. It also means I will probably be moving to my apartment on Julia Street to cover the story from now on.
4. NOPD announced that the city is now crime-free for the first time in its history. This is due to 2 things: they've shot many of the thugs(they will never say how any, but a firefighter told me they had "taken care of" 140. A state representative, after attended a briefing, said the police and guardsmen, going house to house, block to block, have arrested many. Kinda hard for them to explain all that loot sitting around their house. This representative thinks that a significant chunk of the criminal element has been captured and taken off the streets.
Later today, I will send you my account of an inspection of the historic part of the city, from Bywater to Carrollton, that I took with three New Orleanians: Patty Gay, the Preservation Resource Center director; Jimmy Blanchard, the archivists artists and designer, Peter Raarup, the landscape architect (www.landscape-excellence.com; he will need work to salvage his business!); and with LSU urban planned Mike Desmond of Baton Rouge. They have some very significant observations. I'm beginning to sense that it will be sooner rather than later that you are allowed back in. I also have a clue there will be staged re-entry.
Now, Peter Raarup checked his Coliseum at Napoleon house that I had previously eyeballed as being found. First, we found a hole in the living room ceiling that allowed sunshine to fall onto his rug. When he went up into the attack, there was lots of
sunshine. He described his roof as "Swiss cheese." He's going to buy tarp in Baton Rouge to cover the whole thing. You might consider brining some when you come. Just because there's no visible damage from the street doesn't mean there isn't any. Check for leaks.There is a real push to get the French Quarter and CBD going as soon as possible to restart the economy.
THELMA PURRED! A note on traumatized Thelma. She is becoming a lady, presenting herself in a pleasant way to be petting. Last night, she purred for the first time. She has become very talkative. Thelma's"mom," Heidi Quenan, wants you all to know that she did not abandon her animal. Heidi had left Thelma in the hands of a house sitter while she visited a friend in Mexico City. The house sitter had left extra food and water out for Thelma when the evacuation order came. "I am not a bad Mom," Heidi said. But I know others who left their cats, who are difficult to corral, you know, with extra food and water. Most of them came through the hurricane.
Had the levee not broken, this would have been a regular hurricane.There will be great attention to why it did. The Orleans Levee Board's expenditures are now being
examined by the New York Times. Everything is going to be examined under a
microscope.By the way, I highly recommend going to see "The Forty Year OldVirgin." After about 15 minutes, I forgot about the hurricane and laughed the rest of the time. You need the relief.
More later today.
