b.rox

Here’s a report from Elizabeth Cook on the arrests at the St. Bernard Housing Development Tuesday.

Regarding the current foofaraw being raised over remarks by Obama’s former pastor, Xy made the following observation:

If I could hear preaching like that, I’d go to church more often.

Amen. Indeed, it’s our feeling that the real shame here is not the remarks Wright made. The shame is that Obama feels the need to repudiate them.

A neighbor alerted me to a recycling survey, from the city’s Dept. of Sanitation, on the department’s website (halfway down the page).
www.cityofno.com/Portals/Sanitation/portal.aspx
It has to be printed and mailed, so I wouldn’t call it an online survey. (A print version, for mailing in, was “prominently” placed in yesterday’s Times-Picayune, on the next-to-last page of the Picayune [...]

In an abrupt reversal, former POW John McCain votes for torture; fortunately the Senate votes the other way.

I won’t be there, but this sounds interesting:

Valentine’s day press conference 11:00 am in front of city hall to celebrate the love between the city council and the private interests who will make millions demolishing public housing. Half hour, fun, satirical protest! Wear red, bring a date!

[via txt msg from Brice Nice]

I salute the people of Louisiana who made it to the polls Saturday. Obama beat Clinton by a big margin; Huckabee beat McCain.
Locally, a few friends and fellow bloggers were in the running for some Democratic executive committee seats. Karen and Danger won, Michael and Oyster did not. I was also glad to see Ed [...]

It seems that in a few hours John Edwards will drop out of the Democratic primary. He’ll make the announcement right here in New Orleans, which is also where he started his campaign.
I’ve tried to remain neutral with regard to the primaries. After all, I can’t vote in our state primary (because I’m registered Green) [...]

Doesn’t it seem ridiculous that our collective mood should rise and fall based on what this guy says in his speech?

Tonight, the armies of compassion continue the march to a new day in the Gulf Coast. America honors the strength and resilience of the people of this region. We reaffirm our pledge to help them [...]

I cajoled Xy into attending our local meeting of the School Facilities Master Plan for Orleans Parish on Tuesday night.
It reminded me of the infamous “Summer of Planning.” Specifically it reminded me of the America Speaks sessions which I never attended (having already been burned out by the Lambert process) but which I read about [...]

A year ago I gave a speech.
Sadly enough, I could give that speech again today. Not much has changed.
I would have to strike the reference to District Attorney Eddie Jordan — he’s gone. I would lose the line calling for more cops. But other than that, I stand by what I said a year [...]

I was just a-sittin’ and a-thinkin’ the other night, and somehow I had a minor epiphany which I might express thusly:
Indiscriminate cynicism serves the powerful almost as much as unquestioning obedience.
It may be obvious to the rest of the world, but I wish this had occurred to me a decade or two ago. I have [...]

I mistakenly told some people that Cynthia McKinney will not be seeking the Green Party’s nomination as a presidential candidate, but in fact she is, along with six other hopefuls.

How can this occur a full five months after this? (Thanks, BSJD)

Now that Christmas is past and campaign season is swinging into full gear, I will permit myself the following cranky thoughts.
Remember the mantra from 2004? Anybody but Bush… Anybody but Bush… Well, it turns out now there is someone worse than Bush, and it just so happens that he’s running for president. I’m speaking of [...]

I wish I could take comfort in the unity of our City Council today, as they closed ranks and voted for the redevelopment of our public housing projects. I wish I could believe that the planned redevelopment will truly lead to a more just and humane society, with greater opportunity for all.
But I can’t.
So I [...]

Something tells me the picture of Sharon Jasper sitting next to her widescreen TV on page A-14 of today’s Times-Picayune will not advance the cause of public housing.

The struggle over public housing has been building for years here in New Orleans. Now it’s ramping up to new levels.
It’s a disgusting and pathetic spectacle. With apologies to Mom and Dad, it’s a clusterfuck. There’s just no other word to describe it. I don’t have it in me to play reporter and account for [...]

The Housing Conservation District Review Committee met on Monday. They voted to allow the demolition of three public housing complexes, and passed the buck on a fourth. These decisions dominated the local news.
But there were some other items on the HCDRC’s agenda. I wrote about the ongoing dispute between my neighborhood organization and Victory Real [...]

Big props to Alan Gutierrez for orchestrating a chat with New Orleans’ new Inspector General last week.
I did a hit-and-run. I asked a couple very general and probably naïve questions. Then I left because I had another commitment.
Fortunately, Alan’s posted the audio so I can listen to the whole conversation and catch up on what [...]

So last night, in his big “religion” speech, Mitt Romney warned of nefarious forces bent on “establishing a new religion in America – the religion of secularism.”
Meanwhile, a new poll reveals more Americans believe in the devil than Darwin’s theory of evolution.
Those results hardly suggest a rising tide of secularism. I’m forced to conclude that [...]