b.rox

Rather than express my obligatory outrage over Bush’s remarks yesterday on Hurricane Katrina, I’ll simply link to Darwin Bond Graham’s rather excellent rebuttal.

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 [...]

Yesterday I posted some thoughts on a panel discussion, but I forgot that I had a written version of my opening statement which I might as well share. Curiously, I also forgot to bring a written version to the event, so I had to extemporize. I wrote this after meeting with some representatives of the [...]

Not a mention, not even a word. In last night’s State of the Union address, President Bush talked about all manner of subjects, but he didn’t have a thing to say regarding the devastated Gulf Coast region or the slow pace of recovery in New Orleans. I’m not really surprised. It’s kind of like getting [...]

People in New Orleans are getting excited about Bush. No, not George W. Bush — Reggie Bush. He’s some sort of new football guy for the Saints that people are hailing as the team’s savior, even the city’s savior. It is surely the height of foolishness for me to opine on a subject of which [...]

According to a story in today’s paper: The heights of floodwalls and levees now being rebuilt by the corps are based on research for a likely worst-case storm done in 1959. When new weather service research in the 1970s increased the size and intensity of that storm and its projected surges, the corps stuck to [...]

I watched Bush’s State of the Union address last night. It was the first time I’ve watched this political spectacle in years, I think. I tuned in because I knew he was going to say something about Katrina and the Gulf Coast. I waited and waited, as he talked about Iraq and Iran and our [...]

Photo by howieluvzus. Yesterday President Bush visited New Orleans. Howie’s posted some pix of a demonstration at Jackson Square, where hundreds of Catholic schoolgirls showed up in life vests and wading boots. I couldn’t make it myself, but I’ve attended a number of rallies over the years, particularly anti-war rallies. I’ve often been frustrated at [...]

Very good news: The Bush administration has decided to support making levees in New Orleans stronger than before Hurricane Katrina struck I still can’t overcome my ingrained skepticism to anything coming out of this (or any) administration. But this looks like a much-needed boost to the entire Gulf Coast region. Businesses and homeowners have been [...]

Our friend LoJo in St. Louis made this poster with her partner. Feel free to print the full-quality original and post it wherever you like.

New Orleans’ own Andrea Garland has joined Cindy Sheehan out at Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas — and she’s blogging on location. Y’all have heard about Cindy Sheehan, right?

Ever heard of Nickleby? That’s teacher slang for NCLB — No Child Left Behind. I’ve been hearing a lot about it lately as Xy was informed that, as of last Tuesday, all 6th grade teachers in the New Orleans system must be “highly qualified,” and that she wasn’t, and so they were busting her down [...]

Today there was a march in New Orleans as part of the global day of protest against the war in Iraq. It’s been two years since the United States invaded. Over 1,500 US soldiers are dead and countless civilians — maybe as many as 100,000. It’s time for this madness to end. So we marched [...]

I posted a set of photos from the Jazz Funeral for Democracy.

For about the past month or so the local NPR affiliate has been saying that “many of our listeners have told us that NPR is more important to them now than ever,” followed by a plug to support the station financially. Could there be any doubt that “now more than ever” is a coded reference [...]

My friend Jason Neville put this together from data collected at opensecrets.org and CNN. He couldn’t find a vote total for Peroutka, but I found a number on the candidate’s website. I thought it put an interesting perspective on the 2004 presidential race. Candidate Votes Money Raised Votes-Per-Dollar Cobb 104,087 $133,576 0.78 Badnarik 373,729 $841,498 [...]

It doesn’t take a genius to discern that, even though the election results are not official yet, there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth, not to mention rending of garments and beating of breasts, amongst those who voted for Kerry and those who despise the Bush administration. But that’s absolutely the wrong attitude! Yes, [...]

Two days until the election. I know a lot of people are sick of the hype. If you’re sick of it, please read no further. I just want to record my thoughts on the election before it goes down, for my own sake at least. I predicted a Bush victory six months ago, and I’m [...]

Today our local news daily, the Times-Picayune, weighed in on the presidential race. They are endorsing… nobody. …we cannot recommend either George W. Bush or John Kerry with confidence…. We take the endorsement process seriously and would like to be able to offer voters our advice in this race, as we have in so many [...]