Please Don't Come Back To New Orleans

An interesting story about the current state of affairs in New Orleans, written by someone who actually lives there.


Last October, while running an errand, I made the mistake of thinking that I could walk four blocks on a sunny Saturday afternoon in New Orleans. I was in my old Bywater neighborhood and inevitably found myself stalled by spontaneous conversation with my former neighbors; this camaraderie is what I missed about the neighborhood, but it was also why I should have driven. I didn't have time for it, and in the years since Katrina I felt burned by what I now felt was a false front that we were all in this together.

My neighbors and I parted ways, and within half a block everything changed. I saw a group of kids on bikes ahead of me and turned to avoid what looked like trouble. Two stray dogs came charging toward me, but I was too slow to realize it was because someone was about to club me from behind. Because it was from behind, I never got a good look at who it was, but he probably used a two-by-four to hit me, a popular weapon in New Orleans these days. I hit the pavement and skidded across. It was the kind of impact that leaves logic knocked loose, so when the kids jumped on top of me asking "What have you got?" I lifted my head as if to respond. Fortunately, the damage from the blow kept me from saying what I was really thinking, otherwise they might have finished the job. I lay paralyzed in the middle of the street while I felt their hands in my pockets. They took my iPhone, left the cash, and then they were gone.



Read On...

The Onion Kills!

One of the more memorable articles to come out of The Onion.

"Unfortunately, the sterilization programs of a generation ago failed to prevent Miley Cyrus, Jaden Smith, and countless other second-generation stars, so we're left with no choice now," McWane said. "But rest assured, population-thinning will be quick and efficient, while primarily targeting the sick, elderly, and C-list."

Lyrics on a Thursday morning...

Just because everybody else seems to hate the guy and I don't.

Deep inside the border
Children are crying

Fighting for food
Holding their heads
Breaking their bread with a stone

All along the roadside
people are standing
watching the sun
shielding their eyes
Brushing the flies from their face

Tell me, what can you say
Tell me, who do you blame
Like a mirror you see yourself
These people each have a name

All around the township
Young men are dying
(of) hunger and thirst
The well has run dry
The tears from her eye feeds her son

Tell me, what can you say
Tell me, who do you blame
Like a mirror you see yourself
These people each have a name

You can say you're pulling back
We see the pictures everywhere
But what we don't see is what's
Going on behind the closed doors
And you don't seem to care

Do you expect me to believe you
How can you really think
You can take your horse down to the water
Hold a gun at his head
And make him drink

No matter what you say, it never gets any better
No matter what you do, we never see any change

People living without rights
Without their dignity
How loud does one man have to shout
To earn his right to be free

You can keep your toy soldiers
To segregate the black and white
But when the dust settles
And the blood stops running
How do you sleep at night?

No matter what you say, it never gets any better
No matter what you do, we never see any change
What makes you so high and mighty
What makes you so qualified
You can sit there and say
How many have their freedom
But how many more have died

You decide to sit in judgement
Trying to play God yourself
Someday soon the buck is gonna stop
Stop with you and noone else

No matter what you say, it never gets any betterNo matter what you do, we never see any change

Reading Material; The Ecstasy Of Empire

An interesting article over at Infowars.com about the future of the United States as a prosperous nation. Grim reading but eerily plausible.

"Americans have no greater enemies than Wall Street and the corporations and their prostitutes in Congress and the White House.

The neocons allied with Israel, who control both parties and much of the media, are strung out on the ecstasy of Empire. "

The Pentagon Papers

Years ago I saw 'All The President's Men' for the first time. Ever since then I wanted to get my hands on a copy of the 'Pentagon Papers', the documents about the reality of the Vietnam war as Ellsberg leaked them to the New York Times. And lo! and behold I found them. Not for people who only like spectacular plot changes...

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/pentagon/pent1.html

Best news topic of the year so far...

Man Caught with Pants Down and an Armless Mannequin in Public Park

Jon Stewart's segment : I Give Up

My favourite American Jon Stewart said it right the other night. Here's the clip :

Jon Stewart : I Give Up

What are you playing now?

Billy Bragg - Leroy Stubb's Tears

With the money from her accident
She bought herself a mobile home
So at least she could get some enjoyment
Out of being alone
No one could say that she was left up on the shelf
It's you and me against the World kid she mumbled to herself

When the world falls apart some things stay in place
Levi Stubbs' tears run down his face

She ran away from home with her mother's best coat
She was married before she was even entitled to vote
And her husband was one of those blokes
The sort that only laughs at his own jokes
The sort that war takes away
And when there wasn't a war he left her anyway

Norman Whitfield and Barratt Strong
Are here to make right everything that's wrong
Holland and Holland and Lamont Dozier too
Are here to make it all okay with you


One dark night he came home from the sea
And put a hole in her body where no hole should be
It hurt her more to see him walking out the door
And though they stitched her back together they left her heart in pieces on the
floor


When the world falls apart some things stay in place
She takes off the Four Tops tape and puts it back in its case
When the world falls apart some things stay in place
Levi Stubbs' tears...


Cat Power - Rambling Woman

Well I love you baby
But you got to understand
When the Lord made me
He made a ramblin' woman
He made me, he made me

Some folks
Some folks might say that I’m no good
That I wouldn’t settle down but if I only could
I love to see the towns go crawlin' by
There's something I’ve got to do
Before I die

I love you baby
But you got to understand
When the Lord made me
He made a ramblin' woman
He made me, He made me

Some people say
That I do just fine
Cause I hear sweet song
Moving down the line
And when that old southern train comes calling me
There's something over the hill
I just got to see

Well I love you
I love you baby
But you've got to understand
When the Lord made me
He made me
He made a ramblin' woman
He made me, He made me

Now when I'm gone
When I'm gone and at my grave you stand
Just say God called home your ramblin' woman

I love you
I love you baby
But you've got to understand
He made me, a ramblin' woman
He made me


Kenny Rankin - Haven't We Met?

I've ordered some rain for tomorrow
The sky will be sunny but wet
And out of nowhere you're suddenly there
And i say yeah pardon me haven't we met?

I've ordered some sunshine with showers
And i've got my scenery set
Right there with a thump our umbrellas gonna bump
And i say yeah yeah pardon me haven't we met?

Accidents can happen
And into one i'm gonna slide
There's a good chance to get my hands
On a little romance when two hearts collide

And i know that's just how it happened
When romeo met juliet
Somewhere i've read that old romeo said
pardon me haven't we met?

And i know that's just how it happened
When romeo met juliet
Somewhere i've read that old romeo said
pardon me oh he said pardon me
He said pardon me haven't we met?


Kenny Rankin - In The Name Of Love

What Burns And Glows Without Flame
What Is A Rose Without Any Rain
What Brings A Smile That Only Lasts A Little While
And Makes Me Cry Without Shame

Well Now How Can You Please Me
Torture And Tease Me
Do It In The Name Of Love

Don't You Know How To Be Nice
You Leave Me Without Thinkin' Twice
You're Warm Like An Oven
Only When You Want My Lovin'
Then You Go From Fire To Ice

Well Now How Can You Please Me
Torture And Tease Me
Do It In The Name Of Love

Am I Comin'
Am I Goin'
I Got No Way Of Knowin' Your Mine
You Make Me Rise And You Make Me Fall
You Make Me Stumble, Stumble, Stumble, Stumble And Fall
Baby Get With It
Come On Admit It
Whisper To Me If You Don't Really Love Me Anymore

How Can You Please Me
Torture And Tease Me
Do It In The Name Of Love

You Make Me Rise And You Make Me Fall
You Make Me Stumble, Stumble, Stumble, Stumble And Crawl
Baby Get With It
Come On Admit It
Whisper To Me If You Don't Really Love Me Anymore

How Can You Please Me
Torture And Tease Me
Do It In The Name Of Love
Do It In The Name Of Love
Do It In The Name Of Love
Do It In The Name Of Love
Do It In The Name Of Love
Do It In The Name Of Love


The late great Tommy Bolin - Gypsy Soul

We talked for hours of the travels
And all the beauty you had seen.
The south of France where the spring is beginning,
Sunset on the Thames from the village green.
We rolled on and on through the pages,
Of the books you'd taken from the shelf.
Unfamiliar faces and forgotten places,
Landscapes green and rich in wealth.

You've got a gypsy soul, and you love to wander.
Coast to coast to the Canadian border.
In the summer sun, yeah, yeah.

From my window you saw the ocean,
And all the changes that has been.
The south of France where the spring is beginning,
Sunset on the Thames from the village green.


Martha Wainwright - Bloody Motherfucking Asshole

Poetry is no place for a heart that's a whore
And I'm young & I'm strong
But I feel old & tired
Overfired

And I've been poked & stoked
It's all smoke, there's no more fire
Only desire
For you, whoever you are
For you, whoever you are

You say my time here has been some sort of joke
That I've been messing around
Some sort of incubating period
For when I really come around
I'm cracking up
And you have no idea

No idea how it feels to be on your own
In your own home
with the fucking phone
And the mother of gloom
In your bedroom
Standing over your head
With her hand in your head
With her hand in your head

I will not pretend
I will not put on a smile
I will not say I'm all right for you
When all I wanted was to be good
To do everything in truth
To do everything in truth

Oh I wish I wish I wish I was born a man
So I could learn how to stand up for myself
Like those guys with guitars
I've been watching in bars
Who've been stamping their feet to a different beat
To a different beat
To a different beat

I will not pretend
I will not put on a smile
I will not say I'm all right for you
When all I wanted was to be good
To do everything in truth
To do everything in truth

You bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody mother fucking asshole
Oh you bloody...

I will not pretend
I will not put on a smile
I will not say I'm all right for you
For you, whoever you are
For you, whoever you are
For you, whoever you are


Randy Newman - It's Money That I Love

I don't love the mountains
And I don't love the sea
And I don't love Jesus
He never done a thing for me
I ain't pretty like my sister
Or smart like my dad
Or good like my mama

It's Money That I Love
It's Money That I Love

They say that's money
Can't buy love in this world
But it'll get you a half-pound of cocaine
And a sixteen-year old girl
And a great big long limousine
On a hot September night
Now that may not be love
But it is all right

One, two
It's Money That I Love
Wanna kiss you Three, four
It's Money That I Love
Used to worry about the poor

But I don't worry anymore
Used to worry about the black man
Now I don't worry about the black man
Used to worry about the starving children of India
You know what I say about the starving children of India ?
I say, "Oh mama"

It's Money That I Love
It's Money That I Love
It's Money That I Love

Politics in The Netherlands 2010

I just sometimes wish that HAFMO was still alive.