Venganza

I ran across this a while back, and it has nothing to do with anything, but I found it pretty amusing (to the point of tears :^): www.venganza.com Aarg mateys!

NOVAC

Ran across the New Orleans Video Access Center (NOVAC) today. There is a YouTube video from December of a drive through Da Lowah Nint' Warhd. Looks like an interesting site with lots of video.

Popeye's Chicken king allegedly beaten in steak house brawl with rival

Sorry for posting this old bit of news. But I ran across this link for an old news story (2001) on Poppy Z. Brite's journal page: Popeye's Chicken king allegedly beaten in steak house brawl with rival
Wow. Entire novels have been written with less excitement that this short news brief. Millions have been spent on Hollywood blockbuster movies with less character development and storyline. This is why you have to love New Orleans.

Camellia Grill

Fellow blogger Robert D. Peyton over on Appetites writes about a visit to the Camelia Grill. It's still closed, but he posted an amazing picture of the door covered with post-it notes. Presumably from folks who miss the Grill and are waiting for it to re-open. He also mentions Poppy Z. Brite's new series of fictional books based on the New Orleans resturant secene, Liquor and Soul Kitchen. Have been hearing many good things about these. I'm even told I'll recognize some of the char-actors. Will have to give these a look. Wishing all the New Orleaneanians, esepcially those literary and culinary artists the best these days. May all your future hurricanes come in a free souvineer glass.

The one that got him away

A good Times-Picayune article on local weatherman / legend Nash Roberts, who inspired legions of young New Orleanians to track storms on the back of Schweggman's bags. Katrina marked his first evacuation of New Orleans for a hurricane in 60 years. Once again, he called it right. (Thanks to Philip Seymour Morphy, esq., who needs to get his blog mojo working again).

The One That Got Him Away
It was a storm so big that Nash Roberts evacuated for the first time ever. The legendary weatherman recalls Katrina, reflects on life off the air, and shares his optimism for the city's future.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
By Dave Walker
...

Doctors wary of helping after Katrina murder case

An good article about what New Orleans doctors, nurses and residents think of Charles Foti's filing murder charges against medical professionals working through the post-Katrina flooding. I'll note that the article does not mention Foti by name once, unlike the earlier articles which were filled with quotes. Perhaps this isn't the sort of publicity he was looking for after all. I hope the voters boot this guy, along with everyone else who is trying to exploit this tradegy for personal gain.

Doctors wary of helping after Katrina murder case

On a related note, perhaps this flood should really be named for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, not poor, maligned Hurricane Katrina. She has taken far too much of the blame for the incompetence of the Corps. I hope places like Leeves.org get the attention they deserve.

Hospital Giant HCA Is Close to a Record Buyout

The NYT reports that the U.S.'s largest for-profit hospital corporation is about to be bought out by private investors for a record $21 billion, which includes around $10 billion of debt. But this gets interesting. HCA was taken private in the 1980s, then taken public again. It was founded by the Frist family, the same family of Dr. Bill Frist, Senate majority leader. And the two leaders of this most recent buyout are -- Thomas Frist Sr., the founder of HCA and his son, Thomas Frist, Jr. Oh, and this is the same hospital that settled a $1.7 billion lawsuit for Medicare fraud. Oh, and Senator Frist is still under investigation for his recent stock sale of HCA. I'll have to see where the HCA hospitals in my area are and be sure to avoid them if I ever get sick.

The New Liberals

William Kristol, editor of the arch-conservative Weekly Standard just wrote an odd editorial on the situation in the Middle East. He invoked the term "liberal" seven times in a single short article -- and not once unfavorably. Perhaps being a neo-neo-conservative is some sort of double negative. Perhaps he has become a 'liberal'.

Weak Horses Most liberals (and the odd conservative) don't want to fight--Bush does.
by William Kristol 07/31/2006, Volume 011, Issue 43

Gulf Temperature

Been hearing about high gulf temperatures, but can't find any official reports. But Gulf Buoy 42001 in the mid-gulf shows a surface tepmerature (at a depth of 1 meter) of over 87F this week. I'm not a meterologist, but this does not sound good.

Medication Errors Harming Millions, Report Says

Healthcare (and I use the term loosely) in the US is such a nice, big, fat easy target that I can't resist this one. A new report shows that on average, you can expect a medication error for each day you spend in a hospital. 1.5 million people get bad drugs in US hospitals a year, costing $3.5 billion. Odd how this simultaneously drums up extra business for the hospitals and the drug companies.

Wet Bank Guide

In case you've missed it, check out our neighbor over on blogspot, Mark Folse and his Wet Bank Guide.

Ah, The Zephyr

Those of us of a certain age will enjoy the references to the Zephyr and Ponchatrain Beach in this letter from New Orleans:

Topsy-turvy rides paint memorable view of Crescent City

Another Incursion

So today Israel is invading a much smaller and weaker country on some very flimsy premises. Not that is is likley to improve their security situation. Probably the opposite. Where do they get these sorts of ideas? Perhaps they are being paid off by Exxon. They are surely the only winners here.

Japanese gadget records, replicates odor

Anybody home? Smellivision is almost a reality: Japanese gadget records, replicates odor

Cuculoupes in Houma

Cucumbers and cantaloupes cross breed in post-Katrina Houma. Surely another sign. But what does it mean????

The Exodus Continues

From the T-P: For some New Orleanians, the pace of recovery is too slow, the threat of another hurricane is too scary, the future is too uncertain. They're getting out. Heck, some people were obviously thinking this years before Katrina, if New Orleans population figures are any guide.

The Yat Pundit

Not as entertaining as the Rude Pundit, but the Yat Pundit is worth a look.

Down Goes Lay! (Six feet down, that is)

As I understand it (and correct me on this, counselor) since Mr. Lay had not been sentenced yet, his family gets to keep whatever ill-gotten gains he had acquired. Ah, here's the story in the IHT: Lay's death may help heirs keep assets. Someone had better check his wife's medicine cabinet. Although word around Houston was that he went off his heart medicine and went to the thin air of Aspen expecting not to come back.

But what really may have killed him is seeing the amazing mark-up of $75 a barrel oil, and realizing that he wasn't getting a piece of that action. Makes the Enron scams look like small potatoes. Even that other Texas horse thief, T. Boone Pickens, has picked up a cool $1.5 billion for his meager efforts last year. Enough to break an oilman's heart for sure.

On a lighter note, Italy beats Germany in overtime (or whatever they call it over there).

Kyoto Cafe Du Monde

Dr. Nakasoto here in Konichiwa recommended a visit to Kyoto before I head back to the US. I was booking a hotel near the train station and noticed a "French Bakery" called Cafe Du Monde. A quick look at the Cafe Du Monde web site shows 43 locations in Japan (!) Here's a pic someone put up on Flickr. Can't wait to try the coffee. I've been drinking the suff out of bottles and cans they sell in the vending machines here. Not bad, but not good, either.

Jonh Perry Barlow on Katrina

I ran across this post on John Perry Barlow's blog about Kartina from a few months back. It articulates an attitude about the victims of Katrina and the lack of response by the US government that I have sensed from the beginning.

Katrina's "Immoral" Victims