Sitting On My Porch Part Forty Three : Taking It Personal

All humans have flaws and I know all of mine. That’s the only way you can try to fix them or work around them. There are two that I haven’t quite figured out how to handle. The first one is that I hold grudges. We’ll talk about that at another time. The second thing is that I have a tendency to take things too personal. What I mean is that things that I don’t have direct control over tend to affect me like I can control them. I know this has to be a flaw because too many people around me think I am crazy for letting so many things bother me like they do. I made an effort to stop doing this but I give up. That’s why I have to step away from everything and everyone now and then to process the overload of issues going on. I’ve been listening to sports radio and watching the NBA playoffs all week and barely peeked at the news. After a few days things usually calm down and I reengage. I realize that I just happen to see things from the bigger picture and beyond what’s going on at my own street address. I know that eventually all that stuff that I shouldn’t take personal eventually works itself to my door.

So yeah, when someone questions whether President Obama is a real American I take it personal because I know what they mean.

When CNN compares New Orleans to Bagdad and The Congo I take that personally because I know whose doing the crime to cause that they look like me.

When I turn on the news and see another story about the murder of black men in any city I take that personal for the same reason.

When the police shoot innocent people on a bridge I take that personal because I live in walking distance from that spot and it could have easily been me and my family.

When a sister I know tells me a story about how the father of her children is not doing what he is supposed to do I take that personal because I know what kind of life is waiting for all the neglected children and they have to grow up and live with my children and I want them all to have a better life.

When I watch a television show based on my city and I see a man who is supposed to be the symbol of the surviving culture beat the hell out of a kid for stealing his tools even though he had no way of knowing if that kid really stole them and the kid had no idea who he was to purposely disrespect him, I take that personal because I don’t just live here. These are my roots and showing that image to the world reflects poorly on me and all the men I was raised around in New Orleans who would have never done that. It made black men from New Orleans look savage and that’s personal.

When I see the city is about to spend over 100 million dollars as their share for building a new VA hospital I take it personal because I know we are about to sacrifice all of this money to tear up an entire neighborhood and most of the people employed there will be a mixture of folks who just moved here that love New Orleans way too much for some crazy reason or people that live in the suburbs that act like they hate to city for no reason at all because they can’t survive without it. I really want to be wrong about this last one but I’m not. I take things personal but I don’t know why everyone doesn’t either. It's okay though because I don't expect anyone to think like me.


Rest in Peace.......

Rest in peace to Guru

New Orleans Is Rough But It's Not The Congo

New Orleans is a rough city with a lot of challenges. We have some issues with our school system. We have some issues with our police department. It’s true we have a criminal element that makes their presence known. By no means am I saying this is an urban paradise but calling us one of the ten most dangerous cities in the world? That’s bullshit. I probably wouldn’t argue being on a top ten list of cities in the U.S. but making the world list is something I can’t sit by and tolerate. That puts us on par with places like Baghdad, Beirut, and Kinshasa of the Congo. That’s just wrong and everyone here needs to fight back against that label. I guess all those people I see riding their bikes, walking their dogs, and sitting in the park eating crawfish must all be insane and delusional according to CNN. At any minute an armed gang of thugs is going to run up and just start randomly attacking people or there will be a series of car bombings at the Jazz Festival. That’s how it appears to me by being on the list with some of these cities.

Yes, I am worried about crime and want the city to be safer. We are about to swear in a new mayor and police chief and I hope that happens quickly. I think we are trying to turn the tide but all it takes is one person doing something crazy to drain everyone’s energy when we think we might be doing better. At the same time the environment is not so tense I am ready to barricade myself in the house. If it was I and a whole bunch of others would leave. I would even say that the lack of apparent random danger makes it more complicated to deal with the crime issue in the first place.

Statistics are a useful tool to understand what’s really going on but sometimes you can have numbers without the back story and it makes things look more drastic than it is. Take the last few weeks for example. We had a quadruple murder that ended up being a family member looking for money and another triple murder that was a domestic violence dispute. That’s seven murders added to our total that was so personal and unpredictable that there was nothing anyone in any city could have done about that. Now, there have been more murders than that so far this year and I am not making excuses for the amount we have but we definitely aren’t living like the people of the Congo. Numbers alone don’t always tell the exact story.

Being added to a list like this reminds me of why having a show on a network like HBO bothered me in the first place. For some reason any labels about New Orleans stick forever and they never seem to change. When we get our new police chief and with his help along with our new mayor and the community we cut our crime statistics even lower than they have been dropping recently, we will still be seen as one of those most dangerous cities in America. According to this article we are only sixth in the U.S. in crime now and we still ended up a list with Beirut. How come Camden New Jersey keeps getting a pass?

Part of changing any situation is seeing yourself in the way you want things to be. If you view yourself in a certain manner then it’s easier to act that way and maintain it. It’s hard to be a champion if you let everyone label you a chump. If we want the world to think we are a city on the rise then we have to carry ourselves that way and reject things like this article.

Not Enough Time To Help Out

Let's talk about how real life works in the community. I hope I don't upset anyone with what I am about to say. All over the country young men are doing things in the streets at an alarming rate. Whenever we go through a cycle like this someone always stands up and wants to know what 'we' are doing to fix the problem. We need to come out of our offices, go down to the blocks where we grew up and save the young men out there. Saturday morning I applied to be a mentor in a mentoring program for young boys and girls. I won't name the agency just in case they don't call me back. They ask for at least a six hour a month commitment for a year. I think I can handle that. The gentleman who runs the program was talking to me about the need for more male mentors. I understood what he is saying and I signed up myself but I don't know if I can truly judge any man that is already taking care of his own home. If he's doing that then his time is pretty much spent. I'm not making excuses. It's simply a matter of supply and demand.

If you have school aged children your life is hectic. Back in the day everyone in my neighborhood walked to school and when they got older they caught the city bus. You could live the house for 8AM and get to school on time. On the way there you would run across people who knew you and your whole family. You could be home, have homework done and be outside playing by 5PM. Now the kids don't get out until 5. They probably go to school across town and have to be there at 7:30AM. So you and the kids both get home about 6PM and schools are handing out hours of homework every night as a way to show they are serious about education. Now you have to do all of that and still find time to eat, give them a bath and sneak in some family time. If they are into some extra curricular stuff on the weekends then you are pretty much on lock down until Sunday. If someone is doing this day after day it's hard for me to look at them like they are destroying the community for not having the time or energy to help other people's kids. I'm not saying we shouldn't try. I'm saying all of these mentors and strong men they want to hit the streets should only be a support group for the daddies that created the young men we are trying to save. In this day and time if a daddy is already doing what he's supposed to do then he may not have time to be everyone else daddy. Their real fathers need to come in and lighten the load.

We Already Know What's Happening

I have never done re-posted anything on this blog before. Since 32 people have been shot in New Orleans since Friday I am sure it's time for our yearly conversation about what's causing it all when we already know. I have already said all I can say about these issues and its a challenge to keep coming up with new ways of saying the same thing over and over. This was originally posted in April of last year. It all still fits.

Kill The Culture

I am tired about writing about the same thing because that means it keeps happening.


For many years now we have had this sad acceptance of violence as long as the victims fit a certain profile that said they were in the street game. As long as they description of the people involved in the stories included the words young, black, corner, and drugs were found on the scene we just sucked it up and moved on. We are all guilty of being silent and dismissive. Some of us are even guilty of giving the street soldier more admiration than an everyday hard working man. We’ve had a love affair with the thug even though we know there’s a good chance he might not live long or destroy the community. It became such an acceptable way of living that it spawned its own culture. It has its own music, dress, and language. Now the virus has mutated and that invisible wall that existed to keep the acceptable level of death between young black males is breaking down and we are having infants, children, and young girls just starting life all falling victim to the same ignorance we let get out of hand.


We have to kill the culture. It's the only way. The only way we save the people in the culture is to stop letting them think it's cool to be that way. You can't come up with all these great solutions in the midst of people living the problem as a lifestyle. We have to teach the little kids that the stupid shit they think is cool really isn't. We have to stop letting people talk up drugs, murder, violence and a lack of respect for women. We have to eliminate stupid ass words like "haters" and "beef" that people actually harm one another for like that is a good reason. This is no hate at all. No one loves me more than my dad and he never let me make excuses for anything. If we love these brothers and sisters then we can't make excuses for them either. The idea that thug culture is somehow interwoven with survival is false. The last time I checked, black people made it through a lot of challenging times without having to slaughter one another. We'll be just as black and cool without going to war with one another all the time. The babies won't live if this culture doesn't die.

Treme : Week One

I waited all day to give me take on the first Treme episode because I wanted to hear and read other people’s reaction to it. I was especially waiting for Jeffrey’s take since I shared some of his same concerns about it. After watching the show last night and getting opinions from people I realize that we are all too close to the situation either positively or negatively to judge it fairly. We all have personal issues that affect how we see the show.

If you moved here since the storm you are probably more likely to love it because new residents tend to be really into the music scene. If you lived here your whole life until the storm and haven’t returned you are probably so excited to see the hometown on the screen that everything was beautiful to you. Then you have the folks that hate the fact the city is reduced to being about music and food. This show may drive them crazy because it doesn’t reflect the depth and diversity of the people. My personal take is I want to love the show because nobody else had the nerve to put their credibility on the line to put the city in the spotlight besides David Simon and Spike Lee. You want to give those guys the benefit of the doubt. Spike’s view was more realistic and raw than Treme is because it was a documentary. David’s is fictional so it’s not going to be as real as ‘When the Levees Broke’ but he was in the ball park. You add an extra challenge when you set a show three months after the storm. There were some things going on in this city that were so deep and emotional that the life of musicians alone couldn’t capture it. Nevertheless I am glad the show is airing. Instead of ripping the show for things that didn’t look right to me, I thought I would tell you how I think some things would have gone in real life.

A lot of people’s favorite scene seems to be when Mardi Gras Indian chief Albert Lambreaux dresses in full costume and marches up a dark street to his friend’s house to get him to help clean out the bar for Indian practice. The scene was great from a television standpoint but the dialogue would have been much different in real life.

If there are any brothers from New Orleans reading this I need you to comment and back me up so I don't sound foolish when I say in real life the reception from his friend would have been much different because the closer black men in New Orleans are to one another the worst they talk to each other. If you are ever in a room full of brothers from New Orleans the two guys going at each other the most are the two closest people in the room. We don’t disrespect one another like that to talk trash to strangers or people we don’t really fool with it. The only men who could ever talk trash to my daddy were his brother, my grandfather and Nolan. Everyone else had to fight. That’s how we are. We love one another and will do anything for one another. We just talk trash while we are doing it.

If I had written that scene it would have went a little different. The brother would have came outside after hearing that noise, saw his boy dressed in full yellow Indian gear and said something like this….

“ Man…what the F#$k are you doing walking around looking like Big Bird on this dark ass street? …. <<>> ….Get your crazy ass inside before the National Guard come by and shoots all our asses. You done loss your rabbit ass mind out here acting like a one man parade. Hey Bay, I’ll be back. I’m going around here with Albert crazy ass and help him with the bar before we all get locked up.”

To people who don’t know any better that paragraph may seem crazy but there’s a lot of love in there. If that dialogue would have been on HBO last night I would have laughed and cried at the same time. They got it right when the cat hanging out in Kermit Ruffin’s yard called Antoine a broke ass horn player as they were laughing at him when he asked Kermit to pay his cab fare. There was a lot of love in that yard. That’s just how we communicate.

We’ll see what part two looks like. Judging from the preview I think that's the episode to send me over the edge. We shall see.

My Weekend Vibe : Waiting On Treme

I think there is a law that says if you live down here you have to go to at least one festival in April. I’m going to get mines out of the way today and go somewhere. I’ll be home in more than enough time to get comfortable and watch Treme tonight on HBO. When I first heard about the show I had some concerns about the message it would send about the city and I still do. I love David Simon and The Wire is one of my favorite shows of all time but it wasn’t the greatest endorsement for the city of Baltimore. I don’t think Treme is going to be that gritty since it centers on the lives of musicians. Musicians in New Orleans get access to people and places that the average cat doesn’t. It’s sort of their job to be joy with the pain because if they kept it too real it would scare away most of the people that support them.

Our greatest strength is making the struggle sound and look beautiful. I’m not against that because it’s part of what makes saying you are from New Orleans special. It gives you a unique cool factor. I also don’t believe in sugarcoating how it is to live here either. I don’t want anyone thinking that just because we like to dance to jazz bands and dress up in Mardi Gras Indian costumes that we are happy with poor education and sub standard bullshit. There’s a lot of drama going on between Sundays when the second line starts. There's a lot of people here that are in love with the beautiful part but they haven't taken the time to understand the struggle. I’m looking for balance in the show especially since the setting is after Katrina. I think I can speak for everyone I know personally and tell you there was a lot of pain going on. We may have been dancing but that’s just how we deal with stuff. That might confuse people from normal cities so the show needs to bring that out. We will see how good of a job they did tonight. I’m looking forward to it.


Since this post is about a New Orleans show built around New Orleans musical culture then I might as well post some Hot 8. This is dedicated to my Auntie Anna, Katrina refugee and loyal second line followers for over 20 years. Right now she is in Opelousas, Louisiana trying to drown out zydeco music.

Sitting On My Porch Part Forty Two

The air is full of pollen and grown is full of that brown stuff that falls off the trees this time of year. It seems like there is more pollen in the air this year than there has been for awhile. I don’t know what this means but I have to look it up and see if it has anything to do with hurricanes. Yes, it’s almost time for that but we have two months before I put the Weather Underground icon back on my desktop. There are other things to worry about at the moment.

People are resigning from Mayor Elect Mitch Landrieu’s committee to find a new chief. They say the process isn’t open enough. I am all for transparency but do we really want a chief that didn’t care enough about the city there are in now and the officers who work for them to have their name all over the media as someone dying to leave and take the New Orleans job? What if we decide not to hire that person and they have to keep working where they are? It isn’t fair to them.

Some of that is a little political posturing in my opinion. That’s how the game is played. I think you will see a bit of this here and there by some local folks who may be getting the feeling that outsiders are coming in to run our community. I understand the sentiment on general principle but when it comes to police chief you need to let that go. You can’t ignore the obvious. The fact remains that our last two chiefs were black and from New Orleans and the environment was so out of line that a group of officers killed innocent people after the storm and are just answering for it because their superiors help them cover it up. I’m not saying that every qualified officer currently on the force or was born and raised here wouldn’t do a good job. I’m saying that past history isn’t on their side when it comes to the benefit of the doubt. Personally I am confused by people who want to see the Danziger 7 brought to justice and at the same time publicly support Chief Riley. We can’t have it both ways.

Maybe now since one of the Danziger 7 officers turned on his comrades and gave explicit details about what happened that day the city can unite around the idea that things like this can never happen again. Good and honest police officers should be first in line to start the process of changing the image of the department. You guys have to be trusted enough for the community to work with you to reduce crime and make the city safer. If anyone blindly supports these officers it’s the same as me not turning in my childhood friend if I know he shot someone then complaining about the violence in my neighborhood. You can’t have it both ways.

Now on to a few things that are really bugging me….

We have been having a rash of pit bull attacks. I am surprised this doesn’t happen more often because so many people have pit bulls now and some of these folks are not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I don’t believe all these cats even like pit bulls. Some of them probably want a cocker spaniel but they are too afraid to admit it to their boys.

The fact that people expect more violence in the streets when it gets warmer outside pisses me off because it makes us sound like amphibians whose self hatred gets higher as we build up heat. It also depresses me because it’s true. Violence does goes up when it gets warmer.

The governor of Virginia just commemorated Confederate History Month! In recognition all the minority citizens should catch a train to Canada to commemorate the Underground Railroad. Does everyone know its 2010?

Enjoy reading this blog for free while you can. After the court ruling on net neutrality you will soon have to purchase the social media package along with the blogging bundle of websites to go with your Internet service.

Oliver Thomas is home in New Orleans after serving a three year sentence. I hope he starts working in the community where he belongs and leaves political office alone. Mitch Landrieu should send him a thank you card because if he wouldn’t have messed up he would be mayor right now.

This song has been in my head all day and I don't know why.

McNabb Pays The Price For Being A Good Dude

I want to talk about Donavan McNabb being traded to the Washington Redskins. I know it’s not football season but there is a teachable moment in this (I am falling in love with that term.) I am a fan of Donovan McNabb and as long as their winning didn’t affect the Saints I pulled for the Eagles because of him. I guess I have to change that rule to the Redskins now. No matter if it was the fans booing him on draft day or this popular radio host saying the media gave him props because he was black, he’s managed to handle himself in a respectable way. What I am about to say only applies because I think Donovan got traded because of Michael Vick. The media said it was for the other quarterback Kevin Kolb but there is no way Michael Vick is going to sit behind Kevin Kolb for 16 games. The Eagles just need to say that so Donovan doesn’t feel like the fool he was for lobbying the Eagles to sign Vick in the first place. Even if they really want Kolb to start they weren’t going to pay Vick all that money to be third string again. I knew this was going to happen because good brothers get played like this sometimes when they try to help people. You just have to be prepared for it when you make that decision. There was no personal upside to Donovan McNabb helping get Vick back in the league. You didn't see any other established starting quarterbacks endorsing their team signing that human highlight reel did you? He put his reputation out there to help him get a second chance and now he is the odd man out.

The last time he did this kind of thing was for Terrell Owens who acted like a complete asshole in Philly until he went to Dallas so he could suck up to Tony Romo who eventually got him ran out of town to Buffalo. I’m not a T.O. hater but I can't get over the way he handled that situation in Philly and treated McNabb the way he did. He only made it worst by crying on television behind Tony Romo’s overrated self. Now Donovan takes his character and integrity to Washington. Knowing the kind of guy he is if T.O. wanted to come to Washington he would be the first person lobbying on his behalf. I am upset because I thought he was going to the AFC where I could pull for him to get to the Superbowl. Now all I can do is hope Washington makes the playoffs and gets blown out by the Saints on our way to back to back titles. Even if he doesn’t win a title I know he will handle himself in the right way and for that he has no reason to feel like an underachiever.

My Weekend Vibe : Personal Doctrines and A Belated Birthday

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday and that’s a big day around these parts. It’s the weekend that unofficially starts the warm season and outdoor activities. We could use a good day of sun and fun because things have been a little rough around here the past two weeks. I don’t want to talk about that right now. Tomorrow is also the end of Lent and people will be free to do all the things they thought were negative enough in their lives to give it up for 40 days. In New Orleans lots of people practice the tradition even though they are not Catholic. I never give up anything for Lent. I don’t make New Years resolutions either. My practice is to keep a set of personal rules for myself that I try to follow every day. The list changes depending on my current situation but I have to have one. I think everyone should have a personal doctrine that they try to follow. It should include all the things you won’t accept, things you won’t do for money, principles you won’t compromise and stuff like that. Sometimes I break my own rules. There’s a few that are more like wishful thinking than rules set in stone. I broke one yesterday on this blog (never speak about something without looking into it first). It’s understandable if you break one because we are not perfect. You just need to know which one you didn’t follow so you can figure out what’s going on and try to fix it.

Some cats try to live life with no restrictions on their actions at all. If it feels good or pays well they are going to do it and deal with the outcome later. There are times I wish I could do that. I used to do that. I used to do it more than I want to admit to. That was before the word ‘daddy’ was associated with my name. When I blew all my money on a good time ten years ago I felt like a loser but since it was only me involved I could disguise it until I recovered. Now there is too much at stake. Anyway, I have to go and dye these eggs. Which reminds me of something that’s been puzzling me; why don’t the tablets for egg dye come in the color they are supposed to look like? How am I supposed to know that the orange tablet is actually yellow and the ugly looking one is really green?

P.S.

Yesterday was my mommy’s birthday and I didn’t do my usual post dedicated to her. She wasn’t about it either. “I logged on your blog and I saw was some political junk!” The lady is spoiled. So, I am a day late but Happy Birthday. I know the song below is not an old school jam but I am putting it up there because it’s beautiful and I think Bernadine will like it. Plus, I think she would look nice with Ledisi’s hairstyle.

If Bobby's A Target Then No One Is Safe

The Guardians of the free Republics sent Bobby Jindal a letter asking him to resign in three days or be removed. These kinds of things should bother people but Republican officials should be concerned more than anybody else. I looked up this group’s website and read their declaration. It’s hard to tell where they are really coming from but some of it sounds a lot like some of the things the Tea Party folks have been saying. Some Republican politicians out of desperation have jumped on that bandwagon to energize their party. I think they are creating an environment that’s going to be bad for them because if Bobby Jindal is on the list of governors to be removed then every conservative should be worried. You can’t get any closer to traditional conservative politics than my governor.

I will go to the Iowa Caucus and testify to everyone there is no candidate that will restore the values of the Republican Party like Bobby Jindal will. I’m not being sarcastic about that either. He won’t raise taxes under no circumstances. As a matter of fact, he cut taxes so much since he’s been governor that for the first time since I can remember I received a refund when I filed my state taxes. I went over them twice because I thought I made a mistake. Not only that, you won’t have to worry about all those social programs that “real Americans” have such a problem with. They won’t break the budget under President Jindal because he will cut anything. Hospitals, higher education, non profits, and anything else you want to have a tea party for is on the chopping block. If he were president there would be entire programs eliminated from the budget to save money. Governor Jindal actually does all the things Sarah Palin makes speeches about. He’s Christian. He has a beautiful family and I am sure he doesn’t have a side boo. He’s everything conservatives want so if that dude is starting to get letters from groups then the other Republicans need to start figuring out a way to distance themselves. They may be destroying their own party.

Trying Too Hard

I have another teachable moment for you. This video clip is from Representative Hank Johnson talking about Guam tipping over. This is what could happen when you try too hard to be smart about everything. I'm sure Mr. Johnson knows a lot about many things but he should stay away from Geography. Please remember, if you are not sure what you are talking about don't say anything.

A Matter of Perspective: Times Are Tough All Over

For the second time I have the opportunity to hire someone and take them from the unemployment statistics and for the second time it’s pretty damn depressing. If one more person abandons me I am going to start taking it personal. There is a lot of competition coming from all walks of life. The resume inbox is overwhelming and I don't handle it well.That's why my interviewing skills suck. There are good people out there and it sucks I only have one little position to award someone. I should be in a better mood because I am doing pretty well in many ways. It’s not just the job. I have done a lot of cool stuff. Sometimes people look at me and wonder why I don’t get overly excited it. It’s because I am locked into an underdog mind state that always makes me paranoid about everything falling apart and ending up back at the unemployment office to fill out my papers. I never want to think I am doing that great especially when I am interviewing people with more formal education than I have. It’s all about perspective.

My dad has a college degree and more integrity in one finger than most of us have in our entire body yet he spent most of his adult life driving a truck around New Orleans doing contracting work and any other thing he could find to feed his five babies with big appetites. I bet you there were a few times when someone at a stop light looked over and thought to themselves how sad it was that dirty man never did anything to better himself so all he can do to make a living is work on that raggedy truck. That thought probably had to piss him off but he did what most adults do when they have responsibilities and don’t have time to break down. He convinced himself he wouldn’t have it any other way but working for himself. He was trying to be sincere when he said it but I always felt like he should be in a shirt and tie headed downtown to his office. That’s why I make no apologies for sitting behind my desk with my hands clean. Five years from now I could be crawling under someone’s house to make my money and I want to enjoy the time I get to look out of that office window. I think that’s why I get on here and blog about stuff that really doesn’t apply to my current everyday life.

I’m not ducking bullets in the streets. I can’t tell you the last time I was even stopped by a police officer. My income has increased ever year for the last five years and for the first time I actually have more money than I have bills. I am not trying to downplay that. I just know what the other side looks like too. I think one of the problems in America is that somehow people don’t seem to want to acknowledge the other side is possible. They feel like they are closer to living in a mansion than living in a trailer park so they turn their noses up at the less fortunate I’m not just talking about suburban Republicans either. I know folks personally that have grew up in the heart of the ghetto that make a few extra dollars now and swear they are aristocrats. Just because someone is less fortunate doesn’t mean that they are less educated, have less work ethic, or have less pride than you do because they need a little help. Sometimes less fortunate means that a person worked on the same job for 20 years and never learned anything else because they felt secure. Then, out of the blue, the company was bought out by some bigger corporation and shut down where they work. That’s modern day America and everyone knows someone like that which is why I can’t understand the insensitive words when people debate current issues. Don’t be so quick to judge that guy standing in the scrap yard selling that iron and copper for a few dollars. If the right person sees his resume he could be your next supervisor.

Oh well, I guess we’ll just keep on keeping on.

Sitting On My Porch Part Forty One : A Big F#$%ing Blog Post

What Joe Biden did yesterday was a teachable moment. It spoke a lot about expectations and the responsibility one man has for an entire group of people. People had a good time with that but the truth is if Barack Obama would have whispered that in Joe Biden’s ear, every black person I know would have woke up this morning with the same look on their face they had the first time watching Cooley High when Cochise died and never got a chance to use his basketball scholarship. That would have been a 30 year set back

I waited at least a full day before I mentioned anything about the Health Care bill because I figured if the socialist government was going to shut off the internet and monitor my words why get myself in trouble. Since nothing has happened I think it’s safe. If Barack Obama is a socialist he’s a really bad one. He signed a bill that requires everyone to purchase private insurance. That’s not socialism. That’s Americans supporting the profits of corporations. We’ve been doing that for years already. Everyone needs to calm down because the bill was helpful but by no means Earth shattering. The only person in this whole process that deserves to do a victory dance is Barack Obama because many presidents have tried this and failed but he got it done. Sure there is a lot of tension now but this is 2010 and America's attention span is short. Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus will be caught on camera at a club with a dude that looks just like Tupac and everyone will get caught up in that and forget all about health care reform.

The Tea Party people really trip me out. The part that trips me out is that if you are really tired of government then you have to be against both parties because some of the same people who were getting you all riled up Sunday were in control of the government not too long ago and helped create the environment that led to the current situation. You have to at least acknowledge their part in it. If you don’t you just look partisan, crazy and possibly racist. Think about that the next time some congressman or woman comes to your rally despite the fact that they voted for every spending bill when George W. Bush was in office. If they burn Barack's likeness but cheer for these hypocrites then I can't take them seriously.

My first move as King of All Humans will be that If a person uses the phrase “My tax dollars” to describe why they are against something they have to bring their tax returns to verify that the amount of taxes they paid actually equal their anger. You can’t play the tax card with a refund check. (Wait, my first move is going to be appointing Buffie the Body and Tocarra to a position that has an office in the same building as mine. The tax rule will be my second move. It’s good to be the king!)

My third move is going to be that if you say you are standing on principle then stand on it all the way. If you are against government assistance and want to protest that’s cool with me. But if you break your leg and don’t have insurance, stay home and make a cast out of duck tape and Elmer’s Glue. That’s what the founding fathers would have had to do. Also, if you didn’t like the stimulus but your city took money for that new library or highway you need to move to another city where the people refuse to take federal money. Just make sure you have good tires and a hard hat for the crumbling infrastructure.

I believe your personal situation and position should affect how you feel about a topic. I hate insurance companies because of the Katrina aftermath and they way they messed over so many people. If we had public options for every type of insurance I would cancel any private policies I had and get those just to stick it to those bastards in my own little way. But that’s just me and my personal experience. If I was rich and in that income bracket that will get higher taxes from this I would probably not be happy about it passing. As a reasonable person I can understand that. I even understand Rush Limbaugh’s objection because he is rich and he’s probably thinking this bill will cut into his prescription money. What I can’t understand is the poor working people that follow him like they can roll into any hospital and get world class health care paid for by their freedom.

If you think all of this was fun, we still have to deal with immigration reform and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. I know President Obama has some Crown Royal in the White House and if he doesn’t I will have a few glasses for him. It’s going to be a long summer.

The 1958 NFL Championship game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants is considered the greatest game ever played and the one that changed professional football in America. It was a sudden death overtime game. 52 years later the Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings in sudden death overtime. Brett Favre never got a chance to get the ball and beat us so the NFL changed the rule that’s been around forever. This is why Saints fans should close ranks and stop all that ‘America’s Team’ foolishness. America’s team is Dallas or wherever Brett Favre plays. I want him to come back so bad just so we can play them again in the playoffs and send him home one more time.

This rule change could have been avoided if he wouldn’t have done this…….They should have voted on a dumb ass pass rule.

Ramblings On A Cold Spring Afternoon

I woke up this morning looking forward to some springtime air and its cold as hell outside. I have to come up with a new joke for days like this other than the one about Al Gore being pissed off. It's one of those days that will confuse you because it's beautiful until you step out of the door and the wind hits you. I may be exaggerating how cold it is because I was planning on doing yard work but now I have an excuse to stay inside and watch NCAA basketball all day. That’s what I'm doing even though my bracket was destroyed by Northern Iowa yesterday. After the Saints Super Bowl triumph I find myself pulling for teams like Northern Iowa. That three point shot at the end of the game was their Tracy Porter intercept type of moment. It is not going to be that kind of moment for Gonzaga because Syracuse is killing them right now. Cornell is still in the tournament and in the basketball world is probably the biggest underdog left. I would pull for them like I did for Northern Iowa put since they are an Ivy League school and most of their players will probably be making more than me in a few months or will eventually end up Secretary of State or something like that they can deal with not winning a basketball title. I think I will pull for Wisconsin today.

There were at least five murders in the metro area during the weekend and most of them were in broad daylight. If this is what we have to look forward to during the warmer months then I want it to stay chilly until June. I am not in the mood for the everyday killing. Nothing drains the community's optimism like senseless violence. With so many other things going on the crime situation doesn't feel as bad as it usually does but its still there and going strong.

You could also watch the health care debate unfold right before your eyes. I won’t be watching that and getting a headache trying to figure out who is genuine about what they are saying and who is not. The saddest part of the entire process has been the ignorance of so many middle and working class Americans. They truly believe that they have freedom and choices when it comes to their health. Your choices are as good as the HMO plan your employer can afford without going bankrupt and laying you off. I guess it won’t hit them until that guy who has been working at their job for 20 years is let go and replaced with temporary employees or part time workers that don’t require any benefits. There’s too much division between people that are all part of the same system. When you get right down to it we are all one bad management decision from being one of the same people we think are getting over. Forget politicians and corporate executives. Your ignorant neighbor is the real reason there is no progress because their opinions are easily persuaded by talking points. It’s all good for me though because I have insurance and as soon as my community gets a hospital open things will be good. Health care reform will kick in four years from now if it passes and maybe the state of Louisiana and local government would finally have a plan for a new hospital in New Orleans by then. All we have to do is make it the next few years without getting sick and quality health care will be at our doorstep. I can hardly wait.

It may appear from that rant that I am upset or angry about something but I can assure you that I am no more upset than my usual everyday bitterness. My only real concern is remembering to go to the post office and mail my mom the pecan eggs we bought for her down here because she can’t find them in Memphis. I don’t know what grocery chains are popular in Memphis but they have to be second rate because they don’t sell Elmer’s Easter candy. They probably carry nothing but nasty ass Marshmallow Peeps. That’s the candy you put in the basket of the kids in your family that you don’t like so much but you have to give them something because everyone else has a basket. You can tell how people really feel about you if they put Peeps in your Easter basket and if they give you all the black jellybeans then they really hate you. Jellybeans are the only thing in the world that will ever make me utter the words, "Give me anything but the black ones."

Do We Have To Give Insurance Companies Money Yet?

I sure hope this health care vote gets done tomorrow and this thing will be over with soon. The whole debate has been like going out on a date with a fine woman that gradually gets on your nerves more and more as the evening goes along. I was all excited at first and now I can’t wait until it ends. I am going to make a blanket statement and say that there is not one person not in the Senate or Congress that knows what’s in this bill. I also don’t think half of the elected officials know anymore either. Take my Congressman Joseph Cao for example. First he voted for it because he said it was the best interest of his district. At that time there was enough wording in the bill against funding abortions for him to support it. Now, all of a sudden he can’t vote for it because he doesn’t like the wording on funding abortions. My problem is not with Congressman Cao for saying the abortion language changed so he can’t support the bill. My problem is when the Senate was fussing about the public option and the single payer system no one mentioned changing anything about abortion funding. Everyone keeps saying there is no abortion funding in the bill so when did that get back in there? I’m pretty sure before this weekend is over someone is going to bring up death panels again.

I got this thing all figured out now. A lot of Republicans and Democrats both want this bill to pass now that the public option is out of it and there is a mandate to make people buy insurance from corporations. I don’t see how they lose in this. The trick is now for everyone to play the game the right way so they look legitimate to the folks that follow them. If you think I am tripping then just explain why the town halls and death panel rhetoric all of a sudden went away when Democrats in the Senate took the public option out and the president didn’t put it back in his plan. The Republicans that really know how to play the Washington D.C. game really don’t want the bill to die. Reconciliation is alright with them so the insurance companies can get paid. They just need to appear like they are strongly against it. That’s why they keep adding amendments to it and still voting ‘No’. Sure they say a few of the same code words and talking points to keep conservatives off the scent of their real agenda but that roar is now down to a whimper. All those Blue Dog Democrats are going to vote yes now too since the public option is gone. Their plan is too keep talking about the millions of Americans that will now get to buy insurance. That will keep the average liberal off their scent too. That will work out for them as long as no one of any real stature admits that the public option or Medicare buy in would have affected the lives of more Americans in a positive direction more than anything other than possibly giving everyone a million dollar check.

It’s alright. Passing any bill is better than nothing at all. I wish I knew if it would affect me since I already have insurance but it doesn’t matter. We just need to get this over with. It should be over soon…hopefully….possibly…..maybe. I sure hope it is but it ain’t over till it’s over.

My Apologies to Wynton Marsalis

The theme to Treme is actually called Ring Shout (Peace of Mind) by you....My bad.

This morning was the first morning that I didn't wake up late. Ever since the clock sprung forward I have been feeling backwards. Things may finally be coming back to normal. I have a training class that starts at 10:00 AM so there is just enough time for two cups of coffee, writing this blog post, and filling out my NCAA Tournament bracket. I like waiting until the last minute so I can pick real fast without too much thinking. I have a few 13 and 12 seeds getting to the Sweet 16. My Final Four teams are Kansas, Kansas State, Duke, and West Virginia with West Virgina and Kansas in the final game. I promise not to bring me phone into the training and check scores from the early games.

We have one African American Major League Baseball manager from New Orleans and he decides to use cocaine and get his name all over ESPN for the wrong thing. Come on Ron Washington! You can't do that kind of stuff. It's a good thing only 25 people in New Orleans pay attention to baseball or this would be embarrassing.

Once we get to the new administration and all the personal feelings get out of the way, all of New Orleans will soon realize that the Inspector General position was the best thing to ever happen for the city finances. It would be nice for just one report to say the city did something 100% correct and efficient. This stuff is getting depressing.

Yesterday I was at my daughter's school and the 6th grade girls were practicing lacrosse. It was strange to see a girls lacrosse team in the middle of the hood like that. This is one of the positives to having influences from other areas. I made a comment about transplants loving New Orleans while people I grew up with are looking for help in my last post. For the record I was only talking about new jobs in the city and who that benefits. Everyone is welcomed as long as opportunity is passed around evenly. That's very important to me.

I guess I have to go and train someone now...Someone has got to find me a copy of the entire song for Treme on HBO. There is only so many times you can replay this minute and a half just to get upset when it cuts off.

Teach Him How To Fish

Last night I was on the Transition New Orleans website leaving my idea about what needs to be done to help the city. We have an Education Task Force and an Employment Task Force. My idea is something they both should work on. This is what I wrote to the transition team…


“I believe the Economic Development Task Force and the Education Task Force should work together to create a well funded adult literacy and job training program. As we work on economic development and fix our school system, we should not ignore that the failures in the school system for years has created a large amount of adults that are not qualified and incapable of taking advantage of new job opportunities. We have to give that group a chance to better themselves.”

It’s my opinion that the biggest failure of this city has been the failure to help break the cycle of low wages and lack of opportunity for the working poor. We have generations of under educated and unqualified people that couldn’t find jobs if they wanted to. Progress and change is going to go right over their heads. If we are serious about changing the city we should try to set up an adult education program as well as a job training program to give those people a chance to improve their situation. I think people should judge the success or failure of any agenda by their personal position. If we have all this development going on and all I see are people driving in from the suburbs to work like they do now then leadership failed me again. I don’t mean to offend anyone but I’m not that excited about creating a few thousand jobs so transplants can move here and tell me how awesome New Orleans is while the people I grew around are looking for someone to help them pay rent and the light bill. It’s hard for me to get excited about that. New Orleans will be turning around when everyone gets a fair chance to enjoy it. It’s hard to get a fair chance at doing better when you can’t read a job application and have no professional skills. If we are going to take a different approach to things then lets do it the right way. We need an adult education program so folks can make some real money to provide for their families.

My Weekend Vibe : Georgia Anne Muldrow

I got up this morning with intentions on doing absolutely nothing. I was going to sit in the same spot all day. I woke up this morning and couldn’t remember anything from last night. It wasn’t because I partied or drank too much either. I was just so exhausted that I don’t remember what time I went to sleep or anything after I got home from work. I know I went outside and had a nice maduro cigar. I remember seeing the biggest possum in the world walking along the gate. When these abandoned houses are being demolished all kinds of critters are losing their hiding spots and now we have a ghetto Wild Kingdom outside. You have to make sure you don’t have an opening big enough for those things to get in the walls because you will never go to sleep without all the scratching and noises.

The only thing that kept me from my plans of laziness was the fact that I had to go and get one of my tires fixed. I had the best conversation I have had in a long time with the guys outside of the tire shop. It made me miss the days of working in the auto parts store until I thought about smelling battery acid and old motor oil. I’ll stick to my desk job. By the time I got the tire fixed the weather was so nice that I felt obligated to at least take a ride through the city and get some fresh air. When the weather is as good as it is today it’s like cheating life if you don’t go outside for at least a little while.

I got my tire fixed and pleased the weather gods. Now I am back to the original game plan. I’m watching college basketball and searching for new music and new blogs to read. After you’ve been blogging for over five years about anything and everything you get a little lazy. Reading or listening to someone else’s work gives me a boost. My inspiration at the moment is Georgia Anne Muldrow. Her songs are noisy and full of different sounds. Her lyrics are deep and you have to really listen. Besides all of that, she has the coolest website picture ever. I hate to find out about artist like her when they are already a few albums into their catalog. All of these songs are new to me but she’s probably forgotten all them and moved on. I have to play catch up.

This song made the mp3 rotation…