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Archive for October, 2009

Oct 29

3 Comments

Fmr. Gov. Dave Treen Dead at 81

Former Louisiana Governor Dave Treen of Metairie died this morning at East Jefferson Medical Center of complications related to a respiratory illness. Treen (pictured 2nd from right above with fellow Governors Foster, Roemer, and Edwards) was the first Republican elected to the governorship in Louisiana since Reconstruction.

Treen, originally of Baton Rouge, was a graduate of Tulane University and Tulane Law School. He was a veteran of the US Air Force and practiced law in the New Orleans area. In 1972 he was elected to Congress, representing Louisiana’s 3rd District throughout the 70′s.

Treen pushed for legislation to improve states’ rights in negotiating offshore drilling agreements and leases in the Gulf of Mexico as well as extending SBA assistance to traditional Louisiana small businessmen such as Fishermen. As a member of the Armed Services Committee Treen helped steer federal dollars to Louisiana working with other congressmen to greatly expand Barksdale AFB in Bossier, Bell Chaise in New Orleans, and England AFB here in Alexandria.

Oct 28

5 Comments

The Death of E-Mail

Fair warning: This is an hour and twenty minutes long.

But it is fascinating.

Oct 27

20 Years Ago: 6 Months That Changed The World

Next week is the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. We say fall, but that really should read “the tearing down of the Berlin Wall,” which was one of the first concrete memories I have of watching CNN was the coverage of thousands of Berliners — Ossis and Wessis gathered on either side of the Brandenburg Gate, chanting and and partying, and some very nervous and confused looking soldiers dotted about here and there. Then, in a moment that could never be so well choreographed as what actually happened, a young man jumped on top of the scarred concrete structure and with all of his might struck it with a blow that did more to symbolically destroy the wall than his force of effort ever could. Within minutes, the first section of one of the world’s most notorious postwar scars was forced to the ground and the German people were one once again.

1989 was the pivotal year for the will of the people overcoming the power of governments. It all began with an election in Poland; then on June 11th when Ronald Reagan delivered his famous speech at that very spot demanding that “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall.” And then Poland, Romania, Riots in Germany, the fall of the DDR, and eventually the end of the Soviet Union and the democratization of Europe.

We tend to forget recent history, and in America, anything 20th Century tends to be fixated on the Great Depression, WWII, or JFK

But we should not ignore the fact that 20 years ago, 6 months changed the world.

Consider the timeline:

  • June 4 — Solidarity overwhelmingly defeat Communists in Poland.
  • June 12 — Reagan’s Speech in Berlin
  • August — Tens of Thousands of East Germans inundate West German embassies in Soviet Bloc countries seeking Asylum (granted)
  • August 24 — Poland’s Election certified. First non-communist government in the Soviet Bloc takes power
  • September 11 — Hungary Opens its borders. East Germans flood into the West.
  • November 4 — over a million East Germans Protest
  • November 7-8-9 — DDR’s Politburo Resign, Berlin Wall Destroyed, Borders Opened.
  • November 10 — Bulgaria’s Communist Dictator removed from Power
  • November 17 — Velvet Revolution begins in Prague
  • November 25 — Hungary Votes to End Communism
  • December 17 — Romanians take to the street, attack government
  • December 25 — Brutal Romanian Dictator Ceausescu shot by firing squad
  • December 29 — Czechoslovakia votes in democratic government ending Communism.

Mr. Gorbachev held the tanks while the world tore down that wall…

Oct 27

1 Comment

Tell Me How This Is Wrong

If it is:

Oct 26

1 Comment

George P. Talks With The Daily Beast

This is for my Rice friends. Somehow, the Owlmanac missed this:

Even though we just trudged out of the last Bush era, everyone wants to know when George P. Bush, Jeb Bush’s eldest son and the family’s fourth-generation standard-bearer, is going to run for something. But P., as he’s known, has bigger things on his mind. He’s thinking about parachuting onto the frontlines of his uncle’s War on Terror.

Lt. Junior Grade Bush, 33, joined the Navy Reserve in 2007 as an intelligence officer. The Navy recently told him, like thousands of others, that the two ongoing wars required him to go active-duty overseas, potentially in Iraq or Afghanistan. “It’s been communicated to me that it’s not a question of ‘if,’ it’s a question of ‘when,’” Bush told The Daily Beast. “It’s just a matter of time.”

He’s known as P.? Since when? P. seems like a particularly terrible nickname.

With his uncle and dad in semi-retirement, P. has become the de facto keeper of what his grandfather once called the “legacy thing.”

I know I am burying the lede here: George P.’s going overseas. He’s building his political resume. He may even run for office.

Just what the world needs most: Another politician named George Bush. Right?

In all seriousness… eh, nevermind, I can’t be too serious about “P.”

There’s way too much material to work with.

Still, good luck to him– George P. is doing something his uncle never did.

Oct 19

11 Comments

Louisiana College’s Litmus Test for Professors

All prospective professors must answer this questionnaire:

Christian Worldview Questionnaire

Please answer each question in as brief or as great detail as you feel necessary to appropriately present your views.  You may use a faith language or a vocabulary with which you are most comfortable as you articulate your responses.

1. Please describe your personal commitment to Jesus Christ and how it began.

2. Please briefly describe your faith journey thus far and how you currently facilitate the growth of your faith, including where you worship, your pattern of church attendance and your involvement in your church.

3. How will you use your faith to benefit your students both in and out of class?

4. What is your personal understanding of or how would you describe a Christian world view?

5. Summarize your perspective on:

(a) The sanctity of human life, and

(b) The sanctity of marriage and family,

(c) human sexuality,

(d) the creation of life, and

(e) the inerrancy of the Bible.

6. If you disagree with any parts of The Baptist Faith and Message, please state your areas of disagreement.

——————————————————————————————————————————
Please read and answer the following.
I have read the full text of The Baptist Faith and Message statement.

Yes____    No____

2.      I agree to teach in harmony with and not contrary to this Baptist Faith and Message Statement.
Yes____    No____

3.      I will meet with the Academic Affairs Committee for a question and answer session if requested  by  the  President,  Vice President of Academic Affairs,  or the Academic Affairs Committee.

Yes____    No____

Signed_____________________________         Date__________________________

Oct 19

5 Comments

Wikipedia Front Page Feature: The Great Sandbar Duel

I just happened to click on Wikipedia this morning to find that their feature article is a tale from Alexandria’s somewhat less than genteel past.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandbar_Fight#Duel

The Sandbar Duel is famous for being the last public duel fought in the US. By this time most states had outlawed dueling. This duel involved the parties of Dr Thomas Harris Maddox — my Great-Great-Great-Grandfather, Alexander Fulton’s business partner, and town surgeon for Alexandria at the time, and Samuel Levi Wells — the Sheriff of Alexandria (and oddly enough also my Great-Great-Great-Grandfather as well as the Great-Great-Grandfather of author Rebbecca Wells of Ya Ya Sisterhood fame).

This was a rougher time for Alexandria just as many of the first plantations were being established and at the time our fair city was the sinful den of inequity across the river from the military establishment of Post Du Rapides (present-day Pineville); I suppose some things never change.

As was the case in many frontier towns (and Alexandria was the frontier (with Spain)), many residents earned their money and then spent it in the saloons. Maddox was no exception. He liked his whiskey and when he got enough of it he had no problem telling whomever would listen all the medical-related dirt of the city.

In a drunken rant one day Dr. Maddox let loose that the reason Sheriff Wells’ daughter had to retire to the country had nothing to do with illness and everything to do with being pregnant (and unmarried).

This led to a series of exchanges in town with pot shots being taken at each other (funny that our Sheriff and town doctor were probably involved in Alexandria’s first drive-by). Eventually realizing they could not continue the two agreed to a duel to settle the matter.

With dueling being illegal in both Louisiana and Mississippi, the two cooked up a plan to fight it out on a sandbar in the middle of the Mississippi river between Natchez and present-day Vidalia. They theorized that being in neither Louisiana nor Mississippi that the sandbar could prove a legal host for their very illegal activity.

Both sides recruited their buddies and formed dueling parties. The most famous member of the crew being Jim Bowie.

During the organized portion of the duel both Maddox and Wells fired a single shot and completely missed each other. Following the failed chivalric solution a drunken brawl ensued with both Maddox and Wells skirting off to the side and drinking more while their cohorts bloodied the sand.

The duel itself is famous for being the last public spectacle of its sort fought in the United States and also in being the first recorded use of a Bowie Knife.

Oct 15

6 Comments

White House Transcript: Who is Joe Kyle?

This is from the official White House transcript of today’s town hall meeting in New Orleans:

We’ve got our senior senator from the great state of Louisiana, Mary Landrieu.  (Applause.)  We’ve got our lieutenant governor — I don’t know if he’s related — his name is Mitch Landrieu.  (Applause.)  We’ve got an outstanding member of Congress, Charlie Melancon. (Applause.) And we’ve got our newest member of the Louisiana delegation, Joe Kyle, from this district, with his beautiful daughter. (Applause.)

The President actually mispronounced the freshman Congressman’s name in two different ways, first as “Cow” and then as “Chow.” I think it’s pronounced like gaow; correct me if I am also wrong. I’m not criticizing the President, really.

Based on the official transcript, I have to wonder if the President was simply given the wrong name.

And:

House Speaker Pro Tem Karen Carter Peterson is here.  (Applause.) Senate President Joel Chaissom is here. (Applause.)

Not to be nit-picky, White House, but it’s Chaisson. For the record, the President correctly pronounced his name.

To those of you who were there or who watched the end of the event online, did you see Congressman Steve Scalise? Because if he wasn’t there, then there was someone who looked a heckuva lot like him standing near the Landrieus at the very end of the event.

Oct 15

4 Comments

Paulina, Louisiana 4th Grader Asks Obama “Why Do People Hate You?”

Oct 15

10 Comments

Attention Citizens of New Orleans

You may be interested to know what, exactly, the editorial board of the Gannett-owned The Town Talk, the largest newspaper in Central Louisiana, thinks about your City and the work many of you have done to rebuild.

They don’t believe you’re worthy of a visit from the President of the United States:

Only one thing is wrong with the itinerary: The president and his entourage should not be going to New Orleans. They should head elsewhere — perhaps to Lake Charles, in Calcasieu Parish, or just south of that to Cameron Parish. If President Obama would like to see something uplifting — and share that with a nation that really needs some good news — he should steer Air Force One west of New Orleans and have a look around.

….

The post-hurricane difference is simple and striking: After Katrina, New Orleans held out its hands, looking for others to do the work. After Rita, Lake Charles and other hard-hit communities did not wait for the government to show up with a check. Instead, they picked up their chain saws and mosquito repellent and got busy. The recovery there and most everywhere outside of New Orleans is stunning by comparison. That is due to the nature of the people and their expectations, as individuals and as members of a community.

My first thought after reading this: Hateful. This is hateful.

Hurricane Katrina was the worst natural/man-made disaster in the history of the United States. Nearly 2,000 people lost their lives because of the storm. 80% of the City of New Orleans was underwater. Katrina caused over $100 billion worth of damages.

Katrina and Rita were completely different storms, and to suggest, in any way, that Lake Charles has “recovered” more effectively (from a completely different event) because they refused to “wait” for a hand-out from the government is absurd, hateful, and shamelessly reductionist. The levees didn’t fail in Lake Charles, because there isn’t a levee system in Lake Charles. People weren’t forced onto their rooftops in Lake Charles, because Lake Charles did not go underwater.

To the editorial board:

Tell that to the thousands and thousands of people who have worked incessantly to rebuild their homes, their businesses, and their neighborhoods.

Tell that to the people who have invested and risked everything they have- not “government” money, their money- to reclaim and rebuild.

If I could apologize on behalf of my hometown newspaper, the Gannett-owned The Town Talk, I would. But the truth is: They need to apologize for their myopia and their ignorance. They need to apologize for mistaking what happened in Lake Charles for what happened to the people of New Orleans. They need to apologize to the people victimized by Hurricane Katrina, people who lost everything they had, for implying that their community is not worthy of the President’s attention. They need to apologize for the mere implication that New Orleanians cared more for a “hand-out” than for the future of their City.

Oct 14

Mary Landrieu on President Obama’s Visit to New Orleans

Oct 13

We don’t need the government involved…really?

Greg over at CentralLAPolitics posted this video earlier. I think it deserves a watch:

*so I’ve just learned that WordPress has chosen not to support videos from most news sources…strange. You can check it out on Greg’s blog or through the NBC link below.

This is yet another example that blows the Republican theory that everything works best without government out the window.

From the AP article:

Oct. 13: A Colorado couple was initially denied health insurance for their 4-month-old son because he was overweight.

The child’s weight was considered a pre-existing condition by the insurance company and thus they refused coverage for an otherwise fully healthy infant.  Fun.

Check out the full story here.

Oct 9

9 Comments

Geauxbama

nobel-medal_thumbnail_0Congratulations are in order to President Barack Obama for winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. We should be proud any time an American wins a Nobel Prize, and the Peace Prize, without a doubt, is the Nobel’s highest honor.

I have little patience for those Americans who cheered when Chicago lost out on its bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games, and I am equally baffled by those who denigrate their own President for simply being recognized for his efforts in restoring America’s international reputation, inspiring a sense of hope in America’s future- not just here but throughout the world.

And sure, it’s early in his Presidency- really early- and, sure, he has yet to fulfill many of the things he promised on the campaign trail. I think John Wasik, author of The Cul De Sac Syndrome says it best:

A Nobel Peace Prize is more than an acknowledgment of the grand gesture; it’s recognition of a paradigm shift that somehow has changed the world.

Obama’s victory here has less to do with specific accomplishments during the last nine months– and more to do with that paradigm shift. Remember, Obama campaigned for President for nearly two years, and during that campaign, he received contributions from hundreds of thousands of Americans. He didn’t just inspire Americans; he inspired citizens of the world, reminding them of America’s promise.

Does anyone remember the disdain with which Bush’s UN Ambassador, John Bolton, treated the UN and the International Community? Does anyone remember what it was like, for many of us Americans, to travel abroad during the Bush years? Remember “you’re either with us or you’re with the terrorists,” the attempt to split the world community with ultimatums, the go-it-alone mentality that diminished America’s stature? Remember when conservatives attempted to boycott France, pouring red wine into the gutters, simply for not buying into a war that, today, most Americans believe was a mistake?

I understand the criticisms; I really do: But this prize was an acknowledgment of America’s promise. In this respect, the prize was less about Obama and more about the change that swept through our country. You may not agree with that change. You may despise it. But you cannot deny its import. Look at these numbers:

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If you read this blog, then you know: I am an unabashed supporter of President Obama, and I have been since January 2007.

Still, I think, regardless of our political persuasions, we should be proud when one of our own is bestowed with such an incredible honor.

Update: Geaux Rachel Maddow!

Oct 5

9 Comments

Jay

HOUSTON, TEXAS – James Morton Townsend IV, “Jay” passed away suddenly at his home in Houston, Texas, of heart failure on Monday, Sept. 28, 2009.

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He was predeceased by grandparents, Charles W. Harris Jr., and the Rev. and Mrs. Morton Townsend. Jay is survived by his father, James M. Townsend of Houston, Texas; his mother, Frances Harris Townsend of Smithfield, Va., and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and his brother, Jonathon Harris Townsend of Houston, Texas.

He is also survived by his grandmother, Sylvia Harris of Fairfax and Smithfield, Va. Jay leaves behind many loving aunts, uncles, cousins and friends that will miss him dearly.

Jay, 26 years old, was in his final year of architecture school at Rice University in Houston. He was a 2002 graduate of Smithfield High School and the Governor’s School of the Arts. Jay has achieved the honor of Eagle Scout, became an inspirational artist, and wonderful cook. Although stricken with cancer at age 5, Jay fought back and was a survivor for 21 years.

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A memorial service was held at Rice University Chapel on Friday, Oct. 2. A memorial service will be held at Trinity United Methodist Church, Smithfield, Va., Thursday, Oct. 8, at 4:30 p.m. with reception following. Friends and family are invited to bring cards and notes sharing their memories. A family graveside service will be in Lancaster at St. Mary’s Whitechapel Episcopal Church, Friday, Oct. 9.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Ronald McDonald House of Houston or the Ian Wilson Larmore Foundation, CDP, 6201 Leesburg Pike, Suite 405, Falls Church, VA 22044-2201. Both organizations support children and families battling cancer or other life threatening diseases.

IMG_0045This may surprise some of my friends, especially those who know how much I love music and singing, but this was the first time I have ever sung karaoke, three weeks ago in Chicago with Jay.