Confederacy of Dunces USA

Buying near the bottom?

2007-07-18T14:25:00.000-04:00

Only time will tell if our market timing strategies are brilliant or couldn't be worse. We have our eyes on a late 1800's camelback in Faubourg Marigny, or in Bywater, apparently, depending on whether you are looking at historic districts or some other kind of district. In fact, we have discovered what many of you already know, that there are multiple types of districts for any one address. The market is slow in New Orleans right now, and not very healthy on a national level. One interesting fact is that Louisiana is not one of the states expected to be hit badly by the sub-prime mortgage debacle. In a way it makes sense, we did not have speculation running rampant here like in other places. So, the local dynamics are somewhat disassociated from the national picture, although there is always an interplay between them.

We hope that we are buying near the bottom, and that if things get worse before they get better, that in the long term we will find that we bought near the bottom, although possibly still on the downslope. We looked all over the "sliver by the river" before settling on this one. It was hard to find an older house at a good price that still had it's charm intact, on a decent street, and not needing major work. Not facing a parking lot or a welding shop. I was interested to buy in the Lusher school district but the lure of the Marigny won out. Now we have the space to spend more time here without falling over toys everywhere. The backyard is a bit smaller than I would prefer, and it has no off-street parking. But there is both a front porch and a great second story balcony on the back, the woodwork inside has never been painted, and the kitchen was completely remodeled and updated in recent years. We are looking forward to sitting on that porch and watching life go by, as soon and as frequently as possible.

Toddler television: A case study

2007-06-21T13:55:00.000-04:00

Much has been said about whether or not infants and toddlers should be allowed to watch television, with some saying it is a terrible idea and others thinking it is tremendously educational. We have allowed our toddler to watch television, and I have rank ordered the shows she showed interest in based on age. This provides a guide to when a child would be intellectually "ready" for a particular show, in our experience. We do monitor closely to ensure she has enough physical activity in a day, and usually only do TV in early morning and at the end of the day. Individual results may vary, past performance is not a guarantee of future success. Here is our list:

0-18 mos: little to no interest in TV
18 mos: Teletubbies, Boobah
19 mos: Elmo's World section of Sesame Street, Barney
20 mos: Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer, Journey to Ernie section of Sesame Street
22 mos: Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends, Upside Down Show
24 mos: Wonder Pets, Backyardigans
26 mos: Little Einsteins, Jakers, Handy Manny

At 27 mos she is still not very interested in Big Big World, many parts of Sesame Street or Clifford. Diego and Bob the Builder hold her interest for a bit but not a full episode. I think Diego is fine, but it just reminds her she wants to watch Dora. As she adds in a new program, she has not lost interest in the previous ones.

SEC confirms most SOX compliance measures were developed by retards

2007-06-20T12:06:00.000-04:00

Today I googled "SOX compliance unnecessary" and was instantly rewarded by news that the SEC and Congress both agree with me. For articles on this try here, here, and
here.

Christopher Cox, SEC chair, says it best when he says "Congress never intended that the 404 process should become inflexible, burdensome and wasteful." He also says it should not result in "creating unnecessary compliance burdens or wasting shareholder resources." Instead, SOX compliance can now be risk-based, as in, based on the probability that a certain process would have an impact on financial reporting. This is otherwise known as common sense. On May 23 2007, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved rule changes for SOX compliance.

Now, what are the chances that companies that use SOX compliance as an excuse for every stupid thing under the sun will admit that their ludicrous processes are now unnecessary, if indeed their ever was a true need for them.

Rills

2007-05-09T11:14:00.000-04:00

I think we are all going to qualify as civil engineers before the levees are repaired. Sure wish I was still blissfully ignorant, thinking, what is there to know about a large lump of dirt? I mean, how complicated can it be? There's a nice photo of rills, which are erosion furrows, on the MRGO at the New York Times. The experts all agree this is a bad thing.

That article led me to National Geographic, which is doing a story on New Orleans in August '07 and has a nice web site up in the meantime with some videos and graphics.

My civil engineering education is being enhanced by my finally reading Barry's book on the 1927 flood. It covers a lot more than the flood, it's more like the whole history of modern man's interaction with the river. Why did I wait this long to get to it? I think I just didn't want to read about people drowning, but my curiosity finally got the better of me. Good reading, if you also were putting it off, try it out.

Imus is a loser

2007-04-12T11:12:00.000-04:00

Last year I went to the LSU-Rutgers womens basketball game, at Rutgers. It was a great game, although LSU lost. This year, Rutgers beat them again. Rutgers is a state university where athletics have long been unable to compete effectively on a national level. They are just starting to come into their own in recent years. Last year, when Rutgers played LSU, they sold out their basketball stadium for the first time ever. The Rutgers football team did unexpectedly well last year as well. Maybe, one day the students will even learn how to tailgate. The students are very proud of their recent athletic success. Rutgers is also a very ethnically diverse university and are proud of their integration and acceptance of all types of people. There is no room at Rutgers for intolerant talk and abusive language.

For now, Rutgers is national news thanks to Don Imus' trash talk of the womens basketball players. I'm glad to see that Imus is not being allowed to get away with this disrespectful, rude, hurtful language. There is no place for radio announcers that are bigots, are mean, play on racial stereotypes, and demean our proud college athletes.

Tax Cut

2007-04-05T11:20:00.000-04:00

I've been doing my taxes with Tax Cut and have been pretty pleased with the software except for one thing - it is incompatible with my wireless router. When you buy tax software in a box you have to go update the software or it won't work, and, the software can't communicate through the router. This seems like a pretty amateur mistake to me, and required talking to someone at Tax Cut on the phone to get a working link sent to me that I could download. So, don't wait till the last minute, or you may be sorry. At least for now, the wait time was minimal on the tech support line and the transaction was relatively non-painful.

Day care - some, but not too much, is ideal

2007-03-26T17:28:00.000-04:00

One of the headlines of the day http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/26/us/26center.html?ref=us is that time in day care is linked to both poor behavior up to 6th grade, and to an expanded vocabulary. As the parent of a 2 yr old, I have no difficulty believing both of these statements. I enrolled my child in a "high quality" daycare with a good reputation and high cost, for up to 12-hr a day care, before she was born. She started day care at 5 mos of age, and was beset with ear infections, high staff turnover, and limited napping. The staff took care of her physical needs well as far as diapers and bottles. But after that, if her "primary caregiver" was not in the room, well, she was on her own. When she started to walk it was clear they were not set up to deal with a toddler who wanted to explore and interact. We took her out at 14 mos and went with home based day care instead. This has had its drawbacks as well, including a pregnant care-giver who needs to quit. But in all it has been far superior to formal daycare. In touring facilities I am considering for next year, I usually look at the number of children in the room, and think, no way. However, there are a number of good part-time, generally church affiliated, programs in my area, offering 6-10 hrs a week of care for a 2 yr old, including music, art, and outdoor play. I have noticed a much higher standard of care and "enrichment activities" at the part time programs than at the full time programs. It seems that with day care, less is more. This is little consolation to full time working parents, but seems to be the way things work.

Edwards stays in

2007-03-22T13:20:00.000-04:00

I found myself glad to hear that John Edwards was staying in the presidential race. I don't think he has a chance against the major candidates, but I find him a refreshing voice of reason in the race. Maybe I'm just more partial to him since he announced his candidacy in New Orleans.

Tornadoes?

2007-02-13T12:52:00.000-05:00

Maybe God is testing us after all....

Today is the day to pack up my pirate outfits and other essential items, in preparation of the voyage to New Orleans. The little girl has an LSU kid chair being delivered to my parents house this week, so she can match her parents at the parades. We are expecting a nice snowstorm in NJ tonight but it should be past by the time we want to fly out on Thursday. Working is very hard this week, my thoughts are elsewhere, wondering what this year's must have hat will be from the pre-parade vendors.

Fascists Rising

2007-02-11T22:19:00.000-05:00

I haven't been writing much lately, but I have been reading. I can say it's been a bit creepy. I read the book I mentioned here not that long ago, "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis. This book is hard to read but I found it worth the effort. The scariness of an American Fascist state would have seem improbable if not for recent events. Pair that with the "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone", by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, and the conclusion is pretty clear. We are already living in a fascist America. Now consider putting that all into the hands of a Rudy Giuliani, again, it's just creepy. I lived in NYC under the Giuliani rule and believe me, he was a fascist before it was fashionable. That's the danger of him, he made it seem like a good idea.

Wikipedia on fascism led me to this article, written in 1944, that rings true today. http://newdeal.feri.org/wallace/haw23.htm. Bush puts nation above all, for great profit to big business and his personal contacts, channeling hatred for "terrorists" and "radical Muslim extremists", creating more convenient enemies for his war machine for each one he slays.

Rebuilding New Orleans is not convienent for the facsists, since they are already over-extended elsewhere. Hence the pretence that we do not exist.

In honor of Brad and Angelina, everyone's new neighbors.

2007-01-17T21:38:00.000-05:00

[first lines]
Tyler Durden: Warning: If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second off your life. Don't you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can't think of a better way to spend these moments? Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all that claim it? Do you read everything you're supposed to read? Do you think every thing you're supposed to think? Buy what you're told to want? Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you're alive. If you don't claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned- Tyler (Fight Club)

Lusher?

2007-01-15T11:46:00.000-05:00

Hello out there, our posting has been low of late as we have been absorbed with work and holiday related activities. Any Xmas cards not sent at this point are just not going to happen.

We have been following the events in New Orleans closely from afar in New Jersey, looking forward to Mardi Gras, and fantasizing about moving to New Orleans permanently. Yes, as the crime protest marches ensue and the bloggers consider relocating to someplace more sensible, we are sure that shutting up shop in New Jersey and moving to New Orleans will be the smartest thing we ever did. New Jersey is fine, its got great jobs, great neighborhoods, great access to Manhattan and it's bar and restaurant mecca. But they just don't know how to have a decent crawfish boil around here and they still think Mardi Gras is about flashing, no matter how many times we explain otherwise.

Its going to take us a while to get down there. But we are considering trading up our French Quarter digs for something with more space, actual bedrooms and fun stuff like that. Then as we rearrange our job situations to be able to spend more time down there, we plan to get to 100% by the time our 2 yr old is ready to go to kindergarten. Which it seems I have trouble spelling, I had to check it.

So, here is the question - what is the deal with the Lusher school district? How do I get my kid into this school? I know there's a matrix, but there's not much to choose from in the academic accomplishments of a kindergartener. We don't work for Tulane. So, is it an advantage to live in the Lusher school district? Are they honoring this district before they go into the matrix to choose the kids? Is it Tulane, then neighborhood for x% of slots, then remaining slots from the matrix? What is the matrix-Tulane-neighborhood ratio? Does anyone know? Having a high quality education for the little one is not negotiable, it has to happen.

Any advice towards what we should do is most appreciated, if it is an advantage to buy a house in the district we should target that area. But it's not clear if it even matters. Also, where exactly is the district? I cant seem to find any map of it on-line. Help!

March on City Hall

2007-01-09T09:25:00.000-05:00

Turn out on Thursday to march on City Hall against crime. For more detailsread here.

Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth

2006-12-26T08:41:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas!

I wasn't aware that the
Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth song was a duet between Bing Crosby and David Bowie, recorded just a month before Bing passed away. The linked article tells the story of how the song came to be.

It can't happen here

2006-12-15T12:17:00.000-05:00

It Can't Happen Here

"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
Sinclair Lewis.

Jackson Square Caroling

2006-12-15T11:54:00.000-05:00

I have fond memories of caroling at Jackson Square for Christmas, with the free candles and lyric sheets, its great fun. Nothing better than fire and songs to entertain the little ones. Check it out this Sun Dec 17, gates open at 6 PM. www.patioplanters.org has more information about a house tour earlier the same day if you want to do that too.

Pearlington MS Update

2006-12-06T20:29:00.000-05:00

Below is a letter from Angela seeking donations towards the rebuilding efforts in Pearlington. One always hesitates when sending money, not sure whether or not it will be put to good use. Will it be instead used to buy an extra plate of appetizers for the Xmas party, or diverted to some useless cause like sending supplies that are no longer needed? I have full confidence that money sent to the Pearlington Project will be put to good use. So if you are looking for a good grass roots charitable organization as the '06 tax year draws to a close, look no further than the Pearlington Project.

The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit foundation
PO Box 127
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
www.pearlingtonproject.org

Dear All,

If you're reading this email, then at some point over the past year, you have shown an interest in helping the people of Pearlington, Mississippi. (If you would like to be removed from this mailing list, please respond to this email with "Remove" in the subject line and your name will be deleted immediately.) Perhaps, you're one of the original supporters from Newnan, GA who helped load food, water, and blankets onto the many 50' tractor trailers you sent to my attention in Pearlington during those early, grim days immediately following Hurricane Katrina. Maybe, you're one of many family members from California, Illinois, New York and points in between who have directly supported Pearlington families with your donations of food and clothing throughout the past year. Or, perhaps, you have received this email because someone who cares about the forgotten people of Pearlington wants you to meet them as well and become part of something very special. Whatever the reason, thank you for your support and your continued caring. We've got one last, critical job to do in Pearlington; and, one last time, I need your help.

One year after Hurricane Katrina literally washed the rural, unincorporated community of Pearlington, Mississippi off the map, roughly 800 citizens are trying to recover their homes and lives. Ineligible for most federal and state aide (since Pearlington is not an official city or town), its people remain in many ways as forgotten today as they were 1 year ago. The survival issues are different to be sure. Today, the lights once again burn and phone lines carry calls of support from those of us out "in the world," a world that has largely moved-on and forgotten that the worst disaster in US history devastated not simply a few structures but every school, church, store, and home in Pearlington. After living most of the past year shoulder-to-shoulder with massive piles of debris, homeowners now let their gazes wander over empty lots. Having lost literally everything and with no insurers covering those losses, mothers such as Denise wonder where her 4 children will sleep when FEMA comes to reclaim their emergency housing campers at the end of February 2007 - only 3 months from now (and they are coming according to FEMA officials.) Mr. Ike, the 78 year-old veteran of two wars, tries to ready his little storage shed (built by volunteers) in case he has to live there in the dead of winter. Mr. Cook, elderly and sick with emphysema and heart disease, spends his days sitting in the shell of his house that random church groups have gutted and rehabbed, but have never returned to finish. He waits silently and recalls the years he spent in that house with his wife, who never recovered from the shock of Katrina and died earlier this year.

Some of you may feel these stories are too "dramatic" or overstated; yet, they are not. There is no need to embellish when describing the people of Pearlington one year later. I would invite you, though, not to take my word for it, but see for yourself. CNN has now covered the situation in Pearlington with me in 4 segments, including the latest update at the 1-year anniversary. You may view all 4 CNN segments as well as read a CNN.COM anniversary article in the Media Section of the Foundation website, www.pearlingtonproject.org. Additionally, you may click-on the link below and you will be taken directly to my latest online photo album. You do not need to sign-in. Simply click-on "Play" and the slideshow will begin. You will see photos of Pearlington and its people taken at the 1-year post-Katrina mark.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=bquxt22h.6bru63tx&Uy=-9en88q&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

The critical need now is for permanent housing. As many of you know, I have taken my work in Pearlington to a new level in order to finish the job there. This summer, when I realized major relief organizations were gone, including those that would normally rebuild houses after a disaster, I formed The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. The mission is simple: to rebuild homes in Pearlington, MS for those families with children and the elderly who lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina. While random church groups have started houses in the area, very few have actually been completed. Some have been sitting on foundations and frames, exposed to the elements, for 8 months or more. And, for the families you have come to know over the past year from my work in Pearlington - Yvette, Toby, Brittany, and Michael Earl; Denise and her children, Destin, Lisa, Darrian, and Carrie; frail elderly Mr. Ike, to name a few - no group has come to help them. They remain the forgotten of the forgotten.

As a fellow human being and a fellow American citizen, I can not simply accept that these families will remain forgotten - and, ultimately, homeless. They are our brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers; and, they deserve better. So, I have a plan, a plan that will only succeed with your help. That plan is to stage a "blitz build" of 4 homes in Pearlington the week of February 4-11, 2007. "Blitz building" is a proven technique in which skilled volunteers construct homes in a short period of time. My team leader for this project, Rich Taylor, is an experienced volunteer house builder, having held leadership positions in many "blitz builds" around the country. With the help of skilled construction volunteers, we will frame the walls and roofs in Dutchess County, New York in late January. Simultaneous to that process, skilled volunteers will be in Pearlington pouring the foundations. Then, the first week in February, we will start, finish, and furnish 4 homes for the following families:

- Denise and her children, Destin, Lisa, Darrian, and Carrie
- Yvette and Toby Earl and their children, Brittany and Michael
- Elderly Mr. Ike
- Linda, a disabled grandmother

We have the leadership; the plan; and the volunteers. All we need is the funding - only $150,000 to cover the cost of materials with all volunteer labor to house 7 children and 5 adults. You and I can prevent homelessness for 7 children and 5 adults for less than $200,000. And, we can send a message to other groups who start, but never complete, houses that the job can be finished. To raise these funds, I have appealed to foundations large and small and have received the same answer time and time again - Pearlington is too small and too narrow a focus for them. Yet, it is not too small for The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation. We completed our first project last month. We finished the home of Sandy and Michael Shaw. Five generations of Sandy's family have lived in that home. During Hurricane Katrina, the water rose to the attic and destroyed everything. So, for the past year, Sandy and Michael - on their own - quietly and methodically - did what they could. Their strategy was simple: pay a bill one week; buy a board the next. Late this summer and heartbreakingly close to finishing, they ran-out of funds. I and skilled construction volunteers went to Pearlington last month and finished and furnished the Shaw home. Sandy and I were standing in the living room as her new furniture was delivered. Normally stoic and reserved, she suddenly burst into tears. I put my arm around her, squeezed her shoulder; and, she said, "Angela, I just never believed we'd get home again." I talked with Sandy just last week. She has yet to sleep through the night because she still can't believe she's really home. In a little over a week from now, Sandy will cook Thanksgiving dinner for her immediate and extended family. Aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, and her own children will be one of the few families in Pearlington with a real house in which to celebrate Thanksgiving.

The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation can bring more families home but only with your help. There are roughly 200 of you who received this email. If each one of you make a tax-deductible donation of only $100 to the Foundation and then send this email to at least 5 of your friends and colleagues and ask them to do the same, we will have $100,000 of the $150,000 needed. It is that simple and that doable. If you can donate more, I respectfully ask that you consider doing so. If you alone can not donate $100, I would ask that you please do what you can. Perhaps, your employer, school, church, or gym will help. Donate online at www.pearlingtonproject.org or via regular mail at the address given at the top of this email.

A good bit of media attention has been given to the man from Canada who ultimately traded-up a red paperclip for a house. He achieved that goal through constant networking via the power of the internet and sheer tenacity. If one guy without an existing email network could do all that and get one house, imagine what we can do starting with a network of 200. Time is short; we've got to place a deposit for building materials by the end of December in order to house families by the end of February when FEMA comes to reclaim their emergency housing campers. I and the people of Pearlington are counting on you for one last push. Together, we can bring the people of Pearlington the rest of the way home.

In Peace and Justice,

Angela J. Cole, MPH, RN
President

The Pearlington Project Katrina Foundation, Inc.
PO Box 127
Rhinebeck, NY 12572

Email: angela@pearlingtonproject.org
Web: www.pearlingtonproject.org

Road Home

2006-11-05T20:56:00.000-05:00

Today's Times Picayune gave an update on the Louisiana Road Home Program, for which Federal Government appropriated $10 billion. To date only 18 families have received any money for a total of around $650,000. Another 1,200 have received letters promising them a total of around $70 million. The program is expecting another 10,000 or so applications in the next month. I'm not a statistician, but I think it's fair to say that that isn't going to amount to much more than $1 billion. The article said another $1 billion would go to administration costs. Where is the other $8 billion going. Did those appropriating these monies know they would never have to hand over the cash, and inflated the number for PR?

The more disturbing thing about this is that the people who haven' t collected their money yet is that they are believed to be waiting to decide whether to rebuild or move away. This again comes back to the need for leadership from the City. Although the money may now be available, the chicken and egg of neighbourhood viability still dictates whether people can move on with their lives.

Policy, Strategy and Tactics

2006-11-05T20:28:00.000-05:00

The Dunce in Chief (and today the Vice Dunce in Chief) have repeatedly accused Democrats of not having a plan for Iraq. That the Democrats don't have a plan is perhaps not surprising. They probably don't know what the policy is. Policy relates to objectives? Can anyone tell me what the objective is here today? Dastardly Dick Cheney today said we were in Iraq because it is the right thing to do!??? That doesn't seem to be a policy at all. Herein lies the problem. You can't have a plan if you don't have an objective. I guess this is why this war has been dragging on.

The Dunce in Chief was supposed to be the CEO President. You'd think in this day and age that would mean he would have read a couple of management books, or at least attended a couple of business courses in college. If he had even the most rudimentary acquaintenance with management he would know the difference between policy, strategy and tactics. Policy is the objective; strategy is the plan to achieve the objective; and tactics are the physical things we do in support of the strategy. He talks alot about strategy, but continually uses it interchangeably with tactics. Notably, he recently noted that we continually changed tactics to address changes in the strategy of the insurgency in Iraq. While that may be appropriate in some cases, it implies we actually have no strategy for victory. And the lack of a defined objective re-emphasizes that.

If the objective is to stay in Iraq because it is the right thing to do, what strategy could the generals or the Democrats put against that?

North Korea Finger Pointing

2006-10-16T21:08:00.000-04:00

As soon as North Korea conducted a nuclear test, the Bush administration started playing the blame game. After 6 years leading the Confederacy of Dunces Bush had the gall to blame the Cinton administration for HIS failures. The stated policy of both administrations was to prevent North Korea from getting the bomb. So which policy failed? The one which kept IAEA inspectors in the country, or the one under which North Korea got the bomb? Is this complicated?

Yet, Bush said the Clinton approach was not working. If that isn't working, how's the policy that allowed North Korea to go nuclear going? There is no question that it is the Dunce in Chief's catastrophic policy that allowed North Korea to get the bomb.

Progress

2006-10-07T21:49:00.000-04:00

Two pieces of news in the past couple of days highlight how far New Orleans has yet to go. Firstly, a census bureau survey concluded that City estimates as to how many people have returned were grossly overestimated. Travelling around the City, it is clear that those original estimates were wrong. With vast swathes of the City uninhabited, nay uninhabitable, it was clear that things were not as rosy as advertised.

The second piece of news is that barely 1% of the $7.5 billion designated to help residents return has been distributed, 2 months after it was supposedly supposed to start flowing. At this rate, it could be years (assuming the money remains available for that long) before a significant number are able to consider rebuilding.

If we are to catch up to City estimates of the population of New Orleans we need to cut through the red tape and get the return funds flowing. This is the same old story that has plagued the FEMA relief process from the beginning. No doubt the Dunce in Chief will continue to not live up to his promise, and will not step in to cut the red tape.

Where's the Enterprising Spirit?

2006-10-06T21:30:00.000-04:00

There was a reunion for some of the surviving scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project. I was somewhat surprised that any were still alive, let alone enough to have a reunion. It turns out the reason that so many of these people are still alive is that as many as 5,000 worked on the Manhattan Project. Over the course of just a few short years this combined focused effort of led to one of the greatest (albeit frightening) scientific breakthroughs in history.

The Manhattan Project led to the deaths of thousands of innocents (even if it may have saved more). Today, as the very future of the planet hangs in the balance a similar project could bring us back from the brink of catastrophic warming. Yet, as the realities of global warming become clear to even the most obtuse we are doing nothing to design alternative fuel systems, a greener more fuel efficient engine. Yes, a handful of people at Toyota or GM may be dabbling; even a few people at NASA or in Universities may have some research projects. What the world needs is a Manhattan Project to solve our energy crisis. For the investment of a few billion dollars (about what we spend a month in Iraq, or a fraction of the cost of Katrina) we could develop the technology that allows the human race to go further. Let's hope our government develops the spine to spurn the lobbyist and start the next Manhattan Project--let's call it the Katrina Project. The need now is no less pressing than it was in the 1930s and 1940s.

Pepsi and Reggie

2006-10-03T14:07:00.000-04:00

Diet Pepsi will donate to rebuilding New Orleans for every yard that Reggie runs. The amount of money per yard seems to be notably absent, which seems to negate the point of tying their contribution amount to Reggie's productivity. Their partner in this effort, Rebuilding Together, has pledged to rebuild 1000 houses along the Gulf Coast. But Diet Pepsi says they hope their contributions will make the rebuilding efforts more complete, and suggest they plan the donation of fences, sidewalks, topsoil and plants to help out.

Are you kidding me? Pepsi is a big sponsor of the NFL, and helped out admirably in the wake of Katrina with providing water to the Houston Astrodome. But their New Orleans ties are pretty negligable and their local presence post-Katrina rivaled that of the Red Cross. I wouldn't turn down your Oprah or Musician Village keys to hold out for a Pepsi house, the walls might be pretty thin. Lets hope that Diet Pepsi will get lots of publicity and be forced to make a decent contribution in the end, and that more companies will decide to jump on the house building bandwagon. Run, Reggie, Run.

GOP

2006-10-03T10:07:00.000-04:00

Wow, not only are Republicans corrupt lying scum, they are also pedophiles and the ever dreaded fag child molesters! My oh my. Somehow I doubt the congressional leadership will be "coming out" anytime soon (note to self: damm, they've figured out how to store IMs!).

Just reading the Foley IMs is probably going to get me flagged at work for accessing inappropriate sexual material. If you havent seen them they are here, thanks to Huff Post for the link.

Now, last I checked on our previous Washington sex scandal, Monica and Bill were engaged in consentual adult sexual contact. Many republican buddies of mine at that time swore that their belief that Clinton must go was due to their revulsion at the inappropriateness of this relationship and his taking advantage of an impressionable young lady. The Oval Office location seemed to award extra revulsion points and a lack of confidence in his overall judgement. They seemed to be sincere in their belief, although obstinate in refusing to consider there may be more important considerations for our choice of leaders than who they are screwing.

Does this revulsion now extend to the Republican leadership of Congress who covered for their seducing sicko colleague? Considering the underage and criminal nature of this relationship the fact that this congressman was not fired for this transgression certainly sheds doubt on the judgement of both the perpetrator Foley and his management, Dennis Hastert.

For those of you who didn't click on the link above here's a recap of the "naughty emails" from Foley.

Maf54 (8:03:47 PM): what you wearing

[redacted screenname] (8:04:04 PM): normal clothes

[redacted screenname] (8:04:09 PM): tshirt and shorts

Maf54 (8:04:17 PM): um so a big buldge

[redacted screenname] (8:04:35 PM): ya

Maf54 (8:04:45 PM): um

Maf54 (8:04:58 PM): love to slip them off of you

[redacted screenname] (8:05:08 PM): haha

Maf54 (8:05:53 PM): and gram the one eyed snake

Maf54 (8:06:13 PM): grab

[redacted screenname] (8:06:53 PM): not tonight...dont get to excited

Maf54 (8:07:12 PM): well your hard

[redacted screenname] (8:07:45 PM): that is true

Maf54 (8:08:03 PM): and a little horny

[redacted screenname] (8:08:11 PM): and also tru

Maf54 (8:08:31 PM): get a ruler and measure it for me

[redacted screenname] (8:08:38 PM): ive already told you that

Maf54 (8:08:47 PM): tell me again

[redacted screenname] (8:08:49 PM): 7 and 1/2

Maf54 (8:09:04 PM): ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Maf54 (8:09:08 PM): beautiful

[redacted screenname] (8:09:38 PM): lol

Maf54 (8:09:44 PM): thats a great size

[redacted screenname] (8:10:00 PM): thank you

Maf54 (8:10:22 PM): still stiff

[redacted screenname] (8:10:28 PM): ya

Maf54 (8:10:40 PM): take it out

[redacted screenname] (8:10:54 PM): brb...my mom is yelling

I hope that our country will do the right thing here.

Nemo's Tail

2006-09-29T12:12:00.000-04:00

All that is now left of Nemo's tail are pictures. It seems she had an altercation with what was probably a car, and scooted away not quite in time. She seemed fine at first but her beautiful puffy tail was slowly dying, and had to be amputated. We are totally traumatized but at least we still have our foolish cat. Now she has to wear one of those awful plastic collars for a whole week....