Good-bye, Bud Handelsman

J. B. Handelsman

From The New Yorker:

The cartoonist J. B. Handelsman—John Bernard at birth, and Bud thereafter—died last week, at the age of eighty-five, leaving a legacy of nearly a thousand New Yorker cartoons (and five covers), published between 1961 and last fall.

I have been reading and enjoying Handelsman's cartoons throughout the whole of his time at the magazine. He was funny, but with a bite.

He wasn’t a polemicist, but his work was concerned with politics and history and the range of our folly, from mere foibles to gross inhumanity. “Sometimes something historical gives you a better perspective,” he said in a 1980 interview. “You can see the latest dumbness as just the end of a long line of dumbnesses that have been taking place for thousands of years."

Depending on your point of view, whether you look at a glass as half-full or half-empty, his words can lead to hope and encouragement or to deep despair. "The latest dumbness" which we see so plainly today, is nothing new, but comes from "a long line of dumbnesses."

He was angry about many things, unfairness and hypocrisy being very near the top of the list. In a cartoon from fifteen years ago, Handelsman drew the Statue of Liberty lifting her torch in one hand and holding a portable phone with the other. Into the phone she says, skeptically, “Well, it all depends. Where are these huddled masses coming from?”

What a mockery we make of the words on the Statue of Liberty today, what hypocrisy, but consider that the cartoon is fifteen years old. Consider that dumbness and hypocrisy are older than history.

Rest in peace, Bud.

Angelina And Brad In The Neighborhood?

More nonsense of great import.

Rumors are flying thick and fast around here that Angelina and Brad will be purchasing property in the country a short distance from me. Let me emphasize that these are only rumors. There's a bit of chatter online, but the sources are not reliable.

I have heard on better authority that they bought a house in the French Quarter in New Orleans.

Neighbors have seen them come and go and can't be more tickled that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have moved into the French Quarter.

"It's great if they're here to stay and to be a part of the community," said Rayna Nielsen, who lives across the street from the early-1830s masonry mansion where the celebrity couple has been spotted in recent weeks.

Angelina and Brad don't seem to be "here to stay" anywhere.

The rumor mill says that they want to ride horses, which would be a bit of a challenge in the French Quarter, so they want a place in the country.

In their life adventure, Angelina seems to be in the driver's seat with Brad as a passenger as they roam the world. His job seems to be to carry the children (once they're born, of course) and provide the occasional sperm for another child, which once the child is born, he will be carrying around, and around, and around. Is it just me, or does anyone else out there think he's looking a little dazed by it all?

The really important question is, if they settle around here and give parties, will I be invited?

I'm Scissors!

Since I've been quite serious lately, it's time for a little nonsense. Missy did it so I'm doing it too, although this is something I should probably keep to myself.

You Are Scissors

Sharp and brilliant, you can solve almost any problem with that big brain of yours. People fear your cutting comments - and your wit is famous for being both funny and cruel. Deep down, you tend to be in the middle of an emotional storm. Your own complexity disturbs you. You are too smart for your own good. Slow down a little - or you're likely to hurt yourself. You can cut a paper person down to pieces. The only person who can ruin you is a rock person. When you fight: You find your enemy's weak point and exploit it. If someone makes you mad: You'll do everything you can to destroy their life.

Are You Rock, Paper, or Scissors?

Hey! That's not really me, is it? Well, parts of it maybe, like the sharp, brilliant, and smart. But I would never, ever destroy anyone's life.

Is my wit cruel? Do people fear my cutting comments? I hope not. I try to follow what Elizabeth Bennett said in Pride and Prejudice, "I hope that I never ridicule what is wise or good. Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can."

Do I tend to be in the midst of an emotional storm? Well, yes. But that's life throwing lemons at me, and it's not my fault. Does my own complexity disturb me? No, I think not, because I don't see myself as all that complex.

So. Who is the rock person out there who will ruin me?

Krugman

Paul Krugman writes such sensible and level-headed columns for The New York Times. It's a true wonder to me that his column appears in the same newspaper as the inane writings of David Brooks. In his recent Sacrifice Is For Suckers, he says:

On this Fourth of July, President Bush compared the Iraq war to the Revolutionary War, and called for “more patience, more courage and more sacrifice.” Unfortunately, it seems that nobody asked the obvious question: “What sacrifices have you and your friends made, Mr. President?”

....

This time around, Mr. Bush celebrated Mission Accomplished by cutting tax rates on dividends and capital gains, while handing out huge no-bid contracts to politically connected corporations. And in the four years since, as the insurgency Mr. Bush initially taunted with the cry of “Bring them on” has claimed the lives of thousands of Americans and left thousands more grievously wounded, the children of the elite — especially the Republican elite — have been conspicuously absent from the battlefield.

The Bushies, it seems, like starting fights, but they don’t believe in paying any of the cost of those fights or bearing any of the risks. Above all, they don’t believe that they or their friends should face any personal or professional penalties for trivial sins like distorting intelligence to get America into an unnecessary war, or totally botching that war’s execution.

Remember, "Bring them on!" I remember wandering at the time what the troops and their families thought about that. Many folks that I talked to back then seemed OK with it. Amazing.

Today, I ask the president and the US Congress what John Kerry asked them in 1971 about the Vietnam War, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

You can't read the entire column, unless you have access to TimesSelect. Sorry about that, but it's the leadership at the NYT who should be sorry.

UPDATE: Paul Krugman's entire column can be found at Truthout, along with an excellent piece by Elizabeth de la Vega, titled Bush's Real Fourth of July Message to Nation: Unprintable. De la Vega says:

The only reason Bush did not pardon Libby was because he wanted Libby to be able to continue to plead his fifth amendment privilege not to testify against himself - most particularly before Congress - based on the fact that the case was still before the Court of Appeals.

Thanks to Caminante in the comments.

Passing 3600

Sadly, sadly, we have turned another corner in Iraq. Unfortunately, it's not good news. We have passed the 3600 marker for number of deaths from the war in Iraq, with the number, as of today, standing at 3601.


Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

Father, we pray for the families and friends of the dead and the wounded and their families and friends. Pour out your healing love upon them; heal them in spirit, soul and body. Give them strength and courage to go on with their lives, and, give them your peace which passes understanding to keep their minds and hearts.

We pray for all who have died in the present wars, from every nation and every faith and for those without faith. We pray also for their families and friends, that you give them healing and peace.

Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy.


UPDATE: From the The New York Times:

105 Killed in Bombing North of Baghdad


By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and ALI ADEEB
Published: July 8, 2007

BAGHDAD, July 7 — A suicide truck bomber killed at least 105 people in a single blast north of Baghdad on Saturday, police officials said, leading to further fears that insurgents who had fled intense military operations in Baghdad and Diyala are turning to more vulnerable targets nearby.

The explosives-laden truck demolished dozens of fragile clay-built houses and shops on Saturday in Amerli, a village of poor Shiite Turkmen about 70 miles north of Baquba in Diyala Province. The Iraqi police said that in addition to the dead, at least 210 people were wounded in the blast, one of the deadliest single attacks since the start of the war.

In reference to Clumber's comment, in which he noted that the overall death count in Iraq is far greater than the number of US troops killed.

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid

If you want to read a stupid opinion column, have a look at "Politics Aside, New Orleans A Lost Cause" in the Hartford, Connecticut Courant? These are the folks who continue to send Joe Leiberman to the US Senate, so why am I surprised?

The brutal geological reality is that people of every color left New Orleans as climate-related refugees. I believe that the real reason New Orleans remains unfixed - without police and fire protection and with vacant hospitals - is because objective visionaries and smart money sees such rebuilding as a risky, if not wasteful war against nature.

When the polar ice caps melt a bit more and begin to flood the East Coast, I hope the columnist will be willing to write off Stamford, Bridgeport, and New Haven, CT, because rebuilding them will be "a risky, if not wasteful war against nature." Fair enough, Mr. Thorson, or should I say Professor Thorson? He's a professor of geology at the University of Connecticut's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Professor Thorson's recommendation?

My plan has only one point. That we not spend another dime on U.S. properties below sea level - and use that money instead to help sea-level refugees find safer homes elsewhere.

Perhaps Prof. Thorson should read this:

On the at-and-above list are most of the terra firma in the New Orleans neighborhoods of greater Carrollton, River Bend, Audubon/University, Uptown, the Garden District, Lower Garden District, Irish Channel, the French Quarter, Treme, Bayou St. John, the Marigny, Bywater, Holy Cross, Algiers Point, McDonogh, Lakeshore, Lake Vista, Lake Terrace and Lake Oaks. Add to that the Warehouse and Central Business districts, portions of the 6th and 7th wards, Central City and Mid-City as well as areas along Gentilly Boulevard and Chef Menteur Highway in eastern New Orleans and terrain along the Mississippi River in Algiers, City Park Avenue and the Fair Grounds area.

And this:

The lowest point in Connecticut is where the state borders Long Island Sound; sea level.

Hmmm. The whole coast of Connecticut borders on Long Island Sound, just at sea level. Worth protecting? Sounds a little risky and wasteful to me. When will the Connecticut sea-level refugees begin to leave, so the country won't have to waste money on them?

Pistolette from New Orleans had a few choice words for Professor Thorson:

damn yankees

Okay guys - everyone has to get over to the Hartford Courant website and gang up on this guy for being such an anti-rebuild nola pig...

"Politics Aside, New Orleans a Lost Cause"

It was such an insulting piece that I left the following biting comment...

If the Dutch felt the way you do about low-lying areas they'd have no country.

Funny, you guys never complained when federal engineers spent billions to force the Mississippi River route, and thereby bring goods to all you rich, condescending yankees. Plus, you think gas is expensive now? You couldn't afford it if we didn't keep sucking up the fumes in "cancer alley" for you overconsumptive ungrateful brats.

I live here - we have cops, firemen, and hospitals. True, they are understaffed and could use more help, but they are here! Get your facts straight.

I can't believe you compared this situation to some little Alaskan town with 200 people. MILLIONS live in the Mississippi Delta region. You are talking about asking millions of people/refugees to give up their homeland, people, and culture. America doesn't even ask the Palestinians to do that and we actively support the opposition! This is one of the most ignorant and insensitive things I've heard on this topic in a while. Would you ask Amsterdam, Venice, or even low-lying London to just abandon their cities because they are expensive to maintain?

No wonder most people in New Orleans want France to buy us back. With compatriots like you, who needs jihadis?

Posted by Pistolette at 8:32 AM

Thanks to Oyster at Your Right Hand Thief for the heads up.

We have a problem in this country in the low-lying coastal areas which are prone to bear the brunt of hurricanes. The area includes the coastlines of several states bordering on the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic.

However, global warming and melting ice caps, might eventually require mass migration away from highly populated areas which are not threatened by hurricanes often, but might well be under water as sea levels rise. So let's not fool ourselves that New Orleans is the only place that is vulnerable, and that the rest of the country should abandon it right now.

Episcopal Blogger

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a label for Episcopal Blogs on another blog - I can't remember which one - and I thought I'd go to their site and maybe sign up. As I was filling out the form, I came to a section which required me to give a description of my blog. I stopped cold. I had no idea how to describe my blog. None.

I started the blog, because I had to create a faux blog to comment on certain sites, which left a blank screen before me that was much too tempting.

Once the writing began, I had a space to talk about my delight in the election of Bishop Katharine, since there was the great silence about it in my church. To this day, her name has not been publicly mentioned in my hearing, except in the "Prayers of the Faithful". Later, I wanted to talk about my pleasure in watching her installation ceremony as Presiding Bishop on the webcast. Apparently, no one else in my church had watched it. A few did, after I recommended it to them.

Since it seems to me a matter of simple justice that all baptized members of the Episcopal Church, including LGTB members, be entitled to full rights of membership, including equal consideration for Holy Orders, I wanted to talk about that, too, without stirring up a ruckus in my church.

We had a bit of a dust-up during our period without a rector, when a gay priest served as a supply priest a few times. A small number of people in the congregation stated that they would not attend when he presided at the Sunday services.

My blogfathers and blogmother are Rmj at Adventus, MadPriest at Of Course, I Could Be Wrong, and old friends Robin and Roger at Dharma Bums. All of these folks are younger than I, but age is not a consideration with blogparents and blogchildren.

I learned from all of them. Robin and Roger, with their beautiful writing, taught me their gentle ways and their practice of responding to comments. Robert taught me so much about how to do a blog, about getting over my obsession with George W. Bush, about living the Christian life, about theology, and philosophy. I was mostly out of my depth with the last two, but I find I learn a lot in the company of folks who are smarter and more learned than I. MadPriest made me laugh, when I really needed to laugh, and commenting there set me free to unleash the irony that was about to break the chain. You know, I believe that my irony frightens folks sometimes in face to face encounters, but who would I frighten at OCICBW?

But I digress. I believe I was talking about Episcopal Blogs and having no clue as to how to describe my blog. I did ask Rmj to help me with a description - I had to ask twice before he answered - and he finally called it "a place of repose". Isn't that lovely? He could not have said anything that would please me more. Of course, he might have said that just to get me off his back. However, I'm a bit embarrassed to give my own blog that label, therefore, I remain at a loss for a description. I write about whatever pops into my head or whatever I read that strikes me as something I can quote and elaborate on.

To join Episcopal Blogs, I would have to do another password, more signing in, and put up something on my front page. In the end, it seemed like too much trouble, and I still could not describe my blog, therefore, I gave up the idea. For now, I remain an informal Episcopal blogger.

I Put Up My Flags

Picture from The Memory Hole

I put up my flag on my porch.

I reread The Declaration of Independence.

We will go to my daughter's house for a barbecue - a typical American family Fourth of July celebration.

I wanted to put a picture on my post in honor of the holiday, but the picture that kept coming to my mind was this one that I used on Memorial Day. Here it is again: the flags covering the coffins of the fallen troops coming into Dover Air Force Base from Iraq or Afghanistan.

As I was reading the Declaration once again, I took note of these words:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The rights were not inalienable for the slaves, nor for the Native Americans who are referred to in the document as "the merciless Indian Savages".

It's a noble document of lofty sentiments in its cry for freedom, but it is far from perfect. Our independence was won by the shedding of blood.

The US Constitution and the Bill of Rights are noble documents, also filled with lofty sentiments, but again are not perfect. For the sake of union, the Founding Fathers did not do away with slavery. Fourscore and seven or so years later slavery was finally ended by the shedding of blood. More blood was shed over the years during the wars with Native Americans.

Noble documents, noble words, noble intentions, but not perfect. The ideas, rights, and laws in the documents are valuable still, worth striving to implement in the ordering of our society today, despite being gravely threatened by our present government.

On this day, as you do whatever you do on the Fourth of July, give a thought and a prayer to those who have given their all in our present wars, 3586 in Iraq and 408 in Afghanistan. Give a thought and a prayer to the wounded in body, (34,650 in Iraq and 6213 in Afghanistan) mind, and spirit (count unknown). Give a thought and a prayer to the families and friends of the dead and the wounded.

And remember in your thoughts and prayers the troops who lay their lives on the line every single day, far from home and loved ones.

I wish all a Happy Fourth of July, but right at this moment, I'm not feeling happy. Maybe tomorrow.

UPDATE: Today's readings from the Lectionary resonated powerfully with me. I take note especially of the Gospel reading:

Matthew 5:43-48

‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Mitt Romney's Dog

Dog lovers and normal folks are steaming about about Mitt Romney's treatment of his dog. This story has been around for two weeks. Where have I been?

From the Boston Globe:

The Globe's disclosure this week that Mitt Romney put his Irish setter into a dog carrier on the roof of his station wagon for a 12-hour trip to Ontario in 1983 has become a surprising flashpoint in the presidential campaign.

OK, this is from back in 1983, but what was he thinking? What does it tell you about what kind of man he is?

For some, the story has become an occasion to consider larger issues of ethics and animal abuse. Romney, who has built an image as a strong manager, is now facing concerns about his ability to empathize with the less powerful, in this case, his dog, Seamus, riding atop his station wagon.

....

Family members told the Globe that Romney attached a special windshield onto Seamus' carrier to protect him from the wind. Romney was traveling that summer with his wife, five sons, and Seamus to his parent's cottage on Lake Huron. But hours into the ride, Seamus apparently suffered diarrhea, which ran down the back window of the car. Romney's sons, all under 14, howled in disgust. Romney pulled off the road into a service station. There, he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, and they drove on to Ontario.

Apparently, with the dog back in his place on the roof, but cleaned up and out.

....

TIME's Ana Marie Cox was among the first to weigh in. Under the headline, "Romney's Cruel Canine Vacation," she quoted Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, calling Seamus' ride "a lesson in cruelty" for Romney's sons.

"Thinking of the wind, the weather, the speed, the vulnerability, the isolation on the roof, it is commonsense that any dog who's under extreme stress might show that stress by losing control of his bowels," Newkirk told Cox. "That alone should have been sufficient indication that the dog was, basically, being tortured."

....

The issue gained enough momentum that by the time Romney landed in Pittsburgh for a campaign stop Thursday, reporters were ready with questions. Romney told them that Seamus liked his rooftop perch.

"He scrambled up there every time we went on trips," Romney said. "He got [up] all by himself and enjoyed it."

And Romney noted that he has never been one of PETA's favorite politicians.

I don't know how it is in other countries, but this is the kind of story that can dog (pun intended) a candidate throughout a campaign. Frankly, I wish the dog had crapped on Romney's well-coiffed head.

Levees Create Achilles' Heel

The post title comes from the print version of The Advocate in Baton Rouge. I prefer it to the headline in the online version. It's punchier.

I find it odd that the Times-Picayune out of New Orleans did not run with this piece from the Associated Press. I searched online, and it's not there. Fox News has the story. Let's hope that folks from New Orleans get the word.

The government’s repairs to New Orleans’ hurricane-damaged levees may put the French Quarter in greater danger than it was before Hurricane Katrina — a weakness planners said couldn’t be helped, at least for now.


Some experts say the stronger levees and flood walls could funnel storm water into the cul-de-sac of the Industrial Canal, only 2 miles from Bourbon Street, and overwhelm the waterway’s 12-foot-high concrete flood walls that shield some of the city’s most cherished neighborhoods.

Separating Creole bungalows and St. Louis Cathedral from a hurricane’s storm surge are those barriers, similar to the walls that broke during Katrina.

I wonder about the "couldn't be helped". Was it "couldn't", or like much that has to to with post-Katrina and post-flood New Orleans, "wouldn't"?

Officials from the Army Corps of Engineers knew the levee repairs would heighten the risk to the French Quarter. One commander even called it the system’s “Achilles’ heel.”

To curb the danger, the corps reinforced the existing barriers. But engineers didn’t have enough time or money to entirely replace the flood walls with higher, stronger ones.

Bea and other experts say those steps were insufficient.

Nearly everything that the US Corps of Engineers has done before and after the catastrophe has been insufficient. The Corps has a long history of not doing right by New Orleans, and they have not changed their ways.

The possibility of a heightened risk came as a surprise to many residents of the French Quarter and districts such as New Marigny, where jazz great Jelly Roll Morton once lived.

“Is that what they’re saying? Oh, boy, that’s not good,” said Nathan Chapman, president of Vieux Carre Property Owners, Residents and Associates Inc., an advocacy group that defends the quality of life in the French Quarter. “It’s not on enough people’s radar.”

....

The city’s oldest neighborhoods were settled long ago because they were the only dry ground in a wilderness of swamp. When Katrina struck, flooding only reached the outer limit of the French Quarter, creeping into places such as St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, the site of voodoo priestess Marie Laveau’s tomb.

With their open-air markets, flamboyant artists, baroque churches and carefree lifestyle, the neighborhoods next to the Industrial Canal are some of the city’s most prized real estate and give New Orleans its old-world soul.

Who will restore New Orleans' old-world soul, when the best of the city is gone?

I weep for my home town.

UPDATE: PJ, in the comments, has linked to a wonderful story in the New York Times about the courage and determination of citizens of New Orleans to return to their homes, who have repaired them on their own, with the government coming in quite late, or not at all, with help. The gentleman in the picture reminds of the man who lived next door to the house we gutted in Gentilly. His house was well on its way to being habitable, and he was grateful to have us work on the eyesore next door.