Keep The New Orleans Brand Out There

My man Oyster from Your Right Hand Thief is on the story of Mayor Ray Nagin's chronic foot-in-mouth disease. Responding to a reporter's question about whether the city's high murder rate hurts tourism in NOLA, Nagin answered:

"Do I worry about it? Somewhat. It's not good for us, but it also keeps the New Orleans brand out there, and it keeps people thinking about our needs and what we need to bring this community back. So it is kind of a two-edged sword. Sure it hurts, but we have to keep working everyday to make the city better,"

To which Oyster replies:

Splendid. If we had fewer bullet-riddled young men bloodying the streets, the "New Orleans brand" might suffer. People around the country might be less sympathetic to our needs if we had a mayor and police chief who knew how to curtail the highest murder rate in the country.

Yo, Oyster!

Nagin spends a lot of time away from New Orleans doing fund-raising, instead of staying home and finding solutions to the problems in his city, of which he is the mayor. Fund-raising for what? A possible run for governor? That's all we need. Nagin using his "branding" expertise to "benefit" the whole state.

Many New Orleanians and lovers of New Orleans will be relieved when Nagin's term in office is over. But the reporters and bloggers will surely have much less material to work with. They might even have to scrounge for stories.

Feast Day of St. Clare Of Assisi

Image of St. Clare and St. Francis, her mentor, in the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, from Christus Rex.

Padre Mickey has a beautiful post on St. Clare of Assisi.

The Order of the Poor Clares, a contemplative and mendicant order, had a convent in New Orleans. I remember them going from door to door begging, as I was growing up.

UPDATE: I just now got around to reading from the Lectionary for the feast day, and I could not resist adding these beautiful words from the "Songs of Songs":

Song 2:10-13

My beloved speaks and says to me:
‘Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away;
for now the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtle-dove
is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away.

It Was 50 Years Ago Today....

No, no, no! This is not another quiz. I am not Mexico.

50 years ago, well, maybe not 50, maybe 49. And maybe not today, but sometime in the summer of whatever year, long ago, my friend M and I decided to spend 18 days driving around Mexico. Our starting point was New Orleans, and the endpoint was to be Mexico City. I had no car, so we were driving M's car, which was not new, but it was in good condition.

Since M did not want to do all of the driving, she decided to teach me how to drive right before the trip. All of this happened rather quickly, and it seems that there was barely enough time for me to learn enough to pass the driver's test, before we were off. Looking back the scheme sounds like risky business. At the time, parts of the Mexican highway system were known to have pretty bad roads. Our parents were not thrilled with our idea, and they would not have been surprised if we had never returned. There were stories floating about of tourists disappearing in Mexico, never to be seen again. Two women in their early twenties, driving to Mexico without a man to protect them was not their idea of a safe trip.

Since M's father belonged to AAA, we told them where we wanted to go, what cities we wanted to visit, and that we did not want to travel the same road twice. They mapped out the trip for us. I'm looking at an old atlas, and I see the roads we took. Before we left M's father taught us how to change a tire. It was a good idea, but what a joke - for me, anyway. I'm not at all good at that sort of thing.

We had a flat tire before we got to Lafayette, Louisiana. Fortunately, we did not need to use our newly acquired tire-changing skills, because four college boys stopped and changed the tire for us. We were to have four more flat tires during the trip.

On we went to San Antonio, Texas, where we spent the night with my uncle and his wife, before taking off the next day for Laredo, where we crossed the border. We drove into the Sierra Madre Mountains as we approached Monterrey, which was exciting to me, since I had never seen mountains. Before long, we were in the big city. Some areas that we rode through were kind of rough looking with what we called "gauchos" loitering about the streets. We were crass and not PC at all back then. We called the country folk in Mexico "peasants".

I had not done much city driving, so I was a little uneasy at the wheel in the city. At one point, as we searched for our hotel, M was screaming at me, "Alto, alto!" and I was not paying attention. You see, I was the one who "spoke Spanish", not M, and, in the rush of the moment "alto" was not registering as "stop". Once the dangerous moment passed without serious consequences, I said to her, "Here, you drive. Why on earth didn't you say stop?" The sign said "Alto", so that's what she screamed out.

We made our way to the hotel, and I don't remember much about the city other than that I was pleased to get to the hotel. I suppose we walked around a bit and had supper, but my memory of the rest of our time there is gone. I tried to reach M today to see if her memory was better than mine, but I believe she is traveling.

Next morning, we headed for San Luis Potosí, passing through Saltillo and Zacatecas. We traveled through dry desert areas. I remember seeing the dust devils, the little whirlwinds dusting up the sand. Before long one of them passed over our car, and I was shocked that it shook the car so. I viewed them with a lot more respect after that.

We came upon a car with US license plates, which had struck a pedestrian on the road. The place seemed deserted, with no sign of housing nearby, but "peasants" were converging on the scene on foot. I could not figure out where they were coming from. I'm ashamed to say that we did not stop to see if we could help. We had been warned so many times of the perils of being abducted that we were afraid.

I look at online pictures of San Luis Potosí, and nothing seems familiar. We must have been in a hurry to get to Mexico City. I believe that was where we drove into a service station, and the attendant told us we had another flat tire. We had him fix the tire, and, once again, we did not have to use our lesson from M's father.

Guadalajara was our next destination. I liked the city and our hotel a lot. The climate was wonderful. I remember thinking that I wouldn't mind living there. We stayed there two nights, and washed some clothes in our hotel bathroom, because they'd have two days to dry. The clothes dried overnight, much more quickly than we thought.

We visited nearby Tlaquepaque, which today seems to be a major shopping center. In the quaint old town area, authentic Mexican arts and crafts were on display for sale. I wonder if we went there to shop. I believe we went to visit the historic area and to see the crafts. We were not traveling with lots of extra money for shopping. What we had was for expenses of the trip. I don't remember buying anything there. I think we were intent on getting to el Distrito Federal.

We were advised not to drink the water and not to eat uncooked fruits and vegetables while we were in Mexico. We drank Cokes and a Mexican beer which I enjoyed, Carta Blanca. I Googled the beer, and it is still sold today. We eventually forgot about the warnings for fruits and vegetables and ate them with no worse results than a mild case of Montezuma's revenge while we were in Mexico City.

I wanted to go to Guadalajara because of a song about the city that I liked at the time, not the Elvis version, a Spanish version. Yes. We went to Guadalajara because of a song. I remember the city as having avant-garde architecture. I know our hotel was modern. One of the elevator operators at the hotel was a gorgeous young man about our age who enjoyed having a mild flirt with us each time we used the elevator, and we flirted right back. Although he spoke English, I boldly tried out my high school and college Spanish with him. One morning, as we were in the elevator on our way out, he inquired of us, "Planta abaja?". I answered, "Si", having no idea what the words meant. He could have said, "Do you want to have sex?" for all I knew, and I answered yes. He asked in English, "Do you know what that means?" I was honest enough to answer, "No". He said it meant "ground floor". It was a funny moment, and we all enjoyed a laugh. I have forgotten a lot of Spanish, but I've never forgotten that phrase.

Another phrase - or sentence which I have never forgotten is, "La tubería de gasolina se gotea." Yes, the gas line of the car sprang a leak somewhere along the way in an area where no one spoke English, and I believe that it was in Guadalajara that we were told, as we drove up to the hotel, that we had our third flat tire. Again, we escaped having to change the tire ourselves.

In whatever city we visited in Mexico, if we had time, we generally headed for the Roman Catholic cathedral, because it was usually old and located on a historic square. Here's a link to a picture of the cathedral in Guadalajara from Wiki. I don't remember it, but I believe we must have gone there. What a travel reporter I am!

We left Guadalajara and headed for Mexico City through the mountain roads which led there. We came to dread seeing the road sign CAMINO SINUOSO accompanied by an s-shaped line. The curves were sometimes unbelievably frightening. The Mexican drivers whipped around the curves rapidly and sometimes in the middle of the road, having to do last minute adjustments to avoid collisions. Remember that I had just learned how to drive. We were both crazy.

At one point we could see the road where we were headed on the side of a nearby mountain. M must have been driving, because I was watching with alarm, as two buses approached from opposite directions. The mountain roads were narrow. The buses inched past each other, slowly, slowly and at one point part of the rear wheel of one of the buses was partially off the side of the road. They made it safely past each other, and I, and I'm sure all the people in the bus on the outside, breathed a sigh of relief. I told that story later, in Mexico City, and the response was that, indeed, buses did fall off the mountains roads from time to time.

Not much of a travelogue, is it? Mostly about us and the car, yes, the car, and the car story is not over yet. This was my first trip on my own. I hadn't traveled much before at all, having gone only as far as the Mississippi Gulf Coast in the summer. This trip was an adventure for me. I loved being on my own in another country, with an opportunity to practice my very poor Spanish skills. The Berlitz phrase book was a godsend, as it seemed to address most of our needs. At least, I had some notion of pronunciation and was able to make myself understood on most occasions.

I'm going to make this a two-parter, for it's getting long. To be continued....

Cheney Urges Strike On Iran

From McClatchy, by Warren P. Strobel, John Walcott and Nancy A. Youssef:

WASHINGTON — President Bush charged Thursday that Iran continues to arm and train insurgents who are killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and he threatened action if that continues.
....

Behind the scenes, however, the president's top aides have been engaged in an intensive internal debate over how to respond to Iran's support for Shiite Muslim groups in Iraq and its nuclear program. Vice President Dick Cheney several weeks ago proposed launching airstrikes at suspected training camps in Iran run by the Quds force, a special unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to two U.S. officials who are involved in Iran policy.

The debate has been accompanied by a growing drumbeat of allegations about Iranian meddling in Iraq from U.S. military officers, administration officials and administration allies outside government and in the news media. It isn't clear whether the media campaign is intended to build support for limited military action against Iran, to pressure the Iranians to curb their support for Shiite groups in Iraq or both.

Nor is it clear from the evidence the administration has presented whether Iran, which has long-standing ties to several Iraqi Shiite groups, including the Mahdi Army of radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr and the Badr Organization, which is allied with the U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, is a major cause of the anti-American and sectarian violence in Iraq or merely one of many. At other times, administration officials have blamed the Sunni Muslim group al Qaida in Iraq for much of the violence.

I give McKlatchy immense credit for airing the voices of dissent to the maladministration's finger-pointing at Iran. The Bush maladministration continues to give out misinformation concerning the extent that the leadership in Iran gives help to the insurgents. But they continue to support Prime Minister Maliki, who is Shiite. The Iranian leadership is Shiite. What can Bush and Cheney be thinking? They have enabled the strengthening of the relationship between the leadership of Iraq and Iran, by not pressuring Maliki to give the Sunnis a greater stake in the future of Iraq.

I hope that the members of Congress, now in recess, are keeping a sharp eye on this situation.

Juan Cole at Informed Comment has this to say:

In other words, the US military is playing a dangerous political game of attempting to undermine al-Maliki's diplomacy with Iran and to alienate the Sadr Movement from him altogether (it has already suspended membership in his government). For more on the timing of (surely overstated) US military announcements implicating Iran so as to undermine talks with Tehran by US and Iraqi diplomats, see Bill Beeman's comments below. This is not the proper role for generals, and it is shocking that Amassador Ryan Crocker and Secretary of State Condi Rice allow it to go on.

I can't seem to link directly to Cole's post on Wednesday, so if you want to read the quote at his site, you must scroll down from today's post to the Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007, post.

Before the invasion of Iraq, we were fed the Bush maladministration's deceptive and inaccurate line on Iraq, and now they are doing the same thing with Iran. It is vital that we pay better attention to the dissenting voices this time around.

Feast Of St. Laurance The Martyr

Image from the The Catholic Forum.

From Chambers Book of Days:

This being a very early saint, his history is obscure. The Spaniards, however, with whom he is a great favourite, claim him as a native of the kingdom of Aragon, and even go so far as remark, that his heroism under unheard-of sufferings was partly owing to the dignity and fortitude inherent in him as a Spanish gentleman. Being taken to Rome, and appointed one of the deacons under Bishop Xystus, he accompanied that pious prelate to his martyrdom, anno 257, and only expressed regret that he was not consigned to the same glorious death. The bishop enjoined him, after he should be no more, to take possession of the church-treasures, and distribute them among the poor. He did so, and thus drew upon himself the wrath of the Roman prefect. He was called upon to account for the money and valuables which had been in his possession; The emperor needs them,' said he, 'and you Christians always profess that the things which are Caesar's should be rendered to Caesar.' Lawrence promised, on a particular day, to show him the treasures of the church; and when the day came, he exhibited the whole body of the poor of Rome, as being the true treasures of a Christian community. 'What mockery is this?' cried the officer. 'You desire, in your vanity and folly, to be put to death—you shall be so, but it will be by inches.' So Lawrence was laid upon a gridiron over a slow fire. He tranquilly bore his sufferings; he even jested with his tormentor, telling him he was now done enough on one side—it was time to turn him. While retaining his presence of mind, he breathed out his soul in prayers, which the Christians heard with admiration. They professed to have seen an extraordinary light emanating from his countenance, and alleged that the smell of his burning was grateful to the sense. It was thought that the martyrdom of Lawrence had a great effect in turning the Romans to Christianity.

The following is not the Gospel reading for the day, but I thought the words suitable for inclusion on the feast day of a saint who was mindful that the poor are the treasures of the church.

Matthew 25:37-40

Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

PRAYER

Almighty God, who called your deacon Laurence to serve you with deeds of love, and gave him the crown of martyrdom: Grant that we, following his example, may fulfill your commandments by defending and supporting the poor, and by loving you with all our hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

READINGS:

Psalm 112:1-9 or 126
2 Corinthians 9:6-10
John 12:24-26

Lawrence was a common name in my family. My grandfather and three of my uncles were named Lawrence. Two of the uncles were by marriage.

UPDATE: Padre Mickey and Jane have very nice posts on the Feast Day of St. Laurence.

I'm A Rainbow Trout

You're a Rainbow Trout!

Believing strongly in the equality of all races and in gay rights,
you are a true egalitarian. These stances have made you a target amongst some
groups of people, but it's all in a day's work for you. You try not to fall for
their schemes hook, line, and sinker, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Somewhere
over you, bluebirds fly.


Take the Animal Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Lapin, my goal today is to make you crazy.

Actually, I truly like what this quiz says about me. In fact, I love it. Which of you is among the bluebirds flying over me? I need to stop wasting time and get to work.

The link for this quiz is from Pseudopiskie's place Mom Said Nobody Cares. She came out of this one as a gorilla, and she is not pleased.

Quote Of The Day - Louisiana Legislature

From NoLevity:

"I'm so happy to hear that you are funding the primate center.
For those that are term-limited, it'll probably be our future home
after we leave here this session."

-- Rep. Warren Triche, D-Thibodaux, referring to money earmarked
in a spending bill for a primate center at Tulane University.

Those of us in still the Anglican Communion could add, "Depends upon what you mean by primate."

I love this from NoLevity's side bar:

About me

* I'm Ian
* From NOLA, United States Minor Outlying Islands

I Am Spain

You're Spain!

You like rain on the plain, as well as interesting architecture and
a diverse number of races and religions.  You like to explore a lot, but sailing,
especially in large groups, never really seems to work out for you.  Beware of pirates
and dictators bearing bombs.  And for heavens' sake, stop running around bulls!
 It's just not safe!


Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid

I am Spain with Jane and Paul, in the rain, staying mainly in the plain. Paul, your name doesn't work with the rhyme scheme.

Mitt Romney's Sons Serve - Dad

From Yahoo News:

Romney speaks up for sons' decisions

By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer

BETTENDORF, Iowa - Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Wednesday defended his five sons' decision not to enlist in the military, saying they're showing their support for the country by "helping me get elected."

I have no words.

Thanks to Josh Marshall at TPM for the tip.

Is Newsweek Gay?

Newsweek arrives in our mailbox each week, but, since it's become flimsy and, more and more, seems to resemble a version of People Magazine, rather than a real news magazine, I usually skim through it, rather than read it.

As I was skimming the August 13, 2007 issue, I came upon this article in the Periscope section:

In 1954, psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, citing the bare, parted legs of Batman's ward, Robin, said comic books promoted homosexuality. Since then there have been questions about other characters in tights. But no guesses are needed for Thom Creed, the gay superhero in the young-adult fantasy novel "Hero," to be published by Disney's Hyperion next month. Creed even falls for another gay superhero.

I remembered Robin in tights, like the rest of the heroes - though he was more of a mini-hero, a hero-in-training. However, when I Googled an illustration of a Batman comic, I saw Robin was, indeed, barelegged. Quelle horreure!

I had not realized that back in 1954, folks - "experts", even - were speaking of the ease with which popular culture could affect and even change sexual orientation.

As to Batman's sexual orientation, I had heard "wink wink" references to millionaire Batman and his "ward" Robin, but I wanted more information. I found this from The Panel at Silver Bullet Comics:

Is Batman Gay?

By Alan Donald

The Panel gathers movers and shakers from across the industry together to answer your questions!

My choice for the funniest answer is from Terry Moore:

Terry Moore: “Is Batman gay? Actually, I know the answer to that, but I'm not allowed to say. The government commissioned a report on the matter and everybody who worked on it is now dead. So, you'll have to draw your own conclusions. Let me just say this, Batman is no more gay than Wonder Woman is into bondage or the Flash is into red latex. Batman did not have inappropriate dealings with any of the seemingly endless stream of little fellas he kept around like a Bangkok colonialist and that should settle the matter. Now we need to put this mass right-wing conspiracy behind us because he has to get back to work for the American people. Now the Joker on the other hand...”

You can read the other responses of the panel at the site.

And now gay men will have their very own out-of-the-closet superhero. A good thing, no? Now on to the lesbian superhero! I know, I know. Many already claim Wonder Woman, but she's not really "out".

Moving on in Newsweek, I find this article titled:

Show 'Em Whatcha Got

Conscious of their community's financial clout, gay activists want action on equality issues, not just talk.

Aug. 13, 2007 issue - Gay men and lesbians have always had a soft spot for Hillary Clinton. In the mid-'90s, when "homosexual" was still a dirty word in much of the country, Bill Clinton and his wife socialized in the White House with a broad circle of gay friends. In the dark days of Whitewater and Monica, gays leaped to Hillary's defense, needing no convincing that a "right-wing conspiracy" was vast and real. At the annual gay-pride parade in Manhattan, drag queens and go-go boys compete for prominence with New York's political elite, but Clinton is always the star of the show.
....

But for all her gay support, what has Clinton really done for gay rights? Not much, some gay activists say, but neither has Obama or Edwards.
....

...the Democratic front runners' positions on major gay issues—for repealing "Don't ask, don't tell," for afederal ban on employment discrimination, for domestic partnerships but against gay marriage—are identical to those taken by Al Gore and Bill Bradley eight years ago.
....

Recently, Clinton has more eagerly sought a spotlight on gay issues, condemning her husband's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. In a primary field where the most prominent candidate supporting same-sex marriage is Dennis Kucinich, she may well retain rock-star status with gay voters. Pragmatic activists say they don't expect a conversion from Clinton, Obama or Edwards on marriage soon; they'd simply like to see candidates talk about gays outside of fund-raisers and gay-themed debates. "It's the emotional disconnect that's frustrating," says Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "Hillary Clinton is totally comfortable around gay people ... All of the candidates are. Yet when they talk about us, they freeze."

I'd say being comfortable around gays and lesbians is not enough for a candidate. George Bush is apparently comfortable around gays and lesbians. I have it on good authority that the staff in the White House includes a good many gays and lesbians, but what does that do for the larger community? With the exception of Kucinich, the obvious public discomfort of the candidates when gay issues come up, the deer-in-the-headlights look, is disconcerting.

The candidate with the views closest to my own is, sadly, the one who probably doesn't have a chance at the nomination, Dennis Kucinich. Go, Dennis, go!

Then, near the back of the issue in the Newsmaker section is a Q&A with Ann Hathaway, the actress, who plays Jane Austen in the movie, "Becoming Jane", with this exchange:

Your boyfriend sounds too good to be true: handsome and Italian.
We sort of worship each other. We were desperately in love the first year, then we became each other's best friends.

He works with the Catholic Church. Have you met the pope?
I met John Paul II.

Your brother is gay, yet the church isn't exactly gay-friendly.
I'd rather not discuss criticism of the Catholic Church. They've done a lot of great work throughout the world.

Do you consider yourself a hag? (Comment: Wow!)
You can never consider yourself anything. You have to be labeled that.

Have you been labeled that?
By some, yes. About 95 percent of my friends are gay men.

How do folks lived with this sort of compartmentalizing?

That's a good bit of coverage of gay issues in a "mainstream" news magazine. Perhaps, there is a growing realization that gays and lesbians are a force in our society, especially, an acknowledgment that they have money to spend - for isn't that what it's all about in the US today.

So. Back to the question in my title: Is Newsweek gay? You can weigh in about Batman and the presidential candidates' attitudes and actions, too.