COINCIDENCE?

Doug (or someone) says, "I absolutely refuse to believe this is a coincidence!!!"

RICHARD HOLBROOKE FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE

From Nicholas D. Kristof at the New York Times:

When he was alive, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke was effectively gagged, unable to comment on what he saw as missteps of the Obama administration that he served. But as we face a crisis in Pakistan after the killing of Osama bin Laden, it’s worth listening to Holbrooke’s counsel — from beyond the grave.

As one of America’s finest strategic thinkers and special envoy to the Af-Pak region, Holbrooke represented the administration — but also chafed at aspects of the White House approach. In particular, he winced at the overreliance on military force, for it reminded him of Vietnam.

“There are structural similarities between Afghanistan and Vietnam,” he noted, in scattered reflections now in the hands of his widow, Kati Marton.

“He thought that this could become Obama’s Vietnam,” Marton recalled. “Some of the conversations in the Situation Room reminded him of conversations in the Johnson White House. When he raised that, Obama didn’t want to hear it.”

That Obama didn't want to hear Richard Holbrooke's counsel is unfortunate, indeed.

From the Army Times:

KABUL, Afghanistan — Four American soldiers serving with NATO forces in Afghanistan died Monday in an explosion in the country's south, NATO and a defense department official said, bringing home the human cost of the U.S.-led push into Taliban strongholds.

The official said they were hit by an improvised explosive device. He spoke on condition of anonymity because relatives of those killed were still being notified. The latest deaths make a total of 16 NATO service members killed so far this month, and 167 so far this year.

What is it about being in the Oval Office that blinds presidents to the reality that prolonging a war that goes nowhere, even as members of the military and civilians continue to be maimed and killed, will accomplish nothing worthwhile? The war in Afghanistan has now become Obama's war. What is the president's view of the endgame?

Vali Nasr, a member of Holbrooke’s team at the State Department, puts it this way: “He understood from his experience that every conflict has to end at the negotiating table.”

Why not sooner, rather than later?

Read Kristof's column in its entirely for its valuable analysis of Holbrooke's views on our relations with Pakistan.

As for Pakistan, Holbrooke told me and others that because of its size and nuclear weaponry, it was center stage; Afghanistan was a sideshow.

“A stable Afghanistan is not essential; a stable Pakistan is essential,” he noted, in the musings he left behind.

That Obama will reconsider Holbrooke's wise counsel now that he has passed on is surely too much to hope for, but I hope anyway.

THE OLD RIVER CONTROL STRUCTURE - SIMMESPORT, LOUISIANA

Click on the map for the larger view.

The map above shows the locations of the Old River Control Structure and the Morganza Floodway.



Above is an aerial view of the Old River Control Structure. Image from Wikipedia.



Shown above is the Morganza Floodway with one bay open. As of now, 11 bays are open. The US Corps of Engineers expects to open 31 of the 125 bays in the floodway.

In the comments to this post at Wounded Bird, Paul (A.) asks a question and references an article in the New Yorker by John McPhee, written in 1987:

Is the opening of the floodway to the Atchafalaya the beginning of the end for Baton Rouge and New Orleans?

In response, I wrote a long comment which I decided to edit and use in a post.

Paul (A.), I read the article by McPhee when it came out in 1987. He writes about the Old River Control Structure at Simmesport, north of the Morganza Floodway. The Mississippi River wants to take the most direct route to the Gulf of Mexico, which is through the Atchafalaya River basin. If that happened vast areas would be flooded, and the Baton Rouge and New Orleans ports would be finished as major ports. The passage of large ships between NO and north of BR would cease, because the Mississippi River would not have enough water to support major shipping.

The Old River Control Structure was built to direct the major flow to the Mississippi River rather than the Atchafalaya River at roughly 70%/30%. McPhee and others think that the structure could fail and the river eventually have its way, and they may be right. However, since the article was written, an additional structure was added to the ORCS complex, which serves as further reinforcement to prevent a failure. We shall see.

The purpose of the Morganza Floodway is entirely different. It's built to send water into the Atchafalaya River basin to protect Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and the refineries and chemical plants along the Mississippi between Baton Rouge and New Orleans in the event the Mississippi reaches flood stage, which it has now. The flooding of the Atchafalaya River basin is to lower the level of water in the Mississippi River to prevent overtopping of the levees and to reduce the intense pressure from the high waters in the river, to prevent breaches. Either event could have catastrophic consequences.

I hope this helps.

Posted with the caveat that I am neither a flood engineer nor an expert on flooding.

POINTE COUPEE - MINI-WOODSTOCK

From A History of Pointe Coupée Parish, Louisiana by Brian J Costello.

An unusual event two years after the Woodstock music festival, attracted huge crowds and widespread national attention to Pointe Coupée Parish: the Celebration of Life held during June 24-27, 1971, at McCrea. A Baton Rouge attorney leased the 700-acre Cypress Point site between the Atchafalaya River and levee to rock festival promoters for the festival, which attracted, according to the Associated Press, an estimated 50,000 persons from across the United States and foreign countries.

The celebration was scheduled to run eight days, but was delayed by legal injunctions and safety and sanitary concerns. The fact that the festival was staged in Pointe Coupée caused much apprehension, as parish residents had hitherto experienced little contact with "hippies". Attendees camped out on local roads and levees before the program finally got underway. Before and during the festival, they suffered from appalling heat and thunderstorms and limited food and water supplies. When the program finally got underway, only a few of the many scheduled acts performed. Among those who did were Ted Nugent, Ike and Tina Turner, Sly and the Family Stone, and Melanie.

Some 150 festival goers were arrested for drug possession. Several others reportedly died from drowning and drug overdoses and at least one baby was born during the "mini-Woodstock." A number of young attendees were beaten for no apparent reason by motorcycle club members hired by festival organizers as "security" for the event but who acted as thugs.

However, many attendees nationwide still today speak nostalgically on internet blogs today of the friendliness and hospitality offered by parish residents, and the latter tell of politeness of festival-goers with whom they had contact.

Below is a video of a film of scenes from the event taken with an 8mm. movie camera.



To think of such an event taking place in sleepy Pointe Coupée Parish (the location of the small farm where Grandpère grew up) back in 1971, when the parish was sleepy is amazing. I remember the consternation of the local folks at the time. They did not want another Woodstock in their territory.

The parish is no longer sleepy, for it's become a weekend and holiday place of choice for a visit, with resulting construction of many new waterfront "camps", some priced at over $1 million. In addition, commuters from Baton Rouge and retirees are swelling the permanent population. The traffic on the road in front of our house is nearly non-stop, making it difficult and rather dangerous to cross to the river front or to get on the road in a car.

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH USA VOTES TO ALLOW PARTNERED GAY AND LESBIAN CLERGY

From NOLA.com:

A group of Presbyterians in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area on Tuesday cast the decisive votes that open ordination to openly gay men and lesbian clergy in the 2 million-member Presbyterian Church USA.

A regional church group called the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area became the 87th presbytery to approve the constitutional change to the denomination’s book of order, reaching the required majority vote among the denomination’s 173 presbyteries.

The Presbytery of South Louisiana, representing 61 Presbyterian USA churches, voted to approve gay ordination at a meeting in Baton Rouge last month.

Good news, indeed, however I was sorry to read the following news about the local Presbyterian church, which I did not know until now:

By one count, the drift caused an estimated 100 large Presbyterian churches to leave the denomination for more conservative Presbyterian bodies.

In Louisiana, for example, First Presbyterian churches of Baton Rouge and Thibodaux, as well as Woodland Presbyterian Church in Algiers, left for the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, which takes a traditional stand on sexuality.

If we had no Episcopal Church in my town, I'd thought I might attend the Presbyterian Church, but now, I don't know.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE TOWN OF SLAVE LAKE, ALBERTA

From Tim Chesterton:

Dear Christian Blogging Friends:

I wonder if you might post this news item on your blog and ask for prayers? The town of Slave Lake is only 250 kms north of Edmonton and many people in this city have family and friends there. I myself led a couple of workshops at the ecumenical church there back in the 1990s. It seems that hundreds of buildings have been burned down and there is no sign yet that the fire is anywhere close to being under control.

After a day of caution over two encroaching wildfires, the winds picked up and brought chaos and destruction to Slave Lake.

Wind gusts that accelerated the advance of fires and grounded water bombers Sunday afternoon allowed the fire to jump two highways. Afterwards, it was free to tear through the Alberta town of 7,000 people. A long list of hundreds of buildings have burned down – including city hall, the police station, the radio station and countless houses – and the town has brought in a mandatory evacuation. The fires appear out of control.

More information at the Edmonton Journal and the Globe and Mail.

Thank you for your prayers.

Tim

UPDATE FROM TIM:

If you feel right about doing so, you might want to add that the toll-free number for the Alberta Red Cross is 1-800-418-1111.

Of course, I feel right about it.

COME NOW, JOHN!

Yesterday, as I sat down in to watch a little TV, what should appear on the screen but the sight of John Boehner giving the commencement speech at Catholic University. What!!! John Boehner who, if he had his way, would cut programs that serve the poor to the bone. Why was he chosen as the commencement speaker?

Then, as I watched, he took his hankie out of his pocket and wiped his nose. Oh well, his nose was running. What else could he do? No wait! He's crying - again! Boehner went on to speak tearily of difficult times in his political career and how he always prayed to do God's will, and that he prayed to the Blessed Mother when he was asked to resume leadership of the House, and she didn't exactly answer him, but Coach Grant did, and that was pretty damned close, except he didn't say "damned" in the commencement address.

Does Boehner ever shed a tear at the thought of the poor whose difficult lives will be worsened if he is successful in getting his policies into law? Please!

Watch the video at Mediaite.

UPDATE: From the National Catholic Reporter:

A group of prominent Catholic academics have signed a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner, on the occasion of his forthcoming commencement address at the Catholic University of America. I will provide commentary later today, but the letter really speaks for itself, respectfully, clearly and in a way to challenge the Speaker to consider his policies. The letter will be delivered to Boehner's office personally by some of the signatories tomorrow morning.

A brief excerpt from the letter:

Mr. Speaker, your voting record is at variance from one of the Church’s most ancient moral teachings. From the apostles to the present, the Magisterium of the Church has insisted that those in power are morally obliged to preference the needs of the poor. Your record in support of legislation to address the desperate needs of the poor is among the worst in Congress. This fundamental concern should have great urgency for Catholic policy makers. Yet, even now, you work in opposition to it.

Read the entire letter at the link above. It's good, and its list of signatories is impressive.

MORGANZA FLOODWAY WITH ONE GATE OPEN

From MSNBCNews.

"CHARLIE DARWIN" - THE LOW ANTHEM

"Charlie Darwin" - The Low Anthem (Official Video) from The Low Anthem on Vimeo.

"MORGAN CITY, LA, IN LESS STRESSFUL TIMES"

Click on the picture for the larger view.

Poignant photo from the past posted on Facebook by my friend Georgianne Nienaber. Used with Georgianne's permission.

Morgan City is located near the mouth of the Atchafalaya River. Parts of the city are protected by levees. Other parts are not. See map at my post below.