Humid Beings

14 Wacky "Facts" Kids Will Learn in Louisiana's Voucher Schools

—By Deanna Pan| Tue Aug. 7, 2012 3:00 AM PDTThanks to a new law privatizing public education in Louisiana, Bible-based curriculum can now indoctrinate young, pliant minds with the good news of the Lord—all on the state taxpayers' dime. Under Gov. Bobby Jindal's voucher program, considered the most sweeping in…

Bayou Frack-Out: The Massive Oil and Gas Disaster You’ve Never Heard Of

By�Mike Ludwig,�Truthout�| Report For residents in Assumption Parish, the boiling, gas-belching bayou, with its expanding toxic sinkhole and quaking earth is no longer a mystery; but there is little comfort in knowing the source of the little-known event that has forced them out of their homes.read on EarthFirst! Newswire

The Rise of the Third Coast

by Joel Kotkin 11/15/2012In the wilds of Louisiana’s St. James Parish, amid the alligators and sugar plantations, Lester Hart is building the $750 million steel plant of his dreams. Over the past decade, Hart has constructed plants for steel producer Nucor everywhere from Trinidad to North Carolina. Today, he says,…

The Power of Music: Mind Control by Rhythmic Sound

By R. Douglas Fields�| October 19, 2012 |New Orleans, October 16, 2012 – You walk into a bar and music is thumping. All heads are bobbing and feet tapping in synchrony. Somehow the rhythmic sound grabs control of the brains of everyone in the room forcing them to operate simultaneously…

Tobin Ryan, Paul's brother, and Mitt Romney

�"US election: Mitt Romney may have breached ethics laws through company linked to Paul Ryan's brother."Mitt Romney may have breached state ethics laws as Governor of Massachusetts by holding a stake in a company that did lucrative work for his administration and was linked to the family of Paul Ryan,…

Limbaugh Offers "Idea" For Hurricane Isaac: Getting Rid Of Poor Dems In Louisiana By Building Levees Out Of Money

RUSH LIMBAUGH: Okay, folks, it's a moment of truth.� We are mere hours away now from Tropical Storm Isaac, which everybody is desperately hoping becomes a hurricane. I can't believe this. They are desperately hoping that it becomes a hurricane. It's the Democrats' wet dream that this thing hit New…

"Dance like nobody's watching; love like you've never been hurt. Sing like nobody's listening; live like it's heaven on earth." -- Mark Twain

Katrina Pain Index 2012: 7 Years After By Bill Quigley and Davida Finger

1��� - � � Rank of New Orleans in fastest growing US cities between 2010 and 2011. Source: Census Bureau. 1��� - ��� Rank of New Orleans, Louisiana in world prison rate. Louisiana imprisons more of its people, per head, than any of the other 50 states. Louisiana rate is…

Lacking Contracts, New Orleans Teachers Use Old-School Tactics

By Theresa Moran Sunday, August 12, 2012 Just months after Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans fired all 7,500 of its teachers. After a seven-year legal battle, the teachers union won a measure of justice in June when a judge ruled the firings illegal. In many respects, the victory…

First Frank Gehry Home Completed by Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation

Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation (remember THE PINK PROJECT?) has sent us first images of the new home Frank Gehry designed for the initiative. Completed this week, the building is located in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, the neighborhood most devastated by Hurricane Katrina back in August of 2005.…

Beasts of the Southern Wild: A Review

Review by Russ McSpadden  Beasts of the Southern Wild is big budget Indy film about anthropogenic ecological collapse as experienced by a poor and backwoods bayou island community called the Bathtub, situated just off the coast of New Orleans. More specifically, it’s about the experience of a 7 year old…

Extremism Normalized

How Americans are efficiently trained to acquiesce to ideas once deemed so radical as to be unthinkable By Glenn GreenwaldRemember when, in the wake of the 9/11 attack, the Patriot Act was controversial, held up as the symbolic face of Bush/Cheney radicalism and widely lamented as a threat to core…

"Belief is the death of intelligence" robert anton wilson

Harry Reid: Bain Investor Told Me That Mitt Romney 'Didn't Pay Any Taxes For 10 Years'

WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has what he says is an informed explanation for why Mitt Romney refuses to release additional tax returns. According a Bain investor, Reid charged, Romney didn't pay any taxes for 10 years.via Huff Post

That Voodoo That You Do

Debra DeviBlissed-out, ecstatic union with our divine selves -- we seek it at raves and rock concerts, and in the desert with the Burning Man. I try to get there when I'm jamming with my band -- but I didn't realize until I wrote The Language of the Blues: From…

Katrina Pain Index 2011: Race, Gender, Poverty By Bill Quigley

Six years ago, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf coast.  The impact of Katrina and government bungling continue to inflict major pain on the people left behind.  It is impossible to understand what happened and what still remains without considering race, gender, and poverty.  The following offer some hints of what…

Commented on:
"Nola or Honolulu or Mars"

you hiring? or does one have to live in New ....?

Individuality is only possible if it unfolds from wholeness. David Bohm

Design, Graphics & Liquor

"... coming up with a graphic language for the distillery that could be applied to all of their social extensions, most importantly their bottle labeling."from the folks over at Build Blogread on

"People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest." - Hermann Hesse

Walking for Water Highlighting threats to our water, Indigenous people carry water from four corners of the continent to Lake Superior by Faye Brown

"To mark the one year anniversary of the disastrous BP oil spill, a small group of Indigenous women, elders and youth gathered at sunrise on April 20 in Gulfport, Mississippi and began walking more than 1,430 miles north to Lake Superior in Wisconsin. Carrying a pail of salt water from…

If success or failure of this planet and of human beings depended on how I am and what I do... HOW WOULD I BE? WHAT WOULD I DO?—Buckminster Fuller

What Conservatives Really Want

by George Lakoff --Dedicated to the peaceful protestors in Wisconsin, February 19, 2011. The central issue in our political life is not being discussed. At stake is the moral basis of American democracy. The individual issues are all too real: assaults on unions, public employees, women's rights, immigrants, the environment,…

Commented on the barometer entry:
"Singer / Songwriter"

Zu zu Mamou witch yo ....pigtail on ... you say sombody stole a lock o yo hair.....you? say it's missin, but cha don't know where ... you say sombody tryn ta rip off yo mind,... go ahead and call da doctor, if ya so inclined ....

Our scientific capabilities have outrun our spiritual capabilities. We now have guided missiles and misguided men.—Martin Luther King, Jr.

Local Music Videos: Singer / Songwriter

Dr. John, The Night Tripper - Zu Zu MamouDr. John is setting the standard in this classic, voodoo trance track..

Deepwater Horizon’s Final Hours

On paper, experts and investigators agree, the Deepwater Horizon should have weathered this blowout. This is the story of how and why it didn’t. By DAVID BARSTOW, DAVID ROHDE and STEPHANIE SAUL Published: December 25, 2010read on NYT

Commented on:
"The Barometer Podcast"

hmm... what do you stuff a Christmas Stalker with?

happy birthday louis prima!

This Guy Is A New Orleanian

Here is an article about my butcher, Jeffrey.In my opinion, he is a New Orleanian, though he may not be aware of it....nytimes

The Petroleum Broadcast System Owes Us an Apology

by Greg Palast for Truthout/Buzzflashread article

"I don't believe anything, but I have many suspicions." -- RAW

LET'S GO SAINTS!!!

Vince Vance: I am New Orleans http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V86xxTm8-ek

If success or failure of this planet and of human beings depended on how I am and what I do... HOW WOULD I BE? WHAT WOULD I DO?—Buckminster Fuller

Submerged oil at Bon Secour shoreline: http://blog.al.com/live/2010/06/lots_of_sharks_and_lots_of_oil.html

Commented on fleurdecle's post:
"How the wool was pulled."

I like your rant, it reminds me of this viewpoint that I read recently: The Moral Justification of Injustice Market libertarians are prone to erroneously equate the freedom and rights of the person with market freedom and property rights. The freedom of the market is the freedom of money and…

Commented on:
"Rep. Joe Barton Told To Make Nice"

"The oil industry “has deep pockets, and they have a long history of supporting Republicans,” said political consultant John Weaver, a former strategist for John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. “Like any kind of addiction, it’s a terribly difficult thing to break.”" http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/19/republicans-oil-bought/

reading: http://www.theoildrum.com/

Commented on:
"Video - Oil Confirmed to Be Leaking from Cracks in Sea Floor"

more evidence of a cover up...have you seen this? BP, GIS And The Mysterious Vanishing Open Letter via Scientificblogging: http://www.scientificblogging.com/chatter_box/bp_gis_and_mysterious_vanishing_open_letter

Commented on kdavidcook's post:
"Gulf oil spill threatens tribes with cultural extinction"

looking forward to seeing these stories.

Commented on:
"Just days before explosion, Horizon rig called 'nightmare well'"

Deepwater Horizon isn't the only problem BP has had in the last ten years... "BP Products North America, Inc. entered a plea of guilty to an information charging a felony violation of the federal Clean Air Act. The charge arises from the March 23, 2005 explosion at the Texas City,…

Nice city bike: http://publicbikes.com/p/PUBLIC-D1

Commented on humidhaney's status:
"Another reason for the US to kick England's ass tomorrow // protect portfolios and not our coast?! // http://j.mp/9Idjks"

Hey U Right Mitch!

BP disaster update: BP spills coffee http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AAa0gd7ClM

If those 63 million gallons of oil were put in gallon milk jugs, they would line up side by side for nearly 5,500 miles. That's the distance from the spill to London, where BP is headquartered, and then continuing on to Rome.

Never give children a chance of imagining that anything exists in isolation. Make it plain from the very beginning that all living is relationship. Show them relationships in the woods, in the fields, in the ponds and streams, in the village and in the country around it. Rub it in.—Aldous Huxley, Island

Commented on:
"Local surgeons say they have plan that can patch oil leak"

this makes perfect sense to me.

Commented on:
"Berm Barrier: Open Letter to Adm. Thad Allen"

another scientist doesn't think this is a good idea: Under Pressure to Block Oil, A Rush To Dubious Projects In response to the widening disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, government officials have approved a plan to intercept the oil by building a 45-mile sand berm. But scientists fear the…

Oil Reporter App: http://oilreporter.org/

Happy Birthday Miles Davis: http://jazzonthetube.com/videos/miles-davis/happy-birthday-miles-davis.html

"Are you a God?" they asked the Buddha. "No," he replied. "Are you an angel, then?" "No." "A saint?" "No." "Then what are you?" Replied the Buddha, "I am awake."—Huston Smith

Commented on:
"Tony Hayward, BP CEO: Gulf Oil Spill 'Relatively Tiny' (Huffington Post)"

man, i'd like to hold him up by his feet and soak up all the oil with his head, but maybe that won't work, it probably won't stick...cause he's too slimy!

Commented on:
"Halliburton: Work on oil rig finished before blast"

20 hours doesn't seem like enough time for the cement to cure...what is the industry standard for this process Halliburton?

Commented on the video :
"The Horizon File: Mayor David Camardelle of Grand Isle"

This is the future of journalism...forget mainstream media..."there's too many chiefs out there"...go ahead on Mr. Mayor! -- thanks Zack and HB.

Commented on:
"On the ground update # 3"

yes...this is just in on the topic in NYtimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/us/04enviro.html?partner=rss&emc=rss those same dredging techniques are working in Jamaica Bay in NY also. Can the dredges be rigged to scoop up the oil? just a thought...

Commented on jared.serigne's post:
"BP Oil Leak -- On the ground update # 1"

great work jared, thanks for the report.

Commented on anthonyturducken's image:
"Vermilionville"

nice post anthony, will try an check it out next time...what are you calling the chapel's style? man, that is some kinda hybrid!

Tremeter: Music

Mama RouxComing full circle...the first recorded song to be selected by a character, which then becomes the background music, is from Dr. John's ground breaking first record. By the way, just for reference, you can stream it here: http://www.casttv.com/shows/treme/do-you-know-what-it-means/9ojhw71.

Tremeter: Clothing

StylingThe clothing selection appears subtle and yet visually interesting, with attention being paid to how the wardrobes work with background and final screen composition...kudos!

Commented on Nola Rising's image:
"DINGLER FLEUR DE LIS"

hmmm sounds like good fun bro, but there is no download link. Please be informed.

Tremeter: Music

Buona Sera--Louis PrimaAs has been pointed out on Back-of-Town, the use of this song was sheer genius. By illustrating that the radio station (OZ) is the official soundtrack of the city, I was reminded of my own constant connection with the sounds and happenings of NOLA. The song also gave…

Tremeter: Food

Wonder Bread?That loaf should have read Bunny.

Commented on the barometer entry:
"General Feedback"

sorry bout the typos...

Commented on the barometer entry:
"General Feedback"

well, I swallowed it whole: hook, line and sinker! I watched it at aa old classmate of yours, Scott Bellina's apartment in the East Village. It was an interesting setting: big screen TV, a German guy named Ziggy, and a gal from east Texas, all who added an extra, much…

Tremeter: General Feedback

Joyful RevelryI will finally see Treme tonight, in the meantime I've been thinking that the whole nation, and by extension the entire planet, can benefit from seeing the lifestyle that is portrayed in the show: how for instance in NOLA there is the living tradition of communal rituals that break…