Howie Luvzus

From the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center:

Dear friends and colleagues,

You’re not going to believe it! We’ve got the data you’ve been wanting most of all — block-by-block counts of households actively receiving mail, alongside counts of homeowners who have closed on their Road Home applications to stay and rebuild their homes. And we’re displaying this data in a new online mapping system that allows you to zoom in and see the specific neighborhoods you are most interested in.

I read this about MoveOn’s planned protest for yesterday’s event at Xavier:

MoveOn.org, that organization supporting the campaign of Democrat Barack Obama, plans a protest today outside the New Orleans “town hall” campaign appearance of Republican John McCain over McCain’s own support from the Rev. John Hagee.

Hagee is the one who contends that New Orleans drew the wrath of God in Hurricane Katrina for a gay-pride parade that the city was planning. “What happened in New Orleans looked like the curse of God,” Hagee told a radio talk show host again this week. “In time, if New Orleans recovers and becomes the pristine city it can become, it may in time be called a blessing. But at this time it’s called a curse… It was a city that was planning a sinful conduct.”

MoveOn contends that it will protest outside the University Center at Xavier University for McCain’s 11 am appearance there, “Due to Sen. John McCain’s courting of Rev.John Hagee’s political support, and Hagee’s outrageous and offensive comments about the people of New Orleans.”

The picture above shows protesters. Wow! Great job MoveOn! Three people? They were really nice and handed out some information sheets.

Adrastos has been all over this. I really don’t see the big deal. If it was a big deal, surely MoveOn could have sent more than three people! Lighten up man! This kind of mud slinging that tries to invalidate the good work of a great candidate should be ignored. It’s unfair. (OOPS, Wrong link!) A candidate shouldn’t be held accountable for the words of his or her supporter as long as he or she condemns them. Unless his condemnation of them is LAME!

BTW–Insider info here. Jessie Jackson was on campus at the same time yesterday! He was at Xavier South speaking with students. Few people knew about it. He was kept away from the Straight Talk Express! That would have been so cool!

I watched a bit of McCain’s speech. Man, he’s boring. And he didn’t have a flag pin on either!

You can see the rest of my pictures here.

Having been the butt of Homan’s cruel humor, I can understand how Chris Owens might feel. Homie recently trashed one of New Orleans’ original characters for being old.

Adrastos came to the rescue, but BigEZBear did a heck of a job refuting Homan’s attempt at humor. Obviously, Homan just doesn’t get it. Damn Yankee.

What’s next Homan?

Are you going to trash Pete Fountain for not really walking in his Half-Fast Walking Club?

Are you going to make fun of Fats because he’s lost a lot of weight?

Stop the hatin’!

Here’s a great comment from BigEZBear’s post:

I followed the link to the Professor’s web page. Whatta schmo. He obviously never studied the First Rule of French Quarter Legends; If you don’t want to see it, don’t look.

The idea that Chris Owens, or anyone else, for that matter, should stay home because he doesn’t apporove, ought to get him a one-way ticket to Branson, MO, where the Bland & Timid perform 24/7, giggling the entire time, never saying the word ‘DARN’, only miming it and making a stage whispering sound. Gee willikers.

Judging by the crowd in the photographs he posted, I suggest the Professor stay home (and help Gilligan fix the boat?) and let everyone else be entertained as they see fit.

I’m curious, Professor Drudgery, how often do that many people turn out to applaud you? I couldn’t begin to guess, because, well, I’ve never even heard of you before…neither, I’m sure, has the World Famous Chris Owens.

Lord David
Pirate & Artist
Skull Club
New Orleans

The following is from the latest New Orleans Index report from The Brookings Institution:

1. The number of open childcare centers inched
upward in Orleans and St. Bernard parishes, while
public transportation remains severely limited in
New Orleans. Lack of public transportation and childcare
continue to serve as obstacles to workers who want
to return to the area. As of February 2008, 48 percent of
public transit routes are open and only 19 percent of the
number of pre-Katrina buses are running. Meanwhile
from January to April, seven additional child care centers
opened in Orleans, and one in St. Bernard, bring
the total to 41 percent and 27 percent of the number of
pre-Katrina childcare centers respectively.

2. By March 2008, FEMA had paid Louisiana 93 percent
of the $6.6 billion allocated for infrastructure
repairs, yet only 47 percent has reached localities.
The state of Louisiana continues to hold more than $3
billion in infrastructure repair monies that are destined
for hurricane-affected parishes. As of March, Orleans
had received only 35 percent of the funds allocated
to it for infrastructure repairs and Plaquemines had
received only 18 percent of its allocated funding.

Sorry for the delay. I was kind of wiped out by the funeral. Although I hide it pretty well, I’m an extremely shy person. Having to be around so many people I don’t know took its toll on me.

I’d first like to thank Peter, Ray, and Hana for letting me be a part of such a wonderful tribute to Ashley. He really was bigger than life and a really good guy. It was an honor to be able to officiate the service. Meeting all those Bloggers was very cool too!

It seems almost sacrilegious to say that I enjoyed a funeral, but this funeral was filled with more laughter than any I’ve ever attended. I can’t believe that I actually got heckled during my tribute to Ashley! The Krewe du Vieux folks were so funny! I was trying to relay a story about how Ashley had taken the time to clear up a few misconceptions I had about KdV when they started hissing! I hope they remember that I said that Ashley convinced me that I was wrong!

Everyone was so encouraging to me after the service was over. I cannot believe that someone stole my notes! I also can’t believe it was not Homan. I think I did OK without them, but I regret not being able to read Annabelle Lee, Ashley’s favorite poem.

Ashley’s life impacted me in several ways. I’ll try to eat more good New Orleans food and squeal when it’s great. I’ll try to enjoy my family and friends more and spend more time with them. I’ll try to speak out more against what I see as unjust and stand up for what needs to be affirmed.

What struck me most about Ashley’s funeral was articulated well by Adam Steele, one of his DePaul Computer Science colleagues. He described Ashley as a “key articulator” that brought all kinds of people together. Although some of my Southern Baptist buddies may have questioned whether or not I should have participated in such a “rowdy” gathering, I’d have to say that the group resembled what I think the Kingdom of God looks like much more than most of the gatherings of “church people” I’ve seen. I also plan to be more of a “key articulator” as a result of having known Ashley Morris. That might be worth more than the laughter and fun that he brought to my life.

Please help the wonderful family of Ashley Morris during their time of need.

You can donate here.

You can read about him at that site. I will post more later.

Also via Bruce, Baptist Press reported the following:

Hundreds rallied at the Oklahoma state capitol April 2 to show their support for Republican state Rep. Sally Kern, a Southern Baptist whose comments about homosexuality have drawn nationwide attention and even death treats.

The controversy began around March 7 when the Victory Fund, an organization dedicated to seeing homosexuals elected to public office at all levels, posted a video on YouTube with audio sound bytes of one of Kern’s speeches where she stated her biblical views on homosexuality to about 20-30 Republicans. It has since been viewed more than 1 million times.

Supporters chanted “Sally! Sally! Sally!” and speakers stood in front of a sign reading, “We Stand With Sally Kern.” Nearly 2,000 were in attendance, according to one estimate.

“This is not about me,” Kern said at the rally, which spilled over from the first floor rotunda to the building’s second and third floors. She is the wife of Olivet Baptist Church pastor Steven Kern in Oklahoma City. “It’s about the church having the right to speak out for the redeeming love of Jesus Christ Who died to set us all free from sin. The Lord gave me a verse I’ve been claiming. Philippians 1:12, ‘I want you to know that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel.’”

Two things worth noting.
1. Hey Baptist Press! Her “biblical views” aren’t really what got her in trouble here!
When Sally was “stating her biblical views on homosexuality,” she said that as a “Matter of fact, studies show that no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than, you know, a few decades. So it’s the death nell to this country. I honestly think it’s the biggest threat that our nation has — even more so than terrorism, or Islam, which I think is a big threat, OK? Because what’s happening now, they’re going after, in schools, two year olds!”

2. Hey Sally! You weren’t talking about redeeming love and you haven’t advanced the gospel. Moron.

From Ethics Daily via Bruce Prescott:

The editor of the Missouri Baptist Convention’s in-house publication, “The Pathway,” has strongly defended the controversial Confederate battle flag and aggressively attacked those who challenge it.
In his book Embattled Banner: A Reasonable Defense of the Confederate Battle Flag, Don Hinkle called himself “an unReconstructed Confederate” and dismissed critics of the flag as “a small group of malcontents and bigots.”

MBC interim Executive Director David Tolliver, recently condemned the flag in a column in The Pathway because it “represents hate” and “depicts deep-rooted racial bigotry and hatred.” As a result, Tolliver argued that Christians should not fly the flag. Meanwhile, a Web site run by his organization is promoting Hinkle’s decade-old book defending that very symbol.

Hinkle argued in his book that the flag is actually a Christian symbol because it features St. Andrew’s Cross and because the Confederate Constitution acknowledged God while the U.S. Constitution does not. His book even included a photo of the flag flying next to the Christian flag.

Rather than seeing the Confederate battle flag as a symbol of hate, Hinkle asserted that it is the “anti-flag minority” who are trying to “bully” the South through “character assassination.” He also accused critics of using “petty politics based on distortion and bigotry.”

Hinkle claimed that many of critics of the Confederate flag are actually also opposed to the American flag. He suggested that this movement would result in “feeding the Constitution to a shredder” and remove American historical artifacts “like what the Communists did to rewrite Russian history after the fall of the Czar.”

Hinkle even compared the NAACP to the KKK and asserted that it was “closer to becoming just another hate group.” He claimed the NAACP’s opposition to the Confederate flag was an attempt to “whip blacks into an emotional tizzy.”

He argued that since many African-Americans fought for the Confederacy, “there is no reason why blacks shouldn’t view the Confederate battle flag with as much pride as anyone if they so choose.” He claimed that the slaves who fought for the Confederacy did so because most slave owners “took good care of them.” He insisted that critics of slavery “wrongfully apply today’s moral to a world that was vastly different.”

“Many white Southerners were trying to figure out a way to end the ‘peculiar institution’ when the intolerant abolitionists went nuts over the issue,” Hinkle wrote.

A critic of Poole’s work noted that that “Hinkle insists on condemning Lincoln to hellfire.” Hinkle gleefully suggested that Lincoln is in Hell, which he sees as justified punishment for a man that waged war against the South.

I’m probably one of the last New Orleans Bloggers to post about this. I was hoping it was a bad April Fool’s joke, but it’s not. My friend Ashley Morris died on April 2. I only met Ashley once, but talked to him on the phone several times. I may relate those stories later. Right now I just feel so numb. There’s so much crap that he should have written about these past few days. I really miss his humor, insight, and anger.

When I met him in person, he was not like I expected. He was happy, and funny and was having a blast with his kids. I hurt for them and his wife. Thanks for helping me, encouraging me, and inviting me to be your friend. Your passion for truth will live on through me. Your love for your family is already inspiring me to be a better dad and husband. I’ll miss you.

There are a couple of videos of Ashley posted here.

Instead of recognizing the compelling nature of this photo of a second-line at the first anniversary of Katrina:

One of my most popular images on flicker is this:

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