Opportunity knocks . . . in Omaha

Dear Barack Obama,

You don't know me, but I'm a registered Democrat here in Omaha (by God) Neb. I also have a little Internet music program, 3 Chords & the Truth, and this blog, all under the Revolution 21 umbrella.

Maybe you've seen the blog or listened to the show. Then again, maybe not. But that's not important now.

WHAT'S IMPORTANT is this article in The New York Sun:

In the 2000 presidential race, Florida made the difference. In 2004, it was Ohio. This year could it all come down to just a single city, Omaha, Neb., and its suburbs?

That's a scenario being spun out by an amateur political prognosticator from New York, Sheldon Adler, who has a strong record of identifying the ultimate battlegrounds in national elections.

"It's possible. I don't think that's crazy," Mr. Adler said of the prospect that Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, which includes Omaha and its environs, could become a tiebreaker in the November vote.

The possibility of such a decisive role for the Midwestern city exists because Nebraska allocates electoral votes by congressional district rather than on a statewide, winner-take-all basis. Maine is the only other state to use a district-by-district system.

Mr. Adler's Omaha scenario involves the likely Democratic nominee, Senator Obama of Illinois, taking every state Senator Kerry of Massachusetts won in 2004 with the exception of New Hampshire. Under this carefully chosen sequence of events, the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator McCain of Arizona, hangs on to all of President Bush's winning states from 2004, except for Iowa, Colorado and either New Mexico or Nevada. The result: a 269-269 tie, with 270 votes needed to win the presidency.

"It really may come down to, in that theoretical case, that one electoral vote," Mr. Adler said. With Maine expected to go entirely for the Democrats, the potential boon for Mr. Obama and the danger for the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator McCain, is that Omaha might turn blue.

WELL, SENATOR, it's looking not only like Nebraska might make a difference in November's election, but that the whole shootin' match might come down to who wins Omaha. And, as you well know, we Democrats are somewhat outnumbered here.

You're gonna need every single one of us at the polls . . . and a gaggle of liberal-leaning Republicans (like Mrs. Favog) and independents.

Now, I'm not originally from Omaha. I'm here because my wife is. But it's OK here, you know? Nice folks, happenin' city. Good times.

I know. You're asking, "So what if this clown isn't a native Omahan?" Actually, Barry -- You don't mind if I call you Barry, right? -- that's entirely the point.

Like I said, you just might need my vote. And my unfortunately Republican better half's vote. It's gonna be damn close. You becoming president -- or not -- well could hinge on my vote. Or on my (as I said) unfortunately Republican wife's.

Here's the deal, Cap. I'm from Louisiana, born and raised. That's the point, cher. Now, what can you do for me to ensure my vote -- and the missus' -- come November?

I AM NOT a greedy man, but I am going to be needin' a little lagniappe -- a little sumpin' sumpin' -- to be handing you this here election. Now, remember that I also can, by giving you my vote, banish those damn Republican SOBs to the nether regions of electoral politics for a generation or so.

And I would, in all likelihood, also be delivering my unfortunately Republican wife's vote to the "D" column, too. That's not nothing. Call it two for the price of one.

Mrs. Favog, I might add, is a strong-willed woman -- try to pull that typical crap on her that you do those sniveling soccer moms and she'll not only rip you a new one, she'll feed you your innards and make you like 'em.

So, how we gonna do some bidness here, Barry?

I tell you what -- and this is agin' my natural instincts and cultural proclivities, y'unnerstand -- I'll make you a sweetheart deal. Don't want a damn dollar for my vote . . . or for the better half's.

Don't want a car, neither. Nope, not a boat . . . or a new house . . . or one of those nice condos downtown.

What I want won't cost you or your campaign a dime. And it might make your conscience feel better than it has in ages. Interested?

AIIGHT, these are the brass tacks. What you can do for me to win my vote is cut out all this pro-choice, kill-the-babies, f***-the-family social-barbarian garbage.

When you use the power of government to encourage abortion . . . to enable and legitimize abortion, you're responsible for killing off our future. When you use the bludgeon of the courts -- and public policy -- to twist marriage and family relations into configurations they never were meant to endure, you are dealing a body blow not only to societal stability but also to the underpinnings of society itself.

When you persist in advocating crap like that insisted upon by your party's libertine-barbarian overseers, you'd just as well appoint Pol Pot as your Health and Human Services secretary and Genghis Khan as your head of Homeland Security. Why? Because if you're going to lay waste to an entire society, you'd just as well be as expedient about it as possible.

See, Barry, I'm the last New Deal Democrat standing. I'm for the little guy. That includes helpless babies in the womb, as well as beleaguered mamas and daddies trying to weather the cultural storms of our age and give their already-born children half a damn chance to live in a civil society.

What I'm looking for is a president who will advocate solutions to "crisis pregnancy" where nobody has to die in order for women to win. What I want in a president is somebody who realizes that freedom doesn't necessarily mean "Do whatever the hell you want, and damn the consequences."

I want a Democrat in the Oval Office who realizes that not only is our democracy a fragile thing, but also our entire civilized order. I want somebody smart enough to realize that you don't go futzing around with fragile things, relying on dumb luck to fend off catastrophe.

NOW, IT'S TRUE . . . I ain't gonna vote for that McCain fella. But that doesn't mean I'll vote for you.

And wouldn't it be a hell of a thing if you lost the White House by a vote or two? Right here in Omaha, Neb.

You gonna play ball wit me, podna? I'll give you till Nov. 3 to make up your mind.


HAT TIP: Leavenworth Street

Bobby Jindal slinks back home . . .

. . . after foolin' around with John McCain. And Louisiana is not amused.

I'm tellin' you, there's nothing in the world that hasn't been in a classic country song.

I didn't know God made honky tonk gub'nas

Hank Thompson used to sing some classic cheatin' songs about the likes of Bobby Jindal.

AND IT LOOKS LIKE Louisiana done got itself stuck with a honky-tonk angel because -- as Jerry Lee's cousin Mickey Gilley could have told voters last year -- the candidates all look prettier at closin' time. And it's been last call for the Gret Stet for some time now.

So now, after folks thought they'd found themselves a sweet young thing who was going to make them feel alive again . . . who was going to cure what ailed 'em . . . who was going to be their sunshine, their only sunshine . . . who'd make them happy when skies were gray. . . . Well, it's starting to look like a down-on-its-luck state gave its heart away only to get a rust-standard ethics law and an earful of sweet nothing before Gov. Honky Tonk Angel went social-climbing after a rich old man.

The New York Times, that private dick of the public record, is talking out of school and naming names:

Senator John McCain is planning to meet this weekend with at least three potential Republican running mates at a gathering at his ranch in Arizona, suggesting that he is stepping up his search for a vice president now that the Democratic contest appears basically decided, according to Republicans familiar with Mr. McCain’s plans.

Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and a one-time rival for the Republican nomination, have all accepted invitations to visit with Mr. McCain at his ranch in Sedona, these Republicans said.

After a week of campaigning, Mr. McCain is heading home on Friday for three days without a public schedule. His campaign described this as a social weekend that would include a number of couples, and — as has been its policy it declined to discuss any aspect of the vice presidential search.

“We don’t talk about the V.P. selection process,” said Steve Schmidt a senior adviser.

In addition to Mr. Crist, Mr. Jindal and Mr. Romney, Mr. McCain’s guest list includes some of top his political counselors, among them Charlie Black, a senior strategist, and Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, his frequent traveling companion and probably his closest colleague in the Senate.

If the gathering does not involve actual interviews, as some of Mr. McCain’s associates said Wednesday, it will provide Mr. McCain with a chance to know some potential running mates in a social context. Mr. McCain is known as a social and gregarious candidate and senator, and his associates said personal chemistry would be a key consideration in his choice.

The gathering is taking place on a weekend when Mr. McCain is releasing his health care records, itself a high-profile event that could — by design or not — draw attention away from the event at the Arizona ranch.

The identities of the potential running mates who have been invited to Sedona is not a surprise: Mr. Romney, Mr. Crist and Mr. Jindal have been on most lists of potential running mates, and they have made no secret of their interest. And even the perception that they are under consideration could be more a matter of appearance than reality: the mere impression that Mr. McCain is considering Mr. Crist of Florida, for example, could by itself help him in a critical state where Mr. McCain campaigned Wednesday

Still, Mr. Cain’s gathering comes as Senator Barack Obama appears to have all but nailed down the Democratic nomination in his competition with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, and its timing suggests an acceleration in reaching a decision that several Republicans said could prove critical to Mr. McCain’s success in a tough political environment for their party. Mr. McCain, arguably more than most presidential candidates, has a lot riding on choosing a running mate who could make up for any weaknesses in his own résumé and give him a boost in his public standing.

Mr. McCain himself has said his choice of a running mate would draw particular scrutiny from voters, given his age; he is now 71 year old, or “as old as dirt,” as he likes to joke, while quickly adding that he is in good health.

More than that, with Mr. Obama’s selection now almost assured, Mr. McCain is contemplating a contest involving an energized electorate that has put a focus on race and gender.

(snip)

Mr. Jindal, who was born in Baton Rouge, La., to a family that had just arrived there from the Punjab area of India, took office as Louisiana’s governor in January after serving three years in the House of Representatives. Mr. Jindal, who was born a Hindu but became a Roman Catholic as a teenager, campaigned for governor as a social conservative, opposing human embryonic stem cell research and abortion in any form and favoring teaching “intelligent design” in schools as an alternative to evolution.

But Mr. Jindal also has a reputation as a policy wonk, like the Clintons, with a specialty in health care issues. After graduating in 1991 from Brown University, where he majored in biology and public policy, and attending Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, Mr. Jindal worked for the management consulting firm McKinsey and Company and was executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. He later served as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and in the Bush administration as Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for planning and evaluation.

ME, IF I WERE LOUISIANA, I'd be thinking that I'd been played. That I'd been suckered into taking home a purty little thing who looked and talked like an angel, but who -- after I'd lived with her for a spell -- turned out to be just another common little tramp.

And, unfortunately for me, that realization would have come after the little floozy had spent all my money, drank all my liquor, given me a social disease and then went runnin' off after Mr. Moneybags. Or somebody who might could set her up in a much nicer place than what I could.

What is it that Bobby Jindal has been telling newly minted high-school and college graduates all across the state? That "there's no place like home" and that "you can dream big right here in Louisiana"?

I'LL TELL YOU TRUE, podna. The gub'na ain't going to Sen. McCain's Arizona hacienda to make the case for more federal aid down on the bayou. He's going down there to audition for a new job only a few months after you hired him to fix what ails Louisiana.

Jindal indeed might think "there's no place like home," but I'll garon-damn-tee you that he thinks there's a place better than home. That would be Washington, D.C.

After all, the shotgun shack by the tracks might be quaint and all . . . and, of course, it's plenty good for the likes of you rustics. But the Golden Boy obviously thinks he can do better. Surely you will understand, Louisiana.

Surely you can see why your sweetheart just had to leave you. Leave you in that smoky old honky tonk, sittin' there cryin' in your beer.

SITTIN' THERE. Sittin' there just a poor as you ever were. Just as ignorant as always. Just as sick, and just as tired. And you can't even hold down a good economy.

You thought you had found yourself a honky-tonk angel -- a purty little thing -- at closin' time. You thought she'd write you a new chapter . . . a happy ending to your hard-luck story.

And all she's itchin' to write you is just another damn Dear John letter.

Hell, Hank Thompson could have told you that.

Trashing the boss is an Idiot's Delight

I'm so happy I didn't make that pledge to one of my favorite radio stations.

Saturday evening, I'm out in the yard, slingblade and shovel in hand, turning a weedy plot into a big vegetable garden. Sitting a few feet away, on an old railroad tie, is a radio, tuned to my little AM transmitter that's pumping the Internet feed of WFUV -- the voice of Fordham University, "The Jesuit University of New York" -- into this weedy little expanse of Flyover Country.

I LIKE WFUV. It, over the years, has become the resting place of some of New York's most legendary FM jocks from the days when FM mattered to a music-loving world. Jocks who dictated how a nation listened to music at legendary stations like WNEW. Jocks like Dennis Elsas and Pete Fornatale, who were later cast off as Corporate America set about killing radio.

Even today, Elsas and Fornatale do some of the smartest music programming on the airwaves . . . or what's left of the airwaves, alas. Saturday, it was Fornatale's wonderful Mixed Bag Radio that kept me company as I turned the earth, by hand, like Nebraskans of old.

And as my back got in touch with every one of my 47 years.

Soon enough, 7 o'clock rolled around -- time for "New York's last freeform DJ," Vin Scelsa, with Idiot's Delight. Little did I know.

The following is verbatim from the archived program:

So we're in Studio V [Scelsa's home studio -- R21], and here at the beginning of the show tonight, I want to acknowledge and celebrate an important judicial decision that was handed down by the state supreme court in California this week -- it's about time. We've got another state now joining Massachusetts, having its highest court say that gay people just have -- have just as much right to marry as anybody else.

Gay people have equal rights in this country! Or at least in the state of California, and the state of Massachusetts. Yes!

We celebrate this -- it's the last bastion of . . . of old thinking that exists still in this country. You know, you read about like, uh, the history of interracial marriage in this country. There was a woman who died recently who, back in the 1950s, was forced to leave her home -- she and her husband. It was a black woman and a white man who grew up in a very interracial, mixed community in the state of Virginia, I believe it was.

And this was back in the 1950s. They got married and were forced to leave their state and told they couldn't come back, and we look at that and we go, "Man, that's absurd,' you know? It seems like the Dark Ages, not the 1950s, but in that sense, the '50s were the Dark Ages. And we still are in the Dark Ages when it comes to gay people and gay rights, and . . . and civil unions don't cut it. (chuckles.)

Civil unions is a compromise. Civil unions is appeasement, and we know how we all feel about appeasement.

Until gay men and women have equal rights in this country, there is a big, black cloud hanging over us all.

So, here at the beginning of the show today, we salute California with a little set of traveling music.

[Set of music about California, ending with Judy Garland singing "San Francisco," live at Carnegie Hall, 1961.]

I forgot about that little speech at the end. You can smoke or drink or get married, here in San Francisco or in California. No matter who you are, no matter what you are -- race, religion, gender no longer matter in San Francisco. And this opening set tonight is a celebration of that state supreme court decision that came down in California this week legalizing gay marriage.

Finally, equal rights. Let's hope it sticks.

The governor, Schwarzenegger, says that he will, umm, he will not support any move to battle this decision.

It's the writing on the wall, friends. It's the handwriting on the wall -- it's gonna happen, it's happening slowly . . . it's happening too slowly, but the same thing was true with, with umm, uhh, you know, the civil rights movement back in the '50s and '60's, it happened too slowly. The women's movement happened too slowly, but gradually changes are made, changes are made because the world is changing, people are changing.

Kids, and young generations now, just take it for granted that people love whoever they love. And, and if they want to make a commitment to the person they love, then they should be allowed to make a commitment just like anybody else. It's . . . it's taken for granted by young people. They're . . . they're much hipper and smarter and world, uhh . . . world wise than, uh, so many of their elders.

[Promos, station ID, comes back to list selections in the previous set, then in the middle of the back announce. . . .]

Do you think that most people who are against the idea of same-sex marriage, of gay marriage, have . . . just have never met a gay person? Is . . . is that it? Is that what it comes down to? That they've never met a gay person, that all they know about gay men and women is, uhh, you know the . . . the sort of stereotypes that they see on the TV and the movies?

And . . and in real life they've never . . . a lot of white people have never met a person of color. That's hard to believe here in New York, you know, 'cause we're such a . . . a multicultural city -- and in this whole area of the country. But when you go to other parts of the country, and you can, you know, go for a couple of days and never see anybody who doesn't look white. And that has a lot to do with, with fostering prejudices, you know?

If you . . . if you, if you only have your imagination and the fears that have been instilled -- you've got to be taught. South Pacific is back on the Broadway stage over at Lincoln Center, with that great song . . . 'You've got to be taught to hate and fear, it's got to be drummed in your dear little ear, you've got to be carefully taught.' And then if nothing ever comes along to, to, to shake those things that you were taught . . . to shake them up and make you think differently -- well, then you're not going to think differently.

Oh, don't get me started on this subject. I think I already am started on this subject. I feel adamant. And angry. Because I do know people who are in this situation, people who are discriminated against simply because they love somebody who a certain part of society says is unnatural, and illegal in the sense that, you know, you're not gonna get locked up or arrested or whatever, but you're not gonna have the same rights as the rest of us.

That's absurd! Absolutely absurd! (chuckles)

There's no logical reason for it except that people have been taught this, and they never learn anything different. Arrggh!

But in California this week, there was a victory! And . . . and, and every man and woman in America should celebrate it, not just . . . not just people who are gay. Not just people who are in same-sex relationships, but every man and woman. Because until . . . you know, it's the old cliche: Until we're all free, then, none of us is free. Until we all have the same rights in this country, then none of us has those rights. It's as simple as that.

[Returns to announcing songs in the previous set.]

WELL, IT'S GOOD TO KNOW exactly how big an idiot am I. Exactly what a mean oppressor am I. How narrow-minded am I, as a resident of one of those bucolic hellholes lying outside New York City, where I probably haven't seen a Negro forev . . . never mind, there goes one now.

Likewise, I guess I need to inform a gay friend of mine that he must not be after all, being that I have known him for 20 years and still oppose same-sex marriage -- an opposition that, according to Scelsa, must be rooted in my complete ignorance of homosexuals.

Yea, verily I stand before thee as a hater, for I have been carefully taught. By the Catholic Church.

Well, slap mah mouf and call me Nellie Forbush.

Of course, Vin Scelsa is entitled to his opinion, no matter how ungrounded in natural law or human anthropology. On the other hand, Mr. Scelsa last weekend took a nice little chunk of his program to trash part of the mission statement, as it were, of his employer. You know, the Jesuits. A wholly owned subsidiary of the Catholic Church -- that bigoted bunch of haters who carefully taught the likes of lil' ol' me to hate the poofters, don't you know?

WHICH, TO BE SURE, isn't even true. Nowhere does the Church say to hate anyone. Nowhere does the Church say that same-sex attraction is even sinful.

What the Church does say is that marriage -- defined as the union of a man and a woman for many millennia now -- is "a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring." Same-sex unions not only never have met the "marriage" litmus test but, according to how marriage has been defined throughout all of human history, never can meet that standard.

What the Church also says is that sex outside of marriage is sinful, not to mention societally disruptive. Therefore, while homosexuality is a condition that is neither virtuous nor sinful, it is a disordered condition in regards to how intimate relationships were biologically and sociologically designed to operate. And, therefore, homosexual acts are sinful -- there is no way for them to occur in a morally licit context.

IT WILL BE INTERESTING to see how far gone the Jesuits are -- whether they've gone from mere doctrinal squishiness to out-and-out self-hatred with anti-Church proclivities. Really, are the Jebbies so far gone that they'll tolerate letting their employee use their facilities to trash a fundamental teaching of their Church, and then insinuate they're a bunch of mind-poisoning bigots?

I can't speak for the Jesuits, but let me ask you this: Would you let it slide if you invited someone into your home (or into your employ), only to have the wretched little troll take your money, eat your food, insult your religion and your moral values after having hijacked your PA system?

Me, I think you'd probably sock the sumbitch in the schnoz and throw his ass into the street. That's what I think.

But I guess I could be wrong " . . . because the world is changing, people are changing."

Bushies taking their cues from Fox?

It's a Bill O'Reilly world at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., where the White House is upset over how NBC -- the waterboard right's fourth point along the "Axis of Evil" -- edited an interview with President Bush.

In a letter to the head of NBC News as rich with irony as it was lacking in self-awareness, a Bush aide complained the network edited Bush's answers to correspondent Richard Engel's questions with the intent to deceive. Says the administration that "edited" intelligence with the intent to suck the American people into an unjust and foolhardy war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

The story's in The Hill:

The White House on Monday sent a scathing letter to NBC News, accusing the news network of “deceptively” editing an interview with President Bush on the issue of appeasement and Iran.

At issue were remarks Bush made in front of Israel's parliament earlier this week.

Specifically, White House counselor Ed Gillespie laments that the network edited the interview in a way that “is clearly intended to give viewers the impression that [Bush] agreed with [correspondent Richard Engel's] characterization of his remarks when he explicitly challenged it.

“This deceitful editing to further a media-manufactured storyline is utterly misleading and irresponsible and I hereby request in the interest of fairness and accuracy that the network air the President’s responses to both initial questions in full on the two programs that used the excerpts,” said Gillespie in the letter to NBC News President Steve Capus.

BRIAN WILLIAMS NOTED the letter on tonight's NBC Nightly News, adding that the entire unedited interview was available on the program's website. And above. The edited version is here -- and, no, the president didn't need someone in an NBC editing booth to make him look like a delusional moron.

Finally, it's interesting that Bush likened his opponents to advocates of the "beehive theory" -- that you leave the beehive alone in hopes that the bees stay inside.

Q The war on terrorism has been the centerpiece of your presidency. Many people say that it has not made the world safer, that it has created more radicals, that there are more people in this part of the world who want to attack the United States.

THE PRESIDENT: That theory says by confronting the people that killed us, therefore there's going to be more -- therefore we shouldn't confront them?

Q Or confronting -- creating more people who want to kill us, one could also say.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, you can say that, but the truth of the matter is there's fewer al Qaeda leaders, the people are on the run; they're having more trouble recruiting in the Middle East; Saudi Arabia, our partner, has gone after al Qaeda; people now see al Qaeda for what it is, which is a group of extremists and radicals who preach nothing but hate. And no, I just -- it's just the beehive theory -- we should have just let the beehive sit there and hope the bees don't come out of the hive?

My attitude is the United States must stay on the offense against al Qaeda -- two ways. One from --

Q Smash the bees --

THE PRESIDENT: -- two ways --

Q -- in the hive and let them spread?

THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me for a minute, Richard. Two ways. One, find them and bring them to justice -- what we're doing. And two, offer freedom as an alternative for their vision. And somehow to suggest the bees would stay in the hive is naïve -- they didn't stay in the hive when they came and killed 3,000 of our citizens.

UHHHHHHH . . . the killer bees, as it were, swarmed in Afghanistan and are now hiding in our supposed ally, Pakistan. A great many of those bees were bred by our other supposed ally, Saudi Arabia. And, no, a sane person does not go around smashing beehives to keep the bees from going on a rampage. You smoke the buggers out.

George Bush thought he was smashing a beehive in Iraq, and he thought that actually would work. Thing is, Iraq turned out not to be a beehive at all, and there was no al Qaida presence in Iraq -- at least before we invaded.

What Iraq turned out to be was a hornet's nest. Or Pandora's Box -- take your pick.

The Bubba Gump Crack Co.

Mark my words, this will end up as one of Jay Leno's "Stupid Criminal" bits on the Tonight Show.

THE GRET STET of Louisiana may not have more stupid people than anywhere else, but you have to admit it gets the most out of the ones it has. As this little gem in The (Baton Rouge) Advocate illustrates:

Deputies arrested a Hammond man Friday after he allegedly called to report that someone stole the drugs he was selling, the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office reported.

Cedrick Riley Sr., 23, 42336 E. Pleasant Hill Road Extension, told deputies that he was trying to sell drugs when his would-be customers hit him across the head with a gun, tied him up and robbed him of his illicit merchandise near a gas station on University Avenue and Puma Drive in Hammond, said a statement from the Sheriff’s Office.

LAW, I DO DECLARE that this reads like a tale from an alternate universe in which Bubba doesn't get blowed up in the jungles of Vietnam, Forrest doesn't win the Medal of Honor, and they go home to Alabama and embark on a life of crime . . . not shrimping.

Stupid is as stupid does.

Masters of the Internets

I wish we had the Internets when I was at Louisiana State, working on The Daily Reveille. Instead, we had four much-fought-over (and astoundingly primitive by contemporary standards) computer terminals.

What we had more of was ancient manual typewriters and yellow newsprint to type on. Oh yeah . . . and a slow-speed Associated Press teletype machine.

ANYWAY, the young'uns have the Internets nowadays, and it would appear that my old paper is mastering its (their?) use. I wish the Omaha World-Herald could say the same.

Here's the Reveille's award-winning tale, from the pages of The (Baton Rouge) Advocate:

The Daily Reveille Web site, lsureveille.com, won a 2008 Eppy Award from Editor & Publisher magazine Thursday as the nation’s best collegiate Web site, said James E. Shelledy, a professor at LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication.

The other two finalists were the student news Web sites at the University of Arizona and the University of Indiana, he said in an e-mail message.

Reveille Editor Justin Fritscher, of Mandeville, and Managing Editor Kyle Whitfield, of Metairie, oversaw the push this year to add breaking news and video to the Web site’s content mix, Shelledy said.

ABOVE . . . us, at the Reveille, in 1981. I think we may have been drinking. Ah, college. . . .

3 Chords & the Truth: Why can't Catholics rock?

You ever wonder what the deal is with Catholic radio, bubbie?

Like, when you turn on your local Catholic radio station and all you hear is talk . . . and you're kind of all talked out on Catholic talk . . . and what you'd really like is some tunes?

And then you finally get a bit of music on Pope FM (or AM) . . . and all you hear is another one of Marty Haugen's greatest fits . . . uh, hits . . . or maybe the California Praisins on EWTN's Catholic Jukebox, and that's giving you intestinal distress. What about then, bucko?

ISN'T THERE ROOM for Catholic folks just to be . . . normal? Isn't there a place for good music radio done by Catholics, as opposed to "Catholic Radio"?

Isn't it possible for ordinary things to be done well for the greater glory of God . . . and for the greater good of your musical sensibilities?

Is that what you're craving, Poopsie?

Well, here's where you go:

www.revolution21.org

Revolution 21 is the home of not only the Blog for the People, but also of 3 Chords & the Truth, the best 90 minutes of music radio since Corporate America pushed freeform "underground radio" off the FM airwaves.

What, Catholics can't do that, you say?

Well, why the hell not? I ask.

And you know what? "Freeform" is even better when we're both relatively sober.

Yes, it is.

You want to know what else? The new episode of 3 Chords & the Truth is up.

Be there. Aloha.

Jokers to the right 2.0

Posted without comment. Who needs to comment when the video speaks for itself so loudly?

Jokers to the right

A body could write a thousand words -- hell, a book, even -- on how the Republican echo chamber, circa 2008, is basically a bunch of jingoistic, bleating neo-fascists who not only don't have any ideas but are without a clue, as well.

BUT THAT would take time, and that ground's been covered before.

So I'll post this video from MSNBC's Hardball instead, because these moving pictures are worth a million words on how worthless is the GOP -- and its amen corner on the public airwaves.

And to add this inside-baseball note: I, frankly, am enraged and offended that loudmouthed moron Kevin James of Los Angeles' KRLA radio has a sweet gig like that when so many with 30 times the brainpower and 60 times the talent have been run out of that dying industry.

Unbelievable.

Slush funds make the world go 'round

The Louisiana House of Representatives has passed a budget in which there's no room for elderly veterans, some Medicaid expenditures or for full funding for higher education.

THERE IS ROOM in the budget, however, for largesse for private and religious organizations, and for local-government expenditures that rightly ought to be funded locally. After all, isn't that why God invented property taxes and local sales-tax levies?

When you read how state legislators "earmark" a budget to death while cutting monies for legitimate state obligations -- like health care and colleges -- it certainly ought to give the American taxpayer pause when the Gret Stet next goes to Washington, hat in hand and crying "Katrina" crocodile tears.

As a native Louisianian, I am embarrassed that my people never developed past the "padrón" model of government, where the Big Man at the statehouse doles out favors to his infantilized dependents.

As a Nebraskan, however, I am infuriated that the American taxpayer is now expected to be the padrón's padrón, with no expectation that the Gret Stet will even attempt to budget that largesse like adults, as opposed to dissolute teen-agers. With that, here's the entire slush-fund list -- and, yes, Asparagus for Allah is still down for 20 grand:

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Jefferson Parish for the Jefferson Parish Department
of Parks and Recreation for Pontiff Playground $ 250,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Hungarian Settlement Historical Society, Inc.
for museum restoration $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Lafayette Housing Authority for
an affordable housing program $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Vivian for purchase of a new generator
for the police department $ 65,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office for mobile video
digital upgrade $ 40,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Allen Parish Fire District No. 3 for the purchase
and installation of fire hydrants in Fire District 3
and Ward 4 $ 15,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Elizabeth for firefighting equipment
and fire hydrant replacement $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Beauregard Parish Recreation District for site
preparation and equipment in Ward 7 and Ward 8 $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Merryville Historical Society and Museum, Inc.
for construction of restroom facilities $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Vernon Parish Police Jury for repairs to
Donald Perkins Road $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Vernon Parish Police Jury for repairs to
Mathis Cemetery Road $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Ida for wastewater system
improvements $ 100,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Beauregard Parish Sheriff for the 2008
Veterans Day celebration in Dry Creek $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church Charitable
Foundation for summer youth enrichment program $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Eunice for tennis court construction
and renovations $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Jefferson Parish Recreation Department for
improvements to Thomas Jefferson Playground
for restrooms and drinking fountains $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Sabine Parish for purchase of three hydraulic
rescue tools for Fire District Nos. 1, 3, and 5 $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Stonewall to purchase a vehicle for
the Road System Department $ 12,500

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Mansfield Fire Department for purchase of
equipment $ 12,500

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Longstreet for handicap accessible
renovations for Longstreet Village Hall $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Historic Grand Cane Association for safety
upgrades and maintenance in the historic district $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Logansport for a walking trail in
Riverfront Park $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Heflin for the Heflin Civic Center
for renovations and acquisitions $ 15,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Sarepta for purchase of a new police
vehicle $ 15,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Springhill for purchase of a trailer-mounted
pump unit $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Springhill for purchase of a video unit $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Rosepine for construction of a new
town hall/police station $ 40,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Boys and Girls Club of Natchitoches, Inc. for
tutorial and enrichment programs for youth $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Community Awareness Revitalization and
Enhancement Corporation $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Jackson Parish Watershed District for repairs
and improvements to the Ebenezer Boat Landing on
Caney Lake $ 45,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Young Men's Christian Association of Baton
Rouge Baranco/Clark Branch $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the American Muslim Mission of Baton Rouge, Inc.
for provision of a year-round farmers market in old
south Baton Rouge $ 20,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Friends of the Algiers Courthouse for repairs
and restoration of the courthouse and grounds $ 150,000

Payable out of the State General Fund by
Statutory Dedications out of the Algiers
Economic Development Foundation Fund to
Algiers Economic Development Foundation,
pursuant to R. S. 27:392(C)(3) $ 100,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Algiers Athletic Club Inc. dba PAC Sports
for restoration and repairs to PAC sports facilities $ 250,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Westbank Redevelopment Corporation for
improvements to the Brechtel Park, Terrytown
Park, and General DeGaulle Boulevard neutral ground $ 100,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Beauregard Parish Police Jury for the
South Beauregard Recreation District for park
and recreational facilities equipment acquisitions $ 30,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the City of Crowley for the Crowley Police
Department $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Arnaudville for infrastructure repairs
and improvements and playground equipment acquisitions $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Cankton for infrastructure improvements
and playground equipment acquisitions $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury for Waterworks
District One for a waterline on Alamitos Court $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the City of Westlake Fire Department for acquisition
of personal protection equipment and fire preplanning
computer software $ 30,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury for Ward One
Drainage District #8 for equipment acquisitions $ 90,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Calcasieu Parish district attorney's office for the
Prosecutor's Early Intervention Program $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Freed Men, Inc. for repairs to facilities $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury for the Ward 6
High Hope Drainage Project $ 40,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Acadia Parish to be distributed equally to the
volunteer fire departments for Mire, Egan and
Mermenta $ 15,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Kent Plantation House, Inc. for programs
and services $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Rapides Children's Advocacy Center, Inc.
for programs for victims of child abuse $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Caddo Parish Commission for the STAR
Boot Camp $ 75,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the McKinley High School Alumni Association, Inc.
for youth outreach activities $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Iberia Parish Government for repairs to parish
veterans buildings, to be divided equally among the
Jeanerette Veterans Building No. 1, the Jeanerette
Veterans Building No. 2, and the Lydia Veterans Building $ 45,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Department for the
Cops and Clergy Program $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Evangeline Parish Recreation District for
construction of a ballpark $ 150,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Melville Volunteer Fire Department for equipment
acquisitions $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Vermilion Parish Police Jury for replacement
of the Henry fire station destroyed by Hurricane Rita $ 75,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Delcambre for infrastructure
improvements $ 40,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Erath for infrastructure
improvements $ 40,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Port Vincent for renovations to the
community center $ 30,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Killian for water meters $ 35,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Albany for renovations to the police
station $ 30,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Springfield for drainage improvements $ 30,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Sorrento for purchase of new
police cars $ 40,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Maurepas for renovations to the
community center $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the St. Amant Fire Department #63 for
operations $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Avoyelles Parish Port Commission for port
improvements $ 15,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Moreauville for improvements to
Couvillon Street $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of St. Francisville for a drainage project $ 205,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Booker T. Community Outreach Project $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Slaughter for construction of a storage
building $ 30,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Novice House, Inc. $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to The New Way Center, Inc. for supports and
services for at-risk youth $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the St. Helena Parish 6th Ward Volunteer Fire
Department $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Amite for a police department building $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Roseland for purchase of a vehicle
for the police department $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Tangipahoa for purchase of a vehicle
for the water department $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Top Gun Boy Scouts of Ouachita $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Central for purchase of generators
for the fire department $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Crowley for acquisition of playground
equipment $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Rayne for acquisition of playground
equipment $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of French Settlement for renovations to
the town hall $ 30,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Livonia for building acquisition $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Pointe Coupee Parish Police Jury for drainage
and erosion mitigation on Portage Canal $ 110,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Rapides Parish Fire District #12 for renovations
to the fire station in Cheneyville $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Franklin Parish for the Croweville Volunteer
Fire District $ 60,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Columbia for the Main Street
program $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Winnsboro for the Main Street
program $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the New Orleans Recreation Department for
the Treme Recreational Center $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the New Orleans Recreation Department $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Ruston Airport Authority $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Simsboro $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Gibsland $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Homer $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Junction City $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Haynesvillle $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Community Coordinating Council, Inc. $ 100,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Men of Vision and Enlightenment, Inc. $ 100,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Boys and Girls Club of North Central Louisiana, Inc. $ 30,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Louisiana Alliance for Boys & Girls Clubs of
America for activities in Claiborne Parish $ 60,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Project Each One Reach One, Inc. $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Greater Grambling Chamber of Commerce $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Jackson Parish Police Jury for support
of community action agencies in the parish $ 20,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Achieve to Succeed for provision of services to
the elderly $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to City at Peace for a youth-centered conflict resolution
program $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Scotlandville Community Development
Corporation for housing for low income families $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Iberia Parish government for the Iberia Parish
Economic Development Authority $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of New Iberia for the Santa Ines wastewater
maintenance project $ 7,500

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of New Iberia for pump station
expansion at the Virginia Street station $ 7,500

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Loreauville for water plant
improvement and sidewalks $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Lake Charles for a traffic light on Mill
Street and Ent Boulevard $ 12,500

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Lake Charles for turn signals at Pineview
and East Street $ 12,500

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Lake Charles for a turn lane at Moeling
Road $ 12,500

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Lake Charles to close the canal on
Opelousas Street $ 12,500

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Gueydan for a phone system for city
hall $ 8,500

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Cameron Parish Police Jury for Recreation
District No. 9 for equipment acquisitions $ 12,500

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Kaplan for the electrical system $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Abbeville for a walking trail for the
elderly at Gertie Huntsberry Park $ 14,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Meaux/Nunez Volunteer Fire Department
for equipment acquisition $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund by
Statutory Dedications out of the Greater New
Orleans Sports Foundation Fund for the Greater
New Orleans Sports Foundation $ 1,000,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Louisiana Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs of
America to promote the social welfare of the boys
and girls in the state $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Mercy Endeavors, Inc. for services for seniors $ 75,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Global Green USA for the Build It Right Back
Initiative to provide assistance to Road Home grant
recipients $ 30,000 [What? Is Brad Pitt tapped out? -- R21]

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Community Opportunities of East Ascension for
the construction of a multipurpose facility to provide
respite center and adult day care, as well as serve as a
disaster evacuation shelter for persons with disabilities $ 405,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Greenwell Springs-Airline Economic
Development District for economic development
purposes $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Dryades Street Young Men's Christian
Association $ 700,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Progress 63, Incorporated for education, skill
training, healthcare awareness, and referral services $ 400,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Crimestoppers, Inc. for crime reduction activities $ 100,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Just the Right Attitude, Inc. for nourishment and
counseling assistance to needy individuals and families $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the George & Leah McKenna Museum of
African American Art $ 75,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Serving People District 40 (SP40) for educational
and training programs $ 340,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the St. Martin Parish government for infrastructure
improvements $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Youngsville for infrastructure
improvements $ 100,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Broussard for infrastructure
improvements $ 100,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Rayville for infrastructure
improvements $ 20,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Delhi for infrastructure improvements $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Mangham for infrastructure
improvements $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Richmond for infrastructure
improvements $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Epps for infrastructure improvements $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Mer Rouge for infrastructure
improvements $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Jefferson Davis Parish Police Jury for Houssiere
Park $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Calcasieu Parish Ward 1 Volunteer
Fire Department for equipment acquisition $ 60,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Westlake Police Department for
weapons and equipment acquisitions $ 30,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Winnfield Civic Center for improvements
to the parking lot $ 300,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Government
for road improvements on LA 733 and US 167 $ 140,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Hammond for repair of water and
sewer lines $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Pontchatoula for sidewalk
improvements and litter abatement $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Kenner for infrastructure
improvements $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Kenner for infrastructure
improvements $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Saline for infrastructure improvements $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Chatham for infrastructure
improvements $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Ringgold for infrastructure
improvements $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Calvin for infrastructure improvements $ 30,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Sikes for infrastructure
improvements $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Human Assistance Needs and Development Inc.
(HAND) for additional support $ 200,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the St. Mary Parish Council for flood control and
drainage improvement projects $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the St. Tammany Parish Government for the
Maritime Training Institute $ 75,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Maurice for facilities renovations
and improvements $ 150,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Harahan for road improvements $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Mandeville for implementation of
the Master Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan $ 100,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Terrebonne Parish Veterans' Memorial District
for the Regional Military Museum in Terrebonne
Parish, in the event that Senate Bill No. 25 of the
2008 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature
is enacted into law $ 100,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Neighborhoods Planning and Community
Development Network $ 20,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to St. Bernard Parish for the Hospital Service District
for planning and studies $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Grand Isle Port Commission for public
dock facilities $ 15,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Golden Meadow for infrastructure
improvements $ 17,500

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Lockport for infrastructure
improvements $ 17,500

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Youth Education Solutions, Inc. for an urban
youth entrepreneurship program $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Youth Education Solutions, Inc. for a fishing
program $ 15,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Youth Education Solutions, Inc. for after-school
programs $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Algiers Development District for post-hurricane
blighted housing remediation $ 500,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Terrebonne Parish for construction of dog parks
at Glenn F. Pope Memorial Park and Lafayette
Woods Park, to be equally divided between the
two parks $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Community Renewal International, Inc. for
activities related to restoration of safe and caring
communities $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Children and Arthritis for the jambalaya jubilee $ 30,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Denham Springs for park improvements $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Bunkie for purchase of a computer
voice stress analysis program $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Cottonport for street maintenance
equipment $ 2,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Pineville Concerned Citizens, Inc. for
community support $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Hessmer for sewer treatment plant
repairs $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Mansura for parks and recreation $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Evergreen for installation of warning
and safety signs $ 3,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Mt. Zion Community Development Corporation
for the Health and Wellness Ministry for promotion
of healthy living among under-served populations $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Marksville for the Edgar Park Senior
Citizen Walking Track for installation of lighting $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the village of Plaucheville for community
center repairs $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Simmesport for purchase of a commercial
zero-turn mower $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Louisiana, Inc.
for enhancements to the teen program $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Arna Bontemps African American Museum
for additional support $ 15,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Education Foundation of Epsilon Psi Lambda
Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. for
educational enhancement programs for middle and
high school students $ 15,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Bossier Parish Government for infrastructure
improvements to Sewer District #1 $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Southeast Louisiana Council Boy Scouts
of America for enrichment programs for boys $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the St. Tammany Parish Government for the
Slidell levee project $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the St. Tammany Parish Government for the
Slidell levee project $ 75,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the St. Tammany Parish Government for the
Maritime Training Institute $ 100,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Pearl River for the Town of Pearl
River Museum $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Girl Scouts Louisiana East, Inc. for enrichment
programs for girls $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Abita Springs for community
development projects $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Plaquemines Parish Council for support of
volunteer fire departments which were directly
impacted by Hurricane Katrina $ 75,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Unity of Greater New Orleans, Inc. for
homelessness prevention activities $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the St. George Fire Protection District in East
Baton Rouge Parish for equipment acquisitions $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Baton Rouge Fire Department for equipment
acquisitions $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Catholic Charities Hope Haven Center for
road repairs $ 75,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Arcadia for infrastructure
improvements $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Northeast Louisiana Family Literacy
Interagency Consortium for Even Start $ 60,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Our House, Inc. for support services for
homeless, runaway, and victimized youth $ 60,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Monroe for the Cooley House restoration $ 35,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Jefferson Parish for the Jefferson Parish Department
of Parks and Recreation to be equally divided between
Bright Playground, and Lakeshore Playground $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Evangeline Parish Volunteer Fire District No. 4 $ 20,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Assumption Parish for the Paincourtville Fire District $ 75,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Assumption Parish for Recreation District #2 $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Rayne Police Department for operations $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Acadia Police Department for operations $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to East Baton Rouge Parish for the Pride Fire
Department $ 75,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Plaquemines Parish Council for an architectural
and engineering study for a new government complex $ 250,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Pontilly Association, Inc. for disaster recovery
efforts $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Pontchartrain Park Community Development
Corporation for a housing initiative $ 75,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of New Orleans Recreation Department
and neighborhood taxing districts $ 175,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Scott for the municipal complex
building $ 100,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Scott for the Scott Volunteer Fire
Department for materials and service needs $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Vermilion Parish Police Jury to be distributed
equally among the volunteer fire departments of
Maurice, LeBlanc, Indian Bayou, and Leleux for
materials and service needs $ 100,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Lafayette Parish Consolidated Government
for the Milton Volunteer Fire Department for
materials and service needs $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Assumption Parish Police Jury for the E.G.
Robichaux Ball Park $ 20,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Assumption Parish Police Jury for the
Bayou L'Ourse Ball Park $ 20,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Assumption Parish School Board for the
Assumption High School Tutoring Fund for Athletes $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Terrebonne Parish Veterans' Memorial District
for the Regional Military Museum, in the event that
Senate Bill No. 25 of the 2008 Regular Session of the
Louisiana Legislature is enacted into law $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Terrebonne Parish Police Jury for assistance
to shrimpers $ 15,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Terrebonne Parish for Recreation District No. 10 $ 15,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Morgan City for the Morgan City
Auditorium parking project $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to St. Martin Parish for infrastructure improvements $ 100,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to Lafayette Parish for infrastructure improvements $ 150,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct) to
Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church Charitable
Foundation for assistance to needy families, at risk
youth, and the elderly. $ 5,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Ferriday for infrastructure
improvements $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Clayton for infrastructure improvements $ 15,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Vidalia for infrastructure improvements $ 30,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Tallulah for infrastructure improvements $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Waterproof for infrastructure
improvements $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Lake Providence for infrastructure
improvements $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of St. Joseph for infrastructure
improvements $ 20,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Newellton for infrastructure
improvements $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Concordia Police Jury for infrastructure
improvements $ 20,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Tensas Parish Police Jury for infrastructure
improvements $ 20,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Madison Parish Police Jury for infrastructure
improvements $ 20,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the East Carroll Parish Police Jury for infrastructure
improvements $ 20,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the St. Tammany Parish Council for aid to the
needy in the Bayou Lacombe area $ 75,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the St. Tammany Parish Council for support of
local humane society efforts $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the St. Tammany Parish Council for support
of community activities to assist persons with
severe disabilities $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Mandeville for community enrichment
programs $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Sterlington for operational support $ 50,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the St. Bernard Parish Hospital Service District
for additional support $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Top Gun Boy Scouts of Ouachita for
mentoring and leadership programs for urban youth $ 15,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the LifeShare Blood Centers for the Louisiana
Public Umbilical Cord Blood Program $ 20,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Northeast Louisiana Sickle Cell Anemia
Technical Resource Foundation, Inc. for community
education workshops $ 10,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the Louisiana Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs
of America for expansion of community-based
prevention and mentoring programs $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Bogalusa for public safety equipment $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the town of Franklinton for public safety equipment $ 25,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the St. Tammany Parish Government for the
Maritime Training Institute $ 30,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Covington for utility improvements $ 75,000

Payable out of the State General Fund (Direct)
to the city of Madisonville for sewer repairs $ 35,000

Onward Christian soldiers. . . .

Instead of teaching the children and renewing a culture, a group of Christian jihadists finds it's much easier to just make asses of themselves railing against nekkid mermaids.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has the scoop on Starbucks' morning cup o' ho:

Seems that one person's smut is another person's morning latte.

A Christian group out of San Diego has found grounds for outrage over the new retro-style logo for Starbucks Coffee.

The Resistance says the new image "has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute," Mark Dice, founder of the group, said in a news release. "Need I say more? It's extremely poor taste, and the company might as well call themselves Slutbucks."

The group, which claims more than 3,000 members nationwide and has found a place advancing various conspiracy theories, is calling for a national boycott of the coffee-selling giant.

The logo will run on Starbucks cups for "several more weeks," said company spokeswoman Bridget Baker, and will live on as the logo for Pike Place bags of coffee.

The image is a less-revealing throw-back version of what the chain used for many years starting when it first opened in Seattle in 1971. That original logo was resurrected in its Pacific Northwest outlets for a time in 2006 to mark the chain's 35th anniversary.

(snip)

The explanation for that initial logo design is explained in the book "Pour Your Heart into It : How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time," written by company founder Howard Schultz:

"[Creative partner Terry Heckler] poured [sic] over old marine books until he came up with a logo based on an old sixteenth-century Norse woodcut: a two-tailed mermaid, or siren, encircled by the store's original name, Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spice. That early siren, bare-breasted and Rubenesque, was supposed to be as seductive as coffee itself."

OF COURSE, while our brave and fearless Christian soldiers are defending against the expected onslaught at Pas-de-Calais, the enemy has been having its way with the Normandy sector of the cultural landscape.

Our hapless army has lost its children and surrendered all the parts of the culture that matter. Better, I suppose, to rail against the Starbucks mermaid's bodacious tatas, then beat a hasty retreat into a cultural ghetto that leaves most right-minded folks hungry for "the good stuff" over at Satan's Place.

Sounds like a winning battle plan to me.

FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH, I suppose we're fortunate that Starbucks didn't bring back its original 1971 logo, pictured at right.