Catching up

It seems that every time I go away... even if for a few days... all hell breaks loose around here. Luckily I don't get out of town too often. Bad for my valve, you know. Y'all just need to be thankful I don't commute from Sydney or some crazy shit like that. Really who would hire someone to do that anyway?

• I just got back from Pensacola Beach where the entire island is being taken over by something called Portofino Island Resort which is a timeshare/hotel monstrosity occupying four high rise towers on the last piece of real estate that isn't reserved for the Gulf Islands National Seashore. In addition to the resort itself, the company also owns and operates several attractions on the island, the most prominent of these being a Disnesyesque boardwalk featuring various boutique jewelry and tchotchke outlets, a surf shop, a daiquiri bar, and, of course, a Hooters.
  
  Guests who don't want to drive the 1 and 1/2 miles between the boardwalk and the resort can board a complementary catamaran which departs each location on the hour. They can also hire a taxi, which isn't difficult to do since the cab companies are fairly used to making this trip. I also noticed that, on weekends, there is a "trolley" service for hauling tourists up and down the same route.
  
  That may seem like a lot of effort expended in the interest of keeping visitors moving between the pool bar and the toe-ring shop with minimal difficulty but at least the cost of it all appears to be fronted by the private businesses and individuals who benefit from these services. Meanwhile, in New Orleans, the international private company in charge of our public transit system seems to prefer spending our tax dollars on similar tourist amusements.



• I'm terribly disappointed in South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. When I heard that he had turned off his cell phone and gone missing for a few days without notifying his family, friends, or... anyone in his office I was not just sympathetic but downright moved. It's so difficult to find quality alone time these days. If a State Governor can't manage to pull it off, even if for a day or two, what chance do any of the rest of us have anymore? When it turned out he was actually in Argentina banging his "dear dear friend" I was devastated. Instead of an elected leader making touching statement against the encroachment of the modern world upon the private soul, Sanford was just another "family values" politician having a hypocritical affair. How boring.
  
  And then, of course, there's Fox News not missing a beat. They do this all the freaking time.



• Mark your calendars. It's happening again. New Orleans Bloggers will present another conference on the status and future of the city as it approaches the fourth anniversary of the Federal Flood. Details (late as usual) coming soon.



• Here's the point about the Bill Jefferson trial that doesn't get talked about much. If Jefferson's attorneys are correct in asserting that the Congressman didn't specifically sell any of the official functions of his office, then what is he actually accused of selling? His brand name? His supposed clout as a consultant? If so, how is this any different from the brand that any pol sells when he or she takes a job with a lobbying firm? If we're going to put Bill Jefferson in jail for this, shouldn't we start going after all of them? Not that that isn't an unpleasant thought....



• Prediction: The minute everyone is satisfied that Tulane has what it wants, the paper will not run another word against the construction of the new hospital in Mid-City.



• Gotta go with the Tigers tonight. Despite what it says above the T-P masthead this morning, LSU did not "drop the ball" last night. They just ran up against an outstanding pitcher having the game of his life. What a great tournament this has been!



• The Landrieu faction is ruining your chance at a more just health care system, America.

  The real risk is that health care reform will be undermined by “centrist” Democratic senators who either prevent the passage of a bill or insist on watering down key elements of reform. I use scare quotes around “centrist,” by the way, because if the center means the position held by most Americans, the self-proclaimed centrists are in fact way out in right field.
  
  What the balking Democrats seem most determined to do is to kill the public option, either by eliminating it or by carrying out a bait-and-switch, replacing a true public option with something meaningless. For the record, neither regional health cooperatives nor state-level public plans, both of which have been proposed as alternatives, would have the financial stability and bargaining power needed to bring down health care costs.
  
  Whatever may be motivating these Democrats, they don’t seem able to explain their reasons in public.

  Their reasons are that they quite accurately see themselves as representatives of their friends in the insurance industry. Those are the only people they listen to.



• If you ever have an opportunity to adopt a cat, I can't recommend Maine Coons highly enough.* I've owned a few cats in my time but Sovereign was unlike any I had known. Most cats tend to have a sort of pompous aloof aspect to their personalities. They accept you but they're sort of above you. But Sovie was surprisingly unpretentious and affectionate... Clownishly playful and genuinely friendly without any of the typical feline standoffishness... more like a calmer than usual dog, really. And the dude was huge. I still think I see him around the house sometimes. I'm gonna miss that guy.

*Sovereign was a rescue cat from the Baltimore Humane Society. I would always recommend rescuing and animal from a shelter regardless of any breeding preference.

Update: Here's one I almost left out. Can I get a WTF on this, please?