Wouldn't it be funny if that letter you wrote your congressman, you know, the one filled with those non-politically correct opinions, somehow wound up in the hands of a radio station?
Duane burned his candle at both ends. When he wasn't touring with his own band, he'd go do shows with Delaney and Bonnie.
Those are some groovy hotpants and snakeskin boots you got there, Bonnie.
Wail on, Skydog!
Eddie Compass, the country's most hysterical police chief has resigned. He didn't give a reason, but if might have something to do with the 249 of his officers who deserted their posts. And on his complete freaking hysteria in the face of a crisis.
At least bungling Chief Moose didn't run around screaming "Sniper on the loose! Sniper on the loose!"
This is what Mayor Nagin calls "retiring when you're on top."
A Miami Herald article on a local man's suicide inspired this nice lady and a friend to write an epochal rock and roll song.
**
Need another hint? The oldest boy in the photo also grew up to be a famous songwriter.
**
Carl in Atlanta was on the track of this one right away. I see now that the gauntlet's been thrown down, and I'll have to eat some brimstone before making my final choice for my next puzzle.
The lady is Mae Axton. It would be nice to have the cool that resided in just one of her pinkies. While living in Gainesville, she and song-writing partner Tommy Durden were intrigued by the news of the man whose suicide note said only "I walk a lonely street." She imagined an inn at the end of it, turned it from the sad, sweet ballad Tommy had envisioned to an edgy rock number, then she christened their little song "Heartbreak Hotel."
She had it demo'ed in Jacksonville, and sent it to Elvis, who recorded it as she had arranged it. Glenn Reeves, who demo'ed the song for her, called the song "extremely silly." Sun Records producer Sam Phillips proclaimed Elvis's final product "a morbid mess."
It became Elvis's first gold record and first number one.
In addition to having 200 of her songs recorded by various artists, Mae was a PR expert, journalist, English teacher, business woman, good wife, and good mother. She became a fixture in the Nashville music industry, and had a reputation for being a nice, upbeat lady.
Her son, Hoyt Axton, also became a songwriter. Among his songs were "Joy to the World," a number-one hit for Three Dog Night; and "Never Been to Spain," which was not only another hit for Three Dog Night, but also for...Elvis Presley.
Another unique accomplishment for a family famous for them.
***
Previous postings:
Homefires III
Homefires II
Homefires
Pax Christi USA wanted people to help promote their slogan. You think this is what they had in mind?
NSFW.
(Via LGF.)
One of the Cowsills is even more missing than usual.
If you could send a message to Shania Twain here, what would you say? (Keep it clean, gentlemen.)
***
Congrats to David Wilson for not being so blinded by lust he would fail to notice that this is not Shania Twain, but Chickasaw County, Mississippi's own Roberta Lynn Streeter, known to the world as Bobbie Gentry.
She came a long way from the days when her toys were the tails her grandfather would cut off of dead possums. Her "Ode to Billie Joe" has been made into two films, and was the first song ever to have had that treatment. It's been covered by Sinead O'Connor, Tammy Wynette, Ike & Tina Turner and Patti Smyth, among others; and it entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. Her composition "Fancy" was a major hit for Reba McEntire.
***
Previous postings:
Homefires II
Homefires
The freckle-faced terrorists are officially disarming.
Not one to overlook the IRA's contributions to mankind, I must note that because of their fondness for "kneecapping" people who speak out against them, great "strides" have been made in the field of orthopedic surgery.
The sign for the protest's organizer, ANSWER, is interesting. In addition to our leaving Iraq, they also want Israel to disappear, and, evidently, the UN to get out of Afghanistan and Haiti. Anywhere else? How about Kosovo? No?
This protest was organized to say:
* Stop the War in Iraq
* End Colonial Occupation from Iraq to Palestine to Haiti
* Support the Palestinian People’s Right of Return
* Stop the Threats Against Venezuela, Cuba, Iran & North Korea
* U.S. Out of the Philippines
* U.S. Out of Puerto Rico
* Bring all the troops home now
* Stop the Racist, anti-Immigrant and anti-Labor Offensive at Home, Defend Civil Rights
* Military Recruiters Out of Our Schools and Communities
No wonder the big war critic politicians were no-shows. They're a little choosier in their friends than are Jesse and Cindy.
UPDATE
Hi-larious.
Via Bill in comments, Cindy Sheehan posts over at Daily Kos that "a little wind and a little rain" was cutting down on media coverage of her speech. Commenters tear her a new one.
Her post and a few of their responses after the jump:
rita (3.33 / 3)
i am watching cnn and it is 100 percent rita...even though it is a little wind and a little rain...it is bad, but there are other things going on in this country today...and in the world!!!!
by CindySheehan on Sat Sep 24th, 2005 at 06:29:15 PDT
That's kinda understandable (4.00 / 2)
Rita is just a chicken coming home to roost.
And it's a big chicken.
Unfortunately, the other chickens are still coming.
by Ptolemy on Sat Sep 24th, 2005 at 06:35:16 PDT
CSPAN planning to broadcast (none / 1)
beginning at 11:30 ET
Here
by Michael Alton Gottlieb on Sat Sep 24th, 2005 at 07:40:40 PDT
It's On Now. (none / 0)
by Kdoug on Sat Sep 24th, 2005 at 08:50:17 PDT
Shame (3.20 / 5)
"it is 100 percent rita...even though it is a little wind and a little rain"
I'm in Southeast Texas with family on the coast and in Lake Jackson, LA.
I'd like you to tell us it's just a little wind and rain. They've lost their homes, jobs and businesses and gone through fear and panic while you bask in your fan's adulation, party with your celebrity friends and play the star.
Shame on you, you're jealous of media coverage of other's suffering. You've become a caricature and I no longer support you. I'm ashamed I ever did.
by hibsnet on Sat Sep 24th, 2005 at 18:19:40 PDT
i am sorry (2.75 / 4)
when i was watching cnn this morning, that's what it was...i know it was much worse earlier and it was devastating, i didn't make myself clear and i apologize.
i also know that the media will cover anything else besides the war.
by CindySheehan on Sat Sep 24th, 2005 at 20:08:28 PDT
Before today I would have just believed you, but.. (3.00 / 7)
Cindy, these posts have time stamps.
"when i was watching cnn this morning, that's what it was"
Four hours before your post, the eye hit just east of Port Arthur and west of Lake Charles. Between then and two hours after your post, hurricane force winds were tearing through Beaumont and Orange, TX and all through Vermillion Parrish, LA..
Imagine, if you can, what was happening to those poor people while you were watching tv and getting upset about them covering "a little wind and a little rain" rather than your special day.
it was devastating earlier
And during. And after.
You might also realize that the people in a hurricane's wake don't suddenly get happy and whole an hour after the eye passes over. It's still not a little wind and a little rain to them. Do you know they are still very afraid down there - right now, Cindy, trying to find 1,000 people lost in Vermillion as I type..
You can find the story now on CNN's website. I'm very sorry, it's slightly above the story about you - that's just so unfair too isn't it.
"i also know that the media will cover anything else besides the war."
Well Joan Baez sang for you today, and you got your smiling-happy picture taken with Jesse Jackson today, and your story is still front page on CNN.com today. So it was a very good day. Yes it was a beautiful day for Cindy wasn't it?
Except for a little wind and a little rain earlier.
by hibsnet on Sun Sep 25th, 2005 at 01:24:13 PDT
Give it a rest. (2.50 / 8)
Sorry Cindy, but I must say that the suffering in Texas right now is quite pertinent. In fact, at a time when we have people suffering, left homeless and devastated from "a little wind and a little rain," I think you can take a break from the camera just for a moment.
-~![(RaT)]!~-
by Rationality on Sun Sep 25th, 2005 at 06:38:51 PDT
Loss of focus and purpose (2.66 / 6)
I have been a staunch supporter of the Anti-War movement, but when you make statements like these, you lose the credibility and support of most rational people.
Peoples lives are being destroyed and in many case ended by Rita and Katrina before it. You of all people should understand this! Every life is important, that has been your argument!
If I brushed off Iraq "just a bit of unrest." I would rightfully be troll rated and shunned. Don't fall into the trap of thinking your suffering is more important than someone else's. We are all Americans, and everytime we suffer, be it in Iraq or on the Gulf coast, it is important.
by hackeynut on Sun Sep 25th, 2005 at 07:13:43 PDT
rita (2.85 / 7)
That is damn stupid. The death toll from these hurricanes is still rising, and you really think the Iraq war doesn't get covered? What a selfish woman! I'd be downright ashamed to read anything else you have to say from here on in.
by abuali on Sun Sep 25th, 2005 at 06:54:59 PDT
Casey re enlisted (none / 1)
I'm beginning to doubt Cindy Sheehan's veracity. It is about HER not Bush, or his war.
by tar heel on Sun Sep 25th, 2005 at 15:18:11 PDT
***
Country Store has it nailed.
Why are Australians so violent?
Need drivers for evacuation buses? Just ask the people wanting to leave. That's how it went for the last batch of people out of Orange County, Texas:
Because the two buses, provided by Southeast Texas Transit, did not come with drivers, [emergency management coordinator Ken] Kreger asked who among the group had driver's licenses, and four people raised their hands. [Joyce] Gibson and another woman were selected as the drivers.
Gibson said she was nervous about her mission, but she added that she knew how to drive both an automatic and standard vehicle, so the bus should pose no problem.
Just as the buses were about to drive away about 9:40 a.m., Kreger stopped one of the vehicles as he saw a new arrival, a lone elderly man who had been picked up from his home and taken to the sheriff's department for evacuation.
Gibson, a housewife who'd had a hard time convincing her sick husband to evacuate, did a fine job of rising to the occasion.
UPDATE The Beaumont paper's got all kinds of good stories this morning, including this one about a man who was sitting out Rita in his trailer, when he had a sudden change of heart.
Some people really spoil their dog. I'd never feed mine whole Pug.
Texas has a few snags to work out with its evacuation plan. The good news is we're now in the natural cycle of increased hurricane activity, so everybody's going to get some good practice at getting it right. Except for those slackers in Nebraska.
Texans remain a class act:
Don and Barbara Rushe of The Woodlands give water to evacuees on Interstate 45 fleeing Hurricane Rita.
UPDATE
Well, this is hideous. God bless those poor people. The chartered bus fire might have had something to do with the passengers' oxygen tanks.
Don't forget to check out the Houston Chronicle's Rita blog, and Stormwatchers.
UPDATE II Down to a Cat 3. Good, good, good.
She knows a good dog when she sees one.
Speaking of three-leggers, this adorable creature is Mattie. I'm sponsoring her through the Austin, Texas German Shepherd Rescue. They're great gals, and have made many trips to the Gulf Coast looking for Shepherds down on their luck.
I'd love to have that little doll on my couch, but they're smart enough not to let their dogs go to the uninspected homes of out-of-staters.
The Katrina situation had depressed me, but this makes me feel a little better.
Cedric Floyd, a Kenner, Louisiana local official in charge of distributing hurricane donations, distributed four truckloads to his own house. The police have confiscated the goods, and are looking for the official.
But, really, isn't he just a hurricane victim too? He was probably under so much stress, he didn't know what he was doing. He just knew he really, really needed stuff. A lot of it.
Philip Ramon, chief of staff to the mayor of Kenner, helpfully displaying how absolutely crud-covered the local government of Kenner is, stated that while they are investigating complaints about city employees pilfering donations, many city employees are themselves hurricane victims.
I'm guessing that in Kenner they don't have a mandatory yearly refresher class in ethics and public service. That's some corrupt little government they've got going there if the second-in-command would blithely make a statement like that.
Galveston is taking no chances with Rita. Louisianans may have forgot about 1969's Camille, but the storm of 1900 is yesterday as far as Galvestonians are concerned. If there's no change in Rita's track soon, there's a mandatory evacuation of Galveston and Brazoria counties beginning at 6:00 tonight.
Some folks find school buses quite handy for evacuating a city.
Some folks don't.
UPDATE
Matagorda County, Texas has no sense of humor -- you try to keep your kids in a mandatory evacuation zone, they'll take your kids and put you in jail; and Galveston is being smart all the way around:
Taking a lesson from Hurricane Katrina, where many didn't leave because they couldn't take their pets, the buses leaving Galveston will accommodate cats and dogs.
UPDATE II
Cat 5. Time to hit the brakes, Rita.
UPDATE
I'm liking this map for helping me to keep these Texas counties straight.
Speaking of maps:
I pray this storm weakens.
Which Duane has the Toni?
Wail on, Skydog!
Texas will be bidding adieu to some evacuees. With Rita coming, they are being moved to Arkansas.
It's not a problem for Ft. Chaffee --it's seen much larger crowds.
I feel sorry for the children involved in all this. The adults, I don't know what to say. They're grown people and need to take control of their lives:
Many of the evacuees were not happy about leaving for Arkansas and were looking for somewhere else to go.
"Hell. It's been pure hell," said Lisa Banks, 33, who was outside Reliant Arena with her four children, ages 8 to 15. "I'm not going to Arkansas. I feel like a rag doll, people throwing me around."
Seated on chair, she kept a black plastic garbage bag nearby. It was filled with towels. Banks, who was airlifted with her family out of their home in New Orleans, had hoped to settle in Houston, find a job and a place to live.
I don't know what's going to happen next," she said. "We really don't know what to do. We were supposed to get housing here."
Arkansas?
"No," she said adamantly. "Arkansas is not a good place for me."
UPDATE
What it might be like if Houston suffered a hit.
Lilly's plan for the long and thorough demolition of the house remains on track. A large, emotional Shepherd and a delicate pocket door don't mix.
Her sister's being given a bath compelled her to attempt to break the door down so as to watch. If she'd had a battering ram, she'd have used it. I'd swear that dog was on a freakin' SWAT team in the past.
Now Mr. Cracker says he'll have to tear out part of the wall to fix things. Mercy.
This site needs a warning label for hardcore winsomeness.
Some of the dogs remind me of the runaway bride, though. Jennifer Wilbanks did control that flock of media pretty good, so there might be some border collie to her.
What's up, rockin' cats and kittens? I'm Wayne Cochran and I'll be the MC for all the hot linky gigs here at Florida Cracker:
*Country Store wants you to help Cindy get her groove back.
*V the K asks, "Baby, is your name 'Frosted Flakes,' 'cos you're GRRRRRRRRREAT!"
*The people of Pensacola, Florida will be meeting at Tree-hugging Sister's house tonight with torches.
The Cotillion is up, hosted this week by Fistful of Fortnights and Soldier's Angel.
Check 'em out.
Broward County is all shut down due to Rita. She's a Cat 1 and will be passing over the Keys soon, hopefully not doing too much damage. It's when she hits the warm water of the Gulf that the fun will really begin.
Only two and a half months left to go until the end of hurricane season.
UPDATE
She's now a Cat 2.
Hats of to writer John Grisham. He started the Rebuild the Coast fund with $5 million of his own money, and is working hard to give it away re-establishing homes and small businesses in hurricane-ravaged Mississippi.
Unfortunately, his work touring the destruction left him unavailable to take in Fashion Week in New York, so "Mississippi Girl" Faith Hill attended the shows there in his stead.
***
Previous posting:
Adios, Reality
''Mother nature still has us in its sights,'' said Jim Lushine, the National Weather Service's severe weather expert for South Florida. ``I hope it just wings us rather than hitting us in the gut.''
Hear, hear.
Don't worry; if you miss this hurricane, another will be along in 15 minutes.
An animal Superdome. Great.
And get this man some Taco Bell.
UPDATE 9-18
Well, hallelujah. A major cutting of red tape. Writing to Governor Blanco and telling her to get off her butt and do something about this probably didn't help, but it did make me feel better.
The main obstacle preventing the movement of animals out of Louisiana is a state regulation requiring that pets owned by residents must be held in Louisiana for at least 30 days. But today, during a meeting between state and federal officials overseeing disaster animal services, Louisiana state veterinarian Maxwell Lea and assistant state veterinarian Martha Littlefield gave oral approval for Lamar-Dixon officials to start shipping out all appropriate animals—with the caveat that the animals be easily tracked down by owners.
Here's a still from a webcam that captured a fire in progress at Madame Tussaud's.
Animal Planet is doing a show tonight on the Katrina animal rescuers. I've admired these folks since seeing them at work after the Great Midwest Flood of 1993, and consider donations to them some of the best money I've ever spent. They were and are these animals only hope.
Even after they're rescued, the conditions in the holding centers are not good, especially at Slidell, and they have to be gotten out to local shelters nationwide as quickly as possible. Then they have to be adopted.
More stories of frustrated volunteers.
Again, I'm not talking about French majors wanting to help, but people with actual useful skills who were stymied in their attempts to give assistance.
Mississippi, despite taking the brunt of the storm, is going to be OK. Louisiana is a trainwreck due to mismanagement, including an absent governor and Mayor whose whole plan was to sit tight and wait for the cavalry. All these people acting like they have polio -- they couldn't lift a finger to help themselves. I know the President likes to spend money, but I don't see why rebuilding New Orleans should fall to the Federal government. It's locals who make a town, or at least a town that's worth living in.
Ever since I read that Steve Wozniak is doing a check presentation ceremony at the Silicon Valley Humane Society, I've been wondering how much he's going to lay down. He's having a press conference there, for crying out loud. This had better be good, especially after his having inflicted the Us Festivals on an unsuspecting populace.
He has five dogs and says he's very disturbed about the animal situation in the Gulf Coast. I say $50 million should cover it.
Don't be a cheapskate, Woz.
UPDATE
$10,000. He calls a press conference for a measly $10,000. What an egotistical skinflint.
We should all hold press conferences.
The other side of the multi-millionaire coin is T. Boone Pickens. He's funding multiple evacuation flights, and his wife is there helping to load the cages.
"If we weren't prepared, and we didn't do our part, no amount of work by FEMA could overcome the lack of preparation."
- Jeb Bush
An anonymous benefactor has given the Humane Society of Greater Miami $20,000 for a matching fund to benefit HSUS emergency relief. They're about half-way through the money, so go help finish burning down this person's bank account.
Butch didn't make the pic.
Guess the photographer thought the band had too many damn drummers too.
Wail on, Skydog!
UPDATE
This pic was taken the same day. These are the only pics I've seen of that particular shirt of Duane's.
The Nile monitor lizards have arrived, and local agencies have quickly run out of money trying to combat them. Try getting Miss Kitty away from one of these:
The Nile lizards are not as bulky as alligators but can grow to lengths of 7 feet. Though they will normally flee humans, they can become aggressive when cornered. Cape Coral residents have encountered Nile monitors raised up on their rear legs, slashing out with their curved claws and whipping at them with powerful tails.
They also cooperate with each other to get food, run 18 miles an hour, can hold their breath underwater for an hour, and have no natural enemies. They are an "imminent threat" to our ecology.
The President is floating the idea of issuing them an amnesty.
The Cotillion is up. It's hosted this week by Townhall's Mary Katherine Ham, e-Claire, and TFS Magnum. Go see what's shakin'.
We got our first shipment in Sunday, and they're going like hotcakes. Another 200 will be coming Friday.
Our first dog was a little 25-pound Jack Russell-looking boy named Champion. Mr. Cracker nodded his head after my second close, clearly-enunciated repetition of the phrase "The Katrina dogs are here. I want a little Champion-sized boy."
He's a good guy. The first thing he does when he comes home from work is to change clothes, load the dogs in the truck, and take them to the park to run around.
He said yesterday that our dogs remind him of the ones in "A Christmas Story," but I denied our having Bumpus hounds.
A Floridian is now in charge of FEMA. The progress of our world domination continues apace.
While David Paulison has much experience dealing with disasters, his knowledge of Arabian horses is said to consist only of having read the Worldbook Encyclopedia entry on them in the fifth grade.
In other tales of incompetence, this "Meet the Press" transcript details why someone else needs to be in charge of the city of New Orleans. Turning down Amtrak's offer to take people away, demanding "every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country to get their asses moving to New Orleans," but leaving his own fleets of city buses and school buses idle. All Mayor Nagin needs now is a hooker and a crackpipe.
Stuck with a basic ESL class! The only interesting word in the whole lesson tonight was "Vandal." Actually, it was "vandal," but I got to talk about the "Vandals." They're more interesting.
I never could get all the way through a 9-11 slideshow, and I don't believe I'll start now. I remember. It was overwhelming preparing a 9-11 photographic display for work this month -- look through a batch of images, cry, pick one, repeat.
I'd recommend to you a book I read recently called "102 Minutes." There was a lot of goodness and bravery going on in those buildings, and it wasn't limited to firefighters. There were many very ordinary men who disregarded their own safety to save others. Many of them didn't make it out.
Lou Nacke, Jeremy Glick, Mark Bingham, Todd Beamer, Tom Burnett. The men of Flight 93 live forever in my heart. They struck a blow for all of us that day:
A slideshow I do enjoy watching is this one -- the Unsung Heroes of 9-11-01.
Go watch it; it's beautiful.
I remember the horror, y'all, but it's honor and bravery that I'm choosing to take from it.
That this group of Iraqi soldiers would take up a collection for Katrina victims really touched my heart. No one gets rich in the Army, and these guys have a lot on their own plate right now.
(Via Big Pharaoh.)
This handsome guitarist/singer/songwriter had it all. On country radio since childhood, he became a session guitarist in Nashville and at Muscle Shoals. He formed his own band, with his brother on drums, and went on to have hit songs and earn the highest awards in music. If all this weren't enough, his songwriting abilities were such that he provided hits for other artists across the genres of country, pop, and heavy metal.
In 1971, at the height of his fame, his brother commited suicide. With this, he walked away from the music business. He has since become a recluse.
***
Need some more hints?
Those extremely tasty guitar licks you hear on Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools" are his. It's his electric guitar you hear on Simon and Garfunkel's "Sound of Silence." Bob Dylan loved his playing so much, he put him all over his "Blonde on Blonde" album. When the English band Deep Purple sing "I can't eat, y'all, and I can't sleep," they are using this Southern boy's words. Billy Joe Royal would be lacking some classic hits were it not for his writing, and country singer Lynn Anderson owes her career to his pen.
Always uncomfortable with live performances, he has been known to invite the audience to kiss his ass.
***
Congrats to Russ the Tacjammer for calling it first. In addition to his work as a sideman on classic recordings; and writing songs like "Hush," "Down in the Boondocks," and "Rose Garden;" Atlanta native Joe South, born Joe Souter, also won the 1969 Grammys for Best Contemporary Song, and Song of the Year for his writing and recording of "The Games People Play."
***
Whoops. I got an unhappy letter about running this on a weekend. You're right. I'll try to save these for during the week.
Want to help in Katrina Country? South Florida doctors, firemen, and others with equally crucial skills are being told they're not needed. Some are going in anyways:
[Dr. Douglas] Barlow, [a] Boca pediatrician, said the Red Cross discouraged him from going to the Gulf Coast until he jumped through various paperwork hoops that could take weeks.
He ignored them and flew to Baton Rouge on Sunday, becoming part of what he calls the "largest MASH unit" in U.S. history, set up on the floor of an athletic center arena. While there, he helped save a paramedic who was bleeding internally.
"Sometimes the legislators and politicians don't know how to get out of their own way. But as doctors, we know that while you're getting through the red tape, the patient dies," said Barlow, vice chairman of pediatrics at Boca Community Hospital. "There were physicians from everywhere, and we all came on our own. It was phenomenal. It was a hospital set up so quick, your head spun."
...
Scott Lewis of West Palm Beach, a former volunteer fire chief, reached out to several private and public relief agencies after Katrina hit, but none called him back. So, on blind faith, he drove north.
"He said, `I don't know how I'm going to get through the roadblocks,'" recalled his wife, Carol Lewis. "He had an old volunteer uniform that was two sizes too small."
Lewis ended up in Gulfport, Mississippi, where he's now running volunteer relief efforts at a local school and asking more Floridians to join him.
"They put him in charge," his wife said. "It's a miracle."
There are many stories like this. Those of you with useful skills that wish to volunteer, don't let some bureaucrat put you off. I'm not confident in their organizational abilities at this moment. Let your good sense and conscience dictate what you need to do.
UPDATE
The Red Cross wants 40,000 more volunteers. I wonder how much paperwork they expect these people to fill out, and how long it will take to process it.
In addition to everyone else he fired, Ukrainian President Victor Yeshchenko got rid of my favorite freedom gal, the beautiful, braided, Yulia Tymoshenko. She's blaming his team for her firing and not him. For now.
They got trouble. Maybe too much trouble for such a young government.
If FEMA director Michael Brown had have been over there, Yeshchenko would have fired him too. Good riddance.
This ain't no left thing, this ain't no right thing. It's a getting rid of incompetent dolts thing. Those of you who haven't been following FEMA's ridiculous trail of fraud, waste, and abuse here in Florida might think it's a case of his being undeservedly blindsided. It's not. The man's a fool.
Look at that face. Look at this dog wag when he's rescued.
I'm getting very frustrated with this hurricane dog situation. Tampa has received a batch, but none have been sent to this area at all. I've been floating the idea that what we really need around here is a boy dog to be in charge of Lilly and Shiloh. So far Mr. Cracker's voiced no objections, but that may merely be due to wife-speech filtration.
UPDATE
In a lot of these articles I'm seeing about the NO hold-outs, it's about their animals. Now that pets have been designated as family members and are being evacuated accordingly, these folks will be willing to leave.
A Navy helicopter evacuates a woman and her dog.
***
On a happy note, it looks like Wrestling News got swamped in their matching donation offer to the Humane Society.
It would be nice to hear of any of the Hollywood celebrities who've appeared in PETA advertisements writing a big fat check to the HSUS or the ASPCA, whose people are out there doing a dirty and dangerous job.
I've had a soft spot in my heart for Drew Barrymore since she poured all that cash on the ASPCA after 9-11. The NY branch took charge of all the pets locked in the apartments of people who couldn't come back.
In some family news, Mr. Cracker's aunt in Baton Rouge gets to go over every day to LSU to feed the animal evacuees there. Lucky!
We need more boats. Not enough is being done out in the parrishes. This is a water rescue from the group Best Friends. The dog swam out to meet their boat:
***
Kinky Freidman has opened up part of his Utopia Rescue Ranch to canine Katrina refugees. I knew he would.
UPDATE
God love you, but if anyone is worried about being in a boat with a starving pit bull:
Who was I listening to in 1966? Certainly not to any goofily-clad British blues invasion hippies with no freakin' dignitay, I'll tell you that.
***
Y'all don't remember me? I was real big too.
OK, maybe I wasn't that big, but my pompadour was.
I got me this new gig at Florida Cracker and I'm gonna ride it on out.
UPDATE
Congrats to Crackerboy for guessing the ID of this rock-n-soul pioneer.
He was an originator of blue-eyed soul; designed the rhinestone/cape/jumpsuit look that Elvis copied; and wrote and recorded songs that ended up being hits for other people, and are still being recorded today. Major fame, however, eluded him.
Photos show that Elvis wasn't the only one to slavishly follow after Thomaston, Georgia native Wayne Cochran in pursuit of a "look":
Ronnie?
Cobain?
The Friendly Angel on Star Trek?
Here's Howard with a nice young man from Sarasota, name of Forrest Betts.
Luckily, their parents gave them much nicer middle names.
Wail on, Skydog!
Guess where I'm not going to be October 24th, 25th, and 26th?
You were a band for two years. Let it go, guys. Let it go.
A reward is being offered for the safe recovery of Snowball, the dog from the disturbing Superdome evacuation story.
While the ASPCA is reporting that Snowball has been found, it is unverified at this time.
I'm glad for the little dog that did get picked up, whether he's Snowball or not. Hopefully the boy will be reunited with his dog soon.
In the Humane Society's video of their efforts at the Superdome, they report that the soldiers were in tears when they saw them come in. They were so happy that people had come to help these animals.
The Cotillion is up. This week it's being hosted by Annika, Merri, RightGirl, and Stacy. Man, they did a fabulous job putting it together this week. I'd go look just for the pictures alone.
Wrestling News is matching donations to the Humane Society Disaster Relief fund up to $3000.00. Same deal as here, send your receipt to webmaster@wrestling-news.com
Y'all get over there before John and Elizabeth in Hawaii clean them out.
You know, Florida Cracker was number 18 on the blog leaderboard for donations. It makes me ILL that Val and his Boody-hoo Blog, or whatever the heck it's called, has surpassed us.
Star, Mississippi native Faith Hill must have lost her common sense in Trashville. She tooled into Gulfport with three truckloads of items she'd purchased, and a convoy of security:
Kevin Titus, a Red Cross spokesman, told the Sun Herald that Hill did not want media attention, because she feared the event would appear too much like a "PR campaign," rather than a relief effort.
Hill was followed by her own camera crew and reporters, instead.
Nah, it won't look like a PR campaign, you regular hometown girl, you. You're just working on the world's most elaborate scrapbook, is all.
Some of the people who are not leaving have a good reason -- they are their own neighborhood watch. Charlie Hackett and John Carolan are keeping their NO block tidy in their neighbors' absence, assisted by Messieurs Smith and Wesson:
In the first few days, they were especially fearful. Looters smashed windows and ransacked a discount store and a drugstore a few streets over. Three men came to Carolan's house asking about his generator and brandished a machete. He showed them his gun and they left.
"It was pandemonium for a couple of nights. We just felt that when they got done with the stores, they'd come to the homes," Hackett says. "When it's not easy pickings, they'll go somewhere else."
Hats off to these fellows.
NO station WWLTV is back up with desktop video. They have lots of positive news, and the talk is of their exciting future of redevelopment and jobs. It's a nice change of pace from the gloom and doom of the networks.
It sounded like the perfect rescue mission: no training, an entourage, a white flak vest, and a personal photographer. Sean Penn remains one of the most entertaining actors in Hollywood:
Sean Penn's Boat Sinks In Failed Katrina Rescue Attempt
New Orleans, Louisiana (AHN) - Political Activist and Actor Sean Penn made his way down to the city of New Orleans with a personal photographer and an entourage in an attempt to help victims stranded by floods caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Penn had planned to rescue children and adults in the flood waters, but apparently forgot to plug a hole in the bottom of the vessel, which began taking water within seconds of its launch.
Penn who is known for his political activism, was seen wearing what appeared to be a white flak jacket and frantically bailing water out of the sinking vessel with a red plastic cup that eventually was not enough for the Academy Award winner.
When asked what he had hoped to achieve in the waterlogged city, the actor tells the Herald Sun: "Whatever I can do to help."
The paper reports that one bystander taunted the actor saying, "How are you going to get any people in that thing?"
It's not like he has millions to support people trained in rescue.
"Frank Escorcia, age 53, dries out in the back of a pick up truck surrounded by water in the Mid City area of New Orleans. Despite the best efforts of officials, some people refuse to leave the city, unsure what their future will be."
My cousin Charlotte Anne left her two dogs locked in the house in a suburb of NO. Yes, I gave the address to the ASPCA. Yes, it's surely too late.
Her and my aunt come down to Florida frequently, only not this time when it would have been a good idea.
I never liked ol' Charlotte, and I like her a whole lot less now.
My aunt had the roof took off her house in 1960 by Hurricane Donna in Fort Myers. Now this house is supposedly underwater. She gets a front-row seat for these things, so nobody go board with her.
Yeah, they're fine. They'll probably move in with my mother.
The ASPCA mailed me right back after I left a message, asking to be called and wanting to know everything. I've only been to the house once, but told them what I knew besides the address. I'll be doing a donation to them to help atone for my cousin's idiocy.
***
On a happier note, Mr. Cracker and some of the staff at his telecom company have volunteered to go help restore networks in New Orleans. He says he doesn't know how it's going to pan out, because the people they're talking to up there sound real disorganized.
If he could set this stuff up in Bangladesh, surely he'd be of some use in NO.
In other family news, my sister is using katrinahousing.org to offer to share her home. So, everybody's trying to do their bit, which is the only good part of these disasters.
UPDATE
Looks like the Fat Guy is offering his RV campground. I haven't said it yet today, so now's a good time: Texans are awesome.
I've posted plenty on FEMA director Michael Brown. The errors FEMA made in Florida last year were compounded by his congenital inability to accept any criticism of his agency as valid and make the necessary changes.
Now I hear he came into this job with all the experience that running an Arabian horse association brings.
That's not good enough, President Bush. This isn't an ambassadorial posting in Liechtenstein; there are just too many things that can go wrong when you screw this job up.
Last year this time, my home county was hit bad by Hurricane Charley and needed help. This year they're helping someone else:
A convoy of trucks is scheduled to leave town this morning — escorted by the Lee County Sheriff's Office and destined for Katrina-ravaged Picayune, Miss.
"Everything for this was donated by businesses or the citizens of this community," said sheriff's Detective Shawn Ramsey.
About 13 semitrucks, being used courtesy of Sloane Transportation, were loaded with generators, food, water and equipment.
The convoy, which includes a loaded fuel tanker and six sheriff's deputies, is being coordinated with the organization Convoy of Hope and will include electricians and other skilled employees from Hyrdro Rock, Inc.
Ramsey said the volunteers will work to restore power at the local hospital and assist in getting the local airport operational.
"Even 20 miles north of the coast, the area is utterly unrecognizable," said Jeff Nene, spokesman for Convoy of Hope.
"The people we are serving are often in tears, thankful to receive something so small as bottled water and a couple of bags of ice," he said. "These are the simple things we often take for granted."
And when they're back on their feet, Picayune, Mississippi will be sending out trucks for some other place that's in a bad way.
Sobek posts something funny. I'll take it.
Between this and the e-mails from a co-worker in which he signs himself "Horus, son of Isis," the day's not been a total wash.
***
"Where's the outrage?" There's not any; time to manufacture some:
This was amusing. Ana Menendez is a writer at the Miami Herald trying her hand as a columnist. In paragraph after paragraph in her article demanding FSU cancel their football game, she is shrill and hysterical. It was interesting to read as an example of how to earn a living while frothing at the mouth. If she could have presented her case in a less hyperventilative manner, she would have been more persuasive. The funnest part:
So football should do the next best thing and take a principled stand: ensure that no evacuees are kicked out of hotels, period. And donate all the proceeds -- everything, ticket sales, advertisement, salaries -- to relief efforts.
I didn't expect introspection when I floated the idea to UM's athletics spokesman Mark Pray and I didn't get it: ''Are you going to give up your own salary?'' he shot back angrily.
Doesn't sound like he should have expected introspection either. Glad the UM spokesman called her on her hypocrisy.
(Use the very easy to remember crockett@tubbs.com/miamivice if you ever need to login to the Herald.)
UPDATE
The Florida Masochist takes a look at the Menendez column. He titles his post with the very words that went through my mind upon first reading the column. Spooky.
Doggie evac
Just the facts
Explosion at a NO chemical factory
Meals, Multi-Purpose
An erstwhile ally has finished her assessment of whether Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco was capable of having greatness thrust upon her:
Sen. Mary Landrieu called Friday for President Bush to appoint a cabinet-level official to direct the federal response to the devastation along the Gulf Coast caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, said she asked Bush during his tour of New Orleans on Friday to act within 24 hours to put a single official in charge of the overall relief effort who would report directly to him.That person usually goes by the title "Governor."
"The suffering has gone on long enough," she said. "Now is the time for action."
Yep. There's always got to be someone in charge.
I think we can officially say that New Orleans is a train wreck. Everytime I read the news on it, it's worse. The President says the results of the relief efforts are not acceptable, and he's right.
I want to say thank you to the Texans for stepping up in such a big way to take in so many refugees, both human and animal.
In Mississippi, things are going to work out much better:
[Mississippi] Gov. Haley Barbour said he knows people are tired, hungry, dirty and scared — particularly in areas hardest hit by Katrina. He said the state faces a long and expensive recovery process.
"I will say, sometimes I'm scared, too," Barbour said during a briefing in Jackson, Miss. "But we are going to hitch up our britches. We're going to get this done."
Mississippi will get up and dust itself off. New Orleans looks down for the count right now.
UPDATE
Read what the Fat Guy has to say about this. I've been pondering his post for a while now. It made me think of how horrible Dunkirk would have been if private citizens had been excluded from taking their own little boats to France and rescuing soldiers:
On May 25th, 1940, along the English southern coast an armada of small private vessels was gathering. Any boat capable of carrying troops was collected. Fishing boats, passenger ferries, car ferries, pleasure craft, sailing boats and even a Thames paddle steamer was there, over 700 in all. Many of these had not been to sea before and some were not designed for the sea as they were (flat bottomed) river boats .
For five days, fishing boats, yachts, tugs and other little boats braved the bombs and strafing runs of the Luftwaffe to rescue 200,000 British and 140,000 French troops. Some boats made three or more journeys on their own amid dive bombing and strafing by the Luftwaffe. Unlit and unable to comprehend, or respond to naval signals by night, they risked being sunk by their own side.
Now how come we can't get these people off these roofs?
Much more over at Michelle's.
$380 so far. Keep it not coming, y'all. With the leftover matching funds I can still buy these beautiful round diamond hoop earrings.
You'll not be able to pull me away from the mirror!
UPDATE
$680. Damn your eyes, John and Elizabeth from Hawaii. Now I have to drop down a price range at Zales.
UPDATE II
This is hi-larious. John over at WuzzaDem thinks his readership is the sort that would spend a penny to aid the sweet, helpless canine victims of hurricane Katrina. You got another think comin', bud. My matching funds are safe with your crew. Unless of course I do matching funds for pr0n.
UPDATE III September 2nd
$945. Mmm. I can still get these lovely oval aquamarine studs with what I don't have to spend on matching donations. I already have aquamarine posts, but they're round and not oval. I need oval.
UPDATE IV
$1045, thanks to repeat offenders John and Elizabeth in Hawaii, who'd take the gold out my teeth if they could.
I'll honor the matching of donations that come until 3:00. p.m. Eastern.
***
$1145, due to the determined effort of Stephan P. in Rhode Island to deny me my rightful adornments.
***
$1195, as Dymphna taunts me by offering a mood ring, then sets the clock back on her e-mail to make it look like the receipt was just real slow arriving.
UPDATE V
How did I end up matching $1600 in donations? That wasn't the plan. If y'all really cared about me, you'd want me well-accessorized.
Go look at how y'all cramped my style.
A big thank you to everyone who participated. We raised $3,100.00. It's been surprisingly time-consuming to do this, and I look forward to getting a chance to catch up on all y'all's comments in the other posts.
Though the fund has been dispersed and I'm no longer matching, these organizations I listed still need your help.
Thanks for all the fun, y'all.
Two interesting things relating to what is happening in Louisiana and Mississippi are, that although we were hit by Katrina Phase I, and many here are living without electricity; no one is complaining.
I work along the Broward-Dade border where Katrina made landfall. If I ask someone how they did, they say "Eh, got my windows blown out," or "Ah, it flooded the damn house." All said with a shrug.
No one's complaining.
And no one here is talking about what is happening up at Katrina Phase II. Not even me.
A foreign man saw me looking at a picture of people standing on a roof, waiting to be rescued, and said, "It's terrible." I was shocked to hear it spoken aloud.
I don't know how it is where all of you are, but there's some strange social phenomenon happening here that I don't understand.
Is it guilt or just knowing when you're well-off, relatively speaking?
A large group of blogs is running a charitable drive for hurricane Katrina relief. Go have a look and give as the spirit moves you.
I'll continue my animal relief matching fund until I've spent my discretionary jewelry money, or I come across a really good sale.
The Superdome evacuation has been halted due to a military helicopter taking gunfire. This is lovely:
The evacuation of the Superdome was suspended Thursday after shots were fired at a military helicopter, an ambulance official overseeing the operation said. No immediate injuries were reported.
"We have suspended operations until they gain control of the Superdome," said Richard Zeuschlag, head of Acadian Ambulance, which was handling the evacuation of sick and injured people from the Superdome.
He said that military would not fly out of the Superdome either because of the gunfire and that the National Guard told him that it was sending 100 military police officers to gain control.
"That's not enough," Zeuschlag. "We need a thousand."
He said that shots were fired at a military helicopter over the Superdome before daybreak.
He also said that during the night, when a medical evacuation helicopter tried to land at a hospital in the outlying town of Kenner, the pilot reported that 100 people were on the landing pad, and some of them had guns.
"He was frightened and would not land," Zeuschlag.
He said medics were calling him and crying for help because they were so scared of people with guns at the Superdome.
Katrina did her worst, now some people are going to do theirs. I don't know why they just got around yesterday to activating more National Guard. You'd have to figure you'd need all the soldiers you could lay your hands on if the lid came off New Orleans.
I'm sure this situation is exactly the reason they didn't want to evacuate the city in the first place --the dregs of society would stay behind to have a field day.
UPDATE
All boat rescues have been suspended as well.
UPDATE II
Bedlam at the Superdome.
