Roll the Dice and "Deal" the Cards

It will be interesting to watch how many Democrats work up enough gumption to oppose the Iran "Deal."  Wouldn't you love to have been a fly on the wall while Joe Biden was schooling the Congressional Democrats about it? And pitiful "Spineless" John Boehner "promised a fight." Yeah, I'm sure the White House is shaking in its collective boots.

One of our Arkansas Senators, Tom Cotton, told reporters today that, after reviewing the specifics of The Deal, he felt it wasn't as bad as he had feared; "it was worse."

Rush Limbaugh referred to the President's press conference today (the first in eons) as a "victory lap." Yep. That about sums it up. Even though he runs like a girl.

I'm afraid we've grown accustomed to failing to stop Obama's fundamental transformation of this country. I'm feeling a little jaded, and a whole lot hopeless, today. Do you suppose that's what the whole "hope and change" was about from the get-go?

Nothing would surprise me today.

It'll be interesting to see whether Obama's "legacy" survives a nuclear conflagration.  It probably will-- no one seems to recall Bill Clinton's assurances back in 1994 that his administration had reached a "good deal" with North Korea in which the Norks would "freeze and dismantle [their] nuclear program." Said the former prez:

"Before I take your questions, I'd like to say just a word about the framework with North Korea that Ambassador Gallucci signed this morning. This is a good deal for the United States," Clinton said at the press conference."North Korea will freeze and then dismantle its nuclear program. South Korea and our other allies will be better protected. The entire world will be safer as we slow the spread of nuclear weapons."South Korea, with support from Japan and other nations, will bear most of the cost of providing North Korea with fuel to make up for the nuclear energy it is losing, and they will pay for an alternative power system for North Korea that will allow them to produce electricity while making it much harder for them to produce nuclear weapons."The United States and international inspectors will carefully monitor North Korea to make sure it keeps its commitments. Only as it does so will North Korea fully join the community of nations."

That worked out pretty well, huh?

Maybe we should dust off the Bomb Shelters.

What Did June Wreak? And What Does the Future Hold, if Anything.

There is so much unpleasantry going on in these United States this summer. The Son's 18-year marriage dissipated into thin air yesterday with the stroke of a Judge's pen on a Divorce Decree. The Supreme Court has become decidedly and unashamedly activist. (I particularly like one post that I stole and shared on Facebook: "My feed looks like the Confederacy has declared war on a Skittles factory.")

Reparations for Antebellum slavery are going on nationwide, although they're not being identified as such. Donald Trump and Chris Christie have announced campaigns for the presidency. TV Land has canceled re-runs of The Dukes of Hazzard, for crying out loud, and NASCAR is backing off displays of the Confederate Battle Flag!  NASCAR!!!!

And on June 30, there was a convergence of Jupiter and Venus that made them the brightest objects in the night sky.

One blog notes that the last time this happened was a little over 2,000 years ago while three Kings were en route to Bethlehem to welcome our Saviour.

It kinda makes a body wonder. And to get one's affairs in order.

The Numbers All Add Up

Younger Daughter and her husband are buying their first home!  They were supposed to close today, but the weather over the last couple of days has thrown their lending officer into a tizzy, so it's delayed until next week. Younger Daughter is, to use her words, "tres bummed."

They really wanted to get the keys so they can start painting -- it's going to need a lot of loving "updating," having been a one-owner home built in 1974.  But it's got great bones and is structurally sound -- and they got a great deal on it from the heirs of the previous owner. I'm sorry they won't be able to have the family "camp in" they planned for tonight.

I think it'll be the perfect starter home for them.  It's larger than our rent house where they've been living.  When they first started looking, YD told me that her "must haves" were 3 bedrooms, at least 2 baths, a fenced yard, and a fireplace.

(A fireplace.  Younger Daughter is sooooo me.)

So, it has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, a fenced yard, and a fireplace.

And a 2-car garage!  With a door that opens and closes! And it's in a stable, safe neighborhood.

I know it'll be a good home for them because "the numbers" work out great. (If I manipulate them a little.  Shhh, don't tell!) You remember the numbers, don't you? The ones that applied to Moogie's Manor, Moogie's Mansion, and various other of Moogie's dwellings. Those numbers were somehow related to the number 12.  Well, get this:

The address of YD's new house is 2919 "Persi" Lane.  Two + 9 + 1 + 9 = 21, and 21 is 12, backwards!

(See, I told you -- it's just a teensy manipulation!)

Even if the numbers are over-manipulated, there are still multiple digits in the street number.  That's important right now, too. Moogie's Manor is 14212; Elder Daughter's is 13707; Younger Daughter's will be 2919! It's just meant to be, don't you think?

(Where is Buck to make fun of me when I need him?)

Speaking of dogs -- Pepper was mean yesterday when he had the audacity to go outside in the snow without any dogs. Can you tell?

It's For the Birds at Moogie's Manor

My father, Boompie (that's his "grandfather" name, after Jimmy Stewart's character in Mister Hobbs Takes a Vacation -- "Boompah?!?!  What kind of a name is Boompah?  You couldn't do any better for your own father?!"), instilled in me at an early age a love of, and fascination for, birds.  Except sparrows.  Don't ask. It's a long strange story.  Anyway, I can just sit and watch birds for hours.

Back at the Mansion in New Orleans, birdwatching was pretty much limited to Mockingbirds, Cardinals, and Doves, with the occasional obnoxious Crow or Pigeon thrown in.  And, Doves are just stoopid birds with very little personality, so they don't really count, and that just left me with Cardinals and Mockingbirds, who are meaner than a snake!  It was hardly worth setting up a feeder because the Mockers wouldn't use it and the Cardinals got bored with it, and it attracted rats.

But, here at the Manor, we have a wooded green space in back that is home to scads of birds!  Moogie is in hog heaven! (Heh -- get it?  Razorbacks?  Hog Heaven?  I crack me up sometimes.)  We have Cardinals and Mockers and Finches and Titmice and Chickadees and Nuthatches and Hummingbirds!  I have three feeders on the back deck!






(There's Moogie's reflection in the window. Say hi!)

Having three feeders, however, means we also have a herd of greedy, marauding squirrels. 

I originally hung the feeder in the first picture in the spot where the new squirrel-resistant feeder now hangs in the second pic.  Not a good plan.  Acrobatically-gifted squirrels had it emptied in a day.  The new spot is just far enough away from any good launching points to keep them at bay.  Pepper said he'd hang and re-fill it for me (Moogie is height-challenged), but I had to clean up the Kamikaze squirrel carcasses.  So far, no squirrel carcasses!

As for the new feeder, so far, so good.  It works on a weight and spring principle -- it closes the food ports when heavy critters get on it.  The squirrels tried every angle possible for a few days -- you could just see their frustration when they shook their furry little tails and had to give up.  Sometimes they will sit and stare at the feeders, as if willing the feed to hover into their greedy little paws.

But, I think some of the birds must be in cahoots with the little vermin.  Some of the birds appear to prefer a specific type of seed, so they'll sling the other types right out of the feeder!  And the squirrels, being the determined moochers they are, now just kinda hang out on the deck or the rails and scoop up what has fallen, without really even having to work for it.

And that drives Bouie nuts!  I'm just hoping he doesn't go through one of those windows.  Mysti just gets excited because Bouie's excited.  Come to think of it, however, she has started tracking the squirrel scent lately, so I suppose I should start worrying about both of them now.

We have a dominant Hummingbird who has staked out his territory around the hummingbird feeder.  He loves to light on the feeder and drink his fill.  They are such incredible little birds!  And, fearless.

So, it's apparently the best of times for the local bird populations, now that Moogie has become their neighbor.

I wonder what else we'll discover?  Hopefully nothing reptilian.  Ewww.

Now I Know How the Dinosaurs and Buggy Whip Makers Felt

Everyday life as we know it in New Orleans will cease to be come autumn. 

The grand old lady of print journalism, The Times-Picayune, will beef up its digital alter-ego and reduce the number of days it publishes a print version from everyday to Wednesday-Friday-Sunday only.  The move will leave New Orleans as the largest city in the USA without a daily newspaper.

The staff was blindsided, but that's another issue.

After carefully monitoring the outpouring of confusion, grief, anger, and disbelief on social media  following the announcement yesterday, the powers-that-be at the paper ratcheted up the spin machine.  Today's headline screams, "NEWSPAPER TO MOVE FOCUS TO DIGITAL."  The first paragraph lauds the upgrades to be made to NOLA.com (which said upgrades I already dislike -- but then again, I'm not a big proponent of change): "As the digital world has evolved, so too will we." 

Glossing over what the reading public will lose, it continues,"Beginning in the fall, the newspaper that so many of you rely upon will continue to publish on a reduced schedule of Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays." Thanks for throwing us a bone there, guys, by "continuing to publish."

Intellectually, I understand that the shift to digital service is inevitable -- heck, I do a lot of research and news-gathering online already.  But, there's just something so physically satisfying about unfolding that newsprint, and popping it open, and having to wash my hands afterwards to get rid of the ink that rubbed off on my fingers.  There's something so comfortable about digging through the yellowing recipes I've clipped over the years; the favorites not only yellowed, but also stained with splashes of their ingredients.  I can already attest that the effect is not quite the same when perusing through recipes that I've sent through the printer on sterile white typing paper.  (Is there such a thing as "typing paper" anymore?)

When we started having work done on the house that displaced the kitchen table, Bouie and I began to lunch on the front porch, and we both enjoyed it so much that we've continued the practice even after the kitchen is (mostly) put back together.  I take my lunch, a Milk Bone for Bou, and the "Living" and "New Orleans" (that also contains the editorial pages) sections so I can read them at leisure while Bouie stands sentry duty.  He keeps all those evil, marauding people pushing strollers or walking little yappy dogs at bay.  It's just not the same holding the iPad.  Even Bouie seems to sense how rapt I'll tend to be, depending on whether I'm holding flapping newsprint or a tablet computer (that doesn't always hold its Wi-Fi connection).

*sigh*

So, as the Young President "evolves," so too does print journalism, I suppose.

At least kids will still be able to sprawl on the floor to read the funny papers on Sunday morning.

For awhile.

If You Meet a Guy Named John Connor . . .

So, this weird new Posting screen appeared today.  I think the machines are taking over -- be on the lookout for Skynet. 

I'm going to try to ignore it.

Contemplating Change, and Once Again, With Conflicting Emotions

Yesterday was a day of conflicting emotions.

Yesterday witnessed the carrying out of the death sentence on the 101 year-old New Orleans Naval Support Activity in Algiers, the death sentence first issued in 2005's initial BRAC (Base Re-alignment And Closure) Committee report.

My father trained at Algiers as a young man when the base was named U.S. Naval Station New Orleans.  One of our City Councilwomen met her future husband at that base when her future father-in-law served as its Commander in the early 1950s.

Pepper and I have gone to some wonderful parties and ceremonies and meetings over there on the West Bank, and enjoyed many of its amenities, especially the cheaper, tax-free gasoline near the Commissary.  Our friend, Gary, who commanded the Base in the 1990s, and who never misses a military gathering, was absent.  I suspect he could not bring himself to say goodbye and sit through that meaningful Navy tradition in which the Command's flag is furled, sleeved, and slowly paraded, with carefully measured steps, through two rows of enormous shells, and out of sight, by a Color Guard dressed in stiffly-starched Whites to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne," played as a dirge by the local Marine Band New Orleans.

It was very hard to watch, even though the Naval Reserve HQ had already moved to Norfolk several years ago and the Base's function had already been reduced to wrapping up and shutting down.  The Commissary has already moved to NAS/JRB Belle Chasse and the gas station and library are shuttered.  I suppose the next thing to disappear will be the enormous "NAVY" painted on the Base's water tower.

It's very hard to watch as a once-thriving community devolves into a ghost town.

But.  The ghost town won't last for long. 

One of the things that many of us fought for during the BRAC hearings -- especially retired Marine Major General David Mize -- was the concept of preserving a military presence at the NSA location in the form of the nation's first "Federal City," a public/private venture that would house multiple entities of the federal government and military in one location.  The Committee thought the endeavor worthwhile and gave the City and its proponents a time frame to make the agreements and financing happen.  They happened.

The first tenant of Federal City, the Coast Guard's Sector New Orleans HQ, opened its doors in August of 2010.  There are plans underway to develop base housing into a neighborhood community -- a Child Development Center already has a pretty hefty waiting list.  New Orleans' newest Type 2 charter school, the New Orleans Military and Maritime Academy, held its first day of classes on August 9th; it will eventually accept students in grades 9 - 12, and will eventually be housed in renovated, historic NSA buildings. The YMCA is renovating the old gymnasium into a fitness center; retail merchants and restaurants are planning to open shop in the coming months.

(One of the biggest, unheralded perquisites for southeast Louisiana in the NOMMA presence is its newly-named Commandant, COL William Davis.  In his last billet before retiring this fall, Bill headed up a number of Marine Corps construction projects across the country, including the brand new Marine Forces Reserve [MARFORRES] and Marine Forces North Headquarters building in Federal City.  Bill brought the project in ahead of schedule and under budget -- quite a feat in this day of rampant cost-overruns and congressional gridlock.  Through his agreement to accept Command of NOMMA, we now get to keep Bill and his delightful family here for good!)

So, it's not all melancholy.

Yesterday also witnessed the Opening of The Marine Corps Support Facility Base in that beautiful new HQ building shepherded by COL Bill Davis.

As sad as it was to watch the Navy marching away, it was just as energizing to watch the MARFORRES HQ Battalion flag be unfurled and posted.  As new MARFORRES Commander Lt. Gen. Steven Hummer remarked, yesterday's ceremonies assured the continuation of a Marine Corps presence in New Orleans dating back to 1778, when the Marines first arrived on a ship named The Rattletrap.  For real.

Yesterday was also the first time I was able to see the magnificent palm tree that our Military Officers' Wives' Club purchased for the grounds of the new HQ building.  The palms look pretty majestic out there where all those Marines will pass daily on their way to work.  Our President has nicknamed the tree our "Recruitment Tree," in hopes that many of those Marines will tell their spouses about our plaque and our organization, and we can up the membership numbers a bit. 

We were allowed to place the plaque commemorating our donation wherever we chose.  Our clever ladies chose a spot that suggests we donated all of the palm trees instead of just one (and there are 3 more on the other side of the circle)!  Plus, the plaque is portable, so it can be re-located if a better spot comes up, or taken along for safekeeping during a hurricane evacuation.  Like I said, clever ladies.

So, in this era of "change," at least there is some "hope" connected to this transition.

To the Navy, I bid "Fair winds and following seas."  And to the Marine Corps, "Semper Fidelis."

And, because the Army likes to get in the last word, Hooah.

(P.S. -- the Saints won their opening pre-season game last night, sending the 49ers to defeat to the tune of 24-3!!  Who Dat!)