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orbemnews · 3 years

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Mardi Gras parades got canceled by Covid-19. So New Orleanians turned their houses into floats Like so many, the mom and insurance manager had known in her gut that the weekslong fête would take 2021 off. Revelers of all ages packed at least three deep along routes that wind for miles seemed the textbook antithesis of social distancing. “So, I kinda made a comment: ‘Well, that’s fine, I’m just going to decorate my house,'” said Boudreaux, who invited her neighbors to turn their homes, too, into stationary versions of the ornately designed floats that populate the four dozen or so parades that roll in the city each year. This way, she figured, partiers could stay 6 feet apart while visiting outdoors and enjoying the artistry of the annual countdown to Lent. The idea, like a splay of bead strands hurled skyward toward an endless carousing crowd, has spread. There’s a home with a sign that beckons, “Welcome to Wakanda.” Another features a Night Tripper theme in homage to funkman Dr. John. One house honors a health care worker alongside giant ivory beads. On a balcony, a cutout of the late chef Leah Chase stands, spoon in hand, at an enormous pot. Just off the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line, a giant model dinosaur in a top hat grazes. Elsewhere, a set-up pays tribute to Alex Trebek with a “Jeopardy!” board, playable using a posted QR code. Human-size Lego figures approximate a float rolling by parade-goers on a front porch. A wooden pelican the width of two men perches at another. All across town, papier-mache or cardboard and foil flowers of every hue, plus bunting of purple, green and gold and strands of beads the size of beach balls, adorn the homes where so many have been in retreat from the coronavirus since just after last Mardi Gras. That’s when 1.5 million people — including international visitors — converged on the city, almost certainly fueling viral spread that made the region an early hot spot. Indeed, the purple-and-white house icons that dot a map on the Krewe of Float Houses website cover the city’s entire main footprint like a sidewalk littered with doubloons, those collectible metallic coins tossed by riders from traditional floats. “In its essence, it’s not much different than when people drive around with the kids in the car and look at the Christmas decorations, holiday lights,” said Doug MacCash, who’s chronicled the house float movement for the local newspaper, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate. “Except this year, in 2021, it has such a spirit of triumph, such a spirit of defiance. It’s like, ‘Sorry, ‘rona. We’re not just giving up.'” “Mardi Gras by no means is dead; it’s just different,” said City Councilman Jay Banks, who’s cast his own house — already painted yellow and black — with other trademark representations of the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club, the city’s preeminent Black Carnival organization, over which he once reigned as king. “And what we’re forced to do this Mardi Gras, with Covid as the No. 1 consideration, … is how this whole house float thing got started,” he said. “And let me tell you, I am just giggly about it.” How to turn your house into a float Do-it-yourselfers — many already armed with hot-glue guns and glitter by the gallon for crafting annual Mardi Gras costumes — have embraced the home-design effort in earnest. Two private Facebook groups with more than 14,000 participants spew inquiries at all hours, most swiftly answered by a hive mind eager to collaborate after months of stay-at-home orders. “Any recommendations on securing this? It’s top heavy,” one poster asked, referring to a photo of a homemade Lysol can prop standing several feet tall. From another: “Has anyone had luck with using cardboard to make house float decorations? I already used some and painted and sealed with mod podge acrylic sealer but am wondering how it will hold up in the elements on a French Quarter balcony! Is there a better way of waterproofing, etc.?” The exchange is not unlike in the bleak months after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when neighbors connected to trade recipes for bleach or baking soda concoctions to remove mold from items soiled by the flood. Others looking now to gild their homes have turned to a regional cottage industry built over decades for precisely this sort of venture. “Part of the consternation about canceling Carnival had to do with, well, there are people (for) who(m) Carnival is their livelihood — a lot of people: float builders, bead- and costume-makers,” MacCash said. “Some of the Carnival artists who find themselves out of work at what would have been a real scrambling sort of time, what they’ve done is they’ve found employment decorating houses.” In a normal year, René Pierre right about now would be finalizing the books on some 75 floats that his company, Crescent City Artists LLC, decorates using lightweight utility canvas, bright house paints, hard coating, wood and Styrofoam, he said. This year, Boudreaux’s house float vision, which Pierre caught on a local news report, proved to be his “ticket out” of a toned-down Carnival — and one that follows his and his young daughter’s recovery from Covid-19. “Oh, man, in about three weeks, we were booked all the way up until today,” Pierre said last week of his house-decorating customers. “My wife and I were trying to sleep one night, and we kept hearing notifications coming from the website. It was like, “Ping ping ping ping ping.’ It was like, ‘Oh, my God.’ It was like instant success. It was incredible.” The couple inked 53 house float contracts ranging from $1,500 to $3,000 apiece, a sum many riders in the city’s biggest parading groups typically would spend on bead strands and other “throws” to toss in a given year. “It has really pumped my business into full steam,” Pierre said, noting he hired his cousin, a recording artist, to help manage the crush. “We have made more money in six weeks … and talk about Mardi Gras spirit.” Of the commissions, Pierre’s favorites are a trio of painted pups fashioned after the homeowner’s own pack, a Buddha-themed display and one highlighting the Grateful Dead dancing bears. Boudreaux, known as “Admiral B” of the house float fleet, aptly did her house in a maritime motif. “I don’t know if I want to know how much I spent,” she said: “definitely more than I meant to, less than a lot of people.” How to lead (or join) a house float krewe Beyond her own decor, helming this nascent krewe (local vernacular for a festival group) has become a second full-time job for Boudreaux. There are exchanges with lawyers over decorating rules in historic districts and weekly logistics meetings with the mayor to game out how to handle homeowners who want to, say, hire a band. There are now 50 captains, 39 subkrewes, a communications team and an effort to gather and edit together dozens of dancers’ at-home videos into a performance masterpiece for the website. Yet another to-do list item got added shortly after the krewe named a New Orleans bounce star as its grand marshal, Boudreaux said. “Now Big Freedia’s house is a traffic jam. The house is so popular that even guerilla photograph-style, it still drew a crowd,” the one thing the Krewe of House Floats wants urgently to prevent. The krewe also has launched a campaign to donate $100,000 toward those facing unemployment and food and housing insecurity largely because of this year’s Carnival limits: artisans, service industry workers, musicians, Mardi Gras Indians and other culture-bearers. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, “this year plants the seed” for what’s already becoming an annual event, to endure long after the coronavirus is vanquished, MacCash said. (At last count, Pierre already had 28 house-decorating contracts set for 2022, and preregistration is open for next year’s Krewe of House Floats.) For now, Chris Volion is looking forward to safely welcoming on Fat Tuesday, February 16, revelers who pass by his New Orleans home, adorned with enormous black birds inspired by local crows and Edgar Allen Poe in his personal Krewe of Nevermore. Volion, an institutional research analyst, and his wife, Janet, are making some themed throws to hand out and plan to join neighbors for king cake-flavored Jell-O shots. “While it feels different, there’s still that excitement going on,” he said. This year, instead of swapping parade plans, “the conversation has shifted to: Have you been to such and such a block, or have you see this house? It’s so beautiful to see that the energy is still there.” For Banks, the city councilman, the house floats offer a glimmer in an especially bleak season. In his own circle, Covid-19 has taken 23 lives and killed 17 members of the Zulu organization, he said, not to mention relatives and friends of the club. It’s stripped New Orleans — and the world — of the chance to socialize in person and to observe customs in the typical way. But as is so often the case, he said, the city’s response in this dark moment offers a message far beyond its borders. “We’re showing the rest of you that there is light at the end of the tunnel,” Banks said. “As screwed-up as Covid is, we will not let it defeat us. … The lesson of New Orleans for the world is: You play the cards that you’re dealt.” Source link Orbem News #Canceled #Covid19 #floats #Gras #houses #Mardi #MardiGrasparadesgotcanceledbyCovid-19.So #NewOrleaniansturnedtheirhousesintofloats-CNN #Orleanians #parades #turned #us

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sinrau · 4 years

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The laying of the cornerstone of Birmingham’s Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument in 1894 was “the crowning event” of a large gathering of Confederate veterans, The Birmingham News reported.

News editor Rufus N. Rhodes, who headed a ‘Sons of Confederate Veterans’ group and is honored with a Birmingham park of his own, introduced Confederate Gen. Stephen D. Lee to the crowd as “the model for the civilized world.”

“May the blood of our martyrs be the seed of such a race in the future,” Lee said of the Confederate dead. A Bible, Confederate flag, and Birmingham newspapers were placed inside the cornerstone.

Sunday night, the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis brought another large crowd to Linn Park.

Their plan was to tear down the 52-foot-tall obelisk honoring Confederate veterans that has been at the center of a years-long legal battle with Alabama.

That plan seemed to come a halt after a plea from Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin to wait until Tuesday to resolve the situation.

Protesters, however, did damage that monument and a few others at, or near, the park once known as Capitol Park. The demonstrators then began damaging buildings across downtown, prompting the mayor to issue a citywide curfew.

Here are the stories behind those monuments.

The east face of the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument is shown in Linn Park in Birmingham. The Birmingham Park and Recreation Board is attempting to have the monument removed from the park where it has stood for 110 years. (File) MARK ALMONDMARK ALMOND

The Confederate statue:

The statue was dedicated in 1905 after years of fundraising efforts led by prominent Birmingham citizens gathered $4,000. At the dedication, there was a parade of 1,000, including Birmingham students, police and firefighters.

“The manner of their death, was the crowning glory of their lives,” a quote from Confederate presidemt Jefferson Davis reads on one of the obelisk’s inscriptions.

The Alabama Supreme Court in 2019 ruled that the city of Birmingham violated Alabama’s monument protection law when it placed a plywood screen around a Confederate monument in Linn Park in August 2017. The court an order the city to pay a $25,000 fine.

The plywood was placed there on orders of former Birmingham Mayor William Bell after the state passed the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act in 2017 in response to removals and calls for removal of Confederate monuments on public property. Attorney General Steve Marshall filed a lawsuit against Birmingham.

The Charles Linn statue:

What did come crashing down was the statue of Charles Linn, a sea captain who volunteered to aid the Confederate Navy and later founded what became one of Birmingham’s once largest banks, AmSouth.

A large crowd watched and cheered as the statue was spray-painted and brought down with ropes. The Linn Statue had been in the park since 2013.

The Multiple Sclerosis Society, Alabama-Mississippi Chapter installed the statue of Linn with a ceremony featuring artist Branko Medenica.

The Multiple Sclerosis Society chapter annually honors “one person or family for great leadership” by commissioning or purchasing a work of art and placing it in a public setting, AL.com reported at the time.

The Linn statue was 8 feet tall and made of bronze, and was set on a five-foot base clad in granite. The chapter paid for the installation.

Linn, a sea captain, came to Birmingham in 1871 and founded the city’s first bank. His company, Linn Iron Works, was a major employer.

He was also an early advocate of city green space, allowing residents to use his land as a park and promoting the planting of trees downtown.

In 1838, Linn arrived in Montgomery, married, widowed, and married again, having fathered kids along the way.

At the outbreak of the Civil War he sent all but his oldest son, Charles William, to Dresden for their safety,” according to BhamWiki. Linn and Charles William volunteered to ferry cotton through the Union blockades to trade in Great Britain and Cuba for gold and supplies.

“After many successful crossings, the ship was finally captured off the Florida keys and Linn and his son were taken prisoner and sent to Washington to stand trial as war criminals. They were both pardoned, however, and the two Linns joined the wholesale grocery firm of Flash, Lewis & Co. in New Orleans.”

Linn died in 1882 at age 68 and is entombed in a mausoleum at Oak Hill Cemetery. The downtown park was known as Woodrow Wilson Park (after being named Capitol Park) before its name was changed to honor Linn in the 1980s.

The Thomas Jefferson Statue:

As the protest moved to the nearby courthouse, the Thomas Jefferson statue at the Jefferson County Courthouse, adjacent to the park, was damaged about 10 p.m. after someone set a fire at its base and several windows in the courthouse were broken by rocks thrown in the demonstration.

The sculpture was dedicated in 1977, a year after its creator, noted Birmingham artist George Bridges.

“Originally commissioned by the Birmingham Bar Association for their Law Day project. To assist with fundraising, the commission was adopted by the Jefferson County Historic Commission. $5,000 in seed money toward the commission was contributed by the Jefferson Federal Savings and Loan, who desired a statue for their property,” according to the Smithsonian.

Bridges and his wife were considered pillars of Birmingham, converting their house into a treatment center for alcoholics and teaching unemployed men how to craft stone into benches for hospitals.

However Jefferson, the nation’s third president, was also a slave owner and fathered six children with one, Sally Hemmings.

The statue did not appear to have sustained much damage.

The WWI Doughboy and Spanish American War Veterans statues

Standing on either side of the Confederate monuments are statues honoring soldiers of two other wars — World War I and the Spanish-American War. Those statues were left standing but are covered in graffiti.

The ‘Doughboy’ statue is one of eight in Alabama, according to journalist Kelly Kazek.

The most common statue nationwide is “Spirit of the American Doughboy,” by Ernest Moore “Dick” Viquesney (1876-1946). There are at least three in Alabama.

The Birmingham statue was, according to BhamWiki, “commissioned by the Greek-American Citizens of Birmingham in honor of the American Legion Birmingham Post No. 1. “

“In memory of the comrades who gave their lives in the service of our country during the World War. Presented to Birmingham Post No. 1 of the American Legion by the Greek-American Citizens. Birmingham, Alabama. Armistice Day 1923,” its inscription reads.

In 1944, the Doughboy was joined by ‘The Hiker,’ which honored the service members of the Spanish-Amercan War, as well as the Philippines Insurrection and the Boxer Rebellion, after the funds were raised by the Ladies Auxiliary.

The history behind Birmingham monuments damaged during George Floyd protest #web #website #copied #to read# #highlight #link #news #read

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hulusan · 5 years

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How a Newspaper War in New Orleans Ended: With a Baked Alaska and Layoffs

By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON The Advocate went into New Orleans six years ago to challenge the city’s 182-year-old paper, The Times-Picayune. Now The Advocate is the last one standing. Published: May 12, 2019 at 04:30AM from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2VyrYsn

#NYT

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izayoi1242 · 5 years

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How a Newspaper War in New Orleans Ended: With a Baked Alaska and Layoffs

#IFTTT #NYT #NEWS

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topnewsfromtheworld · 5 years

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How a Newspaper War in New Orleans Ended: With a Baked Alaska and Layoffs

#Top News From The World #NYT

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cordlock7-blog · 5 years

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Former President George H.W. Bush Dies at 94

George Herbert Walker Bush, who as the 41st president guided the United States out of the Cold War and led an international coalition into the Gulf War, has died. He was 94.

Bush died at 10:10 p.m. Friday, according to a statement from family spokesman Jim McGrath.

"Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Doro, and I are saddened to announce that after 94 remarkable years, our dear Dad has died," said former President George W. Bush in a statement. "George H. W. Bush was a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for. The entire Bush family is deeply grateful for 41’s life and love, for the compassion of those who have cared and prayed for Dad, and for the condolences of our friends and fellow citizens."

Bush's final words were to his son George W. on Friday night, a source close to the family told NBC News. George W. Bush was on speakerphone to say goodbye to his father, telling him he had been a “wonderful dad” and that he loved him.

“I love you, too,” H.W. Bush replied.

The former president was quickly remembered as a humble patriot, dedicated public servant and beloved family man by President Donald Trump, former President Barack Obama and others.

"Through his essential authenticity, disarming wit, and unwavering commitment to faith, family, and country, President Bush inspired generations of his fellow Americans to public service—to be, in his words, 'a thousand points of light' illuminating the greatness, hope, and opportunity of America to the world," Trump and first lady Melania Trump said in a statement."

Bush was a World War II naval pilot who survived being shot down over the Pacific, led the CIA and spent eight years as vice president before taking the Oval Office. He was the father of the 43rd president, George W. Bush.

His wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush, who used her time as the first lady to advocate for literacy, died on April 17.

George H.W. Bush became the first former U.S. president to turn 94 on June 12. The nation's 41st president was receiving calls and taking it easy at his seaside home in Maine eight days after being released from a hospital where he was treated for low blood pressure, said Chief of Staff Jean Becker.

Bush's office shared a birthday letter from the president in which he said, "My heart is full on the first day of my 95th year."

"As many of you know, for years I have said the three most important things in life are faith, family and friends. My faith has never been stronger," the former president wrote in the letter.

Several of his children had been in town, including former President George W. Bush, who posted a smiling photo of the two of them on Instagram.

"I'm a lucky man to be named for George Bush and to be with `41' on his 94th birthday," wrote Bush, the nation's 43rd president.

"I already miss the greatest human being that I will ever know. Love you Dad!" son John "Jeb" Bush wrote on Twitter.

Another son, Neil Bush, called on people in a newspaper opinion piece to volunteer and "to become a point of light."

H.W. Bush, a Republican who served as President Ronald Reagan's vice president for two terms, was elected to the country's highest office in 1988. He beat Democrat Michael Dukakis in an electoral landslide and with 54 percent of the popular vote.

In his inaugural presidential address, Bush spoke of "a thousand points of light" across the country, community organizations that were doing good and with which he promised to work. He pledged in "a moment rich with promise" to use American strength as "a force for good."

A member of a longtime politically influential American family, Bush led the United States during a time of intense international change, including the fall of Communism in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and turmoil in the Middle East. His public approval rating soared to 89 percent after he presided over a U.S.-led coalition of 32 countries that drove Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army from Kuwait in 1991. After signing a strategic arms reduction agreement to reduce nuclear weapons with the Soviet Union's Mikhail Gorbachev, Bush accomplished a second agreement in early January 1993 with Russian President Boris Yeltsin after the USSR collapsed.

"Even as president, with the most fascinating possible vantage point, there were times when I was so busy managing progress and helping to lead change that I didn't always show the joy that was in my heart," Bush said in his final State of the Union address. "But the biggest thing that has happened in the world in my life, in our lives, is this: By the grace of God, America won the Cold War."

Despite his strength in foreign policy, Bush was ultimately limited to a single term as president over a sputtering U.S. economy. The unemployment rate, at 5.3 percent during his first year in office, rose to 7.4 percent in 1992. Confronted with rising deficits, Bush famously signed a bill that raised taxes despite the Republican's earlier campaign vow: "Read my lips: no new taxes." His public approval, once sky-high, plummeted in his final year in office to below 50 percent.

While he lost re-election to Bill Clinton in 1992, his work laid a foundation for his son George W. Bush to win the White House in 2000.

"Two presidents in one family, that's pretty good," George H.W. Bush told his granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager for a "Today" interview on his 88th birthday.

Jeb Bush, a former governor of Florida, lost a bid for the Republican nomination in 2016 to Trump. Bush even saw his grandson, George P. Bush, enter politics. The Fort Worth resident won the position of Texas land commissioner in March 2014.

George H.W. Bush was born June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, the youngest of five children. He was raised in Connecticut by his mother Dorothy Walker Bush, and his father, Prescott Bush, who served as a U.S. senator.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bush enlisted in the military on his 18th birthday and became the Navy's youngest pilot at the time. He flew 58 combat missions in World War II before being shot down by the Japanese in 1944. Bush was rescued by a submarine and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for bravery in action.

Back home, Bush married Barbara Pierce on Jan. 6, 1945, and the couple went on to have six children; George, Pauline (who was known as "Robin" and died as a child of leukemia), Jeb, Neil, Marvin and Dorothy.

Bush was accepted to Yale University before enlistment, and once stateside, enrolled in an accelerated program that allowed him to graduate in two and a half years instead of four. While at Yale, the left-handed first baseman played in the first College World Series.

In 1948, Bush graduated from the university with a bachelor of arts degree in economics. He moved the family to West Texas and achieved success in the oil industry, but like his father, he was drawn to politics.

After an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1964, Bush won a House seat in 1966 representing Houston. He was re-elected in 1968 but gave up his seat two years later to run for the Senate again, and lost to Democrat Lloyd Bentsen.

Bush was appointed to a string of government positions in the 1970s, including United Nations ambassador, Republican National Committee chairman, envoy to China, and CIA director. At the CIA he was credited with boosting morale.

In 1980, Bush made a run for the White House, but the Republican Party nominated Reagan, who selected Bush as his running mate. The match was a good one. The pair went to Washington in 1981 and won a landslide re-election victory four years later.

As vice-president, Bush traveled the world, pushing his anti-drug programs and became the first vice president to stand in as president while Reagan underwent surgery in 1985. Bush spent most of the eight hours on the tennis court.

Then, after eight years of loyalty, Bush tried again for the Oval Office.

Bush chose Indiana Sen. Dan Quayle as his running mate. At the Republican National Convention in New Orleans, Bush made the "no new taxes" pledge that would spark a backlash among some Republicans when he later reversed course.

In 1988, Bush defeated Michael Dukakis and his running mate, Texas nemesis Lloyd Bentsen. He was sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 1989.

Bush’s high popularity in the wake of a decision to send American troops into Panama to bring General Manuel Noriega to face drug charges in the U.S, and later the Persian Gulf War, would prove ephemeral.

Bush described his defeat in his re-election bid as having given him a "terrible feeling, awful feeling."

"I really wanted to win and worked hard. And later on, people said, 'well he didn’t really care', which is crazy," he told his granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager on "Today." "I worked my heart out and it was terrible to adjust. Well then you figure life goes on."

After leaving office, Bush returned to private life by splitting his time between Kennebunkport, Maine, and Houston. It was not uncommon to see Bush 41 at a Houston Astros baseball game.

In 2005, he teamed up with his former rival, Bill Clinton, to raise money for relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami.

His son George W. Bush published "41: A Portrait of My Father," in 2014, a wide-ranging and intimate biography of his father. In an interview on "Today" with his son and his granddaughter Bush Hager, the elder Bush talked about the intersection of family memories and key political events in their lives.

Asked about his presidential legacy, Bush said that he'd banned the use of "the legacy word."

"I think history will get it right, and point out the things I did wrong, and perhaps some of the things we did right," he said.

In recent years, Bush was hospitalized because of various ailments. He broke a bone in his neck when he fell in his home in Kennebunkport, Maine, and suffered from shortness of breath and a bronchitis-related cough and other issues in Houston.

Bush also made headlines in recent years for skydiving on at least three of his birthdays, according to The Associated Press, the last on his 90th, when he made a tandem parachute jump in Kennebunkport, Maine. In the summer of 2016, Bush led a group of 40 wounded warriors on a fishing trip at the helm of his speedboat, three days after his 92nd birthday celebration.

And he made headlines in July 2013 when he shaved his head in support of a little boy — the son of a member of his Secret Service detail — battling leukemia. Later that summer, he was honored at a White House event celebrating volunteerism.

Bush put his presidential library at Texas A&M University in College Station and his name now is on the CIA headquarters, Houston's largest airport and a North Texas toll road.

There is also an aircraft carrier that bears his name. In 2009, Bush 41 and Bush 43 attended the commissioning of the USS George H.W. Bush, the 10th and last Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy.

Bush had the distinction of being one of only three U.S. presidents to receive an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama in 2011.

Bush is survived by two siblings, his five children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife of 73 years, Barbara; his second child, Pauline Robinson “Robin” Bush; and brothers Prescott and William “Bucky” Bush.

He told Bush Hager that he was happiest while spending time with his family at sea.

"Aging is all right," he said in June 2012. "It's better than the alternative, which is not being here."

Air Force One is being sent to Texas to transport Bush's casket to Washington, where his body will lay in state at the Capitol Rotunda. The public can pay their respects from Monday evening through Wednesday morning.

Bush will be buried Thursday on the grounds of his presidential library at Texas A&M University at the family plot next to his wife Barbara, who died in April, and their 3-year-old daughter Robin, who died in 1953. The Bush family is still arranging funeral services, but the White House said President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump plan to attend.

Source: https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/politics/Former-President-George-HW-Bush-Dies-184974861.html

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rolandfontana · 5 years

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New Orleans Gets ‘Blueprint’ for Scrapping Money Bail System

In an effort to end a system of “cash register justice” that has placed an unfair burden on low-income families in New Orleans, the Vera Institute of Justice has called on the city to increase its funding to the court system by $3.8 million a year and abolish the practice of money bail, regardless of the offense.

In a blueprint released this week, entitled Paid in Full, Vera said pretrial bail and the imposition of legal fines and fees in New Orleans is “driving unnecessary and harmful jail incarceration, pulling millions of dollars out of the pockets of struggling families…and costing the city’s taxpayers…”

While the increased payment seems huge, Vera argued that it will save the city’s taxpayers $5.5 million in the costs of unnecessarily jailing people, which can then be reinvested “in ways that will help support the community.”

Across the U.S., a growing reform movement has been advocating ending the use of court fines and fees that disproportionately affect low-income families and people of color. The movement has picked up traction over the past few months in cities and states across the country.

In April, New York State passed a bill that limits the use of money bail, after 14 prosecutors from around the country called on the state to end the [ractice.

Similar reforms are underway in St. Louis, Mo., where, according to the St. Louis American, over 70 percent of the population awaiting trial in the city’s courts are African American, in a city where African Americans represent 48 percent of the overall population.

Most of those individuals are being charged with non-violent crimes, but they can’t be released simply because they’re unable to afford bail.

John C. Muhammad, a St. Louis resident, told the newspaper, “I witnessed this [injustice] firsthand when I was arrested in 2018 because of multiple traffic tickets. A judge issued me a bond totaling $5,000. I don’t know about you, but I can count on one hand how many people I know who have $5,000 to just give away.”

Noting that New Orleans has made major strides in reforming its pretrial system since 2017, Vera said the city nevertheless continues to jail people at “a rate 30 percent higher than the national average,” noting that of the more than one third of people in jail who are incarcerated because they can’t afford to pay money bail, eight in 10 are black.

“The next step is to align court practices with this new system of funding to end money injustice and replace it with a fairer and safer system,” Vera said.

Under Vera’s plan for New Orleans, non-violent offenders would be released pretrial with case-specific levels of support and supervision.

For violent offenders who need detention, judges would “conduct a full evidentiary hearing to determine the likelihood, nature, and degree of danger posed, and potential ways to mitigate that danger with support,” Vera said.

The violent offender could only be held if the judge finds with “clear and convincing evidence” that he or she poses serious risk and danger to an individual or community.

Based on projections by Vera, after eradicating money bail and replacing it with the practices outlined in the blueprint, the number of New Orleanians in jail would decline by 304 to 687 people daily.

By taking these actions, the city of New Orleans will be the first in the country to replace money bail and conviction fees— “the twin pillars on which money injustice stands”— with a fair and financially stable system.

“We hope to harness the energy for reform in New Orleans and build a path forward, planning for a future where nobody is in jail merely because they cannot afford to buy their way out,” said Alison Shih, the Senior Program Associate at Vera Institute.

The full Vera Institute of Justice blueprint Paid in Full can be downloaded here.

Additional Reading: NYC to Release More Teens Without Cash Bail

This summary was prepared by TCR news intern Andrea Cipriano.

New Orleans Gets ‘Blueprint’ for Scrapping Money Bail System syndicated from https://immigrationattorneyto.wordpress.com/

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citizenlayne · 5 years

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The Advocate went into New Orleans six years ago to challenge the city’s 182-year-old paper, The Times-Picayune. Now The Advocate is the last one standing.

#news #info

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radharmonyartisan · 5 years

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The Advocate went into New Orleans six years ago to challenge the city’s 182-year-old paper, The Times-Picayune. Now The Advocate is the last one standing.

from NYT > U.S. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/12/us/new-orleans-advocate-times-picayune.html?partner=rss&emc=rss via NY Times

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smugrocknation · 5 years

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The Last Edition: How a Newspaper War in New Orleans Ended: With a Baked Alaska and Layoffs

The Advocate went into New Orleans six years ago to challenge the city’s 182-year-old paper, The Times-Picayune. Now The Advocate is the last one standing.

#NYT > U.S.

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michaelgabrill · 5 years

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The Advocate went into New Orleans six years ago to challenge the city’s 182-year-old paper, The Times-Picayune. Now The Advocate is the last one standing.

#IFTTT #NYT

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mikemortgage · 5 years

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Official: Missing $3 part may have led to student’s death

NEW ORLEANS — The absence of a $3 part may have let tires roll off of a tractor trailer, killing a Tulane University student from Minnesota, a Mississippi transportation official said. An attorney for the trucking company said, “I think they may be mistaken.”

One of two 3-inch (7.6-centimetre) locking washers designed to keep truck wheels tightly secured was missing from the trailer, Willie Huff, director of the department’s Office of Enforcement, told The New Orleans Advocate.

Two wheels joined together rolled into a rest stop, killing Margaret Maurer of Forest Lake, Minnesota, on March 5. Maurer, 21, and classmates were heading from the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans to a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina.

The conclusion blaming the missing metal ring is still preliminary, Huff said.

Gene Patten, vice-president of safety and compliance for the truck’s owner, Dana Transport Inc. of Avenel, New Jersey, told The Associated Press he couldn’t comment on the newspaper’s report, adding, “They based it on information they have available to them. There’s always more to the story.”

Company attorney J. Burruss “Buzzy” Riis, of Mobile, Alabama, said, “The Advocate has made some rather bold statements that … we’re still investigating. I don’t believe they will necessarily end up being accurate.”

Maurer’s family has “our extreme sadness and condolences and they are in our prayers,” he said.

Huff said that when inspectors unpacked the outer hub of the wheel assembly after Maurer’s death, they found only one of the two washers that are used to lock the large nuts holding the wheels in place. The missing ring wouldn’t have broken off, he said.

In addition to Dana Transport, the truck is listed under a related company, Suttles Truck Leasing of Demopolis, Alabama.

Both companies are in good standing with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, with “satisfactory” ratings and a better-than-average record on crashes and vehicle safety.

Huff said the missing ring would not have been detected in the kind of unannounced roadside inspections that are logged into the federal database.

“To inspect that truck for that deficiency, you’d have to take all the wheels off the truck,” he said.

“It’s also something that probably would not be noticed with a pre-trip inspection or roadside inspection unless the wheel is wobbling,” he said. “More than likely, this wheel wasn’t wobbling. It just slipped off.”

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Information from: The New Orleans Advocate, http://www.neworleansadvocate.com

from Financial Post https://ift.tt/2VXIr4U via IFTTT Blogger Mortgage Tumblr Mortgage Evernote Mortgage Wordpress Mortgage href="https://www.diigo.com/user/gelsi11">Diigo Mortgage

#IFTTT #Financial Post

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kacydeneen · 5 years

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Former President George H.W. Bush Dies at 94

George Herbert Walker Bush, who as the 41st president guided the United States out of the Cold War and led an international coalition into the Gulf War, has died. He was 94.

In a statement from former President George W. Bush reads: "Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Doro, and I are saddened to announce that after 94 remarkable years, our dear Dad has died. George H. W. Bush was a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for. The entire Bush family is deeply grateful for 41’s life and love, for the compassion of those who have cared and prayed for Dad, and for the condolences of our friends and fellow citizens."

Former First Lady Barbara Bush Dies at 92

His wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush, who used her time as first lady to advocate for literacy, died on April 17.

Laughter, Tears As Barbara Bush Remembered

Bush's office shared a letter from the president in which he said, "My heart is full on the first day of my 95th year."

Live: Viewing of Former First Lady Barbara Bush

"As many of you know, for years I have said the three most important things in life are faith, family and friends. My faith has never been stronger," the former president wrote in the letter.

Several of his children were in town, including former President George W. Bush, who posted a smiling photo of the two of them on Instagram.

"I'm a lucky man to be named for George Bush and to be with `41' on his 94th birthday," wrote Bush, the nation's 43rd president.

Another son, Neil Bush, called on people in a newspaper opinion piece to volunteer and "to become a point of light."

Bush, a Republican who served as President Ronald Reagan's vice president for two terms, was elected to the country's highest office in 1988. He beat Democrat Michael Dukakis in an electoral landslide and with 54 percent of the popular vote.

Despite his strength in foreign policy, Bush was ultimately limited to a single term as president over a sputtering U.S. economy. The unemployment rate, at 5.3 percent during his first year in office, rose to 7.4 percent in 1992. Confronted with rising deficits, Bush famously signed a bill that raised taxes despite the Republican's earlier campaign vow: "Read my lips: no new taxes." His public approval, once sky high, plummeted in his final year in office to below 50 percent.

While he lost re-election to Bill Clinton in 1992, his work laid a foundation for his son George W. Bush to win the White House in 2000.

"Two presidents in one family, that's pretty good," George H.W. Bush told his granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager for a "Today" interview on his 88th birthday.

Another son, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, lost a bid for the Republican nomination in 2016 to Trump. Bush even saw his grandson, George P. Bush, enter politics. The Fort Worth resident won the position of Texas land commissioner in March 2014.

Bush was born June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, the youngest of five children. He was raised in Connecticut by his mother Dorothy Walker Bush, and his father, Prescott Bush, who served as a U.S. senator.

Back home, Bush married Barbara Pierce on Jan. 6, 1945, and the couple went on to have six children; George, Pauline (who was known as Robin and who died as a child of leukemia), John (known as Jeb), Neil, Marvin and Dorothy.

In 1948, Bush graduated from the university with a bachelor of arts degree in economics. He moved the family to west Texas and achieved success in the oil industry, but like his father, he was drawn to politics.

Bush was appointed to a string of government positions in the 1970s, including: United Nations ambassador, Republican National Committee chairman, envoy to China, and CIA director. At the CIA he was credited with boosting morale.

Then, after eight years of loyalty, Bush tried again for the Oval Office.

In 1988, Bush defeated Michael Dukakis and his running mate, Texas nemesis Lloyd Bentsen. He was sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 1989.

Bush described his defeat in his re-election bid as having given him a "terrible feeling, awful feeling."

"I really wanted to win and worked hard. And later on people said, 'well he didn’t really care', which is crazy," he told his granddaughter Jenna Bush Hager on "Today." "I worked my heart out and it was terrible to adjust. Well then you figure life goes on."

After leaving office, Bush returned to private life by splitting his time between Kennebunkport, Maine, and Houston. It was not uncommon to see Bush 41 at a Houston Astros baseball game.

In 2005, he teamed up with his former rival, Bill Clinton, to raise money for relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami.

Asked about his presidential legacy, Bush said that he'd banned use of "the legacy word."

"I think history will get it right, and point out the things I did wrong, and perhaps some of the things we did right," he said.

Bush put his presidential library at Texas A&M University in College Station and his name now is on the CIA headquarters, Houston's largest airport and a North Texas tollroad.

Bush is survived by his five children, 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

He told Bush Hager that he was happiest while spending time with his family at sea.

"Aging is all right," he said in June 2012. "It's better than the alternative, which is not being here."

Bush is survived by his five children and their spouses, 17 grandchildren, eight great grandchildren, and two siblings. He was preceded in death by his wife of 73 years, Barbara; his second child Pauline Robinson “Robin” Bush; and his brothers Prescott and William or “Bucky” Bush.

No word yet on funeral arrangements.

Photo Credit: AP, File Former President George H.W. Bush Dies at 94 published first on Miami News

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onenavakind-blog · 6 years

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Environmental Gentrification Since Yellowstone & Its Underlying Themes

Environmentalism and gentrification is the dynamic-duo catalyst of America's economic agenda painted across a racially charged backdrop, thus conceiving what is called environmental gentrification. In the name of progressive ideology, the United States and the beneficiaries of its settler-state society have implemented numerous policies at the expense of indigenous populations’ and people-of-color’s well-being. The term “gentrification” was first coined in 1964 by German-British sociologist and city planner, Ruth Glass, when she witnessed wealthy people in London – who had the funds to renovate old houses – displace long-standing, blue-collar communities who couldn’t get their hands on bank loans. Although the idea was only beginning to be introduced to the western world in the ‘60s, this phenomenon had taken place long before with new manifestations of gentrification conceived in each unique context since then. Earlier instances of environmental gentrification – and gentrification in general - within the United States can be traced back to its very own National Park Service in the establishment of Yellowstone, from which similarities in settler-state processes and ideologies can be drawn to modern instances – particularly that of Hurricane Katrina and the bicycle gentrification of Portland, Oregon.

Established in 1872 to preserve its natural beauty, Yellowstone was America’s first national park. Although the National Park Service emphasizes Yellowstone to have been inhabited for more than 11,000 years, it also claims “many…tribes and bands lived in and traveled through…Yellowstone…after European American arrival” as well. But for how long after and to what extent were the original inhabitants of Yellowstone permitted to use the land? George Catlin, who coined the term “national park,” believed in establishing a designated park that contained “…man and beast, in all the wild and freshness of their nature’s beauty” as he put it in an 1833 New York newspaper article. Although Catlin was believed to have an avid appreciation for Native American way of life, he was the embodiment of outsiders’ ignorance and assumed privilege. As settlers began encroaching on Natives’ territories, altercations began bubbling up, creating an anti-Indian sentiment. Meanwhile, white intellectuals of the time pondered upon Yellowstone’s sentimental value, believing it to be a treasure that must be available to and enjoyed by all. Thus, the illusion of inclusionary rhetoric like “beneficial for everyone,” was subtly born in the context of America’s gentrification. The Northern Pacific Railroad however, began pondering upon its monetary value and would capitalize on such rhetoric. But both the businessmen and the intellectuals were nearsighted in their implications. Soon, the establishment of the national park translated into the removal of Native Americans to not only “preserve” the very land they have operated, but to eliminate the potential white tourists’ fear of the natives. By 1879, the last of Yellowstone’s inhabitants, known as the Sheep Eaters, were removed. Yet, bands from various other tribes still used the park seasonally, under the protection of treaty rights regarding off-reservation hunting. According to Isaac Kantor in Ethnic Cleansing and Americas Creation of National Parks, in 1896, the Supreme Court “found that Congress had, and could, unilaterally terminate the treaty rights…by admitting Wyoming as a state.” As a result of aggressive settler-state colonialism, the railroad company along with other entities, and subsequently the government whom they lobbied for, all brought in tremendous revenues by catering to the white man, while suppressing people of color through the use of land. This success translated into not only the physical act of taking land, but into the assumed role of manipulating the use of land. After examining the establishment of Yellowstone National Park, how are the tactics and ideologies of a century ago related to modern instances? What are the motifs Yellowstone National Park reinforced that have carried through to this day?

The Sheep Eater tribe of what is now Yellowstone National Park

In late August of 2005, the destructive tropical cyclone known as Hurricane Katrina made contact with the whole of southeastern United States with up to a category 4 landfall in New Orleans. The result was more than 1,800 fatalities and $81 billion in property damages alone. Not only was the hurricane itself a disaster, but the aftermath was very poorly handled, instigating much controversy - especially in regards to the government’s discriminatory recovery efforts. Robert D. Bullard and Beverly Wright assert in their book, The Wrong Complexion for Protection, that the disaster after Katrina was “unnatural and caused by humans.” Moreover, they bluntly lay out the “…Twenty-Point Plan to Destroy Black New Orleans,” of which I will focus on four that fall in line with the focus of the paper. The first point of interest is the perfect embodiment of gentrification through environment: Policies that required reconstruction projects to “conform to green building materials and flood-proofing codes” ended up pricing many lower-income homes and small-business owners out of their real-estate. The second point is more disturbing: People advocated for black neighborhoods to be “yielded back to the swamp” in the interest of “saving the wet-lands and environmental restoration” while allowing similarly low-elevated white neighborhoods to be redeveloped. The third point of interest was the intentional focus on redeveloping less-damaged neighborhoods which only translated into “a smaller, more upscale, and whiter New Orleans.” Finally, the fourth point was the implementation of mixed-income and integrated housing as a replacement to the former all-black neighborhood. When reading this at first, one might be suspicious of such radical claims. In a FiveThirtyEight article however, Ben Casselman claims that before Hurricane Katrina, African-Americans have accounted for most of the city’s poor, but also “made up a majority of its middle class.” But after Katrina, the poor still remained overwhelmingly black while the middle-class has increasingly become white. The four contentions from The Wrong Complexion for Protection can, in some way or form, be categorized under environmental gentrification seeing as though the recovery efforts were implemented in such a way that the given environment was once again manipulated to exclude people of color and remain either economically feasible or beneficial for the white community. With that being said however, the case of Hurricane Katrina was a lot more explicit given the dramatic and economically disastrous situation it presented. So let us look at another example where just maybe the intentions of gentrification are not explicit - or even existent. But let us examine how the next example might still share the explicit thought processes that preceded both the establishment of Yellowstone National Park and the recovery efforts of Hurricane Katrina and the consequential gentrification of both instances.

African-American population significantly decreased while the population of other ethnicities have been restored since Hurricane Katrina

Residents waiting to be rescued following the events of Hurricane Katrina

A fairly contemporary concern among both scholarly and the disenfranchised, “bicycle gentrification” has been a growing issue in big cities such as Portland. The idea behind bicycle gentrification is that as governments and biking groups advocate for more and safer biking infrastructures – especially in more disinvested communities – such infrastructure will slowly attract a different demographic and bring a different culture along with it. Under the notions of environmentalism and “giving back to the people,” such projects pitch that it is beneficial to everyone. In his book, Bicycle/Race, Adonia E. Luego has an interesting way of describing this phenomenon calling it “a new refrain of the old colonial strategy of managing populations through structuring their living spaces.” He mockingly continues that “these communities could not be trusted to manage themselves, so resources had to be doled out on their behalf as the conquerors saw fit.” Luego explains how this focus on urban design over the original inhabitants of such places “…all too easily naturalizes their market-driven displacement.” Although the biking infrastructures themselves may not be the force of gentrification, they are sub-projects that foreshadow yet another wave of hip coffee shops, art studios, and upwardly mobile, creative, white millennials, who will unintentionally participate in the process of erasing the history and culture of yet another working-class community. Melody L. Hoffman in Bike Lanes are White Lanes explains the cultural sentiment of original residents saying “as neighborhoods shift or gentrify, new residents are able to feel the “grit” without having to deal with the reasons for it, including poverty and prior disinvestment.”

The hip neighborhood of Alberta in Portland - one of the most gentrified cities in the United States

By now there should appear a certain ideological trend in the thought process of a settler-state society which has manifested into the physical concept of environmental gentrification and gentrification in general. Partially stemming from the early years of the National Park Service and carrying through for generations to come in different environmental contexts, the “white man” has assumed the role of determining the allocation of resources while believing and reinforcing the idea that he himself is best fit to do so without any need to regard other inhabitants. As Kollibri Terre Sonnenblume wrote in the Counterpunch article, A Century of Theft From Indians by the National Park Service, this white settler-state society is the product of an assumed “…culture, which gave dominion over the entire earth and all its creatures to Man.”

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jimbrown1940 · 6 years

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HOW BAD IS STATE FISCAL MESS?

January 18th, 2018

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

HOW BAD IS STATE FISCAL MESS?

The sky is falling, the sky is falling. At least the Louisiana fiscal sky is in a tailspin, or so says the Governor and a number of legislative leaders. The hue and cry is for one billion dollars in new taxes along with significant fee increases. Even the local papers are chiming in with headlines like “The fiscal threat is real to colleges” and about to “get real.” What a poor taxpayer to think?

Let’s begin by getting real with where the state actually stands dollar wise. First of all, Louisiana is one of only eight states that are loosing population each year. Over 27,000 people moved out of Louisiana last year. Yet far from reducing the cost of government, it continues to go up at a rapid pace. Three year’s ago, the state budget was $27.2 billion. Today, it has jumped to $29.6 billion. Why the huge increase?

Where’s the responsible legislative discussion about more efficiency in government? Where are the in-depth studies of how efficient current spending programs are being implemented? Is the state getting it’s money’s worth by handing out movie tax credits, industrial tax exemptions, and numerous other grant programs? Here’s what the GoodJobs Coalition says about the industrial tax exemptions:

The Louisiana Coalition for Tax Justice compiled all of the state’s property tax exemption records for the 1980s and published a devastating set of findings. The exemptions had cost local governments $2.5 billion. The harm to schools, the most costly local service, was the greatest. The state ranked last in high school graduation rates, while $941 million of the tax exemptions could have gone to improve the schools. Incredibly, almost three fourths of the projects that got exempted created no new permanent jobs

It found that local governments had lost $16.7 billion in revenue over the past decade. And the cost per new job? An astronomical $535,000.

The state just announced new interstate construction projects. Why not a speed up toll lane like they have in Texas and other states? And as I wrote a few weeks ago, the sale of roads, buildings, sewer systems and a number of other publicly built projects are being sold or leased to private groups in more progressive states all over the country as well as the federal government. The Lt. Governor is suggesting leasing or selling state parks. Why not give the idea a look? Can’t we even discuss such options in the halls of the state capitol?

How about a crackdown on state highway speeding? I feel like I’m driving in the Daytona 500 when I travel to New Orleans on I-10 or to Mississippi on I-12. Go 80 miles an hour and cars will constantly pass you by. Speeding tickets big financial rewards for the state in highway safety. There would be money for more state troopers and other safety needs.

Financial threats to higher education? Let’s be frank. Colleges in Louisiana, including LSU, have one of the lowest tuition rates in the country. The average tuition rate at four-year colleges, according to the Morning Advocate, is $5,620 with LSU’s tuition a bit higher. But there are scholarships and the generous Tops program to help. The average student debt on graduation is $27.000. Not a big loan for a college education with years to pay it off. Why are taxpayers picking up so much of the bill?

Many of these ideas are worth exploring and others might need to be discarded. A financial audit is needed of every state department. I was a statewide elected official for 20 years, and if I was forced to cut my budget, sure I would moan and complain, but I could do it. Budget information is power, and there are ways to both save and generate more tax dollars without raising taxes.

Leadership means beginning the discussion and biting the bullet. Time for the gang at the state capitol in Baton Rouge to step up to the plate.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9:00 am till 11:00 am Central Time on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

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