The Truth and Other Lies

MLK Day

2012-01-16T15:26:00.000-08:00

NDAA & You; The Straight Up

2012-01-05T07:49:00.000-08:00

Much has been said about the signing of NDAA. There have been wild accusations, on the one hand, and‎ downplaying on the other. There have been doctored video clips posted on the internet, which big name news outfits ran with as gospel, claiming that President Obama personally called for this bill to include the arrest, willy-nilly, & infinite detention of, American Citizens on US Soil for no particular reason...

Even as this dark practical joke was brought to light, the very news agencies that alerted the world about it, in the first place, are oddly silent now. I don't think that's unintentional, of course. There's big money behind both The News, if that's what we're calling it, and politics, alike. One might even suppose that certain 'news men' would enjoy the attention, or any of the spoils there of. But that's not what really matters here.

The language as it stands in sections 1031 & 1033 is ambiguous enough to need to be changed. I repeat, need to be.

It's not that it actually threatens the freedom & rights of American Citizens on an actual day to day basis, as it has specific language to prevent that, installed at the equally specific request of the Obama administration, in a word:

"The requirement to detain a person in military custody under this section does not extend to citizens of the United States."

What could be clearer?

This also deals only and specifically with those the President, himself, has asked to have detained.

"Congress affirms that the authority of the President to use all necessary and appropriate force pursuant to the Authorization for Use of Military Force (Public Law 107–40) includes the authority for the Armed Forces of the United States to detain covered persons (as defined in subsection (b)) pending disposition under the law of war."

So, unless the President gets a slip of paper with your name on it, and you don't happen to be an American Citizen or legal alien (It doesn't apply to either), then you're all good. For now.

Those covered under this Law of War deal are described here, exactly as:

"Section 1031 excerpt:

(b) COVERED PERSONS.—A covered person under this section is any person as follows:
(1) A person who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored those responsible for those attacks.
(2) A person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces."

This being the case, I, personally, don't believe Barack Obama is going to start sending in the Marines. Nobody is going to GitMo for wearing a burka in a Facebook modeling shoot.
Christ, the guy who posted his hatred for Obama, including: "...kill that fucken nigger & his monkey children" is still walking around loose somewhere, from what I understand. If not him, why you?

"The fact that I support this bill as a whole does not mean I agree with everything in it," Obama wrote in the signing statement.

Of course, there are those who love this shit in any election year.
It's a constitutional debate, they'll say.
Right.
The biggest news agencies in the free world just collectively tossed out a lie about the President insisting on the power to put us all in camps, during an election year, and it's coincidence? Not likely.
They don't even have to pick a side. Their ratings are sky rocketing right now, as aneurisms abound.
They're spinning you out, me out, US OUT... just like Wall Street did.
They're betting on either side & both of them, as long as rating shares go up, they DON'T CARE ABOUT THE TRUTH.

Then there's the real issue. The language of sections 1031 & 1033 is ambiguous enough to make 4 star generals, the ACLU, Amnesty International and a lot of other people really fucking nervous. Consider that these questionable words were tamed down from the original bill, authored by, among others, John McCain. I watched him during the debates on this bill, asking why, exactly, we couldn't have the military using predator drones on US citizens in Providence, Rhode Island.
He really didn't understand why not.

So, should this law stand as it is, we're looking at trouble. Not from Obama, although I wish he'd step up to something a little more aggressively, but beyond Obama. Rick Perry with the power to incarcerate at will? Not good. At all. He'd start gay witch hunts in all of the 57 states (his count, not mine) before sundown. Rick Santorum hasn't really showed his cards, but funny disappearances happen under theocracies.

My point here is this: The language of this bill NEEDS to be changed, and the momentum has begun. It will require a legal process and a hearing by the Supreme court, if Congress can't do it, themselves. But then, they don't have a great accomplishment record right now.

It's also no mystery why this spread so far and generated so much hate in an election year. Because the Media wanted it to. And if you think Wall Street & the GOP don't have a majority of pull there, I wish you the best of luck.
You'll need it.

Link to the entire NDAA is here.
Section 1031 starts on page 361.
Enjoy.

Chief Serpas' 12 Point Plan; or "I gotta New Toy for Christmas, Kids!"

2012-01-02T14:35:00.000-08:00

Chief Serpas' 12 point crime fighting plan has arrived. Coming in through my email, it was a nightmare of jumbled html, and had to be corrected before reposting it here. This, of course, offers little confidence in their new "computerized" crime fighting. Perhaps if they'd just sent it in plain text, it would have been legible.

Then again, while my neighbor was calling the 5th District to report suspicious & threatening activity on her doorstep, as Mitch & Ronal keep pleading with us to do, they referred her back to the General Dispatch number, rather than take the call, even though it's in their district. The General Dispatch number agreed, refusing to do anything about it either, and referring her back to the 5th District. She explained all of this to Sergeant Cutno, at the 5th District, who had answered the phone the first time, telling her to call dispatch. Then she had to wait for him to call back, to see if a unit would ever be sent out.

No amount of computerized equipment is going to make up for the lazy, disinterested apathy of the NOPD at street level. From my own experience, I have immediately been the main suspect anytime I've called them, including while bartending during an armed robbery. Six witnesses (who were there & also robbed) described the robber as short & black, yet they came within seconds of charging me with the robbery, despite these witnesses, and the fact that I'm just over 6 feet, and Caucasian.

There have been at least half a dozen calls made about the street violence on St Claude Avenue (Item # L42745-11), yet none of this 'Laser Precision' has zeroed in on it, to date. My last call to the 5th regarding this issue was answered by laughter for several seconds before a voice said "Hello?" followed by more laughter, and then "5th District...", as though some drunk kids were answering dad's phone. They knew nothing of the events, and told me they couldn't possibly, as "the computers is down." I even emailed the Chief, along with a CC; to Kristin Palmer & Jackie Clarkson. So far? Crickets & dead air. I would suggest that Chief Serpas & Mayor Landrieu apply some high tech Boot to Ass, and get the actual members of the NOPD AWAY from computer screens and other facets of law enforcement that remove them from community interaction. The murder rate has been on a steady climb since the inception of Serpas' 'reign' and the violations of civil rights have not abated one iota since the DOJ report gave a frightening & scathing grade to what is approximately the New Orleans Brute Squad.

For opinions other than my own, one need only read this blog,
( http://carolineheldman.wordpress.com/2011/12/25/the-dangerous-nopd/ )
to get an idea of how far wrong this department has gone.

Please, take a few seconds and read this notice from the Chief. It sounds for all the world like a geek who got his favorite toy for Christmas, by convincing Mom & Dad it was needed for a School Project, when it's only really gonna be used for fantasy football & porn. Like most technology, in the right hands, it's irreplaceable. But when the homework isn't done and the team is running amok, it's tits on a bull, plain & simple. Trouble is, we're paying for Juniors New Toy, and getting killed in the process, at the highest rate in the land.

Here's Da Chief's Big Notice;

New Orleans Police Department – Public Information Office
Superintendent Serpas Releases 2012 Crime-fighting Strategy

***Plan Attached***
(January 2, 2012)- Today Superintendent Ronal Serpas released the 2012 Crime-fighting plan for the New Orleans Police Department.

“The new police tactics we announce today, coupled with Mayor Landrieu’s Strategic Command to Reduce Homicides, give us new tools that we need to make a difference in New Orleans,” said Superintendent Serpas

The biggest advantage to this new strategy is the department’s ability to focus and zero-in on locations where crime trends are most prevalent, as opposed to covering broader crime areas. New software acquired last year, which is now in place, enables the NOPD to do this.

“The 2012 refinements released today, expand upon the strength of the NOPD 65 Point Plan to re-build the New Orleans Police department by being able to utilize several state-of-the-art crime analytic software programs purchased and installed throughout 2011”, said Superintendent Serpas.

“What is noteworthy about this plan is that we now have the unparalleled ability to use laser-like focus to fight both major and minor crimes within our community. Instead of using manpower to cover the large area of , say, a half mile, we now have the computer intelligence and knowledge to focus at the street level, many times no bigger than four to five square blocks”, Serpas said.

As the technology becomes more familiar with all districts, the department will better understand crime trends and criminal habits, and information will be reviewed and updated to fine-tune policing strategies.

Superintendent Serpas said, “We will routinely produce maps that direct our aggressive, professional and impartial policing in the areas of our city linked by homicides, shootings, guns and drugs in ways that are supported by best practices and evidenced based policing of hot spots models used in other cities.”

“Key to the future of this department is building the professionalism of the men and women who serve with pride and dignity”, Superintendent Serpas said.
“Due to the Mayor’s and City Council’s action on the NOPD’s 2012 budget, which provides stability for planning, we look forward to reviving the Police Officer II, III and IV promotional system in a unique partnership with the Fraternal Order of Police in 2012; promoting critically needed sergeants and lieutenants to ensure that our service is the finest it can be; and, by hiring the first NOPD Training Academy of our administration in early 2012.”

Superintendent Serpas' crimefighting strategy for 2012 is attached.

( Note: While I'm sure it's clever beyond words, this power point presentation re: the New Computer Skills, wouldn't open.)

WWOZ - New Years Music Fail; The New Orleans Old Folks Home

2012-01-02T10:38:00.000-08:00

Not to sound like a complaining asshole (cuz that'd be new, right?), but I tuned in to WWOZ for New Years Eve, hoping to hear some great New Orleans music. At first, there was some really trippy brass-hop, and I thought I was in heaven.
It turned out to be 'filler' while they connected to "Irvin Mayfield & the Jazz Playhouse Revue & Special Guests."

While all of these folks have great histories, the self aggrandizing of saying each other's names, over & over in to the microphone, seemed more like some TV Award Show gone horribly wrong. Whatever their major skill sets, a 12 minute tambourine solo, for New Years, really? Followed by a 15 minute emotive banjo solo? Keep in mind, this was all under the context of the longest, most repetitive version of 'Little Liza Jane' I've ever heard.

Reaching across the globe, via live streaming internet, from the city voted number one New Years Eve spot in the entire country, this was what the English so lovingly call 'shite'. Considering the vast amount of genuine talent & musical innovation resident in our fair city, never mind the bands like the Soul Rebels, who take traditional brass music to the level of Jimi Hendrix, when fully on, I was beyond disappointed.

I turned the shit OFF.

I'm sorry, but whatever credentials Irvin Mayfield may have in the jazz world, or even only in New Orleans jazz world, this Uncle Tom pandering to the played-to-death carnival hymns of yesterday, including the unbridled selfishness of relentlessly featuring every name of note they could squeeze in, doing the stuff nobody but aging tourists from the musicless suburbs would ever sit through, were certainly diminished, if not destroyed, by this sojourn into blatant commercialism.

Don't get me wrong, here. I WANTED it to be good, if not great. I looked forward to it serving as the musical back drop for my New Years Eve. But this was not to be. As the Monday Morning of the New Year dawns with our Chief of police bragging, not only about busting some poor 25 year old schlub for possessing a small amount of personal marijuana, but suggesting that he got a dangerous 'future' armed robber off the streets by doing so, I find myself closer to a Stepford/Mayberry in Hell reality than I ever thought possible for the City of New Orleans.

Were it not for the stellar quality embraced by the New Orleans Saints, in both performance & integrity, and the art & music found off of this beaten-to-death path, I would consider the possibility of chucking it all in, here.
But of course, I can't & I won't.

Join me in the following year, if you dare, in going out to see music that MATTERS; from the Soul Rebels to Ratty Scurvics & the Black Market Butchers, or Dr John sitting in with JD Hill at the St Roch Tavern.
Patronize amazing local theater at out-of-the-way places like Allways Lounge & Marigny Theater, the Shadow Box theater or Otter's Backyard Ballroom, rather than more commercial endeavors, like Professional Douche Bag, Pres Kabacoff's, ugly little orange mall.

Like any city, New Orleans has government, police, buildings and roads, and all the other accoutrements that make a city a city. But like all of them, it is the People here who make it what it is. And in that respect, it's pretty fucking amazing.

While WWOZ sells out with the rest of the Jazz & Heritage Foundation (Kid Rock? The Eagles? Really? That's Jazz & Heritage? Or just a money grab...), you don't have to. So rather than suggest yet another boycott of anything, I recommend a more positive approach; Go see the Good Shit. It's everywhere. And it's waiting for ya.

When it comes to the People, the Music, the Art & Lifestyle of New Orleans, never mind the food, it's the Greatest City in the World, in my humble opinion. But, like anything even approaching greatness, there are parasites hanging on. In this case, they are the usual money grubbing promotion shucksters, greedy politicians, crooked developers and thuggish cops. But don't let that stop you.

Gird your loins appropriately, folks, and head on out.
Life in this city is dangerous.
Its complicated.
It's amazing & it's beautiful.
In the final measure, for me, it's the only way to go.

Once you see past the commercials, its an endless ride of brilliant talents of every kind.
There's a whole New Year of New Orleans getting made, right now.
Be a part of it.
Go on out & get some on ya, ya hurd?

Lord David
Skull Club
2012

Here they come again....

2011-12-29T21:06:00.000-08:00

STAND UP

2011-12-14T22:00:00.000-08:00

Free Flight; A Spirit returns to the Sky

2011-12-05T19:20:00.000-08:00

Photograph by Jennifer Outlaw Coulson

CocoCoco Robicheaux; Reflections of a Single Facet

2011-11-29T21:16:00.000-08:00

Coco & Danielle, at French Quarter Festival

Coco Robicheaux was my friend. Which is not to say I knew him more or less than anyone else, of course. Coco knew everybody. And they knew him.

He had an amazing knack, one of many, for remembering someone's name & face, some particular elements that were peculiar to them, always something interesting. He saw that thing that stood out in you. And he reminded you of it, in his own way, and often. Sometimes in the strangest, yet simplest ways.

For several years, Coco lived in the guest house behind Dr. Fred's, both while my friend, Howard, & I were painting it ("I'm livin in the Red House, now!" he would proclaim) and while I was building the Rookery Studio in the garage there. One day, hearing some of my material through the open door, he told me, "You're a Voice."
We sat at the out door table, and I, thinking he was remarking on my singing, mumbled something or other about 'scratch vocals'.
"No, man, you ARE a voice. You got some things you wanna say. Every body is part of the Body of Humanity, but we all play different parts. You're a Voice."

I remember feeling strangely complimented and weighted down by this. It seemed like a gift and a responsibility, but then if everybody played a part....

"So, what does that really mean?" I asked.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to find some people that are Ears," he said, and went back to his paper, doing his New York Times cross word puzzle. In ink.

I met Coco in perhaps 1996 or '97. Mimi could tell you. It was the year she opened Esoterica on Dumaine Street. Her associate, Gina, introduced me to Coco, simply because I asked, "Who's the cat in the purple suit?"

His name was Coco, he told me, and we discussed the grand opening of that occult & esoteric shop in the Quarter, one that was far more than a tourist trap.
"Useful things!" he said with sweeping motion of his arm, holding that twisted cane of his. "So many useful things!"

That first night, speaking as just David & Coco, we traversed Aleister Crowley & Edgar Casey, Hitchcock & Hawking, Coco later offering his opinions on which of Valikovsky's books Einstein was reading when he died (Earth in Upheaval), how to hypnotize snakes, what color eagle feathers are on different parts of the wing, and the proper way for a gentleman to wear leopard skin pants.
It was only later that I learned he was that Coco Robicheaux (He hadn't had a last name to me until then), and few weeks later until he discovered I, too, was a musician.

Over the years, there were literally thousands of conversations like that. And by the early 21st century, a whole new venue was opening up.

I had partnered up with my friend, & cohort, the late Jimmy May, for several years, running Sin City, on St Philip St. All things run their course, and Jimmy wound up on Frenchman St, tending bar at the Apple Barrel, for Doug & Liz. There were shows at Snug Harbor & d.b.a., but the Spotted Cat was still a dream, and the upscale bars on lower Frenchman were just dark, foreboding derelict buildings. Jimmy insisted on bringing music to the Apple Barrel, something acoustic, local, special...

Re-enter Coco Robicheaux. His sets in that tiny room were, and are, in fact, the stuff of legend. Lives were changed, lovers met, hearts were elevated and the Truth of the Spirit was literally on the walls. And that was where it started... This grew into a scene, drawing musicians who craved this action, rather than the safe & steady gig, folding themselves into a new chapter of New Orleans music.

Coco, Mike Hood & Jimmy May on Jimmy & Mike's birthday

It was there that I first saw Dave Easley play both electric & pedal steel guitar like nobody I had ever seen before him. Mike Skallar, Mike Hood, Sam Price, Smokey Greenwell, Tom Chute, they all came through that room. On several occasions, Coco would not only say my name as I waked in, but urge the crowd to make me play; whatever my condition. I once refused, due to the guitar they had, and Mike Hood, laughing, said "Well, I know you'll play mine," pulling his strat out from behind a piano. And so I did.

Mike Hood & Coco, French Quarter Fest 2011

Many people are familiar with the various incarnations of Coco's bands, from his solo acoustic shows, to the full blown gospel version, every year at French Quarter Fest, where he would stand, arms extended to each side, there by the river, and invoke the Spirit for all of us, and in all of us. His spiritual leanings are no secret either. He rarely, to my knowledge, separated the two. This was part of his power, as a healer, a musician, and a creative force. Those bands that came together around it saw that the vortex that he & Jimmy created was demonstrated full force when Jimmy & Michelle were married at the Skull Club, with Coco presiding as resident Holy Man. They were all there, Hood & Skallar & Price, and Lani & Lynn Drury & the amazing Irene Sage, one of Coco's dearest friends. It was a session to end sessions, and they were there for the love; of Jimmy, for creating the space to do this, of Coco, for pulling it all together, and for the music, more important than the money or recognition such a group could have commanded in a public setting. They played for Jimmy & Michelle & Coco, and they did it for free.

Coco Robicheaux & Irene Sage

Snakes don't like choppy rhythm. And the Dali Llama likes bacon & eggs for breakfast. And if you tune the top five like Keith Richards and double the bottom like John Lee Hooker, you don't really need a bass player sometimes. I know these things because Coco Robicheaux found them out, remembered them, remembered that I love this shit, kept an eye peeled for me, and made sure I knew about it.

I walked up to the coffee shop, and saw him at a table, reading the paper, like a shark, pretending not to see the NY Times crossword, until he & his pen were ready to go in for the kill, leaving no hope to the poor boxes, doomed to be correctly filled.
Without really looking up, he announced me; "Lord David!" Then a peer around the paper & over his glasses, "Hey now..." he'd say.

Sometimes we'd talk right away, and briefly. Other times there would be comfortable silence for a bit, and then...

"You know, it was the Germans who introduced the tuba to Hawaii many years before the G.I.'s took spam there. That wasn't until the second world war.
Maybe that's why they figure so prominently in Hawaiian music."

"Who, the Germans or spam?"

"What's another word for 'one of many faces'? Oh, never mind... facet..."

And that was Coco Robicheaux. A man of many facets, in fact, so many of them that all of us caught but a glimpse, from a different angle, of the same man. A man who once crawled in to a cave, like Johnny Cash, waiting for the end, only to hear a voice of salvation, and spent "two weeks on a bus with Marianne Faithful one night." It was always a surprise, and it was always Coco.

Some might say that they didn't always like what he had to say. Many times, it was because of the truth of it. Some might say he never made much of career, but those people measure in money and that was not the coin of the realm.

Coco Robicheaux made music & art, it's true. And more broadly, he made friends with almost anybody who would join him in that, truly remembering, caring, making contact at a base level, where the heart lives. And there is something more...

Coco created a character with and of himself, stripping away the confinements of economics, upbringing, education, career and every other misconception that we carry like monkeys on our backs. He got down to the real deal, evolved beings, carrying spirits in the flesh, with no reason not to say hello to someone, anyone, as no person held more or less sway, except for how they comported themselves, what they were willing to find inside to offer back. How clearly he could see that, sometimes.

Now there is this legacy of music, of magical whimsey, of love & acceptance, of healing and seeing beyond the game, to where we are elevated by each other, hands joined, voices raised, the whole world, that bar gig, with everybody invited.

Coco Robicheaux leaves us with a legend, a catalog of music & video, and stories, oh god the stories; they haven't even yet begun... But this is also the proof that it can be done. That one man, with the right kind of spirit, can live that life, right up until the very last minute, and never blink, never back track and say he regretted it, never give up on living his life they way he chose to live it, pure to himself, to the very end.
And create so much joy, so much love, so many stories, and songs, videos & photographs, art & poetry, bringing so much happiness to so many in the process.

I loved him tremendously, and I can hear him chuckling at my saying so, as I do it, followed by "Well, I love you, too man." Because he did. He tried to love everybody.
And in doing so, he became our friend, our mentor, all of us, together, each one of us special in some way. He made us the legends, to ourselves, while he was here.

I think it's time we return the favor, don't you?

Coco Robicheaux's official second line will be held Monday, December 12th, starting at 3:30 pm on Frenchman Street, and ending at the House of Blues. There will be a night of music dedicated to Coco from 6pm-till.

Buono viaggio, mio fratello.
I'll catch up later.

love;
LD

Photo by Hubie Vigreux

A Message from Coco...

2011-11-26T09:13:00.000-08:00

The Passing of a Legend: Rest in Peace, Coco Robicheaux

2011-11-25T19:35:00.000-08:00

There are now words, right now, other than to say I am heart broken by the loss of a very dear friend. On a grander scale, the world is lessened by the passing of a blues legend, a world class story teller and spiritual guide.

Go here, then, until such time as somebody can do him justice, and take a glimpse into the amazing life of Coco Robicheaux.

Buono viaggio, mio fratello.
I'll catch up later on.

mad love;
Lord David

Mad Process, Life in New Orleans & the H.F.B.

2011-11-16T17:28:00.000-08:00

Every time I see Meschiya Lake on that Chip Forstall commercial, in close up, replete with the ink from her Traveling Kid days gracing her lovely face, my faith in the Mad Process that is Life In New Orleans is restored. A minstrel singing girl, from 'out there' somehow has the power to legitimize an Attorney At Law.

H.F.B. (How Fucking Brilliant)

Meschiya Lake on Facebook

The Open Mind

2011-11-11T16:16:00.000-08:00

The Open Mind was awake. It was everywhere, and everything, all at once. It had either been there for ever & ever, or it had just started to be. It didn’t really matter which, since things like Time and Memory were all part of it, so any way you went about it, things all led back to the same place. I know that sounds a bit dicey, and there are very smart people who have formulas to prove one thing or another or a bunch of stuff in between, but they and their thoughts and mathematics and matter and measures and history were all part of it, too, so figuring it out was like herding cats. As pointless as it is impossible.
So, anyway, the Open Mind was awake. And it was everything and everywhere all at once.
Almost…
Contained in the fabric of Everywhere were some impenetrable areas like little round ball bubbles. Some were quiet and smooth. Some were almost ethereal, as though they would become part of the Open Mind at anytime, dissolving in to the Entire Fabric with a refreshing breath of release, satisfying some certain longing that only the Open Mind could understand and appreciate. Of course, since Everything is part of the Open Mind, there was certainly enough refreshment to go around. Some of the little ball bubbles were hot beds of irritation, red and scratchy to look at or feel, and seemed almost to boil inside, like some festering thing, ready to explode. These were all part of the Open Mind, but separate somehow. While everything was part of the Open Mind, not all of it was under control by the same thought processes. The areas inside these little ball bubbles were special. They contained something called Free Will. The Open Mind could go and look around inside these ball bubbles by looking out through the eyes of any one of billions and billions of facets of itself that lived inside of many of these ball bubbles. It had to be careful doing this, because if it looked out the eyes of any one of these for more then what seemed like an instant, the others seemed to know, and act differently towards the one it looked through. The facet whose eyes it used would most certainly start acting funny. This could prove to be difficult and defeat the entire purpose of Free Will altogether, so the Open Mind would sort just peek around at specifics a little bit, from time to time, and occupy it self with being Everything All The Time, which is pretty much a full time job.
Of course, any one of those billions and billions of facets could turn around and look out at the Open Mind, and watch Everything All The Time, too, but they hardly ever did. Go figure. Many of these ball bubbles grew like seeds, gestating at their own rate, developing according to their own basic guidelines, until they became one of those refreshing breaths of release, blending in to the Entire Fabric, further quenching the longing of the Open Mind, or they went the other way. They became so involved in their own inner festering, that they just burned away until they were but a hard and crispy little crust, which of course, couldn’t flow with the Entire Fabric, so they eventually just disintegrated back in to the Open Mind to be redeveloped at a later time. The Open Mind was used to this, as Every Part of Everything That Would Ever Happen was part of it, too. It came with the territory. So, anyway, during one of these occasional specific peeks inside one of the more troubled ball bubbles, the Open Mind saw that there had developed a New Facet, just within the last moment or so. They called themselves people, and they lived on a tiny speck in remote corner of this particular ball bubble, which they called The Universe. They thought that Everything In Existence was right there inside their particular ball bubble, and that the inside of this ball was actually the outside of everything else. As ridiculous as that may seem, they believed it, for the most part, and these people weren’t very accepting about new ideas. They even thought that the Open Mind lived entirely inside this tiny little ball bubble, The Universe, which was really so small that the Open Mind didn’t really give it much thought, except in an Open Mind Everything All The Time sort of way. They also had given the Open Mind a series of pet names, in a wide variety of languages, some of them even claiming that the Open Mind had a beard and robes. Being well groomed in Everything and wearing whatever it imagined All The Time, the Open Mind paid little attention to such vivid descriptions, knowing that these people were only seeing the Open Mind in terms they could understand; as themselves. The Open Mind loved all parts of itself equally, which is considered healthy, even those parts with Free Will that became irritated by themselves, sometimes. So it had a look inside this particular ball bubble to see what these momentary people were up too. Peering way down into that distant corner, deep inside the space within this tiny fragment of a ball bubble, the Open Mind could focus on the little sliver they called a Galaxy. There, just about where you’d expect, was their little solar system, and spinning around really fast, was their tiny blue ball of a world. Now, these people, as they’ve decided to call themselves, were mostly limited to just a few languages, some of them only one, which was disappointing, but even worse, they had decided not to trust too many of each other who looked and talked differently then whoever was doing the looking and listening. They had, in fact, divided up their tiny blue ball in to areas which were restricted to certain groups alone, and others had to ask permission to go there at all. Why anyone would want to visit such a place is too big a question to deal with here. Most unpleasant was the fighting they did with each other. It seemed to go on and on and on, destroying huge portions of their Blue Ball, and killing off vast numbers of these strange beings who had only moments ago been created and crawled out of holes in the rocks. What was really unbelievable was why they were doing it. Their use of the gift of Free Will was to claim that certain people had windows through which they could look and see the Open Mind. They said they ‘talked to it’ and that it ‘had a plan for them’. This was just plain silly, of course, as the Open Mind had created all of this to exercise Free Will in the first place, and these people used Free Will to take it away. Free Will, that is. So anyway, these momentary people would point at their own windows, calling them by various names and in a multitude of languages, and claim them to be the Only Window. This seemed to be what a great deal of the fighting was about. There was also a lot of trouble over stuff. Some people wanted more than they needed, and they hid it away to rot, while others got none. Not being a very nice way to get along, the Open Mind would have frowned on this, as it spread itself pretty equally Everywhere Forever, but that’s what Free Will is all about. At the moment, the Open Mind is waiting to see if this particular ball bubble with the littlest galaxy and the tiny blue ball will turn it’s momentary people around and begin to nourish their fellow creatures, habitat and future, eventually becoming a refreshing breath of release, and joining the rest of the Open Mind, or if it will just irritate itself into a crispy little crust and fade back into the Open Mind, for redevelopment at another time. The word on this is not yet in….

What is it, really...

2011-11-09T19:22:00.001-08:00

I am leaving breadcrumbs in the forest.
Follow them, if you like...

On a Lighter Note...10 Most Bizarre Roadside Attractions

2011-10-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

America has its problems, this we know. As the battle for equality & control steams ahead in cities across the nation, lets take a look at some of the crazy shit we do & enjoy seeing, shall we?

For this is the true value of our freedom, the right to self expression, no matter how crazy it may seem to others. Sometimes, they'll drive hundreds of miles out of their way to have look. Enjoy this link to the 10 Most Bizarre Roadside Attractions.

Eris Parader, Willy Watkins; Halfway Home.

2011-10-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

Its day 23 of a 45 day sentence in OPP for Willy Watkins, who was railroaded as a scapegoat in the arrests made during the 5th Districts brutal assault on the Eris paraders, most of whom had nothing to do with the vandalism that followed some distance behind them.

What follows is an excerpt from a letter from my contact within those ranks. I find the idea of helping whoever you can, however you can, wherever you are, to be as sublime an act as humans can commit. It seems that Willy, rather then spend 45 days lamenting his fate, as many would tend to do, has been otherwise occupied;

"In a related matter, I've just heard from Willy... he still has another few weeks, but he's been so buoyed by all the mail everyone has sent, as well as the commissary $$$. Among the folks Willy's met in prison is a young New Orleanian named Gert who composes poetry and freestyles. After a week of doing field labor alongside him, Willy was so impressed with Gert's lyrical talents that he used some commissary funds to buy Gert writing paper and a pen (both of which are expensive and hard to come by inside Orleans Parish Prison) and has begun helping him with writing down and preserving some of his poems and raps. Am I an old softie for getting verklempt over that? Basically, Willy is a sweetheart, and the generosity you-all have shown Willy has even had a small ripple effect within the environmental misery and desperation of OPP at large. So, thanks... and please, keep writing!"

Details on reaching Willy can be found here.

We are living in a time of profound awakening. The effect of the internet on social consciousness has been a fledgling imitation of collective awareness, perhaps a simulation of what it is to come, as humans continue to imitate God.

Rather than doing this by controlling others, reserving the judgement of Life & Death, as so often has been the case, it is happening in the coming awareness the We Are All Connected, and the responding compassion that goes along with such an understanding. It is in large groups, too big to deny, and in the smallest individual acts, that this is playing out.

I would like to offer my personal thanks to each and everyone of you who acted on this awareness, by reaching out, offering assistance, spreading the word, saying a prayer, or simply imagining yourself in the shoes of those less fortunate than yourselves.

It is actions such as these, from those like yourself, that will, in time, change the world to a better place.

My heart goes out to all of you.

best;
LD

The Big Fix; The Coverup of the BP Gulf Oil Spill

2011-10-12T21:46:00.000-07:00

As millions, world wide, take to the streets to protest dishonest connections & activities between huge corporations, global bankers & governments across the planet, there is no greater crime, against humanity and The Earth, itself, then the disgraceful actions of BP, British Petroleum, as they first hid the oil spill in the Gulf, then hid the oil, and then finally, hid the truth.

It is still being hidden from you today.

The Big Fix is an independent movie, a Green Planet Production by Josh and Rebecca Tickell, that tears the blinders away, offering up the back room deals and the power players, the remaining horror of dispersants and some of the damage they are still doing today.

See this film.
Because you need to know.
Because it may be the last chance to tell America what really happened, and is happening to the Gulf Coast today.
Because you care.

Please share this invitation sent to me by Local Blogger,
American Zombie:

"This Friday, the New Orleans Film Festival is hosting the American
premiere of the documentary film, The Big Fix, which details the
massive government cover-up which has taken place in the wake
of the BP oil spill.
There will be a press conference at 2 pm at the Contemporary
Arts Center before the film is shown.
I ask you to please help promote this event on your blogs,
websites, publications, as this may be the best chance the
Gulf Coast has to raise the country's awareness to the reality of
the condition of the Gulf."

In this time of action & cooperation, please, spread the word
about the Gulf Coast, and about the Big Fix.
You don't have to camp on the streets.
Just come to the CAC theater, and tell everyone you know to join you.
Its time we stood up for what's right.

Its time we stood up for the truth.

Lord David,
Skull Club
New Orleans
October 12, 2011

Please Follow in Your Hymnal....

2011-10-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

Its really very simple: The People of the World, via the internet, have found each other to be suffering under the same situation; a tiny portion of the population is hoarding wealth, and using it to influence major governments, so that they can hoard more. The population of serfs is rising up. This isn't going away. Ever.

Occupy Wall Street NOLA; October 6th, Noon, Tulane & Broad

2011-10-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

What It Takes

2011-09-30T12:36:00.001-07:00

More powerful than any government, violent, or financial control, is the ability to experience mercy & compassion, for it elevates all involved. Without mercy & compassion, we are as but wild dogs, fighting even our own, for scraps too small to sustain any of us.

- LD Fall, 2011

Eris Parade Video

2011-09-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

Please take a couple of minutes and watch this video of the NOPD at the Eris Parade. Also, watch the squares that appear on the screen during pauses, and roll your mouse over them. Descriptions of what's happening, like "Macing Photographer" will appear in those squares.

Please also note that the photographer getting maced is well off the sidewalk, behind a car, and not a threat to anyone. The cop simply doesn't want him to film this violent exchange, although its well within his right to do so.
Then there is the young man the cops hold & mace, before releasing him. He has posed no threat nor is he being arrested. They just maced him.

If that's not enough, watch as several NOPD officers spray clouds of mace towards a group of young women, who are doing nothing wrong, whatsoever.

Finally, the bully of all bullies, an NOPD officer walks down the street threatening to mace any & all who look at him, a clear violation of the human & civil rights of every person there.

NONE OF THESE NOPD OFFICERS HAS BEEN CHARGED. IS THE USE OF CHEMICAL MACE, WITHOUT RESTRAINT, ON MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN, AN ACCEPTABLE FORM OF LAW ENFORCEMENT UNDER THE NEW FASCIST RULES OF AMERICA?

Why are the Eris 12 getting jail time, when there is evidence to prove their innocence, as these cops walk away from brutality charges, backed up by video?

Why is nothing being done about it?
Why aren't we bringing this to the attention of the press?

Spread the word.
Free the Eris 12.
Hold NOPD accountable.

Eris Parader Gets Prison Time; In spite of evidence to the contrary, Judge finds parader guilty on all counts.

2011-09-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

In the State of Georgia, a black death row prisoner is executed, even though evidence against him is highly questionable, yet in 2008, the same state commuted the death sentence of a white death row inmate, even though he confessed to committing the crime.

On the streets of New York City, thousands have gathered to protest, not only the sheer rampant greed of those who juggle our nations monies, but their attempts to have any criminal prosecution for this removed from the realm of possibility.

While these stories are, and should be, National News (except the main stream news is a complete sell out to Wall Street, keeping pathetically silent), there is a battle in the same Culture War raging on the streets of New Orleans.

In February of 2011, an unpermitted parade, which had attracted a vandalous element, was stopped and summarily attacked by the NOPD.
While an investigation was promised, none was ever performed, short of ridiculous & meaningless 'investigation' of their commanding officer, Bernedine Kelly, as though she were to bear the responsibility of her entire district, by being it's commander.
Since she wasn't even there, she was cleared, and no other measures have since been taken, an obvious cover-up by the 5th District, if not the entire NOPD.

Furthermore, the 12 Eris arrestees were still held on fabricated charges, even after their mistreatment at the hands of these rogue cops.

William R Watkin, known as 'Willie' was visiting form Missouri, and took part in this parade, dressed as Peter Pan. He walked near the front, and was, as many were, unaware of the trouble following the parade. He was not an organizer or a trouble maker. He was arrested for looking at the cops when they commanded everyone to look away, a completely unconstitutional order.

Even after video evidence was presented, proving it impossible for him to have committed any of the acts he was charged with, he was found guilty and sentenced to 45 days in prison.
While this is not a death sentence, imagine yourself going to prison for a month & a half, simply because you looked at a cop.

What follows is the complete email from another of the Eris Paraders falsely accused & charged, in it's unedited entirety. His name has been omitted by request, as his own court date looms.

Make no mistake; power, money & position have declared war on poverty, hard work & freedom of expression. Your rights are already being stripped, and at an alarming rate.Whether it's a permit raid on a home art gallery, an arrest for handing out fliers, or the stopping of bicycles to check for 'licenses' the City no longer issues or has the means to store, we are under attack.STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS.

And please, after reading this, consider writing to Willie.
45 days in hell is a long time, people.
Remember, people mysteriously die in OPP.

The Email:

Only a few of us heard, mostly by chance and at the last moment, that one of the 12 Eris arrestees had his trial last Friday. We showed up and watched his lawyer try the case in fine style. The charges against Willy were ludicrous, and fortunately there was clear video evidence showing Willy's arrest-- showing that at no time was he anywhere near the officer whom he's alleged to have shoved, which single fabricated shoving originated all 3 of his charges.

So the lawyer presented the case well, and then NOPD took the stand and contradicted themselves and each other and their own written reports, and the video showed it all unambiguously, and the lawyers summed everything up in their closing arguments.

But none of it mattered, because Willy got a really bad judge. The judge rolled her eyes and looked away in boredom-- closed her eyes, even, during the presentation of evidence. She sneered at Willy, berated his lawyers, and huffed in impatient adolescent exasperation at each motion or objection from the defense. As soon as protocol permitted, she declared Willy summarily guilty on all three counts.

The lawyers pleaded for clemency in sentencing, citing Willy's clean record, and she shouted at them some more and bared her teeth like a cornered possum and gave Willy 45 days in the House of Detention for his three bullshit misdemeanors. He was cuffed right where he sat, his lawyer was given the chance to take off Willy's bowtie and empty Willy's pockets, and then we were all kicked out the courtroom, just because, and Willy went in shackles down the back stairway to the prison bus with all the other poor orange-jumpsuited bastards who had the misfortune to be in Judge Robin Pittman's courtroom that day.

I know we all know the system is fucked, it's unfair, etc., but I really do need to specially mention that Robin Pittman is vile and literally, medically, provably insane. She is not just a "mean judge," she is a mean judge who is off her rocker. Her jaw-dropping displays of viciousness, paranoia and immaturity, her talking on her cell phone and reading her bible during trials, her ugly, unprovoked and unprofessional insults towards the defense (not just Willy's, everyone's) and above all her histrionic savagery towards the human wreckage dragged before her in chains daily make Pittman not merely a bad judge, but a sad, bad, mad judge, the most pathetic and repugnant specimen among the whole twisted pantheon... the unhinged and monstrous Queen of Hearts holding forth in her bizarre, Kafka-like crawlspace courtroom, a "blind and aimless Fury" ruling the rafters of our criminal courthouse's nightmarish Wonderland.

So that's Pittman, and that's why Willy is in prison right now. I can't speak for Willy, but I would rather do 45 days in prison than have to spend a single day inside Judge Pittman's head. Being her is a terrible punishment, and it's HD video crystal-clear how deeply unhappy she is. She is not the smug patrician haughtily handing out hell, she is the deranged sufferer, the clawing ravening sufferer who is frenziedly punishing the rest of the world with every drop of power she's permitted. I don't believe in karma, but I do believe we have the means to make ourselves miserable, and Pittman is a horrifying living example of that-- raving and grimacing, shrieking and glowering, embarrassing and delegitimizing not only herself but any system that would make her its representative.

There is a great deal to be said about this whole Eris debacle, and how it's been handled (or not handled). I personally feel there is enormous and genuine goodwill towards the arrestees from the community at large, goodwill that has gone frustratingly untapped. There have been so many missed opportunities, to get help, to tell the paraders' side of things, to form alliances with the street musicians and Mardi Gras Indians and others who've been fighting this same battle for far longer. People WANT to help, people WANT to know what's going on, but they haven't been given the means, which compounds everyone's alienation... the result is the disempowering sense of being stuck outside a tragedy, unable to be of use. But that is a different e-mail.

Let's help Willy. This sweet young man, a homeowner from Missouri who visited us for Carnival, who dressed as Peter Pan for Eris and doesn't have a mean bone in his body, has been absolutely screwed over by our system. He's certainly a lesser victim compared to the lives our justice system grinds up and throws away daily, but he's still a victim, and he's one I've gotten know and like. He wasn't one of the "bad elements" using soap to draw penises on cars; he was just in the wrong place in the wrong time, and, as shown in the video, did nothing worse than turn and face one of the police officers attacking the crowd. For that, he was tackled, stomped, tazed, and falsely charged. Yes, he was foolish to turn and look at the police when the fleeing crowd had been commanded to face the other direction ("I don't wanna see no faces, I wanna see backs!") but it was only ignorance; he didn't know how our NOPD is.

Anyone who witnessed the quiet dignity, earnest goodwill and courage with which Willy conducted himself in the face of Judge Pittman's violent imprecations and bullying would be moved.

Now Willy's in prison, and will be for some weeks. As a visitor, he doesn't have a lot of close friends here. The House of Detention can be a scary place, and everything scary is worse when you are, or feel, alone.

If you could write him a letter, donate money towards his fines, and/or put some cash in his commissary so he can have an occasional magazine to read or a meal that isn't baloney sandwiches, you would be doing something worthwhile for a guy who needs it.

45 days isn't a long sentence until you're the one serving it, in the round-the-clock deafening, round-the-clock floodlit uniformly hard-surfaced mouldering medieval cages of our parish prison, in windowless fluorescent-flickering metal crates where time and the cycles of day or night lose meaning, where there is only one harsh, cacophonously echoing endless eternal now, a blur of unhappy angry people in an untenable and inhuman situation. Boredom, discomfort, hunger, thirst, heat, cold, fear, uncertainty, exhaustion, and nothing ahead but more of the same. What if they DON'T let you out when they're supposed to? What if someone attacks you, and you defend yourself, and you get hit with additional time? What if you get sick? What if one of the times you get stored down in the peeling-paint transitional cells in the basements where no-one can hear you, they forget about you?

The house of detention is no vacation, least of all for someone who lacks local connections and support networks. Willy needs our support.

WRITING TO WILLY

This would be lovely. Wouldn't you want a letter from the outside world, some personal note to let you know you're not as isolated as you feel? Something inane and friendly, cheerful and encouraging, something from a friend or from a stranger taking the time to let you know that you're missed and valued... think what that would mean to you.
You may send Willy mail at this address:

William R Watkin
Folder 2303771
3000 Perdido Street,
New Orleans, Louisiana, 70119

There is a big list of what you CANNOT send Willy here: http://www.opcso.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=58&Itemid=182 Basically, nothing but letters, money orders, and photographs (!) . No books, magazines, or 'zines, no toiletries, food, or tobacco, no clothing, no envelopes, no stationary, stamps or writing utensils... any of those things Willy wants, he must purchase, if he can, at exorbitant profiteering prices from the prison Commissary.

PUTTING MONEY IN WILLY'S COMMISSARY

Willy, an avid and ambitious leisure reader, can't be sent reading material besides personal letters. He will not have the means to write letters to his loving sweetheart back in Missouri or his frantically worrying parents, nor will he have access to remotely wholesome or even pleasurable, good-tasting food, unless money is put in his commissary account.

You can put money in his commissary by mailing Willy a signed money order with his name (William Watkins) and his folder number (2303771) on it, or more easily by visiting the Sherriff's office (that same "temporary" trailer behind the jail where you go to bail people out) and using one of their anti-ATM devices there on-site, or most easily of all by visiting http://www.tigerdeposits.com/ and following the fairly straight-forward steps. "Watkins, William R." is of course in Louisiana >> Orleans Parish >> Orleans Parish Prison. Note that in accordance with the standard predatory capitalism of our privatized prison system, the helpful folks at "Tiger Correctional Services" will charge you a 7.0 percent fee.

If your experience with Tiger Correctional Services really turns you on, you'll no doubt be gratified upon the conclusion of your transaction at the opportunity to follow them on twitter or "like" them on facebook. They just posted a picture album of their staff enjoying fresh-caught trout at a fishing tournament. I bet that trout was delicious! Delicious, and yet not half as delicious as the roaring blackout nihilism viewing the photo gallery engenders.

DONATING MONEY TOWARDS WILLY'S FINES.

Judge Pittman assigned Willy a grand or so in fines and fees, but additionally, at the request of NOPD, she has sentenced him to pay reparations. Apparently Willy shoving the officer didn't merely send the officer to the hospital and require the officer to take several days off, but the same single shove destroyed the officer's new and (apparently very expensive!) eyeglasses and police radio. So, Willy has to pay for replacements, which are hundreds of dollars.

Willy ain't got that kind of cash. Please make a donation via paypal or credit card at http://eris12.org, or if that link doesn't work for whatever reason, or you don't want to use plastic or paypal, e-mail me and we'll figure it out. In the blessed but unlikely event that the amount thusly donated exceeds Willy's fines, it will be applied to the thousands of dollars of lawyer fees the other equally nice Eris arrestees have paid & still owe.

VISITING WILLY

After fruitless hours on the phone and web, I have been unable to nail down exactly how to visit Willy, because he's not in the state system yet the way he needs to be for me to get the ball rolling on visitations. This may be because he has not yet been assigned a DOC number, and may still be down in holding rather than up in the 96 tiers of the prison itself.

Rest assured, I will figure this fucking shit out (or the lawyers will, and will let me know). In the meantime, if you'd like to visit Willy, drop me an e-mail and I'll keep you in the loop on that. One proactive step you could take is writing to Willy and giving him your full name so that he knows to put you on his visitor's list. Willy gets along with just about everyone, so don't be shy! I am sure he would love to see you, whoever you are, just for the chance at being reassured in person that people here in New Orleans know and care about his situation.

That concludes this very long e-mail. Thanks for your time, and perhaps your money. Willy may be a stranger to most of us, but he is the first of the arrestees to get actual prison time. I hope he is the last. I hope the whole rotten prison cracks open like an egg, RIGHT NOW, and that all the unjustly imprisoned human beings inside can return to their families and loved ones. Willy doesn't deserve to be in there.

Roadside Attractions

2011-09-19T17:25:00.000-07:00

I ran into an old friend today.
She seemed to think something was missing
but she wasn't sure what it was
or what to do about it.

We sat & talked & listened & looked
from many points of view.

She was cheered by this, she said,
and thanked me.

But it was I who was blessed
in being touched by such a beautiful soul.

You the People; but not us, over here....

2011-09-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

So tonight's news brought the usual madness & an announcement that the 'Bandit Sign & Dumping Enforcement' was full on, so we'd better be prepared.

A curiously enthusiastic reporter stood at the corner of Chartres & Frenchmen, in front of a light pole covered with the close cropped & tattered remains of shredded fliers that had been stapled there. It looked worse than I've ever seen it. A tattered mess.

"This pole was full of signs, just a week ago, but local merchants have TORN THEM DOWN!"

I'm sure they're very proud of their new tatterific display, too.
A huge victory party will no doubt ensue.

Stacy Head rifled through a huge stack of coroplast bandit signs, mostly for cheap services, free cell phones, 1-800 Buy House & shit like that. Ugly shit. I won't miss them. "Its an epidemic!" she said. I guess, but so is stupidity in government.

Some dude (Steve Mardon?) in Mid-city displayed his LARP like Death Wand El Fantasitco ( a pvc pipe with a nail it in) Bandit Sign Ripper, with which he removes those coroplast 'cheap crap' signs,dispatching them, no doubt, at great mortal peril to himself & The Known Universe.

I wondered why only The Reporter went to Frenchman St, and singled out a corner where mostly music fliers are posted? Is she privy to some insidious plan to persecute Music & Art in the Marigny?
Of course she is.
Because there is one, and we all know it.
A few local fliers targeting a specific neighborhood are just a Public Proclamation. I think we should ask local businesses to allow bulletin board space at key points of our neighborhood. It would serve them well to be such a hub of knowledge....

But, oh, wait;

There's a punch line here that trumps all punch lines.
As each & every business who relies on this for legitimate advertising takes the hit, we close with this cheery tag line;

"Political signs will be exempt."

It must be so fucking nice to be in charge of the pie.
You can make everybody as miserable as you want,
and still take the biggest piece for yourself, every fucking time.

Paper Trail of New Orleans' Culture War; The Battle of New Orleans continues

2011-09-07T07:58:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, things float across my line of sight from both sides of the wire, an indication of Friction in Paradise. This happened just yesterday, and with enough passion involved for me to take note.

I received an email from City Hall, announcing 'The Campaign Against Signs on Public Property'. Great, I thought. Maybe those kabillions of John Georges campaign signs that littered St Claude Avenue during the race for mayor are a thing of the past. Maybe the endless supply of coroplast signs, a non-biodegradable plastic material, in our landfills, would come to a timely end. Maybe those kids who Georges paid (by financing their sports teams) to stand in the street, waving his signs & shouting at cars, would find something better to do than block traffic in the name of Another Rich Guy Who Wants To Be Elected To Something.

Then the patter began to rise about band & gallery fliers.
The email from City Hall reads:

"We are mindful that cultural businesses may host musical groups, have gallery openings or other such events that require advertising. However, the law requires that you keep signs off of public property and do not distribute fliers on public streets and sidewalks."

There's various opinions about this, of course, including the belief that this will seriously hurt New Orleans performing musicians. I don't personally subscribe to this one, as the only time I've attended a 'fliered' show, it was so packed I couldn't get inside. I think it more notable that music licenses are so often withheld in the City Where Jazz Was Born. I imagine no end to the attendances that might be seen, should the music be allowed to play in the first place.

Then there's the opinion that these fliers are legitimate art, and deserve a place in our society. This same argument was used regarding tagging graffiti, and begs the question of who decides what 'street art' can be posted, by the local artists or the Klan, or Koch brothers.
Again, the struggle to see & be seen in the world of art & entertainment is the battle all artists, be it on paper or in music, must face. Somehow, covering telephone poles with bits of paper doesn't seem to be an egress into that world, either.

And then, while informative, is it really worth the trouble to place these things on light pole, rather than on a privately owned store front or window? Certainly that works around the law while still allowing the fliers to be seen. And the very term 'Public Streets' brings to mind that fact that much of the public may NOT want to see or use this methodology. And theoretically, the majority rules, right?

This is when I got schooled by the guy who knows more about this than anyone I know...
Enter Rex Dingler of NOLA Rising.

Post K, Mr. Dingler took it upon himself to replace city street signs that were long missing, and yet to be replaced by the city. This lead to the hanging of more artistic signage, offering messages of hope, desperately needed at that dark time. Long story short, he encountered the attention of Fred Radtke, the Grey Ghost, who was much more inclined to roll bland grey paint over every single thing he saw that he found 'offensive', including entire traffic signs, if they held so much as a word of graffiti. Eventually, Mr Radtke had Rex dragged into court on about 50 charges of vandalism or some such rot. From what I understand, the judge found both the charges & Fred Radtke (who has since been arrested for vandalism, himself) ridiculous, and gave Dingler a slap on the wrist.
So, I assume Rex Dingler knows a little something about this.

At this point, I can hear you thinking "Fliers? Are you kidding me?"

But this is where we encounter the ugly term Rex pointed out to me, "Selective Enforcement", a standby of the Serpas Police Squads, and a handy tool for eliminating or gentrifying the culture of our city.

During the 2011 Mardi Gras season, a local hat & costume sale was busted & shut down like a wannabe meth lab, a book store & non-profit bike repair shop were closed, not by Quality of Life officers, but by the notorious 5th District NOPD. And most notably, the Eris parade was set upon by the same NOPD District, and hammered with chemical pepper spray & tasers, for parading without a permit and the vandalism of a few.
While 12 of the Eris paraders face charges over this, some of them felonious and with possible jail time, the NOPD officers who were under investigation for brutality have yet to be dealt with, except for their captain at the time, Bernedine Kelly, getting a quick wash, as she wasn't there, as if holding her responsible for the acts of rogue thug cops held water at all. As yet, the only evidence against the Eris 12 is the testimony of these same cops who were never properly investigated.
During this same past Carnival, Mardi Gras Indians were, again, hassled by police. Even though this tradition predates the permit structure of New Orleans by generations, here they are, getting messed with like teenagers drinking dad's beer in the school parking lot. Again.

While all this was going on, the Party on St Charles Avenue was in full swing. After Mayor Mitch announced that there would be absolutely no 'Parade Camps" on the St Charles neutral ground, there they were, back to back & side to side, stretching for over a mile, like some damp Burning Man village, with watchmen who stayed all night, and impromptu fences, so that one might have to walk a block down & back to simply cross their own street.

The worst these thousands of offenders could expect was a $100 ticket, hardly a high price to pay for a private street side parade camp. Not a single arrest for this was noted. Nobody got a beating or chemical mace sprayed on them in front of their kids. Nobody got dragged to jail, to kneel in a hallway for 3 hours, bleeding, while a cop sprayed Lysol on their wounds, calling them 'motherfucker' and promising off duty retaliation.

If the City of New Orleans wants to clean up it's act, let it begin with a fair enforcement process, and equal justice, rather than applying these myriad 'Quality of Life' laws to the very culture that makes it interesting, driving it further beneath the radar, and in some cases, out of town completely.

While I have my doubts that the Saturn Bar is going to get raided over a few band fliers, those doubts are fading these days. It should be interesting to note how many political signs appear this fall, and beyond, as we swing into 2012, an election year for both our governor & president.

While opinions are still out on the value of The Flier as a viable advertising method in the days of Smart Phones & Face Book, et al, let there be no difference whatsoever in the treatment afforded John Georges vs Wildman John of the Wild Tchoupatoulas or the White Bitch performance schedule.

There is a Culture War going on in New Orleans, folks. While some of this legislation is much needed and worth consideration, it still has to pass public scrutiny, so I suggest paying attention. Of course, being out voted is an American right of passage, I know. But the selective enforcement of any law, good or bad, to control & persecute a selective group of individuals, in this case, the creative classes, less monied & connected than others, is a sure sign of Fascism, plain & simple.

Without these creative efforts, New Orleans would quickly become The Mall.
Without the liberty for creativity, the prognosis is worse: A society unable to create.
And this is a sure sign of the oncoming Death of The City Where Jazz Was Born.

If we are to be ruled by such confining ordinances, let them be applied across the board. The very first time you see a political sign on a neutral ground, take a picture of it, and demand prosecution. In the meantime, get out & see some music & art.
It's everywhere.

We just aren't allowed to leave you a note anymore.

Step Up; life requires heroes.

2011-08-19T17:31:00.000-07:00

As I approach, again, the anniversary of my birth, I always
look for something new learned, some ground covered,
or some measure of progress, no matter how small, that
I have contributed, other than my own wants & pleasures,
by living another year.
It is with that thought that I share these words, spoken
long ago, but still ringing loudly where there are those
willing to listen.

It does not matter how large an impact that we make,
but that we reach out to make it, in some small way,
often & without end.

I give you the words of Robert F. Kennedy;

"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief

that human  history is shaped. Each time a man stands up

for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes

out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope,

and crossing each other from a million different centers

of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which

can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and

resistance."

~ Robert F. Kennedy, June 6, 1966, "Day Of Affirmation" Speech

Buring Man Mural for NOOMOON UNVIERSE

2011-08-13T16:40:00.000-07:00

Acrylic paint & stuff on 6x9 foot canvas drop cloth, provided by NOOMOON, for this mural. To be displayed on their Burning Man installation, NOOMOON UNIVERSE, this August.
In case you were wondering, drop cloth canvas drinks paint like the desert drinks water, even primed. Thanks to Dan The Man for the chance to let my imagination run free. Still, I painted what's in my living room...

Cafe Istanbul; The Hours or the Business?

2011-08-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

It occurs to me, after reading endorsements the Healing Center gives itself in their advertising & website, that such a brilliant model of future urbanism should probably be able to draw a crowd whenever it wants.

This should make it easy to do two shows a day, at 8 & 10pm,
and close by midnight.

Snug Harbor's 'performance hall' sells out about 100 seats at
$25 & up, almost every show. Cocktail servers bring drink orders
through out all shows.

Cafe Istanbul should concentrate on the quality of service &
entertainment, as Snug Harbor does, rather than go for the easy
money of another late night drinking hole, in an area that has
enough already, and doesn't really want one there.

I think THAT would more aptly constitute the "American right to
do business" that Sallie Glassman spoke so passionately about.

LD

A Vision of Life; Dream of Healing for Marigny Residents

2011-08-10T19:53:00.000-07:00

Just for a minute, let's pretend.

Forget all the politics, the connections &
What Chuck Wants & How Much Smarter  Pres
Kabacoff is....

Imagine that next door, is a Healing Center.
It has affordable child care services
(what happened to that?), adult education,
a food co-op, yoga classes, Reiki & Reiki
training, dance groups, meetings, Live
Jazz performances, plays, readings, poetry
slams, street university, art  galleries,
alternative food places, and herbal shops,
maybe even costume  parties....

You see how very BEAUTIFUL this is?

When the sun goes down, you'd see some low
lighting, and watch people meander in & out,
until 10 or so, and then have a couple of
hours of peace, if you can stay awake, and
then begin again the next day.

I supported this.
I still do.
But somehow, I am faced with a very different dream....

It's 2am.
I have to get up at 6am to try to make the
weekly bills, and come out ahead,  maybe
going out both Friday & Saturday, if I play my cards right.

But there's car doors slamming outside my window.
Even the muffled laughter and  normal excited conversation
is loud, because it's right outside my window. If I  close
the windows, it will get really hot, and I don't want to run
the AC. It's  a waste of both money & resources.

Besides, the breeze is already blocked by heavy curtains so
those 25 foot tall prison spotlights don't light up my room
like Christmas.

The door slamming will go on for another two hours.

It starts when the show ends at 2am (if they don't run late)
and then there's an  hour period to 'cool down'. Of course,
I'm guessing when those people find out they only have an
hour left to drink, they'll start slamming them, like people
everywhere do at last call.
As a bartender, we used to yell "Last Call!" just to get business up.
It's  amazing.

So, anyway, at 3am, when they're done 'cooling down', anywhere from
20 to 200 hundred people are going to "gradually and in small groups"
be allowed to leave. Maybe this will take less than an hour. Maybe not.

Now its almost 4am, and I'm hoping they'll remember to turn off those
ridiculous lights, but what the hell....
I have to get up in 2 hours anyway.

I'll never make it through 6 o'clock tomorrow night, though,
and that's happened already this  week. Less work means less money,
but I'm exhausted. So obviously I won't be going out at all.
In fact, I really don't feel very well at all, as I haven't slept
through the  night yet this week.

Now, tell me about the Healing Center, unifying & healing the
neighborhood.
Or is it Pres & Sallie, knowing full well that the River Front
Development is  coming (I'm surprised they haven't taken credit for it),
and they now have the  first full blown Night Club on St Claude, and
have managed to change the zoning  for any other great ideas they have,
including selling of parking spaces at all  hours, every day.

Maybe even taking their "Its only 153 sq ft" (lie) BAR to 24 hours.
If we couldn't stop them now, what makes you think we can
stop them then?
In fact, I expect one of them to run for office any time now.

Thanks for pretending with me.
It's time to go back to your own peaceful life.
While you still can.

Lord David
Spain & Rampart

Stolen Cup

2011-08-04T20:30:00.000-07:00

Gonna re-write history
wanna make it all about me
My god is perfect, yours is wrong
your salvation takes too long
On your knees or on your back
I'll absolve you for a Cadillac
I can solve all life's mysteries
save your cash and give it all to me

From the first time we were taught
the winner only has to throw the biggest rock
the lesson learned is dog eat dog
to kill your brother in the name of god
it's a bitter taste that takes its toll
like a stolen cup full of broken souls...

No cloven hooves or booze allowed
at the drive through window of the Sacred Cow
Those Golden Towers stand so fine
but you only get a cracker and a sip of wine
Some go hungry, some go bad
some take them with you when they go mad
The poor get poorer and children die
say a blessing on the corporate pie

From the first time we were taught
the winner only has to throw the biggest rock
the lesson learned is dog eat dog
to kill your brother in the name of god
it's a bitter taste that takes its toll
like a stolen cup full of broken souls...

Pick your winner, take a stand
Teacher, Prophet, Son of Man You
put a lot of faith in what they say
but what if they were here,
today Ain't got no job, ain't got no home
he got no camera on a telephone
If he told you to throw it all away
would you listen to another word he say?

From the first time we were taught
the winner only has to throw the biggest rock
the lesson learned is dog eat dog
to kill your brother in the name of god
it's a bitter taste that takes its toll
like a stolen cup full of broken souls...

LD 2011

All I want....

2011-08-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

Both Humbled & Honored

2011-08-04T17:40:00.000-07:00

I gotta call today from my friend, Sam. She told me I'd been nominated for the Ashley Morris Award.

I am both humbled & honored at this, of course. Ashley was/is a hero to many of us, and I can't think of a more touching compliment than to even have my name mentioned in association with this. It is truly an honor, just as trying to live up to the caliber of commitment & honesty he demonstrated is humbling at best. In the spirit of that honesty, I have to be truthful here: I had no idea people actually read this shit. In fact, I never think about it, including now. Like messages in bottles tossed off a bridge or beach, I try to find & speak the truth, push 'send' and it just goes out there, somewhere, if only to balance out the great many untruths that are tossed asunder every minute of every day. Whether that generates an award or a bullet, I just do it. Somebody has to fucking do it. Or we're all screwed. So I just do it. Join me, won't you? The great thing about honesty is never having to waste a second remembering lies, or worrying about being found out. So come on. You know you want to. Just try it. And yes, I already know that those pants don't make my ass look fat. My ass does. And thanks, Cousin Pat, wherever you are. LD

Surrender

2011-08-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

Surrender to the Divinity within yourself and you will know Peace. Surrender to the Peace within yourself and you will know Love. LD - 2011

Everything Else

2011-07-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

While the pursuit of catching lightning in a bottle may seem a frivolity, it can, I'm sure, be done. Having done it, even once, it is then everything else that is the frivolity.

Say Cheese! Behind The Scenes; Part 1

2011-06-22T12:20:00.000-07:00

At the F.M.I.A. (Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association) meeting last Monday night, (6/20) I asked Chuck Perkins about the hours intended for the new Cafe Istanbul. He responded by shouting at me, into his microphone, from the stage, in front of the 100 or so in attendance, that I am a criminal. He refused to answer my question. "You run an illegal club & I've been there late at night, sipping beer!" he cried. "You've lived outside the law for THREE YEARS!" I won't qualify this hysteria here, but perhaps will address it in a later post. In reviewing my taxes, state & federal, for the last three years, I must admit, if I'm a criminal, I'm doing a pretty shitty job of it, as I'm barely making a living, and still paying Uncle Sam & Pinocchio Jindal a small ransom every year. Whatever.... I tried to accept Mr Perkins rather juvenile tirade as a case of nerves, poor public speaking skills and a fear of answering questions he doesn't really know the answers to. While that may be unfortunate, its a little bit understandable, considering the scope of the project involved. Of course, it's also text book slander & defamation of character, but then, much worse has been said about me... ( I meant to call you, darlin. Really, I did.) The next couple of days brought things in to a New Light. Sources have brought to my attention the news that Pres Kabacoff has circulated pictures of me, behind my own bar, having fun, taken in my own living room, without my knowledge or consent, to at least one magazine publisher, in hopes of 'outing' me as some sort of ongoing criminal enterprise. To my knowledge, having a bar in your house is not a crime. Neither, I am told, is the open gallery event held every Second Saturday by the St Claude Art District, of which I am still a member. Let me say here that I have abated these shows at Skull Club, to meet absolute compliance with city permitting. Any other events here were & will be private parties, and are nobody's business unless they have been specifically invited by me. To my knowledge, Chuck Perkins has never been one of those people. It's also true that drinks were served. Both money & alcohol were shared in both directions across the bar, much like a group of friends tossing money in a hat to keep a party going. Were drinks given away next to a donation tip jar illegal, every gallery on Royal Street would be raided during every Dirty Linen Night, every year. In the end, I gave away more drinks & money than I ever received. Foolish, but true. As this, too, came into a questionable light, the Skull Club was closed as anything but my living room. It has remained such since around the first of the year, when shows were not scheduled, and after the Eris Parade Debacle, never reopened. At present, I'm rather enjoying the life of a hermit artist & musician. A series of screen printed poetry, a book, & a record of original music are all coming along splendidly. There's lots of time for my obsessions with cooking & horror movies. If you know me personally, ring me up, and join me. It's fun. Anyway, I'm really disappointed that Pres Kabacoff would smile his Crypt Keeper Smile at a town meeting, all the while attempting to force me into silence, or worse, by privately circulating these photographs, an obvious invasion of privacy and act of the lowest smear campaign. I'm especially concerned about how my hair looked. In closing, I offer this picture of me at the bar in my living room, which used to be the Skull Club, a Bastion of Free Art & Expression, where creative people came together, outside of the tethers of rigid society, to speak their minds and let their souls fly free. Post this picture on your wall, Mister Kabacoff. Let it be a reminder that Art & Creativity cannot be forced into compliance with your regime or any other. It is my sincerest wish that you will come to terms with this, and my honest hope that you will embrace the surrounding community, rather than continuing in your efforts to enforce your will upon it, especially with such underhanded methods. LD "I beg you to accept that there are no people on earth who would not prefer their own 'bad' government to the 'good' government of an invading alien power." - Gandhi

St. Claude Neighbors Wary of Healing Center Plans; by Richard Webster, City Business

2011-06-17T15:31:00.000-07:00

St. Claude Neighbors Wary of Healing Center Plans
Some fear developer Pres Kabacoff is running an
end-around to open a  neighborhood bar.

POSTED: 10:13 AM Friday, June 17, 2011
BY: Richard A. Webster, Staff Writer @ City Business
http://neworleanscitybusiness.com/blog/author/richardwebster

NEW ORLEANS -- When developer Pres Kabacoff announced plans
in 2008 to create  the Healing Center at 2372 St. Claude Ave.,
the community cautiously hailed it as an important step in
the revitalization of the long depressed corridor.

 Lord David, a local artist and musician, was one of the
first on board, writing  blogs in support of the project
that combines businesses, nonprofits and social services.
 Now, as it moves closer towards completion, David said he
was duped, that the Healing Center was "predicated on a lie."

 Its true mission is not healing the neighborhood;
it's opening a 4,200-square-foot nightclub called Café Istanbul,
David said.
 Standing on a porch off his second story apartment,
overlooking the Healing Center, David points down to a
55-car parking lot.
"Have you ever gone to see Kermit (Ruffins) at Vaughan's
on a Thursday? Imagine that but 20 times bigger, 60 cars
worth of drunk tourists pouring out of this parking lot
into a residential neighborhood at four in the morning,
every Friday  and Saturday night, forever. The only thing
they're healing is their own pocket books."

 David and others in the community aren't necessarily
opposed to someone opening a live music club in the area.
What bothers them is the feeling that Kabacoff and his
partners concealed the true nature of Café Istanbul to
sail through the  city permitting process.

It was initially billed as an intimate theater for musicals
and plays, that wouldn't stay open past 10 p.m., David said.
But a post on the Healing Center website described it as a
club where musicians would jam into the "late night hours."
An additional post, later removed, described roll-up doors
that would  allow expansion into the parking lot.

 The final straw for some came in January when a flier was
posted in the window of the Healing Center announcing that
the owners applied for a liquor license, something that
wasn't included in the project's original plans, said Paul May,
director of the city's Department of Safety and Permits.

 Café Istanbul will be owned by Chuck Perkins, a local poet,
and Suleyman Aydin,  who used to own Café Istanbul on
Frenchmen Street, now the Blue Nile, and Mona Lisa
restaurant in the French Quarter.
 Peter Horjus, who lives 100 feet from the center, said Perkins
and Aydin told him they intend to sell alcohol during
non-performance hours.

 Café Istanbul is in the process of changing zoning for the
property from a theater of performing arts to an amusement
place, which identifies it as a venue for adult entertainment.
Under both designations, the sale of alcohol is only allowed
as a concession during performances, said Nicole Webre,
legislative director for District C Councilwoman Kristin
Gisleson Palmer.
 Selling alcohol at any other time would qualify it as a cocktail
lounge.
 Horjus fully supports the Healing Center and is not opposed
to a nightclub concept, or even a bar. But he said he wishes
the developers had been up front about their intentions.

  "A lot of what they've done makes them look fishy and if
they want to have the support it seems like they should be
bending over backwards to solve these  problems,"
Horjus said.
"It makes me worry when people say they're opening a
theater when in fact what it's going to be is a full time
music venue slash bar."

 Perkins recoils at the accusation that he is opening a
bar or a nightclub. A prospective third partner wanted to do
just that and was turned down, Perkins said. His goal is to
open a space that will accommodate all of the performing
arts including theater, dance, poetry and music. It will also
be used to show documentary films, hold fashion shows
and present guest lecturers.

 The second floor, which consists of a wrap around balcony,
will be reserved as  a gallery for the visual arts.

 Kabacoff insists that plans for the Healing Center, including
Café Istanbul, were presented to and approved by all affected
neighborhood associations. But as of three weeks ago, the
presidents of Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association
and the Faubourg St. Roch Improvement Association said
they had never heard of Café Istanbul.

 Perkins, who admits they could have done a better job
explaining their project and intentions, later made a full
presentation to the FMIA board and reached out to FSRIA
President Reggie Lawson, who said he will support the
project as long as it obtains the proper approval.

 Jason Patterson, owner of Snug Harbor and a member
of the FMIA board, called the board's response to Perkins'
presentation positive overall.

 "There are rowdy clubs that stay open late in the Marigny,
so it's no surprise  some neighbors may be concerned. But
I have complete faith in Chuck Perkins,"  Patterson said.
"If they do what they say they are going to do, it shouldn't
be any problem. It should be a great benefit to that area."

 John Hartsock, owner of the Hi Ho Lounge directly across
the street from the  Healing Center, said the new club will
cement St. Claude Avenue's growing reputation as a place
to see live music. In addition to the Hi Ho, the area already
includes the AllWays Lounge and Siberia.

But if Kabacoff sails through the permitting process and
secures a liquor license, despite being within a few hundred
feet of Colton School and a church, it will raise troubling
questions, Hartsock said.

 "It will make me wonder how much the buddy-buddy thing
has gone away from city business and politics," he said.    

City law prevents a bar opening within 300 feet of a church,
school or playground unless, after public hearings, the City
Planning Commission, City Council and mayor award a
conditional use permit.

 Kabacoff describes Café Istanbul as one of the most
important pieces of the Healing Center because it is the
only one likely to turn a profit.  

"None of those other things make money. What makes
money is the entertainment part of it, and in order to
operate it you need that music piece, what we're
known culturally around the world for," Kabacoff said.
"The intention is not to run a neighborhood bar.
The intention is to have cultural performances in all
aspects of the arts.
But let me just say, if you can make a dollar, you don't
want the place sitting  empty."

-------------------------------------------

Please Note: When the 'Healing Center' project was
first declared, I was told there was opposition to it,
because it was alleged that Kabacoff & Glassman,
who run the place, would turn away from their proclaimed
mission of 'healing' & uniting the neighborhood in terms
of leasing retail space and doing "whatever it takes to
make money." Yet, today, they are doing exactly that.

Foolishly, I took Ms Glassman at her word that these
things would never happen, and that every measure
would be taken to include the immediate neighborhood
in changes to this program.
This, to date, has never happened either.

In fact, many others, living within sight of this building,
have never been contacted, have been told false and/or
misleading information, and all of us have been told that
we "should pay attention to the Healing Center Website
if we want to know what's going on in our neighborhood."

I am not alone, by any means, in finding it offensive
& ridiculous that these people would place themselves
in such a position of authority, while in truth, they are
unelected, uninvited and have little or no interest or clue
as to what the needs, wants & opinions of those around
them may be.
Further more, in my very first meeting with Pres Kabacoff,
after trying to intimidate me by walking up and stopping no
more than 4 or 6 inches from my face, he began to demand
to know who my landlord was, how long I'd lived there,
and how much rent I paid.
I openly asked him if he intended to run me off.
His reply was; "I certainly do have the might."

No clearer threat could have been made.

NOTE:
I AM NOT OPPOSED TO LIVE MUSIC & PERFORMANCE ART
IN THIS LOCATION.
I am, however, totally opposed to liars, threats, big business
disguised as 'healing', and those with large amount of both
money and contacts, side-stepping the laws that the rest
of us must obey.

While the Blue Nile Bust and other attacks on the art
community cost many local artists their Mardi Gras
income under our current administration, and, in fact,
many local artists still struggle with the permit maze of City Hall,
ask yourself this;
Is it truly an end to corruption in our local government when
Pres Kabacoff, developer under the Nagin Administration,
can side step the entire process that has held these others
back, simply because of his connections & cash flow?

I, for one, call foul.
My answer would be a simple, 'Not on your life'.

Lord David
Skull Club in Exile
New Orleans

This Is How You Fix Congress

2011-06-09T18:11:00.000-07:00

Ms Lolet Boutte openly posted this on Face Book, with a request to forward it. I am doing so here, not as a knee jerk reaction to current events, or some desire to hobble those in power, but to bring into keen view the widening abyss between what we, The American People, must deal with in our every day lives, and how those who we graciously honor with serving as our representatives live a life as minor career royalty, offering themselves far more than they will ever see passed on to us, their employers. I believe it's time for a change. I'm sure there will be denials, arguments, red faces and clenched teeth. In the end, we ask only that they live, as we, their electors, do. The worse they take it, the more they knew it was wrong to begin with. Please read, and perhaps forward, this timely request. Congressional Reform Act of 2011 1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office. 2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose. 3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do. 4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%. 5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people. 6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people. 7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work. If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people, it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message. Maybe it is time.

Meet Batman's Nemesis; The Summer Heat

2011-06-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

The first Tuesday of every August, New Orleanians gather at local coffee shops, corner bars, front porches & various outdoor locations for the Annual Kelly Marrione Night Out Against Crime. We are encouraged to light up our porches & front door lights, and collectively make our keen eyes noticed, as we cast our gaze to our neighbors faces, making note or contact, and to the streets where we live, again, taking some account of our surroundings, with the idea in mind that we can & do make a difference as a community literally having a night out, to gird ourselves against the inevitable crime that plagues New Orleans. The night, itself, is named for retired NOPD officer Kelly Marrione, gunned down in his own driveway in broad daylight. He managed, rather heroically, before fatally falling, to get off five rounds towards his attackers, one of whom later showed up at Charity Hospital, suffering from gun shot wounds delivered by Marrione, and leading to the arrest of all parties involved. It has also been conventional local wisdom that these August Nights Out, occurring just about mid summer, also bring our attention in this to a peak as Summer sends us indoors, behind drawn shades & the hum of air conditioners. It is the time when Summer Crime often peaks, due to the smaller number of people in town, and the lack of attention on the streets themselves. It is the time when we would normally let our guard down, and therefore a healthy & timely reminder that we must remain vigilant, even though it is not always comfortable to do so. While it often includes pot luck dinners, cocktails, long hours of reconnecting with neighbors and so on, it is also our local duty. And we do it every year. Until now. Today, I got one of dozens of Important News Announcements the NOPD sees fit to send out over their 'crime stat email' system, many of which have little to do with crime and much more to do with pumping the volume of hot air in to the Look How Good We Doin press balloon we've seen so much of since Batman took over running New Orleans, just like Gotham City. Or Nashville, maybe, where I hear they're glad he's gone. But that's another story... The email I received today opened with this surprising headline: The 2011 Kelly Marrione Night Out Aganst Crime has been moved from our traditional August date to October 11, 2011. Yeah, they misspelled 'against', but come on, they're too busy with CRIME to hit spell check. What really interests me here is that the decision was made because: "Chief Serpas' reason for this change was based on the intense heat in August and the health and well being of the many citizens and participants in the night out against crime. October is a much cooler month and we encourge everyone to participate." Okay, 'encourage' is spelled wrong too, but we're gonna roll right past that. Because Chief Serpas thinks it's TOO HOT TO FIGHT CRIME DURING THE AUGUST PEAK. Please note that besides the welfare of citizens, 'participants' may also get too sweaty and catch a case of the vapors. And we wouldn't want that. It's much easier to just put off Crime Fighting until Batman and his associated Robins are more comfortable in their outfits. Of course, Villains city wide will not doubt take a much needed break from the recent slew of armed robbery, shootings, murder & rape. It's just no fun when it's humid, and besides, who wants a sweaty old gun in their waist band? I'm quite sure that the usual August Crime Wave, due to the lack of income seen by criminals when the tourism has laid off for months, and the same service industry people (like a certain local chef?) have to make their way home, holding cash tips, in a city too hot for anybody to be paying much attention, will simply hold off until Ronal feels better in his outfit. As recent news has pointed out, Chief Serpas requires a more leisurely approach, trying out his new Segway, before approving it for the 6th District (because foot patrols are too expensive), unveiling the new $350,000 Bat Mobile to bilk DWI suspects at a greater volume (With no waiting! See the Special Man! Let 'em have it!), and charging Damien Weaver with Battery of a police officer with injury and attempt to assist an escape for his part in the Eris Parade, even though mostly, Damien was just tazed while in restraints. It's just easier that way. And Ronal is happy to be back in the Big Easy. Face firmly pointed at his favorite computer screen, press conferences abounding, local citizens shouted down when his community policing tactics have nothing whatsoever to do with the community, he fights crime in a comfortable and relaxed manner, his epically cherubic face steeled against the constant blast of air conditioning. Granted, all these toys must be expensive, but god forbid any of that money make it to foot patrols. Those guys might over heat, and then who would do the tazing? Anyway, I probably won't be seeing many of you out there at the local watering holes, front porches and the like this August 4th. With no cops on the streets, I'm sure they'll be plenty of other activities to fill our evenings. I, for one, will be marking the days off my calendar until this silly tool of a police chief, and the mayor who protects him, come calling for my vote. We'll see who's sweating then, okay Ronnie? Oh wait. Sorry. I meant Batman.

Letter from Damien; Eris Parader to be Arraigned

2011-06-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends; The following is a letter from Damien, one of the Eris Paraders to be arraigned as a criminal, having been tased multiple times & finally arrested, for taking part in the Eris Parade Debacle of 2011. While there was certainly bad behavior on the part of some Eris Paraders, it is my belief that Damien is being singled out to face a ONE YEAR MINIMUM PRISON TERM, largely because he has spoken out about being tased by the NOPD, for no real reason, even while in restraints. For whatever reason, this particular yoke has landed on his shoulders, at least in part. The fact that he faces such severe penalties and the NOPD officers involved have not even been cited, as yet, is a travesty that needs to be dragged in to the light and looked at hard. Thanks to Damien for allowing me to share this with those I beleive will support these efforts, and by doing so, support the efforts of a free creative society, here in New Orleans, & beyond. I sincerely hope that his arraignment is short, and heads swiftly in the direction of Real Justice, where he may receive a small fine, and the officers so bent on creating more violence, & directed malfeasance, collect their own due rewards. Please take a moment to read the following letter, posted here unedited & in it's entirety; " Hey folks so I am to be ARRAIGNED on Thursday, June 16... at 9 am in Section J. I am facing some charges that (were I to go to trial and be found guilty) carry minimum prison time beginning at a year and ranging well upwards. Like most things that end up shaping or controlling the course of one's life, the charges against me are, on the face of themselves ridiculous. But like most ridiculous things, they are also quite serious. These new additional and unexpectedly stiff felony charges levied against me amount to an allegation that, while parading in Eris, I forcefully interfered with the NOPD's brutalization of a fellow parader. These charges are false; why I have been singled out for such extraordinary legalism is still unclear. It may be that because I was so thoroughly Tazed-- for indeed I was Tazed at great length, multiple times, including while restrained-- the NOPD are concerned with justifying the taxpayer voltage expended on my person. After all, we are in an energy crisis. But now is not time for idle speculation: now begins the horizonlessly dull aftermath inside the gloomy Factory of the Law. Down along the grey corridors trod & tenanted by the ministers and under-ministers of the Law lies the great high-ceilinged laboratory of the Law, the courtroom, lair of the Law itself, the courtroom wherein the gnashing mechanical teeth of the Law will process me into whatever shape of kibble the Masters of the Law choose. Come, won't you? Come watch the Masters bicker over the settings and levers of the Law that is processing me. The piper-- or at least the lawyers-- must be paid.* You would so lighten the burden that lies upon my heart if you showed up with every other person you could drag from bed on Thursday, June 16th, at the courthouse, at Tulane & Broad, in a prompt manner-- perhaps 8:30 am. Come sit in the gallery for the Arraignment, brief overture to this unamusing farce. Whatever the outcome, witnessing the performance of one of these burlesques is always instructive. - SEE the magical Judge in his magic robe. - FEEL the other-century solemnity of the heavy-curtained courtroom. - HEAR the inane side-conversations of the DAs and lawyers on whose arbitrary actions & words my freedom depends. - REFLECT on these institutions & systems given so much power over our individual fates. - WONDER whether my whiteness & glibness will serve to carry me through this latest little tangle as they have carried me through so much in my life... all these experiences-- this storied & absurd existential theater of "law"-- playing out before your very eyes... free admission! and friends, when the (again probably very brief) ceremony of my arraignment is over, how bright the sunshine will seem to you! How moist the outdoors air! Come into the dungeons of the LAW with me, one morning. Flatten the sheaves of your wet hair, straighten the unfamiliar cotton collar: this is the closest most of us ever get to church. <3 <3 <3 *although my own lawyers are barely paid at all, a circumstance you can remedy via donation at: http://eris12.org" Thanks for reading this. I hope to see some of you there. LD -- Lord David Skull Club New Orleans http://skull-club.com http://lorddavidtruth.blogspot.com

Ronal Serpas reveals he's Batman; Is This Really Happening? (Part 37)

2011-06-02T22:14:00.001-07:00

This just in.

It needs no introduction, except perhaps a shot of something strong before you see the bill.

"New Orleans Police Department’s Office of Public Information

NOPD Proudly Presents Custom-Made DWI Bat Mobile

(June 2, 2011) - Tomorrow afternoon, the NOPD will unveil its newest tool to take drunk drivers off the road. The NOPD DWI Bat Mobile has been a long time coming—plans to secure such a vehicle have been in the works since 2008. The Bat Mobile was purchased this year through a grant provided by the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission. Sticker price: $350,000.00.

Officers Michael Eskine and Melvin Howard basically created the blueprint for a vehicle that best suits NOPD officers’ needs at DWI check points around New Orleans. The vehicle is 38 feet long and 12 feet wide. Two officers can test a drivers’ sobriety in the rear of the vehicle, while as many as 4 other drivers can wait to be tested in the front of the vehicle.

Officers Eskine and Howard will walk the media through the vehicle and demonstrate how the equipment works after the press conference.

Who: Louisiana Highway Safety Commission officials, NOPD Superintendent Ronal Serpas

What: Unveiling of the NOPD DWI Bat Mobile

Where: Special Operations Division Warehouse, 1899 Tchoupitoulas St.

When: Friday, June 3, 2011, 2pm (CST)"

In Case You Were Wondering...

2011-05-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

I believe in freedom of choice, at all levels, as long as no harm is done to anyone in the process. "Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the law." - Aleister Crowley But I have a real problem with blatant stupidity, especially when it comes from those in a position of power. Please do it right or get the hell out of the way. You're ruining things for everybody. That's all. Thanks.

A Monopoly On Stupid

2011-05-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

May 26th, 2011

Like hundreds of other people in the Marigny, I received the attached letter from Entergy, warning me of a necessary power outage on the 27th of May, which is tomorrow, at this writing.

Please note the warning that "During this 5 hour period (7am - 12pm) all air conditioning equipment, electric heating, large motors for power tools & elevators, etc. should be switched to the "off" position & remain off until approximately 5 minutes after service is restored."

I assume there must be at least some small amount of danger involved in NOT following these instructions, or they would not have been included.

In their infinite wisdom & caring for their customers, Entergy, the Energy Monopoly that so runs our collective lives, turned off the power as scheduled, at 7 am.

A DAY EARLY.

This is about the stupidest fucking thing I've ever seen from an Energy company, particularly one who Rules The City, unchecked.

ENTERGY, et al, you're fucking morons.

Petition to Remove Ronal Serpas - Silence is Violence Notes

2011-05-26T10:32:00.000-07:00

I received this email today, from Silence is Violence. I urge each & every Citizen of New Orleans to read it and take the action they believe necessary & appropriate. The contents of that email follow here in their unedited entirety;

May 26, 2011

A petition has begun circulating calling upon Mayor Mitch Landrieu to remove Ronal Serpas from the position of police chief of the City of New Orleans. With respect for the extreme challenges facing the NOPD as well as Mayor Landrieu in their efforts to make New Orleans safe, we believe every New Orleanian should carefully review current circumstances in local law enforcement, weigh the stakes for the lives and safety of our families and communities, and consider signing this petition. The petition is posted on our website (www.silenceisviolence.org), and SilenceIsViolence will assist in collecting signed petitions in an effort to bring our voices to City Hall (see instructions below).

Every police officer in this city accepts a herculean personal and professional task—the Superintendent perhaps most of all. Ronal Serpas took on a deeply complex and difficult job when he agreed to transform the NOPD. He arrived here at a disadvantage, given his past with the Department. This being said, Mr. Serpas has not managed to rise above this past, nor chart a viable new path toward safety in New Orleans. In particular, we have found the following actions and approaches to be counter-productive to achieving a safe city:

§ An inability to break the cycle of corruption. Mr. Serpas has demonstrated both a personal and a professional inability to break the decades-old cycle of corruption plaguing the NOPD. His personal entanglements have cast doubt upon his own credibility, and his lack of decisive action when confronted with apparent corruption in the department shows a lack of professional focus. The “You Lie, You Die” dictate has not been applied as promised.

§ Criminalization, disengagement, and antagonism of victims. Under Mr. Serpas’ administration, the victim-service department has been reduced to just one detective. Victims of violence and their families have difficulty accessing information, support, and any sense of partnership with the NOPD. This is a human failing, and a lost opportunity for natural partners in combating violence. Prior arrest records—not convictions, but arrests—of homicide victims are broadcast as part of NOPD-disseminated notices about their deaths: Hardly the way to convince families to participate in criminal justice, or the broader public to engage in problems that we must address in unity.

§ A lack of clear strategy for addressing and collaborating with cultural traditions and practices, especially street practices. Heightened and often clumsy (particularly around Carnival season 2011) policing of cultural traditions and practices has antagonized members of the diverse cultural communities who also should be natural partners for the police. We support the enforcement of codes. However, enforcing codes and policing cultural practices must include communication and collaboration with these groups in question, or the police lose valuable credibility and cooperation in the community.

New Orleans is at a crossroads, and the direction taken by our leaders at this juncture will speak volumes about their commitment to hear and to serve the citizens of this city, and about their human interest in our pain. Morale within the NOPD is at a low point, with even the most dedicated officers struggling to find motivation and support for their work. More than a distraction, the current crisis within the NOPD is therefore actively dangerous. The U.S. Department of Justice, and Mr. Landrieu himself, have declared that community engagement and the public’s trust and confidence are essential to successfully fighting violent crime and to sustainable reform of the NOPD.

The community is calling for Mr. Landrieu to provide leadership, to stand up for us, and to address the painful realities of violence in our streets and homes.

Signed petitions can be delivered or mailed, or faxed to our office: 2702 Chartres Street, New Orleans LA 70117. Or call (504) 948-0917 to request or submit petitions. There also is an online version of the petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/20/petition-of-no-confidence-in-new-orleans-police-chief-ronal-serpas/

www.silenceisviolence.org

30 Days of NOPD Violations

2011-05-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

I am sometimes asked if I cherry pick certain incidents to make the NOPD look bad in these posts. In fact, even as I'm sure there are many hard working & dedicated officers out there, too, it would be much harder to find nearly as many stories to illustrate that, as far as I can tell. And it seems that I am not alone. Please read this story by Matt Davis, over at The Lens: Shining a light: One month's NOPD disciplinary proceedings Unless you're sleeping in your patrol car, it's a real eye opener.

Love Happens

2011-05-24T16:54:00.001-07:00

Heartfelt thanks to Candy Chang for leaving a little slice of Heaven right down the street from me. "Before I Die..." Love happens when hearts are exposed. Thanks for making a place for that. XOXO LD

It's Not You, It's Me.

2011-05-24T14:42:00.001-07:00

I know I go on & on about the local cops, government, crime, etc. It gets tedious for me, so if you're reading this & thinking, 'Oh god, why do I even bother to look at this crap', trust me, I understand. There are those who tell me to just shut up, it will never change, I'm wasting my time & annoying everyone. And I really have no excuse. I can't help it, I guess. Because every single time I think of working people in New Orleans, from those stuck in cubicles, wishing they were Out There, to service industry people, wishing they weren't, and I think of them getting robbed, shot, & worse, while also getting illegally pulled over & searched, ticketed by hidden cameras, jailed for a joint & arrested, charged with public drunkeness, even though they don't touch the stuff, I also think about this; $10,000 a WEEK going into the pockets of NOPD officers, for doing a job they were already paid to do, while their Chief has his arrogant nose stuck in a monitor screen & the Mayor is covering the Chief's ass by quoting Jesus. Did I mention that the ten grand in question is OUR MONEY? So forgive me, but it makes me so fucking mad I could spit blood. Under the circumstances, I'm doing the best I can.

Murder in New Orleans - This is why...

2011-05-23T15:44:00.000-07:00

Last Winter, many of us in the St Roch / Marigny neighborhoods were appalled at the horrific & violent crime spree that left four dead, several women raped, a few tortured and string of robberies in it's wake. And this crime spree had a name:

Cedrick Berryhill

There was a lot of noise from the District Attorney's Office about trial as an adult, 80 year sentence, extreme violence, etc. You know the speech. We've all heard it before and will hear it again.

Now, a few short months later, there's this:

Cedrick Berryhill was ruled incompetent to stand trial Thursday and will be sent to a juvenile mental health facility for treatment. (T-P; 5/19/11)

So after the speeches on the news & photo opps, the TV appearances and finger wagging, a 17 year old serial killer & rapist is sentenced thusly: "The court will re-evaluate after several months at an East Louisiana Mental Health System facility."

The article states that he seems 'not present' and they're worried he might hurt himself. Perhaps a complete sociopath, who sees other living people as mere game pieces to torture, rape & kill, isn't 'entirely present' because the only thing he finds fully engaging is more torture, rape & killing. He just can't get it up for anything else.

Or maybe, since he was able to avoid the NOPD for weeks, while most of us were tracking his neighborhoods of choice pretty closely, he's smart enough to push out his bottom lip, stare at the ground and believe that he'll get sympathy, just like he did at the home that allowed this monster to grow into fruition and set him loose upon the rest of us.

Ya think?

And maybe, instead of being afraid of an 80 year sentence, he was quite sure he could manage to get to juvenile hall, or maybe even a juvenile mental health facility, where he could easily terrify the other inmates into letting him control the TV in the day room for a few months, until he can return to St Roch, and begin to exact his revenge in a more thought out manner, having had a nice little rest.

And maybe this is why we have a string of armed robberies occurring in Uptown New Orleans now, as one group of thugs learns from the headlines of another, that Committing Murder In New Orleans Is No Big Deal.

In fact, these robberies have now extended past mere armed robbery, to attempted murder, saved from the Real Thing by the acts of neighbors, racing to help (T-P; 5/23/11).

Call me crazy (you wouldn't be the first by a long shot) but another big maybe is coming to mind...

Maybe if the police weren't so worried about how to rip off the city with paid details for work they should have been doing anyway, if Chief Serpas weren't once again so glued to his computer world of technology THAT ONLY TRACKS CRIMES, NOT PREVENTS THEM, and going to hide in Baton Rouge while his best friend, son-in-law & body guard (why does a top cop need a body guard?) get busted in a city wide criminal scam he claims to know nothing about, and maybe, just maybe, if mayor Mitch wasn't busy covering for Serpas & quoting Jesus at town meetings, and finally, maybe if Cannizzaro would actually stick to his damned guns for once, (please grow some balls. The NOPD crime reports are mostly pot busts - again), if all those maybes would line up at once, great guys like John Flee & upcoming celebrity chefs like Nathanial Zimet wouldn't be found bleeding on their own doorsteps or in their own front hall with their fucking brains blown all over the floor.

But then, that's just what I think. And like I said, I may be crazy. Please make note of that, too.

Because if I ever get in trouble, I want a free pass to the day room, some sweet meds, and bus ride home in a few months. It's got to be the best excuse going. Except, of course, for one.

When I called the Public Integrity Beaureau to report a 5th District cop pulling his gun on me, I got this official response:

"The 5th District NOPD has investigated itself and found no wrong doing."

Now tell me, who's really the crazy one here?

Jazz Fest Arrest; Welcome to the Grinding House

2011-05-13T14:50:00.000-07:00

Artists & musicians are the very soul of New Orleans. There are festivals celebrating their work. Yet they are often treated as second class citizens. Tourists who come here to celebrate this creativity are the economic engine of our city. They, too, are often treated badly. Both of these areas of oppression are courtesy of the NOPD, the only faction found criminal by the Dept. of Justice. Read all about it, here: NEW ORLEANS JAZZ FEST VISITOR ARRESTED AT GATE.

State of Grace

2011-05-07T08:17:00.000-07:00

I don't care what you look like, but still you are beautiful to me. You hold on to me so tightly, yet I have all the space in the world. You encourage me to explore, and so I always wish to return to you. And when I go too far, your unconditional love humbles me.

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD; Hubba Hubba Tattoo vs Noise Fest 7

2011-05-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

An open letter to Hubba Hubba Tattoo:
Dear Joe & Cassandra;

I understand that you guys have a problem with the
Annual Noisefest, held at the home of Michael
Patrick Welch, his lovely wife, Morgana,
their child, and of course, Chauncey the Goat.
And from my knowledge of the area, I'm guessing
your back yards adjoin, at least to some degree.
I understand that this may all seem strange to you.
Or at least, 'different'.
Of course it is.

Welcome to New Orleans.

First, let me say that the performers at this event
are not merely 'some neighborhood kids' making a lot
of noise, but a stellar group of performers known
city wide & beyond.

Ratty Scurvics is renowned locally, nationally &
abroad for his inventive and otherworldly performances,
as is his dad, New Orleans legend Vince Vance.

The Original Noisefest was founded by the late Keith Moore,
also local son of a famous & legendary New Orleans
musician, Deacon John Moore.

The remaining roster, too long to go in to here,
is a veritable who's who of New Orleans musical
artists, from Ray Bong & Rob Cambre, both
renowned for their ambient sonic art, to Mr Quintron,
who is appreciated locally AND at the Smithsonian
Institute, DJ Tracheotomy, Cellist Helen
Gillet, and a new performance on crystal bowls
(how loud can that be?) including Josh Cohen,
legendary front man for the epically famous local
phenomenon, Morning 40 Federation.

While having this event next door to you for 8 hours,
once every year, could be seen as challenging,
think of those of us who have had Mardi
Gras descend on us, year after year, and still manage
to enjoy it for all it's messy fun.

There in lies the issue, I guess.
Life here is Different.
Believe me, I understand that it takes some getting
used to. I, too, am a transplant, having only moved
to the Bywater 17 years ago. I'm still one
of the New Kids, by comparison.

I strongly suggest, in a most friendly manner,
that you take a deep breath & look around.
I know it's not what you're used to.
And I'm guessing that's why you moved here.

We have traditions here that date back to long
before this was American soil. Especially the
traditions of Music & Tolerance.
This is a city of joyful celebration and it can,
indeed, get a little messy.
But that's the point.
That's how the gumbo of life here is made.

When looking at the mysterious habits of one's
neighbors, it's always good to remember that many
of them, myself included, found themselves suddenly
homeless, a few years back, with the grim
possibility that they'd lost everything,
as they waited for six long weeks
to return to this place like no other.

Upon returning home, they found wreckage beyond
belief, a life without fresh food or even potable
water, darkness bleeding in to gunfire, as the
lightless nights came, day after day, again & again.

We took turns supplying each other with water & food,
sharing blankets, tools, batteries, rides, watching
children as others sought out impossible medical
assistance. We stood our ground as gangs of thugs
took on the cops, watched armed hummers rolling
through the streets, enforcing sun down curfews.

And somehow, we made it through.

Now, with the New Mayor and a hit HBO program,
people are interested in coming here to live again.
And that's great.

Except when they tell us we're doing it wrong.

Why would anyone move to the "Bohemian Sector"
of New Orleans, as it's called from San Francisco
to New York, if they don't like the locals or
their music?
Why would someone move here from Massachusetts,
as I understand you have, and want to make it
like the place they just left?
If that worked so well, why leave it behind?
Why would one want to relocate to an area only
to complain about it?

I understand that creativity can be messy.
I know for a fact that it can get loud.

I also understand that your complaints,
that you'll have to close your business for
the day, for one, are unfounded.
The event in question is on a Sunday,
a day your own listings say that you're closed.
It operates from Noon until 10pm, with a guarantee
from Michael that the sound levels will be low
after 8pm.

I wonder if you lived nearer to Vaughn's
if you'd insist they shut down the Thursday
Night Kermit Ruffins shows that run much later
and draw larger crowds, often consisting of
obnoxious out of towners?

I hope not.

As for the 'defecation on Chartres street',
that can hardly be attributed to the Noise Fest,
if it indeed occurred, any more than the gunfire I
hear on Chartres Street from time to time,
can be attributed to the New Tattoo Parlor,
which would have, at one time, drawn huge
resistance from those who live in the Marigny/Bywater
corridor.

But we remain open minded, creating an atmosphere
where people such as yourself can come & thrive.

Michael Welch is school teacher.
His wife, Morgana, works for the Arts Council
and is part of a co-op art gallery called The Front,
a standing member, like myself, of the St Claude Art
District. We were all instrumental in turning these
neighborhoods from gangland horror show to the growing
art enterprise they are today.

And someone who has been here, what a year or two?
is telling us we're doing it wrong.

I don't think so.
I think "doing it wrong" would be launching a
collective political attack, including meeting with
the BNA & City Council, without ever having a
dialog with Michael, himself.

If security is an issue, say so.
Many of us work these events for each
other, free of charge, for this very reason.
The local Guardian Angels often volunteer for
these things, too, including parades & block
parties, art openings and musical events.
The City Council does not.
Neither does the BNA.
Nor will they.
Ever.

It rankles me a bit, I must admit, that folks
who came here for the flavor of the neighborhood,
would, without discussion, petition the
authorities to shut down the neighbors they
haven't bothered to speak to.

And it's more than being The People Who Shut Down
The Music for the rest of your stay here.
And believe me, that one will stick for a decade.

Imagine another hurricane.
The season comes from June 1st to November 1st,
every single year. That's half the calendar year,
by the way.

Who will you call when your car won't start & the
phones & power are all out?
The very same people who's lives you screwed with?

Who's door will you run to when gunmen take your
wallet on the way home?
It happens here with alarming regularity.

For better or worse, you're a neighbor now.
Michael & Morgana's neighbor.
My neighbor.
OUR neighbor.

Welcome to the neighborhood.
I sincerely hope you have the best possible experience,
living in the place we all love & love to call home.
Not just because we live here, but because we rebuilt it,
with our own backs & hands, on our own dime,
while the City Of New Orleans was getting bled white
by political criminals and run to ground by renegade cops.

I also offer my sincerest hope that you find a place
in your heart here that works, a rhythm that sounds true,
and a way of life that you can cherish for years to come.

But right now, for the record, you're doing it wrong.

I'll be posting this letter on my blog site, so there
can be no back tracking later,. at least on my part.
I offer you this chance to speak to Michael, or the
neighborhood, in an open forum.

There's nothing we can do that can't be done.
All it takes is for both parties to reach but half way across.

best regards;
Lord David
Writer - Artist - Musician
Skull Club
New Orleans

http://skull-club.com

Leave the Light On

2011-04-26T18:56:00.001-07:00

"At the center of all things, there is light, timeless & eternal. Matter, and in fact, reality as we know it, are merely the fallout from the existence of this light, the very source of consciousness." - Lord David, the Truth & Other Lies

Cop School - For You, Not Them - Really

2011-03-28T15:31:00.001-07:00

I got this email today.

Besides being one of the stupidest & hilariously wrong things I ever read, it really pissed me off.

Once again, New Orleans Chief of Police, Ronal Serpas, is trying to make it your fault that he's a miserable failure at his job.

Please read the email, reprinted here, in it's entirety:

"The New Orleans Police Department is once again offering the citizens of the City the opportunity to participate in a Citizens Police Academy. I the classes are (12) twelve weeks. Each citizen will attend a (2) hour class, starting at 6:00pm, every Wednesday night of each week. The classes do not involve any physical activity it is an informative class focusing on your observation of criminal activity and crime patterns. Anyone interested or if you know of anyone that wants to attend please contact me, Sgt. Roderick B. franklin,Sr., at rbfranklin@nola.com or Officer Matthew Alsina at mlalsina@cityofno.com or call us at the 5th District station at (504) 658-6050. Please include your name, address and contact information. There are limited spots available for this class. There is a tentative start date for the class to begin on April 13, 2011."

Please be assured that the lack of police work done in the future, and the sheer failure of investigators to convince anybody to come forward and face murderous retribution by thugs and/or cops (hard to tell apart sometimes) will be blamed on OUR NOT GOING TO THEIR COP SCHOOL.

Let's face it, this is a 12 week class in how to snitch out any neighbor that pisses you off.

I also got this charming invitation:

"YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND…A COMMUNITY CRIME WALK IN THE ST.ROCH NEIGHBORHOOD with MEMBERS OF THE NEW ORLEANS POLICE DEPARTMENT and ELECTED DIGNATARIES

ON MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2010

Formation Location and Time

4:45PM at St. Claude and St. Roch

The Walk Will Begin @ 5:00PM throughout the St. Roch Neighborhood"

I really would like to know why the cops are afraid to do this without our help.

I know many of us are better armed, and certainly most of us are smarter, but for god's sake, they have the power of

ELECTED DIGNITARIES to protect them.

I wonder if any of those useless suits realize that many of the citizens of the St Roch Area do this Community Walk on a daily basis, mostly because THEY FUCKING LIVE THERE....?

Dear NOPD: Stop trying to get other people to do your damn job. You suck at it, we know, and, in fact, have a Department of Justice Report to support those allegations. All the same, DO YOUR DAMN JOB, and stop trying to guilt us (or yell at us, as Chief Serpas likes to do at 'town meetings') into doing your work while you park illegally in the cross walk and suck down coffee with three sugars in it (yes, I was watching YOU).

Furthermore, it may SEEM like a big deal to actually get out of your car & walk around ANYWHERE, never mind these hot zones, like the St Roch park (read; open air drug & murder mart), but guess what? Even the children that live there have to do it every day. So quit crying and asking us for back up. Or just quit.

This also goes for those ELECTED DIGNITARIES.

Do your fucking job, or get the boot on the next election day.

We're sick of this crap where you think you've become somebody.

We can take that chair away as fast as we gave it.

Get to work.

All of ya.

(PS, And learn to fucking spell, fer chrissakes)

Show Me The Money

2011-03-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, I read a story in the Time-picayune that addressed the violent crime problem building in the St Roch district, just across St Claude Avenue from the Marigny. The title refers to an "explosion of violence", but those living in the area know this has been building up for quite some time. Of particular concern is the area at the Johnson Street end of St Roch park. This community park was created to provide some sort of outdoor recreational area for the local kids, and young adults. This particular area is now best known as both an open air drug market & the site where Terrance Dennis, just 19 years old, was gunned down, murdered right out in the open, by an assailant who chased him down a public street, firing at him with an assault rifle. While this sounds like something from an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, it represents current living conditions in the St Roch; Living in Fear. On last nights news I listened & heard the City's plans for more traffic cameras, now that they've been approved for use (again), and that they can provide millions of dollars annually to the City of New Orleans, through fines for speeding, running red lights, school zone violations, etc. Personally, my one ticket for doing 28 in a 20 MPH school zone, clocked in at $110.00, and was a bit excessive by my standards. I was speeding, however, so I paid it and moved on. Slowly. And I wondered why so many of these were planned, when a single pair of pole top cameras in the St Roch park might save dozens of lives, and relieve an area of the city of the blight & violence associated with this drug market/turf war that so hinders life there... In my work travels yesterday, I twice encountered NOPD officers, 2 in one location and 3 or 4 in another, both times, just over a minor hilltop in the road, checking for brake tag violations or illegal license plates, perhaps the occasional seat belt violation. Again, I wondered why they would be doing this when murder waits, just a moment away, at the Johnson Street end of St Roch park. Couldn't a detail of two officers at a time simply monitor that end of St Roch Park, rather than hunt down brake tag violators? Today, I looked through the NOLA Alert Crime Blast emails, and there was a list of the many interactions the NOPD has had over the last week. I saw lists of traffic stops, minor arrests, many citations, etc. The latest Crime Maps from the 5th District came out in the usual way; a map of the week's crime, immediately followed by Today's New Map, so that anyone opening the most current email would see a clean slate of local harmony. Of course, this is bullshit. The Department of Justice report on the NOPD addresses these issues, directly; "We found NOPD’s emphasis on “activity,” defined as numbers of encounters such as stops, FICs, and arrests—at the expense of a more deliberate focus on problem-solving—to be an ingrained part of NOPD’s organizational culture." And furthermore; "The Department’s policies, training, and tactics support neither a community policing orientation, nor the ultimate goal of proactively addressing problems to reduce and prevent crime, rather than merely reacting to it. Within NOPD, the concept of community policing is poorly understood and implemented only superficially." The claim that crime is dropping in New Orleans, backed up by sheer numbers of stops & arrests reported, was addressed as well; "Officers throughout NOPD told us that pressure to make arrests and engage in sufficient “activity” to satisfy command staff and NOPD brass encourages aggressive enforcement of low-level infractions, and diverts attention and resources from quality arrests leading to significant convictions. Indeed, in 2009, NOPD made nearly 60,000 arrests, of which about 20,000 were of people with outstanding traffic or misdemeanor warrants from neighboring parishes for such infractions as unpaid tickets." So maybe you're starting to see the same pattern here that I am... Traffic cameras spit out tickets worth $110, at a minimum, and trust me, it's easier to pay it than it is to take a day off work, pay for parking, and sit in a courtroom for 6 or 7 hours, especially knowing that you'll likely pay it anyway. Crime cameras (besides the wretched history of corruption & fiscal abuse that goes along with them) require that someone actually pay attention. This means a trained & salaried person, watching, at least part of the time, to see what's going on. This costs money, and with little or no financial return. The same is true of the Brake Tag stops. Who wouldn't want to spend a sunny day outside, watching cars go by, talking with coworkers, catching a few easy citations, and maybe a warrant arrest or two? Meanwhile, sitting in a patrol car, waiting for the thugs to appear on all sides, or simply run down the street with an AK-47, must be less enticing. But that is, after all, police work. In general terms, I see an obvious pattern through which we, the Citizens of the City of New Orleans, are systematically watched for small detail infractions that result in giving money to the City of New Orleans, while an impoverished neighborhood, fighting it's way back to life by way of it's citizenry, mostly poor, black and/or musicians & artists, or all of the above, is left to deal with open air drug markets and murder in the street. So when I see pictures of Chief Serpas, sitting proudly on his Big White Horse, fresh from spouting statistics based on traffic stops, I think of those living in the St Roch, afraid to let their children play outdoors, in the neighborhood park their houses face, and I can't help it, the words just appear there in my psyche... Massah, on his big white horse, don't care for us folk down thisa way. Unless of course, that is, we can show him the money.

The Cliffs of Insanity

2011-03-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

Beneath the smooth finish of the placid surface,

something moved in the depths.

Something rippling and dark and ancient...

Some Irish Love for the Rat

2011-03-17T18:13:00.000-07:00

Nothing really captures New Orleans sense of drama, zaniness, history & living in the moment, quite like a parade. Recent ills aside, this is where it all goes down, kids. No matter what your age, sex, affiliation or profound social ills, Parades are Happy Time here in the Crescent. Today, I found myself looking out the window in to the afternoon sunshine, and, almost like a New Zombie from some B horror movie, set my tools down on my way to the door, grabbed my keys and Mister Bicycle, and headed out. Lower Decatur, where friends have shops, a visit to my favorite cheap sunglasses stand (they have them with skulls on the lenses, now!) at the French Market, a ride up Frenchman and back through the 'hood, it was a lovely repast from the crowds of Mardi Gras, but still, the buzz was in the air about the Annual Downtown Irish Club Parade. So, as the hour approached, feeling a little dreamy from my afternoon ride, I just grabbed my keys and got back on Mister Bicycle. I ambled down St Roch towards Royal Street, knowing the Mimi's curb front would be jammed, and stopped outside Schiros. The parade was a bit further away than I thought, so I locked up Mister Bicycle and began to proceed on foot. I should point out that Mister Bicycle is actually an Electra 26", a Rat Rod street cruiser model with ape hangers, a clown horn and rather worse for wear. Although it wore a single strand of green beads to this event, they were quickly snatched off & given away to the first of my friends, Natasha, that I ran into. Realizing I'd left without a wallet or a dime, I decided to forgo any bead collecting, as my own monetary contribution to this event would be nil. The Parade, itself, was reward enough on this lovely evening. Within minutes, another friend, Miss Mardi Claw, called out to me from the crowded street; "Hey! Ya wanna come up & watch from the balcony?" Well, of course I do. Who wouldn't? So I found myself thumping up the steps to the private balcony, a viewing place par excellence, and striking up a conversation with some out-of-towners staying there. Truly lovely people. A lovely spot as well,and another 'free ride'. It soon became apparent that many of these guests were unable or unpracticed at the yell, "Trow me sumpin mistah" and even worse at the catch. A pretty Asian woman, taking pictures of the floats, ducked when the beads flew at her, hanging on the wires above her. I snagged them down and handed them to her, showing her the extended hand required. "It's because they like you," I assured her. As the parade went on, beautifully so, I enjoyed the looks on these new faces, becoming more childlike, grinning and laughing as beads fell short or went over their heads. They became more friendly in their yells to the riders. Still, their catching skills were sad. I took it upon myself, then, to tap into the Abundance of the Universe, catching as many strands as possible, and distributing them on the heads of those visitors around me, and locals, alike. Mardi Claw handed me a beer, insisting on buying me a drink, and I went back to Bead Fishing For Others, enjoying the sport of it, as well as the pleasure of seeing their excitement, without the heavy feeling of collecting, receiving or accumulating for myself. I loved it. As the street cleaners finally rolled by (man that stuff they spray smells GOOD), I made my way back down stairs, handing off whatever beads were still in my possession, solid in the knowledge that giving is the better end of Universal Abundance, and enjoying the pleasure of those who thought the Bead Game had passed them by. Finally free of these material accouterments, I stepped out to the bike rack, to unlock Mister Bicycle and head home. I couldn't find my bike. Just as a wave of despair seemed likely to wash over me, I realized what had happened. There were several bicycles locked to the rack, clear of debris and parade droppings. Not a thing on a single one of them. Next to them was an almost bushy pile of beads of all type & variety, expensive & cheap, in a multitude of colors & shapes, wound around a plastic pitchfork, and several paper roses, and god knows what else... This then, was Mister Bicycle. As I made every effort to pass on the gelt of the evening's events, stringing parade schwag over the heads of nearby tourists & friends alike, finally handing off the last strings to some kids by the door, the Abundant Universe was having it's way with me. Well, with the Rat, Mister Bicycle, anyway. But still, the message is quite clear. As you give, so shall you receive. And then some. So, Mister Bicycle is downstairs in the foyer, surely gloating over the New Found Love that the Downtown Irish Club Parade and it's followers have laid upon him. He growled a little when I went to remove the beads, so I left them hanging on him. He'll get tired of them, I guess, eventually. Or maybe, just maybe, The Rat will learn, as we all may someday, that the act of giving, of sharing love & joy, of putting someone else's happiness, even for a few minutes, above your own, is a great joy in itself. And that the Abundant Universe around us refuses to let such deeds go unrewarded. Thanks, Mister Universe, from me & the Rat, or Mister Bicycle, as he likes to be called. He said to tell you he loves you, too. And next time, please leave beer. I think he wants them for me, so it's okay. He didn't mean to growl, really. He's a little misunderstood sometimes, just like the rest of us.

A Strange Combination

2011-03-17T11:07:00.000-07:00

This report leaves me feeling both vindicated & concerned for the lives of my fellow New Orleanians. Read the Department of Justice report on the NOPD. You tell me....

The Letter of the Law

2011-03-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

My recent inquiries into the ordinances covering Art Galleries, the Sale of Art, Parade Permits, and the like have revealed a complex, almost byzantine, collection of verbiage. Which is to say, in plain English, it's a mess. I can honestly report that Scott Hutcheson, the Mayor's 'point man on cultural affairs', agrees with me on this, and has made an ongoing effort, since we began a dialogue, of ferreting out what, exactly, applies. As a f'r instance, I found a simple city ordinance that makes it illegal for any car to be parked in the same spot for 24 hours or more. Picture with me, if you will, residents of Uptown New Orleans, stricken with the flu, braving a rainy February morning to go move their cars, like New Yorkers must do, or face tickets, fines, towing or whatever. The recently recited ordinances on Parading are equally maddening; "A parade is considered any type of planned movement, procession (or) motorcade where you're mov ing persons vehicles or animals on the city streets," Bourgeois said. "If it's a group of friends that are walking, they should be utilizing the sidewalks and following all traffic laws." So, if your Aunt Fanny & her best friend drive separate cars to your house, and follow you, in yours, to the next stop, you'll need a parade permit. It certainly qualifies as a 'procession'. And those kids walking home after school, all over the street? Illegal. Totally illegal. A daily crime spree. Of course, the new hipster bicycle tour groups in the Marigny/Bywater are repeat offenders, and the group Segway Riders? Super Villians, one & all. Bourgeois went on to say that "the parading permits are easy to get and cost about $200." Apparently, he's out of the loop on that, too. "for the Original Pigeontown Steppers Social Aid and Pleasure Club, Henry started parading on Easter 14 years ago. In 2005, the last time the club paraded, the NOPD charged them just $1,200 to escort the parade." But, oh, wait... Why have they stopped parading since 2005? "...the security bill for $7,560 from the New Orleans Police Department." Also alarming is that one must appear in person at the police district involved to apply for this permit. Considering the questionable temperament of the 5th District, and it's recent 'pay back' response at the Ark, for the Eris Parade meltdown, how fair can this really be? The term 'Selective Enforcement' comes to my mind. I've mentioned before that the horrible mess on St Charles Avenue Neutral ground during this years Mardi Gras parades went on unchecked, even during the pursuit & arrest of those responsible for a stabbing & two shootings. Nobody was maced, pepper sprayed, tased or beaten with batons. Even though the Endemyon parade crowds allegedly blocked off entire blocks, telling other parade watchers they had to 'walk around' areas secured with tents and rope fences. Somehow, this was tolerated. Then there's the basic, day to day stuff... This Face Book picture, from Fat Tuesday, shows us Cm Kristin Palmer (second from right) and her friends, all in costume, enjoying an open bottle of champagne, right out on the street. Local ordinances clearly state: "It shall be unlawful for any person to carry or drink from any opened glass container in or on any public street, sidewalk, park or public right-of-way in the area bounded by the upriver side of Canal Street, the lakeside of Rampart Street, the downriver side of Esplanade Avenue and the Mississippi River." Yet here they are, plain as day, and unmolested by any sort of authority figure. One would think that our City Council Members would be up on these things, particularly one who promised to "look in to" the banning of brass bands after 8pm in the French Quarter, also stating that the 'ordinance is currently on the books and will be enforced'. Really? And just what KIND of cake shall we eat, your highness? The obvious and repeated infractions by the police, themselves, are too many to count. Living with them next door for almost two years, I saw repeated events of them driving up one way streets the wrong way, in their PRIVATE VEHICLES, & OFF DUTY, as it was easier & shorter than going around the block. Of course, I'm sure all of us have felt this way. And it's just as sure that we'd be stopped & ticketed for doing so, may even enjoying an illegal afternoon vehicle search. There have been many times when I've ridden my bicycle past the corner of Burgundy & Mandeville, to see an NOPD cruiser sitting completely blocking the crosswalk, as the officers attached to it sit happily at their table enjoying their coffee & snacks. The personal automobile shown here belongs to one of the 5th District cops and is illegally parked, yet unmolested in any way. It may well have been there for over 24 hours, as well. Witnesses feared coming forward in this horrible crime. Other instances of unmarked patrol cars running red lights to get first in line at Rally's, and the endless stream of them that wafts through the illegal left turn on St Claude from Franklin avenue, are disturbing enough, as they flaunt a sense of lawlessness by the NOPD, but one of my dear friends was also arrested and taken to OPP for this same left turn offense. By now I think you see my point. These laws are both arbitrary & vague, and certainly being enforced selectively, as the Blue Nile vs Endemyon Neutral ground comparison points out. Further more, there is a Class War here, in which the authorities who enforce these laws, and the City Council who enact these measures, are somehow above them. There is a trend, in America these days, to celebrate celebrity, relieve the wealthy & powerful of obligation, and pile these heavy burdens on the backs of the working families and individuals who find themselves not clearly represented by this corrupt system. Now this trend is hitting New Orleans, again. This time it comes not as an egomaniacal Mayor, openly ranting into news cameras, but in the sheep's clothing of New Administration, Law & Order, and a Brighter Tomorrow. Don't be fooled again. Unless the current administration can carry their share of the municipal code, as we are made to do, and clarify these laws, so as to make them the same across the board, and finally, police itself first, so that these blatant special privileges are either removed or shared, we are bound, as all societies are, to find ourselves torn apart by a system best left behind in the feudal days of Nobles & Serfs. We, the Citizens of New Orleans, deserve, and pay for, our rights & privileges, thereby creating the salaries of those who drive us to this yolk of obedience. As it stands today, I, for one, want my money back.

ART IS NOT A CRIME: Aftermath

2011-03-10T16:24:00.000-08:00

A costume sale is shut down. A parade meets with both internal vandalism a violent shut down. A book store & bicycle co-op are closed. All within a two week period and all in the same neighborhood. But it's really not that simple. The Blue Nile Bust, as it's come to be called, was unfortunate at best, an act of legal nit-picking that blew all out of proportion. It's true that they were operating without the correct permits, but the initial visit by the department of revenue asked them only to move indoors, and cited them for their lack of paperwork. According to a press release by Ronal Serpas, "The sale was asked to be moved inside at that time." He said that no other action was taken. The ensuing visit by two NOPD officers was what shut it down, according to Tracey Thompson, artist in attendance & founder of Dirty Linen night, as well as Cree McCree, founder of this annual 'flea market'. Cree McCree writes:

"Chief Serpas is wrong. We were initially
told to move vendors off the sidewalk by
two female agents (who I later learned
were from the revenue department).
We had started to do that when a male
NOPD officer, in full blue mufti, said
we would have to clear the premises and
shut the entire sale down. He warned us
they would come back to check if we've
complied with that order.
Needless to day, we did.

We have several witnesses to this
action, including Jesse Paige himself.
Had we merely been asked to clear the
sidewalk, I would certainly have
continued the sale inside.
We we totally shut down."
 
 It was after this point that an absurd maze of
paperwork and outrageous permit fees began
to surface, leading City Hall to appoint a specific
office to deal with it. Progress seemed imminent.

Then there was The Parade.

Much has already been supposed and rumored,
but this much we know:
Persons with or around the paraders got out of line.
They tagged and walked on parked cars.
They became unruly, and police report having objects
thrown at them, tires slashed, and a lot it could have
been avoided, perhaps, had Eris not chosen to parade,
both unlicensed, & unpoliced by their own members.

I find this saddening beyond measure, that an
influence of destruction and disregard for the property
of others, joined the line. Some of those who had
property destroyed or damaged are also of working
class means & creative life styles. Apparently,
there are those who think that 'sticking it to the
man' or whatever stupidity launched these actions,
was best done by destroying the hard earned property
of their neighbors.

But it got worse.
Much worse.
The response of the 5th District to this event was
epic in it's failure.
My opinion of the 5th District's thug like bullying
behavior is no secret. To read of witnesses accounts
of two female officers blindly spraying pepper spray
in to a crowd of unarmed citizens, including very
young children, smacks more of Iran than it does
of the USA.

But then, since the Federal Flood, we've gotten
used to being treated like a third world nation.

Still, this report of what happened, post arrest,
is chilling, with a bleeding head wound going untreated
for 4 hours these guys are forced to kneel,
handcuffed, in a hallway, as ones blood seeps into
the drywall he leans on, officers spraying chemicals
on the arrested, swearing at them, indiscriminately
using the name 'motherfucker' for each & every one
of them, even threatening them with off duty reprisals.

Read it here.

There is even video of an NOPD officer slapping the
cell phone from the hand of a bystander in clear
violation of his civil rights. You can hear the
comments of Marjorie Esman of the ACLU,
as well as see the video, here.

Further video shows NOPD officers walking
down the street in larger numbers, pepper
spray at arms length, threatening any who look at them.

Comments from an ex-NOPD officer, albeit anonymously
written, ring true as well.

Then today, The Iron Rail Book Store & Plan B Bicycle
Project, both at 511 Marigny St. were closed, also due to
lack of permits. I'm told that the many artists who lived in
their studio spaces there, were also evicted.

Many are crying retaliation by the NOPD, for the
investigation opened in to the parade debacle.
The superintendent there at 511, known as The Ark,
told me personally that this permit inspection arose
from complaints by neighbors who had their vehicles
vandalized during the Eris Parade, and said complaints
went through the 'office of a city council member'.
I find it an outstanding act of cowardice that
this 'member' has not come forward to set the record
straight.

There is a point to all of this, if you just read on
a little more...

Our new Police Chief is obsessed with details of
law & order, often ignoring, in my opinion, the real
crime we face daily. There are traffic stops, vehicle checks,
and permit investigations. I, myself, have seen a traffic
stop where the NOPD handcuffed & searched a pair of
men who kept asking "What are you doing" &
"Am I under arrest?" while the cops (also 5th District)
told them "This is for your own safety", completing their
illegal search of 30 minutes before finally letting the
men go. When one of them asked, "What was all that about?"
I clearly heard the response: "Get going or go to jail."

When recent events are analyzed by the court system
here, the old adage "who are you going to believe, me
or the cops?" will rear it's head again.

So lets get it straight; If you're a self proclaimed
'anarchist bookstore', don't try operating without
permits & a license.

If you're going parading, get a permit, or, if not,
make sure that drunken vandals aren't on your
tail, smashing up your neighbors cars. Your 'right
to free assembly' I've been hearing so much about
since that night, doesn't exempt my right to not
have the roof of my car caved in or my paint job
destroyed.

I know that' may not be what some of the
20 - 30 somethings involved with this want
to hear, but maybe they're missing a
bigger picture...

I, too, came back after the flood, with a shattered
hip and little hope.
I, too, rebuilt and got busy helping my neighbors,
even on crutches, while the City kept me in lock
down with a ridiculous curfew that allowed the
other side of Elysian Fields to roam at large until
2 am, while I found myself at gun point, for simply
standing, on crutches, on my door step at
7:30 at night.

But this is not about a parade.
Nor is it about bookstores or flea markets.

It's about a categorically aimed attempt to retake
this part of the city.
We came here, the artists, crafts people, the service
industry minions, back in the 90's when the Quarter
became too expensive.

Nobody wanted to live here, it was desolate, whites
were hardly welcomed, armed robbery & shootings
were even more prevalent.
It was, in short, Deadwood.

Still we built lives, shared dreams and slowly created
something beautiful in an ugly landscape. After the
flood, we returned and began again.
Magazines write us up, calling the Marigny one of
the Top Ten Neighborhoods in the Country, and
the Times Picayune calls the Marigny/Bywater/St Roch
area 'The New Bohemia.'

Now that these ramshackle houses are beautified,
the neighborhoods safer, people walk with strollers
rather than fearful glances, houses are going for
300 grand, instead of fifty.

And They want it back.

Just like Deadwood, the Richer, Whiter,
Mainstreamier folks want to take your
neighborhood for themselves.
And by these irresponsible acts,
we're giving it to them.

They will invent new rules, new permits, new laws,
breaking the old ones, like search & seizure laws
& probable cause, trying to tax or hinder you from
staying, unless you can afford to become one
of them.

Sean Cummings, who for a time directed the river
front development, has gone so far as to buy up
buildings here (a clear ethics violation) and
openly solicit artists from New York, to 'show
us how it's done,' even though our own art scene
has attracted the Andy Warhol Society, and
spawned the now world famous New Orleans
Fringe Festival.

Again;
by acting out against these minor laws, you are
giving them what they want.

Each petty permit violation adds to the public
opinion that WE CAN'T HANDLE OURSELVES.

Any store needs a business license & an occupancy
permit. Thinking otherwise is like thinking you can
run that lemon-aide stand for the rest of your life,
without conflict or repercussion.
It's simply not going to happen.

Every other bookstore has to have one.
Every parade needs a permit.
Every vendor needs a tax ID number.
It's like that in every city in America.
This is a fight both unwinable & childish.

This isn't some 70's Billy Jack movie, where the hero,
an unsung loner, thwarts Boss Hogg, gets the girl,
and rides into the sun set.

This is a move to shut down your lifestyle completely.

The real issue here to focus on is the same issue being
used against you.
Make them answerable to the very letter of the law.
Make THEM answer for unreasonable behavior.
While any credibility is still ours.

Every member of the NOPD MUST file a report
after using a taser, each time they use it.
It MUST have a resisting arrest report.
Make them present it.

Assaulting a citizen for using a camera phone is a
crime.
Make them arrest the officer who did it.

It's also a violation of your civil rights.
Call the FBI immediately.
Sue the NOPD for violating your civil rights.
The ACLU may even provide you with legal counsel.

Your City Council Member is NOT responding as she
said she would?
Petition her office with phone calls, letters & emails and
document them to the press.

Do NOT allow yourself to be searched illegally.
Do NOT allow yourself to be treated like an animal by
the NOPD, but have witnesses document the occasion,
on film or video if possible.

We CAN fight City Hall, but only as far as we are willing
to step up to the game. And as far as I can see, we have
every reason to, and every tool we need at our disposal.

But it will not happen with rumor, street theater,
sheer defiance and other techniques best left in the
late night barroom where they were born.

We must act as a unified, literal front, prepared to stand
our ground legally. One cannot challenge the ethics of
another from a stand point of chaos.
This way lies only more chaos.

Remember this;
You are New Orleans, too.
This is also YOUR city.
Respect it.
Love it.
Own it.

Stand up in the light of day and speak directly;
While I am not above the law, neither are you.
We are not your children or cattle, but your equals.

ART IS NOT A CRIME.

Without it's artists, musicians, writers & performers
New Orleans will become bereft of culture.
And that 'culture' brings in about 7.5 million tourists &
about 5 billion dollars every single year.

STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS.


Lord David
Skull Club
New Orleans

ART IS NOT A CRIME: prelude

2011-03-07T11:17:00.001-08:00

I'm still collecting information. Start here, with Nola Slate;

Caught in the Lies; Part 2

2011-03-03T08:37:00.000-08:00

Since the ridiculous Art Bust at the Blue Nile, on Frenchmen Street (Sunday, 2/27/11) there has been scuttlebutt about what really happened, and why the NOPD would shut down a once a year flea market, in it's 20th year, selling some original costume designs by local artists. The press has carried various accounts so far, and these are the things that have come to light: "There was a problem with retail sales tax." Lie #1. This is an Artist Tax Free Zone, set down by the City of New Orleans, called the St Claude Corridor. Each artist is to keep their own records, and submit the totals, sans actual tax. As far as I know, we pay taxes, albeit documented, by the honor system. When was the last time you saw cops ANYWHERE, checking out register receipts? "The bar had no manager on duty." Lie #2. As a veteran of both bartending in & owning bars in the 8th District, no manager's license is required of the Bar Owner, and if that owner is 'on the floor' no other manager need be present & the bartender is not required to possess a manager's license. The owner was certainly present, as witnesses will prove, and, in fact, spoke to & was ticketed by the NOPD. And then there's this; In a press release (see it here :

 http://nolafemmes.com/2011/03/02/mg-meet-new-admin/ )

Chief Serpas states:
"The sale was asked to be moved inside
the bar premises at time." 

However, Flea Market founder, Cree McCree, tells me this:

"Chief Serpas is wrong. We were initially told to move
vendors off the sidewalk by two female agents (who I
later learned were from the revenue department).
We had started to do that when a male NOPD officer,
in full blue mufti, said we would have to clear the
premises and shut the entire sale down.
He warned us they would come back to check if we've
complied with that order. Needless to day, we did. 
 
 We have several witnesses to this action, including
Jesse Paige (Owner of the Blue Nile) himself. 
 Had we merely been asked to clear the sidewalk,
I would certainly have continued the sale inside.
We were totally shut down." 

While Lunanola suggests that this is the work of City Hall,
rather then the NOPD, I would suggest that it is both.

When the Chief of Police has no qualms about openly lying
to the press, how can the officers of the NOPD be expected
to act in a way considered appropriate for members of an
urban police department anywhere?

Certainly, there were permit issues involved.
Perhaps a warning, such as the Revenue Agents seemed
ready to accept, would have sufficed. Closing down the
entire event was pure meanness.

The City has responded, so far, by telling us all that
about $940 in permits are required for a
"market, fair, festival, carnival, circus, road show,
trade show, concert, display, exhibition or other public event." 

It also requires a bond of $10,000 if there are to be more
than 3 vendors, or artists, involved.

I would love to see these rules enforced on the Julia Street
Galleries, the first Saturday of every month, if they are to
be foisted upon the St Claude Art District & other
Marigny/Bywater/St Roch art shows.

If only 20 of the galleries showing on the Second
Saturday Open Gallery Walk in the St Claude Art
District were charged this way, it would equal
$18,800 in permit fees every month to stay afloat. 

Are those of us who returned to these neighborhoods,
post K, and rebuilt them with our own hands, time & money,
to be bilked by the same city that refuses to address the soaring
murder rate, never mind the bully tactics of the 5th District?

I, for one, cannot accept this from a police chief openly
caught in lies.

I urge each & every one of you to begin calling City Hall
( 504 658-4000 ) and asking for Chief Serpas to explain
this series of lies, or step down.

ART IS NOT A CRIME.

Please Note:

2011-02-24T19:27:00.000-08:00

I have a tendency towards Revolution. I speak my mind, unchecked. I value my freedom and those I love above ALL things. I will not back down if I believe I am right. I will always stand up for a little guy getting bullied. If you don't like me, I accept that. Please piss off at any time. Thanks. LD

NOPD - Caught in the Lies

2011-01-31T14:04:00.000-08:00

One of the issues we face, historically, with the NOPD, is the reclassification of crimes.

This means they change the name of the act to a lesser charge in order to keep statistics down & favorable.

Both the NOPD & Chief Ronal Serpas have been accused of this, here & in Nashville, respectively.

What follows is the exact unedited text of a crime report I received today (1/31/2011) from NOLA Alerts, regarding a crime in the 5th District. Please read it carefully:

"On Saturday, January 29, 2011 at 3:50 am, Detective Michael Sinegar, assigned to the Fifth District Investigative Unit, had the occasion to investigate an Aggravated Battery by Shooting which occurred at the intersection of St. Claude Avenue and Tupelo Street. Detective Augustus relocated to the hospital to speak to the victim at which time he stated the following:

On Saturday, January 29, 2011, at about 3:50 a.m., he was driving his vehicle on St. Claude

Avenue toward St. Bernard Parish when he approached the intersection of

Tupelo Street he came to a stop at the traffic light. During that time he noticed a vehicle (Older Model Red Nissan) suddenly stopped in the left lane several feet behind his vehicle. Moments later, an unknown black male exited the front passenger door of his vehicle and approached him. The unknown black male then pointed a dark semi-automatic handgun at him (victim) and stated “What you got give me your money.” At that time the victim made an attempt to flee the scene by stepping on the accelerator. The unknown black male then fired several shots at the victim, striking him once to the right side of his face and once to the right upper arm.

The victim described the perpetrator as a black male, who was possibly in his mid- twenties,

approximately 5’10” in height, weighing about 160 pounds. He wore a black t-shirt and dark pants. He had his hair in shoulder length dreads."

Please note that the crime is listed as "Aggravated Battery by Shooting" which will no doubt be downgraded to Aggravated Battery' at a later time. Even if it is not, "Aggravated Battery by Shooting" implies that the attacker meant to 'batter' the victim. From Wikipedia:

Acts most often defined under aggravated battery are:

use of a deadly weapon

battery in which serious bodily injury occurs, and

battery against a child, woman or police officer.

While this certainly includes use of a deadly weapon, & serious bodily injury did occur, where is the robbery attempt in this, clearly an attempted armed robbery? The fact that the victim was shot in the face, as he fled, would lead one to believe that the bullet was an intended head shot, or attempted murder.

Yet here it is: Aggravated Battery.

Or complete lies & bullshit, depending on whether someone shot a round through your face, or you're a cop trying to keep your crime stats down so as not to get fired, or worse, incur the wrath of City Hall, who would love everyone to believe that it's hunky dory over here in the 5th District.

These lies go on daily & unchecked.

Speak out against corruption & demand an accurate accounting of these crimes, so we may receive the proper protection the NOPD is supposed to be providing, rather than a down grading of these crimes to meet the specifications Chief Serpas claims we have met.

Email Chief Serpas directly at:

nopdchief@nola.gov

Ask him to investigate the 5th District & Commander Bernadine Kelly, as well as answer for the thug & bully behavior exhibited by this branch of the NOPD.

Do it today.

Your life may depend on it.

It Take More Than a Press Conference

2011-01-26T16:45:00.000-08:00

I've just come from reading Liprap's, latest post on Humid City, regarding the press conference & 'Crime Meeting' held last Tuesday Night, with District Attorney Cannizzaro & Chief Serpas. It makes for interesting reading, and I recommend reading it here.

But the general drift, again, is what we, as citizens, must do to end crime.

Personally, I'm sickened by the level of crime, particularly violent crime, sweeping our city. I'm particularly sick to death of the talk of how we must understand this comes from the lack of education, low quality of life, blah, blah, blah.

Of course it does. But how in the hell are any of us going to change the educational system shredded by our elected officials, or improve the all important 'quality of life' issues that lead to this level of disregard for human life, when we can't get a damn street light repaired for five years?

My response to her post, to the City of New Orleans, to Superintendent Serpas, is copied below.

I'd like you to read that, too. Please do what you can to help. Even if that means missing the very emotionally rewarding meetings to stay home and call City Hall, write letters, blog away and draw attention to the fact that no matter what we do or how hard we try, traffic stops, press announcements and throwing up ones hands does NOT protect a city from armed killers.

My comment, reposted here:

__________________

This is truly a heartbreaking situation. Again.

I sat at a Silence is Violence meeting next to Dinerral Shavers Mother. Friends & neighbors of Helen Hill, myself included, were there. Speeches & assurances were made.

Now we have a New Superintendent, Ronal Serpas. Speeches & assurances again, all around. Again. This is truly a heartbreaking situation.

I’m not going to delve into the ramifications of Sheriff Gusman’s “celebrating the great work of (Gusman’s) employees”. The inmate death toll there, particularly of those with unmet mental health issues, speaks volumes to us all, about both Sheriff Gusman, and Bobby Jindal, who ripped mental health care out of New Orleans like he was stealing gold from a living tooth…

When Ronal Serpas entered the Final Running For Police Chief, as we all knew he would, I posted several articles and links on this very blog site regarding his technique of law enforcement in Nashville.

I suggest anyone curious as to what will happen here go back & read up….

Endless traffic stops & DUI Arrests out the Ying Yang. (Not that that’s a bad thing. My dad was killed by a drunk driver)

Lots of ‘quality of life’ citations. General Barney Fife law enforcement, designed to nab the bad guys when they inevitably fall into one of these stops. Or in the latest case, drive the wrong way up a one way street, a virtual no-brainer for any cop on patrol.

Now, there’s that phrase we don’t hear so much. Cop on Patrol.

In fact, the word ‘cop’ comes from the English ‘Constable On Patrol’. It might be time they started doing it. Again.

Helen Hill’s killer, never caught, escaped on foot. I’m guessing into the then empty Universal Furniture Building that later housed the 5th District Headquarters. I live next door, and to my knowledge, they didn’t look in there that day, even though it’s 50 yards away.

Wendy Byrne’s killers, 3 kids between 14 & 16, were also walking the streets, carrying around a 9mm handgun they couldn’t wait to use.

The recent series of serial rapes in the St Roch area, culminating with the assassination style murder of Jon ‘Flee’ Hall, were committed by Cedric Berryhill, another psychotically dangerous pedestrian.

The recent armed robberies that have plagued the St Roch & Marigny neighborhoods, as well as Frenchman St, were carried out by a 16 year old perp on a bicycle.

This list, that I can recall off the top of my head, is far to long to list here. My research shows there are too many to make it possible to remember them all. For me, anyway.

Truth be told, I’d rather not.

I’d rather sit blissfully ignorant in my car, playing on my lap top, like so many cops are seen doing in the 5th District. I’d rather be short & mean on the phone, so I don’t have to talk to anyone, like whoever the hell it is that answers at the 5th District. I’d rather be hanging out with a half dozen of my buddies, shooting the breeze and GETTING PAID FOR IT, like these 5th District cops caught video in the Marigny: http://lorddavidtruth.blogspot.com/2011/01/nopd-5th-district-takes-it-to-streets.html

Instead, I track crime reports & repost them on Face Book. My friends & neighbors all exchange text messages when there’s an obvious threat.

In fact, we were doing just that, when the 5th District issued a call to ‘help in the manhunt’ that lead to Cedric Berryhill’s arrest. So we joined in. You can see in the linked video exactly what the Constables On Patrol were doing… Running their mouths in the street past midnight, six cars strong, waking up the locals with their profanity laden bullshit.

And the people who filmed it remain anonymous because they fear for their lives.

So, truth be told, I’d rather not have Ronal Serpas’ job either. It must be a nightmare. I can’t imagine the depth of anxiety he must feel every time somebody else gets killed.

On the other hand, I don’t think he really understands the depth of horror felt by the mothers of Alvin Crosby & Dinerral Shavers.

I don’t think he ever will, in fact, I certainly hope not.

But until he’s willing to admit that there are full blown thugs & bullies out here, wearing the uniform of the NOPD, still, he’s lost the fight.

Until he’s ready to teach a multitude of lazy city employees to GET OUT OF THEIR CARS AND PATROL, walking the very streets where we walk, to & from work, with wives & husbands, sons & daughters, well, Barny Fife law enforcement, with a peppering of criminal bullies wearing badges, is the best we can expect.

As for the citizens of the Marigny & St Roch, we’re DOING our part, while the NOPD, right on up to Mitch’s Favorite Bro, Ronal Sherpas, is failing. And he’s failing with the same techniques his critics in Nashville warned us would fail, before he ever got started.

Please, don’t tell me ‘it’s less than a year’. It’s also close to a year and they're still complaining about him in Nashville.

NOPD – DO YOUR JOBS & STOP PUSHING PEOPLE AROUND. Otherwise, you’re the problem, too.

Oh, and by the way....

2011-01-10T16:01:00.000-08:00

Dear Humans; Please stop fucking killing each other over politics, greed, race, oil, the name of god, skin color, language barriers & every other stupid little thing. It does nothing whatsoever to solve any of the many problems we all collectively face. Truthfully, you never really wanted this, either.

NOPD - 5th District takes it to the Streets

2011-01-05T19:36:00.000-08:00

The video clip shown here was filmed on Thursday night, December 16th, at about midnight, near the intersection of St Roch & Burgundy Streets, in the 5th District. Portions of the video have been briefly blacked out to protect the identity of the Film Photographer. The person who shot this footage (and shall remain anonymous) reported the incident as follows: An NOPD cruiser pulled over a vehicle on St Roch Avenue, and was joined, almost immediately by five other NOPD cruisers, for a total of six patrol cars. Obviously, at least one NOPD officer was in each vehicle (in uniform) and I'm told there may have been seven officers total. The car they pulled over was allowed to leave. For the next 20 to 25 minutes, these same patrol cars, all six of them, remained in the same position on St Roch @ Burgundy, with all of the officers out of their vehicles, talking loudly, laughing, sometimes shouting and, as you'll hear, being rather liberal with their profanity, 'Mother Fucker' being the most popular phrase of choice. Having been awakened by this, the Film Photographer, listened for that 20 - 25 minutes BEFORE beginning to shoot this footage. The incident ended when the officers received another call and went on their way. I am concerned of course, that 'Peace Officers' of the NOPD would hold such a loud, profanity ridden gathering in the street, at midnight, in a residential area, as though they were having a party in someones yard. Further concern is due to snippets of conversation, in which one officer brags about driving without his lights on, headed to a bar, because "fuck it, there ain't no traffic out." What I find truly shocking here is this: Just the night before, a network of local citizens were burning up the phone lines talking about Taylor's home invasion, his girl friend's rape, a rape/kidnapping reported to have taken place on the 8th of this month. I, myself, called the 5th District on the 15th, and got nothing but run around. A week later, Jonathon Hall was murdered by the same thugs who had attacked Taylor & his girlfriend. This is how the investigative patrols looked, as far as we can tell. If there is a reasonable explanation for this behavior, I'd love to hear it. So, it seems as local citizens were struggling to put together some sort of community based crime prevention, and are being shut out by the 5th District, these six patrol cars & six officers on duty and on the clock... are having a party, waking up the neighbors. How much ground can six patrol cars cover in 30 minutes? I'm told that an officers right to use deadly force is when an aggressive suspect gets within 21 feet, as it can be traversed in mere seconds. Think, then, of how much ground could be covered by six automobiles in 30 MINUTES. Then ask yourself, if this is the 5th District 'On Patrol', how much faith do you have in the NOPD when no one can see them at all....

Art Signing @ Skull Club - Saturday, 1/8/11 - 9pm

2011-01-04T10:45:00.001-08:00

This signing features the 'New Atlantian' by New Orleans artist, Howard Coates. The original painting, still on display @ Skull Club, is Acrylic on Canvas - 60 x 72 inches, has caught the eyes of more than a few. Now available as a high quality print, suitable for framing, now you can get yours SIGNED BY THE ARTIST. At 18 x 24 inches, digitally mastered & faithfully reprinted by offset process, on 100 lb, UV resistant, gloss paper stock, these posters are now available in limited edition quantities. Just $20, signed by the artist, this night only! Live music courtesy of Doc Otis & The Junker Jazz Allstars. Also starring Noomoon's Dan Sheridan as the Bartender, with his very lovely assistant, Miss Bacon. Doors open - 9pm until Midnight http://skull-club.com/Gallery.html http://skull-club.com/New%20Atlantian%20Poster.html

Open Letter to the City of New Orleans: Crime in the Streets - Part 2

2011-01-03T13:27:00.000-08:00

It started with a short warning posted on Face Book. DJ Tracheotomy posted it, and asked others to share the horrible news: Armed, masked men were invading homes, kidnapping people from their door steps, committing rape, acts of torture, robbery, etc. right here in our little neighborhood. Except it's not really so little. The 5th district is the largest police district in the City of New Orleans, so Captain Bernardine W. Kelly of the 5th District has told me, at their Nonpac meetings. It stretches from Elysian Fields and Gentilly Road, all the way to Jackson Barracks, from the Mississippi River up through City Park. So it came as some surprise to me that there was little or no word of this ANYWHERE. Ensuing calls to the 5th District got the typical combative response I've come to accept from them. Had I been calling in any information on these horrible crimes, I would certainly have been put off by it. In fact, I have been robbed at gun point here, myself, while tending bar at the old Smitty's (now 'Maries') at the corner of Burgundy & St Roch. The first thing the arriving officer did was accuse me of pulling it off, myself. The fact that there were five other witnesses who all saw the short African American man with a large gun & a stocking mask stick said gun in my face meant nothing. I could have 'arranged' that. The fact that I hid, even at gun point, about $500 in cash, which I handed to the owner upon his arrival, also meant nothing. I was 'covering my tracks' it seemed. I thought I was keeping Bucky from a total loss, even at the risk of my life. Apparently not. This then, was my first lesson in dealing with the 5th District. A few years later, while checking on a friend's house while they were away, I discovered that it had been broken in to. I called the police. Several hours later, a patrol car showed up & the policeman told me we were waiting for 'The Crime Lab'. Another two hours and he left. Two more hours and a detective showed up, and fell in to a rage that anything had been touched. I explained that as soon as I realized what was going on, I stopped in my tracks, never leaving the first room. He asked me why he should believe I hadn't done it myself. Except he was screaming at me when he asked it. So, it was with no small apprehension that I tried, once again, to find out what the hell was going on by calling in to the Abbot & Costello routine that is the 5th District's standard operating procedure. I never heard from the 5th District again. I sent the exact letter you see posted below (Part 1) to everybody I could think of, hoping to shake something loose, and find out how bad it really was out there. I have, to date, received only one answer. Nothing from Kristen Palmer, our City Council person, or the Mayors office. Not a peep from the Times-picayune, or the 5th District. Nothing from ANY City of New Orleans entity of any kind. Nothing. The secretary of the Faubourg Marigny Association sent me a link to NOLAReady , a crime alert email service that bears the City of New Orleans trade mark, but yet was never referred to me by anyone at City Hall or any NOPD contacts. Thanks, Gretchen. Still, nothing appeared in the news at that time. Nothing. Word on the street spread quickly, however. It was Taylor, a well known local artist, recently returned from New York, who was grabbed, along with his girl friend, outside their home. Forced back into the house, they were robbed, and her raped, as he was made to watch. Days later, a woman was kidnapped at the intersection of Marigny & St Claude, driven around and forced to get money from ATM's. Her story is told in her own words in the comment section of my previous post. Then there was one intruder who entered the unlocked back door of a house, during a party, and robbed everyone inside. His entry through a fenced yard & back door would suggest he was watching the house. At this time, there was still no news reports of any of this. The NOLA Crime report listed Taylor's experience as 'rape', not aggravated rape, or home invasion or hostages or kidnapping, even though it was all of the above. The woman abducted at St Claude & Marigny showed (at that time, anyway) as a 'robbery'. Why not kidnapping & extortion? They certainly came into play.... Now, I have to wonder, would the news have carried these stories had the crimes been rightly cataloged? Would the publication of those stories lead to a quicker arrest? Certainly, the citizens here were ready to cooperate. There was even an impromptu meeting at Siberia, on St Claude, where sketches of one of the perpetrators were handed out. They posted one on Face Book for me to repost, simply for the asking. Why is it that the 5th District did none of these things? Had this information been widely publicized, would Jonathon Hall even have been murdered? No one can say, especially me. But I have to wonder, if there had been accurate stories of these crimes out there for all to see, maybe he wouldn't have been so willing to open his door, or leave himself unprotected. As recently as today, I have pointed to the story of the arrests associated with these crimes and Jonathon's murder, and been met with total surprise that any of this was even going on. Many people living right here on my block are still completely clueless as to this happening at all. And how could one blame them? The stories are buried in the news and the reports from the 5th District downplay every event I've heard about. Everyone in town knows the details of Magnolia Shorty's shooting and which famous rappers attended her funeral. This is in no way meant to suggest that her murder is anything less than a tragedy. It certainly is, and one of the highest order. But so is Jonathon's senseless murder over two used computers. Much has been made of the deaths of 8 kids who attended his second line, only to perish themselves in a warehouse fire. It is, as the Mayor has called it a 'terrible tragedy'. Believe me, I knew a couple of those kids, and my sorrow is deep and ongoing. Yet what would one call the murder of a 27 year old man, at the hands of kidnapping rapists & robbers, when nobody told the locals about this crime spree? First, let me agree that the press has no obligation to report anything they don't feel like reporting. Just ask Fox News. And, of course, City Hall is not responsible for what the news reports or does not report. As for the 5th District, I'm sure there will be a litany of reasons why this had to be kept secret. They answered most questions I heard at the Nonpac meetings by saying they didn't want 'criminals' to know what they were up to. I guess they think they're the KGB of the 9th ward. Of course, reports in the comment section of the previous post tell tales of cops sitting in cars, on the internet, while murders take place a half a block away. I guess I'd want to keep that secret, too. Perhaps they are more Keystone Cop than KGB, in some instances, but then again, this district is huge and riddled with violent crime problems. All the same, why not TELL US WE ARE IN DANGER? As my friend and fellow pundit, "Scott" put it: "I think it's all "Marginalized", because we aren't rich enough, white enough, and because we're largely thought of as hippies, freaks, queers or thugs on this side of town. All of the good press in every major news outlet in America doesn't sway Perdido street. They can't see over the glare of Bourbon Street." And that smacks of more Truth to me than any of these other reasons. To me, that is. In fact, I'd list a good many of those 'other reasons' in the column called 'Excuses'. I'm just glad they finally caught the guy, and didn't accuse me again. I'm holding my breath, hoping they don't drop this in to Children's Court, allowing this monster to perfect his methods for five years before setting him loose on us again. Of course, as we all know, this wasn't the first, and won't be the last violent crime spree in our neighborhood. We live in New Orleans. And we live in That Part of Town. Prospect 1 rolled through a couple of years ago, bringing promises of glory & a celebration of art. In the end, it was more about celebrating Dan Cameron's friends, who are 'Contemporary Artists' from NYC, but we got heard. Right here in the Marigny/Bywater/St Roch. Then there's the St Claude Art District, of which I am a proud member, which predates Prospect 1 by many years. The Andy Warhol Society has come to see our collective work. We've had write ups as far away as London & Australia. And of course, the New Orleans Fringe Festival, which attracts crowds to our own theater district, art scene, local restaurants & music clubs. That's right; music clubs. Because you don't have to wade the vomit on Bourbon Street, or shove your way through the hipsters now plaguing Frenchman Street, clacking along in high heels, carrying tiny dogs in purses and trying to talk the doorman down a dollar on the cover charge for the Rolex wearing 'fans'. St Claude Avenue has both music & theater, almost nightly and almost all of it great. We also have home invasion, murder, rape, torture & kidnapping to round out the regular armed robbery & shootings. What we don't have is any responsible news organization willing to speak out. And the 5th District is keeping mum on all of this. Chief Ronal Serpas & District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro, however, "deem New Years Eve a resounding success." I wonder if Jonathon Hall's wife feels that way. Or Taylor's girlfriend. Because it doesn't matter if the crime stats are down, simply because nobody's talking. The same people are dead, or brutalized. Lives are destroyed, or simply ended, violently. And some of it may have been preventable. I can't honestly say what went wrong here. That would involve getting some answers, and none are forth coming. "Come to the Nonpac meetings," they cry. I've been. It was a fairly useless exercise in listing what they want us to hear. "Report crimes to keep the stats accurate." I have. And either been accused of committing it, because I was, well, breathing and within reach, or have seen a horror like home invasion, torture & rape reduced to a simple 'rape' on the crime map. That's right; a woman repeatedly raped while her boyfriend is forced to watch at gunpoint, after being kidnapped and held hostage in their own house, is listed as 'simple rape'. "Reach Out to the New City Hall." I did that, too. So far, no one has answered. "Call your City Council Person'. I sent the previous posted letter directly to Kristen Palmer's office. So far, no one has answered. There is one, very clear message in all of this; No matter what they tell you, no matter what promises they make, you are on your own. Is that the way to 'lead a city in recovery", to "create total transparency in our police department"? I really couldn't say. I keep asking. So far, no one has answered. Not a single fucking one. ___________________ NOTE: Please contact the New Orleans District Attorney's Office, to ensure that Cedric Berryhill and Darren Adams are charged as Adults for this horrifying series of crimes: Orleans Parish District Attorney Main Office (504) 822-2414 Juvenile Office (504) 566-1711 And you can submit a form email here: Thnx; LD

New Orleans Slate: Just Kids

2010-12-29T15:05:00.000-08:00

New Orleans Slate: Just Kids Please read this. It offers some measure of comfort after such a horrible series of events in our little neighborhood. Thanks. LD

Open Letter to the City of New Orleans: Crime in the Streets - Part 1

2010-12-20T11:22:00.000-08:00

To whom it may concern; I'm writing because I have seen no trace of these crimes reported in the news. There are articles about street repaving & the Saints, of course. Even a blurb with Superintendent Serpas telling us the best thing to do is get out on our porches. Considering this rash of brutal home invasions and violence, maybe it's not a great idea. I have also searched for news of these events on every New Orleans Crime Map I could find. There has been nothing listed on any of these, to date: http://spotcrime.com/la/new+orleans http://groups.google.com/group/NOPD5-EmailBlast http://www.nola.com/crime/orleans/ My concern is that others living in these communities will not have any warning whatsoever that this is going on. My calls to the 5th District were futile at best, as every question was answered with a question, as though I were trapped in an Abbott & Costello routine. Never did the answering officer tell me they couldn't comment on an ongoing investigation or make any professional comment, but asked me repeatedly, "Well, do you THINK its safe?" and things of that nature. I find this sort of one-up-manship and rudeness useless, juvenile & not at all the professional attitude required to police our city streets. The idea that NOPD officers would engage in such tactics when citizens within their district are being robbed, raped, kidnapped & tortured is beyond criminal. It's an offense to civilized humanity and largely unforgivable. If measures are not to be taken to 'protect & serve', then we are merely being occupied by an armed force whose mission is other than our protection. Why is it that as Mayor Landrieu & Superintendent Serpas push for a more transparent NOPD, this behavior & direct obstruction of that pact with the citizenry of New Orleans is so obviously in violation? Have we not the right to know that these threats are at our doorsteps? Is there an investigation even under way, or has it been withheld from the general information pool of the New Orleans Police Department altogether? Those of us who live in the Marigny/Bywater area attract thousands of visitors a year, with the Times-picayune calling it New Orleans New Bohemia. Prospect 1.5 brings dozens & dozens of out of state visitors daily. Are they to be subjected to this danger, only to return home with tales of rape & torture? Are they to become victims themselves, along with our locals? Is that really how our city should be depicted, and, in fact, is that how we are to live? I've included a partial list of these events below. Please check for yourself, as to whether these crimes have ever been investigated, and what their current status is. As for myself & my neighbors, we are becoming used to the failure of our local police force, and the future of our neighborhood in the City of New Orleans. That commentary alone, is saddening beyond measure. Sincerely; Lord David Writer & Artist Marigny, New Orleans All of the incidents listed below are believed to have been reported to the NOPD 5th District. Last week (Wed. the 8th?), St. Anthony & Villere Streets; a woman was kidnapped, blindfolded & driven around the city, told she would be killed. She was taken to several ATMs & made to withdraw money. She was eventually dumped, alive, from the car. Monday, 12/13; St Ferdinand & Villere Streets; A couple, new to town, leaving to go out to dinner. The man starts to return for some reason. Couple is kidnapped & taken prisoner in their own home. Woman is repeatedly raped & tortured while man made to watch. Couple forced to use credit cards, call friends to procure money. Cell phones were stolen & continued being used. Cell phones also contained active GPS devices. Neither phone numbers nor GPS were used by 5th District according to those close to victims. They are leaving town immediately. I have been assured this was reported to NOPD 5th District the night it occurred. Saturday, 12/18; St. Claude & Press St.; 16 year old girl abducted, kidnapped & raped. Later released. I have been assured this was reported to NOPD 5th District. Saturday, 12/18; Marigny & Villere Streets; 5 people at local residence, single robber enters through back unlocked door. Robs everyone in the house @ gun point. Leaves with money & cell phones, etc. I have been assured this was reported to NOPD 5th District the night it occurred. *PLEASE NOTE* It has also been brought to my attention that while the NOPD had stepped up patrols in the St. Roch area, directly adjacent to these crimes, a new local 'Citizens Group' crafted a small petition claiming the police were bothering them by patrolling. Some have refused to sign it, as it contained the signatures of many who are known as thugs &/or criminals in the neighborhood involved. This petition was offered up @ a citizens meeting with the 5th District, & much to the disappointment of the regular citizenry, the patrols were canceled immediately. Those opposing the petition were not allowed to see it by Commander Kelly, reports say.

Blind Embrace

2010-11-02T17:55:00.001-07:00

Love, a blinding light, aimed in my direction for no reason I can fathom, shines through me now and all of my faults, my doubts & insecurities float to the surface like brackish debris only to be burned away by the searing light of its presence. Having felt your light turned my way, and having been offered up as though I deserve this stellar pass, come now to me, and lay your ethereal head upon my shoulder. Hold it there and dream, a dream of summer days and nights of passion, of giving with no end and acceptance without limit. Sing a song to me now of praise and laughter, whose rhyme and meter match my heart as I could never have known without your grace. Soon you will dance far and away from me, just out of sight never out of mind, and I will always see your figure dancing madly on the distant hilltops, culling hearts and dreams from any who can see. Though friendship is the best that one can hope, still you linger at my side like it is never time to go. And when you leave, to that distant horizon the door will be ajar, I will be here waiting most each and every day for that knock and call to come bringing back the white heat, like a blast furnace, that surrounds me, and leaves my imperfections, my foolish pride and long intemperance, to be healed for a time in that most blinding embrace.

Live at the Skull Club

2010-10-25T17:26:00.001-07:00

Please, check out Meschiya Lake, Margie Perez, Lord David, Sista Otis & Ratty Scurvics, live at the Skull Club, at the Benefit for NOOMOON's Dan & Bacon, on Saturday, October 23rd. Several performing artists donated their time to this cause. For that, and these marvelous performances, we are very grateful. Thanks, XOXO LD

Your Call

2010-10-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

Imagine that you come upon a child, lost and wandering, obviously tired and shivering with cold, crying and afraid. Would you stop to help? Or would you first look to see the color of their skin, what language they speak, or ask the name of their people's god, or whether they had two parents and what sex they were? If you answered yes to any of the last group of questions then you are that child and that is not the way home.

Graduation

2010-10-11T13:54:00.000-07:00

They sat on the living room floor and opened up wide their toy box heads. Sharing secrets and puzzles and games, and toys of endless charm and wonder, whispering and shouting, talking and laughing, until their cheeks were wet with tears, faces aching from smiles. They danced and sang until, as children often do, they wandered off in search of more adventure. After a while, they came to a place where most everything was Real Business and Taken Very Seriously. Realizing they did not know the way back, they clung together for a time. After a while in this place, they learned it’s ways, as children often do. Being embarrassed by the way they had acted in the before time, they could not look each other in the eye ever again. - Lord David "Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them." — Dr. Seuss

Location, location, location...

2010-10-02T16:25:00.000-07:00

Out here on the perimeter, where traditions flutter like leaves in the wind of change and the normal rules no longer seem to apply, the only hope is to learn to think for yourself.

Kabobs of Death; Alien Food on the Frontier

2010-09-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

Today, I drove down past the lower ninth ward with my friend, Willow. We were on a mission to get supplies for the renovations at Skull Club, and the Lowes & Home Despot in Chalmette have it all, being recently built & stocked. The people working there are also nicer than in urban New Orleans, and there's little traffic hold up. In fact, in many places along the way, there's very little at all. Rebuilding St Bernard Parish is an ongoing task that would make Hercules sweat bullets... But I digress... One of the things that seems to happen when one is totally absorbed in a project, is the forgetting of the day to day things of life that keep us going strong, like making (shopping for) groceries. I hadn't done it in days, and the slowly blackening pair of limes were obviously tired of standing guard over the empty mayonnaise jar that shared my refrigerator with them. Still, I soldiered on. As we headed for The Parish, I became aware that last night's tortilla and side salad were not going to hold out for long. And this was certainly not the time to divert to make a grocery run. Hunger began to gnaw mercilessly, and we weren't even to the store yet. I'm not a fan of fast food, largely because it's not really food, but an experiment in how bad something can be for you, taste barely edible and still make you want it. In the past, having managed to put myself in this same predicament, I'd stopped at the Brothers Gas Station on Elysian Fields & Claiborne (for gas, mind you) and found an absolutely delicious empanada stuffed with chorizo & scrambled eggs, nearly as tasty as real street food found in the Caribbean and Northern Mexico. Another friend, Dan the Man (of NOOMOON fame) swears that the Brothers Station at Elysian Fields & the 610 has the best fried chicken in town. So. As we pass through Arabi, headed down St Claude Highway, I see a Brothers Gas Station and scoot right in. The smell of hot peanut oil awaits. I went inside, hoping that my lovely empanadas were in there, too. And they were. But these were the deformed and angry cousins of my delicious treats, sagging with yellowed oil and smelling greasy from out here, on the other side of the glass. No fucking way. Then, on the menu behind the 'sneeze guard' glass, I see: "Kabobs - $1.99". Now, having spent a reasonable amount of time in the Third World, I'm a big fan of indigenous meat on a stick. You can also see them cook your food at street carts, where as in any restaurant, you're clueless 'til it's in you. And I've done way too much restaurant work to trust such flimsy truths. The Kabob it is then. It gets boxed and bagged and handed over to me, exactly as I hand over the 2 bucks & change. For some reason, certain cultures insist on touching the money before they release the food, like I'm going to jump in my super villain helicopter and escape James Bond by flying it under water all in the name of stealing a fucking kabob. I guess I could have, but the under water chopper is still in the shop until they figure out the warranty on the photon torpedo launcher. Okay. Fine. Outside, I get in the truck and my stomach growls. Like a hooker who can smell money, it wants what it wants and it wants it NOW. So I open the box and there it is. A roll of fried dough that would gag Elvis, looking like a cross between a baby's arm and a corn dog from hell. To my limited knowledge, a Kabob is meat and maybe some veggies on a stick. This huge coating of breaded godlessness was a surprise to me. And that's the most positive description I can offer. Great. Whatever the fuck it was, it was also now mine. Money had been touched and boxes handed off. Sometimes, there's just no going back. "Fuck it" says Mister Stomach. Paul Neuman's character in 'Hud' was made fun of by the white folks because he said he ate dog. Until they were starving and begged him for some... So I closed my eyes and figured, "How bad can it be, they're still open." You have no idea. Until now.... The first thing I noticed was a sharp pain in the back of the roof of my mouth, and something hard clacking between my teeth. Pulling 'the thing' out of my mouth, it's innards were revealed. It was, indeed a kabob. Of sorts. It certainly was meat on a stick. Two sticks, in fact. They were shoved through the meat side by side, so that a sharp point poked out either end, as though a thorough trapper wanted to make sure his kill would not easily escape. One of these had scraped against the back of my mouth as I gingerly took a bite of this strange and deadly object. They had both been there, through the middle of this beast, when I bit down, making my teeth jar against the wooden sticks. I wondered if some demented cook had laughed aloud during the impaling. As I looked into the maw of this strange device, I saw layers of filling on the sticks. Chunks of cheap smoked sausage alternated with little rolled up pieces of some sort of fabricated lunch meat, creating a textural & taste cornucopia of disgust. It began to seep. I like to think of myself as a guy who's been around a bit, not squeamish or faint hearted, able to do what it takes to get through whatever must be got through. What Carlos Castaneda would call a 'Warrior'. Still, this seeping roll of thick, fried dough, complete with Pun-gee Sticks of Death called for more than rising to an occasion. It called out a challenge like a duel, a fight to the death, a final curtain for somebody. And it wasn't going to be me. Rolling my eyes up into my head, I drew upon every mind and body control teaching I had ever learned. It also kept me from looking at the damned thing. I yanked out it's sticks like I was ripping bones from a mortal enemy, and stuffed one end of the seeping log of doom in to my mouth, biting down quickly, as if my reflexes expected it to try to squirm away. As I chewed and snorted my way towards the other end, I noticed that Willow had turned away, looking out the window, like he was dreaming of escape by jumping from the car as I rolled along, hideous demon in my mouth, strange orange fluid on my chin and the wheel held by my trembling knees. Somehow, I got it down. I may have blacked out. Willow isn't talking and I can't remember. I know we'll never speak of it again. Ever. I know, I know, I should have gone back, complained, whatever. But what good would it do, except to perhaps teach me where, exactly THEY GET THAT MEAT. And I have no interest in winding up in some miniature Vlad Kabob Experiment, out there in the Parish. Out there where no one can hear you scream. All they hear is the growl of your stomach, and they plaster on a nearly human smile, easy to mistake for the pleasure of service and sharing of interesting cuisine. Don't be fooled, my friends. Even the Jackal seems to smile as it eats it's still living prey. And somewhere, deep in the Ninth, strange creatures scream into the night, not as they are being impaled for these hideous creations. Oh, no. They scream as they find out they must eat one. So you've been warned. And I won't warn you again. Because even as I write this, I can feel it's twisting, turning, nauseating presence as it grows inside me. Perhaps it is, right this very minute, hatching it's young.

Bob Dylan on New Orleans

2010-09-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

The Unofficial American Poet Laureate of the later 20th century, Bob Dylan, offers his point of view on the City I Love, New Orleans. CLICK HERE.

Shifting the Balance

2010-09-27T13:54:00.000-07:00

Although I have recently found myself to be the object of a hateful and relentless tirade from someone I have never met or dealt with, I find the human capacity for compassion and love to be inspirational, and, in fact vastly out weighing these paltry horrors. It is often in the worst of times that the best in all of us rises to the occasion. Love is always somewhere in our hearts.

The Agreement

2010-09-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

Agreement (noun) - An arrangement as to a course of action. Imagine with me for a moment. Pretend that all of the world were involved. And that we, all of us humans, had reached an agreement. An agreement that for one day, a single consecutive period of 24 hours, starting simultaneously, all over the planet, nobody killed anybody. For one day on earth, there would be no murder, no war, no bombings, no executions. 24 hours in which to lay down our guns, abate our bombings, stop killing each other in the streets over imaginary territory, material objects, currency or the imagined verbal slight. All over the entire world, each & every person. Now imagine that 24 hour period coming to an end. Imagine looking in the mirror and saying to yourself, "Okay. Now it's time to go on killing people." Really? Is that who you would chose to be? Or will you make The Agreement last? We can begin today....

Cox Cable: The hard working & the complete fucking idiots.

2010-09-07T16:57:00.000-07:00

I recently abated my use of the internet, even going so far as to put a notice on Facebook, expressing my disappointment in Cox's 'service', as their service wouldn't let me on line for more than about 8 seconds at a time, if that. I called repeatedly and was walked through instructions as to how I could dismantle my modem, router, computer & TV configuration, in order to "trouble shoot" the problem. I did this once, and only once, back in January when the connection started to weaken. Eventually, it just disappeared altogether, yet the 'phone service' people kept insisting all I had to do was take everything apart and put it back together, and everything would be just fine. Lies. All lies. I finally broke down and bought a new modem, on the off chance it would help. Nothing. Today, I got a call from their "Customer Service Department'. I had no idea there was such a thing, as I'd asked a dozen or so of the 'phone service' people if there was such a place and they assured me they were it. Chilling, I know. Anyway, one of the conversations I had with the 'service people', during which I ranted loudly about paying for goddam service for six months or more while some idiot told me again & again to dismantle the universe and rebuild it out of Popsicle sticks, was 'recorded for customer satisfaction'. Something I am completely unfamiliar with. Trust me. So they finally sent a guy. He drove by the building and parked, as I watched out the window, ready to point out the pole and hardware on the building, so he would know where to look. After the last few months, I expected little or nothing from anyone at Cox Cable. Before he got to the sidewalk, he called me on the landline. Oh, great, I thought. He'll want to come in and take the walls down. But no..... "When was the last time someone was here?" he asked. "Back in January, when my neighbor got cable internet, I guess", I replied. "Is that about when your problem started?" he asked... "Yeah, as a matter of fact, that's when it started to weaken" I said. "I called, but they assured me those things were unrelated." He pointed to a series of spider web wiring, hooked into several splitters, stuck haphazardly on the wall. "I gotta see who's paying for cable here, or if it's being stolen", he said. Then he made the call. After several bouts of "I see" and raised eyebrows, he hung up. "I'm sorry man, but these are all wrong. They're draining the signal and that's why you can't get on. It gets worse as these splitters degrade." Then the kicker: "These were all installed by the last Cox guy, but that's not how they're supposed to do it. It takes a dedicated line from the pole. I guess he didn't want to hang one." Fifteen minutes later, the line had been hung and everybody reconnected. At first, I was furious that some moron had cheated at his job, taken a short cut, and screwed up my service. But then, he was hired, trained and sent out as a representative of Cox, so there's some responsibility there. However, in the six months since then, as many as seventeen employees of Cox Cable New Orleans have had the opportunity to remedy this problem, by simply putting in a check order for this address. Not one of them did so, until today, and only then because I cussed out a supervisor and ended my rant with a polite request for Earthlink's phone number, and it happened to be randomly recorded. So there we have it. The squeeky wheel getting the grease. Again. Is this the sort of society we're becoming? Where service is a promise made only by nameless phone operators who never put in the work order? When we have 'available tech solutions' that include only a mumbling voice telling us how to do the work we've paid them for? Thank god for the working stiff on the ground, eventually dispatched by another employee fearing for his job, due to a computer's random recording of an irate customer, threatening to take their money elsewhere. I'd like to buy Tommy the Technician several ice cold beers. He showed up, found the problem, fixed it, and went about his day, just like millions of us do every week, waiting for that cruel joke of paycheck, and swallowing the bullshit that comes along with it. I'd like to have the 'service people', who sit on the phone, playing God and reading from a sheet of instructions that don't apply, giving me attitude because 'it's my turn to talk now, sir', lined up where I can see their faces. Their lying, lazy faces. Fuck all of you worthless bastards. Knock it off and quit complaining. I'll give you a turn to talk when you actually DO something other than read a script and take my money for not doing a goddam thing. And if that happens to include almost 100% of the politicians who are sitting pretty with a six figure income (plus), an equal retirement plan and free health care for life, well, I guess you know what I think of your 'service', too. A hard rain is gonna fall one day, maybe sooner than we think, and those bureaucrats who do nothing but get in the way of the rest of us, struggling to make a life and unafraid to work for it, are going to find little sympathy from me. Anyway, I'm back online & preaching revolution, starting from within. In the meantime, I've been watching Fight Club over again. If the system continues to fail us, perhaps it's time to take it down. Not just in our own minds, but in the ethics we hold dear as a Nation. You may now return to your usual activities.

Katrina - Five Years Later

2010-08-29T09:51:00.001-07:00

At least today didn't start out with waking up from a 3 day binge to get rammed in the back of a car with a dogs ass in my face for a 20+ hour drive to god-knows-where, all with one shoe, no money & a fractured hip, not knowing if I'd ever be back. So there's that.

Don't Fear the Reaper

2010-08-18T08:29:00.001-07:00

My Birthday Weekend approaches. Followed immediately by the Full Moon. Should I or shouldn't I? I just don't know....

Allow Peace

2010-08-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

The Ego is the device with which we manage the interface between conscious awareness and the reality we experience, much like a disk operating system manages the interface between the CPU and the programs it operates in. We are all aspects of the same unified consciousness, peering out through the bodily perceptions we have incarnated in to. We chose to be here, to be who we are, to awaken to what we will become... The Ego is a character of our own creation, living in a series of stories that we recall as memories, although they are only made from our perspective; or operating on a belief system that it has chosen to accept. We are not our Egos. They do not run or control us. We are free to live without fear. We are free to love openly. All motivations share one of two common denominators; Love & Fear. Which will you accept? All things come down to two choices; Resist or Allow. Can you trust the Universe? Will you allow it to remind you of who you are? Look deep inside, quiet the inner dialog of your ego, and see for yourself... Resist or allow? Allow peace for everyone. xoxoxo

While you're up...

2010-07-29T18:18:00.001-07:00

"Greater truths than we can now comprehend await us. Until then, living in peace and unified compassion is all we can hope for. There is nothing of greater import. Nothing." - Lord David

Transition

2010-07-21T17:13:00.001-07:00

The moment is our lives, forever now. We leave only by coming home. We do not end, but begin again. We are a focal point, and then we are the stars.

And, in The End...

2010-07-21T11:03:00.001-07:00

A day will come when I am no longer here. And then, I shall be everywhere.

Homecoming

2010-07-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

At the center of all things is The Om, the music of the spheres, the sound of the Universe, creating itself, every moment, like a heart beat, welcoming all.... Listen to that song, and know that you are loved, for you are a part of this wonder, now & forever.

Mirror, Mirror....

2010-07-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

Within each of us is a Light. Radiate it to everything you see. This will bring you much joy as all we really see are reflections.

Maneuvers

2010-07-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

On a dreamy sunday afternoon we drank coffee for motivation. In a fit of activity & creative brilliance, we got up & exchanged seats.

The Gift

2010-07-10T11:32:00.001-07:00

We are all worthy of love. We are all capable of dreaming & bringing those dreams to life. Everything you need comes from within you. That is where to find the Truth, and the ability to give love.

Holy Ground

2010-07-08T23:25:00.000-07:00

Much is said about how we will be seen as we stand before our Judgment Day. I say it matters so much more where we chose to stand today. LD 2010

Don't Quit Your Day Job

2010-07-08T10:20:00.000-07:00

The life of an Artist is not for everyone. It can be difficult, at best, sometimes. Artists tend to think of every aspect of Life as a Creative Endeavor. The rest are Hobbyists.

Meanwhile, back on the Blue Planet....

2010-07-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

"Much of Humanity is a riotous mass of billions of people struggling endlessly to do anything but get along." - Lord David

Krisitn Plamer on Music Ban, & My response.

2010-06-21T15:46:00.000-07:00

About a week ago (June 17th) I wrote to Kristin Palmer regarding the sudden enforcement of the curfew on street music. Her public statement at that time was a verbal shrug. "The ordinance is as it stands." That letter is available, here. What follows is her response to me, and my answer. I post these only to keep interested parties informed, offer complete transparency regarding my actions, words and bad manners, and allow others to accurately monitor the same from her. Except the bad manners. It's easier being nice when you don't really commit to anything. And I don't have to worry about running for office. I'm usually in mine, hiding under the desk, anyway. Anyway, here goes: Cm Kristin Gisleson Palmer June 20 at 5:33pm Hi David, to follow is the statement that I am sharing with all of those concerned with the noise ordinance, Please be patient, we are working as hard as we can to find a solution to all those impacted. New Orleans is the Cultural Capital of the World, and we have an obligation to protect and support the very things that make our culture so authentic. It is possible for musicians, residents and businesses to co-exist in the French Quarter and across our city. It requires having ordinances that make sense, that are clearly communicated to the public and that are properly enforced. I will work with the Landrieu administration, my fellow City Councilmembers and the New Orleans Police Department to review the quality of life ordinances to ensure that they best serve the needs of our community. I will continue to fight for the sustainability of the French Quarter, one of the main economic drivers of the city. In order to sustain a rich culture in an extremely fragile area, there must be smart regulation that is fairly enforced. My response to Ms Palmer, of about an hour ago, June 21st, 2010: Dear Ms Palmer; That's a great form letter, filled with wonderful superlatives and a resounding & emphatic "hooray' for the French Quarter. It's also very late in the game, and mostly repeating what many letters have been telling you all week. I know you're new at this, however. It takes time to get the momentum of the street in to one's life. There are many constituents in your district that are not property owners, members of neighborhood associations, or affiliated with some collective group, be it non-profit or clergy oriented. They are actually the majority of your voters & supporters. Many of these people work in the service industry, or in support of it, and a great deal of them are musicians, artists & writers who maintain their day to day lives through these jobs. They, like much of the City of New Orleans, rely on tourism and "the sustainability of the French Quarter, one of the main economic drivers of the city." The efforts of some, like the French Quarter Citizens Association, to shut down street art & music, not only ignores the equal & valued opinions of this majority, but seeks to remove the source of much of their income, as well as a truly rare & beautiful aspect of life here, found nowhere else in the country. Where then, would we find our bartenders, cooks, bus boys & bar backs, bicycle delivery people, grocery workers,retail shop attendants, etc? Literally hundreds of these people live & work in the specific neighborhoods of District C BECAUSE they can support themselves with these jobs and pursue their true calling in the same neighborhoods. Besides losing tourist trade over these issues, one must realize that many returned New Orleanians might move to Atlanta or Austin should they find their options closing here. It certainly happens now, and more than I'd like to admit. The French Quarter Citizens Association has this as it's Mission Statement: "To preserve the quality of life in the Vieux Carré neighborhood, to preserve its historical character and architecture, and to work with other organizations to focus attention on the problems confronting our neighborhood." When their president appeared on TV, saying that 'street musicians' were a deterrent to "those who live here or want to live here" I believe that mission statement was violated. There have been street musicians and street artists in New Orleans for over a hundred years. The idea that they should be done away with for "those who live here or want to live here" is ridiculous. If someone wants to live here, the concept of changing the very nature of our lives to accommodate them puts us all into the service industry, as their Disney Characters, happily waving as they change our neighborhoods in to the image they had back home in Nebraska. It means we are to be bought & sold. I know their money speaks loudly. Please be aware that the same people who marched on City Hall, 5,000 strong, speak loudly, too. In all fairness, it would seem a simple task to plot out specific areas for street music, just as Jackson Square has done for artists, myself included, at one time. Royal Street, from The Square to Canal street, is prime location for street music, without bothering any street level homes. The same is true of Bourbon, from Conti to Canal, Decatur from Margueritaville to Esplanade, and Frenchman, from Decatur to Royal Street. Please take this idea, or one like it, into consideration, as you meet with Mayor Landrieu for these discussions. Obviously we face greater emergencies right now, but with the loss of seafood and oil industry work, tourism is about all we have left. To eliminate such tourist friendly activities would seem like shooting ones self in the foot. In closing, please be aware that we're counting on you. Some proactive contact, like seeing what it is your Constituency values, might lend itself to that, rather than responding to smaller organized groups who control money & property. I'm guessing few of them tend bar, wash dishes or cook a mean blackened red fish for a living. And those things matter a great deal, here. A very great deal, indeed. Lord David Marigny New Orleans cc: everybody

Silencing the Voices of The City

2010-06-16T13:26:00.000-07:00

It is a scene imagined in minds across the Globe; an evening stroll, deciding to taste the foods indigenous to the city, distracted by the beauty of the ancient architecture, and listening to the sounds of jazz, played on the very street corners... until now. Mayor Mitch Landrieu ran for office on a platform of, among other things, "preserving our local culture". Many an eyebrow was raised when he chose Ronal Sherpas as our new Police Superintendent, after a 'nation wide search' that promised to chose from 85 of the country's "best & brightest", as Serpas is not only former NOPD, but third generation NOPD and his father was apparently Mayor Moon Landrieu's driver for a time. As New Orleans struggles through a new wave of horrible press (thanks, BP), the HBO program, 'Treme' keeps us barely seen positively in the Eyes of America. For the most part, anyway. People see themselves as imagined in the first paragraph, walking through a renewed French Quarter, surrounded by food, drink & music. Now Mayor "Preserve our Local Culture" Landrieu & Chief "Law & Order" Serpas have taken on the Real Enemy; Street Musicians. Local ordinances, rarely used, have allowed the NOPD to shut down street musicians performing on Bourbon Street, from Canal to St Ann, at 8pm. There is another, equally ridiculous ordinance, allowing them to do the same to the brass & acoustic Jazz Bands that play at the corner of Frenchman Street & Chartres, a spot long known for it's free music. It's over at 8pm, well before the parade of tourists and local listeners hit Frenchman for their nightly stroll. Under these current conditions, Louis Armstrong's career might never have been launched. I try to imagine a city, it's culture based on silence after 8pm, side walks clear of both musicians and those who would make a living from the crowds they draw; bartenders, cooks, busboys, waiters, and the myriad delivery people who help to service the dwindling tourist trade. Just who would be left to stroll there? Tourists who have dreamed all their lives of Quiet Time in the Big Silence? Imagine with me, as you fly in to Curfew International Airport, and quietly take a cab to Keep It Down Park, famous for the noisy Congo rhythms, no longer allowed past 8pm... Sorry. This antiseptic version of the Stepford Quarter is too horrible for my mind's eye to behold. There is a flicker of further madness in all of this. There are city ordinances provided to allow the constant use of power tools, compressors, leaf blowers, jack hammers and agricultural equipment from 7 in the morning until ten at night, starting a full two hours before music can begin, and running a full two hours later. In what insane nightmare standard does this become allowed to stand? Is crime in the 8th district so fully under control that NOPD cruisers have nothing better to do? As warned, Serpas' penchant for focusing on minor crimes to raise his stats is well under way. Perhaps burying his head in the COMSTAT room, he cannot hear the oppressive silence forced upon our streets by such persnickety police work. God help those carrying a trombone and forgetting to put on their seat belt. The Tower of Punishment surely waits. At a time when the State of Louisiana is wrestling with White House over it's oil platform closures, saying that without fishing, there is only that & tourism to support so many, why is the Mayor of New Orleans shutting down jazz on the street, possibly THE oldest tradition we cherish & hold dear? While the NOPD undergoes Federal Investigation on never-before-seen levels, why is the new Chief of Police using vital officer time & energy to shut down brass bands and acoustic street musicians? Banning street amplifiers after 8pm I could understand, but banjo's & trumpets? This is seriously ludicrous, if there is such a thing. I have been sent sections of blogs, with commenters there, claiming to be NOPD or Ex-NOPD, voicing their "strong disapproval" of the way they are portrayed on HBO's 'Treme'. Some have called for all off duty NOPD security to stage a walk-off, others for the officers on duty to "forget" to respond to this particular entity. I have even read some that call for the removal of all street musicians who "got what they deserved" on the HBO program. I cannot say if these commenters are actually NOPD or not. I can say that I know where the Buck Stops. And now, so will you. Please, let those who "govern" at City Hall know what you think. It is, after all, our city, and it is they, not us, who serve at our discretion. Mayor's Office Phone: 504-658-4900 Police Chief Serpas NOPDChief@cityofno.com Quality of Life Officer for 8th District Ofc. Roger Jones, 8th Dist PD rjjones@cityofno.com 504-301-7667 Arnie Fielkow/City Council Counselor at Large afielkow@cityofno.com 504-658-1060 Jackie Clarkson/City Council Vice President jbclarkson@cityofno.com 504-658-1070 Kristin Palmer/District C Council Member kgpalmer@cityofno.com (District 8 is her district) The silence you hear is the End of an Era: Music on the Streets of New Orleans.

Birds of a Feather

2010-06-04T14:36:00.001-07:00

Today, a Skylark flew into the Skull Club & couldn't find it's way out, no matter how many windows I opened. After a few hours, other Skylarks came singing at the window, and took him home. No one got paid, elected, rewarded or portrayed in a Movie of the Week. Word up, Humans. This is how it really works.

Truth

2010-06-04T13:11:00.001-07:00

One voice crying in the wilderness can become the prayer of millions. - Lord David

Seducing Selene

2010-05-26T20:09:00.000-07:00

Last night I dreamed a little dream I let it float down stream to make room for some more. Sometimes I simply drift away go swimming out in space 'til a knock comes on the door. It's just a game to answer to a name a place to lay the blame to run it all ashore. Up here when I'm alone with you it somehow all comes true I don't need one anymore. Still I see you there wondering just what my name should be... Baby, it's just me. I know I sometimes scream and shout I just got to let it out before I lose my mind. Other times I gotta make drinks for a friend well, it might be eight or ten... just let everybody in. I go out and completely act the fool I'm really not that cool it's just the business that I'm in. Up here deeper passions rise away from all those eyes we can step out of that skin. Still, I see you there wondering just who I'm trying to be... Baby, it's just me. The Sky comes caressing Earth sand is kissing surf it doesn't have to be arranged. Like the Wind whispers clouds to move they have nothing to prove no need to be ashamed. You and I or is it 'us' or 'we' or a flower and a seed a part of Nature's game. Slip away and play another hand we'll be Selene and Pan or any other name... Still I see you there, wondering just who it is you see... Baby, it's just me. Still, I see you there, wondering just who you want to be.... Baby, set it free. Baby, set it free. copyright 2010 - Lord David Music

Fearless Leader in Exile

2010-05-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

Loki; Founder, Editor & The Big Giant Head behind the Humid City blog, is currently in Exile. Self-imposed of course, but all the same, he ain't round here these days. Even in his absence, orchestrated to allow his beautiful wife to complete her higher education, he remains with us in spirit, partly wearing his Motivational Speaker hat. If one can really call that a hat. Anyway. We feel you out there brother. And you're in our hearts as well as on our dart boards. Especially since you no longer live in that van, down by the river. All Hail LOKI; Exiled Prince of Fools, King of Chatterboxes, renowned Techno Geek & The Guy You Want On Your Side When It All Goes Down. Miss ya, motherfucker. XOXO LD

No, really, I'm fine...

2010-05-14T21:46:00.000-07:00

My greatest gift is believing I know what I'm doing. I haven't a clue. Still, I soldier on, grinning and insane.

Don't Fear The Reaper, Unless it's BP

2010-05-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

GOOD NEWS! I thought my truck had a head gasket leak. Turns out it's just the smell of millions of gallons oil crude oil, spilling daily, out of control, into the Gulf of Mexico. I was getting worried there, for a minute.

Faith on Ice

2010-05-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

I’m still waiting to see who Mayor Mitch chooses as his Police Superintendent. And I’m still skeptical of ANY ex-NOPD member taking that job. I have also been seriously schooled on the inner workings of Ronal Serpas’ previous tenure at the NOPD, and the amount of good that was done at the time he served as second in command under then Superintendent Pennington. Still, my lurking fears remain. Now there’s this: Mitch Calls in the Feds Thanks, Mitch. Seriously, I mean it. That takes some serious huevos to do, whoever you are. As I’m sure it’s been pointed out, it’s probably easier being the New Mayor, so any defeat or blame gets laid elsewhere. Still, it’s a very difficult thing, as a New Orleanian, as a New Mayor, as a politico from a political family, especially THAT political family, to walk in and throw up your hands and admit that this is beyond your ability to repair, and do it front of the whole goddam world. So thanks, Mitch. Excuse me… Mayor Mitch Landrieu. Thanks. I’m still wary. Let’s say I think we’re still on very thin ice with the trust thing. But now I’ve got something else; Faith. So I’m cool with it, for now, and I’m listening & watching carefully. I’ve got Faith on Thin Ice, Mayor Mitch Landrieu. And that’s better than it’s been in a long, long time. Don’t let us down, though, okay? Just don’t.