Rhythm is one of the words that I struggle to spell. I want to spell it RY not RH. Perhaps the correct spelling reminds me of the RH blood group. The spell checker keeps me in line. I wish there was such an easy corrective to the heat wave that’s settled on New Orleans.

The observant among you may have noticed that I didn’t  post yesterday. I blame the heat, rhythmic or otherwise. I woke up and didn’t hear the AC compressor blades whirring out back. There was a bodily tell as well: I was a giant sweat ball. It’s so muggy right now that the house turns into an oven when the AC craps out.

I called for help, sat on the porch, and waited. I had flashbacks to Hurricane Ida when the entire city lost power. That was a real sweat fest as well but at least it was late August on what I call, The Double Whammy Anniversary.

The AC tech arrived about 2 hours after I called. He’s one of those guys who just looks competent. He’s also cheerful and funny. Two good qualities in someone who deals with overheated people.

Even after the AC was repaired, the house felt like a shotgun oven for hours. Suffice it to say that I still feel like I was run over by a truck. That’s New Orleans in the summer, especially when “we’re having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave.”

Have I told you lately than Caj Tjader is a fellow San Mateo High School alumni? He was in the class of much older than me…

The Indicted Impeached Insult Comedian is a great subject to write about, but I’m sick of his shit. I’m glad Cassandra took a whack at him this morning so I can keep this segment short and snappy.

On indictment night, Trump advanced the Busy Life Defense. Apparently, he was too busy to deal with classified documents like an adult instead of like this:

The Busy Life Defense is a sure sign that Trump has never worked for anyone other than Slumlord Fred. Only in his twisted mind is busyness a defense. It fails both the smell and the laugh tests. It’s also a sure sign that he never listens to his lawyers. Of course, it’s hard to tell them apart without a scorecard.

I wonder if we can get Jon Anderson to write some new lyrics for this song and make it The Rhythm Of Hate:

Probably not. Jon is all about love, not hate. In actual Yes news, Rick Wakeman is retiring from live performances after he wraps up one more solo tour. That makes me feel as old as I am. I won’t, however, be astonished if he unretires. I seem to recall him doing this before.

In non-heat related NOLA news, there’s an Axios branch operation here run by some former Picayune people. Thus far, I like it more than the Axios mothership.

They reported some good news and related weird news in this morning’s newsletter. I’m a good news first guy: The murder rate is down 17% from last year at this time. Hopefully, we’ll be able to pass on the Murder Capital crown at the end of 2023.

The related weird news involves Mayor Teedy. Anyone surprised?

“Cantrell on Wednesday highlighted NOPD’s arrests of at least five juveniles who are currently in custody and call themselves members of the “No Hospital Gang.”

• “They don’t want you to go to the hospital. They want you to die on the spot,” Cantrell said during her weekly media update.
• “It’s something we all should be concerned about,” she said.

Cantrell said she’s reaching out to the families of the youths and asking for meetings.

• “I’m determined to not allow these young people to negatively influence or impact other young people that we have at the [Juvenile Justice Intervention Center],” which is the parish’s juvenile detention center.
• She declined to release any additional information about the juveniles, saying the investigation is ongoing.
• A New Orleans police spokesperson said there were juveniles arrested, but the department “cannot confirm that they are associated with any gangs.”

Bullet points, bullshit, or both? Beats the hell outta me.

All the B words evoke an Iguanas song that was used on Homicide back in the day:

I just called myself a good news first person. That’s not entirely accurate. I’m closing with some good news out of Illinois, land of Lincoln and Athenae:

“Gov. JB Pritzker signed legislation Monday that seeks to protect public and school libraries from pressure to ban, remove or restrict access to books based on “partisan or doctrinal disapproval.”

Speaking at the Harold Washington Library Center in downtown Chicago, Pritzker said there were 67 attempts in 2022 to have various books removed from library shelves in Illinois, including books about LGBTQ-plus youths, the Black experience and racism.

“The argument for banning books always begins with the claim that it’s about protecting the children, and yes, of course, we all want to protect our children so they’re reading age-appropriate material,” he said. “But banning books from libraries isn’t about that at all. Book bans are about censorship, marginalizing people, marginalizing ideas and facts. Regimes ban books, not democracies.”

Fuck yeah, Illinois.

That is all.

The last word goes to Peter Gabriel with a double dose of rhythmic heat: