
Story Time: The Mike Hammer Chronicles
Set the Wayback Machine to 2006. Continue reading Story Time: The Mike Hammer Chronicles
Set the Wayback Machine to 2006. Continue reading Story Time: The Mike Hammer Chronicles
“New Orleans isn’t buildings. New Orleans is the people.” Continue reading Story Time: Michel
Set the Wayback Machine to New Year’s Eve, 2009. Continue reading Story Time-Listomania: The Decayed Decade
Krewe du Vieux does Treme. Continue reading Story Time: Confessions Of A Carnival Parade Recreator
Another Dickensian New Orleans flashback. Continue reading Story Time: Comfortably Numb
A tribute to Sean Payton. Continue reading Sláinte, Sean
That’s Life In TFC: This Fucking City. Continue reading Debrisville Update
Takeout Trash In This Fucking City. Continue reading TFC: Teedy’s Trash Trouble
The stinkiest potpourri post ever. Continue reading The Debrisville Post Ida Stank Blues
Reflections on the 16th Katrinaversary. Continue reading The Spirit Of ’05 Revisited
One reason I’m feeling so cantankerous of late is that it’s August. Everyone in New Orleans gets tetchy at this time of year as the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent Federal Flood approaches. It’s been 16 years since the most important moment of my life. You might not be reading this if not for that epic disaster. It’s why I became an internet writer or blogger as we used to call ourselves.
I’m struck by the similarity of the MSM’s coverage of Katrina’s aftermath and the collapse of the Afghan government. The words that come to mind are shrill, hyperbolic, and over the top. To watch CNN after the storm was to believe there was widespread looting, arson, and mayhem. The looped footage typically included people clinging to rooftops, stealing teevees, and images of the Beer Looter Dude. Over and over again.
In August and September of 2005, the MSM floated unsupported rumors of murders at evacuation sites such as the Super Dome and Convention Center. Over and over again.
I recall watching a reporter do a standup in front of some burning houses and proclaiming that the “Garden District is on fire.” It was not. The burning houses were on Napoleon Avenue, which is not in the Garden District. The looped footage and misattribution continued. Over and over again.
There *was* chaos in New Orleans after Katrina and the Federal Flood but it was not as widespread as the MSM coverage would have you believe. That coverage inspired my skepticism of all on-the-fly live reporting from a disaster area or war zone.
In 2021, the MSM is whipping up hysteria over events in Afghanistan by looping footage of children being lifted over razor wire and desperate people hanging onto airplanes. Over and over again.
There *is* some chaos after the fall of Kabul. Losing armies tend to collapse at the end of a losing war. Make no mistake about it: the side we backed lost this war. Much of the MSM, however, seems disinterested in reporting items such as this:
Just now, @SecBlinken on Afghanistan evacuations: "Last 24 hours about 8,000 people on about 60 flights evacuated from Kabul airport. Since this effort began at the end of July, about 30,000 people all told …" pic.twitter.com/jBIMunbx8Z
— The Recount (@therecount) August 22, 2021
As always, Chris Wallace is willing to sail against the prevailing winds of his own network.
As for the lemmings of the MSM, they prefer headlines like the “Calamity Plane” headline in the feature image. It’s a good pun but an inaccurate headline.
The spirit of 2006. Continue reading Bayou Brief: Déjà Vu All Over Again
Adrastos Goes Back To The Bayou. Continue reading Bayou Brief: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Writing My Katrinaversary Column
2020 Can Go Fuck Itself. Continue reading Hurricane Laura & Other Disasters
George Takei refutes the Surgeon General’s historical analogy. Continue reading Tweet Of The Day: Fog Of History Edition
The title of my latest 13th Ward Rambler column for the Bayou Brief was inspired by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Love In The Time Of Coronavirus. I’m particularly fond of the tag line: “The COVID-19 pandemic has Peter Athas thinking about … Continue reading Bayou Brief: Love In The Time Of Coronavirus
It’s been a tough week in the Big Uneasy and everywhere else on planet for that matter. The good news is that Governor John Bel Edwards excels in a crisis. He’s a West Point graduate and he’s brought some military calm to the pandemic. Mayor Cantrell bowed to the inevitable and issued a stay home order for residents of Orleans Parish. She’s doing all the right things but remains verbose in doing them. Every time I see her on teevee, my inner speechwriter dies a little.
This week’s theme song was composed by Yes for 1974’s Relayer album. The lyrics are by Jon Anderson. It was inspired by Tolstoy’s War and Peace and has four movements:
The song describe a battle, with a prelude, a charge, a moment of victory, and a peace. “It’s not to explain war or denounce it really,” Anderson said. “It’s an emotional description with the slight feeling at the end of, ‘Do we have to go through this forever?”
We have two versions of The Gates Of Delirium for your listening pleasure. The studio original and a 2001 live version with a dadgum Dutch orchestra:
Now that we’re all a bit delirious, here’s a song from Neko Case, KD Lang, and Laura Veirs:
Since we’re at the gates of a delirious new era, let’s jump to the break and see what’s on the other side.
Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: The Gates Of Delirium”
“Soap up your hands, and cover your sneeze The coronavirus coming down to New Orleans.” Continue reading Half Pagan: Coronavirus In New Orleans
In a public health crisis, the truth is the best disinfectant. Continue reading The Shadow Of Incompetence
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the impeachment hearings ate my week. It wasn’t a snack, it was a tasting menu of scandal, malakatude, and heroism. Democrats have found their mojo: I was proud of their performance in the face of Republican shouting and conspiracy theorizing. That was down to Chairman Schiff who refused to take any shit from committee GOPers. I’m less confident of the performance of Judiciary Chairman Nadler but the ball will soon be in his court. Stay tuned.
This week’s theme song was written by the late, great Pat DiNizio in 1986 for The Smithereens debut album, Especially For You. The band had been kicking around New Jersey for years before hitting the big time with this great rock song.
We have two versions of Behind The Wall Of Sleep for your listening pleasure: the original video and a 21st Century live version.
There’s a Black Sabbath song with the same title but metal is not my thing so I’ll pass.
Now that we’ve caught up on our sleep, let’s jump to the break.
Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: Behind The Wall Of Sleep”
One Night with Dwight Yoakam in New Orleans. Continue reading Dwight & Me
I wrote about Drew Brees and his unfortunate relationship with Focus on the Family in my new not-so secret identity as the Bayou Brief’s 13th Ward Rambler, I should give credit where it’s due to Jenn Bentley of Big Easy … Continue reading Drew Brees Agonistes
Reflections on the 14th Katrinaversary. Continue reading The Spirit Of ’05 Revisited
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, 1942-2019. Continue reading Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, R.I.P.
An early high point of the Katrina/Federal Flood recovery era was when the Boss played the first Jazz Fest after the storm. It was one of the best sets I’ve ever seen. It closed in a way that guaranteed there wasn’t a dry eye at the Fairgrounds: Continue reading Not Everything Sucks: Springsteen At Jazz Fest 2006
Seven years of slow motion seppuku culminated in the sale of the Times-Picayune/NOLA.com to the owners of the upstart Advocate. Seppuku is a ritual form of suicide that involves self-disembowelment and bleeding out. That’s exactly what happened at the Times-Pic as a series of stupid business decisions led to its sale to the competition. Did I say stupid? I meant wicked stupid. That’s why I call it the Zombie Picayune. Once again, a newspaper staff is suffering at the hands of the suits. The TP/NOLA.com staff were laid-off. Some will be hired by the Advocate company, others will not be … Continue reading The New Orleans Advocate-Times-Picayune?
The King of Bigots is at it again, and this time it’s personal: [H]ere’s what FEMA tells me: We go to a place like New Orleans, and everybody’s looking around saying, “Who’s going to help me? Who’s going to help me?” We go to a place like Iowa, and we go see, knock on the door at, say, I make up a name, John’s place, and say, “John, you got water in your basement, we can write you a check, we can help you.” And John will say, “Well, wait a minute, let me get my boots. It’s Joe that … Continue reading Steve King Can Go Fuck Himself
You ever get shown up thoroughly by someone twice your age? Tom Butler and his wife June did that to me in 2007 in NOLA. Longtime readers may remember we assembled a bunch of Internet people who’d never met (pictured above) to go to New Orleans to gut a house in the aftermath of Katrina. Tom, second from left up there, absolutely kicked my ass. He and June, beside him as always, hauled out barrow after barrow, bucket after bucket, of filth from this roach-ridden rotting hulk of a flooded home in 90-degree heat and 90 percent humidity, working dawn … Continue reading In Loving and Awed Memory of Tom Butler, First Draft Krewe
It doesn’t matter whose fault it is: “When Trump visited the island territory last October, OFFICIALS told him in a briefing 16 PEOPLE had died from Maria.” The Washington Post. This was long AFTER the hurricane took place. Over many months it went to 64 PEOPLE. Then, like magic, “3000 PEOPLE KILLED.” They hired…. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2018 He’s a feral animal, of course, who can only see things in terms of how they affect him. You know this and so do I and I think so does he, not that it matters. I’m so tired … Continue reading The Three Thousand & Where Power Lies