New Orleans, LA

I got an email from the zoo:

My name is Zelda, an African Blackfooted Penguin—one of the many animals you can adopt from Audubon Nature Institute! Over the past year, my animal friends at Audubon Zoo, Audubon Aquarium of the Americas and Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species have been doing well because of the kindness of supporters like you.

Your gift of $35 to adopt me will help feed and care for me—and for the many animals within Audubon’s care.

When you adopt me or any other animal at Audubon Nature Institute, you will receive a “parent package,” which includes a personalized adoption certificate, a photo and fun facts about your new wild child and an invitation to a special event only for adoptive animal parents. Animal adoptions are terrific holiday and birthday presents, too!

Thank you for being a part of our Audubon family! Please come visit us; we love to see the people who make our excellent care possible.

Love,
Zelda
African Blackfooted Penguin at Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

zoo, audubon, aquarium, penguin, adopt, new orleans

In 1800, Spain controlled a vast territory in the New World called Louisiana. The small, at that time, US had no particular interest in buying that land. That land which ran from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. The US and Spain had a treaty, the Pickney Treaty of 1795, that allowed American navigation of the Mississippi River and access to the Port of New Orleans. More than a quarter of everything produced in America traveled to the Gulf via the Mississippi River.

In 1801, France resumed control of Louisiana and America’s views on that changed. President Jefferson was concerned that France would try to block American use of the river stangling American growth. France at that time was the traditional American enemy. To make matters worse, Napoleon made public his intentions to occupy Louisiana and make that land the bread basket of France in America.

Many in the US wanted to declare war on France. Not just for this but it added fire to the flame. The Federalists had wanted war for a long time and this gave them added impetus. Jefferson did not want war and struggled for a way out. He wrote to the US ambassador to France and said (I paraphrase), “The day that France takes possession of New Orleans is the day we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation.” Meaning that he was willing to go to war over New Orleans. He also instructed the ambassador to make sure that the French, in particular, Napoleon, understood that.

France was facing a slave revolt in the Caribbean. Between fighting and yellow fever, Napoleon lost over 40,000 soldiers. He could not afford a war with the US and Britain. The US wanted to purchase New Orleans for $10 Million. Napoleon sold all of Louisiana for $15 Million, only 3/4 of which they were required to pay (the rest went to reparations to the US government).

In one fell swoop, the US doubled its land by acquiring Louisiana. The purchase was ratified in 1803 and Louisiana was admitted to the Union in 1812.

new orleans, louisiana, louisiana purchase, france, america, jefferson, history

The New Orleans Mint is reopening in October. The New Orleans mint was the mint that imprinted an O on coins. The mint shut down in 1909 but has been turned into a museum. It took some major damage by Katrina but has been renovated and is reopening for business.

For those collectors passing through New Orleans, the restored Mint Museum is well worth a visit. The former exhibit on the history of the New Orleans Mint has been totally revamped and expanded. It also now includes a section on the archeology of the Mint. The building served as both a U.S. and Confederate mint, but lack of bullion shut it down quickly under Confederate administration. Minting operations ceased once and for all in 1909 and in 1966 the landmark was transferred to the state. It opened to the public in 1981 as a state museum.

According to web sources, the old mint was built in 1835 and is the only mint in the US to server as both a US and Confederate mint.

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new orleans, us mint, o mint, tourism, history, museum, history, historical, numismatic

Queen New Orleans, City By The River, was written by Harnett T Kane. Mr Kane was a lover of Louisiana and New Orleans. He wrote several books about the region, include Queen New Orleans, The Bayous of Louisiana and The Romantic South. Mr Kane died on September 4, 2007.

In honor of his memory, and to celebrate his writing, I thought I would share a short excerpt from Queen New Orleans. I have to say that I am quite proud to own a first edition; printed by Morrow in 1949. If you can get a copy, I recommend it. You can find them on ebay at times.

I enjoy this book from two perspectives. As a native New Orleanian, I can see Kane’s love for New Orleans. It’s in every word. As a writer I can see his love for words. When you read this excerpt, I don’t think you’ll be able to do anything but agree.

From Queen New Orleans, Introduction - New Orleans is a Lady.

New Orleans is a lady - part American, part Spanish, more French than either in her essential viewpoint. She is intriguing in her swift changes of mood, grande dame one moment, gamine the next. She enjoys laughter, appreciates a show, relishes a quiet hour of happiness. By the unco guid she is considered a little shady, if not worse she would be the first to admit she is no anemic Puritan. For she has seen a good deal in her day, and she doesn’t shock easily.

It is generally admitted, however, that she has taste and judgment and poise is unmistakable. To her have come glory and heartbreak, triumph and defeat, and she has profited from them all. She can look fate in the face and make the best of whatever befalls her. And above everything else she has her Gallic joie de vivre, her Latin appreciation of the generous intention, the gallant gesture.

Throughout her story New Orleans has remained faithful to herself, and to the river with which destiny has joined her. In fat years and thin, she has stayed his Queen, now a consort in ornate halls, now a tiresome helpmate eating red beans and rice in her kitchen. With the Mississippi she will live to the end; and meanwhile she will go on as always, savoring, appreciating what the days bring.

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Back in the beginning of August, I wrote an article about a Time Magazine article called Time: The Threatening Storm. After I wrote that, I got a comment from a reader named Corps Of Engineers Employee. Corps had this to day:

# Corps of Engineers Employee Says:
August 14th, 2007 at 9:45 am e

TIME magazine’s article, “The Threatening Storm,” undermines the real science and risk information citizens need to make informed decisions about rebuilding with its reckless disregard for the truth.

The Corps provided TIME magazine with engineering, scientific and risk information derived from the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force’s (IPET) study done in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The IPET study has been independently peer reviewed by the American Society of Civil Engineers and the National Academies. TIME chose to base their article on upon technical quotes that are not supported by science-based facts or the analysis done by IPET, ASCE or the National Academies.

For more info, visit:
http://www.usace.army.mil/response.htm

I promised that I would take a look at the link and report back. I have read the information and am now reporting back.

First off, I have to admit, I am not an engineer. I’m a computer neebish, though. Anyway, I mentioned (complained?) in my original post that I would like to see where Time got their info. This page from the Corps has links to that data. This page was basically released like a press release and if you are interested, I would recommend that you read it and the links provided. I will post some, what I consider significant, information from the release here.

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Joshua Clark, author of Heart Like Water, recently told me about a new Katrina news site. The site is HurricaneKatrinaNews.org and it is a very comprehensive news story site.

The name of the page is Hurricane Katrina 2007, your go to page.

This is the description:

We present here the latest articles of note, and include a brief synopsis and quotes from each below its link, so you need not go any further unless you want to delve deeper about a particular subject. This is not a site not of outdated, archived news items. These pieces include breaking news, highlighting the ongoing debates, resources to better understand the hurricane—what we can do about both healing its wounds and preventing a future disaster—as well as resources for those still in need. Sadly, despite the fact that the storm’s second anniversary is approaching on August 29, 2007, Hurricane Katrina’s devastation is far from over.

Katrina made landfall just before dawn on August 29, 2005, seventy miles south of New Orleans. Largely because the wetlands that make up Louisiana’s coast had been eroded, the storm surge pushed unabated into southern Louisiana, breaching New Orleans’ levees at multiple points, leaving 80 percent of the city submerged, tens of thousands of victims clinging to rooftops, and hundreds of thousands scattered to shelters around the country. Many have yet to return. The devastation to Mississippi and Louisiana by hurricanes Katrina and Rita has been called the greatest disaster in our nation’s history.

The images of anguish and anger from Hurricane Katrina have been forever burned into the hearts and minds of all Americans. They must be the catalyst for change. Prevention of a future disaster of similar proportions is both possible and practical. But the United States must act now to restore the wetlands.

There are links here to current Katrina-related news stories, a Katrina info central with timelines and graphics, a lessons learned section (including myth busters). The page also has links to additional resources, important phone numbers, and some very impressive details on the Louisiana wetlands and what has been happening to them.

This site is a bookmark for sure.

new orleans, katrina, rebuilding, news

I am feeling somewhat melancholy and homesick today. More so than last year. I’m not sure why. Things have gotten better in New Orleans but for some reason I am more depressed this year as the anniversary rolls around. Maybe it’s because two years later and things aren’t further along.

My mom is moving out of her trailer at the end of this month. Housing is outrageous. My nephews have jobs. I have two less siblings this year than I did two years ago. I didn’t think it was possible for New Orleans to have fewer IT jobs than it did several years ago but that is the unfortunate truth.

So, today, I will leave you with two NPR stories. You can follow the links to hear the recordings.

The first is titled: Dear New Orleans: I’m Leaving You. This is the story of a reporter, a non-native, who had adopted New Orleans as her home. A female representative of Generation K. Eve from K-Ville. Maybe that makes her a native.

The story isn’t so much about her as it is about the sadness and the crime permeating the city two years after Katrina. The big easy that is less easy. Her feelings about New Orleans seem to be a lot like mine:

They don’t understand that I’m in love. I talk to friends about New Orleans like a dysfunctional romance. I gush over it one day, then call up bawling and heartbroken the next. Why can’t it change? Stop being self-destructive and violent? It has so much potential.

I don’t live in New Orleans anymore. I don’t know if I ever will. But I am still a local. I always will be. There is something about New Orleans that forces that on you. Even through the embarrassment of re-electing Nagin, I will forever be a child born in Mercy Hospital.

The reporter, Eve, is leaving New Orleans after a friend being murdered, after friends being mugged, after being mugged herself. I wish her the best. Go to the link above and listen to the audio. It’s worth a few minutes.

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Here’s something I have never heard of, read beans can make you sick. I ran across this article, Why Red Beans And Rice Can Be Nauseating. I knew red beans could make you fart and if you eat too much it’s like a fiber bomb but I didn’t know it could literally make you sick.

According to the article:

Scientists have discovered how lectins, a family of proteins believed to be a natural insecticide that is abundant in undercooked legumes and grains, can make you feel temporarily miserable.

I searched around to see what a lectin is. Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins or glycoproteins which are highly specific for their sugar moieties. Yeah, that didn’t help me either.

Have you heard of ricin? It was used by the Russians to kill a spy. They poked him with a special umbrella and it injected ricin into him. He died shortly after. Ricin comes from the castor bean and is highly toxic. Apparently, under cooked read beans can have something of the same effect.

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