News

Well not only are the temps heating up in this area but so are the tidbits we hear each night on the news. This is the first time I've ever lived in the city that is the capitol of a state. For those of you who don't know who the governor is, it's Bobby Jindal. Perhaps you heard his name shortly after the presidential election in November. He is a Republican "hopeful" for President the next go round. The guy is not afraid of the camera. At least twice daily he is on the local news delivering some tidbit of news that no one else in his administration apparently is qualified to report on. Hopefully he sets aside time in his day to get things done besides just conducting press conferences. Maybe this is typical for "capitol" cities....like I said I've never lived in one till now.

The crime here is horrendous and we can't wait to get out of here. Multiple shootings each day,usually resulting in at least one death a day and all sorts of robberies, etc. The other day a young woman, here from Kansas visiting relatives, came up missing. Yesterday a homeless man found her body washed up on the shore down in the area we were on Saturday. There are two problems in that last sentence....homeless and dead body. This was downtown where we had looked for a parking spot during the festival, within eyesight of the casino. No suspects yet in her murder. In other news, in Sherwood Forest just down the road from us, a man died when someone set his house on fire. Are we having fun yet ?

And late breaking news, here in Louisiana....a porn star is considering running for the senate in the next election. Maybe she and Bobby should team up....they're both no stranger to cameras.

We keep telling ourselves just a little over a week and we will be out of here....zoom..zoom..zoom

Tea, Anyone ?

Remember this picture of the capitol steps that we posted the other day ? Well, today these steps were the site of Baton Rouge's tea party. Similar protests took place all over the country. Some say that the whole movement was started by the Republican party...sour grapes over having lost the election. Thousands of people gathered to protest the excessive spending that govt. has authorized recently for bailouts, etc. Others say that this wasn't a protest that centered around political affiliation at all but a concern that the debt that we are incurring is one that our grandchildren will have to deal with. There is a concern that even though we have "taxation WITH representation" that our needs fall on deaf ears. Pork barrel spending continues....and people are just fed up. This was a grassroots movement that I don't think we've seen or heard the last of. No matter what side of the debate you fall on, I think the important thing is that people are getting fired up and participating in THEIR government. Thinking about what is going on...how it will impact them or future generations...and getting passionate enough to GET INVOLVED. Isn't that what government should be ? Active participation by all to bring about change on a global scale. Let's keep it going !