Things that Make You Go, "Hmm..."

European leaders are trying diffuse this cartoon crisis.
The Swedish government has gone to the point of issuing travel alerts… characters like Popeye and Olive and the Seven Dwarfs have been advised to stay home.

Meanwhile, Texas Governor Rick Perry wants to delay school reform until next year, making property tax cuts the main thrust of his re-election campaign. Did he think this up on his own, or is he just getting bad advice?

The things in the news these days that make you go, “hmmmm….”

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is looking for foreign aid help in rebuilding, thanks to funding shortfalls from the US government. Mayor Nagin has hosted a parade of foreign dignitaries through what's left of his town since Hurricane Katrina hit in August. Jordan's King Abdullah was in town last week.

New Orleans was founded by the French in 1718…a delegation of French government and business officials visited on Friday to explore potential business partnerships. The leader of the French delegation, Transport Minister Dominique Perben, said the “catastrophe has deeply upset the French people and the French government."

On the one hand, I’d say about bloody time, since if it weren’t for the United States, they’d be speaking German in Paris instead of French. Please pass the pate…and let's see if they put up.

Mayor Nagin already has the assignments made.
According to the Associated Press, Nagin reportedly said, "France can take Treme. The king of Jordan can take the Lower Ninth Ward."

My producer, Buddy, this morning made a vew good suggestion: Why not just sell corporate naming rights, and allow development by Disney or Universal Studios…how about a corporate sponsorship with Hershey’s?

Look what Disney did for the Florida swamps—could the Mississippi Delta be any worse?

Mayor Nagin says New Orleans needs Washington’s "undivided attention" over the next six months. News-flash, Ray Ray—it’s election year. They’re going to be looking after their own for the next six months, and the only help you’re going to get are from the guys that got you where you are—the esteemed Representatives and Senators from the great state of Louisianna.

Politicians got New Orelans into the mess it is in…and it is in their power to help get the city back on track. I would think that if I were an incumbent, this being an election year, such an issue would be a perfect entrée for glory.
Only no one seems to have the guts.

In September President Bush pledged that the government would do what it takes and stay as long as it takes to rebuild. What the displaced people of New Orleans, and Mayor Nagin, seem to have forgotten is that we/they are the government.

Here’s a starting point, Mayor Nagin: put your people to work.
You’ve got New Orleans transplants living on the government dole in Houston and Dallas and who knows where else, while $15/hour and-up jobs to rebuild your city are going to people from Texas, Arkansas and Mexico.

I’ve got a bit of a problem in supporting folk who can do nothing but complain about what the government isn’t doing for them, who say they cannot find work, when there is plenty of work to be done back home.

I’ve got a bit of a disagreement with folk who say “why me, Lord, oh why me” instead of asking “why not me” as an answer to the problems in New Orleans.