Mardi Gras in New Orleans

MARDI GRAS IN NEW ORLEANS is fast approaching-Mardi Gras day is Tuesday, February 21. Are you thinking of coming to town to see the world's greatest free show? There are all kinds of things for you to consider. Where will you stay? If you live close by, and are planning to drive here, where will you park?

Unfortunately, all the hotels, motels (including the flea bags), flophouses, bunkhouses and camp grounds are all filled up. And if you are lucky enough to find a parking spot, you'll wind up walking a good distance to the parade routes.

So are there alternatives? Yes. You might get lucky and find a room in town, but beware-you're going to pay a lot for it. Try New Orleans Craiglist.com, or contact a travel agent and ask her if she knows if any of the locals are offering their homes, or rooms within their homes-for rent.

Although Mardi Gras day is Tuesday, the serious partying starts the Friday preceding. It's a long weekend: Friday until Wednesday morning (Ash Wednesday), there are lots of parades and festivities. And all of them free!

I recommend finding a spot on St. Charles Avenue, between Louisiana and Jackson Avenues. Canal Street will be packed solid. If you get there early enough, you'll be able to stake out a claim. I usually go early in the morning the Sunday before Mardi Gras, find a spot on the "neutral ground" (median), and pitch a tent. I bring food (food along the parade routes is abundant, but not cheap), scaffolding (to better see the parades, and catch more beads), and plenty of cold beverages in the cooler. There are abundant Port-a-Potties along the parade route on St. Charles, especially between Louisiana and Jackson Avenues. Parking is usually available in the adjacent neighborhoods, but be careful of restrictions (just look for any signs that restrict or forbid parking).

Random Thoughts on New Orleans Over Morning Coffee

There is a feeling you get when coming in to New Orleans, either by car or by plane. It is the feeling of entering another world, or even another dimension of existence.

New Orleans Could Have Been Spared: The Consequences of Environmentalism

It's been almost six years since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans-and the city is still recovering. The 2010 census for Orleans Parish shows 343,829 people; the 2000 census gave the number at 484,674, a drop of almost 141,000. That's about the size of Metairie, the largest suburb of New Orleans, or of Bridgeport, CT., Savannah, GA.,  Sunnyvale, CA., et al.

So it's not an exaggeration to say that Katrina was an apocalyptic event for New Orleans.

Class Warfare...Again?

When will the Left come up with some fresh ideas? They're trottting out their Marxist class warfare schemes...again!

Very recently, there's been a lot of focus in the mainstream media on the class warfare concept, a term used by key Republicans to describe Obama's economic strategy.

"Class warfare" originated as a Marxist term. It was used to describe  what would happen when the poor got sick and tired of being exploited by the rich. "Workers of the world unite!" In popular parlance, it refers to political rhetoric that appeals to envy and resentment.

It goes something like this:

"Joe the Millionaire pays a lower percentage of taxes than his secretary!"

"The rich have to pay their fair share of taxes, too. And they should be willing to pay more, since they're rich enough. A few extra dollars won't hurt them!"

Discredit the Left Now

So you want to help people-you see the media images of the starving and destitute, read about the mass scale of human suffering in the world-and you want to "make a differance", to do something to help. That is a noble sentiment. It is something conservatives and liberals agree on.

However, liberals and conservatives do not usually agree on the means to these noble ends. As for myself, I favor addressing the root causes of these symptoms with far more resources than we use right now. Most of our time and money is spent on addressing the symptoms. We send money and food to the starving and homeless. We give those things that destitute and sick people need right away. That is good. But the problem doesn't go away, and in many instances, becomes worse.