Valid questions for those against gay marriage

Direct Address
Sally sends a letter to the antigay marriage crowd

By Sally Sheklow
Dear Heterosexual Chauvinists:

Thank you for caring so much about my personal business. I feel a little guilty because, frankly, I don’t care at all about yours. No offense.

It’s just that your marriage, as state-sanctioned and God-ordained as it may be, isn’t something I spend much time imagining. Not that I have to. I see and read and hear about straight marriages every day. The way you flaunt your lifestyle, it’s sort of hard to avoid.

I mean, who doesn’t already know that nearly half of all one-man-one-woman marriages end in divorce? It’s no secret. And any women’s shelter can tell you that 97.5 percent of domestic violence occurs in straight households. You don’t exactly keep your dirty laundry private. Still, I’m not out there trying to prevent heterosexual marriage (although I do support women’s shelters).

I don’t spend my time fuming over the heterosexual newlywed photos in my local newspaper, the very paper that—unlike the New York Times—refuses to print same-sex wedding announcements. That policy isn’t fair or right, but I haven’t launched any campaigns against heterosexuals’ civil liberties because of it. I don’t sit around plotting how to keep opposite-sex couples from enjoying their marriage rights. Nobody has to enter into matrimony if they don’t want to. If you choose to keep on marrying and divorcing your opposite-sex partners, go right ahead. It’s not my concern.

I can’t control your orientation, no matter how abnormal it may seem to me. Just like your freedom to choose your religion, your choice to marry outside your sex is protected by law. Even though I find your obsession with same-sex marriage totally bizarre, I don’t scour the Bible for verses that might bolster my point of view, although I understand there are quite a few—love thy neighbor as thyself, for example.

I find it odd that you blame lesbian and gay people for how difficult you find it to love, honor, and cherish each other. You claim that our marriages threaten the sanctity of your marriages. Hello? We didn’t invent adultery. Or wife beating. How you can fault same-sex marriage for your own failings is beyond me. Especially when as many as 70 percent of female murder victims were killed by their male partners. Where’s the sanctity in that?

I truly don’t see how my equal access to the same privileges you enjoy (and often squander) threatens you. I’m not the one organizing my congregation against you or rallying voters to declare your relationships unconstitutional or lobbying my legislators to deny your rights. I have neither the time nor the inclination for straight-hating.

How you relate to your spouse is your business. And what you do in the privacy of your own marriage—or even what you say about mine—is beyond my control. You call us perverse, but you have no idea how incredibly weird you Defense-of-Marriage people seem to the rest of us. Come on, is there anything odder than fixating on other people’s sexuality? Your non-consensual peeping into my life is downright creepy. I suppose I should be honored that you find my personal life so fascinating, and maybe I would be if you didn’t insist I can and should change.

Anyone who’s married surely should know your marriage is doomed if you think you can change the other person. Get a clue. You can’t eradicate or outlaw or convert everyone who isn’t made in your image. So we’re different—big deal.

You’ve spent millions persuading folks that our differences somehow threaten their marriages. Kinda crazy, but your freedom of speech, like mine, is protected. Just think, though, of all the good you could do if the time and effort and money you pour into your antigay rampage went toward something useful—like reducing poverty or saving the rain forest or making peace between nations. You know, helping.

Instead of demonizing me for being created as I am, why not pitch in? You have so much drive, why not use it to do something people really need? Help ensure education, food, housing, and health care for everyone. We could work together, pool our energies to increase dignity, respect, and joy in the world, for all creation.

I would at least like to continue the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness that our Constitution recognizes are my inalienable rights. I understand that prejudice runs deep and that blaming scapegoats is human nature. There’s room in my heart to forgive you for your limitations. Unlearning hateful thinking isn’t easy. You’re entitled to take as long as you want to come to grips with reality.

Meanwhile, this would be a good time to kindly step aside and mind your own business.

Most sincerely,
Sally Sheklow

link to full article

Saturday night at home

I've done almost nothing today - YAY! It's perhaps a good thing. A day off. No cleaning, no document preparation, no .. nothing.

Isadora Duncan. Why can I never remember her name?

The hooker has been texting all day - he's NUTS. He sulks if I reject his requests to drop everything and go pick him up and pay him for sex. He's almost like a rejected lover. Weird, weird.

Speaking of putative lovers, Nick sounds awful today. He's been sleeping all day, and the two messages he's left and the brief time we've been on the phone, he sounds just dreadful.

Yummy! Soup!

Watching the expanded version of "Titanic" - yeah, shut up. I've waited eight years for this movie to come out. Right now, I'm watching the deleted scenes; then, I'll watch the whole thing. I think BuhZilly wants to go have a drink after he finishes working.

I think I'm having lunch with T and his kids tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I think some house cleaning and dog laundering is in order.

Just finished the book "The Historian" which was terrific. Now, I'm reading a Michael Ford collection of somewhat elevated erotica. Four more books to read, and four more coming.

I feel very VERY good about my decision to stay home for T-day and Christmas. Not only does it save a bunch of money, but it reduces stress of being away. I'm figuring that it would take me some $2,000 to take those two trips. Dad's sold his house in Florida, and his place will be FULL of Mary's kids and their broods for the holidays. Maybe I'll go in early January, and help them pack or something.

There's an airline for sale on eBay. I can just see reverse merging Fabulair into it, and making something happen. I sure want to get started working on that project full time again.

I'm about to spend next week looking into how to make that happen. Get unstoppable, just like in the old Landmark days.

Friday evening -

Van Helsing - what a lame movie. Pleh.

Almost time to hit the sack. I've been so tired since Nick left.

Poor Nick is just miserable. He's miserable because he's in a lot of pain, because he is worrying that he's really injured and doesn't know it, and because he's in Ohio. His car isn't feeling very reliable to him, and other stuff. He's just getting it from all directions.

Yep, this movie is really stupid.

Have a few things to do in the morning, including getting my hair cut. Then, I think I'm going to sort stuff for eBay auctioning (this next week) and also getting some rest and relaxation. It's going to be meditation weekend.

Boy, I sure want that Phaeton that the guy in Fort Worth found for me. I WANT IT.

Want want want want want.

Curt suggested tonight that we find a restaurant for Thanksgiving. I think I'm going to stay home. It's over $500 to fly home, and with the uncertainty of these loan files, I'm just going to hunker down and save the money.

Also, it seems that Dad has sold his house, and Mary's kids want to come down there for Christmas. Another family trip cancelled. Another $500 in airfare (plus spending money, dog sitting, etc.) saved.

And more tranquility gained.

Opened up my "heart's desire" list from last year. Well, the tranquility part has been achieved, but nothing else. Not even close. Blarg.

This movie is TOTALLY stupid.

I think it's going to be early to bed tonight.

I HATE THE MORTGAGE BUSINESS

Today, especially. Is it that it's just really a crappy business, or do I not know what I'm doing? Am I just making stupid mistakes that end up in big problems later?

Why do all of the deals have some big bomb laid in them? Why do I have to jump through hoops to get anything done with anything?

I'm just processing through why people don't want to pay me (not everyone, but most everyone.) It's the same energy as Nick getting hit with a pipe, just happens with the absence of a checkbook.

I think I'm going to go through my Quicken register and see how much money I've made doing each of the things I do do this year. I have to figure out how/why this isn't working for me.

Okay, enough of sulking and pouting .. I'm going to finish reading my book, watch a DVD and stay away from the computer as much as I can.

Love that Jack!

Defending Imperial Nudity
By Paul Krugman
The New York Times

Friday 04 November 2005

Hans Christian Andersen understood bad rulers. "The Emperor's New Suit" doesn't end with everyone acclaiming the little boy for telling the truth. It ends with the emperor and his officials refusing to admit their mistake.

I've laid my hands on additional material, which Andersen failed to publish, describing what happened after the imperial procession was over.

The talk-show host Bill O'Reilly yelled, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" at the little boy. Calling the boy a nut, he threatened to go to the boy's house and "surprise" him.

Fox News repeatedly played up possible finds of imperial clothing, then buried reports discrediting these stories. Months after the naked procession, a poll found that many of those getting most of their news from Fox believed that the emperor had in fact been clothed.

Imperial officials eventually admitted that they couldn't find any evidence that the suit ever existed, or that there had even been an effort to produce a suit. They insisted, however, that they had found evidence of wardrobe-manufacturing-and-distribution-related program activities.

After the naked procession, pro-wardrobe pundits denied that the emperor was at fault. The blame, they said, rested with the C.I.A., which had provided the emperor with bad intelligence about the potential for a suit.

Even a quick Web search shows that before the procession, those same pundits had written articles attacking C.I.A. analysts because those analysts had refused to support strong administration assertions about the invisible suit.

Although the imperial administration was conservative, its wardrobe plans drew crucial support from a group of liberal pundits. After the emperor's nakedness was revealed, the online magazine Slate held a symposium in which eight of these pundits were asked whether the fact that there was no suit had led them to reconsider their views. Only one admitted that he had been wrong - and he had changed his mind about the suit before the procession.

Helen Thomas, the veteran palace correspondent, opposed the suit project from the beginning. When she pointed out that the emperor's clothes had turned out not to exist, the imperial press secretary accused her of being "opposed to the broader war on nakedness."

Even though skeptics about the emperor's suit had been vindicated, TV news programs continued to portray those skeptics as crazy people. For example, the news networks showed, over and over, a clip of the little boy shouting at a party. The clip was deeply misleading: he had been shouting to be heard over background noise, which the ambient microphone didn't pick up. Nonetheless, "the scream" became a staple of political discourse.

The emperor gave many speeches in which he declared that his wardrobe was the "central front" in the war on nakedness.

The editor of one liberal but pro-wardrobe magazine admitted that he had known from the beginning that there were good reasons to doubt the emperor's trustworthiness. But he said that he had put those doubts aside because doing so made him "feel superior to the Democrats." Unabashed, he continued to denounce those who had opposed the suit as soft on sartorial security.

At the Radio and Television Correspondents' annual dinner, the emperor entertained the assembled journalists with a bit of humor: he showed slides of himself looking under furniture in his office, searching for the nonexistent suit. Some of the guests were aghast, but most of the audience roared with laughter.

The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee oversaw an inquiry into how the government had come to believe in a nonexistent suit. The first part focused on the mistakes made by career government tailors. But the second part of the inquiry, on the role of the imperial administration in promoting faulty tailoring, appeared to vanish from the agenda.

Two and a half years after the emperor's naked procession, a majority of citizens believed that the imperial administration had deliberately misled the country. Several former officials had gone public with tales of an administration obsessed with its wardrobe from Day 1.

But apologists for the emperor continued to dismiss any suggestion that officials had lied to the nation. It was, they said, a crazy conspiracy theory. After all, back in 1998 Bill Clinton thought there was a suit.

And they all lived happily ever after - in the story. Here in reality, a large and growing number are being killed by roadside bombs.

GAO report confirms that 2004 election was stolen

Powerful Government Accounting Office report confirms key 2004 stolen election findings
October 28th, 2005
by Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman
October 26, 2005

article here

As a legal noose appears to be tightening around the Bush/Cheney/Rove inner circle, a shocking government report shows the floor under the legitimacy of their alleged election to the White House is crumbling.

The latest critical confirmation of key indicators that the election of 2004 was stolen comes in an extremely powerful, penetrating report from the General Accounting Office that has gotten virtually no mainstream media coverage.

The government’s lead investigative agency is known for its general incorruptibility and its through, in-depth analyses. Its concurrence with assertions widely dismissed as “conspiracy theories” adds crucial new weight to the case that Team Bush has no legitimate business being in the White House.

Nearly a year ago, senior Judiciary Committee Democrat John Conyers (D-MI) asked the GAO to investigate electronic voting machines as they were used during the November 2, 2004 presidential election. The request came amidst widespread complaints in Ohio and elsewhere that often shocking irregularities defined their performance.

According to CNN, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee received “more than 57,000 complaints” following Bush’s alleged re-election. Many such concerns were memorialized under oath in a series of sworn statements and affidavits in public hearings and investigations conducted in Ohio by the Free Press and other election protection organizations.

The non-partisan GAO report has now found that, “some of [the] concerns about electronic voting machines have been realized and have caused problems with recent elections, resulting in the loss and miscount of votes.”

The United States is the only major democracy that allows private partisan corporations to secretly count and tabulate the votes with proprietary non-transparent software. Rev. Jesse Jackson, among others, has asserted that “public elections must not be conducted on privately-owned machines.” The CEO of one of the most crucial suppliers of electronic voting machines, Warren O’Dell of Diebold, pledged before the 2004 campaign to deliver Ohio and thus the presidency to George W. Bush.

Bush’s official margin of victory in Ohio was just 118,775 votes out of more than 5.6 million cast. Election protection advocates argue that O’Dell’s statement still stands as a clear sign of an effort, apparently successful, to steal the White House.

Among other things, the GAO confirms that:

1. Some electronic voting machines “did not encrypt cast ballots or system audit logs, and it was possible to alter both without being detected.” In other words, the GAO now confirms that electronic voting machines provided an open door to flip an entire vote count. More than 800,000 votes were cast in Ohio on electronic voting machines, some seven times Bush’s official margin of victory.

2. “It was possible to alter the files that define how a ballot looks and works so that the votes for one candidate could be recorded for a different candidate.” Numerous sworn statements and affidavits assert that this did happen in Ohio 2004.

3. “Vendors installed uncertified versions of voting system software at the local level.” 3. Falsifying election results without leaving any evidence of such an action by using altered memory cards can easily be done, according to the GAO.

4. The GAO also confirms that access to the voting network was easily compromised because not all digital recording electronic voting systems (DREs) had supervisory functions password-protected, so access to one machine provided access to the whole network. This critical finding confirms that rigging the 2004 vote did not require a “widespread conspiracy” but rather the cooperation of a very small number of operatives with the power to tap into the networked machines and thus change large numbers of votes at will. With 800,000 votes cast on electronic machines in Ohio, flipping the number needed to give Bush 118,775 could be easily done by just one programmer.

5. Access to the voting network was also compromised by repeated use of the same user IDs combined with easily guessed passwords. So even relatively amateur hackers could have gained access to and altered the Ohio vote tallies.

6. The locks protecting access to the system were easily picked and keys were simple to copy, meaning, again, getting into the system was an easy matter.

7. One DRE model was shown to have been networked in such a rudimentary fashion that a power failure on one machine would cause the entire network to fail, re-emphasizing the fragility of the system on which the Presidency of the United States was decided.

8. GAO identified further problems with the security protocols and background screening practices for vendor personnel, confirming still more easy access to the system.

In essence, the GAO study makes it clear that no bank, grocery store or mom & pop chop shop would dare operate its business on a computer system as flimsy, fragile and easily manipulated as the one on which the 2004 election turned.

The GAO findings are particularly damning when set in the context of an election run in Ohio by a Secretary of State simultaneously working as co-chair of the Bush-Cheney campaign. Far from what election theft skeptics have long asserted, the GAO findings confirm that the electronic network on which 800,000 Ohio votes were cast was vulnerable enough to allow a a tiny handful of operatives — or less — to turn the whole vote count using personal computers operating on relatively simple software.

The GAO documentation flows alongside other crucial realities surrounding the 2004 vote count. For example:

· The exit polls showed Kerry winning in Ohio, until an unexplained last minute shift gave the election to Bush. Similar definitive shifts also occurred in Iowa, Nevada and New Mexico, a virtual statistical impossibility.

· A few weeks prior to the election, an unauthorized former ES&S voting machine company employee, was caught on the ballot-making machine in Auglaize County

· Election officials in Mahoning County now concede that at least 18 machines visibly transferred votes for Kerry to Bush. Voters who pushed Kerry’s name saw Bush’s name light up, again and again, all day long. Officials claim the problems were quickly solved, but sworn statements and affidavits say otherwise. They confirm similar problems in Franklin County (Columbus). Kerry’s margins in both counties were suspiciously low.

· A voting machine in Mahoning County recorded a negative 25 million votes for Kerry. The problem was allegedly fixed.

· In Gahanna Ward 1B, at a fundamentalist church, a so-called “electronic transfer glitch” gave Bush nearly 4000 extra votes when only 638 people voted at that polling place. The tally was allegedly corrected, but remains infamous as the “loaves and fishes” vote count.

· In Franklin County, dozens of voters swore under oath that their vote for Kerry faded away on the DRE without a paper trail.

· In Miami County, at 1:43am after Election Day, with the county’s central tabulator reporting 100% of the vote - 19,000 more votes mysteriously arrived; 13,000 were for Bush at the same percentage as prior to the additional votes, a virtual statistical impossibility.

· In Cleveland, large, entirely implausible vote totals turned up for obscure third party candidates in traditional Democratic African-American wards. Vote counts in neighboring wards showed virtually no votes for those candidates, with 90% going instead for Kerry.

· Prior to one of Blackwell’s illegitimate “show recounts,” technicians from Triad voting machine company showed up unannounced at the Hocking County Board of Elections and removed the computer hard drive.

· In response to official information requests, Shelby and other counties admit to having discarded key records and equipment before any recount could take place.

· In a conference call with Rev. Jackson, Attorney Cliff Arnebeck, Attorney Bob Fitrakis and others, John Kerry confirmed that he lost every precinct in New Mexico that had a touchscreen voting machine. The losses had no correlation with ethnicity, social class or traditional party affiliation—only with the fact that touchscreen machines were used.

· In a public letter, Rep. Conyers has stated that “by and large, when it comes to a voting machine, the average voter is getting a lemon - the Ford Pinto of voting technology. We must demand better.”

But the GAO report now confirms that electronic voting machines as deployed in 2004 were in fact perfectly engineered to allow a very small number of partisans with minimal computer skills and equipment to shift enough votes to put George W. Bush back in the White House.

Given the growing body of evidence, it appears increasingly clear that’s exactly what happened.

link to full GAO report

Hump day - now, Drama Free!

Well mostly.

Monday, Monday ver. 646.01

[08:13] Larry Lee: I'm beginning to think you spend more than Uncle Kelly when everything's added up. quite an accomplishment, I might add.
[08:13] DrDivo: urk. nasty.
[08:13] Larry Lee: on the wooing, almost wedding, and bedding of young men.
[08:13] Larry Lee: I know, but . . .
[08:14] Larry Lee: so he's here through next Wednesday or so?
[08:14] DrDivo: day after tomorrow, then he goes home
[08:15] Larry Lee: well, if you don't get any of that booty -- and I'm certainly not saying you won't -- that will almost be the equivalent of Uncle Kelly flying to Tampa for a blow job, and San Francisco for one session of sex. expense wise, that is.
[08:16] DrDivo: If one is looking only at a sexual transaction per dollar basis
[08:16] Larry Lee: and what are you looking at if not that?
[08:16] Larry Lee: you must know that he's obsessed with Carlos and will be for some time.
[08:16] Larry Lee: by the way, I still have pop-ups. who said I wouldn't?
[08:17] Larry Lee: pop-up blockers, actually.
[08:17] DrDivo: I don't have an expectation that he's going to turn into something. We had an amazing connection over the phone, I felt it was worth a couple hundred dollars to check it out, it didn't work out, and thus ..
[08:17] DrDivo: you should have the yahoo toolbar pop up blocker only
[08:17] DrDivo: which comes with your DSL service
[08:17] Larry Lee: don't know. it's identical to what I had before.
[08:17] Larry Lee: you know I'm computer illiterate, boy.
[08:17] DrDivo: does it seem to be operating more quickly?
[08:18] Larry Lee: you know I love you, Doug, but this repeated behavior with strangers met on the internet . . . not two days before his arrival the other guy blew up on you. were you going to bring one and leave the other at home?
[08:18] DrDivo: what other guy
[08:19] Larry Lee: I can't really tell the difference, perhaps slightly more quick. but I can't get the high-speed DSL through SBC and it seems to work just fine.
[08:19] DrDivo: Gary and I could see a huge difference yesterday afternoon
[08:19] Larry Lee: whoever it was that flew in and "went out with friends."
[08:19] DrDivo: same guy
[08:19] Larry Lee: it's really kind of strange that you two could see this huge difference when you don't use this computer that often.
[08:19] Larry Lee: you're kidding.
[08:20] Larry Lee: I stay so confused with these matters. so the lesbian friend is who he went out with.
[08:20] DrDivo: nope
[08:20] DrDivo: yes
[08:20] Larry Lee: okay, I give.
[08:20] Larry Lee: WHO did he go out with?
[08:20] DrDivo: when? Last week? He went out with the lesbian.
[08:21] Larry Lee: that's what I said. this is beginning to sound like Abbott and Costello.
[08:21] Larry Lee: any way, it doesn't matter so long as YOU'RE happy with everything. it's your money and your time.
[08:21] DrDivo: indeed it is
[08:21] Larry Lee: yep.
[08:21] DrDivo: I have replaced boys with a new obession anyway, as of our stop in Fort Worth
[08:22] Larry Lee: well, all that money spent would go a long way toward the Phaeton.
[08:23] DrDivo: WHile you're on your soapbox, I'm going to give you two examples from similar circumstances and ask you to re-evaluate
[08:23] DrDivo: I met Matticia on yahoo in a gay chatroom -
[08:23] DrDivo: I flew him out here five years ago. We never had sex.
[08:23] DrDivo: I talk to him EVERY SINGLE DAY. He's a fabulous friend. I paid for his ticket to my birthday party.
[08:23] DrDivo: Do you think that was money wasted?
[08:23] Larry Lee: incoming email.
[08:24] DrDivo: my gracious that's a handsome man
[08:24] Larry Lee: oh, honey, I know Matticia and you are friends. and I'm not saying you do this ALL the time. just rather frequently.
[08:24] Larry Lee: look at that penga!
[08:25] Larry Lee: Matticia is a delightful young man that, on first blush, isn't all that cute. but, honey, we were ALL taken with him (should I say smitten) in no time at all. truly a delight!
[08:25] DrDivo: and, I met E (Eric in Vancouver) on gay.com - I flew him down here TWICE. He's one of my best friends. He and I have NEVER had any sexual interplay. However, the initial circumstances were the same.
[08:25] DrDivo: So - in life, there are things that don't work out, and there are things that work out better than any possible expectation.
[08:26] Larry Lee: amen, and amen!
[08:26] DrDivo: the initial investment in each has been the same.
[08:26] DrDivo: So, if Nick turns out to be something like Matticia, have I been well or ill served by my expense of about $400?
[08:26] DrDivo: For which I'll 1099 him
[08:27] Larry Lee: now you're talking! never entered my mind -- a business expense with side benefits. whether you claim him or not, it's all for you and you alone to determine whether or not you were ill-served.
[08:27] DrDivo: I'm asking you
[08:27] DrDivo: you've offered your strong opinion this morning
[08:27] DrDivo: thus, I'm asking you
[08:28] DrDivo: Curt wants to know if he left his boots there
[08:28] Larry Lee: I'll respond after taking this call.

Sunday evening after coming home from Big D

And little everything else.

A very nice day. We had fun hanging out, talking to each other, and then going over to Lucky's for dinner. Then, off to home in Curt's SportTrac. Nick did the driving today. We made it home in just over four hours, including stopping for gas.

Fortunately, after a short while, I was able to get them to turn DOWN the bass boost and the volume. We listened to retro disco all the way back, which was a nice change from the hip hop on the way up.

Came home, and checked out the Phaeton online. Oh MY. I think that I have to have one.

Tonight, it occured to me what that car is like. It's a toy store for gadget freaks, carried on a magic carpet, propelled by a locomotive, contained in a soundproof booth, and assembled by elves.

I read some articles about it today - the best factory car stereo in the business. Better than the Mercedes S500. Kudos, acclimations, nothing but accolades.

Nick mentioned tonight as he was driving us home that he didn't want to go home on Wednesday. I told him we had a LOT of things to talk about before that was possible, but that it was possible. Now, he's off with Ruby visiting his lesbionic friend and watching "Desperate Housewives," which turns out to be a re-run. I hope that they're not out getting their drink on. With Ruby. Yep. Nope.

Maybe tomorrow, he can get Ruby's car stereo working again. Soon. Ruby also need some tie rods, and her motor is still not running as smoothly as it once was.

Have a ton of work to do tomorrow and Tuesday. Hopefully, I'll get there. Then, later in the week, I plan to make sales calls regarding my book.

I guess that's it. Tonight's burning question is .. will Nick come home at any time that bears a relationship to what he said to expect?

Did you set your clocks back?

Last night was a bit of a hoot. Kent had shared, earlier in the day, with Greg that if he wanted Nick's booty, he had to reimburse me for Nick's airline ticket. That had backed Greg off a bit, but it seemed that more laser lock was in the air.

We went over to Gary's new apartment, which is four blocks from the Cedar Springs bar area and VERY cute, and then we wandered off to Cedar Springs, where the city of Dallas had blocked off all six blocks of the bar area. The street was seething with people, a goodly percentage of whom were in costume, a number of which were really, really creative and fun. We quite quickly got separated, found each other, went hither and yon - I was the only one of our group in costume. I was causing people to bellow with laughter (from my costume, of course.) Most of the gay people were not too attracted to it, but the STRAIGHT people were in stitches.

Eventually, we wended our way to Larry's favorite bars on Fitzhugh, and we hung out at the end of the bar where they were playing great music. Finally, around 12:30 I felt I could start having fluids, and we left about a half hour later. Kent had gotten waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay drunk and Greg had to take care of him.

Larry and Gary think that Kent did that to cut Greg out of the herd. Anyway, it was all very amusing. We got ready to leave, and Curt annouced that he was going home with Gary. Going home HOW? Not ready to come home yet, staying out a litter later, coming home later going home? Or "we're going to screw so hard that Gary's cat is going to run downstairs and dial 911" going home?"

Oh, my.

Anyway, Nick and I had a lot more interaction after Kent had Greg cut out of the herd. After we got back here and Larry went to bed, we had a few more nice moments, and this morning has been very nice. I really like this boy's personality, and I really appreciate that he really, really likes me.

Yesterday afternoon, I successuflly distracted myself by looking at the VW Phaeton at Autobahn VW in Fort Worth. My God, that car is amazing. It's the most gorgeous car I've ever been in. It drives like a dream, and there are more buttons and toys and features than you can ever imagine. The guys at this VW dealer are just .. well, they're what you expect to get when you buy a car like that. The salesman that went on the test drive with me was AMAZING - he's a walking encyclopedia about the car.

I've decided I have to have one. They're looking for a four seater for me.

Going to have a low impact day today. Then, home later tonight - we've discussed that, anyway.

men as bastards, all

well, roaming about Grapevine and White Settlement. Kentls former trick Greg has developed a missle lock on Nick's ass, and the two of them are flirting mercilessly. I will indulge and deflect by shopping for expensive German cars and fantasizing about flying home on Southwest this afternoon, having admitted defeat.

Halloween in Big D

Howdy from big D (little everything else, as I like to say.) We left yesterday around 2:45, got here about 7:45 - the traffic through Conroe was TERRIBLE - it took us nearly two hours to get from my place in midtown to Six Coves road (where I always expect the freeway to open up.)

I spent the entire FUCKING trip up on the phone working on this blow-y up-y mortgage loan I was trying to get closed. Tragedy, fire, flood, famine and pestilence. Nick and Curt (my friend with whom I came up here) sat up front, playing hip-hop music on Curt's car stereo (which is, I suppose, acceptable, but under my standards much like a transistor radio.) By the time we got to Huntsville, I was ready to kill someone or something. Nick then plugged in some classic disco, and by Madisonville, I was better, but the constant stream of incoming phone calls about this last minute closing just about derailed my happy white ass.

We got up here, and I was frazzled. Larry had dinner waiting, and my friend Gary was here unexpectedly, so that was really nice. Nick, once arriving, had a totally shitty text message from his "ex-" in Columbus that nuked his attitude. Of course, said shitty text message was produced by Nick's spending an hour yesterday going into all of his mail, IM, and web accounts and changing his passwords so that the bastard couldn't log in and play on the net AS Nick and spy on him.

About 10:30, we went out (the obligatory Dallas bar crawl) I hopped into Gary's car, and let Larry, Nick and Curt travel together. Nick spent the next three hours on the phone with the jackass, varying between elation and depression. Around 1:30, I sent Nick a text message "you realize that you're not on a trip with me. You're on a trip to Dallas with Carlos."

So, Nick comes into the bar and wants to tell me that he's sorry, but I need to understand that he has to have these conversations, blah, blah. I replied "you just need to go back up there and deal with him. You're not ready for anything else, new jobs, new friends, new experiences. All you're willing to do is have this drama with him."

On the way home, Nick was VERY unhappy, and text messages me that I've made him feel very badly, and that he won't be spending the night with me. Whatever, Mary Francis.

We got back here to the house, and he and I talked for about an hour - and I think I got him to see that this (hispanic) ex- never dumped him and never tried to break up - that this was a manipulation technique to make Nick prove that he (Nick) loves him. Once he saw that it was just manipulation - he was PISSED. We talked about a lot of good things about he and I.

And, he keeps saying "friend" when he talks about us, so I need to just back off any notions I have. If anything comes of this, it's going to be a LONG term project.

He did, last night, look me right in the eye and tell me he loves me - complete with breaking voice. He's a smart cookie.

And he wants to come back within a week. He's talking about selling his cars, and a car here in Houston that he's found that he wants very badly. He's talking about finding a JOB job, and how much he likes Houston.

And, I like him a LOT as a companion. I really like it that he wants to talk to me, and wants me as a confidant. I can say that his presence in my life makes me want to lose weight, and look better for myself.

Had a great time talking to Gary yesterday and last night.

Going today to Fort Worth, and we're going to stop by a VW dealer that has a beautiful VW Phaeton that's offered for sale on eBay.

Loan blowy-upy day two

I just would like to wind up and smite some assholes in Dallas who are making things unnecessarily difficult, because of their own incompetence. I don't choose the word incompetence lightly; they are very much engaged in unbusinesslike behavior. They have lost files, lost documents, confused one file with another, and now are claiming that they incorrectly graded the file. Actually, they're claiming that I mis-stated the file in my handwritten summary page, which would suggest that they make underwriting decisions based on a broker's hand written summary instead of the information on the documents supporting the summary.

Which is bupkus.

The branch manager, whom I have spoken to about the file, I am now told is the only person that can resolve the problem. Whoa, boy - this is going to require some serious clearing up of expectations, as I think the man's a fucking idiot.

Hurry! Go now, and read this eBay auction listing before it is taken off the site. leather pants

Thursday - packing up

Nick is now telling me that since I'm angry, he should make other arrangements, no, he wants to go home now. It's me that's making it all weird.

I think I'll email hotwire and cancel his return trip.

Lest you think

that some Audrey Hepburn sort of evening occured after I concluded my post a few hours ago, mai nons!

Nick, bless him, has NOT been back - he did send a text message at around 2;45 to say he had "passed out" which is, I think, gay code for "found someone really hot."

I am now deciding whether to tell him that the person with whom he passed out should make sure that there are enough clean towels for Nick's accomodation through his return date on Wednesday. It seems a reasonable suggestion.

Hump day screwin'

Oh, my - the hooker called me tonight while I was driving home from Queer Lake - he was all drunk - he says "come pick me up" I said "I'm on my way to a massage appointment, and I have a friend visitng from out of town, so no. What did you have in mind?" "Giving you some head" "Oh, my. And what do you want me to do for you?" "Thirty bucks?"

So, Nick had already called - he was out with his lesbian friend. I had given him $50 of the $250 I had promised him for working for me - he tells me he's already spent it all. He's wobbly. I tell him I'm headed to the massage guy, and would be home about 12:30. He says "okay, call me later."

The hooker calls next. I tell him I'll call him after the massage (not that I for a moment entertained the offer.) And Nick calls back. He asks if it's okay if he hangs out with this friend of his a while, and will I bring him more money? I laugh and say "you know, that's the second request for money I've had from a young man in the last ten minutes." he says 'huh?" I said "the hooker offered to blow me for thirty bucks if I went to Pasadena and picked him up." Nick says "Oh, but with me you'll get so much more for the same amount of money." I say "Don't be making promises you don't intend to keep." He says "what makes you think I won't keep them?"

Anyway - I just got home, Nick had called twice while I was at the massage studio, and he says he's tired and coming home now - no worries about bringing him more money. I walk up to my door, and Curtis, the married construction worker guy has come by and left a note.

What is UP with all this?

Had a fabulous meeting with Dana tonight - we talked about Fabulair and me and getting it all back on track. I think I made some progress. Now, I really need some SLEEP since Nick had me up until nearly 3:00 this morning, and it's already nearly 1:00 again.

Monday, Monday ver. 645.01

Just getting lined out for the day. I have a ton of stuff to complete, which is great!

Interesting - a friend of mine, who's downtown getting his THIRD divorce pro se, just called me to ask me what a judgment of divorce was, and why he didn't have one. I suggested to him that he DID have one, he downloaded it from a website six months ago, and had showed it to me earlier.

So, the judge dismissed his divorce case and told him to get a lawyer (which I had told him over and over months ago.)

I told him that people just kept voting Republican; the judges who were on the bench when I was practicing wouldn't likely have treated him that way.

I find it SO interesting that people are SO worried about "protecting" marriage, when no one who has access to it actually honors it.

Sunday evening review

Quite the interesting day. New Vision is taking up more and more of my Sundays; today a number of us went out to lunch after church, and I wasn't home until nearly 15:00. I stopped at Wally World, and forgot two of the things I went in FOR, and then came home.

Dr. T spoke at church today; he didn't do what I had suggested - until much later - and the first part of his conversation was rather weird. He made what I took to be a racial joke - not a nice one - and everyone else seemed to have taken it the same way when we were talking after church.

He really triggered a lot of interest on the part of everyone there - to see someone ELSE. No one liked his energy. Everyone was put off by his evasiveness after church, and EVERYONE was weirded out by his politics. He had made an appointment with me to re-align the chassis for 15:00, and he called to cancel while I was surfing my way through Wal-Mark.

Which I found to be quite amusing.

Ruby's stereo burped and died as I was coming around the Pierce Elevated this afternoon, which REALLY annoys the piss out of me. I think it may be a fuse issue. Ruby's also sporting a check engine light AGAIN, which makes me VERY unhappy.

Saturday glory

What a splendid morning! Cool, sunny, clear and gorgeous.

I need to dust Ruby off, get gasoline, pick up the dry cleaning, drop off the dry cleaning, and clean the apartment. And take a nap. And do a bazillion other things.

Went out last night to our regular Whores of Baghdad meeting; Jarred LOVED his sunglasses. Was trying to torture the hooker by text messaging him; he wasn't playing ball. The boi didn't show up - and the crowd was WEIRD. Mikey and I left around 10:45, and I screwed around on the computer for a while.

PJ was all up in my business yesterday wanting me to send him a bus ticket so he could come down here -- after I told him I had plans all weekend, he said he could come down on Monday. Mikey wrote a few things that were particularly awesome, which I will reproduce here:

then you need to tell him about it or is the only time he asked to come down is when he is drunk. if he is sober when he is saying that you need to bring him down then just say I am sorry but this is not about you in any way shape or form its all about me cuz I am the one that has to do all the work w/o any appreciation or thanks and until you can take in my considerations in to your plans weather I want you down or not then we have nothing else to chat about as far as you coming for a visit.

then just lay it out for him and if he does not understand, then put it this way:
1. if I wanted to get a boi drunk to have sex I would get someone from EJ
2. Cheaper because I don't have to pay bus to & fro
3. they will be gone in a hour or 2 tops
4. they wont drink me out of house & home
5. wont treat me like shit for paying
6. Customer is always correct
7. when customer is wrong refer to item 6

I, however, didn't bother to send that on to PJ, as he just wouldn't understand it.

I have to find another computer. Hm. I need Curt to tell me where that computer store is that he goes to - they have extra super cheap stuff there. I just need a functional box and montior; have the keyboard and mouse.

I've been seeing this whole boi thing in a totally different light lately - as in, what do these bastards offer that is deserving of a free meal, let alone support? They're useless. It's quite liberating to shift my view of these idiots from that of something valuable and interesting to that of a total joke. Hey, you want to eat? Get a job.

Was researching some airfare for late 2005 travel last night - holy cow! I now see why Continental is making money. $400 to fly to SRQ for Christmas. $500 to fly to ALB for Thanksgiving. $550 to fly to YVR. However, the new EZE flight is only $2200 round trip in Z class, which is VERY appealing.

Clearly, I'm not going to make Elite this year. Unless I take all the trips I could stand through the end of the year. Blarg.

Looking foward to Dallas this next weekend. That should be a hoot.

Friday with Glasses

Jarred's sunglasses came in the mail today - they're attractive enough - who knows if they're knockoffs. No case came with them. I'll wrap them nicely and attach a card. The point was to impress him with something he wasn't expecting.

Had a wonderful lunch with Jeffrey today. I'm so glad he's moved to have his own agency; he's much happier.

Have some more work to crank out today, but I submitted a loan this morning and quoted another, sold a book, and worked on some tax returns.

Had an IM from PJ waiting when I came back from lunch:

12:52] PJ ver. 2.01: ok heres the deal. u know im broke, but if u want...i can get on a bus later tonight or tomorrow morning. those are the only times i can have a ride to the station. if u want me to be my freaky self, i can get something to have some fun with before i leave so i can have it with me there, but ill need a little help getting it. im broke:-/
[12:52] *** Auto-response sent to PJ ver. 2.01: I am currently away from the computer.
[12:58] PJ ver. 2.01: plz let e know something so i can secure a ride to the station if u want me to come visit. ill be in and out of the house all day.

This would be ME buying his bus ticket AND wiring him some play money AND putting up with him all weekend, his stupifying alcohol consumption and his "come here/go away" attitude.

I responded with "I already have plans for the entire weekend, sorry."

Ruby is awaiting .. something. This service writer doesn't return phone calls at all. It's like I'm having to chase them around for information and to get the car finished up. Irritating.

Nick is suddenly withdrawn and weird. Blarg at men, generally.

Talking with my online chum Janice last night, she was asking about whether employers could delay paydays. This led to a conversation in which I postulated that they needed better cash flow management, and to look at their pricing. I said "the need the Divo's help."

It looks like that could actually turn out!

The hooker's been communicating again. He's a goofball.

If this isn't proof, I don't know what is

Do people even read anymore? Do they have any concept of what's going on? Can anyone else read this and remain unconcerned about the
direction that these bastards are taking our country? This goes back FAR - what it does is restores to the wealthy the status quo ante to 1911 -
before we had an income tax. However, it does NOT bring any tax relief to those who have nothing. It does make it simpler - NO DEDUCTIONS. Just "what did you earn? Send in [this] much."

Are you really in favor of letting the wealthy pay NO tax on investment income, NO tax on capital gains, NO tax on inheritance, NO tax on property appreciation, and NO tax on passive income (rental property?) Are you REALLY in favor of having only those who aren't lucky enough
to own property and money that grows on its own pay the entire tab of the Federal government? What would it do to you to have your mortgage
deduction taken away, and your state property tax deduction taken away? Do you realize that your PERSONAL tax bill would increase sharply
as a result? Look at what else this proposes - NO MORE FAMILY DEDUCTIONS. No disability, no DEPENDANT deductions.

How can you read this and not want to go knock the snot out of the nearest Republican who lords over you how they're "fiscally conservative?" This isn't at ALL conservative, it's a GOD DAMNED REVOLUTION and no one's talking about it.

Bush advisory panel pushes simplified tax filing process
Home mortgage deduction would be done away with
By JESSICA HOLZER
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

SUMMARY
The tax panel's proposals would simplify the filing process

• Simplifying taxes: A presidential advisory panel proposed two plans for making it easier to file income taxes.

• What they would do: Both plans would eliminate or redesign most deductions and credits, including those relating to health benefits and home mortgages.

• Initial reaction: Some lawmakers expressed concern that taxpayers in their states could lose out under the proposals. The White House has made no commitment to accept the recommendations.

WASHINGTON - President Bush's tax-advisory panel backed an overhaul of the tax code Tuesday that would slash levies on investment income, make it easier for Americans to save tax-free and repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax — a parallel tax system introduced in 1969 to ensure that the wealthy paid taxes but that has increasingly ensnared the middle class.

However, people should not expect their tax bills to shrink, panel members said, because the proposals would also kill or cap many popular tax breaks and credits, including education, state and local taxes and the home mortgage-interest deduction, which many politicians consider sacrosanct.

Instead of the deduction, homeowners with modest mortgages, adjusted by region, would get a tax credit of 15 percent of their interest payments.

In place of losing the current tax breaks, taxpayers would get a reduction in marginal income tax rates, lower taxes on some investments and new retirement and family tax savings plans.

'Simple, fair, pro-growth'
Still, the tax panel said its centerpiece proposal — the so-called "simplified income tax" — will be a huge improvement over the current system.

"It's a simple, fair, pro-growth plan," former Sen. Connie Mack, R-Fla., the panel's chairman, said.

The simplified income tax would cut the number of tax brackets from six to four, pushing 75 percent of taxpayers into the bottom 15 percent bracket. It would also ease tax-filing paperwork, in part by collapsing the numerous family and personal tax breaks into one family credit.

"Most taxpayers will be able to file on one page and pay at one rate," said Charles Rossotti, a panel member and former Internal Revenue Service Commissioner.

President Bush asked the nine-member, bipartisan panel to recommend changes in the tax code that would eliminate the minimum tax without reducing revenues. The tax is projected to generate $1.3 trillion for the Treasury over the next 10 years.

To encourage savings and investment, all dividends paid out by U.S. corporations would be tax free and capital gains rates would be cut to between 3.75 percent and 8.75 percent. The plan would also set up three savings plans that would replace numerous ones currently available for retirement, medical expenses and education.

Effect on health benefits
Aside from crimping the mortgage interest and other deductions, the plan would also cap the unlimited employer-health insurance deduction to $11,500 for families and $5,000 for individuals. As a result, workers might see their employer-provided health benefits trimmed.

The abolition of the state and local tax deduction would likely rouse taxpayer opposition in states, such as New York, with hefty property and state taxes.

Panel members said eliminating these deductions is the best way to pay for the repeal of the AMT, which was established to ensure that wealthy taxpayers with many deductions would still pay some taxes. The Alternative Minimum Tax will affect 4 million taxpayers this year and is projected to include 51.3 million by 2015.

As an alternative proposal, the panel also endorsed "the progressive consumption tax" — which comes closer to a fundamental overhaul of the tax code.

The plan's selling point is a provision to allow businesses to write off all purchases of equipment and other capital investments immediately, an idea that economists say would spur more capital investment and faster growth.

I could just dance around in circles

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Tuesday - calls and clean up

Another conversation last night with LGL about renting and "throwing your money away." I mentioned something about that to Donna last night in an email, and she suggested this:

Buying vs. Leasing. My CPA spent some time with me once demonstrating how buying was NOT better than renting. After he scribbled all the numbers on paper, including appreciation, it was a wash. The argument for renting was pretty compelling. But so is the "American Dream." I fell for it.

So, looping back around this morning with LGL - he's still convinced that one is "throwing money away." So, I just sent him four projections that prove renting is better in the absence of significant property appreciation.

Funny, huh?

Of course, if I were willing to live in a ranch house outside the beltway, I'd have a different set of facts, but I'm just NOT.

Monday, Monday ver. 644.01

So, here we are. Another day of uncooperative realtors, illogical lenders and work work work. At least I'm getting paid for this effort, unlike my last mortgage gig.

One tomorrow, one Thursday, one next Wednesday and hopefully, a huge one on Halloween.

Plus all of these scofflaw tax returns. I guess I'll get caught up on a bunch of those tomorrow.

Ruby needs, as I intuited, a new water pump. And new radiator hoses (she's still got the originals.) And a new serpentine belt (#3) And a new thermostat. And a new electrical relay under the back seat. It's going to cost a grand.

Joel the meth addict was to have met up with me today and paid me more money. He made excuses for each time that he set; I'm just giving up. What's the point? He's a liar, and he's not a nice person.

Faxed off solicitations for my (now approved) book to everyone on the list today. Tomorrow, I'm just going to have to buckle down and call them all. I think that Donna has a point that they'll respond to phone calls in a way that they won't if I just fax.

It would be most helpful to sell about six sets of this book by Wednesday.

MOST helpful.

Spent some time organizing personal files today; more of that needs doing, as well as all of the fabulair files and ..

CP was doing my "charts" today. He always has such interesting insights.

What to do? I have enough work to do tonight to keep me busy all night. I don't feel like it, though.

Sunday evening

Today was something else. I was up late, again, and had to bust my buns to get to church remotely on time. Church was great; a small group, but it was great. Came home and quickly did another tax return, then called CP about catching a ride to return Nicole's car to her.

Oh, that's right - you don't know. Ruby coughed up a lung last night and had to be towed to her favorite mechanic from League City. Her cooling system sprayed itself all over the inside of the engine compartment, and she was overheating. After Mikey came down and rescued us, Nicole offered to loan me her car so that I could make it to church today unimpeded.

CP's boyfriend followed me to Nicole's, and then to the garage, where I learned that the tow driver was correct; I had not included the door key. Ruby was quietly waiting treatment, and R brought me back home. Since then, I've been cracking up laughing at Mikey's antics - I don't know if he was sucking laughing gas today or what, but he was HILARIOUS. Then, I re-organized power strips and the like here in the den, and now I'm thinking I should take this time to finish the thank you cards that I should have sent out a week ago. Yeah, right.

The laundry is done, and after I vacuum, I'll be in good shape as far as housework goes.

Talked to Nick today a bit again. He's feeling better, it seems. I had a dream about him this morning. I think he's going to come down on Friday this week, which will be a boon, as I have a TON of office work for him to do for me.

I just need to get him a computer, get it on the local network, network the printer, blah, blah.

Joel the meth addict is proposing to meet me for breakfast to give me cash he owes me and get some advice on how to proceed with a landlord issue he has.

blogging from EJ's

using my new Treo 650, I can now blog while sitting at the end of the bar, cradled in the flirtatious presence of Jarred. Mikey is hammering on a 23 year old boy he met on the internet. Curt just went home. I will probably head out myself in a few minutes. Once I brainwash Mikey into configuring this phone synchronzing with the home computer, I will be loving this device. I haven't yet figured out how to surf eBay but, I think that this will provide me with hours of entertainment. As long as I cqn keep the battery charged up.

Tuesday - four days until tax deadlines

Allegedly, I have someone bringing in eight past due tax returns for me to file by Friday. Lovely. I'll be in tax return hell all day today and tomorrow.

About to hop into the shower and drive out past the Galleria to pick up a form. "our fax isn't working. I can't attach it to an email, I don't have a scanner." Blarg. $5 in gas and more than an hour's worth of time to pick up .. a form.

Then, quickly to fax off conditions and fee sheets on two loans, stack and submit two more, and .. tax time. I know I can finish the three that are here now in a short time; then, it's work on the one where I have to start with correcting the W-2s, then work my way up. That's the one that's going to have me in a tizzy, I think.

Monday, Monday ver. 642.01

Funny skies this morning - at 7:00, when I was leashing up the mutts, the sky was orange/yellow. Kind of a nice change; thundershowers today. It should be dark most of the day, I think.

Working on loans this morning, then this afternoon will be given over to taxes. Which reminds me - time for the tax scofflaw newsletter to go out.

Okay, the scofflaws are notified. One, I have to call. I'll do that in an hour or so.

Still haven't finished my thank you notes from the party; hopefully, I'll have a chance to do that today.

It's going to be one of "those" days - where the upstairs neighbor is making enough noise to be a marching band.

The week is out, God save the weekend

God saves. I don't know about Jesus' savings plan, but God clearly saves my butt on a regular basis.

The hooker is talking to me on instant messenger; he's pawned ALL of his daddy's stuff, he's been high for four days, blah, blah.

Lord, but for the grace of God, there go I.

Today was a fun day; the morning was spent on the phone, for hours. Then, I had lunch with Lance, and spent the afternoon and evening with Jeffrey and Steven at the airshow and then at Kemah for dinner.

The airshow was very fun; they had a TON of aircraft there that I had never seen before. We rode in Steven's DeVille - it's GORGEOUS. Now, I think I want it.

It's time to put the sheets on the bed, get into same and see if the smell in the house abates by the morrow.

Monday evening ..

Well! It's FINALLY happened! Ruby's stereo is where it should have been all along! Matticia and T worked on her ALL day, and it's fabulous! She's dirty as all get-out, but she SOUNDS fabulous! Just waiting for XM to update her newly installed receiver, and .. WOOF! It looks awesome, and T discovered that one can indeed hook up a laptop to the USB cable and play it through the stereo system. WOW.

I could just dance a jig.

Now, to sell all the OnStar stuff on eBay (which will test my description writing skills) and then, I'm DONE.

Well, except for repainting. Or something.

Two new accounting/tax clients tomorrow, and five loans to submit. I think I'll be up early.

Now, Matticia and I are headed out to Ninfa's for dinner with Lance & Steve. YAY!

Friday - time to hit the road

and Matticia is already on his way to the airport in MCO to come here for the weekend.

After my day yesterday, I'm ready to rip heads off. And, I've started. Today, I have to drive to opposite ends of the county AND get files submitted to lenders we probably aren't approved with AND pick up Matticia AND teach at San Jac at 6:00.

Not bad, huh?

Heard from the hooker last night; he's patched things up with his "room mate" so he won't be needing me any more, thank you very much. Oh, and can I please bring his stuff back to him? I used two reloads on that one.

Had an email from N8 last night - 'hey, did you survive the hurricane?' Two more reloads. "Call me when you need something" since that's his MO.

So, the next question is - whose head should I lop off today?

The end of the Hitlerzeit

This is from Capitol Hill Blue -


Depressed and demoralized White House staffers say working at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is “life in a hellhole” as they try to deal with a sullen, moody President whose temper tantrums drive staffers crying from the room and bring the business of running the country to a halt.

“It’s like working in an insane asylum,” says one White House aide. “People walk around like they’re in a trance. We’re the dance band on the Titanic, playing out our last songs to people who know the ship is sinking and none of us are going to make it.”

Increasing reports from the usually tight-lipped staff of the Bush Administration talk of a West Wing dominated by gallows humor, long faces and a depression that has all but paralyzed daily routines.

“If POTUS (President of the United States) is on the road you can breathe a little easier for the day, knowing that those with him are catching hell and the mood will be a little easier in the Wing (West Wing) until he returns,” says another aide.

Capitol Hill Blue began reporting on Bush’s mood swings and erratic behavior in June 2004 but the stories of an erratic, moody President circulating within the White House were ignored by the “mainstream media” until recently. Now more and more outlets have begun to report on what many administration staffers say is a President out of control.

“A president who normally thrives on tough talk and self-assurance finds himself at what aides privately describe as a low point in office, one that is changing the psychic and political aura of the White House, as well as its distinctive political approach,” Jim VandeHei and Peter Baker wrote in The Washington Post over the weekend. “Aides who never betrayed self-doubt now talk in private of failures selling the American people on the Iraq war, the president's Social Security plan and his response to Hurricane Katrina.”

That sentiment is echoed by former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

“I think the Administration realizes the larger system has failed,” Gingrich says. “They are not where they want to be on Iraq. Katrina was an absolute failure."

“It's a standing joke among the president's top aides: who gets to deliver the bad news? Warm and hearty in public, Bush can be cold and snappish in private, and aides sometimes cringe before the displeasure of the president of the United States, or, as he is known in West Wing jargon, POTUS,” Evan Thomas wrote in Newsweek on September 19. Thomas talked to “several aides who did not wish to be quoted because it might displease the president.”

Thomas went on to report “Bush can be petulant about dissent; he equates disagreement with disloyalty. After five years in office, he is surrounded largely by people who agree with him…Late last week, Bush was, by some accounts, down and angry. But another Bush aide described the atmosphere inside the White House as "strangely surreal and almost detached." At one meeting described by this insider, officials were oddly self-congratulatory, perhaps in an effort to buck each other up. Life inside a bunker can be strange, especially in defeat.”

To regular readers of this web site, this should sound all too familiar. Here is what we reported on June 4, 2004:

“Worried White House aides paint a portrait of a man on the edge, increasingly wary of those who disagree with him and paranoid of a public that no longer trusts his policies in Iraq or at home. ‘It reminds me of the Nixon days,’ says a longtime GOP political consultant with contacts in the White House. ‘Everybody is an enemy; everybody is out to get him. That’s the mood over there.’”

Last year, the naysayers said we got it wrong.

But they got it wrong.

Again.

And we got it right and ahead of everyone else.

Again.

Yes, we're gloating. We all too often read reports in the big boys and have a feeling of deja vu because we're already been there and reported that.

Quotes from Smoking Mirrors

The degree of injustice, rank venality and ‘in-your-face’ hubris of this administration is coming home to roost. It’s winking like Las Vegas neon overhead with one of those arrows flashing and flowing downward, pointing at the top of the heads of the stolen nation. Everything is now in alto relievo. Step by step, inch by inch……oh yeah…..all the lies; all the shared international anguish, all the blasted bodies, bombs bursting in air collected together in a damning collage held together by blood and shit that you don’t see in this quantity outside of a 70’s era bathhouse.

When you indict a member of Congress you can’t just waltz in with circumstantial. You can’t just have a little proof. You have to have ten times the proof needed for the lumpen proles. And so they must do. And so they must have. Oh, they may not get Frist but, then again, ‘once’ they’ve nailed Delay to the barn door and once they’ve nailed ‘pigboy’ Rove up along side him, the perception of possibility becomes more pronounced and…..sail on you bright beautiful justice system; all but dead in the water after Florida 2000. Am I schadenfreudial here? You bet I am.

Tom Delay is finished, stick a fork in him. There is no President Frist in your future and Karl Rove and the whole Cheney; dirty-tricks, family tree is on its way to the pulp mill. What are these people saying to each other right now? What are they thinking? God this is Shakespearean. Now comes the ugly feasting. Now come the whores who mulched the news and served it up each day. Now we will watch them turn on their masters. You got to watch the bottom line. It’s a safe harbor in the king’s harem when the king is unchallenged; except for the sex of course but these people swallowed their distaste along with all of the rest of it a long time ago.

As carnal and stupid a man as Bushligula may be he still knows a great deal more about some things than any of us. He knows about many of the individual shit bricks in the dike of darkness that he signed off on. He can smell the methane stink as the disinfecting sunlight hits it. He knows about the progress of all those grand jury investigations. He knows about the 9/11 realities and the mountains of shit brick lies built up on top of it. There is probably a lot he doesn’t know because he isn’t being told but he knows enough to get himself a stiff drink. It’s time for that warm glow in the belly. It’s time for evil to destroy itself. We haven’t seen Humpty McDumpty hit. We don’t know that he went down. We won’t know for awhile but he did. Maybe it’s a flash forward or some form of remote viewing into the future. Maybe it has happened in the ideal world of numbers and forces and is only precipitating downward into the material plane soon. It has happened on some level though and the rest is just follow through.

Thursday downpour

Rain - finally - rain. Lovely, soothing, soaking rain.

I worked my butt off last night, until going to meet Guy at Memorial Park for a stroll around the three mile track. I got nearly completely caught up - and now, I have the loans in front of me. After I finish this, I'm going to get on the phone and throttle someone at the lenders to get what I need here.

And, I have to figure out how to bust insurance documents out of a broker in Dallas. God, I love how helpful people are.

later

Okay, all the mail's out. That was probably $40.00. I've finally heard from a lender that I've been chasing for weeks - turns out we may not be approved with them anymore; and since we've fallen out of use, we're off the list. Jesus. Some system.

Now, if I can keep everything straight, I may have a successful day. Just realized I needed something else for a package I had already put out for shipment. Blarg. Fortunately, it hadn't been picked up yet.

even later

At this point, I'm waiting a few more minutes for the insurance certificate, and then it's going to be time to start packaging up loans - as soon as ONE of the TWO lenders I'm haranguing calls me back. This is just amazing. I can't see how this broker is doing me any good when I have to fight to figure out if we're approved and none of the information I get from him about contacts and so on is correct.

The dogs have been in "jail" all day. I may let them go pee here in a minute. I don't know quite what to think about them anymore.

Prac class starts tonight.

Hump day cleanliness

Well, the dogs are clean, the bathroom is clean, and the carpeting is clean. Now, it smells like Vicks Vap-o-rub in here. I've been waiting for Chuck, which is much like waiting for Guffman today, it seems. Ruby is recovered nicely. Chuck and I picked up new, right sized bed rails - which we have neatly installed in the bedroom, creating another six-ish inches of room in there. I need to fiddle with the duvet cover some more, but .. at least my pillows won't fall behind the head of the bed anymore.

Not a word out of the hooker in four days, BUT N8 has RSVP'd for the party. Oh, my.

Picked up seasons two and three of Angel on DVD today at Half Price Books.

Now, it's time to do the church calendars and mail-out, time to send out the tax returns today completed, and to do whatever the heck it is I'm going to do before Mr. Felder comes for me for walking in the park tonight.

Okay, so I guess the world is telling me to ..

get off my duff and bathe the dogs tonight. Which I really don't WANT to do.

I had a DVD tonight from Netflix, which was unplayable. Therefore, my plan to avoid the dogwash was negated by the inability to play the DVD.

So, I guess I'll either have to watch something in-stock or ..

Had another loan come together today; that's four .. or is it five? that will close by Oct. 15. That's five or six in the two and a half week period. And we're just getting started. Amusing that while at MTFS we were only able to do two loans a month. In a good month.

And, had another call about QuickBooks/book keeping consulting for next week. October's going to be BUSY.

Matticia's ticket was run today, so he's coming to the party - this thing is getting out of hand.

No word from the hooker. 72 hours now.

Ruby's back in the shop. They did indeed put the wrong coolant in her, and they're flushing/filling her twice with Dexcool to try to correct the situation. I'll get her back in the morning.

BuhZilly and I went to Spec's and did some raiding for the party - 17.5 litres of vodka is now resident in the pantry, next the 12 gallons of distilled water. Talk about hurricane supplies! I bought up all of the crackers and things that were in the discount bin, which was cracking BuhZ up.

Trev stopped by this evening to pick up some computer supplies he had shipped to my address; I think he's coming back by in a bit.

Okay, time to throw the dogs into the bathtub. Urg. I would rather not have to, but ...

Tuesday - cleaning up after the Rita party

Ah, hopefully the Houston business community will have today recovered from a full week of Rita-madness. I have one loan in closing today; still needing insurance on it, as the home owner's people couldn't get it right two weeks ago, then ignored my request on Tuesday last, presumably hanging their excuse on the hurricane evacuation.

Then, I have three files to pack up and submit presuming that I can actually find the lenders who are willing to accept them. That should take me until mid-morning, and THEN I have more work on my list of things to accomplish for the day. Tonight, I'm going to have to launder the mutts, as the carpet cleaning guy is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Can't have dirty dogs on clean carpeting.

Chuck and I picked out [professional] models for the Fabulair website yesterday - now, I have to figure out how much that is going to COST me - I've been informed that I have to pay for "hair and makeup," so I'm going to ask Damon how much THAT would cost for seven hyper-coiffed men. Then, I have to ask Mary and Eric about setting up the shoot; and ..

I think this is going to cost me several thousand.

Had dinner with Chuck and Charlie last night; that was sure fun. We went to Ninfa's on Navigation (which mapquest thinks is on Canal St.) and it was PACKED. Chuck is so much fun. Charlie's also a hoot.

Started making up the name tags for the divo party that I thought up the other day. They're going to be fun. I'm also thinking about making up .. what to call them .. docent sheets? Like, laminated sheets that explain what this tschotchke is, or why this wall thing is here, or whatever. That could be fun as well.

Not a word out of Michael the Hooker since Sunday morning. I guess that's good. His presence in the casita is limited to a travel bag and a laundry basket, a skate board leaning up against the wall and his toothbrush. He's a basket case.

Okay, it's time to get things moving here. I have to take Ruby back to NTB and have them check out what kind of coolant they put into her back a few weeks ago. Have to chase down my tax scofflaws. Want to hear from the woman who needs FIVE catch-up tax returns filed by Oct 3 so that she can file for bankruptcy before the rules change. Also expecting some other QuickBooks consulting business to come in today or tomorrow.

Had stronger Ritas at Taco Cabana

So, things here at the Casita were quite relaxed during the run-up to Hurricane Rita. On Tuesday, I made the decision to not evacuate unless it got REALLY bad, and Thursday morning, the traffic snarls headed out of Houston confirmed my decision to stay in place. I had a couple of guys who were wanting me to help them understand what to do, and the hooker was totally reliant on me to save his big butt.

Thursday morning, listening to Mayor White scared the living crap out of me. Then, I logged onto the computer, and checked out the tracking map and the advisories and felt more settled. The dogs were frantic on Thursday.

Had a knock-down, drag out conversation with my sister on Thursday afternoon, after I took the hooker back to his place in Pasadena to pick up his scooter. She was insistant that I should have left for Dallas or Corpus Christi - never mind the traffic or the fact that Corpus was under a mandatory evacuation order. Came home, talked to David (my neighbor) about what we were going to do, and mapped out a plan for staying here.

The hooker never showed back up on Thursday.

Friday morning, the hooker sent me a text message asking me to come pick him up (again) and I told him he should have ridden over on his scooter as planned. David and I went to breakfast at Lankford's - then to Spec's to score some supplies - then had lunch at Lankford's. People were unconcerned. We checked out a few more things and then, around 2:00, I went to pick up the hooker, who was about to come unglued.

David and his boyfriend came over around 5:00, and hung out the rest of the night. About 1:00 a.m., we were confident that we would have very little weather where we were, and they went back to David's apartment. I went to bed. The hooker stayed on the computer, chatting.

Got up Saturday morning, made breakfast for everyone, watched "Roger the Rabbit" cartoons. By this point, I had done six dishwasher loads in three days, and had cleaned the coffee table about five times. The hooker slept until past noon, and then wanted me to take him BACK to Pasadena. At this point, I was ready to unload him, so I drove him back there lickety-split. Saw the "damage" on the east side of the county. It was small tree limbs, badly constructed car ports, that sort of thing. No roof damage. No flooding.

The hooker hopped onto his scooter, and said he'd be along in an hour or so. It's now twenty-eight hours later, and he's still gone. Let's keep it that way for a few days.

Came home from a GREAT session at New Vision, fooled around a bit, took a nap, then had dinner with David and Marc, and then a drink or three with Mikey at EJ's. Jarred was there, looking like a hundred million dollars in loose cash, and looking VERY put upon that his "girlfriend" was there waiting on him.

Poor lad.

Been looking online at concrete building plans - trying to research how one builds a hurricane proof house. I found an article about Bob Villa building one in Florida; and then found a blizzard of plans online - one REALLY makes me happy. It's gorgeous, it's huge, it's perfect for entertaining, it has a home theater upstairs, it has a three car garage, and it can be made into a self-sustaining home, from an energy standpoint.

And, the lot that Lisa and I used to walk by in River Oaks is listed on HAR. WHOOP!

So, back to work on the processing manual tomorrow, the four closings I'm working toward, taking Ruby back to NTB and challenging them on the coolant they used when replacing coolant a week ago, and ..

Tuesday morning coffee

Have brekkie with CP in just 90 minutes; getting my several things together to meet with him about. I can't find TWO of the documents that I intended to bring to him; urk.

Okay, that's handled. About to hop into the shower and work on getting over to meet CP, then I have to come back here and do a WHOLE mess of loan processing. Teaching tonight at San Jac, which is actually FUN, as compared to what it was over the summer.

Monday, Monday, ver 642.01

I need another cocktail. I'm talking to the hooker on instant messenger. He's telling me the story. He says he's willing to give up hooking and partying and get a day job if I'll take him in.

Have I ever been lied to or played by a man before? Hm.

Had dinner with BuhZilly tonight. I love him.

What ever happened to Walt Disney?

I finally watched the PBS documentary on Islam. That DVD came in the day after Philip moved back home. I'm having New Vision watch it on Friday night, then it can go back to Netflix. Also watched part of a movie that the Minx recommended. It was so TOTALLY not my thing; I shut it off. Now, it's time to do a little blogging, take the mutts out one last time and see how much sleep occurs tonight.

Not a word out of the hooker. I'm going to put his travel bag in a closet tomorrow, assuming that he's still MIA. Maybe he's in jail; my gut tells me that he's riding the wagon train of whoever he picked up last night, and that party favors are involved.

T claims to have broken up with Aliver. Again. Frankly, I don't care to hear about it. At least he didn't ask me if he could move in with me again.

Day one of having no online presence in the gay world. Well, except for GFN.com.

Called L this morning; that was an unsatisfactory conversation. I guess I'll let it go another month or two before calling again.

Cleaned Ruby up this morning, and was surprised at how crappy her paint is looking. Door dings, scrapes, all kinds of imperfections. I'm wondering when the new XM unit for Ruby will arrive.

Ah, look - the hooker is on gay.com. Not saying anything to me, though.

I'm more and more convinced that I must take a complete break from male interaction until I have my shit handled.

Sunday - have I been thinking, or just re-visiting?

So, another mostly sleepless night. Everything started off pretty well, with taking the Hookah over to Mikey's new apartment. Came back home, and he wanted to go check out EJ's. EJ's was .. empty. So, he wanted to come back here. About sixty seconds after coming in the door, he asked if he could use the computer - he fired up the webcam, and started chatting his head off. I read for a while, then went to bed.

About 12:30, he comes in and wakes me up, telling me some guy from Baytown is going to drive in to pick him up and have sex with him for money. At around 1:00, he comes in to tell me he's not leaving. Then, at 1:30, he comes in to ask what the address is so this OTHER guy can come pick him up. He wants a key. I lied and said there were no extras. He wants to move in; I haven't discussed it. I did ask him if he was planning on operating his little show while he's visiting here (until Tuesday,) he says "no," which I don't believe at all.

He's still not home. I'm going to finish this cup of coffee, go outside and clean up the car, then it's shower time and off to church by way of Wal-Mart and Office Depot. I can't get to church TOO early, as Joe Di never returned my key. However, if he's not here in the next 90 minutes, he's going to have to deal with it.

He wants me to take him to dinner, and to LA next weekend. Why would I do such a thing? I'm thinking of telling him he needs to go back to Pasadena today after church. I don't need any support for feeling bad about myself in dating environments.

This morning, after I arose at 05:18, I deleted all of my profiles from any online dating sites of any nature. Whoops - I just realized that I forgot one. I have to get away from putting my hopes out there to further validate my negative beliefs about my desireability. Right now, I'm thinking that it could be better for me, emotionally, to not step into that arena again. WAY better, in fact. To have no one because I'm not participating is a different feeling than to be constantly rejected and derided.

Quoted from a gay.com profile I just saw:

If you are single and life keeps giving you lemons, make lemonade. The key is to find someone whose life keeps giving them Vodka.

Speaking of vodka, I need to buy a bunch of it.

Had a terrific meeting with Ryan yesterday; he's going to source my Fabulair photo shoot for me in New York while he's there this week. So, in a few days' time, he's rescued my Fabulair project from the crapper.

I guess it's time to work on cleaning up the car, then to shower and head out.

Sadduday - relax or sweat?

So, I was talking on the phone to Anne in Vancouver last night for an hour - I love Anne - and E was encouraging me to ticket my air travel to LAX next weekend - which I did - and the fare DROPPED nearly $100 since yesterday around noon when I made the reservation!

So, this morning (after the hookah was sending me text messages at 05:15) I had a dream about Jarred (the bartender.) A dream, mind you! In technicolor! He was so casual, and just started showing me where he had used this new electronic device to zap a pimple that had developed in an ingrown hair. On his butt. Which required him taking off his pants. And his shirt. Which led to ..

Friday and the Hookah

My fabulair website has been migrated to a new server, and they're adding in the calendar and e-card functionality within the week. That's about the best thing I've heard from anyone in months.

I have some loans to work on here. The hookah is asleep, again. He came over last night, we hung out and I made dinner, which was very amusing. Then, as soon as he ate, he fell asleep on the sofa. Shortly thereafter, he asserted that he'd be up all night watching movies. And went back to sleep. At midnight, he crawled into bed and slept until 8:30.

Last night, he said a.) what was I wanting from him? b.) he didn't want a relationship c.) he really liked me d.) he liked me well enough that he didn't feel comfortable asking me for money, which was odd for him e.) how were he and I going to have a successful sexual relationship when we're both tops f.) would I ever pay for sex?

Okay, time to get cleaned up, go put gas in the car and have it washed, fill up the water jugs and come back to work on loans.

the hookah comments

ok well doug like i have said im sorryfor blowing u off and ima good asskisser i am a busy guy doug no bullshit and sometimes i get so busy i dont even have time for myself and hey if this is what u want later no problem

Thursday we throw out the trash

Had an email from the hookah this morning after our much less than pleasing IM conversation last night. He writes:

so whos playing are u mad over 40 bucks or what?? man
u know im a very busy boy. so what does this mean
exactly? should i not call or anything else any more
or what?? if i dont hear from u i will know to leave u
alone. ANYWAY thankx for all your hospitality, u
really are a great host and cool to hang with as well
sorry u feel this way.
bye,
mike

I replied:

Okay, firstly, when I gave you the $40, I told you that I had no expectation that you would ever pay me back. I was GIVING you the $40. Therefore, I don't think about it, nor expect it back.

For me, this is about being told that I acted badly when I tried to protect myself in a business transaction by the SECOND "model" who couldn't keep a commitment or communicate. I had two photographers and a studio booked for Friday; I have to get the "models" into costumes that fit, and you couldn't reply, respond, or tell me to just go fuck myself. Then, when I mention to you that it's all called off and I am going another way, you tell me I'm treating you badly.

In our conversation last night, you told me you wanted me to come pick you up so you could come do your laundry. You want me to drive 40 minutes to pick you up, bring you back here, feed you, drive you back .. for what? The only time my company is good for you is when you need something? And you wonder why I would find that offensive? You were going to come stay for a few days earlier in the week and then just .. didn't call, didn't communicate - totally blew me off.

So, no, I'm not going to provide you with any more support services. If you want to be friends, you can figure out how that works. But, how you're doing me up until now isn't friendship, and isn't even the courtesy you'd provide a paying trick.

I woke up at 04:00, frustrated and angry. I tried to meditate a while, but that didn't seem to be going anywhere, so I just came in here and wrote the two documents that this woman wanted yesterday, and sent them off to her. Now, I guess I'll take the dogs out and make coffee, and get working (again) on this horrific mess that's occupying the floor, the desk, and every flat surface in here - all these papers that "pass" for records to support this tax return I'm supposed to have done by noon. There's a fair chance that I'm going to say "well, you waited until 36 hours before the deadline and then gave me a huge mess. You're just going to have to endure the consequences of paying the late filing penalty."

Last night, as I watched yet another movie aggrandizing young, lean men, I thought "what does it demonstrate, the ability to lift pieces of metal and make your body pretty?" Does it heal the sick? Feed the hungry? Repair social injustice? Create economic benefit?

Coupled with arrogance, this fixation on beauty is chilling. What I read in people's thoughts is derisive and judgmental; if you're old or if you're "fat," you are without value, even for conversation or friendship. How do I respond? I don't know yet.

However, I'm formulating some ideas.

Last night, I had some emails from CP; a loan officer (who participated in a good and healthy screwing administered to my income last month) has brought us two deals; CP forwarded them to me for processing. The loan officer sent CP a crappy email instructing CP to have me do thus and so "first thing tomorrow" and said that he would be "bussy and couldn't remember to call" CP about it.

He can go FUCK himself. I have this tax swamp to work through and loans of my own to work on.

No more support services for self-indulgent rat bastards.

Went into the Evite last night and deleted about 20 people - mostly for violations of that very policy. If this turns out to be a gathering of my church members and two other people, so be it.

Hump day screwin'

I'm just sick to death of human behavior.

Today, I realized that my socialization is entirely focused around either this computer, or church, or teaching class, or the occasional foray out to the bar with Mikey. Other than that, I sit here working or fielding incoming phone calls.

And solve other people's problems. Usually, for free.

Tonight, the hookah got into me because he "wanted to do the photo shoot." Of course, he wouldn't call, write or text back to confirm he'd be there. I guess my ouija board wasn't working properly. Trevor sends a text message and calls; I reply and ask what he wants, he says "just to say hi."

Uh, you don't do that. You only make nice when you're trying to manipulate your shithead, lying, cheating boyfriend into treating you right, or you need to use my fax machine.

Why do I feel that, aside from Rosita and Donna, no one actually wants to know how things are for me? They just want me to be there and listen to their shit about how the had a little frustration in traffic, or someone gave them some crap about something.

Okay, so there are a COUPLE of other people that go into that group, but ..

How is it that every man I meet wants a hand out? What does that say about me?

Well, I know what it says about me.

New Orleans thoughts

This is very well said -

Largest Seaport In America Still Closed

Apprx. 25% of this nation's imports and exports go in and out through the Port of New Orleans and the surrounding ports. At this point, it looks like most of the port facilities remain largely intact, with no major structural damage. The Mississippi River did not jump its banks as many had feared. No huge ships sank in the river making it unnavigable. That's the good news.

The question is, when will the ports reopen? The best assessment of the port problem I've seen was written by our old friend Dr. George Friedman of Stratfor.com. Here are some excerpts from his latest analysis (note that this analysis is very sobering, but you need to read it):

QUOTE: "The ports of South Louisiana and New Orleans, which run north and south of the city, are as important today as at any point during the history of the republic. On its own merit, the Port of South Louisiana is the largest port in the United States by tonnage and the fifth-largest in the world. It exports more than 52 million tons a year, of which more than half are agricultural products -- corn, soybeans and so on. A larger proportion of U.S. agriculture flows out of the port. Almost as much cargo, nearly 57 million tons, comes in through the port -- including not only crude oil, but chemicals and fertilizers, coal, concrete and so on.

A simple way to think about the New Orleans port complex is that it is where the bulk commodities of agriculture go out to the world and the bulk commodities of industrialism come in. The commodity chain of the global food industry starts here, as does that of American industrialism. If these facilities are gone, more than the price of goods shifts: The very physical structure of the global economy would have to be reshaped. Consider the impact to the U.S. auto industry if steel doesn't come up the river, or the effect on global food supplies if U.S. corn and soybeans don't get to the markets.

The problem is that there are no good shipping alternatives. River transport is cheap, and most of the commodities we are discussing have low value-to-weight ratios. The U.S. transport system was built on the assumption that these commodities would travel to and from New Orleans by barge, where they would be loaded on ships or offloaded. Apart from port capacity elsewhere in the United States, there aren't enough trucks or rail cars to handle the long-distance hauling of these enormous quantities -- assuming for the moment that the economics could be managed, which they can't be.

The focus in the media has been on the oil industry in Louisiana and Mississippi. This is not a trivial question, but in a certain sense, it is dwarfed by the shipping issue. First, Louisiana is the source of about 15 percent of U.S.-produced petroleum, much of it from the Gulf. The local refineries are critical to American infrastructure. Were all of these facilities to be lost, the effect on the price of oil worldwide would be extraordinarily painful. If the river itself became unnavigable or if the ports are no longer functioning, however, the impact to the wider economy would be significantly more severe. In a sense, there is more flexibility in oil than in the physical transport of these other commodities.

There is clearly good news as information comes in. By all accounts, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which services supertankers in the Gulf, is intact. Port Fourchon, which is the center of extraction operations in the Gulf, has sustained damage but is recoverable. The status of the oil platforms is unclear and it is not known what the underwater systems look like, but on the surface, the damage -- though not trivial -- is manageable.

The news on the river is also far better than would have been expected on Sunday. The river has not changed its course. No major levees containing the river have burst. The Mississippi apparently has not silted up to such an extent that massive dredging would be required to render it navigable. Even the port facilities, although apparently damaged in many places and destroyed in few, are still there. The river, as transport corridor, has not been lost.

What has been lost is the city of New Orleans and many of the residential suburban areas around it. The population has fled, leaving behind a relatively small number of people in desperate straits. Some are dead, others are dying, and the magnitude of the situation dwarfs the resources required to ameliorate their condition. But it is not the population that is trapped in New Orleans that is of geopolitical significance: It is the population that has left and has nowhere to return to.

The oil fields, pipelines and ports required a skilled workforce in order to operate. That workforce requires homes. They require stores to buy food and other supplies. Hospitals and doctors. Schools for their children. In other words, in order to operate the facilities critical to the United States, you need a workforce to do it -- and that workforce is gone. Unlike in other disasters, that workforce cannot return to the region because they have no place to live. New Orleans is gone, and the metropolitan area surrounding New Orleans is either gone or so badly damaged that it will not be inhabitable for a long time.

It is possible to jury-rig around this problem for a short time. But the fact is that those who have left the area have gone to live with relatives and friends. Those who had the ability to leave also had networks of relationships and resources to manage their exile. But those resources are not infinite -- and as it becomes apparent that these people will not be returning to New Orleans any time soon, they will be enrolling their children in new schools, finding new jobs, finding new accommodations. If they have any insurance money coming, they will collect it. If they have none, then -- whatever emotional connections they may have to their home -- their economic connection to it has been severed. In a very short time, these people will be making decisions that will start to reshape population and workforce patterns in the region.

A city is a complex and ongoing process - one that requires physical infrastructure to support the people who live in it and people to operate that physical infrastructure. We don't simply mean power plants or sewage treatment facilities, although they are critical. Someone has to be able to sell a bottle of milk or a new shirt. Someone has to be able to repair a car or do surgery. And the people who do those things, along with the infrastructure that supports them, are gone -- and they are not coming back anytime soon.

It is in this sense, then, that it seems almost as if a nuclear weapon went off in New Orleans. The people mostly have fled rather than died, but they are gone. Not all of the facilities are destroyed, but most are. It appears to us that New Orleans and its environs have passed the point of recoverability. The area can recover, to be sure, but only with the commitment of massive resources from outside -- and those resources would always be at risk to another Katrina.

The displacement of population is the crisis that New Orleans faces. It is also a national crisis, because the largest port in the United States cannot function without a city around it. The physical and business processes of a port cannot occur in a ghost town, and right now, that is what New Orleans is. It is not about the facilities, and it is not about the oil. It is about the loss of a city's population and the paralysis of the largest port in the United States." END QUOTE.

New Orleans port officials said last week that they are not exactly sure when the port will reopen. Their biggest problem, as Dr. Friedman points out above, is that they do not have the people to operate the facilities.

Gary LaGrange, the director of the Port of New Orleans offered this prediction over the weekend: "We think that within a month we can be back at 30 percent. In three months we can probably be back at 70 percent to 80 percent. We think that in four to five months we'll be back to 100 percent." This is serious!