I asked the question a few days ago, and now more people are weighing in. The question is, "Should we rebuild New Orleans?"

Left Brain Female says, " folks need to do some deep soul-searching to determine if rebuilding the dream is really worth the cost."

Below the Beltway says "Hell yeah." He also asks, "Where would the 4.5 million people who live there go? What about the businesses that are based there?"

Jack Chambless, Economics Professor of Valencia Community College says, "But the founding fathers never intended, Article One, section Eight of the Constitution, never intended to provide one dollar of taxpayer dollars to pay for any disaster or anything that we might call charity."

Update 8:05PM: Obi-Wan of Forward Biased is unsure at the moment:

4.5 million people, and their hometown may just have disappeared, and this isn't even considering the value of New Orleans as a historic and unique city.

More Updates, 10:00PM EST:
Mark says, "I don't know."

Jeff Jarvis thinks the city "may need to be reinvented."

The Fat Guy says, "I simply canÂ’t imagine an America without New Orleans."

Confederate Yankee says, "Goodbye, Big Easy. It was fun while it lasted."

Martini Republic complains about asking the question, but doesn't give an answer.

Update 5:50AM (Thursday): Porkopolis weighs in with a resounding "no," and an analysis showing why not monetarily. There's also a long list of people and posts discussing alternatives to rebuilding.

Update: 2PM
Right Wing Nuthouse says, "See ya in the French Quarter at Mardi Gras in five yearsÂ…" in giving his support for it's rebuild.

Captain Ed says:

How we take care of New Orleans will say something about our national character and whether it remains as tough and optimistic as our history, for all its flaws, amply demonstrates. Will we walk away from a tough fight? Will America shrug its shoulders and tell the city that we don't want to take on difficult tasks?
...
And so New Orleans must be rebuilt, in some manner, right where it is now.

I, however, don't see it as a "challenge" to "back down" from. I see it as simple economics. WHY? What will happen if we don't rebuild it? Will the hurricanes get mad as us and attack again? I don't think it's a matter of running from a tough fight -- it's just common sense to NOT want to build a city where there's water. Why not just expand Miami Beach 2 miles eastward? That makes about as much sense.

Update Saturday:
Jeff Fisher says,

New Orleans will be rebuilt. The only question is, "Where?"

I'm sure it will be rebuilt. I'm just saying that it's not a good idea to use MY money (taxpayer money) to do it. Let people build whatever they want, wherever they want -- just don't force me to pay for it.

I know we won't, but I think we should just let it be. The billions of dollars spent could be better spent elsewhere -- and of course, the vast majority of those billions will be taxpayer money from my pockets.

If you were given a choice between building a business where you had to clear out flood destruction and ANYWHERE else, which would you choose? I think it's time to move on.

What say you?

Posted by: Ogre at 06:49 PM | Comments (19) | Add Comment
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One of the Google Ads led to a site called Subscriptions for Soldiers. This is a site that

gives you a chance to personally show the hardworking men and women in AmericaÂ’s armed forces how much you truly appreciate their sacrifice. For only $10 you can send a gift subscription to active servicemen and women serving around the world right now.

Has anyone else heard anything about this site or the group promoting it (PriMedia)? I'd love to hear someone that knows this group is on the up and up before promoting them and sending them some of my cash...

Posted by: Ogre at 11:02 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Richard Combs, of Combs Spouts Off, is asking for favorite quotes. I'll provide two.

I regret that I have but one life to give for my country.

Also:

It's a 106 miles to Chicago. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses.

Feel free to name the speakers in the comments.

Posted by: Ogre at 10:30 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 I'm a geek aren't I? I know the top one from school. Nathan Hale. The 2nd one... no clue. Obviously a pop culture reference that I didn't get while living under my rock reading history...

Posted by: Bou at August 29, 2005 12:47 PM (5JHEt)

2 Sounds like the Blues Brothers. One of my all time favs is Promise her anything, but give her Pez.

Posted by: tomslick at August 29, 2005 01:53 PM (xNjHI)

3 You're right on both counts, Bou -- and Tomslick hit it with the second one. Bou, you should watch the Blues Brothers more often. And not that edited crap on broadcast TV, either.

Posted by: Ogre at August 29, 2005 02:09 PM (L0IGK)

4 Elwood Blues, specifically :-) Anyway, one of my faves, and something I consistantly preach to people thinking about starting a blog: "Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along"--Napoleon Hill Phrased more poetically in Andrew Carnegie's favorite version: "The gods send thread for a web begun."

Posted by: Harvey at August 29, 2005 05:38 PM (ubhj8)

5 And don't forget the follow up line from Jake: "Hit It."

Posted by: Ogre at August 29, 2005 07:19 PM (L0IGK)

6 Heck, if you're going to allow Blues Brothers quotes, how about: Jake: First you trade the Cadillac for a microphone. Then you lie to me about the band. Now you're gonna put me right back in the joint. Elwood: They're not gonna catch us. We're on a mission from God.

Posted by: Richard G. Combs at August 31, 2005 12:07 AM (rCfWT)

7 "You traded the Cadillac for this?" "No, for a microphone." "Oh, that's different."

Posted by: Ogre at August 31, 2005 05:58 AM (L0IGK)

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President Bush, August 24, 2005:

"So long as I'm the president, we will stay, we will fight, and we will win the war on terror."

Awesome.

Posted by: Ogre at 01:30 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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The French continue to hate America. I know this isn't news to most people. In this case, the French are mad because an American, the amazing Lance Armstrong, won the French bike race so many times.

Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc is claiming that Lance was using illegal drugs when he won the first championship in 1999. A look at the details does beg some questions -- Jean is basing his claims on an "anonymous" sample, claiming to have matched the sample up with Mr. Armstrong. If the sample was anonymous, how in the world did it get matched to Mr. Armstrong? Lance Armstrong himself questions how those results were leaked to newspapers and how they were matching himself.

In addition, Jean shows his French bias and misunderstanding of reality when he claims that Armstrong owes it to the world to explain "Why, How, By Whom?" You see, Mr. Marie, the onus is actually on YOU to prove your allegations first. To claim that "someone" has shown you he was doping is meaningless. That would be akin to me claiming that Mr. Marie had a banana up his rear during the last meeting of the Tour de France committee, and it was up to HIM to prove he didn't.

Finally, he showed his Frenchness by speaking with Lance Armstrong for 30 minutes by telephone and never once made any allegations or suggestions to Mr. Armstrong that there were any problems. He only made his accusations through the press. Typical two-faced idiot.

People of France, this is how you're perceived around the world because this is the type of person that makes your national press. Are you proud?

Posted by: Ogre at 03:02 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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Soldier's Angels has a new project that they'd like your assistance with: Project VALOR IT (Voice Activated Laptops for OUR Injured Troops).

"Project Valour IT, in memory of SFC William V. Ziegenfuss, provides voice-controlled software and laptop computers to wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines recovering from hand and arm injuries or amputations at major military medical centers. Operating laptops by speaking into a microphone, our wounded heroes are able to send and receive messages from friends and loved ones, surf the 'Net, and communicate with buddies still in the field without having to press a key or move a mouse. The experience of CPT Charles "Chuck" Ziegenfuss, a partner in the project who suffered hand wounds while serving in Iraq, illustrates how important this voice-controlled software can be to a wounded servicemember's recovery."

Posted by: Ogre at 03:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Another good volunteer continues to serve this great nation (what's left of it) in the fight against terrorism and evil in the world. Go drop Michael Churchill a note of thanks as he heads out for deployment.

Posted by: Ogre at 07:55 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I was speaking with a friend of mine yesterday afternoon, and he had a good idea -- we need some detectives. He suggested we should start the investigation, and he's quite sure that Bud Selig, President George W. Bush, and the U.S. Congress would be very happy (and likely to pay a lot) for us to solve this mystery.

We have GOT to find out who it is that's running around the country injecting people with steroids! I think if we track Rafael Palmeiro's steps, we can find out where he's been. Is he being injected in public, when someone brushes up against him in a crowd? Perhaps someone is sneaking into his house at night and shooting him up while he sleeps.

We now have Jason Giambi who has said he didn't take them, but then told a federal grand jury he did take them. Jason says what's happened to Palmeiro is "an unfortunate thing." Add Ryan Franklin, the 8th violator of Major League Baseball's steroid policy, and now we're sure there's a conspiracy.

Someone, or some group, possibly connected to the medical field, with access to steroids, is obviously going around, in secret, and injecting these baseball players with steroids. Why? That is the big unknown. We're not sure yet if it's a conspiracy to bring down MLB, or if it's targeted at certain players. Advance copies of NYTimes articles seem to indicate that they blame Bush.

Posted by: Ogre at 09:02 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 I too fear for the future of MLB. Whoever is targeting these poor souls is a monster... no, a demon! Have any of them seen a light in the sky? Just working on a theory...

Posted by: That 1 Guy at August 05, 2005 01:24 AM (Yi65j)

2 We don't know anything about who these monsters are. Investigations have commenced. We've got someone following Rafi 24/7...

Posted by: Ogre at August 05, 2005 07:13 AM (/k+l4)

3 I for one think it's Barry Bonds going around injecting others so he doesn't look as bad. Either that or its the flies in my office.

Posted by: Machelle at August 05, 2005 01:33 PM (ZAyoW)

4 Barry Bonds is doing what to the FILES in your office?

Posted by: Ogre at August 05, 2005 02:08 PM (L0IGK)

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Ever heard of it? Well, you should have. The Agitator writes about it in his weekly Fox column. Jury nullification is well defined by Clay S. Conrad in his book, "Jury Nullification: The Evolution of a Doctrine" as

"Jurors in criminal trials have the right to refuse to convict if they believe that a conviction would be in some way unjust."

(1) Jurors can never be punished for the verdict they return, and (2) Defendants cannot be retried once a jury has found them not guilty, regardless of the jury's reasoning.

Serving on a jury may be the last, great hope for this country. If you are called to serve, serve -- but feel free to ignore the judge as YOU are the one in charge, NOT him.

Posted by: Ogre at 09:00 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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