Hey Mister!

Mardi Gras 2006: Fat Tuesday despite the tragedies. Beads and doubloons despite the horrors. King cakes despite the miseries. Jazz despite the deafness of Bush. Laissez les bons temps rouler regardless. NOLA lives. And lets loose a little. And keeps these traditions alive.

More good news: NPR reports that the Central Grocery Store on Decatur Street, originator of the famous muffuletta sandwich, is reopening its doors in time for Mardi Gras and its 100th anniversary after being closed due to Katrina. Although we can't get a real muffaletta out here, we can go listen to some new tunes by Allen Toussaint and think about what the luscious gumbo that is New Orleans has given the nation and the world. And we can make a promise to ourselves that we'll keep the pressure on to ensure the Crescent City continues down its unique cultural path for at least the rest of the 21st century.

NPR has lots of excellent Mardi Gras stories. Check 'em out and then write to Bush, Homeland Security and your members of Congress. Next, donate a few bucks to a Katrina relief organization or grassroots effort. The animal rescue and shelter organization, , is one of my favorites. If we don't act now, the heart and soul of one of our most distinctive cities will fade away, replaced by Disney-development, bland sameness and high-end housing that too many working class residents can't afford. Katrina's victims will be left to suffer without hope or healing. We can't let that happen, can we? Not here, not now.

New Orleans by the numbers:

• Number of square miles of New Orleans "abandoned and rotting" after Hurricane Katrina: 100+
• Size of barge, in tons, of a barge stranded in a New Orleans neighborhood: 150
• Size, in cubic yards, of debris removed from the city so far: 33,000,000
• Size, in cubic yards, of dirt dug by French to construct Suez Canal: 105,000,000
• Percent of levee reconstruction completed: 40
• Number of New Orleans business in operation post-Katrina: 2250 (of 15,000)
• Number of restaraunts in operation: 1,000 (of 3,000)
• Number of New Orleans refugees now living in Baton Rouge: 100,000
• Number of New Orleans residents remaining in city: 161,333 (of 484,000)
• Number of residents confirmed dead from Katrina: 1420, and rising
• Number of residents still missing: 1926
• Number of missing who are children: 120
• Days until Hurricane Season: 92

Source for above statistics: LA Times, here and here; see here for more depressing numbers. (Tip o' the hat to pastordan at Daily Kos.