Currency re-vamp

[Rich]

Yoko Ono isn't your wife

irrelevant, I was merely talking American to an AMERICAN

 

[dan-cat]

irrelevant, I was merely talking American to an AMERICAN

Like I said, you're just being plain nasty.

 

[Rich]

Like I said, you're just being plain nasty.

has your needle stuck in the grove?
and like I said,

I was merely talking American to an AMERICAN

 

[Matty]

I think by warm gun he was referring to a certain part of his anatomy

Alright then. How about Yer Blues or Maxwell's Silver Hammer? I know the latter is a McCartney song, but suicide and murder really aren't anti-violence are they?

 

[Rich]

Alright then. How about Yer Blues or Maxwell's Silver Hammer? I know the latter is a McCartney song, but suicide and murder really aren't anti-violence are they?

Two songs out of how many hundred did they write?

 

[dan-cat]

has your needle stuck in the grove?
and like I said,

Really quite sad, you can't even retract an obscenity.

You'll come up with any kind of drivel to save face.

 

[Rich]

Really quite sad, you can't even retract an obscenity.

.

I don't consider it an obscenity and neither do millions of his fans, she was the prime force behind the breakup of the Beatles.
Have you ever heard her attempts at singing?
She latched on to John and used his name to further her own so called career

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Brianwarnock:

In response your question, "How is New Orleans?"

I am sad to say that it is slow to rebuild. The insurance companies, including some that claim that you are "in good hands" with them, are dragging their feet on the recovery reimbursement issue. Folks in the eastern end of the city are STILL waiting for some movement by powers-that-be. (Usually interpreted in our case as "powers-that-be-elsewhere.") They were poor enough that without settlement cash in hand, they can't even begin to rebuild anything. And that is still in litigation.

The suburbs were more affluent (by a SLIM margin) and have shown considerable returns, though it is far from complete. For example, we are now 11 months post-Katrina and I am still not living in my house yet. (Expected move-back is mid-August, once the flooring contractors are done and we can start moving in the new furniture. We're getting there, it just ain't fast.)

In some parts of the city there is no movement whatsoever because the areas have been condemned. In other areas, you see a few trailers on the street among many "for sale as-is" signs. The interesting thing is that one of our leading local economists, a Dr. Wade Ragas, said that he sees the recovery as following a normal path. Property values are going UP because folks want to rebuild better and are willing to buy out as-is properties for land value only. He apparently got his data by looking at historical recoveries after Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast hurricanes such as Andrew, Georges, Camille, etc.

The issue with families returning to New Orleans isn't always about the really horrid devastation, though it is truly in the horrid category. I drive past a subdivision near one of the original levee breaches. It is eerily quiet and very odd to see houses shifted off their foundations. Yet even in those areas, you can see a few signs of life.

Folks are staying away from New Orleans because the SCHOOLS were mostly destroyed. Before the storm, the New Orleans School Board made national headlines as being among the worst in existence. Patronage, graft, greed, and bribery, plus falsified consultancy invoices and "ghosted" reports abounded. It wasn't that the foxes ran the hen-house. NO ONE ran the hen house. Some auditors called in by the former superintendent described the NOSB finances as comparablel to but worse than some third-world nations. Due to the "No Child Left Behind" Act and some corresponding state laws, the NOSB was stripped of the right to run all but seven schools out of over two hundred schools city-wide.

The guy who is the president of my company talked with me about this problem and helped me understand why the slow return and the massive exodus to the 'burbs. Because of the NOSB, public schools in New Orleans were a JOKE and not a funny one at that. They were bad enough that many private and parochial schools sprang up - demand caused an increase in supply. People in New Orleans who had kids and wanted them to get an education had to work two jobs to afford the fees for the non-public schools. In many parts of the city, they lost everything they had. For example, Lakeview and NO East subdivisions had water up to the eaves of the houses. Ten+ feet of water. In Chalmette, FIFTEEN feet.

So post-Katrina, those same folks relocated to other states where the public schools are better than in Louisiana. (Yes, sad but true - there were better schools than ours...)

So now... these folks now have kids in GOOD public schools and the parents have a tough choice. They can (1) quit their lower-paying second job so they can spend more time with their families; or they can (2) stay on both jobs and improve the quality of life with the extra moeny; or they can (3) come home to a devastated area where their kids will have NO schools and nothing to do for recreation, not to mention that they will be lucky to get a trailer at this late date. So places to live will also be problematic. And when you lost everything you had, what is there to come back to anyway?

Let's see, now.... which will I choose? Anyone want to give me odds on choosing #3? Duh! Well, in any case, if you think about it, you know why some parts of the city aren't rebuilding.

 

[KenHigg]

Our church youth group just came back from a working trip where they helped work to rebuild a family's home and they said the conditions were horrible were they were working...

 

[Rich]

Our church youth group just came back from a working trip where they helped work to rebuild a family's home and they said the conditions were horrible were they were working...

How far did they have to travel to get there ?

 

[KenHigg]

How far did they have to travel to get there ?

I'm guessing about 8 hours with a group like that... But if they had driven straight through maybe 6-7 hours...

 

[Rich]

I'm guessing about 8 hours with a group like that... But if they had driven straight through maybe 6-7 hours...

Well not very far in miles then, that's about the time it takes to get through London

 

[MrsGorilla]

Well not very far in miles then, that's about the time it takes to get through London

You mean because of the distance or the traffic?

 

[KenHigg]

Well not very far in miles then, that's about the time it takes to get through London

I'll see if I can get a few pictures of where they worked...

 

[ShaneMan]

If the lyrics said there was no heaven, that wouldn't be a Christian message. Saying 'imagine there's no heaven' is like saying 'imagine that unicorns exist'. It implies that you have to visualise it, since it isn't true. That sound pretty Christian to me.

Never thought about it from that angle so I guess that could have some merit, but then the next line says something like, "it's easy if you try." How would that fit with your line of thinking on what the author was saying?

 

[ColinEssex]

Before the storm, the New Orleans School Board made national headlines as being among the worst in existence. Patronage, graft, greed, and bribery, plus falsified consultancy invoices and "ghosted" reports abounded.

But thats the American way isn't it? your President does it (falsifies reports, takes backhanders for lucrative contracts etc), as do most multi million dollar companies, the police, the justice system etc etc.

Surely America wouldn't be America without bribery, corruption, and greed. Thats what makes your wheels go round.

Doc_Man, would you say if the Katrina thing happened in New York or Washington or California the clear-up would be much speedier? I always get the impression that the Southern states are the poor relations in the US - stemming back to the populace being significantly non-white

Col

 

[ColinEssex]

Ok, open wide.........

John Lennon loved his wife.

The only reason why you get away with such remarks is because he is not in the same room as you. If he was, he'd probably give you a good slap. Maybe you'll meet up in the after life and he can issue you a good kicking then. Until then I'm sure you won't care less.

Johns marriage to Yoko was to say the least - tempestuous. They rowed alot and Yoko kicked him out. . . . .then he had an affair. . . . . .

During 1974 Lennon's personal life fell into disrepair when Yoko literally kicked John out of the house. A temporary move to Los Angeles started off John's infamous "lost weekend", which actually lasted closer to fourteen months and involved nightly drinking binges and many public incidents. During this period Lennon also had an extramarital affair with Ono's former secretary May Pang.

ref

There was some speculation that John was planning a return to live in the UK, John and Paul had made their peace and allegedly were planning to work together again - unfortunately that never happened.

Col

 

[ColinEssex]

she was the prime force behind the breakup of the Beatles.

True, the rule was always no relatives or friends allowed into Abbey Road, the rule broken by Yoko. But there were other factors - John and Paul falling out, Paul being the "bossy" one, George not liking being told what to do by Paul, Ringo being fed up with the in-fighting and wanting things "like they used to be".

At that time George and Ringo often never turned up at recording sessions. John and Paul were the only 2 to turn up to record "Ballad of John and Yoko", Paul played drums and rhythm, John played bass and lead.

Col

 

[dan-cat]

There was some speculation that John was planning a return to live in the UK, ...

1) When John and Yoko did split where did he go? LA, so it wasn't as if he was in a rush to leave the US.

2) The speculation was fuelled by the increasing probability of deportation for heroin abuse.

 

[dan-cat]

But there were other factors

Would you include John's heroin abuse in this or did this happen later?