Levees.org

In the true spirit of Hillel who once asked "If I am not for myself, who will be? And when I am for myself, what am 'I'? And if not now...when?" comes Sandy Rosenthal, a wife, mother and community activist. Rosenthal, an attractive, tall blonde has a very slight speech impediment, but she never has let it get in her way of speaking her mind, especially since she saw the devastation of what happened to New Orleans in the wake of the levee breaks that followed Hurricane Katrina. To that end she founded the socially conscious Levees.org organization while she and her family, including her teenager son Stanford, were all evacuated in Lafayette, Louisiana. Levees.org has time and time again held the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers responsible for the flooding that took place. Since it was the job of the Corps to maintain the levees and to make certain that they were properly designed to protect the property and citizens of the city, she reckons, they should be held accountable for the disaster of the resulting flooding following the surge brought into New Orleans by the hurricane. Sometime after the flooding subsided and the recovery effort had begun, Rosenthal's organization began putting up yard signs demanding that the Corps of Engineers be held accountable. As a result of stinging accusations, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) issued a report that essentially cleared the Corps of any wrongdoing. Rosenthal and her organization called foul there because, among other things, the ASCE report was paid for with Corps of Engineers funds (about $2 million). The community watchdog organization went so far as to make a satiric video showing a high school classroom discussing the very idea that such a report would be free of any influence. It generated a great deal of accusations of being unfair by the Corps and other engineers closely associated with them. Suggesting that such a relationship was a clear conflict of interest, a University of California-Berkeley professor, Raymond Seed, pushed for an independent review of the actions of both the Corps of Engineers and ASCE. Seed claims that at most every turn, the Corps and ASCE prevented his investigation from completing its fact finding mission. In fact he claims both of the parties undermined the review he had initiated along with the National Science Foundation and has charged that the funding of the initial review by ASCE was a clear ethics violation. Rosenthal and her organization have pushed for an investigation of the Corps' failure to prevent the cataclysm and the alleged conflict of interest, which has been termed the 8/29 investigation. Both Rosenthal and Seed have been critical of an internal investigation being conducted by three former presidents of ASCE because it has dragged on for many more months than they feel it should. According to a spokesperson for ASCE, that independent group referred to as the CPC moves at its own pace. According to a report in the Times-Picayune, retired U.S. Representative Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) claims the CPC has experienced difficulty in meeting because of the schedules of its members. A report is now expected to be released during September. Rosenthal and Seed have continued to express dismay over the slow progress being made by ASCE and Seed additionally alleges that a list of witnesses he provided to them over nine months ago have never been contacted by the review board. Rosenthal's son won a Youth in Philanthropy award last November from the Greater New Orleans chapter of the Association of Fund Raising Professionals based in part on his work as the webmaster for the Levees.org website. There is no question from where the son gets his inspiration and drive. Perhaps Sandy Rosenthal is emblematic of that other famous Hillel quote, to wit, "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow."

New Vistas

"So, what do you think of Windows Vista?" someone asked me the other day. I had to answer truthfully. "I really don't mind it," I told him. "There are a lot of people out there who don't like the added security, but I do." That's absolutely true, but for those Windows XP lovers, the leap to Vista will take some adjustments. Yet, for those that have been using Windows 2000 or (gasp!) Windows Millennium or Windows 98, it will seem like a leap of galactic proportions. Anyone who has started to work Windows Server 2008 will recognized the similarity between it and Windows Vista. Server 2008 is in reality a Windows Vista server. While Windows Small Business Server 2003 edition (also known as SBS) has been doing very well for customers, there has been much anticipation about the SBS 2008 edition. The news is that it will be released on November 12, 2008, just in time to make it still in 2008, but many months past its original scheduled release. Backups under Windows 2008 Server will no longer be tied to tape media, but will allow a full system state to be copied to a networked drive or onto a local hard disc, something never before natively available. It makes the old style way of collecting data even more obsolete. But that's what computing is all about...massive amounts of change and updates. As I tell end users all the time, the day after you buy your computer is the day is becomes obsolete. It's a very unforgiving world, but one that is continually reinventing itself and audacious in its constant striving toward perfection. But it does leave one exasperated from time to time.

Back from Opryland

Rabbi Saul Strosberg of Congregation Sherith Israel in Nashville at right

Well, the last few days have been a bit of a blur, mostly blurred images of cars being passed on my way to and from Music City U.S.A. The professional Scout Executives have all assembled in Nashville, Tennessee for the annual National Leadership Training event, known in popular parlance as "All Hands." This year is proving to be a most audacious one for the Boy Scouts of America. The new Chief Scout Executive, Robert Mazucca, is implementing some big changes in this hallowed organization, trying to change the public perception of Scouting as an old-fashioned and outdated institution and attempting to focus more on reaching underserved minorities like the Hispanic community. A report in The Tennessean tells all. So, what could possess a volunteer like me to make the eight-hour drive to Nashville on Friday, only to return on Sunday before the event officially opened? Well, it was my intention to meet with Rabbi Saul Strosberg of Congregation Sherith Israel, who graciously accepted an invitation to lead a morning prayer service for any Jewish Scout professionals there. Friday night I got to meet with the rabbi and his lovely wife Danielle, who is expecting their first child. Saturday morning I attended relgious services at the synagogue and enjoyed a tasty Kiddush luncheon there. Sunday morning we arrived at the Opryland Hotel, the largest hotel in the world without a casino, only to get lost for several minutes. We did make it, however just a few minutes late.
As it turned out, three Jewish professionals turned up for the service: Robert Altman of Amarillo, Texas, Jonathan Glassman of Milford, Connecticut and Leo Ney from my own Southeast Louisiana Council in Metaire who lives and services the Houma, Louisiana area. It was an inspiring service and afterward we enjoyed an impromptu bagel breakfast. A nice time, but an all-too short trip to a fascinating city.

E-mails and stealth advertising

As the presidential campaigns have progressed into attack mode with considerable alacrity, I find myself in the unenviable position of having to deal with other people's opinions about who will serve our country best in the highest office in the land. In theory there should come a time when no matter what rhetoric emanates from the two contenders, we will have made up our minds as to whom we intend to give our vote. I strongly suspect that readers of this blog are much like me. I believe we all pretty much put our pants on one leg at a time. With the exception of those ladies or men who prefer skirts or who may be monepedes or disabled in some fashion, I truly beg your pardon, but I hope you get my drift. I think we all have the capacity to determine for ourselves which of the two candidates will best suit us. So, why am I receiving daily e-mails forwarded to me by friends and family about McCain and Obama? With regards to the election, am I expected to believe that each one thinks I am at the tipping point? Don't we get bombarded with political messages from the candidates on television already? Aside from the e-mails, there is another disturbing trend in political advertising. It is an attempt by the major agencies to mimic the success of viral marketing on the Internet. Advertising campaigns featuring ballgirls making spectacular catches at minor league baseball games or corn popping from supposed radiation emanating from cellphones have been proven to be nothing more than the products of creative minds from major advertising agencies uploaded to video sites like YouTube. The attempt has been to be more than subtle, indeed the agencies call it stealth advertising. The cameras are deliberately hand held and shaky and the dialogue is made to appear to be unscripted to delude one into believing that it is an amateur video. After it is revealed that the "trick" ballgirl catch was really a commercial for a sports drink or that the corn popping was just promoting a Bluetooth headset device, we're all supposed to smile and say "Yeah, that was really cool! You guys rock, so now I'll buy your stuff." Hmmm....am I getting this right? The Internet that was supposed to be the Information Superhighway is now being used by for profit institutions to deliberately give out misinformation in order to promote their products? Now the major TV networks are beginning to show these viral attacks ads placed on the Internet by the presidential campaigns. If the advertising agencies' strategy was to put something inexpensive on the Internet so that the major media would broadcast it or talk about it on radio, they have once again made their point. We'll buy anything if it's packaged correctly. That means we'll all have to deal with more of these fake ads and more e-mails in the coming months and that's really too bad. I have reached my tipping point as far as these are concerned.

Satchmo Summerfest and White Linen Night

One of the best weekends of free offerings is on tap in the Crescent City. First, Saturday and Sunday the Satchmo Summerfest will be held at the Old U. S. Mint off Esplanade Avenue. There will be a number of wonderful traditional jazz acts playing at various stages around the site, which houses the Louisiana Jazz Museum. Nestled at the edge of the Vieux Carre near the French Market, the Old U.S. Mint is a great place to sample food and drink as well as to take in some of the great music that has made New Orleans the mecca for jazz enthusiasts. The nice thing about "Satchmo Fest," as locals may say, is its proximity to the French Quarter and the Faubourg Marigny. One can easily dine at a nearby restaurant for brunch, saunter over to Royal Street and examine antiques, check out the festival and take in some of the sights of Frenchmen Street all in one day and evening. Although the music is free, one must pay for the privilege by buying food and drink from sponsors. But the food is usually very good and, after all, one must eat.
Saturday night it's White Linen Night in the burgeoning arts area in the Downtown District and for those that love art, it's the night to see and be seen. Yes, white linen is encouraged to be worn, but there are no fashion police out there. There's more food and drink to be purchased and lots of free music available on the street for the enjoyment of the patrons of the various art galleries that sponsor the event. It all makes the first weekend in August a very anticipated event each year.

A Shepherd who lost his way

It seems somewhat ironic that a man named Shepherd could be lost, but the truth is that State Senator Derrick Shepherd is in full-blown meltdown now and no one, not even his closest supporters or ex-girlfriend, can save him. Shepherd, already under federal indictment for alleged money laundering, added to his woes over the weekend when he was accused by former girlfriend Thaise Ashford, 29, of having broken into her home in the middle of the morning, punched her and stolen $100 and her cell phone. When Jefferson Parish Sheriff Deputies went to Shepherd's home in answer to the complaint, they allegedly found him in the company of two women, one of whom was performing a provocative dance for the Marrero Democrat. That alone is not worthy of his being arrested, but when the deputies executed a search warrant, they found Ashford's cell phone inside his home. His arrest early Saturday morning caused heads to turn because the terms of his release on a federal bond seemed to be clearly broken. That would mean that Shepherd would have to forfeit his freedom and spend the remainder of the time behind bars leading up to his federal trial on October 6. After a day in the slammer Shepherd was released early Sunday morning under house arrest with a monitoring ankle bracelet. A hearing was hurriedly arranged on Tuesday in front of a federal magistrate and anxious lawyers, reporters and voters gathered inside the chambers to hear what fate would await Shepherd. But then the unexpected happened. Placed under oath and on the stand before U.S. Magistrate Louis Moore, Jr., Ashford recanted her story. She said she had invited Shepherd over to her home to reconcile as a couple, but that he was late and she became angry and called the Sheriff's Office to file a false complaint. Ashford asked that all charges be dropped against Shepherd and filed an afidavit on his behalf. Prosecutors and Sheriff's Deputies were caught off guard. Meanwhile, Moore ordered that Shepherd be placed in a halfway house until he could sort it all out. That's where the whole brouhaha stands as of now. Ashford may be prosecuted for filing false charges, but no one is commenting on that just yet. Shepherd may be able to maintain his freedom, but not without a major fight. And then there's the federal trial in the fall. He maintains his innocence on all of the charges and says that the latest round including alleged breaking and entering, theft and battery charges are without merit. He may just be right. Or at least halfway right.

The Jews of Natchez

Temple B'nai Israel, 213 South Commerce Street

It is obvious to one who examines the history of Natchez that the importance of the Jewish community was notable. Jewish merchants were among the most important that established Natchez as a major center of trade, beginning in the late 18th Century. Several decades later in 1843, many of the wealthy Jewish families of Natchez banded together and founded the first permanent Jewish house of worship in Mississippi, Temple B'nai Israel (Children of Israel). Just after the Civil War ended, the congregation purchased a plot of land in downtown Natchez at South Commerce and Washington Streets. Quickly affiliated as a charter member of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations that led the Reform movement, Temple B'nai Israel continued to serve the needs of the Jewish community there until a fire destroyed the building in 1903. As a testament to the commitment on the part of the Jews to reestablish their presence in Natchez in short order, a new structure was hurriedly erected just two years later in 1905 paid for by funds raised in both the Jewish and Christian communities. But the lasting spirit of the Jews of Natchez failed to consider the possibility that their community might one day leave their city perched high on the banks of the Mississippi River. Events in 1908 set a trend that has, unfortunately, continued to this day. After the ubiquitous cotton crop so essential to Natchezians was hit hard by the boll weevil and the Mississippi River overflowed its banks, flooding the downtown area, Jewish merchants and their families began to flee for the safety of other cities. In less than 25 years only one third of its former 450 Jewish families remained. The once large, burgeoning Jewish community in Natchez is down to as few as 10 families. As it turns out, religious services are held just twice a month on alternating Sabbaths with the help of a traveling rabbi. On several occasions the synagogue was in peril of losing its status as one of the founding members of the UAHC (now the Union for Reform Judaism) due to its inability to pay dues. In recent years the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience has taken over the physical plant and installed an exhibit on the Jews of Natchez. The museum plans to operate it as a satellite facility once it is no longer utilized for regular worship services. In this way the historic temple will continue to serve as a source of information and a font of historical research for those who are interested in the glorious past of a community that has all but disappeared. For more details on Temple B'nai Israel, check out the digital archive from the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life: Digital Archive