B-52 bombers to fly over New Orleans, Baton Rouge

To salute Louisiana's essential workers of the coronavirus pandemic, B-52 bomber pilots plan to fly over medical centers in New Orleans and Baton Rouge on Friday, May 1. [4/30/2020]

B-52 Stratofortress

B-52 Flyover »

Free at Last!

The former New Orleans mayor who led the city amid Hurricane Katrina's devastation and was later convicted in a corruption case, Ray Nagin, was released from prison early due to the coronavirus pandemic. [4/28/2020]

Ray Nagin

Ray Nagin freed »

Socially Distant Air Show April 21-23

The first Socially Distant Airshow, brought together by a host of air show veterans and produced by the folks at LiveAirShowTV. It’s coming to a screen near you on April 21 to 23. [4/18/2020]

Airshow performers

Socially Distant Air Show »

Virus 50-85 times more prevalent than reported case number

Preliminary results (not yet peer-reviewed) from antibody blood tests given to a large sample of people in Santa Clara, California indicate the Wuhan virus was contracted by 50-85 times more people than the number of actual reported cases in the county. Population prevalence estimates can now be used to calibrate epidemic and mortality projections. More people have had it, and thus more people may be immune. [4/17/2020]

MedRxIV Logo

Wuhan Virus Prevalence »

No Jazz Fest At All

It's official: no Jazz & Heritage Festival for 2020. See you in spring of 2021. [4/16/2020]

Jazz & Heritage Festival letter

Click above to enlarge the image

No 2020 Jazz Fest »

No fun aloud

New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell held a press conference today recommending that the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and other large events be put on hold for the rest of 2020. [4/14/2020]

New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell

No Fun Aloud »

IHME Wuhan Virus modeler says "The worst is behind us"

Dr. Ali Mokdad, the physician behind the influential coronavirus pandemic model at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, told Fox News Friday that "the worst is behind us as a country." [4/10/2020]

Dr. Ali Mokdad

Worst Is Behind Us »

A Different View of the IHME Model

How's your integral calculus? Remember all that stuff about "area under the curve"? Drs. Fauci and Birx go on and on about "flattening the curve" of Wuhan virus infections. But what if they're just delaying deaths rather than reducing them, and additionally killing more people with the economy damage? Willis Eschenbach looks at the data. He's a models expert. [4/9/2020]

IHME Model

Flattening the Curve »

John Prine Dies From Coronavirus at 73

American singer/songwriter John Prine succumbed to COVID-19 at the age of 73 after returning from a European tour. His classics and staples of AOR radio include Illegal Smile and Sam Stone. [4/8/2020]

John Prine »

Bill Withers Post-Mortem Streams Jump

Billboard Magazine reports a jump in streams of Bill Withers recordings since his March 30 death. [4/8/2020]

Bill Withers

Bill Withers »

Hey Facebook! Fact-Check This!

A "Fact-CVheck" noticed showed up as a Facebook Notificatiuon for me today. Maybe they don't know I'm a shareholder. It doesn't specify which of my posts warranted fact-checking, but I'm assuming it was this link to a YouTube video: https://youtu.be/zSBgXJpje74 [Note from JD: Overnight, the video was removed by the uploader, according to YouTube. It was gone by the morning of 4/7/2020] My comment on it was simply, "Hmmmmm..." That's a comment I learned from Arsenio Hall' old late-night TV show, a segmewnt he called, "Things That Make You Go Hmmmmmm..." I use it when I find something interesting, but am unsure what to make of it. [Opinion, 04/06/2020]

Kenny Rogers

Fact-Check This! »

Kenny Rogers Dead at 81

Kenny Rogers, a screen and music superstar from the late 60's and well beyond, has died of natural causes at age 81. [3/21/2020]

Kenny Rogers

Kenny Rogers Dead »

Jazz Fest Rescheduled

The spring's New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival will be rescheduled for the fall of 2020. Another Corona virus victim. [3/18/2020]

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Rescheduled

Jazz Fest Rescheduled »

French Quarter Fest Rescheduled

The French Quarter Fest has fallen victim to the Corona virus. It moves from mid-April to October 1-4. [3/13/2020]

Aerobatic multicopter

French Quarter Fest »

Loops & Rolls in Manned-Capable Drone

This full-size drone can do aerobatics (loops and rolls) and carry a passenger, just not at the same time for the moment. You might want to stock up and sick sacks for when it can do them both concurrently. [3/3/2020]

Aerobatic multicopter

Aerobatic Drone »

Unprecedented!

JD wasn't around for the reign of some of these guys (and "reign" seems to be the right word for at least some of them). The New York Post's Kyle Smith presents some facts that may have escaped the youngsters among us. Many even escaped me, no doubt thanks to my liberal 60's education. [Opinion, 3/1/2020]

Presidents

Unprecedented »

Brees Is Back!

Drew Brees let the world know today on Instragram that he's ready to “make another run” at a football championship in New Orleans. [2/18/2020]

Drew Brees

Brees is back »

Democrat Congressional Committee Demands Google Bury “Climate Misinformation”

The U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on the Climate Crisis has demanded Google demonetize climate skeptics, and provide education to millions of people who have been exposed to “dangerous misinformation”. [1/29/2020]

Big Brother

Bury climate misinformation »

When Hubig's Pies return

Hubig's Pies survived Katrina of 2005, but not the factory fire of 2012. But a warehouse near the Huey P. Long Bridge in Jefferson Parish will be cranking out those delicious pies in the not-too-distant future. They've graced the shelves of New Orleans area convenience and grocery stores since 1922. JD's favorite is lemon, and he can't wait! [1/28/2020]

Hubig's Pies

Hubig's Pies »

Kobe Bryant killed in helicopter crash

Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers legend, five-time NBA champion and one of the most prolific scorers in basketball history, is dead at the age of 41, killed in a helicopter crash in California on January 26, 2020. [1/26/2020]

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant killed »

Monty Python's Terry Jones passes

Terry Jones, a founding member of the anarchic Monty Python troupe who was hailed by colleagues as “the complete Renaissance comedian" and “a man of endless enthusiasms,” died Tuesday evening, January 21, 2020 at age 77 after suffering from dementia. [1/22/2020]

Terry Jones

Terry Jones passes »

Opinion: Censorship is called for

Edward Luce, US national editor of the Financial Times, opines that “Democracies are ill-suited to deal with climate change.” Harvard University’s Naomi Oreskes recently recommended a media blackout of industry views in favor of those of climate activists. “The fossil-fuel industry exploited the journalistic ideals of fairness, objectivity and particularly the idea of balance to manipulate journalists into presenting what was essentially propaganda,” Oreskes argues. Censorship is called for. [1/21/2020]

Climate Serfdom

Censorship called for »

Harvard Wants Washingtton, D.C. to Be 127 New States

Harvard University has released a plan to subdivide Washington, D. C. into 127 new states. It's perfectly legal, and would make for easily amending the Constition to eliminate the Electoral College. [1/20/2020]

Jazz Fest 2020

127 New States »

Robert Parker, who scored a 1960s hit with Barefootin', dies

Robert Parker, the singer-songwriter who scored a national hit during the heyday of New Orleans rhythm and blues with his 1966 song Barefootin’, died Sunday, January 19, 2020. He was 89. [1/19/2020]

Robert Parker

Robert Parker dies »

Jazz Fest 2020

The 2020 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival lineup has been announced. Headliners include The Who, Dead & Company, Lizzo, Lionel Richie, Stevie Nicks, The Foo FIghters and The Lumineers. There will also be tributes to Dr. John and Art Neville.

Jazz Fest 2020

Jazz Fest 2020 »

2001: A Space Odyssey Exhibit

The movie JD has watched more times than any other features the Pan Am Orion space plane as an Earth-to-the-Moon shuttle. Orion also just happens to be the name of the space capsule Lockheed Martin builds for NASA at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. Residents of, and visitors to, the Museum of the Moving Image adjacent to the Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens (New York) through July 19, 2020 can get a look at a model of the Pan Am ship and other neat stuff from the Kubrick movie.

Pan Am Orion

2001: A Space Odyssey Exhibit »

2020 Rock Hall of Fame Inductees

The Rock 'n' Ropll Hall of Fame has announced the 2020 inductees. They include Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., and T. Rex. Irving Azoff and Jon Landau are Ahmet Ertegun Award winners. [1/15/2020]

Rock Hall of Fame 2020 Inductees

Rock HoF 2020 Inductees »

The Great Dryer Saga

Mrs. JD bought a new Samsung gas dryer from Home Depot after BestBuy failed to deliver and install the same model she bought a few weeks earlier. BestBuy cancelled a promised 1/31/2019 installation appointment with no notice when the installer decided he didn't want to work on New Year's Eve. So, after getting a refund from BestBuy (and selling all our BestBuy stock), she went to Home Depot on Coursey Blvd. in Baton Rouge and bought the same dryer again.

Home Depot promised delivery on 1/8/2020, two days after purchase. But the installer postponed that morning due to "a death in the family," and Home Depot rescheduled delivery and installation for 1/11/2020. After connecting the gas line and vent, the installer turned it on to test. It made a brief rattling sound until he adjusted the leveling feet and the sound abated. After he left, JD washed a load of clothes and then tossed them into the brand new dryer. The rattle and noise were back, and loud! Attempts to adjust the leveling feet were ultimately fruitless. Only a bit of hand-squeezing at the back of the dryer cabinet seemed to help. Give the video a listen.

Mrs. JD called the service number, and was advised of an estimated 40-minute hold time. JD called the installer's cell phone, but he was nearly back home in Lafayette by then. He told us to call the service number, for which Mrs. JD was still holding. As of now (late afternoon on 1/11/2020), we have only a promise to return our call on Monday, 1/13/2020, to see if anyone can come have a look at the dryer before Monday, 1/20/2020. Stay tuned!

1/12/2020 Update: Had to turn off the gas to the new dryer before bed last night. Our noses told us something was leaking. Still no contact from Home Depot.

1/13/2020 Update: Another day with no contact initiated by Home Depot. So we called them. No replacement dryers are immediately available. They are backordered. An appointment was available no sooner than two days hencce, Wednesday, 1/15/2020, for someone to come out and check the installation. But aside from the gas leak, it's doubtful that anything about the installation is causing the awful racket from the dryer. It clearly has a problem. With no clear path to an immediate replacement or fix, we decided it was time to have Home Depot remove the dryer and give us a refund, so off to the store we went.

Customer Order Specialist Yolonda Hayes listened to the story while attempting to phone Samsung (we think) to verify that a refund was an option for us, since we had complied with the timely notication preocedure. She said a refund was an option, pending the outcome of the "installation check" on 1/15. We made it clear that we did not want a replacement dryer with an unknown availability date, or a repair attempt of some sort on a brand new dryer. She said it was up to us.

So the plan is to wait for the installation check, get the refund, then reinstall our old, sort-of-working LG dryer while we attempt to find a matching Samsung from a dealer who can actually deliver a working one. Tune in on Wednesday, 1/15 for the rest of the saga. Meanwhile, Geaux Tigers!

1/15/2020 Update: Home Depot's delivery team just left. The wrong gas line fitting had been installed. They replaced it with the correct one, and it seems to have solved the gas leak problem. But the horrendous noise is still present. The team says that's a defect in the dryer. Arrangements were made by Samsung to pick it up and take it away on Saturday, 1/18/2020. They had offered to send a repair man, but we told them we felt no obligation to accept a dryer that was defective from the start and had already discussed a refund from Home Depot. Stay tuned to see if we ever get a dryer from someone that works!

1/15/2020 2nd Update: Home Depot's Yolonda Hayes called to check on the outcome of the installation check. We told her the result and about our chat with Samsung. Ms. Hayes called Samsung to confirm, then called us back just a bit later to say Home Depot had already credited our credit card for the purchase price. Kudos to them for doing it ahead of the actual merchandise return. Ms. Hayes did exactly as she had promised. Meanwhile, this afternoon, before we had had heard from Ms. Hayes, we made a third purchase of this Samsung dryer from Conn's Home Plus. They had them in stock. Delivery and installation by them is set for tomorrow afternoon, 1/16/2020. If it works, we'll be happy customers. Tune in tomorrow and find out!

1/16/2020 Update: It works! Conn's Home Plus delivered a Samsung DVG45R6100 gas dryer an hour or so ahead of the promised delivery schedule (we bought it yesterday). No gas leaks. No awful noises. No problems. Hallelujah!

Neal Peart, Drummer for Rush, Dies at 67

Rolling Stone Magazine reports Neal Peart, the drummer for Rush, has died at age of 67. [1/10/2020]

Neal Peart of Rush

Neal Peart Dies »

Leave Climate Change Out of It

The climate change censorship likely works only one way. JD doubts Facebook posts claiming climate change is solely repsonsible for the Austrailian fires are being flagged as misleading for omitting arson as a cause. [1/10/2020]

WUWT

Arson or Climate Change? »

Football TFRs

Watch where you fly on Monday, 1/13/2020. Temporary Flight Restrictions for the LSU-Clemson game will be in place. [1/10/2020]

WUWT

Football TFRs »

More News


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