Made in Mississippi

Though it seems to recede further and further from people's minds, the Mississippi Gulf Coast was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Biloxi's Historic district took a big hit. The historic Magnolia Motel/Mardi Gras Museum still has to be repaired. Mary Mahoney's Restuarant opened within weeks. The Train and Toy Emporium re-opened soon after Katrina hit. But the little shops filled with the works of artisans and artists from Mississippi has been slow to rebuild. With one exception: the art studio of Bill Johnson. Mr. Bill has been at Croesus street for over 25 years. He is 88 years old and has been repairing his studio. He does a little painting and uses off-beat materials. He is using Styrofoam to carve coastal themes and it looks very interesting. He is also etching terra cotta tiles. His phone number is 228-435-9134.

Here he is in front of his studio working on some of the etchings:.


Some of the work he did while I talked to him:


The only proclamation on his studio:



Another interesting shop I visited was Rue Magnolia Pottery. Two sisters and a friend opened their shop in October of 2008. It is filled with fun items like belly-button mugs that have a piercing. One of the sisters creates unique ceramic jewelry while the other creates fun and colorful art pottery. Their phone number is 228-435-2828.

The sign in front of their store:


One of the pieces titled Fin-Fin. It is named after the notorious diet drug:


A lot of the pieces have vivid colors such as this star fish with a background of blue:


I liked this ceramic doll of a mother holding a child:


There are some unique creations in the pottery shop.

I was very excited about the new art co-op that opened at 626 Water Street. It hasn't been open very long. The co-op consists of photographs and artists from the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Hattiesburg. I asked permission to take photos so I'm unable to show-off some of the amazing talent in the co-op. There is everything from abstract art to Impressionistic style with everything in between.

I hope you will visit each of these places as well as some of the other businesses that have opened up shop. It is good to see this historic area coming back to life. Some of the buildings in this section were built in the 1790's and there is a lot of unique architecture.

Our Courts

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra O'Connor has started a new web-site. It is called Our Courts. With the web-site she hopes to fill a gap in our education system. All too often students are only taught what is needed to be able to pass the benchmarks for programs like No Child Left Behind. When Justice O'Connor was The Daily Show March 3, 2009, she stated that in half of the states, civics and American history has been dropped from the curriculum. That is a shame to our country.

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Shabbat Shalom!

Change You Can Believe In

President Obama's pick for heading FEMA is Craig Fugate. A very good choice! He was Florida's emergency manager.

Fugate has been praised for helping guide Florida through several devastating hurricanes in the past decade. He was criticized in 2005 for not distributing enough ice, water and other supplies immediately after Hurricane Wilma. Fugate had warned residents before the storm that they should have enough supplies for three days after it passed, but many did not and that overstressed the system.
Napolitano called Fugate one of the most experienced emergency managers in the country.
"The work he's accomplished in Florida serves as a model for other states," Napolitano said in a statement. "He will be a tremendous asset to FEMA and it's employees."
After Hurricane Katrina, Fugate said there was too much focus on blaming the federal government for the botched response. He said in a 2006 interview with The Associated Press that it was the state's responsibility to prepare for such disasters, and the state should only turn to the federal government for help when the disaster is larger than the state can handle on its own.

A Letter to Booby Jindal

Honorable Bobby Jindal,

In your response to President Obama's address to Congress, you displayed some ignorance. You decried that $140 million had been earmarked for 'volcano monitoring'. If you had studied a bit more, you might have seen that only a fraction of the $140 million was allocated for volcano monitoring. What I find must troubling about your comment is that you know the value of being able to predict natural disasters accurately. Funding for science was severely cut under former President Bush.

Advances in science can help all prepare for natural disasters. Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast just 3 1/2 years ago. Better weather satellites may have been able to offer better predictions. Alas, our weather satellites are in a sad state of affairs. Wouldn't it be nice if more funding for those satellites, river gages, and other tools necessary to predict natural disasters could be made available?

Right now, other tools to help predict hurricanes are being developed.

In the stimulus package was also money allocated to help restore and preserve coastal marsh lands. Much of it will probably go to Louisiana to help rebuild the marshes that have been lost due to hurricanes and other factors. These marshes provide a natural buffer to protect New Orleans and Hancock County Mississippi. Those funds are close to a billion. Due you consider that a waste?

There are people in Hawai'i and Alaska whose lives can be and are impacted by volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. They and we, should not be denied the tools to keep our lives safe.


Sincerely,

A Concerned Citizen of Gulfport Mississippi

Apologies Accepted

This is too funny!!!

Democrats plan to launch a Web site Wednesday that mocks GOP leaders for apologizing to radio host Rush Limbaugh for criticizing or publicly disagreeing with him.

Radio host Rush Limbaugh has been vocal about his displeasure with President Obama's policies.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is hosting the Web site, which allows visitors to create an apology to Limbaugh on behalf of Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Georgia; South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford; or Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele.

"You and I both know that in reality, you simply want President Obama to fail in this time of economic collapse," reads the fake letter of apology template. "How can I disagree with that? Please accept my sincere apologies, oh great leader of the Republican Party."

Freedom of speech is great.

Wear a Blue Star

Sometime in the late Medieval period, Jews in Iraq were forced to wear a yellow badge. Nazi Germany forced Jews to wear a yellow star. These yellow badges were meant to humiliate Jews.

Today, Israel is the only country bashed by the United Nations Human Rights Commission. Never mind what is happening in Burma, China, North Korea, Sudan, Egypt, and other countries. Israel is the sole whipping boy of the United Nations.

A World Conference against Racism is to be held again in Durban South Africa. The previous one held in 2001 proved to be another event in which Israel was the sole country to criticized. This year's proves to be going the same route. Only three countries have pulled out of this anti-Semitic feeding frenzy: Canada, the United States, and Israel.

In the face of this obsession, who today stands with the Jewish people? Who amongst the leaders of today is prepared to wear the Jewish star? At the UN Human Rights Council, there is one state which votes consistently against the anti-Zionists - Canada. To take an example, the Human Rights Council in January 2009, at one of its many special sessions directed against Israel, passed a typical Israel bashing resolution, this time about Gaza. The vote was 33 in favour, 13 abstentions, and only one opposed. That one was Canada.

The World Conference against Racism held in Durban South Africa in September 2001 in a concluding document which was supposed to be about racism instead criticised one country alone, Israel. The Durban review conference, scheduled for April this year in Geneva, bears all the hallmarks of repeating that travesty. There are only two states besides Israel which have pulled out of the Review conference to avoid participating in and legitimizing that echo of Durban 2001, Canada and the United States. Canada left first, in February 2008, even before Israel did. The United States just announced it was pulling out a few days ago.

THIS CANADIAN record has drawn the attention of the world's anti-Zionist states. When the Canadian human rights record came up for consideration at a Human Rights Council working group in February under the Universal Periodic Review, Algeria, Syria and Iran tore into Canada for its refusal to kowtow to the anti-Zionist agenda.

During World War II, there are legends about two leaders who sided with the Jewish people:

Two urban legends about the yellow star are commonly told. In one, French Vichy officials during World War II gave Moroccan authorities yellow stars for the Jews of Morocco to wear. King Mohammad V asked for a dozen more, explaining that he wanted them so that he and his family could wear them.

In another, the Nazi German occupying forces in Denmark issued a decree that all Danish Jews must wear a yellow armband with the star of David. King Christian in response answered that he would wear the first star of David and expected every other Dane to do the same.

Both leaders did support their Jewish communities, but not necessarily in the way the stories depict. The first story is contested. The second story is false. But both are constantly retold because they state a fundamental truth, the importance of leadership in combating prejudice.

Wear a blue Star of David in support of Israel. Post one on your web-site.



The Star of David is a symbol anyone should be proud to wear. It symbolizes our struggle for religious freedom, the very right to live, and justice.

Kosher Salt a Threat?

Someone's jealous that Kosher salt receives all the attention.

Links

It's that time of year!! Please help out Jack and link to him.

J-Pix.

Haveil Havalim: 206

Iran's Terror Conference

Puzzled in Gaza.

FDR: Welcoming Hatred, what FDR had to go through!!! Cycles repeat.

Emergency! Not!!!

Need Some Flash

I really need to invest in a speed-flash for my camera. I'm looking at a Nikon SB-600 Speedlight and a Nikon SB-400 Speedlight.

I've never used a speedlight before. I plan on using it for night photos and indoor photos. From the comments on the lights, it seems the SB-600 would offer more flexibility. What are some other considerations I should take into account?