Thank You Cliff Cardin

Bossier Parish Historian Cliff Cardin last week unveiled a reproduction of this painting of Mary Bennett Cane circa 1835.
The portrait, painted in Boston before she moved to northwest Louisiana, was discovered by Cliff and his mother Bobbie Cardin, after years of research into Bossier City's 'first family'.
Bossier City, which began as Cane's Landing, dates back to the 1830's when it was the Elysian Groves Plantation of James and Mary Cane.
For a short and very readable history of Bossier City, go to this link on the City of Bossier City website.
A big thanks to Cliff for all his hard work and passion over the years.

The Race for the Fourth

The field of candidates for the 4th Congressional District seat being vacated by Jim McCrery is shaping up.
The Republicans are:
Chris Gorman
Dr John Fleming

Both are solid candidates from a Republican standpoint. Unfortunately, they both seem to support the policies that have put us in such an untenable position in the Middle East. Neither one seems to suggest that we should pay for this war, as we have for every other war in our history. We are borrowing ourselves into oblivion to pay for Bush's adventure, yet neither one of these conservatives addresses the issue. Don't look for anything outside normal Republican talking points from these two.

On the Democratic side, Artis Cash has made noises (no surprise), Patti Cox has talked about it, John Milkovich has announced. Milkovich is an interesting candidate; a pro-life, evangelical Democrat. Look for the Democrats to pour a lot of money into the race if Carmouche is on the ballot.
Carmouche apparently doesn't have a website up yet, but hopefully it is in the works. I'm anxious to see how he addresses the issues.

The Redemption of Ignorance

As kids, we were aware that my first cousin's son was different. We were generally 'shooed' away from him, although I can remember him smiling at us.
I don't believe that I ever spoke to him. He stayed at home with his mother, and never attended school. How lonely he must have been. This sounds so cruel (and was), but it wasn't considered so at the time; no one was intentionally cruel to him, no one made fun of him. Due to our ignorance (and that of our society), he was quite totally ignored.
Although Down syndrome was first described in 1866, the disorder wasn't identified as a chromosome 21 trisomy until 1959, when I was 12 years old. Simply put, this means that people with Downs have at least a part of a 21st chromosome.
Individuals with Down syndrome tend to have a lower than average cognitive ability, often ranging from mild to moderate learning disabilities.
Although I learned about Downs over the years, it was purely intellectual knowledge. It took a child to educate me. It took a child to make me, half a century later, cry for my cousin; not for his condition, but for our ignorance and inattention and for his exclusion.

Meet Riley LaBorde, the daughter of Alena & Gerard LaBorde. Riley is a precious little girl, and has a wonderful mom and dad. Here are a couple of Riley's Easter photos.

The Angel at the Empty Tomb

Angel sitting at the empty tomb.

Stained glass window from St John Berchman's Cathedral on Jordan Street in Shreveport.

Nothing could better express Easter Sunday for Christians.

Paul Carmouche announces for Congress

Better buckle up, the 4th District Congressional Race just got interesting.
Highly Popular Democratic Caddo District Attorney Paul Carmouche announced today he is running for Jim McCrery's 4th District seat in Congress.
“I am running for Congress because of the people of Northwest Louisiana are ready for change and need a strong, independent voice who will stand up for our values,” Carmouche said in a release to The Times. “I will fight for Louisiana’s working families and work to provide better healthcare for our veterans and reservists, give our middle-class families the tax relief they need, and stand up for Louisiana’s values in Washington.”
Carmouche received his juris doctorate degree from Loyola University Law School. Carmouche and his wife live in Shreveport and have two children.
Information from The Times.

Iraq War Blogswarm

Read the article over at The Wounded Bird. I can't improve on it.
Statement of Purpose:
This blogswarm will promote blog postings opposing the war in Iraq and calling for a full withdrawal of foreign occupying forces in Iraq. Five years of an illegal and catastrophic war is five years too many. On the March 19 anniversary of the conquest of Iraq by the Bush Administration, there needs to be a loud volume of voices countering the pro-war propaganda from far too many politicians and corporate media outlets.

Hazardous Weather Outlook March 18

Hazardous Weather Outlook
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
1203 PM CDT TUE MAR 18 2008
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL
ARKANSAS...SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS...NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA...
NORTHWEST LOUISIANA...SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...EAST TEXAS AND
NORTHEAST TEXAS.
.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...
STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS
AFTERNOON...EVENING AND PORTIONS OF THE OVERNIGHT HOURS OVER THE
FOUR STATE AREA. THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO DEVELOP AND REACH
OR EXCEED SEVERE LIMITS...WILL PRODUCE FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND VERY
GUSTY WINDS. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORM CLUSTERS MAY PRODUCE
DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS...AND THEN OTHER ISOLATED SUPER
CELL THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME TORNADIC. IN ADDITION...FLASH
FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE...MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF A LUFKIN...
TEXAS TO FARMERVILLE...LOUISIANA LINE.
SKYWARN SPOTTER...HAM RADIO OPERATOR...AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
PERSONNEL ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT.

Cyber Command Organization Chart & List of Units

Air Force Cyber Command today released some details of just what the command will look like during the interim period before a permanent base is named for its headquarters.

Provisional commander Maj Gen William T Lord stated that the command is working on a budget, detailing organizational realignments and establishing policies and procedures.

Part of the article published today on the AF Cyber Command website is below. Go to the website and read the entire article for a lot more detailed information. For a list of new units to be created and reassigned to Cyber Command go here.

excerpt

"The proposed organizational structure of the command calls for a headquarters, a Numbered Air Force, to be designated as 24th Air Force, and then four wings with more than 65 squadrons assigned to those wings collectively, to include units from the Reserve and Air National Guard. The headquarters will oversee the Air Force Network Operations Center and through the NAF, will command an Air and Space Operations Center. These functions serve to set policy, enforce standards and guide the rest of Air Force in its daily cyberspace operations. "

There will be four wings within AFCYBER to include the creation of a new Electronic Warfare Wing and a new Cyberspace Wing. Joining the new wings will be the Air Force Information Operations Center, located at Lackland AFB, Texas, which will be re-designated as the 688th Information Warfare Wing. Finally, the 67th Network Warfare Wing, located at Lackland AFB, Texas, will round out the command. "

Moonshot Doesn't Pay for Streakers

What are the thought processes involved when you decide, at midnight, to take off all your clothes except a jacket and run through downtown Shreveport? It was cold but the jackets sort of ruined the purity of the exhibition.

Joardae Dejon Lewis and Louis Robinson probably had plenty of time for contemplation in the Shreveport City jail today.

The two were arrested Thursday night after they were spotted by a patrol officer in the 600 block of Marshall Street. They mooned one person as they proceeded north on Marshall. They were arrested two blocks away.

Story in The Times

Frosty is Dead

After a day of snow, the sun is shining and most has melted. The snowman, a creation of Nicki at Harrah's Louisiana Downs, is a victim of global (or at least local) warming.