The Ballad of David Vitter Oh that Senate's silly Vitter Airline staffers said, "Please sit here" But he gate crashed, he's no quitter What a "Don't you know me?" spitter Roll Call writes that Dave is bitter As the Tweets are asking Twitter Does a diaper wrap his sitter? Do the hookers apply glitter...

I've been blessed enough to have John Sinclair share excerpts from his upcoming book, and there can be no better day to publish it than Mardi Gras. The Mardi Gras Indians will be doing what only they can do at the Hi Ho Lounge this afternoon. If you can't be there, cultural icon John explains our ce...

From Live Green Orleans. Generally, when he was speakin', he was cool and quiet and things all fit together, and when you come away you was calm - but your head was workin'; but that time up to Bloomington he was like - what's that the Bible calls it? - avengin fire" - yes, sir, that's it, he was li...

If his appointment is not overturned, Roland Burris will be the first Orphan to hold a Senate seat. The Centralia Orphans are the sports team in the small Southern Illinois town we both grew up in, and chants of "O-R-P-H-A-N-S Orphans, Orphans, we're the best" bring back high school memories. When t...

My prediction on the Georgia race went poorly, so to make the second time the charm this is last December's prediction for Dr. John's Grammy nomination. Shortly after dining on his make-do duck stew (delicious), he got the call about his The City that Care Forgot nomination. The CD on Savoy Records ...

During my last trip to New Orleans I noticed that a pile of sheets which looked perfectly normal during the day resembled 13th Century Persian poet Rumi once the light changed -- as clear as grilled cheese Jesus. My husband was on tour in Germany near the Frankenstein castle, so he didn't need any m...

Harold Ickes, hand wringing throughout the Democratic National Committee's hearing this afternoon, sounded more like a someone fresh off a breakup than Hillary Clinton's surrogate. Even his checkered shirt looked sad. In 1997, a New York Times Magazine article titled "Bill Clinton's Garbage Man" wro...

Aaron Neville just gave the show of the year at New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, closing out the Gospel Tent with Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927." It was his second encore, and at the words "What has happened here is the winds have changed," the audience burst into applause. Jazzfest audience...

During the real estate boom, subprime lenders preyed on consumers who often had no proof of income, no down payment, risky adjustable rates - nothing that would lead a responsible bank to feel that this was a good investment. Setting the foreclosure risk aside, it was worth it for lenders to rake in...

It's going to be hard to beat this in the Top Chef Quickfire Challenge. Paul Prudhomme, the New Orleans chef who made blackened redfish a staple of Cajun dining, took a falling bullet to his chef's jacket today while he was cooking for the Zurich Classic golf outing. The stray bullet didn't pierce h...