First, you had the grave robbery. And not, they've found chicken heads near the grave of a Civil War general.

Strange juju. Some kind of weird voodoo going on in Lancaster.

Which is strange because we usually don't associate Lancaster with voodoo.

Watched Spike Lee's "If God Is Willing And Da Creek Don't Rise" last night, his follow-up to his 2005 masterpiece "When The Levees Broke."

Great documentary. And heart-breaking.

Despite progress, New Orleans is still hurting, and much of the pain seems to be coming from the recovery effort. It seems that the powers that be took the opportunity of the disaster to practice some "Shock Doctrine" political and economic theory in the city.

Charity Hospital, once the largest hospital in the country dedicated to providing health care to the poor, is being closed in favor of development of a huge, for-profit health-care complex. Using eminent domain, the state is seizing an entire neighborhood and tearing it down to clear the way for the complex.

The schools, which, before the storm, were dismal, are even worse. The difference is they are being run by for-profit corporations. The drop-out rate is astronomical, as is the crime rate among young people.

Housing is still a problem. The public housing projects, many of which came through the storm unscathed, have been torn down for new development.

The police department is a mess, a cesspool of corruption and brutality.

The mental-health system is broken.

It goes on and on.

The more interesting thing was the political game that got played on New Orleans. If you'll recall, the Mississippi Gulf Coast was also hit hard by Katrina and has recovered nicely. There's a reason for that. Money intended for recovery was funneled to Mississippi, represented by well-connected Republicans, Gov. Haley Barbour, former chair of the Republican National Committee, and Sen. Trent Lott.

Much of that money went to rebuild casinos and erect condos on the shore. At one point in the documentary, a Mississippi activist points out that in the shadow of the gleaming condos, a library still remains in shambles. Kind of sums up our culture.

The fall-out? Louisiana elected, as governor, the golden boy of the GOP, Bobby Jindal. Wwhat has he done? Among other things, he ordered the closure of the only in-patient mental health facility in New Orleans -- at a time when the city is experiencing a mental-health crisis.

What do we do then?

Who knows?

In this week's edition of the podcast, the What Have Learned Team jokes about gin-soaked raisins -- no respect for olives -- Tiger Woods' divorce and German bachelor parties.

We apologize to the Germans ahead of time.

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They're set to expire at the end of the year and Republicans and conservative Democrats don't want to let that happen. The tax cuts, if you'll recall, greatly benefit the richest Americans and do little for the middle class. Still, the Obama administration wants to preserve the cuts for the middle class, those making less than $250,000 a year, and let them expire for the wealthiest. We're talking an increase of the top tax rate from 36 to 39 percent -- not a huge increase.

That politicians are making hay on this issue shows that they put the interests of the wealthy above those of working people. At a time when everybody has to tighten their belts, it's time the wealthiest among kick in too.

I know, this is class warfare, a lot of conservatives moan. Got some news for you: The war is over and the middle class lost. It's time for the middle class to get some breaks instead of the wealthiest -- a group that includes the bunch of thieves who crashed the economy a couple of years ago. Remember that?

Paul Krugman makes the case:

"How can this kind of giveaway be justified at a time when politicians claim to care about budget deficits? Well, history is repeating itself. The original campaign for the Bush tax cuts relied on deception and dishonesty. In fact, my first suspicions that we were being misled into invading Iraq were based on the resemblance between the campaign for war and the campaign for tax cuts the previous year. And sure enough, that same trademark deception and dishonesty is being deployed on behalf of tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

"So, for example, we're told that it's all about helping small business; but only a tiny fraction of small-business owners would receive any tax break at all. And how many small-business owners do you know making several million a year?

Or we're told that it's about helping the economy recover. But it's hard to think of a less cost-effective way to help the economy than giving money to people who already have plenty, and aren't likely to spend a windfall.

"No, this has nothing to do with sound economic policy. Instead, as I said, it's about a dysfunctional and corrupt political culture, in which Congress won't take action to revive the economy, pleads poverty when it comes to protecting the jobs of schoolteachers and firefighters, but declares cost no object when it comes to sparing the already wealthy even the slightest financial inconvenience."

Interesting story about the Pittsburgh Pirates. The team stinks, but it makes money so the story supposes that the team isn't even trying.

Here's a quote:

"The numbers indicate why people are suspecting they're taking money from baseball and keeping it--they don't spend it on the players," said David Berri, president of the North American Association of Sports Economists and the author of two books detailing the relationship between finances and winning. "Teams have a choice. They can seek to maximize winning, what the Yankees do, or you can be the Pirates and make as much money as you can in your market. The Pirates aren't trying to win."

I remember when both the Pirates and Orioles were good teams. And now both seem to be mired in profiting via failure.

This is from the York City police log:

"PO Reisenweber took a Trespassing report from Letoy Marie Nesbit 200 blk. S. Penn St. An unknown suspect entered victim's residence after removing an air conditioner from the window and replacing it back in the window. Nothing was taken. Investigation Continue."

Someone, the victim doesn't know who, removed the air conditioner and then put it back?

OK.

Usually, we record this Pod cast on Wednesday afternoons. This week, we're shifting to Thursday morning. We're confused. But then, we're always confused.

This week, join the What Have We Learned Crew as we discuss a variety of topics, including Muslim casinos, houligans and libertarians.

And Tom finally gets to vent about "Cathy." He had been holding it in for a long time.

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The lawyer representing Al Snyder in his U.S. Supreme Court case against Westboro Baptist Church -- the "God Hates Fags" people -- said to expect "a powerful statement" from the high court on the the important First Amendment case.

"A powerful statement"?

I'm guessing the court will rule that the Westboro people are bat-guano crazy.

That would be pretty powerful.

Here's a great story from the Washington Post.

A 14-year-old kid who plays guitar loves Mike Campbell's playing. So he built a guitar that was a replica of Red Dog, a highly modified Telecaster that Campbell played in the video of the hit song "Refugee."

Anyway, the kid gets a chance to meet Campbell and have him autograph the guitar. And it gets better from there. I don't want to spoil it, but it's a very cool story, told my the kid himself.

The video accompanying the story is just as good. The expression on the kid's face when he meets his idol and Campbell pulls a surprise on him are priceless.

Courtesy of Salon magazine, this exchange between CNN anchor Don Lemon and Eboo Patel, executive director of the Interfaith Youth Corps, pretty much gets to the crux of the biscuit, as Frank Zappa used to put it.

Lemon: Don't you think it's a bit different considering what happened on 9/11? And the people have said there's a need for it in Lower Manhattan, so that's why it's being built there. What about 10, 20 blocks . . . Midtown Manhattan, considering the circumstances behind this? That's not understandable?

Patel: In America, we don't tell people based on their race or religion or ethnicity that they are free in this place, but not in that place --

Lemon: [interrupting] I understand that, but there's always context, Mr. Patel . . . this is an extraordinary circumstance. You understand that this is very heated. Many people lost their loved ones on 9/11 --

Patel: Including Muslim Americans who lost their loved ones. . . .

Lemon: Consider the context here. That's what I'm talking about.

Patel: I have to tell you that this seems a little like telling black people 50 years ago: you can sit anywhere on the bus you like - just not in the front.

Lemon: I think that's apples and oranges - I don't think that black people were behind a Terrorist plot to kill people and drive planes into a building. That's a completely different circumstance.

Patel: And American Muslims were not behind the terrorist plot either.

And that about says it all. Those who are upset about the presence of this community center two blocks from Ground Zero -- it can't bee seen from the site -- erroneously believe that all Muslims are responsible for the attacks of Sept. 11, rather than a few insane extremists.

It would be the same as denouncing all Catholics because Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, and Eric Rudolph, the abortion clinin and Atlanta Olympic bomber, were raised Catholic.

It is wrong to judge all members of a religion by the actions of a few nuts and it reeks of bigotry, not informed public discourse.

Of course, it also ignores the fact that the head of the community center has repeatedly denounced terrorism and the actions of the 9/11 terrorists.

Still, that won't stop some politicians from trying to exploit the issue, and encourage bigotry, to make points.

This week's pod cast is our first with the new bell. We lost the old bell and were surprised when co-worker Emily Opilo went to Office Supplies R Us and got us a new one.

So this week, the bell makes its debut and we invited Emily to participate in the pod cast. She was good addition.

In this week's edition, we have a lot of ground to cover, from Rand Paul, to Dan Quayle's kid, to women who show up for their first day of work after apparently having tequila for breakfast, to marinating cats in the trunk of your car.

Enjoy.

From the Nobel-prize-winning economist:

"The lights are going out all over America -- literally. Colorado Springs has made headlines with its desperate attempt to save money by turning off a third of its streetlights, but similar things are either happening or being contemplated across the nation, from Philadelphia to Fresno.

"Meanwhile, a country that once amazed the world with its visionary investments in transportation, from the Erie Canal to the Interstate Highway System, is now in the process of unpaving itself: in a number of states, local governments are breaking up roads they can no longer afford to maintain, and returning them to gravel.

"And a nation that once prized education -- that was among the first to provide basic schooling to all its children -- is now cutting back. Teachers are being laid off; programs are being canceled; in Hawaii, the school year itself is being drastically shortened. And all signs point to even more cuts ahead.

"We're told that we have no choice, that basic government functions -- essential services that have been provided for generations -- are no longer affordable. And it's true that state and local governments, hit hard by the recession, are cash-strapped. But they wouldn't be quite as cash-strapped if their politicians were willing to consider at least some tax increases.

"And the federal government, which can sell inflation-protected long-term bonds at an interest rate of only 1.04 percent, isn't cash-strapped at all. It could and should be offering aid to local governments, to protect the future of our infrastructure and our children.

"But Washington is providing only a trickle of help, and even that grudgingly. We must place priority on reducing the deficit, say Republicans and "centrist" Democrats. And then, virtually in the next breath, they declare that we must preserve tax cuts for the very affluent, at a budget cost of $700 billion over the next decade.

"In effect, a large part of our political class is showing its priorities: given the choice between asking the richest 2 percent or so of Americans to go back to paying the tax rates they paid during the Clinton-era boom, or allowing the nation's foundations to crumble -- literally in the case of roads, figuratively in the case of education -- they're choosing the latter.

"It's a disastrous choice in both the short run and the long run."

Well, we had a good run...

Read the whole thing here.

About the woman who lost her Access card at the Hollywood casino.

For the rest of the story, go here.

She tells her side of it. You might not like it, but there it is.

From Robert Reich's blog:

"Forty of America's richest families or individuals - almost all billionaires - have pledged to donate at least half their fortunes to charity. The total is a whopping $125 billion. Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates reached out to some 80 members of the Forbes billionaires list, seeking their pledges.

"I think it's admirable that Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett give so much to charity and have corralled other billionaires to do the same.

"But I'm also appalled at what this reveals about how much money is now concentrated in so few hands. It's more evidence we're back in the late nineteenth century when robber barons lorded over the economy and almost everyone else lost ground. The Vanderbilts, Carnegies, Rockefellers made so much money they too could give away large chunks to charity and still maintain their outsized fortunes and their power and influence.

"Most telling is how much wealthier the richest have become over the past year. Forbes Magazine's list of the world's billionaires (40 percent of them Americans), show them with an average net worth of $3.5 billion - and an average increase of $500 million in the last 12 months.

"America's median hourly wage, meanwhile, dropped last year, and it continues to drop. That's not even counting the 15 million Americans still out of work.

"Most Americans don't need charity. They need good jobs."

Great piece by Dan Gross on Slate.

The upshot is that companies that slashed employee benefits and wages when things were tough are not restoring the cuts as things are turning around. Instead of rewarding workers, the companies are choosing to boost their profits and make the rich even richer.