NA Confidential: October

Showing posts with label October. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 05, 2019

David White's endorsement of Mark Seabrook wins the Top Ten post review for October.

Thanks for reading NA Confidential, where we enjoy reconnoitering the neglected periphery for uniquely local perspectives on life in New Albany.

Otherwise your only choice would be the Jeffersonville News and Tom May's Evangel-bune, and that's a fate almost as unrewarding as insipid light beer consumption. In fact, judging from the strong numbers for posts about local politics, there is considerable interest in the topic that the local chain newspaper simply refuses to serve.

As Bluegill noted just the other day:

Another story of a Gahan administration refusal to provide public information to the public. This was pretty early in Gahan’s tenure. Nothing has changed and refusals are ongoing regardless of who asks or how much money is involved. The News and Tribune has been aware of these refusals for years on end but never bothered to report the behavior. Now that a formal lawsuit has been filed, though, they give Gahan whatever column inches he needs to claim the suit is just an election year stunt - something the News and Tribune has long known isn’t true. An actual newspaper doing its job would’ve demanded information for years, accurately reported the refusals, and likely filed their own suit. This is front page news that the “newspaper” simply chose to ignore in favor of ongoing advertising dollars.

Yep. Sad but true.

October was a fine month by the numbers. Following are five honorable mentions, followed by the top ten posts.

Last month: Gahan's ineptly reinstalled "fork on the sidewalk hidden by cars" leads September's Top Ten at NA Confidential.

OCTOBER HONORABLE MENTION (5)

733

Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast 2019: "That is one hell of a big tent right there!"

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738

Gahan can't even tell the truth about Warro the K-9 dog's tenure. Seems a desperate Slick Jeffie will say ANYTHING to get re-elected.

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741

In a mounting sign of desperation, Gahan and the DemoDisneyDixiecrats are going full-tilt negative slimeball against Mark Seabrook.

Read about Tricky's latest Goebbels moment, right here -- and don't forget that at least one DemoDisneyDixiecratic council candidate has told the truth this campaign season.

Jason is said to be a close friend of Seabrook's. I wonder how he feels about his party's decision to plunge to rock bottom with negative campaigning?

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749

These 30 free-spending special interest donors top Jeff Gahan's 2019 pay-to-play campaign finance windfall of $150,000 (so far).

827

Election 2019: The buying and selling of a city, or our updated master list of 73 Gahan wheel-greasers, a veritable pornographic potpourri of pay-to-play.

We've been plumbing the depths revealed by almost nine full years of the Committee to Elect Gahan's CFA-4 campaign finance reports, and I'm happy to announce that my gag reflex has been tamed by the sheer numbness of repetition -- and gin.

Let's repeat some numbers.

2011: $56,515
2012: $16,575
2013: $30,350
2014: $58,795
2015: $103,532
2016: $51,799
2017: $56,225
2018: $64,250
2019: $147,739 (first three quarters)

Total: $585,780

OCTOBER TOP TEN

907

Gahan predictably AWOL from Sherman Minton repair meeting as Republicans seek to avoid a total bridge closure.

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977

PINTS & UNION PORTFOLIO: Kind words at my workplace, and I'm touched.

It was a fine Guinness pour on my part, and I'm reminded that it's time to lose thirty pounds; a few too many chins, but I'm almost 60, and nowadays my primary vice seems to be gluttony, not drunkenness. Anyway, Cassie gave me advance notice of my turn as subject of the employee profile, and she did a fantastic job with it. It hasn't always been easy finding my footing these past four years, but verily, it's getting better all the time.

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991

ON THE AVENUES: In which Team Gahan's looming appointment with unemployment is examined.

Against this backdrop we see that Gahan dropped 1,000 votes between 2011 and 2015, then hemorrhaged another 300 in the 2019 primary. Some of these departing voters succumbed to low-turnout indifference. Others sided with David White during his two Democratic Party primary insurgencies and did not return in the fall. Some died; some moved.

Some may have found a different religion. Others want to know when they can vote for Trump again. Conversely, perhaps getting to know Gahan better isn't a tremendously positive experience.

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1,113

The curious question of 3rd district candidate Alex Bilbrey's yard signs.

It's hard to imagine Bilbrey (R) breaking 40% of the vote in the 3rd council district against two-term incumbent Phipps (D); after all, the 3rd district is to pretend-progressive Kool Aid as Porto is to vintage port wine, and Bilbrey -- who registered to run at the last possible minute without the knowledge of his party's chairman -- has been all but invisible for the entirety of 2019.

Except for yard signs.

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1,142

CFA-4 Follies: OMG, just look at Gahan's huge pile of special interest donor cash flowing to out-of-towners.

So far in 2019, Jeff Gahan has raised $147,000 (on top of roughly $128,000 cash on hand) and spent $204,800 to remain mayor.

$140,000 of these expenditures has gone to companies and individuals outside New Albany's city limits.

That's 68%.

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1,163

Time erases: Signs, signs, everywhere signs; some coming, some going.

Quite a few of us always will love Chef Israel Landin and his food, and we enjoyed his ill-fated previous restaurant, La Rosita's, but isn't it pleasant at long last to see the old sign gone, the building being painted and a business (RecBar 812) coming close to occupying it? Next up: That annoyingly permanent Preston's signage, always a decaying reminder of the store's demise eight years ago.

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1,447

Homelessness, 8th Street Pizza's move, Clean Socks Hope's mission and an addendum by Exit 0.

Interestingly, this is one of those infrequent times when food and social issues actively collide, because to put it bluntly, City Hall's stance on homelessness is as clear as alluvial mud -- not at all clean like white socks. Ronald Reagan famously avoided saying the word "AIDS" aloud; Jeff Gahan's bugaboo is the word "homelessness," as he doesn't communicate well and as a suburbanite generally avoids topics he finds personally distasteful.

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1,546

River Run Family Water Park: Why won't the city of New Albany comply with the law and grant Randy Smith's public records request to view the financials?

NAC: Do you think River Run is losing money?

RS: That’s actually beside the point. The city’s water recreation facility probably loses money — a lot of money. That’s OK. Elected officials can choose to lose money to provide a wading pool, splash pads, waterslides, and a “lazy river.” Those of us who thought the “pool” was a poor use of borrowed money can but criticize it now.

But, we are entitled to see the numbers.

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2,949

Hull & High Water is winding down, so go over there and say goodbye.

As I reported earlier at Food & Dining Magazine, Hull & High Water is winding down. Owner Eric Morris made the announcement earlier today at Facebook.

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3,034

Democrat David White: "I am asking ALL the people who have supported me over the years to help Mark Seabrook put People First!"

In our country’s current political climate, we have seen so many being marginalized. I find it important now more than ever to stand on the right side of history, even if it means standing alone.

After much thought and prayer, I have decided to endorse Mark Seabrook for mayor of New Albany. Mark clearly understands and shares my passion and vision for the future of our city. I am asking ALL the people who have supported me over the years to help Mark put People First!

Your participation in this election cycle is supremely important and every single vote will matter.

Friday, November 09, 2018

The Top Ten list of most-viewed October 2018 posts at NA Confidential.

Thanks for reading NA Confidential, where we enjoy reconnoitering the neglected periphery for uniquely local perspectives on life in New Albany.

The October most-viewed list begins with five "honorable mention" posts, before concluding with the Top Ten, escalating to No. 1. These statistics are derived from Google's internal accounting.

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OCTOBER HONORABLE MENTION (5)

438

Harvest Homecoming explains: "The Tribune sold the ad to the Democratic party. This is was completely out of our control."

"As current president of Harvest Homecoming, it is important for me to address the advertisement on the front of our annual HHC tabloid. The News and Tribune has full control over selling the advertisements and the front of the tabloid always has an advertisement. The ads make the circulation to the community possible. For many years that space has been purchased by a local car sales company. This year, they opted to not purchase the ad. With the space up for grabs, The Tribune sold the ad to the Democratic party. This is was completely out of our control and I was not aware of the advertisement until it was published."

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448

Fast fact about vehicular speeds that kill: "18 mph is the human tolerance of crash impacts."

I'll keep posting about speed because speed kills. If you wish to ignore all available evidence and retain a sense of automotive entitlement, which allows you to drive 40 mph on city streets that pass through neighborhoods, then I'd submit that your entitlement is anti-social -- and whatever the neighborhood must do to restore safety is justified.

If you can't understand any of what I'm writing here, that's not a deal-killer. But thinking of yourself as a "progressive"? That is.

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466

These stickers have been placed throughout downtown New Albany.

Don't worry. I fixed them.

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477

LET THE FACTS SPEAK: "Landlords refused to even consider voucher holders, some candidly citing the low subsidies and their desire to cash in on a hot market."

We'll be reinforcing this point again and again as the 2019 primary draws closer, because at a time when the federal housing voucher program is only minimally effective, our Mayor Jeff Gahan, David Duggins and their hand-chosen takeover administrators at the New Albany Housing Authority continue to insist their plan to half-size public housing in our city is viable because those slated for displacement will be handed vouchers.

The real-world evidence differs rather dramatically from bunker dogma.

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488

On the topic of the forthcoming Floyd County election.

Yes, this means refraining from voting for a few quality Democrats, ones I know to be competent; in some of these races, both candidates are quite worthy. It pains me, and rest assured it actually isn't "personal" in any of these races, but as Mark so presciently notes, their cognitive dissonance has grown tiresome.

It's long past time for the ones who actually "get it" to stand up, step forward, and challenge the local Democratic Party's catastrophically narrow orthodoxy.

If the rotten patronage structure can be torn down now, maybe it can be rebuilt into something genuinely useful, consistently ethical and worthy of a leftist's support for the future.

OCTOBER TOP TEN

599 (tie)

"State Representative Ed Clere will be a featured guest speaker at the Southern Indiana PRIDE Launch Event next Thursday October 11th, 2018."

Having Ed Clere as a featured guest speaker at Southern Indiana Pride's launch event strikes me as an ideal way to promote unity -- at least among those who wish to be unified.

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599 (tie)

It's all conceptual: Señor Iguana's New Albany location will be called La Catrina's Mexican Kitchen, not Señor Iguana's -- or something like that.

It looks as if Señor Iguana's will be debuting its New Albany location not as another Señor Iguana's, but as La Catrina Mexican Kitchen, presumably a new dining concept. It will be located on the corner of Elm and Bank in the former home of Dragon King's Daughter, which now operates a few blocks away on Market and W. 1st.

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694

City Hall says we have "sufficient" bike lanes to accommodate e-scooters. It's probably a good idea to follow the money before getting excited about the prospect.

Before we risk life and limb atop one of the Bird e-scooters to be turned loose to navigate New Albany's streets of screams, let's define the term.

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722

Hanson issues tepid apology for botched political ad on the cover of Harvest Homecoming's guide, but Democrats might think twice before tittering.

Shamed into public comment, Hanson couldn't even manage to pen a personal apology. Instead, Chris Morris was enlisted to "interview" his own boss (below), which tells you everything you need to know about the shambles overtaking this persistently misdirected enterprise.

Meanwhile, the social media response of most Democrats has been to defend the ad placement and deride Republicans who have complained about it.

Really?

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749

LET THE FACTS SPEAK: To be too busy or to not be too busy.

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803

How many bicyclists, skateboarders and pedestrians have to die before Jeff Gahan gives a flying fuck?

I'm trying really hard to be nice ... but another "accident," another "driver not to blame," another instance where we know all about the victim and nothing at all about the driver, and another prospective round of Jeff Gahan's political appointees aciting "decisively" only when ducking responsibility and blaming the victim.

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1,013

R.I.P. Dean Hammersmith, who got a whole lot done in 88 years.

Dean wasn't afraid to mix it up with the menfolk when it came to conversation. She was a doer, highly organized, and exuding a natural sense of being in command. Children can sense when an adult is bluffing. She wasn't and didn't, although at the same time remained loving toward the kids and listened to them. This always struck me as textbook parenting, honest and respectful on all sides.

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1,070

The willfully neglected Moser Tannery died so the Reisz Mahal luxury municipal HQ might live.

The final and damning cause of the fire was the city's willful neglect in the years since purchasing it in 2016. In effect, City Hall did rough triage and swapped the Moser's potential reclamation for a new city hall downtown, directing ever scarcer available resources toward a refuge for inhumanely treated government workers (CM Barksdale's famous words, not mine).

This is the result.

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1,291

Meet Joseph Albert “Trey” Hollingsworth III, the biggest goober in Washington.

This is a profile of Joseph Albert “Trey” Hollingsworth III, the biggest goober in Washington.

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1,326

At 114 E. Market, there's Pints & Union. At 424 E. Market, there's Pints & Duplication.

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6,695

Big Four Burgers has been sold and is under new management, and District 22 Pizza is no more, soon to become a "hot chicken" outlet.

The Green Mouse was told some months back that Matt McMahan was looking to sell both of his burger restaurants (New Albany and Jeffersonville) as well as District 22 Pizza, which has been attached to the New Albany Big Four for the past year.

Thursday, November 02, 2017

GREEN MOUSE SAYS: Did BOW give Dan Coffey permission to leverage city-owned ground during the Orange Occupation?

Did the money actually go to the city, or did it go into Dan Coffey's pockets?

Did the Board of Works grant permission for city-owned property to be used in this way?

(Later, the Green Mouse glanced back at BOW's recent minutes, and could find no reference to Coffey, parking, the grassy non-knoll, or permission to conduct business there.)

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455 (tie)

Books: "The Rage of White Folk ... how the silent majority became a loud and angry minority."

"Each of these books offers a different vantage point from which to view the discontent of white working-class people; taken together, they provide us with a look into the travails, anxieties, and developing rage of a constituency that is often depicted as helping to fuel this period of political reaction. With the exception of Gest’s book, they illustrate some of the limits that emerge when the phrase “white working class” is invoked and, as a result, remind us of the dangers of homogenizing white workers politically. They also serve as a reminder of just how little we still know about the moment we are in."

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478

Renewing friendships in Haarlem. Being thankful. Promising to be back soon.

On September 20, 2017 mother and daughter arrived by bicycle to Haarlem's Grote Markt, the market square lying outside the doors of the pleasingly esoteric Hotel Amadeus. Diana and I were waiting. It was a letter-perfect autumn day, and so we had an outdoor drink across the way at the Grand Cafe Brinkmann, where it soon became obvious that Marilyn is a dynamo. She'd been raised speaking Dutch with Inge and English with Bill.

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480

"Pedestrians, who are supposed to have the right-of-way, are required to press a button at an intersection in order to get a walk signal, which should happen automatically."

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488

Concerned about Gahan's public housing putsch? You are invited to a meeting of We Are New Albany this Wednesday at Destinations Booksellers (7:00 p.m.)

In fact, Gahan's entire political career has been based on non-transparency, and so it's not surprising that while his public housing putsch was being planned during term one, no mention of it was made publicly during the 2015 campaign. Privately? That's another matter. White New Albanian males of Gahan's generation possess their own array of dog whistles pertaining to the ancestral mythology of public housing as mortal threat to a suburbanite's placidity and a city's progress.

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552

Strong Towns Week: Man buys $15,000 uninhabitable shack to renovate. What could go wrong?

We've all heard about something too big to fail. Welcome to the story of a 700-foot house too small to (be allowed to) succeed.

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596

UPDATE: 90 days later, Deaf Gahan's "blight and eyesore" has been superseded by "eyesore and blight" -- and DNA jauntily approves.

Boy, what a difference three months makes. Now two-way traffic on Market affords motorists an entirely different view of the former eyesore. As the Green Mouse says, "Those gaping holes and half-buried debris are all autumnal and shit."

Too bad the USA is dropping out of UNESCO, or else we might have a new tourist landmark: The Duggins Cool-newal Urban World Heritage Site. I wonder how many public housing units would fit in this space?

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597

Pay attention, Shane, because "Joe Lycett has a very interesting story regarding his parking fine."

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605

MUST LISTEN: This brilliant podcast exposes Jeff Gahan's public housing putsch for what it is, and that's sheer "Let's Pretend We're Democrats" class war brutality.

With respect to Jeff Gahan's machinations v.v. public housing and the New Albany Housing Authority, this podcast is the gold standard. Gahan may be able to coo sweet nothings into the ears of enduringly gullible local media sources, but his ethically and morally bankrupt ongoing actions against New Albany's low-income residents are explicated in full by Myerson.

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744

Democratic State Senate candidate Anna Murray replies to our question about the New Albany Housing Authority.

Since the New Albany housing issue seems to be one of local, and not state government, and since I am not terribly familiar with all of the details, and since it has been very controversial, this has seemed like a great one to not get involved in at this time. However, since you are so insistent to press me on the issue, I will give you a statement. Please bear in mind that I admittedly do NOT have full information, in part because I do not think full information is yet available at this time.

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754

HH Parade 4: Watch as Dan "Grand Inquisitor" Coffey throws live copperhead snakes at parade-goers -- but the funeral school has the last (and perhaps only) laugh.

For the kiddos, Coffey had papyrus scrolls detailing the ins and outs of the rhythm method, which paired perfectly with the embryos being tossed onto the street by Right To Life. At the same time, speaking personally, I prefer baby snakes to copperheads, but then again, I'm not a Falangist.

OCTOBER TOP TEN

767

Main Street intersections at Bank and 4th are hazardous for pedestrians. Where's City Hall, apart from a state of denial?

Jeff Speck had thoughts about this. These are 17-foot traffic lanes and 8-foot parking depths. That's a whole 50 feet from one side to another, without any effort to slow traffic or assist pedestrians.

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834

You see the damnedest sights from the levee on a Friday at lunch.

As I'm sure Lt. Colombo would ask, "Now, if they're the girlfriends or wives with those guys on the bus, why didn't they all get on the bus at the same time, together?"

Surely there are a number of explanations, although when I mentioned it to the Green Mouse, he told me it's a relatively simple matter to hire models for outings, although it's less clear why you'd need them.

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873

Mike Pence's NFL walkout proves our former governor still isn't "worth a bucket of warm piss."

"This was amateur hour fraud. It was Gulf of Tonkin for idiots: a ham handed effort to isolate people brave enough to dissent in the face of the most powerful people in the world and raise issues of racism that this administration is too craven to discuss. It’s also very disturbing. The very week Sarah Huckabee Sanders spoke about Trump’s “respect for the 1st Amendment,” we had a staged spectacle with the highest levels of government attempting to intimidate and coerce people to not exercise those rights. It’s disgusting and another example of Pence’s degradation, his Faustian bargain with this administration."

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914

Be careful what you wish for: "The President Pence Delusion," including a pivotal cameo by a New Albanian we all know.

Absolutely vital reading in The New Yorker. It is impossible to summarize several thousand words with just one paragraph. I've chosen to highlight the essay's conclusion. But you're curious aren't you? Well, if you want to know which New Albanian was interviewed for the article, you'll just have to go look for yourself.

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970

Grid Control, Vol. 28: Elm Street capitulates to two-way modernity with a whimper, not a bang. Now, to the next stage.

I'll always be fascinated by a decade or more of sheer sloth and acrimony, followed by 3-4 years of municipal bureaucratization, then the doomsday predictions of dozens of experts on social media -- and two days after Spring Street became two-way, there was complete and utter silence, with nary a peep since.

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1,026

It's just music to me: The Louisville Orchestra plays Mostly Mozart at the Ogle Center.

Last night we attended the first of four Louisville Orchestra performances at Indiana University Southeast's Ogle Center as part of this season's Neighborhood Series. On November 11, the LO will be back at Ogle with Teddy Abrams conducting Russian Easter Overture and Scheherazade, two personal favorites by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

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1,218

From the folks who brought you Exchange and Brookyn, Longboard’s Taco & Tiki is coming to downtown New Albany in 2018.

"The Southern Indiana dining scene continues to see growth as proprietors Ian and Nikki Hall, owners of The Exchange Pub + Kitchen and Brooklyn and the Butcher, announce their latest project, Longboard’s Taco & Tiki."

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1,434

"Things God Hates: (1) Shitty signs."

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1,695

At 220 State Street, the gorgeous retro sign hiding behind an atrocious facade, now revealed.

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1,707

HH Parade 2: A peaceful public housing putsch protest steps all over Deaf Gahan's narcissistic buzz -- and heads surely will roll.

In short, His Excellency had an impromptu Ceausescu moment while soaking up the adoration of the gathered throngs. Not unexpectedly, these protesters weren't mentioned at all in the feel-good News and Tribune article about the rolling snooze-fest. Perhaps someone from the newspaper's burgeoning stable of religious advocacy columnists can perform coverage in future years; at least we'd garner a "hosanna" in this manner.