The Saints are Coming

Meet the 2006 Saints

Saints Coldplay Video

WHO DAT!

They're showin you the money, Ray

From the TP
Nagin is in New York this week, trying to get financial support from nongovernmental groups: Wall Street firms and foundations that might provide loans or grants for a new criminal justice system and the reconstruction of city buildings and other storm-damaged infrastructure, his office said.

...Nagin often complains about how slowly his city gets federal hurricane recovery money, but figures released Thursday show that nearly $600 million is available — if only Nagin would request it.

I think Ray just likes to travel around and forget "all his troubles".
Hope all you assclowns that voted for him are resting well, knowing that you're helping to delay NOLA's recovery.

Vote for Drew & Help the kids

Drew Brees is up for Fedex Air player of the year!

If he wins, Fedex will donate $25,000 to New Orleans Children's Hospital.

You can only vote once per computer, so pass this along to as many people as possible before January 31st.

Go here to vote
Thanks

Super Saints Fans

Click here to watch a crazy video of the before-the-game antics of humid haney and company

NOLA from space

NOLA from the Space Station
New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain

Click on picture to view full image

New Orleans sits within a shallow depression underlain by unconsolidated (loosely settled) river sediments. This location makes the city particularly vulnerable to subsidence (sinking) and flooding. The average elevation of metropolitan New Orleans is 1.8 meters below sea level, and a complicated system of levees, pumps, and upstream control structures on the Mississippi River is necessary to maintain dry conditions in the city. Several processes are responsible for the ground subsidence: groundwater withdrawal, reduction of sediment delivery by the Mississippi River (spanning the lower part of the image) because of flood control and other engineering, and land use changes, such as draining of wetlands for development. The low areas can be flooded by river floods, storm surges, or failure of levees holding back surrounding lake waters—as demonstrated catastrophically during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

In this astronaut photograph from November 16, 2006, sunglint—light reflected directly back to the camera onboard the International Space Station (ISS) from a water surface—accentuates the wetland setting of New Orleans by highlighting the numerous lakes, ponds, and rivers (in various shades of silver-gray) surrounding the city. The image was acquired by an astronaut looking southwest from the ISS, which was located over north-central Alabama at the time this image was taken. Lake Pontchartrain borders New Orleans to the north, and the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway (36 kilometers in length) appears as a dark linear feature against the lake surface. Variations in the color of the water east and west of the Causeway reflect movement of the surface waters, including surface currents and wind-induced roughening. The patterns are visible because of surfactants (natural or synthetic chemicals like detergents that reduce surface tension). Low cloud cover produces a blue-gray haze at lower left.

Astronaut photograph ISS014-E-8179 was acquired November 18, 2006, with a Kodak 760C digital camera using an 180 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and the Image Science & Analysis Group, Johnson Space Center. The image in this article has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.

Thanks, Katrina

From the NY Times

Oreck pulling out of Long Beach Mississippi plant due to problems with insurance
"Finding workers is a challenge now along the Mississippi coast. In Hancock County, to the west of here, employers have booked all of the recruitment booths at a job fair scheduled for Jan. 25, seeking workers for jobs in casinos, factories or power companies. In Biloxi, to the east, the Gulf Coast Medical Center says it is struggling to find workers, and so are insurance companies, restaurants and trucking companies.

How 'Bout Dem Saints?

Bless You, Boys!
Bless You, Mr. Payton
From the Rapid City Journal ... It might not seem like much, those few hours to play. Happens every weekend in places across the country. For a city struggling to piece itself back together, though, the Saints are more than a little distraction.
From Bayou Buzz Still, the average New Orleans citizen will go back this week to the rubble, to the trailers, to the question marks that has marked the community’s existence since the late summer of 2005. But, for another week, there will be a smile on their faces and pride in the hearts. They know there is hope that their football team can win the next big one and that the citizens can persevere and never say die--even in a City now known for the Saints.
From Helena Montana ..the people of New Orleans pulled together behind the one thing they could all believe in...."This has really been the rebirth of New Orleans," said Tonya Dupree, a season-ticket holder for the first time this year. "If you were depressed about something, the Saints took all that away. They're saviors. And, after beating Philadelphia 27-24, they're on the verge of being in the Super Bowl. Funny how this place hosted all those Super Bowls but never had a team in it. Maybe that will change now. Lots of things have changed here.

From The London Free Press The Saints truly have brought everyone together at a time when the city needed it more than ever. And it's a lot easier to sleep in a FEMA trailer after a win than a loss.


THE SAINTS ARE COMING!

Hwy 90 Trek

After work on Saturday, I took Hwy 90 home, rather than my usual route of Hwy 11. I wanted to check on any progress being made in the Lake Catherine/Fort Pike area, one of the hardest hit areas in Louisiana.

Click on pictures for full-size versions.


These two behemoths have been "parked" by the Textron facility since Katrina.


What must've been a beautiful sailboat, the Samarai now sits in the woods, all broken


The first four or so miles on Hwy 90 appear as desolate as this.


There are humungous "camps" being built out there



But also some modest ones being rebuilt


Fort Pike is just sitting there, in disrepair. But there are fishermen there almost daily.

The wildlife seems to enjoy fishing there, too. That dust in the moat appears to be from the construction going on of the new Chef Pass Bridge

The bridge is progressing nicely. Gonna be a high mother!

The one thing I like about winter is that one can see the shape of all of the nekkid trees.

The "ENOUGH" March

I was in Thibodaux the day of the March and didn't get to find out the details until this afternoon.

To all who marched, y'all rule. I can't describe how proud I am of you all.

Bart Everson delivered a speech at yesterday's "Stop the Crime" march in New Orleans.
Thanks to Adrastos for the link to the video at youtube.


This is Bart being interviewed by Anderson Cooper. A bit of his speech is telecast there. Many thanks to Bart for providing text of his speech on b.rox.
Thank you in so many ways, Bart.

Dambala over at American Zombie produced a great film during the march, with interviews of some NOLA bloggers.

Here is a link to coverage of the March from CBS, Time, NY Times, LA Times and more.

Speakers at the March, Part One.

Speakers at the March, Part Two


Casey Nunez' 10 minute video covering the March

Karen's has a few pix here and the text to her speech is here for the reading.

New Orleans Slate: The Naked and the Dead

New Orleans Slate: The Naked and the Dead