Power Access Culture

Dambala ponders How realistic is the notion of secession?........ I can envision hundreds of shrimp boats forming an armada in the Mississippi to block all traffic up and down stream. Although we couldn't really stage a Boston Tea Party....dumping oil and coal into the Mississippi probably isn't a good idea. The blockade is possible though....call it "The Pirogue Armada".....we could run steel cables across the river and back it up with shrimp boats and pirogues.



It's a great read.

Katrina Pictures

An excellent series of full panoramic photos of the Katrina disaster made by photographer Edward Fink shortly after Katrina from a helicopter 700 feet in the air. This site now includes photography showing the recovery in the Gulf Coast area.

The series was first seen on the Washington Post website and his website bigeyeinthesky.com, which has the whole series, is linked here. The photos were shot several weeks after Katrina before any debris was removed.

Scuzzbuckets of the week

State farm CEO gets 82% raise after posting "a record profit" in 2006.
Greedy Bastards.



Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ed Rust Jr. earned $11.66 million in 2006, including a base salary of $1.77 million and results-based bonus of $9.89 million, spokesman Dick Luedke said Friday. Rust made $6.4 million in 2005 and $5.5 million in 2004.

Call me what you want, but after seeing what insurance companies like State Farm have done to residents of the Gulf Coast after these people had experienced loss of everything makes me feel like spitting at them.
These bastards try every trick in the book to avoid paying claims after gladly taking premiums for decades. They decide to completely
stop offering coverage to whole swaths of land because of post-Katrina claims.

And they've been doing it for years.

Road home for Ray

Brad, Angie say they'll take Ray:

New Orleanians breathed a collective sigh of relief last week, as celebrity super-couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie confirmed they are in late-stage negotiations to adopt New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

The couple had been frustrated in their recent attempts to adopt a Vietnamese child, due to international legal restrictions preventing unmarried parents from adopting. No such restriction applies to Nagin, according to Ann S. Williamson, Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Social Services.

Married, unmarried, gay, straight, space aliens, hell. They can have him, Williamson said at a joint news conference with Jolie, Pitt, and a scowling, towel-swaddled Nagin.

Although it is hoped that simply removing Nagin - or "Baby Ray," as Jolie has nicknamed him from City Hall and remanding him to a nursery in the couple's renovated French Quarter mansion will dramatically accelerate the city's recovery, residents have not given up hope that the couple will also adopt District Attorney Eddie Jordan and New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley.

Well, you know, those two do tend to fight a lot, and they're sneaky, Jolie said. "Let's see if we can get this one to play nice first."

Gov. Kathleen Blanco announced that citizens can apply for adoption by Pitt and Jolie through the governor's new "Road to Someone Else's Home Plan." Delays began immediately, and the program is expected to make its first awards no later than 2013.

2007 JAZZ FEST LINEUP

"ReBirth" Philip Frazier by Terrance Osborne
day-by-day lineup of performers at this year's jazz fest.

I can hardly wait!

Don't Run, Kathleen!

Scott Jordan of the Independent writes an open letter to Kathleen Blanco

Don't Run

Some excerpts
In the face of the tragedy and hardship that came out of Katrina and Rita, Louisiana residents and voters have become involved in the political process like never before. We are tired of Louisiana’s recovery languishing in bureaucratic red tape and ineffective policies. What was once a wink-and-a-nudge Louisiana tradition — laughing and groaning at colorful or corrupt politicians — is no longer funny, and never will be again. .....Before your poll numbers started dropping precipitously, you realized you had one chance — a possible golden ticket, even — to re-election.....The Road Home Program.....You staked out your turf in dramatic fashion, making it unequivocally clear that the program’s failure or success didn’t depend on New Orleans legislators or the federal government. This was your Road Home program, your solution....... Let’s not mince words: The Road Home has been a disaster......Time is of the essence. The longer you stay in the race, the longer it will take for other candidates to declare their candidacy and present their platform to the public..... That’s why I’m asking you not to run for re-election.


I hope she takes his advice.

Saving Louisiana

Click here for a short audio slideshow about Louisiana's quickly disappearing coastline


click on photo for full-size version

Experts agree we have 10 years or less to act before the loss becomes irreversible.

There is hope. State officials expect to get a jump-start on building restoration projects as early as this August, thanks to $523 million in offshore revenues provided under the federal Coastal Impact Assistance Program.

A permanent dedication of offshore revenue to the state will kick in only $20 million a year until 2017, after which the state should be collecting a minimum of $670 million a year, Coffee said. But the state can borrow against that revenue stream immediately.

And that almost certainly will be required, because by 2017 the coastal erosion problem likely will have become irreversible. By issuing bonds backed by future offshore revenue, the state will gain the flexibility not only to speed up construction but to launch projects not authorized by Congress.

The Chicory has some images from google showing Louisiana's land loss here

Kudo's to the Times Picayune for this special series on coastal restoration.

David vs Goliath

Michael Homan has been fighting Allstate since Katrina devastated his home. Today he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The first panel of speakers includes senators such as Mary Landrieu and Trent Lott.

From his website I will be speaking in the second panel, along with Bob Hunter, the president of the Consumer Federation of America. We'll both be arguing in favor of Leahy's Insurance Industry Competition Act. Two speakers in my panel will be arguing against the act: Marc Racicot, president of the American Insurance Association, and Susan Voss, speaking on behalf of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The whole thing should be over in an hour I'm told.

The link above details his experience in fighting Allstate for his insurance claim that they refuse to pay. A David against Goliath tale.

Thank you, Mr. Homan.

Meet the victims

dapoblog has posted a list of the murders in 2007. This list comprises names and details of the crimes (links to the police reports). Excellent research.

I agree with Traveling Mermaid that all the murder victims should be recognized....they all had family, friends and lives. Even the criminals....who knows why they turned to a life of crime? One factor is the failure of our society and our community. The failure of a strong family structure by which I don't necessarily mean blood family. We need these murders in our faces everyday to motivate us all to do what we can to break this vicious cycle of violence. The big question is, what can we do as a community to turn it around?

they blew up the levees

I got this email last night:



It never ceases to amaze me how people like you can be so opinionated without all the facts. My family was displaced by Katrina. My father used to live in Slidell and my Sister is in the process of moving now.
All of my relatives, whom by the way, live are living and did live in New Orleans and Slidell agree, there was a suspicious explosion in the area of the levy before the flooding began and AFTER Katrina had already passed through. It was blown by the Army Core of Engineers.
Katrina was devastating in its own way but did not cause the damage the mainstream news wants America and the world to believe.
I do not know Mr. Nagin and most probably will never meet him but, I would like to see YOU deal with a situation like this and come out looking good when ALL the help that is normally available was cut off by the Federal Government during Katrina. The aftermath of this tragedy is that, it was ALL created at the top. From my point of view, it was time to get those poor people out of there.
Nagin my not be a genius but do you think Mr. Bush is?
If you ran for Mayor, I would vote for you just to see how well you will do.


I cannot believe how many ignorant people are running around out there. I bet this assclown hasn't even been down here since the storm.

Seeing is believing

Ronald Shamlaty Jr. traveled to New Orleans this week by way of the Biloxi airport. As he moved westward in his rental car from Mississippi to Slidell to eastern New Orleans, he was arrested by the devastation that suddenly came into view from the interstate.
"as we went over the bridges," ....referring to the Twin Spans, "we noticed apartment complexes just destroyed, their windows all boarded up. What really got us -- we got that frog-in-the-throat thing -- was seeing all the trailers still there a year and a half later."

This is a statement from a conventioneer passing through this week; 18 months post Katrina.

To all of you folks out there who think things are just "hunky dorey" down here, either plan a trip down here or check out the area bloggers at this site


This is a picture taken on February 28th driving along Highway 11 in New Orleans East. Part of the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge, these trees were laid down by the storm's winds. There are thousands of trees that look like this. They will never appear green again.

To get an idea of the strength of the storm surge look at this boat.

It rode over this levee, from right to left.

By the way, this boat is still sitting there.

Yes, it's been 18 months, but those of us who live here and see the remains every day know that this isn't something you just "get over".

Kelly Leahy has written about her trip thru New Orleans east here

Loki oh so eloquently discusses the fact that we had Mardi Gras and what this means to us down here Here's an excerpt:
We exist in a place where Katrina, the Federal Flood, and the ongoing trials infect every aspect of day to day life. Every interaction, every conversation, every walk down the block are tainted with the events of the past 18 months. In this sort of environment catharsis is essential. On Mardi Gras Day a pauper can be a prince, a prince can be a clown, and the clowns that, “govern,” us can be skewered with impunity. Every masker is able to leave behind the wrekage of their former home and cut loose in a collaborative satirization of the pain we are steeped in.

This is how we heal.

Mark Folse pens what Mardi Gras means to him here

If you want to see more of the storm's remnants, go here