Tim, of The Nameless Blog always manages to hit my emotional nerves. In his latest post, he talks about the constant reminders of the storm that happened over two years ago.
The stop sign at the corner, still tilting at an improper angle, bears the stain of the waterline that drowned this neighborhood two years ago, broke and scattered the people who made their homes here.
The smashed pieces are a constant reminder--as if I need their help. I won't forget what this place used to be and what happened to the houses, the gardens, and of course, the people shattered by what happened here.
To those out there who think that everything's normal here, I'd say we're a good 3 years away from being able to look around and not see something that Katrina destroyed. Maybe longer.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Scuzzbucket Forever
BATON ROUGE --As the California wildfires continued to rage Thursday, so too did the political feud between President Bush and Gov. Kathleen Blanco that has smoldered since the federal government's slow response to Hurricane Katrina.
The latest flare-up came when Bush, while touring the California disaster area, took an apparent swipe at Blanco's post-Katrina leadership as he complimented California
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"It makes a significant difference when you have somebody in the statehouse willing to take the lead," Bush said, according to the Associated Press.
The president's statement, coming from a White House that seems determined to avoid a repeat in California of the public-relations disaster that followed Katrina, brought a swift response from Blanco.
In a statement forwarded by her press office, Blanco noted that it took federal forces nearly a week to arrive in Louisiana after the storm. "I was the only game in town, leading for nearly a week without the president's help," Blanco said.
"Of all the lessons learned from Katrina now being put into place in California, I would hope the one he would remember is that politics has no place in any disaster," she added, before taking a shot at the slow manner in which promised federal aid has been delivered.
"While the promise of help from Washington is being extended, Gov. Schwarzenegger will have to work hard to make it a reality. In the meantime, Louisiana stands by ready to help with anything they may need," she said.
Asked to compare the two disasters, Bush said it's a job better left to historians.
Rant Off
From the democratic underground dot com read the reactions to Bryan "talking head" Williams' idea to compare what happened in California to what happened in New Orleans.
Bryan Williams decided to compare one group of refugees in Qualcomm with the NOLA refugees in the Superdome. He said something to the effect that "Things are going much more smoothly. There is even clowns here to entertain the children and no fear of crime because of the police patrols."
Sure, the folks in Qualcomm Stadium are suffering, but they
1) have power;
2) have running water;
3) didn't have to boat/swim/wade through polluted water to get there;
4) didn't have the f**king police shooting at them;
5) have a functioning mass transit system.
I'm sure there are many other things I'm missing, but it pisses me off that anyone would compare what is happening in California with what happened with Katrina and then say "We've learned our lessons." Bull-fucking-shit.
Rant off.
Bryan Williams decided to compare one group of refugees in Qualcomm with the NOLA refugees in the Superdome. He said something to the effect that "Things are going much more smoothly. There is even clowns here to entertain the children and no fear of crime because of the police patrols."
Sure, the folks in Qualcomm Stadium are suffering, but they
1) have power;
2) have running water;
3) didn't have to boat/swim/wade through polluted water to get there;
4) didn't have the f**king police shooting at them;
5) have a functioning mass transit system.
I'm sure there are many other things I'm missing, but it pisses me off that anyone would compare what is happening in California with what happened with Katrina and then say "We've learned our lessons." Bull-fucking-shit.
Rant off.
Capitalizing on Ineptitude
Former FEMA director Michael "Brownie you're doing a helluva job" Brown is
offering his "expertise" to San Diego.
The agency has learned some hard lessons regarding the handling of mass evacuations especially in regard to the bureaucratic red tape that is involved in such a process," said Mr. Brown. "This is a tragic time for many of the people of California, and Cotton Companies is working to ensure that normalcy is restored and that businesses and organizations are back up and running as soon as possible."
Cotton has already deployed a team to San Diego to prepare recovery efforts and has a Community Assessment Team in full force.
Mr. Brown can speak to the turmoil being caused by the California wild fires as well as to some of the new processes in disaster relief efforts that will help to restore California communities. He can offer advice to residents and businesses on proper relief and recovery efforts and provide suggestions for future disaster preparedness.
Excuse me while I barf.
offering his "expertise" to San Diego.
The agency has learned some hard lessons regarding the handling of mass evacuations especially in regard to the bureaucratic red tape that is involved in such a process," said Mr. Brown. "This is a tragic time for many of the people of California, and Cotton Companies is working to ensure that normalcy is restored and that businesses and organizations are back up and running as soon as possible."
Cotton has already deployed a team to San Diego to prepare recovery efforts and has a Community Assessment Team in full force.
Mr. Brown can speak to the turmoil being caused by the California wild fires as well as to some of the new processes in disaster relief efforts that will help to restore California communities. He can offer advice to residents and businesses on proper relief and recovery efforts and provide suggestions for future disaster preparedness.
Excuse me while I barf.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
You Can't Make THIS Up
From the T.P.:
A man New Orleans police believe committed an armed robbery -- and afterward fled to the home of District Attorney Eddie Jordan -- is also a suspect in the home invasion and shooting of a police officer and his wife a day later, several police sources confirmed Wednesday.
The bizarre confluence of events began the evening of Oct. 11, according to those sources and police documents obtained by The Times-Picayune.
The 20-year-old man stopped by Jordan's house minutes after he allegedly fled after an armed robbery outside a nearby Shell gas station. He arrived at Jordan's house on foot, having run away after the robbery victim rammed his sport utility vehicle into the car carrying the suspect, police documents said.
Investigators later also connected the suspect, Elton Phillips, to an eastern New Orleans robbery and shooting by two gunmen, who critically wounded a police officer and shot the officer's wife in the foot after breaking into their home late at night.
On Wednesday, Jordan said he didn't know Phillips, and didn't know Phillips had allegedly committed armed robbery shortly before arriving at his home. The district attorney said his longtime girlfriend Cherylynn Robinson knows Phillips, and she in fact had spent Oct. 11 -- her birthday -- with him and his relatives in Baton Rouge. He said Robinson is not related to Phillips.
After Jordan saw a news report naming Phillips as a robbery suspect, he said, he immediately called New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley.
I called Warren Riley and said I wanted to speak to the police, Jordan said. "I called him immediately after I discovered he had been wanted for an armed robbery," he said, referring to Phillips.
But investigators had difficulty interviewing Jordan, according to documents. Those reports indicate investigators repeatedly called Jordan's cell phone over the course of three days, but he failed to answer and his voice mail was full. At one point, investigators went to Jordan's home and rang the doorbell for 10 minutes, but no one came to the door.
An investigator finally confirmed Jordan had gotten the interview request by sending it through an intermediary, Ralph Brandt, head of Jordan's trials division, according to a police document. The investigator had told Brandt that Jordan's lack of cooperation could result in bad publicity, the document said.
The officers "didn't express concern about any substantial delay," Jordan said. "The question was, 'How do we find this guy?'¤"
Jordan said he could not be reached simply because it was a busy week, not because he sought to avoid investigators.
I don't know if you've been reading the papers lately, but I got some things going on, he said. "I got one or two things going on. I'm getting it from all sides."
Jordan, who is black, has taken heavy criticism this week after a federal judge ruled that the assets of his office could be seized to pay off a $3.7 million judgment against his office for racial discrimination in the firing of white employees.
According to police documents, the investigation into the armed robbery led to a tip that Phillips was at Jordan's home on Lennox Boulevard in Algiers, where Jordan lives with Robinson. Police conducted surveillance of the block, but learned shortly later that the suspect, Phillips, had left.
When interviewed via phone on WWL radio Thursday morning, Jordan stated that the Times Picayune article is untrue and contains "outright lies".
Jordan said he checked with NOPD's Marlon Difillo who said the kid was not a suspect in the home invasion.
Jordan called the article a "smear campaign….it's so obvious".
His girlfriend, Cherylynn Robinson, said she knew Phillips through his grandmother, who lives in Baton Rouge.
Robinson was helping the grandmother pack for a move from back to New Orleans. The grandmother
offered Robinson a ride back to New Orleans later in the day, using a car rented by the grandmother.
During that trip they stopped for gas when Robinson "discovered" she was missing money, although she
never said she confronted Phillips about it.
Updated information is here
Two Legislators are calling for Jordan to be impeached
More here.....
and over here
As well as here
Interesting facts over here.
A man New Orleans police believe committed an armed robbery -- and afterward fled to the home of District Attorney Eddie Jordan -- is also a suspect in the home invasion and shooting of a police officer and his wife a day later, several police sources confirmed Wednesday.
The bizarre confluence of events began the evening of Oct. 11, according to those sources and police documents obtained by The Times-Picayune.
The 20-year-old man stopped by Jordan's house minutes after he allegedly fled after an armed robbery outside a nearby Shell gas station. He arrived at Jordan's house on foot, having run away after the robbery victim rammed his sport utility vehicle into the car carrying the suspect, police documents said.
Investigators later also connected the suspect, Elton Phillips, to an eastern New Orleans robbery and shooting by two gunmen, who critically wounded a police officer and shot the officer's wife in the foot after breaking into their home late at night.
On Wednesday, Jordan said he didn't know Phillips, and didn't know Phillips had allegedly committed armed robbery shortly before arriving at his home. The district attorney said his longtime girlfriend Cherylynn Robinson knows Phillips, and she in fact had spent Oct. 11 -- her birthday -- with him and his relatives in Baton Rouge. He said Robinson is not related to Phillips.
After Jordan saw a news report naming Phillips as a robbery suspect, he said, he immediately called New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley.
I called Warren Riley and said I wanted to speak to the police, Jordan said. "I called him immediately after I discovered he had been wanted for an armed robbery," he said, referring to Phillips.
But investigators had difficulty interviewing Jordan, according to documents. Those reports indicate investigators repeatedly called Jordan's cell phone over the course of three days, but he failed to answer and his voice mail was full. At one point, investigators went to Jordan's home and rang the doorbell for 10 minutes, but no one came to the door.
An investigator finally confirmed Jordan had gotten the interview request by sending it through an intermediary, Ralph Brandt, head of Jordan's trials division, according to a police document. The investigator had told Brandt that Jordan's lack of cooperation could result in bad publicity, the document said.
The officers "didn't express concern about any substantial delay," Jordan said. "The question was, 'How do we find this guy?'¤"
Jordan said he could not be reached simply because it was a busy week, not because he sought to avoid investigators.
I don't know if you've been reading the papers lately, but I got some things going on, he said. "I got one or two things going on. I'm getting it from all sides."
Jordan, who is black, has taken heavy criticism this week after a federal judge ruled that the assets of his office could be seized to pay off a $3.7 million judgment against his office for racial discrimination in the firing of white employees.
According to police documents, the investigation into the armed robbery led to a tip that Phillips was at Jordan's home on Lennox Boulevard in Algiers, where Jordan lives with Robinson. Police conducted surveillance of the block, but learned shortly later that the suspect, Phillips, had left.
When interviewed via phone on WWL radio Thursday morning, Jordan stated that the Times Picayune article is untrue and contains "outright lies".
Jordan said he checked with NOPD's Marlon Difillo who said the kid was not a suspect in the home invasion.
Jordan called the article a "smear campaign….it's so obvious".
His girlfriend, Cherylynn Robinson, said she knew Phillips through his grandmother, who lives in Baton Rouge.
Robinson was helping the grandmother pack for a move from back to New Orleans. The grandmother
offered Robinson a ride back to New Orleans later in the day, using a car rented by the grandmother.
During that trip they stopped for gas when Robinson "discovered" she was missing money, although she
never said she confronted Phillips about it.
Updated information is here
Two Legislators are calling for Jordan to be impeached
More here.....
and over here
As well as here
Interesting facts over here.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Some Progress
Possible new Bidness for Slidell
Bayer Properties of Birmingham Alabama has announced......$900 million mixed-use development in Slidell, La., which would include office, retail, residential and medical facilities.
The project is a collaborative effort between the developers, the City of Slidell, St. Tammany Parish and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It will be situated on Interstate 10, minutes from New Orleans, at a major interchange currently being constructed (Fremaux Ave).
The 400-acre project, which Bayer said will have a $1 billion impact on the Hurricane Katrina-ravaged area, is a joint venture between Bayer, Corporate Realty of New Orleans and landowner Robert Levis, which incorporated as Slidell Development Co. LLC.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Kindred Spirits
Wishing a speedy end to mother nature's wrath in California. If y'all need any advice about dealing with insurance companies and FEMA, check the local bloggers
here. You guys are going through an extremely tragic time and you're in my prayers.
Prytania Waterline shares my same feelings for our fellow countrypeople on the fire ravaged west coast. As does Bart and XY.
Varg too
here. You guys are going through an extremely tragic time and you're in my prayers.
Prytania Waterline shares my same feelings for our fellow countrypeople on the fire ravaged west coast. As does Bart and XY.
Varg too
Curious
A lot of "doom and gloom" around the NOLA political blogsphere this week.A lot of folks are extremely upset that Bobby Jindal won. Because he acts like a politician.
Guess what? He IS a politician!!!! Nice clean people do not win elections in the real world.I am not happy with his lack of voting during the last 6 or so months. If he had intended on not showing up for votes, he should've resigned. He should do the right thing and give up is seat now and concentrate on the job ahead.
Some have accepted it, like adults
and realists
The following are politicians, too. And they lost.
Phil Donahue's brother. I come from a long line of hard drinkers and THIS guy looks like he enjoys his booze.
Self made millionaire from the parish. I couldn't vote for someone who did that horrible Tide commercial. It made me puke.
Yuppie weirdo with an ego problem
from Gambit The owner of a cigarette and video poker distribution company as well as several other businesses, Georges, 47, didn't shy away from his ties to the gaming industry. In fact, 'shy" is not a word that should be associated in any way with the name of John Georges. As Gambit contributor Jeremy Alford noted in a recent profile of Georges, the 'enigmatic" millionaire 'ponders aloud, wrapping his mind around his favorite subject: himself."
Yeah, I'd like to look at that self centered puss for four years. NOT!
The way I see it, Jindal's in there for four years. I hope that he adopts some of the good ideas from his opponents and runs with them. I hope that he can work with the lawmakers of this state and work for the good of Louisiana. Just like Nagin's re-election, he's there. Life's too short to get all bent out of shape over it.
Just my opinion. We made it thru Katrina together, we need to get thru this together
Guess what? He IS a politician!!!! Nice clean people do not win elections in the real world.I am not happy with his lack of voting during the last 6 or so months. If he had intended on not showing up for votes, he should've resigned. He should do the right thing and give up is seat now and concentrate on the job ahead.
Some have accepted it, like adults
and realists
The following are politicians, too. And they lost.
Phil Donahue's brother. I come from a long line of hard drinkers and THIS guy looks like he enjoys his booze.
Self made millionaire from the parish. I couldn't vote for someone who did that horrible Tide commercial. It made me puke.
Yuppie weirdo with an ego problem
from Gambit The owner of a cigarette and video poker distribution company as well as several other businesses, Georges, 47, didn't shy away from his ties to the gaming industry. In fact, 'shy" is not a word that should be associated in any way with the name of John Georges. As Gambit contributor Jeremy Alford noted in a recent profile of Georges, the 'enigmatic" millionaire 'ponders aloud, wrapping his mind around his favorite subject: himself."
Yeah, I'd like to look at that self centered puss for four years. NOT!
The way I see it, Jindal's in there for four years. I hope that he adopts some of the good ideas from his opponents and runs with them. I hope that he can work with the lawmakers of this state and work for the good of Louisiana. Just like Nagin's re-election, he's there. Life's too short to get all bent out of shape over it.
Just my opinion. We made it thru Katrina together, we need to get thru this together
Monday, October 22, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
A reminder
Website Katrinafilm dot com has created an excellent montage of photos that remind us of why we love living here. Go see it!!!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
This Saturday's Election
Curious about all the stuff the ballot this Saturday? Here are some resources.
BGR.ORG
The Bureau of Governmental Research is a private, nonprofit, independent research organization dedicated to informed public policy making and the effective use
of public resources for the improvement of government in the New Orleans metropolitan area.
They have created a comprehensive report that details - in everyday English - each of the four constitutional amendments on the October 20th ballot. This is the place to go to make a wise decision on the amendments.
SOS.LOUISIANA DOT GOV
Here you can find sample ballots by Parish
VOTESMART DOT ORG
Enter your zip code to get the ballot relating to your Ward/Precinct
Here's a look at mine in Slidell Note: scroll down to see all the information.
CABL
Council for a Better Louisiana's provides in depth info on candidates here
Information on where to vote here
PARC
The Public Affairs Reasearch Council of Louisiana has done an excellent job of putting each amendment into everyday language and explains what your vote means for each. Click here to read their opinions.
Take some time and write down your positions before you go and vote. You only get three minutes. Hell, I was in and out in last year when we had 13 amendments to vote on only because I wrote down my decisions before hand. Other wise, with my diminished near term memory, I'd be wondering why I was in the voting booth at all!!!
BGR.ORG
The Bureau of Governmental Research is a private, nonprofit, independent research organization dedicated to informed public policy making and the effective use
of public resources for the improvement of government in the New Orleans metropolitan area.
They have created a comprehensive report that details - in everyday English - each of the four constitutional amendments on the October 20th ballot. This is the place to go to make a wise decision on the amendments.
SOS.LOUISIANA DOT GOV
Here you can find sample ballots by Parish
VOTESMART DOT ORG
Enter your zip code to get the ballot relating to your Ward/Precinct
Here's a look at mine in Slidell Note: scroll down to see all the information.
CABL
Council for a Better Louisiana's provides in depth info on candidates here
Information on where to vote here
PARC
The Public Affairs Reasearch Council of Louisiana has done an excellent job of putting each amendment into everyday language and explains what your vote means for each. Click here to read their opinions.
Take some time and write down your positions before you go and vote. You only get three minutes. Hell, I was in and out in last year when we had 13 amendments to vote on only because I wrote down my decisions before hand. Other wise, with my diminished near term memory, I'd be wondering why I was in the voting booth at all!!!
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