Scuzzbucket of the Week

Brent Eric Finley, 38, of Rayville, along with his wife, Stacey Finley.


The Finleys “convinced numerous victims, who were their family, friends and neighbors, that through Stacey Finley’s contacts as an agent with the CIA, she could arrange and schedule a medical scan of the victims’ bodies by satellite imaging that would detect any hidden medical problem; and that in return for payment of money to Finley, she would arrange for secret agents to administer medicine to the victims as they slept,” Washington’s news release stated.

“All of this information that Finley conveyed to the victims was false.”

The Finleys used all of the money received for their own personal benefit, the release stated.

Besides the fact that the Finley's are scum of the earth for doing that, I question the intelligence of the people who gave these two people over half a million dollars. Geez.



Asked how so many people could be conned by such far-fetched claims, U.S. Attorney Donald Washington described Finley as “a cult-like, charismatic personality.”

Finley is sentenced
to spend 51 months in prison and also was ordered, along with his wife, Stacey Finley, to jointly pay restitution of $873,786.94, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Donald Washington.

Stacey Finley previously pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced to 63 months in prison.

Prosecutors said that money won't come from what was stolen because the victims' money was spent. They said the Finleys owned a home and five vehicles, but their house was mortgaged and the vehicles financed and there were few other assets.

Strangest thing...

What makes New Orleans unique is the off the wall things that happen here.

The American Zombie blog
is compiling stories about strange things people have experienced or seen in the city.

Quite entertaining.

This isn't strange, but - being the human to five cats, I found this sight quite funny:



This cat had no issue with the crowds/music/noise of the French Quarter Fest last April.

Baghdad on the Bayou

Baghdad on the Bayou: Disaster Capitalism and the War on Equality

An Interview with Tab Benoit in Houma, LA - November 2007

Tab Benoit is an ardent champion for Louisiana's Wetlands.

Op Ed News dot com's investigative environmental writer Georgianne Nienaber recently interviewed him for his view
on saving the wetlands. Here are some excerpts from that three-hour interview
(the article stated this is part one, so stay tuned…….)


“Three miles off the coast is considered off shore. I mean just right here, right now, if I could take you up in an airplane and show you this; you’d see that the Gulf [of Mexico] used to be 25 miles from the Houma airport, now it’s three miles.”

“We [Louisiana] have got 4,000 rigs in the Gulf, compared to 100 rigs in the rest of the Gulf. We’re not getting the money from the off shore drilling. We’re getting the money from on shore. So it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why there’d be 4,000 rigs in Louisiana waters, and only 100 rigs outside of Louisiana waters that belong to the United States. The federal government gets our [Louisiana’s] share. It goes straight into the federal fund. That’s been our big issue; [and] we’ve fought for it.”

What’s behind the 9th ward? Two major refineries. Those things are running. The refineries are running. Nothing else is [running] in the ninth ward. What else do you need to know? There it is. There are the answers.”


I started Voice of the Wetlands (www.voiceofthewetlands.com) because we had no voice. Nobody was acknowledging that there would be people here. It was all about oil, and infrastructure. You know the first things were refineries and oil ports. Those are the first things on the lists of things to do. And that’s exactly what happened.


The interview covers Tab's opinions on big oil, the media's cover-ups regarding Katrina, Blackwater's activities in the days following Katrina, the attidude of the Federal Government toward the citizens of southeast Louisiana and much more.

It's worth the read.

Making it Right

Through the Make It Right project Pitt's inspiration came from the strength of the residents of the 9th Ward:
Having endured the ravages of Katrina, the people of the Lower 9th Ward are proving that, with passion, commitment and collaboration, they can beat the odds. They are ready to represent a city that not only provides a steady stream of culture and soul to the nation, but also provides renewed hope in the triumph of the human spirit.
The people of the Lower 9th Ward are survivors. They are strong. They are united. They are passionate, and the situation they find themselves in - two long years later - needs to be addressed. We need to make it right.

From today's Times Picayune article

Applicants must have owned a home or lot in the Lower 9th Ward before Hurricane Katrina.

Though the project's most significant impact surely will be felt by the families who end up in new homes, other local residents said that Make It Right's effects already are spreading through a neighborhood that but for the crash of bulldozers has remained mostly silent -- and vacant -- since the flood.
Tennessee Street resident Gertrude LeBlanc, 72, said Monday's party -- and the giant pink blocks scattered across the landscape -- already had introduced a hopeful new spirit.

This is like letting them know that we're still here, said LeBlanc, who said a church group will help her rebuild her house using Road Home money. "Yes, indeed, honey, I have been praying for this. I have been praying for somebody to give us a break. I think this might be it."

Rather than bemoan the slow pace of redevelopment in the Ninth Ward, Mr. Pitt said he decided to address the problem directly by teaming with William McDonough, the green design expert ; The Graft architecture firm ; and Cherokee, an investment firm based in Raleigh, N.C., that specializes in sustainable redevelopment. John Williams of New Orleans is the executive architect for the project.

The "Make It Right" team consists of successful New Orleans natives and innovative professionals as shown here:
Brad Pitt, with GRAFT Architects .

Stefan Beese
Executive Associate at GRAFT and the Exective Producer of the Pink Project
Mr. Beese is an Executive Associate at GRAFT and the Executive Producer of the Pink Project.

Nina Killeen
born and raised in New Orleans (and lost her home to the break in the levee at the 17th Street Canal following Hurricane Katrina). She attended Loyola University, and subsequently worked for a local television production company as a producer on numerous commercials and documentary-length films.
Senior Advisor to Jolie Pitt Foundation and a Co-Producer for the Pink Project

Stephen Rehage
Stephen Rehage is the founder of Rehage Entertainment and a Co-Producer of the Pink Project. Mr. Rehage is a New Orleans native and the originator, producer and owner of the Voodoo Music Festival, one of only a few independently owned large music festivals in the country.

Hervé Descottes
Hervé Descottes is the principal founder of L'Observatoire International and the Lighting Designer for the Pink Project. L'Observatoire is a New York City-based architectural lighting design firm founded in 1993.

Lionel Milton
Lionel Milton, creator of the Art Piece for the Pink Project, is a New Orleans-based artist. Lionel's latest venture is the re-opening of Elleone Gallery now located at 2001 Magazine St. in historic Lower Garden District, New Orleans.

Adam Ford and Rendon Slade
Ford and Slade are owners and lighting designers of Universal Visual, LLC, a Mississippi Gulf Coast and NOLA-based lighting design firm that was founded in 2007. The goal of Universal Visual is to provide a means to become completely independent of the current energy grid through the implementation of solar power and hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Bag Manufacturer
The Lighthouse for the Blind in New Orleans is a not-for-profit agency that has been in existence for almost 100 years and is the manufacturer of the Pink bags made from 100 percent recycled scrap materials from the Pink Project.

Here's the link to MIR merchandise,
including caps and Tshirts.

You can make any amount of donation to this project by going to this website .
Smaller donations -- from $5 to $45,500 -- will support the cost of the individual elements of the houses' eco-friendly designs, such as fluorescent bulbs, low-flush toilets and solar-panel installations.

America's Energy Coast Initiative

The fragile energy-producing coastal wetlands along the Gulf of Mexico are crucial to the nation's economy, but the rest of the country doesn't seem to be taking the area's problems seriously, a group meeting today in Baton Rouge contends.

But that could all change if the four states — Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama — work together in forming "America's Energy Coast," say Sidney Coffee, project director of the America's Wetlands campaign, and former U.S. Sen. John Breaux.

Find out how your state depends on Louisiana. America's Wetlands has gathered statistics for the following states.

Florida


Illinois
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Minnesota
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Virginia

From the America's Energy Coast website,

The America’s Energy Coast initiative will bring together leaders of academia, industry, conservation, government and non-profit agencies to educate the public about the necessary co-existence of energy and ecology to sustain America’s Energy Coast. Through leadership assemblies, economic forums and outreach projects we will educate the public how responsible and sustainable energy development is attainable and consistent with conservation and environment stewardship.
We believe that a better public understanding of the role, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama play as a vital energy corridor, will lead to a stronger, safer, sustainable energy future for all Americans.

The Honorary Leadership Council for the America’s Energy Coast Initiative has agreed to help lead the initiative and provide valuable counsel to the effort as we educate the public of the importance of balanced, national dialogue about America’s energy future.

Co-Chair
The Honorable Trent Lott
U.S. Senator
Republican Senate Whip
Mississippi

Co-Chair
The Honorable Mary Landrieu
U.S. Senator
Louisiana


Louisiana
The Honorable Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, Governor, LA
The Honorable Mary Landrieu, US Senator, LA
The Honorable David Vitter, US Senator, LA
The Honorable Richard Baker, US Congressman, LA
The Honorable William Jefferson, US Congressman, LA
The Honorable Bobby Jindal, US Congressman, LA
The Honorable Charlie Melancon, US Congressman, LA
The Honorable Charles Boustany, US Congressman, LA

The Honorable Mitchell J. Landrieu, Lt. Governor
The Honorable Jay Dardenne, Secretary of State, LA
The Honorable Charles C. Foti, Jr., Attorney General, LA
The Honorable John Kennedy, Treasurer, LA
The Honorable Bob Odom, Commissioner of Agriculture, LA
The Honorable Jim Donelon, Commissioner of Insurance, LA
The Honorable Scott Angelle, Secretary of Department of Natural Resources, LA
The Honorable Robert Adley, State Senator-District 36, LA
The Honorable Robert J. Barham, State Senator-District 33, LA
The Honorable Joel T. Chaisson, II, State Senator-District 19, LA
The Honorable Ann Duplessis, State Senator–District 2. LA
The Honorable Reggie P. Dupre, Jr., State Senator-District 20, LA
The Honorable Nick Gautreaux, State Senator-District 26, LA
The Honorable D.A. “Butch” Gautreaux, State Senator-District 21, LA
The Honorable Francis C. Heitmeier, State Senator-District 7, LA
The Honorable Ken Hollis, State Senator-District 9, LA
The Honorable Lydia P. Jackson, State Senator-District 39, LA
The Honorable Robert Marionneaux, Jr., State Senator-District 17, LA
The Honorable Willie L. Mount, State Senator-District 27, LA
The Honorable John A. Alario, Jr., State Representative-District 83, LA
The Honorable John F. “Andy” Anders, State Representative-District 21, LA
The Honorable Jeffrey “Jeff” Arnold, State Representative-District 102, LA
The Honorable Glenn Ansardi, State Representative-District 92, LA
The Honorable Austin J. Badon, Jr., State Representative-District 100, LA
The Honorable Damon J. Baldone, State Representative-District 53, LA
The Honorable Regina Ashford Barrow, State Representative-District 29, LA
The Honorable Clara Guilbeau Baudoin, State Representative-District 39, LA
The Honorable Gary J. Beard, State Representative-District 69, LA
The Honorable Shirley Bowler, State Representative-District 78, LA
The Honorable Timothy G. Burns, State Representative-District 89, LA
The Honorable Roy A. Burrell, State Representative-District 2, LA
The Honorable Don Cazayoux, Jr., State Representative-District 18, LA
The Honorable A. G. Crowe, State Representative-District 76, LA
The Honorable N.J. Damico, State Representative-District 84, LA
The Honorable Carla Blanchard Dartez, State Representative-District 51, LA
The Honorable Gordon E. Dove, Sr., State Representative-District 52, LA
The Honorable Sydnie M. Durand, State Representative-District 46, LA
The Honorable James R. Fannin, State Representative-District 13, LA
The Honorable Robert Faucheux Jr., State Representative-District 57, LA
The Honorable Mickey Frith, State Representative-District 47, LA
The Honorable Richard Gallot Jr., State Representative-District 11, LA
The Honorable Hunter V. Greene, State Representative-District 66, LA
The Honorable Elbert Lee Guillory, State Representative-District 40, LA
The Honorable Elcie J. Guillory, State Representative-District 34, LA
The Honorable Mickey Guillory, State Representative-District 41, LA
The Honorable Herman Ray Hill. State Representative-District 32, LA
The Honorable Avon R. Honey, State Representative-District 63, LA
The Honorable Donald Ray Kennard, State Representative-District 65, LA
The Honorable Charles E. Kleckley, State Representative-District 36, LA
The Honorable John F. LaBruzzo, State Representative-District 81, LA
The Honorable Juan A. LaFonta, State Representative-District 96, LA
The Honorable Billy Wayne Montgomery, State Representative-District 9, LA
The Honorable Jean-Paul J. Morrell, State Representative-District 97, LA
The Honorable Dan W. “Blade” Morrish, State Representative-District 37, LA
The Honorable Kenneth L. Odinet, Sr., State Representative-District 103, LA
The Honorable Wilfred Pierre, State Representative-District 44, LA
The Honorable Gil Pinac, State Representative-District 42, LA
The Honorable Loulan Pitre, Jr., State Representative-District 54, LA
The Honorable Joel Robideaux, State Representative-District 45, LA
The Honorable Joe R. Salter, Speaker of the House-District 24, LA
The Honorable M.J. Smiley, Jr., State Representative-District 88, LA
The Honorable Jack D. Smith, State Representative-District 50, LA
The Honorable John R. Smith, State Representative-District 30, LA
The Honorable Gary L. Smith, Jr., State Representative-District 56, LA
The Honorable Karen Gaudet St. Germain, State Representative-District 60, LA
The Honorable Francis C. Thompson, State Representative-District 19, LA
The Honorable Joseph F. Toomy, State Representative-District 85, LA
The Honorable T. Taylor Townsend, State Representative-District 23, LA
The Honorable Wayne Waddell, State Representative-District 5, LA
The Honorable Patrick Williams, State Representative-District 4, LA
The Honorable Ernest D. Wooton, State Representative-District 105, LA
The Honorable Aaron Broussard, Parish President-Jefferson Parish, LA
The Honorable Gordon Burgess, Parish President-Tangipahoa Parish, LA
The Honorable Caesar Comeaux, Parish President-Iberia Parish, LA
The Honorable Guy Cormier, Parish President-St. Martin Parish, LA
The Honorable Kevin Davis, Parish President-St. Tammany Parish, LA
The Honorable Mike Grimmer, Parish President-Livingston Parish, LA
The Honorable Dale J. Hymel Jr., Parish President-St. James Parish, LA
The Honorable Albert D. Laque, Parish President-St. Charles Parish, LA
The Honorable Nickie Monica, Parish President-St. John Parish, LA
The Honorable Paul Naquin, Parish President-St. Mary Parish, LA
The Honorable William H. Nungesser, President Parish of Plaquemines, LA
The Honorable Charlotte A. Randolph, Parish President-Lafourche Parish, LA
The Honorable Henry J. Rodriguez, Parish President-St. Bernard Parish, LA
The Honorable Don Schwab, Parish President-Terrebonne Parish, LA
The Honorable Steve Trahan, Parish Police Juror-Cameron Parish, LA
The Honorable Robert E. Billiot, Mayor-Westwego, LA
The Honorable Lionel J. Bordelon, Jr., Mayor-Moreauville, LA
The Honorable Anthony Daisy, Mayor Pro Tem-New Roads, LA
The Honorable James T. Fontenot, Mayor-Simmesport, LA
The Honorable Ronnie C. Harris, Mayor-Gretna, LA
The Honorable Clarence Hawkins, Mayor-Bastrop, LA
The Honorable Timothy Matte, Mayor-Morgan City, LA
The Honorable John D. McAdams III, Mayor-Mer Rouge, LA
The Honorable C. Ray Nagin, Mayor-New Orleans, LA
The Honorable Randy Roach, Mayor-Lake Charles, LA
The Honorable C.J. Scheufens, Mayor-Iowa, LA
The Honorable Patrick White, Mayor-Gibsland, LA
The Honorable Carroll J. Allemand, Councilmember-Grand Isle, LA
The Honorable Taranza Arvie, Councilmember-Evangeline Parish, LA
The Honorable Brenda Burley, Councilmember-Youngstown, LA
The Honorable Stan Cain, Councilmember-Livingston Parish, LA
The Honorable Thomas J. Capella, Councilmember-at-large-Jefferson Parish, LA
The Honorable Arnie Fielkow, Councilmember-at-large- Orleans Parish, LA
The Honorable Jonathan Foster, Councilmember-Amite, LA
The Honorable Rodney Geyen, Councilmember-Lake Charles, LA
The Honorable Danny W. Harrell, Councilmember-Livingston Parish, LA
The Honorable Marshal Harris, Councilmember-Livingston Parish, LA
The Honorable Willie ‘Sunset’ Holden, Councilmember-Winnfield, LA
The Honorable Elton Lagasse, Councilmember-Jefferson Parish, LA
The Honorable Lawrence Landry, Councilmember-City of Harahan, LA
The Honorable Kenny Matassa, Councilmember-Gonzales, LA
The Honorable Dianne McClelland, Councilwoman-Lafayette Parish, LA
The Honorable Shelley Midura, Councilmember-New Orleans, LA
The Honorable Cynthia Hedge Morrell, Councilmember-New Orleans, LA
The Honorable Provino Mosca, Councilmember-City of Harahan, LA
The Honorable “Ram” Ramachandran, Councilmember-St. Charles Parish, LA
The Honorable Chris Roberts, Councilmember-Jefferson Parish, LA
The Honorable Randall L. Rushing, Councilmember-Livingston Parish, LA
The Honorable Tommy Sandifer, Councilmember-LaSalle Parish, LA
The Honorable Ray A. Santiny, Councilmember-Grand Isle, LA
The Honorable Sandy Sonnier, Councilmember-Loreauville, LA
The Honorable Teddy Sutton, Councilmember-Bernice, LA
The Honorable Thomas L. Talbot, Councilmember-Iowa, LA
The Honorable Eddie Wagner, Councilmember-Livingston Parish, LA
The Honorable Tiffany Scot Wilken, Councilmember-City of Harahan, LA

Alabama
The Honorable Jim Folsom, Jr., Lt. Governor, AL
The Honorable Beth Chapman, Secretary of State, AL

Mississippi
The Honorable Thad Cochran, US Senator, MS
The Honorable Trent Lott, US Senator, MS
The Honorable Chip Pickering, US Congressman, MS
The Honorable Amy Tuck, Lt. Governor, MS

Texas
The Honorable Gene Green, US Congressman, TX
The Honorable Jerry Patterson, Land Commissioner, TX
The Honorable Donald Payne, County Commissioner-TX
The Honorable Dennis Bonnen, State Representative-District 25, TX
The Honorable Luis Sarinana, County Commissioner, TX

A generous soul

NBA star Chris Duhon continues to help in the aftermath in Katrina through a personal donation of $100,000 in his plans to construct basketball courts in New Orleans and his hometown of Slidell, La. A graduate of Salmen High in south Slidell, Duhon continues to look for ways to help the area recover.



From the above link
Through Duhon’s Stand Tall Foundation, he launched “Operation 21,” a project to refurbish 21 outside basketball courts in New Orleans and Slidell. The project will include five courts in Slidell and the remaining 16 courts in New Orleans, beginning in East New Orleans where Duhon participated in recreational programs such as basketball, football, track and baseball at an early age.

Duhon established a hurricane relief fund in 2005 shortly after Katrina. His efforts have raised more than $450,000 for the victims of Katrina and aided in the reconstruction of Slidell.

Diversion

I like to keep my posts in this blog related to Katrina recovery, but once in a while I feel like posting about things of personal interest. Music is one of
my favorite things in life.......especially blues.

I think in another life I was a resident of the Mississippi Delta area. It's in my blood. I can just feel it. There's something about the sound of Delta Blues that I love.

A few months ago, my husband purchased a CD/DVD Combo from Kenny Wayne Shepherd entitled 10 Days Out - Blues from the Backroads

You can see a trailer from the DVD here
(I can't for the life of me embed the youtube clip)


A well-written synopsis provided by Amazon-dot-com
This "back-to-the-roots" road-trip documentary CD/DVD from blues-rocking guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd can be viewed in two ways--it's either the culmination of a long-held desire to promote and play with some unheralded blues veterans before they pass away (as six had already done since the recording was made, 2½ years before its early 2007 release) or a way to regain the blues audience Shepherd all but alienated on his artistically and commercially disappointing 2004 hard-rock release, The Place You're In. Ultimately, it succeeds on both accounts. Regardless of the project's inspiration, the results by and large justify whatever the means might have been to get this show on the road--literally and figuratively. Shepherd hit the highway for a week and a half along with producer Jerry Harrison (ex-Talking Heads), a portable studio, and backup musicians including the rhythm section from Stevie Ray Vaughan's Double Trouble. He searched out blues artists both obscure (the late guitarist Etta Baker, who plays in her kitchen, is a highlight) and better known (Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and B.B. King) for a series of acoustic and electric jams, all of which feature Shepherd--who, to his credit, generally keeps his hot-dogging tendencies in check. A closing concert featuring members of Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters' bands never quite generates the heat it should, but country bluesmen Cootie Stark, Neil Pattman, and harmonica ace Jerry "Boogie" McCain provide plenty of sparks. Shepherd seems sincere enough, but the real stars are the ageing musicians who have maintained their chops and intensity through a lifetime of performing music that clearly comes from the soul. --Hal Horowitz

In January of '09, Hubby & I are planning to take our first cruise in the Carribbean that is all about the blues. I can hardly wait!!!

Getting it

I am not a resident of New Orleans, but I love the city as if it were my home town.

Chris Rose , in his latest column explains one of the thousand reasons that the city is so loved by its inhabitants:


A place where the glass is neither half full nor half empty and, in fact, is not even a glass but a plastic cup, a trinket most likely made in China and of no monetary value whatsoever but it's got some words or a drawing on the side that remind you of something good, some perfect time and place, something vivid and specific, a night with strangers and friends, and that cup sits on your desk or your mantle alongside your most cherished possessions.

Craig Giesecke, over at Metroblogging explains the simple pleasures of New Orleans

My daughter's in town. During last night's light rain, we went for coffee at the Cafe du Monde and then for a sazerac over at Tujague's. In between, we walked around (deserted) Jackson Square and stuck our heads into the Cafe Pontalba. A rainy night is my favorite time in the French Quarter, for some reason, and we just walked around tallking and laughing and window-shopping. We did, basically, nothing. Our total expenses were less than $12. It was delightful.


Yeah, you right.

Sweet Return

The Mississippi Clarion Ledger has published an article
on resurrgence of satsuma crops in Plaquemines Parish.

Hurricane Katrina wiped out about half the satsuma trees in Plaquemines Parish, La., the tonguelike parish on the tip of southeast Louisiana where most of the Gulf Coast's satsuma crop originates.

Jimmy Boudreaux, a commercial vegetable specialist at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in Baton Rouge, said it has been a hard road back for satsuma growers.

Katrina ripped up the small citrus trees, and some acreage flooded with deadly salt water.

They were just beat up so bad, he said. "Of course, the crop was beat up the storm year, and the next year the trees had to recover."

Some growers devastated by the 2005 storm still have not gotten back into the business, he said.

They lost everything, so the orchard is the last thing on their minds, he said. "They lost their homes; they lost everything."

But for those satsuma farmers who managed to save a portion of their trees, this year is looking pretty good.

Immediately following the storm, growers rushed their surviving product to market, harvesting as much as possible from an early crop.

That year, the Louisiana satsuma crop was valued at $2.6 million in farm income, down only slightly from the 2004's crop value of $2.7 million.

Last year's harvest, hampered by dying trees and fewer growers, brought just $1.6 million.

We think we could maybe do one and a half or two times that this year, Boudreaux said.

Even if this year's crop is wildly larger than expected, it's still small by any standard.

By comparison, last year's Florida orange crop was valued at $1.5 billion, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Through the entire state, Boudreaux said Louisiana only has 164 satsuma producers tending 316 acres of trees.


I haven't tasted the Plaquemines Parish satsumas yet, but had some Slidell version about a month
ago and they are wonderfully fresh and sweet!!!

Progress and Stagnation

On the Friday after turkey day, hubby & I travelled AWAY from the malls and took a drive down Hwy. 11 towards New Orleans to check out any progress that had taken place since our last trip in September. It was a picture perfect day and the traffic was light which made it an excellent time to "go lookin" around.

click on pictures to view full-size versions

We took a slow ride down Rats Nest Road, along Lake Pontchartrain.
>
Almost completely obliterated by the storm, this area is finally showing signs of progress,


but what really hits you is the shoreline


It contains the remains of what once were miles of docks jutting out into the lake.

From here you can see the progress on the new twinspans


From there we drove out to far eastern Slidell, towards one of my favorite places to drive, Lake Catherine . I always loved this ride because it is so beautifully serene out there, moreso since the storm because they too were completely razed by Katrina.

This area is seeing a long awaited building boom, but there is still debris pickup going on, as evidenced by these two pictures






This home has been in progress for about a year now and it looks almost complete. Quite a difference from the old, thrown together camps that used to be along Hwy. 90.



This place went up quite quickly.

I'm sure all of the raised houses are being constructed intelligently, as this one is being built



Sites like this burned out camp are becoming more and more rare in the Lake Catherine area.

As we passed Fort Pike we noticed to chartered busses from Germantown, Maryland full of what appeared to be students. They were cleaning up the Fort and cutting grass. Many thanks to them. I'm looking forward to the Fort's reopening.

As another sign of progress, we noticed that the work on the new Rigolets bridge is progressing.


It's heartening to see more progress than stagnation, but the area has a long way to go to get back to normal, whatever that is.

I DO know that it'll be a very long time before we don't see all of the dead trees along Hwy 90 in the East (look BEHIND the beautiful oak tree)

Need a laugh?

Get yourself over to The New Orleans Levee

an excerpt:

Instead of buying new bulletproof vests for police, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin is ordering that officers must instead wear the scandal-plagued “bombproof” city trash cans the administration quietly had been planning to throw away.

“This is leadership, man,” Nagin said during a news conference to announce his “gift” of what he dubbed “vest-cans” to the city’s police. “This is called wastin’ two birds with one idea. Now all the cops are safe, everybody can leave me alone, and we’re gonna save $450,000. C’mon, man. Am I good, or am I good? C’mon.”