Jazz Fest 08

Sunday had the perfect weather for Jazz Fest. Incredible. Lots of people, but everyone was peaceful.



Keb Mo. His music soothes.




Sonny Landreth was electric

Terance Blanchard @ Jazz Fest

Read the well written experience of watching Terance Blanchard at Jazz Fest today.


Mark Folse's usual eloquence retells the experience of hearing Blanchard's A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina), accompanied by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.



You can buy the album here

Listen to samples from the album here

I don't think so!

from NOLA dot com:
The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana has asked a federal judge to award the organization more than $65,000 in attorneys fees and court costs, stemming from a ruling earlier this month that said Slidell officials broke the law by hanging a portrait of Jesus on the wall at Slidell City Court.

Who asked these ass hats to come in and cause a ruckus? Everyone is entitled to their opinion of this organization and mine is that they should just go away.

The ACLU said plaintiff "John Doe" and others "have suffered, or shall suffer, damages, including mental anguish and emotional distress" from viewing the image.


the picture is still on display, joined now by more than a dozen other images of historic lawmaking figures, and there are no plans to remove the image.

"This is the first case I know of that upholds a display of a picture of Jesus," Douglas Laycock, professor of constitutional law at the University of Michigan Law School, told Cybercast News Service. "It is significant."

Spillway imagery

Schroeder has a post including incredible satellite photos of the lost sediment that could have been used to restore Louisiana’s dying wetlands and disappearing coastline is falling off the continental shelf.

Why New Orleans rules

Check out the Lady of Perpetual Crawfish grotto.

Scuzzbucket of the Week

public high school principal who posted the names of two boys on a list of students believed to be couples, revealing their relationship to their parents as well as other students and teachers, violated the students’ constitutional right to freedom of association, the American Civil Liberties Union charged Tuesday. …


Of the couples gathered, and displayed on the educator’s desk, homo-partners Andrew and Nicholas received special attention, especially when Beasley - or Beastly - approached Nicholas’ mother and essentially outed him. The principal also told the woman that she disapproved of such behaviors. And that’s hardly the worst of it…

The honor student [Nicholas] underwent further humiliation, in addition to verbal harassment, when taken out of the running for a class trip to New Orleans related to rebuilding efforts, as a risk to the school’s image; Nicholas was told that there were fears he’d embarrass the school by engaging in “inappropriate behavior.”



This website offers the email address of said prinicpal

Here's the ACLU's report

Farmer's Market in Slidell

For those local citizens who have longed for a true farmer’s market on this side of the lake, take heart: the Camellia City Market opened in Slidell’s Griffith Park Saturday, April 26th .

“This has been a dream of mine forever,” said Mary Dubuisson of STARC Cleaners. “I’m just beside myself that it’s finally happening.”

UPDATE:

Here are pictures from the first Farmer's Market. Surprisingly, no produce was there:






There were fresh herbs,


Hot tamales....


Doggie Snacks....


Wonderful Mediterranean food


Tasty Italian fare...


Fresh Honey....


Crawfish Etouffe....


and live music...


I think it was a great turnout and look forward to seeing this Saturday morning market grow and thrive, especially since Katrina took Slidell's only outlet for fresh produce and dairy products, Cap's.

After nearly three years, I don't think Cap's will be opening up, despite the
promises of this sign.


Here's the background of the birth of this market:

Mary Dubuisson was one of a group of interested residents who first approached Slidell Mayor Ben Morris in 2002 with a plan for starting the market. The idea never quite materialized, however, and various circumstances forced it into limbo for a while.

Then that same group of people turned up in Leadership Northshore 2008. Sponsored by the East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce, the program divides participants into several small committees, each of which is required to stage an event that has an impact on the community.

The mission of the market made it a natural fit.

“We want it to be an economic stimulus for Olde Towne, but also to generate revenue for the city at large,” said Capt. Kevin Foltz of the Slidell Police Department. “We also intend at some point to donate our profits back to charitable organizations in the community.”

The group’s main issues are mental health and prevention of childhood obesity, which is one reason the park, with its playground and gym equipment, ties in well with that theme. Eventually they hope to add senior citizens’ issues to the program, and Dubuisson is working on getting discount vouchers for seniors to use at the market.

Foltz said they don’t know how long it may take to start realizing enough profit to make regular donations, but at some point the group expects to have a grant application process in hand.

As for potential economic impact, Foltz cited research showing that more than 80 percent of those who shop at outdoor markets also spend money in the surrounding area. That’s a statistic that should be music to the ears of many established Olde Towne businesses, as well as those that are new or returning, such as the Victorian Tea Room on Carey Street.

In order to be a true farmer’s market, only homegrown or home-produced consumables may be sold.

“It can’t be something like birdhouses,” said Foltz. “But say someone has a great recipe for spaghetti sauce that they make and bottle themselves, or grows their own flowers and vegetables, those things are perfect.”

At last count, 12 vendors had signed up for the market, with at least half a dozen more in the application process. Booths are $20 per week for a 12-foot by 12-foot booth. By paying in advance for four weeks, vendors can also receive a discounted price of $15 per week. A table and two chairs will be provided, but vendors are encouraged to bring their own canopy.

Modeling the project after the Crescent City Farmer’s Market in New Orleans, the group is also looking for local chefs and entertainers to participate. Volunteers are also needed to sell cold drinks and coffee and to staff the information booth.

The project has the full backing of the Slidell City Council, which awarded a $5,000 grant last fall toward the market’s startup. Many others have stepped forward to contribute, such as Creative Trophy, which donated nametags to the group.

Other members of the group are David Achary, Cheri Webster, Julie Watson, Michelle Partridge, Ann Mannella, Dana Fatic and Dinah Dyer.

Dubuisson noted the level of support and cooperation from the community that the project has received.

“Whether they own property in Olde Towne or they just like to spend time down there, people are excited about this because they understand that now is the time to work together,” she said.

Webster agreed and cited what has become an unofficial motto for the group.

“All these things are happening because people are working together,” said Webster, executive director of the Mental Health Association of St. Tammany. “It can’t happen by one person working alone.”

The market will be open each Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and an official grand opening and ribbon cutting is set for June 7. For more information call 640-8291.

What a Maroon

Bill Clinton - in a speech supposedly for his shrew who is running for president - recently talked about Bill Clinton in the small town of Lock Haven (pop. 9,000), hours away from Pittsburgh or Philadelphia.



. . . . I am working on rebuilding the Katrina area in New Orleans. . . .




Boy Bill, that's sure a big job!!!

This guy's got a problem

Fred Radtke, aka "the gray ghost". Who does he have in his pocket?
From New Orleans City Business Website

On April 19 a customer walked into Mojo Coffee House on Magazine Street and told employee Alicia Adams there was a strange man outside painting the side of the building.

Adams stepped outside and saw a white van parked across the street with several men standing in front of it staring at her. She looked to her left and that’s when she saw him, a tall, stocky man wearing dark sunglasses.

Adams recognized the man immediately. It was Fred Radtke, the self-appointed scourge of graffiti.

Adams said Radtke didn’t pay any attention to her. He walked across the street, grabbed another roller out of his van, walked back across the street and began to paint over markings on a telephone pole.

Adams, 24, said she asked Radtke to “please don’t paint on our private property.” His response has left her shaken and afraid for her own safety.

Adams said Radtke verbally attacked her with the most offensive of obscenities, letting her know that he could care less what she thought and was going to do whatever he wanted.

“I swear to God, I’ve been doing this for 10 years and in that time I’ve never cursed at a woman or a girl,” Radtke said. “She was the one yelling and screaming at me. ”

Radtke said he has never painted the Mojo building because the coffee house staff, who he accuses of being sympathetic to the graffiti artists, constantly harass him.

“Usually when I go to take out graffiti near that coffee shop I bring a police escort so I don’t get intimidated,” Radtke said. “If I’m taking out graffiti across the street, they walk over to us and start taking my picture. They do it all the time, which is why I need police escorts. ”
“He was yelling and screaming. He said that he never touched our building and that the 'little bitch' was lying.”

But when Estevez arrived at Mojo on April 19 just an hour after Radtke left, he said there was a large splotch of gray paint on the side of the building that had never been there before.

“I could still smell the primer paint.”



This person has a serious self image issue. He sees himself as the saviour of New Orleans' grafitti problem.

He has to have something on someone in New Orleans politics.


Mayor C. Ray Nagin, New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Warren Riley, the Louisiana State Police, the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI have praised his work.

But some property owners question what separates Radtke from the vandals he is fighting.

The NOPD, however, has no intention of charging Radtke with the defacing of public or private property and praises his efforts in reducing crime and improving the city’s quality of life.

“What he’s doing is work that the city would be doing itself provided we had the resources and manpower,” said NOPD spokesman Sgt. Joe Narcisse. “He’s covering up graffiti and if the city had a team to do that it would do so. He’s not doing anything that we aren’t asking him to do.”•

More at NOLArising.com

How do some people sleep at night?

From the WWL TV website (which includes the video), A contractor hired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has apparently filled the expansion joint (or opening) between the floodwalls) with newspaper.

When confronted, the contractor blamed Washington for the substandard work.

“He basically told me when Congress sent down the money, it would be repaired the proper way.”

Ercon Corporation, based in Lafayette, Louisiana, had a contract to do the almost $2 million of work to raise and repair the floodwall under the Paris Road bridge.
Eyewitness News contacted the president of Ercon Corporation by phone and e-mail. He didn't respond to our repeated requests for a comment on this story. Further, our investigation revealed Ercon Corporation is not even licensed by the state's board for contractors. The Corps of Engineers says as long as the federal government pays for the work, it does not prevent them from hiring an unlicensed Louisiana company.

Schroeder has some interesting opinions on this subject

Celcus chimes in.....

More at Library Chronicles and YRHT.

UPDATE:
The Corps will now repair the wall .


After initially telling Eyewitness News a Lafayette based company did the work on those joints, the corps now says the work was done by laborers hired by the corps.


"Stuffing newspaper in that joint should not have been done," Bedey said. "In the very near future we will repair all three joints and put the proper backing next to the waterstop."


Bedey reiterated the findings of the report last night that the newspaper would cause no structural damage to the wall.


riiiiiight.

Thanks to Lee Zurik

Scuzzbucket Part Deux

self titled "intellectual" Thomas Brewton

In his latest blustering article,
in which our own Dambala
responds in great fashion , he shares his intellectual pretension regarding the state of New Orleans as follows:

Why does much of New Orleans still look as if the 2005 devastation of Hurricane Katrina had occurred just a few weeks ago?
Huge areas of New Orleans still are wastelands. New Orleans's liberal-progressive-socialist Senator Mary Landrieu has grabbed far more than her share of Congressional pork. Hundreds of millions of Federal dollars spent for rehabilitation have produced far too little beneficial result. People were without electric power for months; the police department contained more thieves than honest law enforcers; drug-dealing and prostitution remain major enterprises; and the city still retains its crown as the nation's murder capital. One of the city's few "legitimate" businesses is casino gambling.
City and state administrations have yet to coordinate rebuilding plans, as politicians fight over who gets what share of the spoils. The best that the city's Mayor Nagin can do is to demand that the Democratic-socialist Party presidential candidates pledge to send even more pork to New Orleans.
What accounts for this dismal record?
The answer is simple. New Orleans abandoned God and personal moral responsibility, turning instead to worshipping the atheistic, secular political state. That secular god has failed miserably, notoriously so in the aftermath of Katrina.


Here's the rest of his diatribe.

Feel free to comment on his website.

Lord, I wish Ashley were alive to rip this mook apart.