Farewell

all photos from time.com



Hoping to say farewell to the 2008 Hurricane season real soon. It was ugly.

Due to our cool weather lately, it looks as if there is a small chance that the weather in the Gulf might turn into anything too destructive. Here's T.D. 13 down in the Bay of Campeche




Gustav was ugly, but Ike was worse for Texas






The above picture from Texas looks a lot like this one below of Gulfport after Katrina



Time has an article recalling Ike's wrath here

I don't get it

What kind of people would vote for a crook over and over again?
I don't get it.

Neither does Cliff


It’s just a foolish idea to send him back to Congress. There is no excuse for voting for him and he was selfish to even run again. Even the most pro black/anti whitey black people who vote strictly for a candidate because of his color have no excuse for this. There were five other brothers running! You could have still voted black five different ways and not voted for Bill! You have to know where you live, what you need and vote according to who has the best chance of delivering that. Maybe Congressman Jefferson had a moment of bad judgment and is really a good man. That’s fine but you don’t have to put him back in office to validate your forgiveness. He can be a good guy and rebuild his name from his house while a new, less scandalous person works in Washington.

Justice??

I think I'm missing something.


Razoo Bouncers not guilty of murder.




Levon Jones, 26, of Statesboro, Ga., died after being pinned to the sidewalk and restrained by a group of bouncers outside Razzoo Bar & Patio on Dec. 31, 2004, about 12:35 a.m. after a member of his party was denied entrance to the club based on a dress-code violation, police said. Jones, according to media reports, suffocated after being held down by three bouncers, one using a chokehold.

The coroner said Jones suffocated as one bouncer held him in a headlock for 12 minutes and another pushed down on his back, preventing him from breathing. A third held Jones' legs. Coroner Frank Minyard found that Jones was asphyxiated and classified the death as homicide.





Charges have been dropped against Clay Montz, 34, Matthew Taylor, 24, Arthur Irons, 43, and Brandon Vicknair, 24, who are all free.

This happened several months ago, but seeing the report in the paper today reminded me how pissed off this outcome has made me. The presiding judge, Raymond Bigelow



also dismissed the Danziger 7 , the cops who shot two people on the Danziger Bridge in the aftermath of Katrina. Now the Feds are investigating this incident.

Here's a website that has bits and pieces about what went on on the Danziger Bridge. Kind of loosely done, it provides interesting reading...at least to me.

Something tells me that Judge Bigelow is not the most open minded judge around. It's just a feeling I get.

Good News for Big Branch

After losing 1,000 acres to Hurricane Katrina, restoration is continuing at the Big Branch National Wildlife Refuge in Lacombe/Mandeville.

The project, on the drawing board since 2003, plans to dump the sediment in three areas near the mouth of the Bayou Lacombe including Goose Point and Point Platte.
Billed as a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week effort to pump 3 billion cubic yards of water and mud from the floor of Lake Pontchartrain and into the refuge, via a mile long pipe, was postponed as hurricanes Gustav and Ike ripped through the area.



The project, part of the Coastal Wetland Planning Project Restoration Act created in 1990 is just one of dozens funded in 18 years throughout coastal areas.

For those of you who like to hike or bike, Big Branch is a wonderful 4.5 mile rountrip walk which takes you through several refuge habitats to the edge of
Bayou Lacombe. A 1/4 mile boardwalk trail also begins here, and travels to the edge of a nearby cypress slough.



Boy Scout Road is also great for a 4.5 mile bike trip, with a smooth graveled surface. Mountain bikes are recommended. The interpretive guide to Boy Scout
Road will help you enjoy your trip. The Tammany Trace paved bike path, while not on the refuge, runs very near it and provides access to several refuge locations.

We've seen gators and owls there, as well as evidence of wild boar. It's a peaceful trip where all you can hear is the wind rustling thru the trees. No cars, trucks or anything else.



For more info, check out this flyer for Big Branch.

Wacko of the Week

A Chalmette man swung a 4-foot metal sword at another man's head during a fight, authorities said.



Leslie Wilson, 57, of 4019 Jupiter Drive, acknowleged using the sword to go after a neighbor with the intent of cutting off the man's head, the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office said in a news release. Wilson told deputies that his neighbor, Albert Estopinal III, 32, of 4021 Jupiter, threatened him first.

Both Wilson and Estopinal were booked with disturbing the peace in the 8 p.m. incident on Jupiter Drive near the corner of Atreus Street. Wilson was also booked with attempted simple escape by somehow getting out and walking away from the sheriff’s car he had been placed inside, while handcuffed, but was immediately stopped and put back in the vehicle.

Estopinal also was booked on an outstanding arrest warrant charging him with felony theft over $500.


How'd you like to have Mr. Wilson living next door?

Damages from Gustav

This story from the Associated Press details the damage sustained by Katrina Cottages on the Gulf Coast resulting from Hurricane Gustav.

"The Labor Day storm ruined dozens of cottages in southern Mississippi that were supposed to be a safer, sturdier alternative to government-issued trailers for families displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005."

According to the Clarion Ledger dot com

More than 230 Mississippi Cottages have been deemed uninhabitable by insurance adjusters in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav -forcing many into hotels and left to consider their living options.

The Gustav-damaged cottages have forced people into more temporary housing. FEMA's post-Katrina housing program is slated to end in March 2009. The cottages are designed to provide safer and more permanent living accommodations for families who lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and had been living in FEMA trailers.

"It's a tough situation for residents," said MEMA deputy director Lea Stokes. "Gustav took away the convenience of living in the cottage for another six or seven months while their house is being rebuilt."

The 230 residents who lost their cottages this time around were given three options :

A cottage may be placed inside a mobile home lot, with the owner being responsible for paying any lot rent or fees to the park.

A cottage may be placed on land allowed by local codes to remain permanent, where the unit does not have to be elevated higher than six feet.

Families may arrange to be placed in a rental unit, or apartment, with the state paying rent and security deposit, through Feb. 28, 2009 - the same day FEMA halts its housing assistance.

As for the federal aid to municipalities, no one is happier about the decision this week to give assistance than Waveland Mayor Tommy Longo.

"We had no injuries, no loss of life," Longo said Tuesday. "But we had about 100 flood-damaged homes. These are people who were still recovering from Katrina, so we hope the government helps them and us get back on our feet."

Waveland is in Hancock County, where the most severe Gustav damage occurred in the state.

Like many municipalities along the state's 70-mile coastline, Waveland will use the federal dollars to help pay for emergency repairs and Longo's overtime payroll to law enforcement. The federal government has promised to cover 75 percent of the costs.

Even before Gustav pushed more than 14 feet of storm surge into his community, Waveland was still in the red financially - and still reeling - from Katrina in 2005.

Every storm has it's signature," Longo said. "Gustav pushed hundreds of baby pelicans inland from the barrier islands. It pushed flocks of flamingos in from Cuba and it pushed thousands of dead nutria onto our beaches. That will be what we remember about Gustav."

More than 130,000 pounds of dead, beached animals have slowed recovery in recent weeks.

The removal of nutria, hogs, goats, dogs and deer has been slowed by public health concerns, but Hancock County administrator Tim Kellar said the project is 40 percent complete.

"Aside from the dead animals, we're looking at more than 100,000 cubic yards of debris," he said. "So the beaches have remained closed until further notice."

DiChristina's Restaurant

One of Covington's better restaurants finally has a website.

Click here for DiChristina's website

United Houma Nation

From Gambit writer Sean David Hobbs, an excellent, heart wrenching article about his recent trip down to Terrebonne Parish to visit with United Houma Nation Principal Chief Brenda Dardar Robichaux.

I didn't know until I read this article that this Louisiana-recognized tribe is NOT recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Although the BIA acknowledged that the Houma had Native American ancestry, it was unable to find sufficient evidence that they were actually the descendents of the Houma tribe. Because of this, the United Houma Nation is ineligible to receive any sort of relief from the Federal Government for the myriad of losses they've been experiencing from Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike.



But our Government can bail out a bunch of rich Wall Street Bankers. Go figure.

Take a Visual Diversion

UK "grafitti artist" Banksy visited New Orleans around the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and left his mark.

Here's some of his work. Scroll from left to right to view some of this great stuff.

Is this fool for real?

Courtesy of Your Right Hand Thief
Quote from Northwestern Professor Steven G. Calabresi

This Administration deserves to be trusted because it has kept us safe from terrorist attack since 9/11, has fought and won two wars, has presided over eight years of economic growth, has appointed two stellar justices to the Supreme Court, and has even learned how to do Louisiana’s job of protecting that state from hurricanes. The day will come, and not before long, when Americans will wish that George Bush was still president.


where's my puke bucket?

Scuzzbuckets of the Week

Actually, scuzzbucket isn't strong enough word for this week's evil people. Gleaned from local headlines, we have two cases of horrific child abuse.

The first case took place this past week in Harvey, Louisiana where a babysitter became "frustrated" with a five month old baby and put it in the clothes dryer and TURNED IT ON. Jefferson Parish sheriff's deputies on Thursday booked 19-year-old Ariel Smith, of Harvey, with one count of first-degree murder.

Investigators say Smith was babysitting Andre Jenkins and his 18-month-old brother and said she admitted placing the infant in the dryer because she was frustrated with him.

Meanwhile, this fine young couple from Shreveport, Louisiana have been arrested for abusing not one, but TWO babies.

The children of Christopher Vailes and Conchetta Rhymes were taken to LSU Hospital in Shreveport on Wednesday for their four-month check up when the pediatrician suspected one of the infants had a broken leg, police said. X-rays later showed both children to have multiple injuries to their ribs and femurs and swelling to the soft tissues in their spines.

Just makes one want to cry, doesn't it?