Naturally N'awlins

Craig Giesecke over at Metroblogging talks about his interesting week, from actually SEEING RAY NAGIN in public to his wacky, trash-can stealing neighbors.

Worth the read.

Scuzzbucket Trio

Who

the fuck

cares

about these talentless, self-centered whores?

did you realize that the AP put a blackout on stories of little Paris?
A whole seven days.

Here's America's reaction

Taking a break from Katrina

My commute into N.O. east takes me thru Irish Bayou every day.
Sights like this



I admire the gumption of the folks of Irish Bayou for rebuilding bigger and better.

But it's nice to get away......even if it's only thru pictures.....

We took a vacation Thanksgiving week, 2004 on Dauphin Island, Alabama.
This was two months after Hurricane Ivan split the island in pieces, taking away the west end. Katrina finished it off. Thanks, Katrina.

Anyway, here are pictures that make me think back to better, simpler, more relaxing times.
click on pictures for full-size images

for Mr. A

Random Thoughts

Riley & Jordan on "same page" (just two different books) How long will this last?

Mother Nature may delay the next Shuttle Launch. Why couldn't these errant hail storms hit Hillary Clinton on the head and put her in a 45 year coma?

Would we really lose anything if Dick Cheney were killed in this rocket attack? I think not.

Nancy Pelosi and her ilk are just another bunch of lousy politicians

For the second year in a row college kids are coming to the Gulf Coast to help in the rebuilding process Thanks to all of you!!

Chicago not only has horrific fans and crappy weather, but crooked politicians ...... like us!!!

Even though I do most of my communication via email and epay, I will be one of the first people in line to buy a forever stamp.

The rest of the country must be moving faster than us ....Katrina "happened 2 1/2 years ago!!"

Feels like spring

(click on photo for larger version)
Despite the damage brought by the storm, Bayou Liberty is still beautiful this time of year.
Taken February 15, 2007
While all you yankees were under lots of cold snow!!!
Yup, that's why we live here!

Sunday

Seen in Bayou Liberty, February 2007. (click on photos for larger sizes)

Nothing much happening. Well, yes a lot's been happening, but I just don't want to write about it at this time. So I leave you with a pretty site. Most folks won't consider this pretty, but in light of how things have looked since the storm, I think the fact that the swing is still there is a beautiful thing.

Well, there is something I want to write about, but not today....too many chores to be done.

An article about the historic Louisiana Forts in disrepair since the Storm

Fort Pike, eastern New Orleans

But that's for another time.

St. Genevieve

I've noticed several hits on this blog with the search term "St. Genevieve" lately, so I decided to create a web page dedicated to the rebirth of the physical church in the Bayou Liberty area.here is the link. I will be updating this page as time goes on.

As usual, click on the small pictures to view full size.



The church has been completely destructed and a new one will be built on the same site, just 18 inches higher.

Mardi Gras

The experiences of Mardi Gras, told by local bloggers

Blogging New Orleans

Ashley Morris

Humid Haney

Pictures taken while riding in a float

Maitri's words and pictures

Oyster's blogs about New Orleans' contradictions (do you get it?)

Eddie Jordan

I don't live in NOLA, so I really can't speak from experience about the NOPD. However, the recent explosion in violent crimes tells me that it can't all be put on the NOPD.

Listening to the New Orleans City Council grill Warren Riley (NOPD) and Eddie Jordan (D.A.) on the radio earlier this week, I get the feeling the Jordan is inept and full of whining and excuses.

Now I'm no college educated PHD or anything, but I am a believer in my instincts and they tell me that Jordan is hiding something. Perhaps it's his ineptitude. I KNOW it's not his extreme dislike of Warren Riley.

Hell, just thing morning it was made public that Jordan's office decided not to go forward with prosecuting some little scumbag that has an extremely long arrest record . But he sure has time to go after a doctor and two nurses who stayed behind to be with patients during Katrina for murder even though the coroner found no evidence of homicide.
from the Times Picayune earlier this week:

During this week's City Council hearing, Council members were particularly interested in "701s," shorthand for Article 701 of the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure. It states that no one can be held longer than 60 days on a felony arrest without an indictment. Prosecutors may refile charges against 701 suspects if they get complete police reports, but often 701 cases fall by the wayside.

In the eight months before Hurricane Katrina, the city released 187 people on a 701, including eight murder suspects, prosecutors' records show. In 2006, the number of releases soared to about 3,000. Last month alone, 580 people escaped legal custody of either jail or a bond obligation only because prosecutors couldn't pull together a case ahead of the deadline imposed by law.

Jordan put the blame for some 701 releases on a lack of lab-tested evidence and incomplete police reports. He said police use probable cause to make an arrest, a lesser standard than the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard required for a conviction. The council asked Jordan why his office doesn't accept the results of field testing kits, used by officers to test for drugs. He said the field test is not admissible in court even though the federal government has used the field tests for nearly 20 years.

It just seems like the D.A.'s office is not doing their job. Perhaps I don't have all the background, but that is the way it seems to an outsider.

Here is a post from someone who does live and work in New Orleans regarding Mr. Jordan's performance.

Is there anyway that this elected official can be recalled?

There is a petition to "ask" Jordan to step down at the American Zombie website

Thanks Ray & Eddie

From todays NYT, an article about NOLA residents leaving in despair, thanks to the inaction of our mayor and D.A.

from this article

As a city in flux, New Orleans remains statistically murky, but demographers generally agree that the population replenishment after the storm, as measured by things like the amount of mail sent and employment in main economic sectors, has leveled off. While many poorer residents have moved back to the city, the “brain drain” of professionals that the city was experiencing before the storm appears to have accelerated.