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.”

Scuzzbucket of the week

Former New Orleans Councilman Oliver Thomas

For renegging on his plea agreement, choosing not to be a "rat". Mr. Thomas, you are lower than a rat.

I'm not a citizen of NOLA, but I was hurt when I learned last August that Oliver was a part of a network of corruption occurring well before Katrina. New Orleans needs positive, honest leadership and learning that Oliver was a crook was a slap in the face. Kids don't need to see a "leader" refusing to "snitch". And now that he's backing out of his agreement, I'm just pissed off.

I'm hearing that judge Vance sentenced him to 37 months in federal prison. Not sure that this is enough.

More from NOLA bloggers' reactions:

Ashley Morris

Celcus

Varg

Degenerate Matter

Schroeder

Good Eats

For my birthday this year, I asked my husband to take me out to eat at La Provence Restaurant in Lacombe, Louisiana


Purchased by Slidell area native John Besh after the death of his mentor chef Chris Kerageorgiou, La Provence provided us with one of the most delicious meals of our lives.

The kitchen is run by Master French Chef Rene Bajeux.
From the above link,
Bajeux’s culinary philosophy of terroir cooking is classically French. Meaning “of the earth,” it describes dishes that reflect the area in which their ingredients are produced. Bajeux believes strongly that a chef should be connected to the foods he serves by using strictly local ingredients – very local, if not actually raised by the chef himself... In this, he is a kindred spirit of Chef John Besh, a longtime friend and colleague who shares a fierce devotion to the terroir approach.


That devotion is apparent in the new "farm" created in the back of the restaurant. Check out this spot at Youtube, where Besh explains how this biodynamic farm is run.



Our salads were served after we experienced the absolutely delicious pate with crusty bread. My daughter's salad was beets and greens with a hazelnut vinaigrette. My husband and I opted for the heirloom tomato salad with fresh Pontchartrain crabmeat. Next all three of us enjoyed the ricotta gnocchi in a crab sauce. Our main courses consisted of bouillabaisse for hubby, speckled trout with crabmeat for me (can you tell I love crab?> and a leg of lamb for my daughter. I have never tasted lamb so tender and lacking in that "wild" flavor.

I recommend this restaurant if you are looking for comfort food served meticulously in a very warm atmosphere. The waitstaff is friendly and extremely attentive, though not to the point of being annoying (like at Emerils).

The history of La Provence 2007 was written up in the epicurious blog of Bon Apetit magazine last spring

Post K Houses

For the past year or so we've seen a rebirth in the Bayou Liberty area and Northshore sections of Slidell. It's interesting to see the different structures growing out of land that was covered by downed pine trees and muck from the bottom of the lake and points beyond. Here are a few examples (click picture for full sized versions)


Bayou Liberty Road



Bayou Liberty Road


Bayou Liberty Road


A Round House on Lakeview (Rat's Nest) Road


Another Round House next to the first one!


Highway 11 (Northshore), Slidell


Highway 11 (Northshore), Slidell


Carr Drive, Slidell


Amid the new buildings stand gutted homes, seemingly begging for residents. Kinda sad

New Orleans Nightscapes

I love photography. So much so that I usually always have my digital camera with me, hoping for a shot. That's how I came across this one:


So last week, hubby & I were at the Covington Three Rivers Arts Festival (a glorified street fair) and we spotted a photographer who takes pictures of
New Orleans houses at night using the floodlight structures used in filming
movies. His pictures are incredible!!! He's been doing in since 2004 and has
pictures from after the storm that are beautifully tragic. He is an artist.

His gallery is here
If I could afford his work, I'd have it in a minute.

So if you are interested in New Orleans architecture, visit his website.

Levees.org video

The perpetually resourceful Greg Peters has taken the Levees dot org
video and saved it down to flash player. It may not be available in
Youtube anymore due to the COE's threat of a lawsuit, but it's still alive.

Thanks, Greg!

Mark Folse
oh-so-eloquently details the background story better than I ever could

Scuzzbucket of the Week

A Redneck from Lincoln Parish was cited on Oct. 28 for several deer hunting violations on Owens Road in Ouachita Parish.
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Division agents cited Jason E. Flowers, 33, of Ruston, after they observed him allegedly stop his vehicle at approximately 6:20 p.m. and shoot from the roadway at deer that were standing on a pipeline.As agents approached, they noticed what appeared to be a rifle barrel sticking out of the driver's side window. Flowers admitted to shooting from the roadway at one of the deer. Agents looked for the deer but determined the two shots missed.

Flowers was cited for hunting deer from a public road, hunting deer from a moving vehicle and discharging a firearm from a public road.
The penalty for hunting deer from a public road is a fine between $100 and $350 or jail for 60 days or both, plus court costs. Hunting from a moving vehicle carries a fine between $250 and $500 or jail for 90 days or both, plus court costs. Discharging a firearm from a public road is punishable by a fine of $50 or jail for 30 days or both, plus court costs.

VoTech Recovery

Slidell VoTech has been dormant since Katrina hit over two years ago.
(click on pictures for full-sized version)


Heck, the sign hasn't been changed since before the storm.
Curious as to what will happen with the building, I did some googling and found a few things.

From
New Orleans City Business dot com Louisiana Technical College Provost Kim Rugon said job training facilities were the hardest to replace since expensive equipment is needed to teach welding and machine shop skills.

“You go to rebuild your house and you have to wait eight months for an electrician and why is that? Because we can’t train them because we don’t have the facilities,” Rugon said.

If the $11 million in bonds to rebuild LTC campuses in the Ninth Ward and Slidell doesn’t arrive soon, Rugon said the future looks as dark.

“It is going to be like Katrina hit again,” she said.•

Then I ran across this at the St. Tammany Parish School Board website .....plans are to build a consolidated college and high school campus on 25 acres near Lacombe. The space allocated to each institution has not yet been finalized.
...The learning park, referred to as “University Square,” would include facilities for Southeastern Louisiana University, the University of New Orleans, and Delgado Community College and would be the first complex in the state where colleges share the same site. The high school would teach advanced courses in science, technology, and the arts..... Officials hope to make vocational-technical training also a part of the concept, since the Slidell Technical College was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina two years ago and has not been rebuilt. Vo-tech students from St. Tammany have had to travel to out-of-parish campuses in Bogalusa and Hammond to complete their programs. Parish President Davis said the Parish would not wait for the vo-tech school in Slidell to be rebuilt by the state. “We want to move on this,” he stated.


View Larger Map

The site lies east of Louisiana 434 and north of Interstate 12. Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Development Co., part of one of the largest timber producing companies in the nation, donated the land, which is part of 885 acres set aside for a town center development surrounded by 1,400 homes.

The high school component would accommodate about 300 students. Students from all public high schools would have the opportunity to take advanced studies in science, technology, and the arts in a university-like setting. St. Tammany Parish Public School System Superintendent Gayle Sloan said that the students would still be based at their home high schools and attend the basic academic classes and extracurricular activities there, then travel to the centrally-located high school for special studies. Students would be expected to be self-motivated, focused in their studies, and well-disciplined.

“This is going to be a fantastic opportunity for us,” Mrs. Sloan stated. 'We see this learning park having tremendous potential for all of our students. The park is intended to meet the diverse needs of our entire Parish community.”

Farewell

Published in April of 2007 , the initial 2007 Hurricane Season predictions looked ominous

Now that the season is just about over, let's see how well they've done:
From the weather geek at Pajamas media dot com:
Thus far, 2007 has seen 14 named storms, five hurricanes and two major hurricanes — one of which, Hurricane Dean, was the third-most intense major hurricane ever recorded at landfall in the Atlantic basin. This season also set several records for rapid intensification, and was just the fourth season ever to witness two Category Five hurricanes (Dean and Felix), as well as the first ever in which two hurricanes made landfall while at Cat. 5 status.


Ryan N. Maue Meteorology PhD Candidate at FSU
The Center for Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS) looks at the 2007 Hurricane Season in the Northern Hemisphere:

During past 30 years, only 1977 has had less activity to date Jan 1-Nov 7. For the period of June 1 - Oct 31, only 1977 has experienced LESS tropical cyclone activity than 2007.

So this weekend I'll unpack my "evacuation boxes" of food and assorted things one would need when leaving home because of an approaching maelstrom in the Gulf.

Farewell 2007 Hurricane Season. For six months we don't have to worry about checking in at the Weather Channel or Weather Underground's tropical webpage on a daily basis.

Native Son Returns

New Orleans will soon be welcoming home a New Orleans native and his wife.

Jeff St. Romain is leaving his post as president of Volunteers of America in Salt Lake City to return to his native New Orleans.
From A Utah news article
St. Romain said he and his wife, Kathy, have felt called to return to their hometown since Hurricane Katrina, which displaced thousands of people, including dozens of their relatives.
"Ever since Katrina hit, both my wife and I have really been pulled by what our family has gone through . . . and what the community went through," he said. "We had feeling we wanted to do something."
St. Romain will become vice president of administration and planning at the VOA office covering greater New Orleans.
Kathy St. Romain, now an operating room nurse at University Hospital, plans to seek a similar position amidst what St. Romain describes as a "desperate" need for nurses in New Orleans.

Good news for New Orleans!

He has all the answers

Ray Nagin was in Pensacola this week acting as if he were a successful leader . Perhaps Ray should practice what he preaches.

Thanks to Forgotston dot com for the heads up.

Veterans Day

To all who've served or are serving, my sincere thanks for you unselfishness and patriotism.

Katrina Art Show

Folsom resident and New Orleans native
Rolland Golden's work, KATRINA: DAYS OF TERROR, MONTHS OF ANGUISH
will show at NOMA beginning this weekend.


From the Times Picayune
One hundred trees crashed down around Golden's home in Folsom when Katrina struck. He protected his trove of art from the leaking roof, then fled to Jackson, Miss., to wait for power and other services to be restored. It was Sept. 27 when he first toured New Orleans, where he was born and had lived most of his adult life.
Working from his own photographs, television images and memory, Golden began rendering grim but oddly magnetic visions of the damaged city. Unexpectedly, his usually upbeat artistic gamesmanship blended perfectly with the bitter circumstance. A flood victim's plaid shirt symbolically merges with the ruined roof line in the background, as if he literally were covered with the disaster. A row of ghostly hands reaches from the water to form a secondary flood line, leaving the indelible mark of those who perished. Around a swamped school bus, chalkboard letters mix eerily with other floating debris, implying, perhaps, that innocence is still another casualty of the flood. The black and orange stripes of police barricades become Halloween decorations, blending the frightful date with the frightful situation.


These incredibly sad paintings are so sharp, so well done.
They capture the ravaged landscape caused by the federal flood in stinging detail.

Mr. Golden's body of work encompasses themes such as
Landscapes
Musicians
French Scenes
Cows
Games & Borderline Sur-realism
Sunsets
Southern Scenes
Roads & Highways
Snow Scenes


Here are the details of the show:
KATRINA: DAYS OF TERROR, MONTHS OF ANGUISH BY ROLLAND GOLDEN
What:Career-topping exhibit of subtly surrealistic paintings with post-Katrina subjects, by the well-known regional artist.
Where: New Orleans Museum of Art, City Park, (504) 658-4100.
When: Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum will be closed Saturday to prepare for the annual Odyssey Ball. The exhibit opens to the public Sunday, through Feb. 17.
Admission: Louisiana residents free. Nonresident admission: Adults $7, seniors $6, children (3 to 17) $3, younger than 3 free.

Diversion

From Busters Route blog an enjoyable day in the life of a carriage driver in New Orleans. It'll make you laugh.

Scuzzbucket of the Week

Katayna Duhe
From WWL TV:

Seventh District officers were called to the Chevron gas station in the 7000 block of Crowder Blvd. Tuesday afternoon after the owner reported seeing the toddler wearing only shorts and socks standing alone inside the store. The owner notified police after he could not locate the boy’s parents.

Duhe had called police in hopes of reuniting with the boy Tuesday night, but a detective with the NOPD Juvenile Bureau said she never showed up to pick up her son, identified as Kindall Sanders Jr. A social worker with the Office of Community Services told Eyewitness News that Duhe never called that evening after the boy was placed in foster care.

Duhe turned herself over to authorities around 10 a.m. Wednesday and was charged with child neglect, cruelty to a juvenile and a separate fugitive attachment

She has two other children who have been placed in the care of others.

God help the judge that gives these children back to this bitch.

Cliff's anger mirrors a lot of people in this matter

H.C. Jr's Lincoln commercial

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from the Dave Walker's
column in the Times Picayune
Originally aired during the Saints' Sunday night football game on October 14th,
the spot, which puts Harry Connick Jr. behind the wheel of an MKX-propelled tour of town that eventually winds its way to the Musicians Village in the 9th Ward, made its national debut early in the Oct. 14 "Sunday Night Football" broadcast featuring the New Orleans Saints and the Seattle Seahawks.
The ad begins on the Crescent City Connection, with Connick explaining that was his route back into the city in the darkest days after the storm.

A spin to Bourbon Street allows the musician to explain that's where he played his first gig.

St. Louis Cathedral, he then says, is where he was married.

From there, it's on to Lakeview and the now-vacant lot that once held the home in which Connick grew up.

Noting that before that moment, he hadn't seen the lot without the flood-ruined house still on it, a resigned Connick says, "That's that part of my life."

The commercial concludes with Connick's arrival at the Musicians Village (a Habitat for Humanity project conceived by Connick and fellow musician Branford Marsalis), delivering tubs of crawfish for a party from the back of his cool ride.

My dream is to get the good times rolling again in my hometown, he says.

The commercial is the latest installment in a series of Lincoln commercials the car company calls "Dreams."

The Future

From WWL TV's website:

NASA's Michoud facility was back up and running shortly after the storm making sure the shuttle program did not miss a beat.

The giant external fuel tank has been manufactured here, and as important as this project is, the future here is even more amazing.

For the first time the manned orbiter will be built at the New Orleans East facility for the Ares I spacecraft along with most of the Ares V, which will be an unmanned cargo ship. All of this is for NASA’s Constellation program.

I've been part of the Shuttle program for 25 years. Whether I'm part of Constellation remains to be seen, but I find the prospect of going to the moon again exciting. I guess the space program is a "love it or hate it" proposition and that's what America's all about. I know, I know...... how many homeless people could we feed with that money???.....there isn't human life in space so why not spend money on the lives we have here on earth......We have already been to the places we can go in outer space, and nothing is left but repeat performances. Our priority should be the people on Earth who are stuck here living in poverty and in harsh conditions and with disease that has no cure!!!
When we fix ourselves, we can "fix" the rest of the universe!!!
We have very powerful telescopes on earth and out in space to watch for any new developements...... Human beings with souls are dying needlessly and they are suffering HERE and NOW..... yeah, yeah, yeah. But you know what? If there weren't a space program, there'd STILL be homeless, hungry people.

Spinoffs from our almost 50 years in space include things that are used every day by millions. Even things that can benefit sick people. Imagine that!! Here's the short list:


The most accurate topographical map of the Earth.

Ultraviolet protection suits for people with rare intolerance to UV light, known xeroderma pigmentosum.

Heart pump based on technology of space shuttle's fuel pumps. It's two inches long, one inch in diameter, and weighs less than four ounces.

Efficient autos and planes benefiting from NASA wind tunnel and aerodynamic expertise.

New metal alloys based on research for the space station program.

Thermal protection blankets used in everything from fire fighters suits to survival gear for cold environments.

Robots and robotic software with wide-ranging uses that include auto-assembly plants, hazardous material handling, monitoring in dangerous environments, distribution and packaging facilities, etc.

Lightweight composite materials that benefit cars, airplanes, camping gear, etc.

Perfect protein crystals grown in zero gravity; used for more pure pharmaceutical drugs, foods and an assortment of other crystalline-based products including insulin for diabetes patients.

Better understanding of the Earth and its environmental response to natural and human-induced variations such as air quality, climate, land use, food production as well as monitoring quality of our oceans and fresh water.

Improvements in energy use efficiency.

More responsible use of air and water in private and commercial buildings.

Automated maintenance functions for buildings and new lower-cost building construction techniques.

Smoke detectors for homes and commercial buildings.

Air purification systems used to by hospitals to provide pure oxygen for patients.
High-bandwidth and optical communications systems.

Technology for cordless tools such as drills, shrub trimmers and rechargeable flashlights.

Growth of zeolite crystals that have the potential to reduce the cost of petroleum and to store new types of fuels like hydrogen, which is abundant and pollution-free. This technology could be used in hydrogen-powered cars.

Fire-fighting systems that battle blazes with a fine mist, rather than environmentally harmful chemicals.

Sunglasses that block certain types of light - blue, violet, and ultraviolet - that could hurt the eyes. These sunglasses block the hazardous light, while allowing light that is good for vision to pass through the lens.

Solar power collection.

Air filtration systems that can kill all types of harmful bacteria - even anthrax -- and remove allergens from the air with better than 90 percent efficiency.

Ultralight solar concentrators that gather power from the Sun and efficiently convert it into electrical power. Applications for this technology on Earth are limitless.

Water purification methods using ions (an atom or group of atoms carrying a positive or negative electrical charge). Used in water filtering systems to remove lead, chlorine, bad taste and odor. Newer purification systems also remove contaminants such as perchlorate and nitrate.

"Power Pads" to cushion a horse's hooves, protecting against injuries and helping ease discomfort associated with brittle hooves or arthritis.

Disposable diapers.

Devices for collection and real-time analysis of blood, and other bodily fluids, without the need for centrifugation. Huge potential for hospitals and for remote units to monitor individuals with health problems.

Lighter artificial limbs that are virtually indestructible; based on foam insulation used to protect the Shuttle's external fuel tank. (courtesy of Michoud)

Computer-aided tomography (CATScan) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for imaging the body and its organs.

Light-emitting diodes used in photodynamic therapy. These diodes are used in a form of chemotherapy that kills cancerous tumors.

Infrared sensors used in hand-held optical sensor thermometers. These devices can measure temperature in the ear canal in two seconds or less.

Devices used to diagnose and treat patients suffering head injury, stroke, chronic dizziness and disorders of the central nervous system.

Compact laboratory instruments for hospitals and doctor offices that analyze blood in 30 seconds what once took 20 minutes.

Land mine removal using flare device and leftover fuel donated from NASA.

Technology which allows vehicles to transmit a signal back to a home base. Used to track and reassign emergency and public works vehicles; also track vehicle operations such as taxis, armored cars and vehicles carrying hazardous cargo. Now used to recover stolen vehicles.

Cutters using small explosive charges used by emergency rescue personnel to quickly extract accident victims.

Image-processing technology used remove defects due to image jitter, image rotation and image zoom in video sequences. Used by law enforcement agencies to improve crime-solving videos; doctors in medical imaging; scientific applications and even home video cameras.

Gas leak-detection system used by Ford in natural gas-powered car.

Method of labeling products with invisible and virtually indestructible markings - used on electronic parts, pharmaceuticals and livestock -- in fact it could be used on just about anything.

Fire resistant foam used as thermal and acoustical insulation in aerospace, marine and industrial products. Also used as for fire barriers, packaging and other applications requiring either high-temperature or very low-temperature insulation. Used by Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, and Airbus for for major weight savings in aircraft.

Hand-held camera which firefighters use to pinpoint the hotspots of wildfires.

Safer soldering base for jewelers using torches in jewelry assembly. Based on heat-shield tiles of shuttle instead of hazardous asbestos bases previously used.

Quick-connect fasteners used by firefighters and nuclear power-plant repair technicians.

Game-controlling joystick for computers and entertainment systems.

Spray lube used for rust prevention; loosening corroded nuts; cleaning and lubricating guns and fishing reels; and lubricating and reducing engine friction.
World-wide television broadcasts.

Home insulation system which provides significant savings in home heating and cooling costs - uses technology of aluminum heat shield developed for Apollo spacecraft.

Laser technology used in artery catheters to spot areas of blockage and fire short bursts of laser beams to vaporize them - a "cool" laser providing thousands of patients with an alternative to heart bypass surgery.

New charged coupled devices (CCDs) used in breast examinations (mammographies) which images breast tissue more clearly than conventional x-rays. Doctors then use a specially designed needle to extract a tiny sample (instead of a scalpel) saving time, money and pain.

"Smart" forceps made of composite material, with embedded fiber optics. These obstetrical forceps allow doctors to measure the amount of pressure being applied to an infant's head during delivery.

Small pill-shaped transmitters Used to monitor intestinal activity; blood pressure and temperature of infants still inside the womb; body functions of athletes and high-stress professionals such as firefighters and soldiers.

Technology to quickly arrange and analyze human chromosomes and detect genetic abnormalities that could lead to disease in infants.

Image processing software used in dermatology analysis to "decode" the shadow patterns and provided accurate heights and depths.

Roofs based on moonsuits that look stiff, but are flexible and expand in heat and contract in cold. Used as covering of malls, stadiums and new airports like Denver International.

Padding in helmets, shin guards, chest protectors and aircraft seating.

Golf balls with greater accuracy and distance.

Lightning protection systems for aircraft.

Windshear detection and warning system for aircraft.

Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TACS) now used by virtually all passenger aircraft.

Monitoring system which scans important documents at certain times and compares the differences between the images. The system detects changes in contrast, shape and other features. Used by museums and the National Archives to monitor historic documents and plan a way to stop any damage.

Landsat imagery to discover unknown archeology sites; reveal ancient coastlines; manage the harvesting of fish in the world’s oceans; calculate how well crops are doing, etc.

Robotic mother pigs which keep piglet formula (milk) cool until it is needed then heats and delivers the right amount at feeding time.

Improved spray nozzles for crop dusters.

New breathing system for firefighters made up of a face mask, frame and harness, warning device, and air bottle. Weighs one-third less than old gear.

Virtual reality simulators for medical operations, flight training, truck driving, etc.

Hydroponics used by vegetable farmers to grow crops without soil.

Fluorometer instrument used to monitor plankton in the world's oceans. Instrument measures amount of glow given off by plankton and other marine life that consume sunlight in their photosynthesis process. Much of the world’s oxygen comes from plankton.

Oil spill cleanup using beeswax microcapsules. The beeswax balls absorb oil and keep water out. Absorbed oil is digested by microorganism enzymes inside the ball. When the balls get full of digested oil, they explode and release environmentally safe enzymes, carbon dioxide and water.

Software to match and track whales.

DirectTV.

Satellite radio.

Fire-Resistant Aircraft Seats.

"Cool suit" which helps to improve the quality of life of multiple sclerosis patients.

Pacemaker that can be programmed from outside the body.

Instruments to measure bone loss and bone density, without penetrating the skin.

Implant for delivering insulin to diabetics that provides more precise control of blood sugar levels and frees diabetics from the burden of daily insulin injections.
Device for growing ovarian tumors so that tumors can be studied outside the body, without harm to the patient.

THE LIST GOES ON AND ON! Want to read about more benefits?Go to Google and enter a search for "Benefits of the Space Program". You will be overwhelmed with information.

A 30 Foot Tall Thanks

A project conceived by a resident of Diamondhead, Mississippi, The Hurricane Katrina Volunteer Memorial is currently underway. From the October issue of New Orleans Magazine

Expressions of gratitude to the many thousands of volunteers who flocked to the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina have ranged from teary embraces to thank you dinners and official presentations. .....the project is planned for the highway welcome center on the Louisiana-Mississippi border....The Mississippi legislature has authorized the use of a portion of the I-10 Welcome Center in Hancock County.

Plans for the memorial come as the region has begun assessing just how valuable the goodwill of volunteers has been to the long recovery.

The Corporation for National and Community Service reports that more than 550,000 Americans participated in the volunteer effort in the first year after Katrina and that approximately 600,000 came during the second year. Together these 1.1 million people have performed some 14 million hours of volunteer work.

What an awesome idea. If you're interested in making a donation as a way of thanking the thousands - no MILLIONS - of volunteers, go to Katrina Volunteers Memorial Fountain website .
Their motto:
When we were down, They were there for Us.
Help us say Thank You

The fountain sounds interesting



the focal point of the memorial fountain will be a wave shaped obelisk standing 30 feet tall to symbolize the towering storm surge that hit parts of the Gulf Coast. A long granite wall in front of the fountain will mount bronze plaques describing the disaster and the dedication of volunteers and listing of the donors who contribute to funding the project, as well as the names of all the communities across the Gulf Coast affected by Katrina

World Class New Orleans talks about the much talked about attempts by the media to compare Katrina to the California wildfires . The post also shows contains a link to John Stewart's thoughts. It's worth the look.

Thirsting for Redemption

How Pathetic can FEMA get?


Last Tuesday's news conference looked like another success in the Bush Administration's effort to demonstrate it could respond competently to a catastrophe.
However, on Friday the agency admitted the questions were posed by its own employees, not reporters. On Saturday the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, expressed anger and dismay and vowed disciplinary action.
The White House also expressed its displeasure. "It is not a practice that we would employ here at the White House," said the spokeswoman Dana Perino, mentioning three times that it was an "error in judgment".


After witnessing first hand the disaster that is the FEMA, I sadly am not surprised. Ditto for the White House.

The list of failures on the part of FEMA post Katrina is endless. A few examples:

The FEMA Trailer costs


Those displaced by Hurricane Katrina and seeking a temporary trailer don't get to kick the tires or discuss financing plans, but a look at the ultimate sticker price might make them wish they could: $59,800.
That's the cost to taxpayers for the trailer's 18-month "life cycle," according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. If FEMA offered the cash instead to hurricane victims, they might be able to spend the $3,322 per month in New Orleans on some housing more enticing than a box on wheels.


Formaldehyde ridden trailers


More waste:

The agency spent $632 million to subsidize hotel rooms for tens of thousands of families at an average cost of $2,400 a month, three times what it later paid families to rent two-bedroom apartments.
· The agency spent $249 million to secure 8,136 cruise-ship cabins for six months, at a cost that Inspector General Richard L. Skinner estimated at $5,100 a month per passenger. That is six times the cost of renting two-bedroom apartments


more screwups
Washington Post says


Among the many superlatives associated with Hurricane Katrina can now be added this one: it produced one of the most extraordinary displays of scams, schemes and stupefying bureaucratic bungles in modern history, costing taxpayers up to $2 billion.



The $12.5M waste of ice

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has all this two-year old ice it doesn't know what to do with, ice it bought both pre- and post-Hurricane Katrina as part of its preparations and response effort.
How much ice? Around nearly 225 million pounds. That's a lot of margaritas.
But the problem is you probably wouldn't want to use them that way since there are questions about just how safe two-year old ice would be to drink. A lot of Americans would be willing to take their chances but the Centers for Disease Control is already plenty busy.



Sure this is all old news. But these heartless inept assclowns have no limit to how low they'll go to redeem their "image".
History speaks for itself.

Update:
FEMA Finds a fall guy

Regis' brother Pat fired

Oh, yeah...

Congrats to my "home" team

Reminders

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

A Pair of Scuzzbuckets

Scuzzbuckets of the week
Racist bloggers
Narrowminded, racist bloggers

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!!!

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!!!

Voice of the Wetlands

Under sunny skies and dry, cool weather we ventured south to Houma to
attend the Voice of the Wetlands Festival.



Held at Southdown Plantation, this somewhat small festival was chock full of information,
displays and handouts discussing the dangerous situation that our wetlands are facing, particularly in Louisiana..

This was the fourth VOW festival and I'm hoping that in the near future that it becomes more well-known around the world.

During Katrina and Rita Louisiana lost over 215 miles of wetlands due to the erosion caused by the storms. This affects not just the people who live near the wetlands,
"but the whole country. From the VOW website The wetlands of Louisiana fade daily due to erosion - at the rate of one football field an hour. When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Mississippi with levees, it cut the river's ability to hold back the power of the Gulf. The Gulf has been winning for nearly 100 years - and its spoils are lost land. In the early 1700s, 215 million acres of wetlands existed in the United States. Now in the beginning of this century, 90 million acres are left. That number is decreasing at a staggering rate.

"


Besides the wealth of information provided at the festival, there were opportunities to buy the poster, hat and T-shirts. Additionally, for $35, you can
take a Voice of the Wetlands discovery flight over the wetlands just outside Houma to witness the deterioration first-hand. I believe that the opportunity to take these flights extends past the festival. Call Hammonds Air Service at (985) 876-0584 to schedule a flight. It's eye opening.


The music was entertaining. Early in the evening was a band from Lafouche/Terrebone called Southern Cross. They were very good.


l-r Johnny Sansone, George Porter, Tab Benoit, Johnny Vidacovitch, Anders Osborne
Can someone help me with the sax player?



At 8 the VOW Allstars took the stage. Comprised of Tab Benoit, Anders Osborne, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, George Porter, Jumpin' Johnny Sansone, Waylon Thibodeaux and Johnny Vidacovitch the VOW Allstars kick ass.
"
NO matter what your taste in music, if you can't appreciate the beauty of Waylon Thibodeaux's playing, you're missing something.

I'm hoping that more aggressive marketing is done for next years fest to get the word out about the dire straights that our wetlands are in.
Right now our useless president is promising to veto the Water Resources Bill
that would put us in just a little more of a precarious situation.

H.R. 1495: Water Resources Development Act of 2007 needs your help. Please send your comments to comments@whitehouse.gov

The Wetlands affect everyone. There are many grass roots efforts taking place to restore our wetlands
Helping restore our wetlands is not a pipe dream. It's a necessary job.

Further reading on the importance of our Wetlands
" Nature's Revenge: Louisiana's Vanishing Wetlands
- September 2002
- From Joshua Clark via the Boston Globe - "Disaster is only One Marsh Away"


From the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank :
We are the Student Hurricane Network, one thousand law students from over 70 of the nation's finest law schools who traveled to New Orleans and other affected areas of the Gulf Coast to provide legal services between semesters and springs breaks. We have been to the source. We have born witness to the incredible effects of the greatest "failure of state" in American history, and we are deeply concerned. Now, we are calling on the legal resources of the nation to build a single, complete case to prove responsibility, force accountability and demand a comprehensive and sustainable solution.

Stuffage

Signs of progress in NOLA


Wishful thinking

If they'd done
this earlier, Nagin wouldn't be a problem




VOW fest starts Friday.
How can you say no to a FREE festival featuring The Voice of the Wetlands Allstars?

Get Gambit this week if you like to eat out The October 9th issue
has a Fall Restaurant Guide

The Brock Project

I stumbled across this website this morning.

Initiated by the Mayor of New Hyde Park, NY and the Principal of The Road School in the same town, the fine folks there are hoping to raise one million dollars to assist in the rebuilding of Brock Elementary School in Slidell, Louisiana.


Wow. How many other projects are under way for this whole area that - unless we search day and night on different news venues - we don't know about.

As the first public school in Slidell, Brock Elementary School was the oldest school in the parish still in use as a school when Hurricane Katrina devastated it.
It's scheduled to reopen in August 2008. A construction contract has been awarded and repairs to the facility have already begun. The school serves 300 students in grades K-5. Students are currently being educated in temporary facilities.

Damages to the school were significant enough to warrant a replacement facility. However, due to the school's historical significance and eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, St. Tammany education officials decided instead to repair the school, which first opened in 1942.

Because South Slidell suffered the greatest devastation from Katrina, many of the same families who attended the school and have children who attended the school lost their homes and belongings as well. With the School System announcement that Brock Elementary School would be restored, a groundswell of gratitude, joy, and hope from the community has surfaced.

To date, FEMA has obligated over $8.3 million toward Brock Elementary School, which includes emergency protective measures and permanent repairs.

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Dan Petruccio, Mayor of New Hyde Park
and Peggy Marenghi, Principal of The Road School as well as all of the wonderful giving, caring people throughout the world who still continue to give to help this area recover from the storm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More from the Times Picayune


With construction under way, school and FEMA officials say flood-damaged Brock Elementary School is on track to reopen for the 2008-09 school year.

"The project is going well," said Gayle Sloan, superintendent for St. Tammany Parish schools. "We're still very hopeful that it will be ready to return students to in the fall."

Brock has not reopened at its campus on Brakefield Street in Slidell since the school building was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Its 300 students in kindergarten through fifth-grade are attending classes in modular buildings at St. Tammany Junior High School in Slidell's Olde Towne district.

The damage sustained after the storm was significant enough to warrant building a new facility, school officials said, but they chose instead to renovate the school.

Brock, which opened as a grammar school in 1942, was granted historic status by the National Register of Historic Places last year. Because of that listing, officials handling the restoration must follow a strict set of federal guidelines.

"Brock is an important community institution, and local residents are eager to see the reconstruction of this school, which has served several generations," Deputy Superintendent Trey Folse said.

"The school is not only an important landmark but also a positive, effective center of learning. The rebuilding of Brock will be an inspiring example for a revitalized community hard hit by disaster."

FEMA has obligated more than $8.3 million for construction at Brock, which includes emergency protection and repairs.

Independence contractor Frank A. Anzalone was hired in June to do the repairs, which will cost a little more than $8.5 million, Folse said.

Renovation plans include replacing the wooden gymnasium floor with a synthetic floor, replacing the building's wooden doors with water-resistant fiberglass ones and using stainless-steel hardware for the doors, he said.

The site has undergone many changes since the community's first high school occupied the space and graduated its first class in 1909. In 1911, a three-story brick building was constructed at the site, according to the Brock Elementary School Web site.

That building housed the first through 11th grades until 1925, when a new high school was built on Third Street. During this time, a teacher and librarian at the grammar school began the first elementary school library in the state, according to the school's Web site.

Undergoing extensive repairs in 1939 and then destroyed by a fire in 1951, the school was renamed in 1972 in honor of Glynn H. Brock, who served as principal from 1932 to 1951.

Odd Beauty

A photo over at Slimbolala's blog shows the beautiful individuality of a New Orleans neighborhood.

Mr Cerasoli

Prytania Waterline has all I need to say posted
here.

The Chicory dicusses the IG's interview on WWL radio

Schroeder dicusses this issue here

kville

I thought I'd give "Kville" another chance last night, but the episode started out with a voodoo-themed murder .

What a piece of crap. New Orleans has so much to offer, they wouldn't need writers for this program. Ah, Hollywood, your head's up your ass once again.


I'm not alone in my opinion, it seems

Some good stuff

If you're not an animal lover, you may not enjoy reading this, probably thinking that the dollars discussed below could go to "something better". To each his own, I guess.


From the HSUS website, the article
Stronger Than Before: Two Years after Katrina, Gulf Coast Animal Groups Rebound

The metamorphosis of the LA SPCA is perhaps the most spectacular example of revitalization and renewal that has emerged from the wake of Katrina’s ruinous assault. Once housed in a rundown building of mid-twentieth century vintage on Japonica Street in the poverty-plagued Ninth Ward, the organization now occupies the 12-acre Dorothy Dorsett Brown Louisiana SPCA Campus, with an $8 million dollar, 21,000 square foot central building.


In October 2005 Louisiana SPCA director Laura Maloney recalls

an incredible sadness that fills me daily for the animals of New Orleans. The rottweiler, the pit bull, the German shepherd mix that died in flood waters after being left tethered to a fence or a porch or a balcony. The animals whose owners did not have the means to evacuate and who were left behind as their caretakers were rescued from the roofs of homes overcome with waters from breached levees. The dogs whose top coat peeled away as easily as a banana skin after days of swimming in pools of contaminated waters, slick with oil, silt, and salt from Lake Pontchartrain. When I think of the animals, I’m filled with an incredible sense of loss, sadness, and even anger. Katrina brought our pet overpopulation problem national attention and exposed the high level of neglect and lack of care for a large portion of New Orleans’ furred friends.



The Humane Society of the US has sent $8.35 million in reconstruction grants to 45 facilities in the region. And that money has gone a long way.

Some examples include:

The Ascension Parish shelter renovated its puppy and kitten nursery, with the goal of increasing its adoption rate. An animal evacuation facility which exhausted all of its supplies during Katrina is now stocked with the equipment and material necessary to meet the next disaster.

Avoyelles, a cash-strapped parish on the route of escape from storms threatening the Louisiana coast now has a pet-friendly evacuation shelter.

The Clearwater Wildlife Sanctuary in Covington, Louisiana facility has a new barn with housing for domestic and wild animals and a visitors center that gives children access to humane and wildlife conservation education.

The Humane Society of Louisiana in New Orleans, the Ascension Parish shelter in Sorrento, Louisiana, and the Washington Humane Society in Bogalusa, Louisiana have new vehicles for animal transport.

Take Action, New Orleans residents!!!

via email from a coworker who lives in New Orleans East:


Dear Residents of Eastern New Orleans,

I am emailing you to inform you of a zoning docket that will be up
for public comment on October 9 at 1:30PM in the City Council
Chamber, in regards to a zoning change
from RD-2 (Residential Housing) and C-1 (Commercial District)
to LI (Light Industrial)in order to permit a trailer park at
9901 Chef Menteur Highway (Chef and Read).

This zoning change will hinder our efforts to revitalize the
Chef Menteur corridor to be a vibrant gateway into
Eastern New Orleans by placing a trailer park in a vital area
of development. The businesses this proposed site such as
Crystal Palace, Winn Dixie have and will return to better
than what they were before the storm adding to the charm of
Eastern New Orleans.

Chef Menteur Highway also serves as one of the routes to the
Plaza and a trailer park would be nothing but an eyesore.
Furthermore we want to make sure that there is quality safe
housing available for residents of Eastern New Orleans not
temporary housing. This zoning proposal comes at a time when
our communities have returned, rebuilt our homes, have brought
a wealth of businesses back to Eastern New Orleans, and have
committed to rebuilding a stronger, safer, and more economically
vibrant neighborhood.

I am urging each of you and your members to oppose this request
by writing a letter of opposition and attend the City Planning
Commission Public Hearing on October 9 at 1:30pm to
express your concerns.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Thank you for your help.

Mai Thuy Tran Dang
Community Organizer
MQVN CDC, Inc.
504.255.9170 office
504.344.7806 cell
504.255.9001 fax



express your concerns to:

Cynthia Wilaard-Lewis:cwlewis@cityofno.com
The City Council also has oversight in regards to zoning changes.

Ms. Leslie Alley
Assistant Director
City Planning Commission of New Orleans
email : ltalley@cityofno.com
1300 Perdido Street
Room 9W03
New Orleans, LA 70112

or

Ms. Yolanda Rodriguez
Executive Director
City Planning Commission of New Orleans
email : ywrodriguez@cityofno.com
1300 Perdido Street
Room 9W03
New Orleans, LA 70112


click here for a form letter

==

Resurrection

Multi-faceted artist and Slidell native Phil Galatas has created a beautiful poster detailing the area's recovery from Katrina.


From his biography, written by Bernadette Duet, we find his inspiration for this poster

He saw a shadow of a noble, majestic, fleur de lis rising from the calm waters of
Pontchartrain surrounded by the glorious, vibrant hues of a Louisiana sunset. In contrast, he poised another shadow of a fleur de lis in the murky waters below, giving it an ominous edge – a subtle reminder of the ravage of Hurricane Katrina

This painting, sure to touch the hearts of many, shares a little piece of each of us who were affected by the hurricane. It is a prominent symbol of hope in desperate times. It is an affirmation that, amidst the trials and the tears, we will survive and truly resurrect our hearts, our minds, and the spirit of the land we know so well, our beloved Louisiana.

The poster will be used as the label for a merlot that will be available on October 16th at the Wine Market in Slidell.
What the above picture doesn't show is some of the beautiful detail that Mr. Galatas has included in the iris itself. What appears to be an orange top of the flower is actually a live oak tree, representing the oaks that survived Katrina's carnage. Word is that another "Resurrection" poster will soon be available for the label of a white wine and the live oak will be a cypress, representing all of the cypress trees that withstood Katrina's onslaught. I have purchased a poster and can tell you that the picture above doesn't do the real thing justice.
The poster is currently for sale and can be purchased by contacting Donna Penny at pennyiii@bellsouth.net. It's available as a poster, a signed poster or a signed and numbered print.

Scuzzbuckets of the Week

MESA, Arizona Oct. 3 (UPI) -- The sight of an old man being hit by a truck in Arizona touched off a feeding frenzy among witnesses who allegedly stole the dying victim's groceries.
sick sick sick sick sick people.

Thru Childrens' Eyes

Katrina Through the Eyes of Children is a sampling of the cathartic art that has been created in a collaborative effort between the children who live in Renaissance Village, (in Baker, Louisiana)

currently the largest FEMA trailer site in the country, and teams of registered art therapists who have been working with them since October 2005.

An eye opener for us all, this project brings home what the children affected by the storm were/are feeling. It wasn't just what was shown on CNN. Katrina profoundly touched everyone in the Gulf Coast area. And only the future will show us the long term affects of this disastrophe on the kids.

Related link:
Two Years After the Storm

Farewell, Sheriff Lee

Harry Lee has passed.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff was born in New Orleans and passed away October 1, 2007 from leukemia. Say what you want about him, but he never pulled and P.C. bullshit like most politicians do. He called it how he saw it. You'll be missed, Harry.

Voice of the Wetlands Festival

The fourth annual Voice of the Wetlands fest will be held October 12-14 at Southdown Plantation in Houma. Here's a link to the flyer

The Voice of the Wetlands' president is none other than Louisiana native Tab Benoit.

This very talented blues guitarist started the VOW in 2003 to bring attention to the vanishing coastline of Louisiana. Besides the fantastic line up of music, there will be flights over the Louisiana wetlands available for $35 per person in groups of 3.
To take advantage of this special rate, please call Hammond's Air Service (985) 876-0584 or you can click here for more contact information.

Hubby & I will be in attendance on the 13th where we look forward to seeing the VOW Allstars, featuring Tab Benoit, Jumpin' Johnny Sansone, Anders Osborne, Louisiana's "rockin fiddler" Waylon Thibodeaux and Big Chief of the Mardi Gras Indian tribe, the Golden Eagles Monk Boudreaux

So come on down to Houma and enjoy the music and get educated on the Wetlands.

Walker Website

I checked out a website of someone who left a comment on this blog. She's from Buras, Louisiana.

Her website details what became of Buras and all of Plaquemine Parish during and after Katrina. She also provides links to the different areas of the Parish and how they were affected and how they are recovering, from Industry to Schools to Agriculture and Livestock. This site is definitely worth a visit if you want to know what's going on down south of New Orleans. It's an extremely comprehensive website.

Plaquemines Parish is eroding away thanks to the barrier islands of Louisiana eroding at an extreme rate. In places up to 100 feet of shoreline are disappearing every year..

messenger

Go here to create your own.

A lesson on the Wetlands

Hat tip to Varg

What will it take?

We Could Be Famous: Embarrassing Dysfunction in N.O. Criminal Justice System

Nagin

Chris Rose has written an article about the in-name-only mayor of New Orleans.


Here's a little taste
The truth is, I don't know what one man can do to fix the problems around here. And that's the rub; we never will know what it would have been like to have an effective leader who unified the community for a common goal and took our fight to those who screw us over, someone who said: This is all wrong.


Right after the storm there was so much hope about bringing the city back. More than 2 years later those hopes have vanished.

As Chris writes
.....we can pretty much rely on our mayor to say or do something of such enormous folly at least once a month that it has become routine and we have now come to accept it as part of the New Normal around here, that's just the way it is


Sad, so sad.