Holiday week

Mark Folse contemplates the future of New Orleans
If we want a city that resembles the one of memory and desire, perhaps it is best if we are left to ourselves to build it. Give me enough people like Shearer, like the New Orleans bloggers listed at right and I believe we can do it: ourselves alone; Sinn Fein, as Ashley says. Going it alone, with fair compensation from the government for the damage they caused, will be painful

EJ finds reasons to make people feel a little better this year. Hell, who knows? Maybe Nagin will miraculously wake up mute next week!


b.rox discusses the wide range of emotions that can be wrought in one day....cognitive dissonance is a way of life here. People know how to combine tragedy and celebration without giving short shrift to either. I think that’s the part of New Orleans culture that I admire the most....

American Zombie talks about another depressing NOLA rumor

R.I.P. Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford passed away on Dec 26 at the age of 93

Give me New Orleans

From Militant Moderate Musing blog, Give me New Orleans

A little ditty expressing love for NOLA and S.E. Louisiana.

Scuzzbucket of the Year

Ray Shut_the_fuck_up Nagin

I'll leave it to these links:
Schroeder pens a "letter" to RayRay

- How Nagin is hurting the city's recovery effort
- He never knows when to shut his mouth
-He continues to spew insanity
-You know, man, Nagin's brain sometimes becomes mush when he talks, man
- This year started with the never-to-be-forgotten chocolate city debacle
-He wants all the money in cyberspace to build a "bigger and better" NOLA
-Nagin is constantly 'stuck on stupid'
-Recall Nagin dot org
-Where's Nagin? dot com. If you see him, let these folks know.
-Mark Folse's inspiring words There’s nothing we can do now to remedy the leaders who hobble us, except to prove them wrong, to write for ourselves the scene that ends not in tragedy but in triumph.
-Loki's opinion on one of the hundreds of bungling Nagin's decisions
-da po blog's piece on Nagin's re-election in May
-Nagin 'gave up' New Orleans for lent last year
-How about when he mentioned that the CIA's out to get him?
-He has no inkling of what's going on!
-Let's not forget the Katrina Extravaganza he wanted to throw to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the storm

Nuff Said

Christmas 2006

Merry Christmas to all.

It has been a good day weatherwise for Christmas. We've experienced some years where it was 80 degrees outside, so we enjoyed spending the day inside, away from the cold wind. I hope all those who are still living in FEMA trailers stayed warm somehow.

My redneck neighbors are shooting off fireworks - aerial ones at that - on Christmas night. My cats are freaked out.

Got a digital camera for Christmas and played with it inside all day....click on photos to enlarge>
GizmoSweetPea

>Midnight
>Oreo
>Meeko

R.I.P. to The Godfather of Soul.
James Brown passed away at the age of 73. Thanks for the wonderful memories, Mr. Brown.

THANK YOU SAINTS!!!!

Blues in New Orleans

Views from New Orleanians about what it's like coming back here 'from the outside'. It causes true depression

Mark Folse discusses the frustration of trying for over 15 months to be on top of the wished-for transformation of New Orleans that some fear may never happen.

Ashley thinks about the April elections that surely slammed the chance for New Orleans to come back better....if not for the f***heads who re-elected CRay.

The Chicory discusses the unknown future of NOLA They say, It’s never going to change.......And perhaps it is that type of attitude that doomed the city in the first place.

To get you in the spirit

From a tv program called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,

The 12/4 episode featured musicians benefiting from The Tipitina's Foundation:
Troy Andrews, Trumpet
Kirk Joseph, Sousaphone
Roderick Paulin, Saxophone
Frederick Shepherd, Saxophone
Stephen Walker, Trombone
Mervin "Kid Merv" Campbell, Trumpet
Bob French, Drums

Click on "download free MP3" link. You'll be glad you did.

My thanks to Dr. Hebert for the heads up.

STILL not okay

Just a few days shy of the 16 month "anniversary" of Katrina's landfall and there is still so much that is not okay in the gulf south. It's hard to imagine without seeing it first hand.

We took my daughter down to the train station in New Orleans (right by the Superdome) so she could visit her boyfriend in Lafayette. The trip from Slidell to New Orleans is a depressing one indeed.

Once across Lake Pontchartrain, the landscape is just miles and miles of depressing, dead trees in the area of Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge as a result of saltwater intrustion due to the storm's path. As you near New Orleans East, you will witness hundreds of gutted, unoccupied apartment complexes and subdivisions. The only sign of life in this area is Home Depot and a few auto dealerships. It remains desolate until you near the I-10 High Rise. It is in this area that you can view the Ninth Ward Here it's not just desolate, it'd downright depressing.

There is much to be done in all areas affected by the storm. Even we who live in this area forget how bad things still are until we venture to and or through them.

To all those who still in some way want to help, it is desperately needed in places like New Orleans East and the 9th Ward.




click picture for full-size version


Been a foggy week in SE Louisiana. Took this early Sunday morning while other parts of the country experienced real winter weather.

Fwinter

We're in fwinter right now. Most places have fall then winter. Here we get a combination of both. I know I'm not alone when I notice that the changing of the leaves on the trees seems to be much brighter this year. Don't know what causes this to happen, but I'm glad it does. Here are some trees across from the Northshore Square Mall. click on images for full-size versions





Typical of SE Louisiana fwinter, it's been foggy all week. Today seems to have the heaviest fog all week. Glad I don't have to commute. Took a ride down to Bayou Liberty to see how the fog looked there





I noticed that sounds are more intense during times of heavy fog, similar to when it snows up north. Kinda neat.

Update 12/17/06
Went by the mall today and all of the trees pictured above are NEKKID!

Take that, Biatch!

KBB thought she would be wonderwoman by calling the special legislative session two weeks before Christmas and play Santa Claus, giving money to everybody so people would remember come election day what a bright, generous leader she was. WRONG!

from today's TP

The House of Representatives struck a crippling blow Wednesday to Gov. Kathleen Blanco's bid for public employee pay raises, road construction dollars and other new spending, refusing for the third straight day to raise a constitutional cap on state spending.

I'd like to thank all of those people who refused to allow the raising of the state spending cap. This lady STILL has no idea how to be an effective leader.
more from the TP
While Blanco had proposed a multitude of tax credits for individuals and companies, only one major change appears destined to become law: House Bill 59 by Rep. Yvonne Dorsey, D-Baton Rouge, which provides the child tax credits at an annual cost to the state treasury of $73 million.


So far in this special session the house okayed tax credits meant to give relief to all homeowners who are paying a 15 percent to 18 percent assessment to keep the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. solvent for claims received after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. "This is a refund tax credit" instead of a cash rebate, Rep. Taylor Townsend, D-Natchitoches(author of the bill) told the House. "The individual has to make the payment first" before a tax credit can be taken. "This says everyone assessed will be able to get the credit," Townsend said.

Like a woman caught at a clearance sale, Mizz Blanco's eyes are ablaze with all of that lovely state revenue, which is actually a result of insurance payments as a result of Katrina and Rita. KBB wanted to give teachers a measly $1500/year raise (that comes out to $28 a week). Wow.

House unanimously approved HB52 for a $300 million incentive to help bring durable goods manufacturer to Louisiana


Today's session's schedule is as follows:


LEGISLATION TO BE CONSIDERED

HB35 TOWNSEND TAX/SALES USE - Provides relative to the sales and use tax exemption for utilities purchased by steelworks, blast furnaces, coke ovens, and rolling mills (Item #21)
HB59 DORSEY TAX/INCOME-CREDIT Provides for a child tax credit (Item #12)
HB120 TOWNSEND TAX/INCOME-CREDIT Authorizes a state tax credit to "offset" assessments levied by La. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation (Item #1)

One more thing, Kathleen. Ditch that gigantic fleur de lis you're wearing on your shoulder, put some of your money into local jeweler Mignon and get something more tasteful.

JMHO

Celcus has more here
and - as usual - adrastos puts his humorous spin here

HiTech NOPD

Tongue in cheek title.

This post discusses the very low-tech crime tracking techniques employed by New Orleans Police

Allstate Insurance

Homeowners in 3 more states will find it harder to be in "Good Hands". Or, Legalized gambling


Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware. Allstate will no longer write new policies for homeowners in these 3 states.

Jefferson's re-election

Skepticalbrotha puts it better than I ever could

and in breaking news....
Democrats keep Jefferson off Ways and Means Committee
12/12/2006, 1:34 p.m. CT
By JIM ABRAMS
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats, insistent that they will hold lawmakers to higher standards, decided Tuesday that Rep. William Jefferson will not return to an influential committee until a federal corruption investigation involving him is completed.

Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi said the Democratic Steering Committee had resolved that Jefferson, who last Saturday won a runoff election in his New Orleans district, will not be given back his spot on the Ways and Means Committee, the panel that determines tax and trade policies.

At Pelosi's urging, the House last June stripped Jefferson of his committee assignment because of the corruption investigation that included an FBI document asserting that agents had found $90,000 in bribe money in the Louisiana Democrat's freezer.

Scuzzbucket of the Week

This week's entry is a Miss Danae Columbus.

A class act with an apparently limited vocabulary, she used a racist term when,.....irked by what she saw as faulty installation of lights in the council chambers, Danae Columbus, who is white, apparently complained the fixtures were "n***r-rigged," a once-common racialized variation of the expression "jury-rigged," meaning shoddily constructed.

Columbus, a fixture in New Orleans' political and public relations worlds who has worked for many black clients through the years, did not deny making the remark and apologized.
taken from this Times Pic article

Update December 14, 2006: A racial slur has cost a New Orleans City Council spokeswoman her job.

Vote Saints for a Cause

The Campbell Soup contest is up and running again this year. The NFL team with the most votes gets Campbells soup donated to their local community food banks. The Packers have won the last three years - let's NOT make it 4 years in a row. You can vote once per day from the same computer. Be sure to share with all your "Saints" friends.
Follow link below and vote for the New Orleans Saints. We are in 8 th place and need to beat the Packers who are in 1st place and are 3 time champs.

Click here to vote

Fire Alan Richman

This assclown just won't shut up


...Mr. Richman, who never liked New Orleans, although he came here on his honeymoon several years ago. (He is recently divorced, but insists he doesn’t blame the city.)

click here to sign the petition to ask GQ to fire this foolish old man.

He says he was simply trying to write the first unsentimental piece about New Orleans food in a world in which having a contrarian opinion is no longer valued. “You have to be behind everything these days,” he said. “You have to be behind the president, you have to be behind New Orleans.”

He reminds me of a little kid that will do anything for attention.

His credentials? Turns out he made the switch from sports writing to food, primarily restaurant reviews, a mere 14 years ago. So he starts out writing about sweaty athletes and now he writes about food. (found that at a book review at amazon dot com)

You know, I don't give a rat's ass if he's "dean of food journalism" at the FCI
His association with the FCI doesn't do a thing for me. He just WRITES about food. He probably couldn't boil water.

Anyway, here's a repost of links:

The NY Times article on Richman's
GQ article.

Wet Bank Guide: Thank You Dallas

Wet Bank Guide: Thank You Dallas

Angela Davis

Remember Angela Davis?
From today's paper

Davis was in town as a guest of Critical Resistance, a national anti-prison organization that views the American way of incarceration as a misguided attack on the poor and working class. Davis was the keynote speaker for a conference that called for amnesty for "prisoners of Katrina," including the 6,000 or so inmates evacuated days after New Orleans fell into horror.

Okay, Mizz Davis, we'll send them all to your hometown.

Anti prison organization indeed.

Info on Critical Resistance from wikipedia:
Critical Resistance is a national, member-based grassroots organization that works to build a mass movement to dismantle the '"prison-industrial complex"'. Critical Resistance has three offices (Oakland, New Orleans, and New York City), and nine chapters across the United States.
Critical Resistance was founded by Angela Davis, Rose Braz, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, and many others. The organization is primarily volunteer member-based, with only five staff members: Rose Braz, Kai Lumumba Barrow, Robert "Kool Black" Horton, Ari Wohlfeiler, and Pilar Maschi, with three part-time staff members for the LA, Oakland and New Orleans chapters.
Critical Resistance popularized the idea of the prison industrial complex after their first conference in 1998, which drew thousands of former prisoners, family members, activists, academics and community members, and by many accounts re-invigorated anti-prison activism in the United States.
Excerpt from the Critical Resistance website [1]:
"Critical Resistance works to build an international movement to end the Prison Industrial Complex by challenging the belief that caging and controlling people makes us safe."

I'm having a difficult time in accepting anything LESS than the "prison industrial complex" for people who rob, rape and kill.
If I were in charge Joe Arpaio would be the Prisoner Tsar of the country

Call me whatever you will, but I'm on the side of the VICITIMS. But that's just me.

Election Post Mortem

I haven't posted my opinion on what went down in the elections
on Saturday where Dollar Bill Jeffersone defeated . . . . .what's her name?



Anyway, Adrastos
covers my feelings, so I'll just defer to his eloquent words.

Coming home ,Stronger than before

a forum defining a coast.
Date: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2006
6PM - 7PM:RECEPTION 7PM TIL 9PM:FORUM
LOCATION: ST. DOMINIC GYM 6326 MEMPHIS St, LAKEVIEW
The reception will be simple and a chance to meet the speakers.
The intro will be by the moderator , Garland Robinette.
Each speaker will present their topic ,followed by an inter panel discussion,and final
questions by the audience.

THE SPEAKERS:

Eugene Schreiber of the World Trade Center N.O.
 The reason New Orleans is a port and its importance to the world as an economic engine.

Ivor Van Heerden of LSU Hurricane center
 The need and design of a coastal protection system.

Bob Bea UC Berkley Engineering
The establishment of a system to implement and maintain a protection system.

Bruce Feingerts Attorney and Washington Insider
The U.S.Congress is the source of funding and rebuilding for our community.

Anne Konigsmark USA Today
A view of the press as it relates to the attention of the American people.

Michael Grunwald Washington Post
The Washington story of the Corps and Congress.

This forum is meant to tell a clear story of this region and its needs. There will be a hand out
with a section from each speaker and other contributors.


For more information , please call or e mail
Jimmy Delery
504-861-0333 or 504-231-1682 (cell)

 The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Lake Pontchartrain Foundation,
Levees.org, Beacon of Hope and St. Dominic have been so gracious in their support of
this project             

The Saints are Coming

Bless you Boys!!!



09/10 at Cleveland W 19-14
09/17 at Green Bay W 34-27
09/25 Atlanta W 23-3
10/01 at Carolina L 18-21
10/08 Tampa Bay W 24-21
10/15 Philadelphia W 27-24
BYE
10/29 Baltimore L 22-35
11/05 at Tampa Bay W 31-14
11/12 at Pittsburgh L 31-38
11/19 Cincinnati L 16-31
11/26 at Atlanta W 31-13
12/03 San Francisco W 34-10
12/10 at Dallas W 42-17

Winter in the deep south

Listening to the radio reporting on a 15 car pile up this morning on the I10 from Metairie.

There was water on an elevated portion of the road and the temperatures dropped to below freezing causing the massive traffic mishap.

Southeast Louisiana doesn't freeze very often, so they don't normally have any road salt or any way to spread sand, so you can imagine what it's like out there.

I come from northern Massachusettes and find this somewhat humorous. Not the accidents, but the fact that they cannot make the highways and biways safe in the event of ice.

helping is easy

If you live outside Louisiana, you CAN help, just by contacting your elected
representatives


The Women of the Storm has compiled a list which shows which states' congresspeople
and senators have not toured Katrina & Rita's devastated areas. How can these people vote
for/against something they do not have first hand experience about?
Please contact your politicians and urge them to become involved.
Thanks.

Ya think?

-- President Bush's policy in Iraq "is not working," the Iraq Study Group said in releasing its long-awaited report.

Ashley does it again

Ashley's wonderfully emotion stirring post on why New Orleans should be rebuilt

Thanks, Ashley.

A letter to Travelers Insurance

I hope he sends this letter.

Message to those not acquainted w/NOLA

This post is over a year old but I just found it.

Here's an excerpt:

To those not acquainted with New Orleans:
Yes, we realize that much of our city was built below sea level. It's kind of the first thing you learn in school. Right after that bit about that George guy and the cherry tree and right before eating paste is bad for you.
Yes, we realize our geography leaves us more vulnerable to flooding. We don't know this because we are smart. We know this because it rains a lot and we get off of school.
Yes, we tried to protect ourselves from it.
Yes, it has worked in the past with varying degrees of success.
No, it did not work this time.

Christmas in NOLA

Once again, Tim eloquently muses about Christmas season in post Katrina New Orleans

squatting conspicuously (almost defiantly) amid the destruction, is our boxy little FEMA travel trailer, lit up like Times Square.

Thanks, Tim.

Another Katrina Victim

read about it here.

excerpt

coroner's officials found houses in that neighborhood that did not appear ever to have been entered since the storm flooded the neighborhood.

The coroner's office has arranged to have volunteers from several city agencies search areas that have not been entered since Katrina, Gagliano said. The St. Tammany Parish search and rescue squad also will assist.

Coroner Frank Minyard told the City Council last month that the Michoud area of eastern New Orleans had never been searched for bodies since Katrina and should be investigated as soon as possible

Tribute to the troops

Go here and bring a kleenex.

Guess what's back?

read about it here

It's the Wetlands, stupid!

Reports are that the Congress is likely to consider "The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act" (S.3711) early this week. At stake is the future of America's WETLAND in coastal Louisiana, where the equivalent of a football field of land vanishes to erosion every 38 minutes. A steady stream of funding is vital to save this region before it is too late and OCS revenue sharing proposed in the bill recognizes both the conditions and the needs of this region, which is vital to the energy and economic security of the nation. This area is of world ecological significance and must be preserved.

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TODAY TO ASK YOUR COLLEAGUES, FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS TO CONTACT THEIR CONGRESSMEN AND URGE PASSAGE OF THIS MEASURE.

It is these moments that will define our conservation legacy and our will as a nation to ensure for a sustainable coast.


To find out more about America's WETLAND: Campaign to Save Coastal Louisiana, visit Americas Wetland dot com.

Scuzzbucket of the Week

Didn't have too look to far for this week's scuzzbucket.

May I present Legislative Democratic Caucus and Senate President Donald Hines, Louisiana Senator



Hines was leading the charge for a $135 million sugar syrup mill in his hometown, with half the cost to be guaranteed by taxpayers.

The Bunkie mill was conceived as a benefit for 42 cane farmers in four central Louisiana parishes, one of whom is Hines' son-in-law. Hines is not just a benevolent paterfamilias on this occasion, but also a landlord. His son-in-law's farm includes 100 acres rented from pops.

Hines says he sees no conflict in his pursuit of public subsidies for sugartown, but perhaps a reading of the ethics laws would change his mind.

taken from this Times-Picayune artice

Krazy Kathleen

From the office of Louisiana's sad excuse for a governor....
Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco announced new immediate expectations of ICF International, the organization implementing Louisiana's Road Home program today. As the Road Home establishes an accelerated pace, Gov. Blanco is requiring ICF to exceed this month's goal by raising the cumulative total of award letters to citizens from 10,000 to 25,000 by the end of December.

I wish her term were over. This woman is a complete imbecile. All this will do is levy more anguish and aggrivation on the people enrolled in the LRA program. I've heard several instances where people are getting more letters with more erroneous information and claims. Haven't these people been through enough? Accelerating the pace is doing nothing more than harming these people who have endured unimaginable frustration since August 29, 2005.
Raising the count of letters going out just looks good for KBB.

There must be something concrete done to fix yet another blunder by Mizz Guv-nah.

Still not Okay

Wetbank Guide discusses the potential future tragedy that could happen to New Orleans



As we stare at a new year that promises an endless series of challenges its important that we not give up hope, that we not let the anger that is righteous anger dissipate and become despair. Like Lincoln in his darkest moment, we need to get up from the darkened room and go out and find the generals who can win this war and stand beside them as they fight it. We the 200,000 who have fought our way home can not give up or the ten generations of our forebearers who built this city will have labored in vain.

Sinn Fein