Clear on risk, blame~TP Editorial ~Editilla gonna slice this loaded dice~ ~Bita'Mea'Hegemon~Entertaining, the Timing of this Times Picayune feely'goody booty-kissitorial gaggle for the ASCECORPS, so close ahead of the imminent (they swear this time) final release of the much vaunted IPET report that is supposed to finally tell us what happened to our levees in 2005, why it happened, what we got for our $23,250,000. The Report is not even out yet (and yet) our Paper of Record can come out now in Favor of it? Screw That Boo'Rah! This is no time for Levitation! Who has the Picayune Memory? Why must we enjoy the due diligence and find fond encouragement in the hard work from Ace Gumshoes Grissett and Schleifstein, their real dogged reporting of ASCECORPS shenanigans --only to have their scoops end up as kitty litter in da'box next to this bum'wipe??? This has been a long and controversial process, fraught with more incest than a Delta Outhouse or insight between the ASCE and the CORPS. Hence, I cannot understand the need to fluff-up the ASCECORPS before the Report is published... --by the very same suits, "people", who built our levees that failed in 2005, yea'n'verily the merry engineers who then stuffed those levee repairs with Times Picayune newspaper, the very engineers who's repair job still leaks at the 17th Street Canal, the same people who initially tried to screw us over the Pumps, these same engineers who continue try to screw us to juggle the Costs of Flood Protection for South Louisiana to the tune of BILLIONS$$$, the same ASCE group who spent our tax money to travel the country lecturing municipal engineers with a miscreant Public Relations Seminar, the ASCE group who initially did the suspect "Review" of IPET which drew formal Ethics Inquiry from Member Engineers. We are already getting lost in these different reports so here is the Picayune's ERP.~~for which by the way the Exquixotic Corps awarded the fakirs a Medal! Here is the ILET "counter report" to IPET. I have other links, other heads on this Babylon Hydra, but what is the point any longer? I mean, just over a year ago, the ASCE was all ho'cutie with IPET and traveling the country singing its praises. What gives now?
Jus'wonderin, what is in this for the Times Picayune to basically cheer-lead this Engineering Report? Why try to set up such a pretty picture of ASCE --who works for the CORPS-- and the CORPS --who works for Satan, as if these two bitches have finally found a cur? ASCE has already gotten caught with thier hands in the Corps pants numerous times by a little grassroots pack of Louisiana Catahoulas. ASCE has not suddenly "gotten religion". These assholes have committed crimes and are trying to cover their mouths. The CORPS has not changed the way they do Business. This is most obvious in the way they hold our lives over a flood plain right now. What happened to New Orleans in 2005 was a Crime and someone is going to Pay Goddamn It --because what happened there can happen literally anywhere in America!
Where do we draw the Line between ASCE and the CORPS? My God, the real culprits of the Flood of New Orleans will get away with it, lost in the 20,000 page IPET report or the ERP/ASCE "peer" review or within the $11 Billion Budget for the Morganza Levee, or failing infrastructure across the country. Thank you Times Picyune! Glad you are on our side here.
Fat Cats - Adjuster can make $300K in 6 months ~slabbed How Much Will Gustav and Ike Affect Gas Supplies? ~Gail the Actuary Many Suffer As Result of Illegal Mining~Shrouded in secrecy by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and protected by the complacency of public officials, the proposed mine expansion was approved without the opportunity for public input. The mining permit prepared by the Army Corps failed to include limits for selenium, which when released into the environment by mining, causes deformities, reproductive failures, and the eventual collapse of fish population in nearby waterways. This case is yet another example of the failure of the Corps and its pandering to coal companies rather than carrying out the responsibilities entrusted to the agency.
A Week of Hazard -- Moral and Otherwise~A desperate plan to buy distressed assets from banks tipped the U.S. into an era of privatized profits and socialized losses, but this mother of all bailouts managed, for now, to halt the frightened flight of funds from the U.S.
"I don't care how they package this or who they blame this on," said Garret Graves, Gov. Bobby Jindal's coastal adviser and chairman of the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. "It's ridiculous and absurd."~from June 16th TP article by Mark Schleifstein.
~"It appears the corps is doing exactly what Congress did not want it to do -- slow down the bureaucracy to a screeching halt and not begin the initial work they have already been authorized and funded to do," U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said today in a written statement. "Their delay continues to leave folks in the Houma-Terrebonne area in risk of storm surge and hurricane damage."~from June 17th Daily Comet
Then came Gustav and Ike. Any Questions?
~Editilla gotta ax~ What kind'a shake'down bully'punk horse'shit Extortion is this? The Corps usual argument about Congress Not Funding them kinda falls apart here, eh, when after we do in fact fund them they come back with BILLIONS MORE in COSTS!!! After Katrina! After their Levees Failed Us. Goddamn It! It is like when the shell-gamer says "Wait! Lemme see the money in your wallet! Lemme see you got the money to bet first!" --which is the distraction they need to then move the pea to another shell. So last year, the Corps estimated $800 Million and Congress said Yes, and a few months later the price increased by Tens of Billions of Dollars??? WTF??? From $800 Million to $11 Billion in just a few months?
This past spring the Corps said $12 Billion! Remember that? When they paraded out Mxs. Aguillera from Oregon to try to shank us down for more money. We said Whaaaat the Fuuuuck??? So, they backed-off and waited through this current hurricane season, (as the Corps lets us go through a few more floods, a few more Swats with da'BlackJack) and now they say it will cost $11 Billion. What happened to that Billion dollars extra the Corps wanted at the beginning of the summer? Just scratched it off I guess. A Billion Dollars. We do not have an extra 10 Billion Dollars. We also do not have the Time that the Corps has to screw around with this issue of safe flood control. Our lives are at stake --Not the Corps, as It plans to be around long after We The People are All Washed Away. The Corps of Engineers is proving itself to be a Junta of Cold, Heartless, Lying, Murderous Bastards. We just do not have that kind of money. How forking stupid, cowed and fearful does the Corps of Engineers think we have become from constant flooding? I beg to differ.
We need Legislation to Fire these Criminals. We are no longer dealing with even badly incompetent engineers but Simple Liars. These people are fucking lying criminals no different than the Drug Dealers that take over a street corner and then demand Protection Payments from the neighborhood. Only this, Our'hood, stretches across the entire USA. These gang'bangers have levees near just about every corner on Main St! They are everywhere and are pushing the American People to Take Their Deal or Get Flooded. Everyone is going through this assfuck. FEMA draws the Flood Zone Maps based on Who's Engineering Surveys? Then, of course small towns across America must get Flood Insurance so they Must Get Flood Control frooom where? Frrooom Who? You guessed it, Gentle'rillas: The US Army Corps of Engineers. Oh! FEMA will allow that these small towns could seek outside engineering surveys --but at the same time will remind vulnerable municipalities that those engineers tend to be Liablefor their work and may charge more (if you can find one willing to take the risk).
Now this fellow Lee is going to tell us that they have better clay. Riiiight. How dare the Corps of Engineers play around with our lives like this? They are attempting to Extort BILLIONS of DOLLARS from us that we don't have? We have to have safe, reliable flood protection. We have to have it. Sooo they think they can charge us whatever they want? I say we fire these criminals and get better cost estimates from Real Engineers. This is Hienous and UnSeemly. The Corps of Engineers would actually rather allow South Louisiana to Flood than give out Valid Engineering Estimates. First they said $800,000,000 and then a couple of months later they come back with $11-12,000,000,000. In just 60-90 days... we know they had to know this, but yet gave out the criminally low bid to get the job and then bump up the costs.
These Thugs are playing a deadly game with our lives and livelyhoods. I cannot see how this differs from Extortion. We either Pay for Protection or Bad Things Will Happen --like New Orleans! Remember New Orleans, how they let us Flood? Remember how the Corps let New Orleans Flood? The Corps of Engineers seems to have no problem with loss of life and property for average Americans. Of course the Shipping Industry got its MRGO/Idustrial Canal widened, and Big Oil got over 50,000 miles of Pipeline Canals it wanted, but the average American Taxpayer gets nothing but flooding. Hmmmm, what is wrong with this picture? Levee district to collect extra taxes~Sheila Grissett ~Earlier this week, authority member Tom Jackson of Metairie, who represents the east bank, had indicated that he would oppose rolling the millage forward on his home turf. ~Editilla Notellas~ Yeah, Tom Jackson, we heah ya'mouf talking. Tom Jackson used to work for the Corps of Engineers and was past president of LaASCE. One might suppose any extra tax that We The People must now pay for Our flood protection would mean less funding for the Corps eventually, sooo of course Tom Jackson would oppose such a small progressive tax. Why else would this former Corps Contractor oppose housing the Flood Fighters that we must have now to deal with the Corps substandard engineering. Why is Tom Jackson still on the Levee Board? Shouldn't this Board operate with the same Nod to Conflict of Interest for which the ASCE has been recently taken to task? We simply do not need Corps of Engineers people on this Levee Board opposing our wishes for safer flood control. And by the way, Tom Jackson, I would like to see you Return your Medal to the Corps, you dog. Give Back That Medal or Get Off Our Levee Board! Coast Guard answers levee panel
Prickster Nagin Says FEMA's Response to Gustav "Better" Than Katrina --and Yes he is still Mayor! Forget'a'bout it! ~The mayor also touched on his "Nagin Special" comment, made when telling evacuees fleeing Ike to ask for it if they stayed in a hotel. One evacuee told the paper she received nothing but confused looks when asking for the rate. Da'Prickster says he met with the woman and explained what he was trying to do. "She left here fine - she got a good rate. As a matter of fact, she got a free rate because I offered to pay for her one night, and some New Orleanian had already beat me to it and paid for three nights for her. She had free dinner - she was fine," said Prickster Nagin. New Orleans native plagued by hurricane dejà vu experiences
Assessing Ike's Flood Damage ~A strong category two, Hurricane Ike pushed a projected 11 and a half feet of storm surge on Southwest Louisiana. "There are projections that suggest a category 3 hurricane making landfall a little bit closer to this area would have actually posted storm surge even higher. And that creates concern," said Lake Charles Mayor Randy Roach. A familiar scene: Convoy leaves today heading for Galveston ~City leaders here are packing up and headed to Galveston, Texas, armed with three years' worth of hurricane-recovery experience.Mayor Brent Warr said a convoy from Gulfport will leave today to help guide the storm-battered island through the early days of recovery." There are a lot of things we would've done differently in those early days after Katrina," Warr said. "And we're basically just going there to help answer questions and help them push through the (red tape)." ~Arrival note.
Windstorm association won't cover surge ~The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association says it only intends to pay Gulf Coast policyholders for wind damage, not water surge damage. Association general manager Jim Oliver said on a conference call with industry representatives: "It will be our intention not to pay surge losses. Period."
Six-day old Alicia was born in a crowded Haitian shelter less than one week after heavy rains from Hurricane Ike pushed the half-island nation beyond belief. Hurricane aid problems bring Michael Chertoff to Houston ~A scheduled meeting with local officials, and Chertoff's insistence, in comments to reporters, that he is "not afraid to kick someone in the rear" to correct the missteps, come after Houston Mayor Bill White and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett announced late Tuesday that they would take over how FEMA distributes the millions of liters of water and pounds of ice and food to the survivors of Hurricane Ike, many of whom are living without power. Holdouts to be forced off Bolivar Peninsula
Flagstone Provides Estimates for Hurricanes Gustav and Ike ~Flagstone Reinsurance Holdings Limited, through its operating subsidiaries, is a global reinsurance and insurance company that employs a focused, technical approach to the Property, Property Catastrophe, and Specialty reinsurance and insurance businesses. Flagstone RA(C)assurance Suisse SA has an "A-" financial strength rating from both A.M. Best and Fitch Ratings, and an "A3" rating from Moody's IS.
La'Gas ~Robert Travis Scott ~Northwest La. oil rush creates new millionaires. Churches are joining forces to make land deals and offer financial and spiritual guidance to parishioners. Cash flow from donations and from church lease deals is helping them focus on their core(?) mission(?).
I'm going to take this little bone in my heart. I'm gonna put it in a Glass Box with some candles and some broken clocks just to see the sea of faces stopped in the dark dark.
Minerals Management Service ~The Minerals Management Service (MMS), a bureau in the U.S. Department of the Interior, is the Federal agency that manages the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf. The agency also collects, accounts for and disburses more than $8 billion per year in revenues from Federal offshore mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on Federal and Indian lands. Malfunctioning Equipment ~Our New Orleans Saints Eggs in Purgatory~Serious Eats Book Review~Jacques Boudreau ~The Good Pirates of the Forgotten Bayous: Fighting to Save a Way of Life in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina, by Ken Wells.
Written right after evacuation, before Summit~I learned that the people who invented the "New Orleans, Proud to Crawl Home" bumper stickers had created a sustainable slogan, because they always will. I guess I can go get me one now, right? Wrong. As I have mentioned before, I’ll never be seen as New Orleanian enough to do some things. Like call it home.
Jury Still Out on Contra'Flow ~Many miss out on text warnings Mayor Nagin's joke not funny to Ike evacuees~Ya know what the kicker in this is ..... I have a friend that works in a large restuarnt chain in Houston and when the people from NO came here to avoid Mr. G - they asked for the NO evacuees discount - "we got one last time we evacuated here don't we get one this time" and the resturant did it!!!! HOUSTON takes care of HOUSTON!!! GO HOUSTON! Hat T'n'T~Kevin Allman ~Editilla gotta ax~What in the Hell is this stupid turd doing still in office? Since recalling this creep is about as likely to happen as ASCECORPS being taken to task for flooding the city, then why does he not at least get a Pie In His Face At Every Public Appearance?
--by the very same suits, "people", who built our levees that failed in 2005,
