Samedi

Any one of us could have caught a bullet on Mardi Gras
~Chris Rose~A million-to-one. Is that good enough odds for you? It's not like you're trying to draw an inside straight or roll cat's eyes or even pick a winning pony. All you have to do is not show up at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Jarvis DeBerry: Violence mocks our state of denial

Good news and bad news for LA
in President Barack Obama's
budget proposal~Bruce Alpert
DIXCLAIMER! WARNING! BAT SIGNAL!

Louisiana would receive millions from bill~Ana Redelat

Katrina insurance litigation - selected Nationwide and State Farm cases ~slabbed

Federal commission studies recovery plans for children
~Sarah Chacko

Landrieu Unveils 9-Month Investigation into Federal Housing Response Following Hurricanes Katrina, Rita
~This is the first and only comprehensive investigation of the housing catastrophe that ensued after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast within three weeks of each other.
It reveals that HUD sought to play a greater role in housing recovery, but the Bush Administration rejected HUD's efforts.

Louisiana to seek New Orleans-
Baton Rouge passenger rail line
from federal stimulus pot that
Jindal called wasteful

John McCain still really hates
science~Phil Plait
~So, Senator McCain, let me make this clear: you, amateur exorcist and creationist Bobby Jindal, and the rest of your backwards-facing antiscience reality-denying brethren may huff and puff and say ridiculous things — and I’m sure you’ll continue to do so — but a lot of people see right through it, and a majority of the American voting population rejected it last November.

Jindal at the Alamo~lacoastpost

Mississippi soil to restore marsh

The Department of Homegrown Security~Chip Ward

Coming up in the Gambit:
America, Meet Bobby Jindal

Lose a favorite recipe in Katrina?
Mmmmmm Oyster Soup!

Guitar Saint Snooks Eaglin gets
rousing jazz funeral send-off by
Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas
and more~Keith Speara

Snooks Eaglin Memorial Roundup~NolaFunk NYC

Vendredi

Front Towards Enemy
~BAGnewsNotes

"For seven years, we have been a nation at war.
No longer will we hide its price."
~President Barack Obama
Special thanks, photo: Mathieu Grandjean

Mardi Gras in The Treme
~Big Red Cotton~"Many years ago I lived in Brazil. And no matter how much acai or cafezinhos or palm oil consumed, I could never ever keep up with my Brazilian friends and their partying - and I didn't even have a job during that time. I came to the realization at that point that to live in Brazil, one must develop *Brazilian*party*muscles*. Editilla Asstrixations.
This means learning how to survive on little to no sleep in pursuit of the party, knowing all hangover cures and at what point to activate which one, and attending each and every important celebratory function because, God forbid, folks raise the subject of 'that parade' or 'that party' and you can't add to the conversation because you weren't there.
New Orleans is Brazil, in North American form."

~A black wreath accented with Mardi Gras colored ribbons hangs on the shuttered door of Ernie K-Doe's Mother-in-Law Lounge along with a funeral notice for New Orleans icon Antoinette K-Doe.
The widow of singer Ernie K-Doe died of a massive heart attack on Mardi Gras. The notice says she will lie in state at the bar, on the corner of
N. Claiborne and Columbus, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. today.
Photo & Comments~Eliot Kamenitz/The Times-Picayune

Jindal Admits Katrina Story
Was False~Zachary Roth
Editilla T'n'T~ Masqued E'vinga!

Megan McArdle's Jindalmania
~Pushing Rope

The Mickey Mouse In Louisiana
Gov Bobby Jindal
~Stephen Sabludowsky

~Once again, Editilla finds salivation slabbed!

CPAC debuts hyper-gesticulative,
ubber-prolixitive 13 year old
Infomercial Coach as alternate
to Jindal's Slumdog Bankruptcy ~Huffington Post

National Guard leaves New Orleans, ends crime-fighting

Parker Secures Client’s Freedom
~David Winkler-Schmit

Landrieu, Cao: N.O. FEMA chief should resign~Gerard Sheilds

Obama budget calls to commit to Gulf Coast projects
~Bruce Alpert

Disaster aid plan approved
~Allan M. Johnson Jr.

IberiaBank returns federal stimulus money

Most likely to be impeached? ~James Gill~The race to be named federal judge most likely to be impeached has been nip and tuck, but we always knew the winner would come from this very circuit.

Flood-zone work won't get money ~Chris Kirkham

Flood of questions
~Dave Caldwell~Dana Werner of the Corps of Engineers said Thursday that federal law now effectively prohibits the Corps from recertifying even its own work.

Agencies, enviros question levee
vegetation policy~Phuong Le

Mardi Gras Indians 2009
~A Minha Vida

Keith Spera's Music Listings

Jeudi

Landrieu calls for FEMA's
Louisiana chief to resign ~Desiree Evans

Cao asks for criminal
investigation into FEMA office ~Susan Edwards

FEMA's "Toxic Bureaucracy"
~CBS News has learned workers there accuse their bosses of intentionally holding up Katrina aid.

Busy Busy Bobby: Jindal’s a
‘60 Minutes’ man~Kevin Allman
~Editilla wanna smella~ Who'dat PR Firm is pushing our Little Peeyou? Enquiring Gentle'Rillas wanna know!

US Mayors Criticize Louisiana Governor Jindal~BBuzz

ICF subcontractor HGI to take
over role running Road Home
hurricane recovery program ~David Hammer

Cost of Keystone Corps project-
protecting Industrial Canal area-
doubles ---DIXCLAIMER!
~Editilla Show'N'Tellas~
This is the Betting part of the 3 Card Monty / Shell Game, where the "Tosser" sayz to the Sucker: "Show me YOU got Money to bet. Right Now! Show me Yo'Money! Lemme see the Money!!! NOW!!!!" at which point in the shuffling distraction the "Tosser" can then move the ball, seed or Monty card while We the Suckers take our Eyes Off the Game.

This is depressing, unmitigated Jack Ass Shit going down in Louisiana, to wit: from our piss'ant Governorcist running for President, Monkeying the Party Line the detriment of our State, to the insane lobby ass'trashing Charity Hospital, to the inexplicable delays and costs overruns with Morganza to the Gulf flood protection, to our sniveling little child governor, creationists, bitch'punk lackey Peeyoushing the funding for geoscientific (disaster) data collection... to the recent Corps design changes along the lakefront flood protection...
The only problem is that we can walk away from a common street Carney shell game. But, we cannot walk away from engineering slight of hand. We may run from it, but once it is done it is done.

Goddamn these heinous street thugs in the Corps of Engineers.
This is extortion, domestic terrorism by pushing the project to levels of Risk Fear Marketing. I'm scared, not of Heavy Weather but of Lying Engineers --as then all we are dealing with is Liars!
The Corps of Engineers holds a Gun to Our Head.
We Will do their project the Corps Way or They Will Kill Us.
This is not really just a simple 3 Card Morality Play, but syndicated tribal warfare, where the living don't count.

Why is this happening? Why are we finding out about such deep corruption of the funding process by the Corps Only Now?
Who is running this racket? Who amongst us signed-up to get so screwed? Who amongst us really understands just how deep the Corps has its Finger Stuck In Our Infrastructure???
I'll bet we could ask lacoastposter child and ASCECORPS TITAN: Gerald Galloway or ASCECORPS Consultant Medal Winna on the SLFPA-E levee board: Tom Jackson or local ASCECORPS blog'sniveler: Tim Ruppert. Geez I wonder if this deck shuffling has anything to do with the MRGO lawsuit? Naaaaaa....who cares? Somebody in America cares...

Growing disconnects between
Obama and Jindal-Vitter could
portend serious coastal
consequences~lacoastpost

Corps of Engineers' flood study cost increases; Cedar Rapids agrees to front Corps funds to keep study going~Jim Prosser
~It’s never a great confidence booster when the city of Cedar Rapids is fronting the federal government money. That is the case, though, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers feasibility study of Cedar Rapids’ flood-protection needs. The two-year study now is expected to cost $7.5 million, up a couple million dollars from previous estimates.

Destiny Does Dallas, or: Why the
Corps' "Unacceptable" Levee
Rating is a Blessing~Jim Schutze
~Only problem? Only the levees keep downtown from being wiped out every spring and summer when the river floods. The arrangement of downtown is a fist in the air to Mother Nature, a defiance. Some people love that stuff. It's the can-do spirit of the city, they will say. And I can live with that, as long as the city takes the risk very seriously.

Architecture Research

American Institute of Architects New Orleans Chapter Announces 2009 Design Awards

Dead of Night begins shooting in New Orleans

Kosmic Frenchmen Purple Face ~Jeff Lamb

'Let's Bake with Beulah Ledner' filled with New Orleans bakery's recipes ~Judy Walker

Funeral arrangements set for Antoinette K-Doe
~Alison Fensterstock

JoJo Hermann:
A Bayou Gratitude
~Jonathan Stumpf

Mercredi~Ash not what your country can do...

Give It Up

Antoinette K-Doe Passes on Mardi Gras Day ~Nolamotion
~Keith Speara~Gambit


Sexy President Obama's 1st
State of the Union Address~Video
~Governorcist Bobby Jindal offered the Grand Old Predicable, Limp Bisquet, Palin'quine, Michael Brown Jonestown Cult Bride Kool Aid Communion Retarte Retread of promising not to come in the nation's mouth again --if they could just get another shot.

Gnashed in double'licious apoplexy, Editilla cannot even find the energy to link to such inelegant pablum. And'ah, as Gentle'rillas well know, we only go in for da'pristine infantile toofy mastercatin here on da'Ladda.
<~Handmaiden's Tail?
Sarah wears Red. Peeyou want Sarah. They all do, all the remaining men in the Republican Party --and som'a'da Not Men too! Red...
Sarah. Red. Saraaaah! Red.
The color of Game.
Suffice to say, little Peeyou just could not raise his game above looking and sounding like a bull's branded jailhouse punk slumdog tour guide trying to imp Jimmy Stewart as "Mr Smith" to a full busload of Crackers on Crack in a Cracker Barrel across the street from the Universal Studios Mardi Gras Crack House.
Perchance Thin'skinned Edtitilla might bee hiving charitably.
...or Good Thing adults don't go to Sunday School.
Ok! Ok! So since we support the fairness doctrine, and all dat'doo,
here's our Child Governor's Soiree' into the Presidential Arena!

Louisiana Gov Jindal, Obama Speeches Lacking: Wrong on Unemployment Benefits
~Stephen Sabludowsky
~Oyster has a great post of Reactions to the Peeyou'z Flame Out, from everyone all over da'place --except yer Noble Ladder. HA!
Jeez Louie, what's a crumb gotta do to get a po'boy in dis'joint?

Possibly Toxic Chinese Dry Wall In New Orleans?

Napolitano tackles delivery of
storm aid~Bruce Alpert
~Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will tell a congressional committee today that she is assigning a new team of senior staff members at the Federal Emergency Management Agency to improve the delivery of federal aid and resources for hurricane recovery along the Gulf Coast.

April Fool - the joke’s on Allstate
(and) We haven’t blogged on it because we knew…..~slabbed

County, Corps dispute status of pumping station ~Once again, Henderson County officials have taken flood recovery efforts into their own hands, much to the puzzlement of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Taj Mahal, Irma Thomas to be inducted into Blues Hall of Fame

Mardi Gras!!!

Special T'n'T~Jeff Lamb

Hey Now!
Where'Yat?

Care is all stuff:
—Puff! Puff:
To puff is enough:
—Puff! Puff!
More musky than snuff,
And warm is a puff:
—Puff! Puff!
Here we sit mid our puffs, Like old lords in their ruffs,
Snug as bears in their muffs:—Puff! Puff!
Then puff, puff, puff; For care is all stuff,
Puffed off in a puff:—Puff! Puff!
“Ay, puff away,” cried Babbalanja, “puff; puff, so we are born, and so die. Puff, puff, my volcanos: the great sun itself will yet go out in a snuff, and all Mardi smoke out its last wick.”
“Puffs enough,” said King Media, “Vee-Vee! haul down my flag. There, lie down before me, oh Gonfalon! and, subjects, hear, —when I die, lay this spear on my right, and this pipe on my left, its colors at half mast; so shall I be ambidexter,
and sleep between eloquent symbols.” ~for Ashley Morris


Parades Today!
Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club
Uptown 8:00 a.m.
Krewe of Rex
Uptown 10:00 am
Krewe of Elks Orleans
Uptown 11:30 a.m.
Krewe of Crescent City Uptown after Elks
Krewe of Argus Metairie 10:00 a.m.
Krewe of Jefferson Metairie after Argus
Krewe of Elks Jefferson Metairie after Jefferson
Lions Covington 10:00 a.m.
Krewe of Covington Covington, after Lions
Krewe of Grela Gretna 11:00 a.m.
Krewe of BES Gretna 12:00 p.m.


Krewe of Houmas
Houma 11:00 a.m.
Krewe of Kajuns
Houma follows Houmas


Krewe of Bonne Terre Montegut 4:00 p.m.
Krewe of Skunks Lacombe 1:00 p.m.
Krewe of Chahta-Ima Lacombe 1:00 p.m.

Follow Me, Chicken! I'm Full of Corn!!!
Suivez-moi, poulet! I'm complètement de maïs!!!

New Orleans urban unschooling:
Free to live and learn
~Laura Garbers

Corps of Engineers says their own risky levees no longer qualify for federal rehab funds
~Peter Eisler
~More than 100 levees in 16 states flunked maintenance inspections in the last two years and are so neglected that they could fail to stem a major flood, records from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers show.
The 114 levees received "unacceptable" maintenance ratings in corps inspections, meaning their deficiencies are so severe that it can be "reasonably foreseen" that they will not perform properly in a major flood, according to the records, which were requested by USA TODAY. As a result, the corps is advising state and local levee authorities that the levees no longer qualify for federal rehabilitation aid if damaged by flood waters.
~Editilla gonna screw this Camel tru'da needle!
{Jus'cause it's Mardi Gras doesn't mean we can't get into a little... "V" for "Visceratin"!}
Wake Up America and smell where we been steppin! As levees.org restlessly rollin'n'tollin'yaz, it ain't just about New Orleans!
NO SOUP fo'You, America! Take it to da'Exquisite Corps!
If they build it...they will come --like where, in our...?
OoooK'ville! Who built these levees? Don't answer that!
Assume the Position! Pay no Attention to that Man behind the Levee! Who the are these assholes? What a racket! Wata'racket!
What an Ugly Red Herring that Quacks like a Duck!

Name me ONE engineer who would sign a contract to take Financial Responsibility for the failure of any structure they did not design and/or build. That is simply not the way professional engineering works and the Corps knows this better than anyone. Engineers do not sign-off on the Risks of Failure on any structure that They Did Not Design. HA! Gimme a forkin'break for goddess sakes and find another gimp leg to stand on, Gerry Galloway!
Yet while the Corps still has yet to take responsibility for recent catastrophic failures, they would have We The People Swallow this future-markets storyline that failure is related to costs, and that both costs and failure are inherent in Civil Engineering. That is a fundamental untruth of unsound engineering, though obviously a bedrock Corps Principal of Design, as with the Federal Levees that failed this past summer all along the Mississippi River, or the systemic design flaws within their entire network of federally built and maintained infrastructure, or not to mention the entire flood protection system in name only which failed in New Orleans in 2005.
Again, pay no attention to the Corps Issues.
Should we trust this Gerald Galloway and his ASCECORPS?

The entire premise of this article rests on the latest Spin'Filtration by the Corps of Engineers, and dead flies in the face of legal precedence, and the Corps own design policy. I'm telling you this stuff is dealt by Public Relations Professionals.
Complete ubber'bullshit policy they attempt to pass as mandate:
"We build it. You have to maintain it to our engineering standard. When it fails (due to our substandard design?) then you, small town America, are up shit creek without a paddle and no flood insurance --ya'losers, silly citizens, stupid tax payers. HA!"
Can everyone do the levees.org thing and go after articles like this, comment on their biased boo'rah?

Corps of Engineers rates Dallas
Trinity River levees unacceptable~Rudolph Bush

Lawsuit challenges Missouri River water plan~David A. Lieb
~The Missouri lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., against both the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the Missouri River's dams and navigation system. The lawsuit by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster contends the environmental assessment never considered alternatives to the water diversion project, nor how it would affect people in downstream states. It asserts that the Missouri River supplies water for about half of Missouri's 5.9 million residents while also supporting the state's shipping and agricultural industries.

Iowa Flood Victims:
Waiting For Answers
~While the city had mentioned possible buyouts for homeowners, Linda's family got tired of waiting. They started re-building - sinking their life savings into the effort.
But then, last December, the Army Corps of Engineers announced Linda's house is in a zone for construction of a new levee to be built sometime in the future. When exactly? No one knows.

Iowa Lawmakers push for faster results in flood planning
~PVTFloodResponse

More building in the flood plain? ~Karen Cohilas

Gore Pulls Slide of Disaster Trends~Andrew C. Revkan

Hold your oysters...

Mardi Gras 2009: NYC Survival Guide~NolaFunk NYC

As Mardi Gras Rages, City's Music Scene Struggles to Recover ~Rolling Stone

Lundi Gras

Zulu's 2009 Lundi Gras Festival

Downtown riverfront hosts arrivals of Rex and Zulu

9th WARD MARCHING BAND
Lundi-Gras night

~Parades Today!~
Krewe of Proteus Uptown 5:15 p.m.
Krewe of Orpheus Uptown 5:45 p.m.
Krewe of Zeus Metairie 6:30 p.m.
Krewe of Cleopatra Houma 6:30 p.m.

Inside the Superdome for Endymion ball~Lauren Wilbert

Ladders at Endymion
~Mosquito Coast

Hail Thoth!~The Huck Upchuck

Drunken Float Driver Arrested After Float Flips In Church Point

Small towns draw huge crowds
for Mardi Gras celebrations ~Shay Randle

The Challenge~First Draft

Plenty of Nothin' for New Orleans?~Harry Shearer

A New Orleans Intifada?
~Jordan Flaherty~A Grassroots Movement Rises in the Arab Neighborhoods of New Orleans???
~Editilla Casa'blinkas~At one time I sold Mardi Gras Beads Wholesale for an Iranian Jew down in the Marigny, after I had already worked for his Muslim friend, Ali, at the Cafe' down the street. Now THAT was an axis believe it, but nothing like riding delivery for the Turkish Mafia in the Quarters but you didn't hear that from me. Other than a rather worldly misunderestimation of Western Pay Scales I found them to be some of the coolest exotic people with whom I have ever worked.
But neither was even remotely Arab.
Soooo, buuuut ...where are these volatile "Arab neighborhoods"? These festering enclaves that this author would incite to jihad? Hmmmm? I would be willing to bet that he has coffee with that prick author of the Race War Chronicles.
Why can't these weirdo ax'grinders just leave us alone?

Models for Urban Planning
~Terrance Russell

Homeless radiothon is on air here today~Kat Bergeron

Crawfish crop weakened ~Advocate

Challenges of corn ethanol make
sugar more attractive
~Jeremy Alford

National Guard Gears Up for 2009 Hurricane Season
~Soldier of Fortune
~Notes from the NORAD blog.

Missouri River
~The Missouri River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, and the longest river in the United States of America.
The Missouri begins at the confluence of the Madison, Jefferson, and Gallatin rivers in Montana, and flows through its valley south and east into the Mississippi north of St. Louis, Missouri. At 2,540 miles in length, it drains about one-sixth of the North American continent.

Report warns of flooding risk
from lock failures in Illinois
~Jon Hilkevitch
<~Satellite image of the Illinois River watershed, which enters the Mississippi River just above the Missouri River at St. Louis.
Please click to enlarge.

Dirty Coast on CNN

The Mardi Gras Library:
Four New Orleans Cookbooks
~Lauren Salkeld

Mardi Gras Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Bourbon and Pecans

Be part of the Red Stick Intl. Animation Festival Review Jury

Lundi Gras, filled with Hot Picks
for music all over New Orleans
~Keith Spera

Dimanche

Parades Today!
Krewe of Okeanos
Uptown 11:00 a.m.
Krewe of Mid-City
Uptown 11:45 a.m.
Krewe of Thoth
Uptown 12:00 p.m.
Krewe of Bacchus
Uptown 5:15 p.m.
Corps de Napoleon
Metairie 5:30 p.m.
Grand Isle Independent Grand Isle 5:30 p.m.
Krewe of Tchefuncte Madisonville 2:00 p.m.
Terreanians Houma 12:30 p.m.
Krewe of TUT Houma following Terreanians
Krewe of Montegut Montegut 2:00 p.m.

Grade schooler turns wee into 'oui'~Emilie Bahr

Central Lockup draws a crowd ~Kathy Reckdahl



Louisiana Gubernatorial Sitcom ~Emptywheel
~"What the hell though, life must be a hoot in a state run by an exorcist named Piyush who changed his name to Bobby because he identified with a character on the Brady Bunch. Personally, I don't get it. He looks like Urkel to me."

Above: Republican child bride, Piyush "Urkle" Jindal (PUJ), cuts a pose while psyching hishoner'up some "Urkling" of a retart to our Smart Ass Sexy President's 1st State of the Union Mardi Gras.

Schwarzenegger To GOP Girlymen Give Me Your Unwanted Stimulus Money ~Sam Stein

Landrieu: Jindal wrong on funds
~Advocate
~City Business

TP Editorial: Safety above cost
~Regional levee officials fear that the Army Corps of Engineers is putting cost above effectiveness in planning 100-year storm protection, and if so, that's a dangerous, unacceptable trade-off.
~Editilla Yeah'wellas~Here is a trade-off for you.
The Times Picayune gets a $100/day Crack addiction...
in exchange for slack, late corps coverage, eyes wide shut.

“Dutch Dialogues”
~Today on Le Show Herolero Hary Shearer interviews
David Waggonner on these current states of water planning opportunities for New Orleans and Louisiana.

Aquaterra~The three day forum was a meeting of minds between the planners, engineers, contractors, financial professionals and government policy makers who deal with the challenges of complex risks in deltas and coasts.

Moving Water~Aguanomics

Water in the West~Torqopia

Marine business navigating toward future~Kathrine Schmidt

Hello, this is State Farm and we didn’t get a chance to completely screw this policyholder; so... ~slabbed

My, Look at the Time Flies!
~Girl in a Sandbox
~"Life in Baghdad, for a girl who's used to being very spoiled. This blog is about my adventures as I discover the cradle of civilization. I'm a very happily married public affairs (PR) officer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. I'm a government civilian - and I'm working in Iraq for a six-month deployment, as the chief of public affairs for the Gulf Region Division." ~DeDe
~Editilla Grrrillas~ Isn't DeDe jus'so PRECIOUS!
~The deaths are among the 18 under review by the Pentagon's inspector general. Some of the deaths have been blamed on improperly installed or maintained electrical equipment. In three cases, service members were shocked while showering.
Families also have sued KBR in federal court for wrongful death; the company is attempting to have the lawsuits dismissed.
The Corps of Engineers said KBR has earned $615 million on 30 similar contracts as the newest it awarded to the company and noted that KBR has not been banned or suspended from winning U.S. government contracts. The government can ban firms in cases of fraud, antitrust violations, bribery, tax evasion or for actions that reflect "a lack of business integrity or business honesty," according to federal rules.
"KBR has not been debarred, suspended, nor have they been proposed for debarment from government contracting,"
~Corps spokeswoman Joan Kibler said.

Offshore energy projects pile up

Sunday Funnies~Citizen K

In Pictures: Mardi Gras NYC parties @ Le Poisson Rouge and BB King's~NolaFunk NYC

Face The Music, Mo' Mardi Gras from Tawnee Lynne~Hey! Name dat'Parade!

Terence Blanchard Quintet: Live at the Village Vanguard ~all about Jazz