Samedi

Breaching Federal Flood Denial
~The Palm Beach Post~H/T~Levees.org
~The federal government's failure after Hurricane Katrina — "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" — might turn out to be nothing compared with its failure before Katrina missed NOLA.

Civil Engineers weigh on Corps liability for flood damage
~Structural Engineering
~"Fortunately, our great democracy has mechanisms in place to prevent such criminal acts and that is the judiciary. In this case, once again, our judicial system, protected the society from criminally negligent engineers who try to keep their jobs or gain financially at the expense of public safety."
~Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, Ph.D., P.E.

New Orleans Celebrates Federal Flood Liability Ruling--But Will It Hold Up?~Faithful Progressive

Calling All Charity Babies
& Supporters!
As many of you know, Wally Thurman is an incredible Lower Mid-City resident and also a lead plaintiff on the lawsuit against Mayor Nagin for violating the City Charter.
Wally was born in the front room of his Lower Mid-City home that has been in his family for generations.
Well, Wally's turning 80 year's old! So to celebrate his life, and to show our support of Lower Mid-City we are throwing him a birthday party! Join us to celebrate and show your support of Lower Mid-City this Saturday, Nov. 21st, from 6:00pm – 9:00pm.

• The 200 block of S. Tonti (between Cleveland and Palmyra) will be blocked off and decorated.
• Party from 6:00pm - 9:00pm THIS Saturday, Nov. 21st.
• Live music will feature the Franklin Avenue Underpass Jazz Band, Charmaine Neville, the Hot 8 Brass Band, Tom McDermott and Dr. Guitar.
• The Outerbanks Bar will be firing up the outdoor grill and serving drinks.
• Congratulations to all who have fought so hard and to everyone who has shown their support.

Sen. Mary Landrieu's response to improper campaign donations draws complaint~Bruce Alpert
~"Our campaign finance laws were designed to ensure transparency," said Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director.
"Sen. Landrieu cannot ignore a law she finds inconvenient simply to save herself the embarrassment of acknowledging she received illegal campaign contributions. If Sen. Landrieu did nothing wrong, she has no reason not to come clean with the American people and explain why she turned over $25,000 in contributions to the Treasury."

Senator Landrieu to host fundraiser for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid In NOLA
~Robert Travis Scott
~Editilla sayz Ax the Rx~ What's in your wallet, Breaux?
And, how do you spell RELIEF? C-A-R-V-I-L-L-E!


**~soz'ya knows we ain't afraid of no militant honky rituals...
Buuut, Editilla prefers local pagan rituals, where all da'colors swing fo'da Black'N'Gold Nation. Where'yat wit'da Who'dats?


Poor Precious Black Boy Raised By W.W.W.L.V.E.S! Becomes Wealthy Pro Football Player!
~Nordette Adams
~Wealthy Women Who Love Verile Ethnic Scenes

So long. And thanks for all the fishwrap~Library Chronicles

When a Coon'Ass sayz I'M BROKE---He's BROKE
~An out of work Coon'ass oilfield hand answered a knock on the door one day, only to be confronted by a well-dressed young man carrying a vacuum cleaner.
'Good morning,' said the young man. 'If I could take a couple of minutes of your time, I would like to demonstrate the very latest in high-powered vacuum cleaners.'
'Go away!' said the unemployed oilfield hand. 'I'm broke and haven't got any money!' and he proceeded to close the door.
Quick as a flash, the young man wedged his foot in the door and pushed it wide open. 'Don't be too hasty!' he said. 'Not until you have at least seen my demonstration.' And with that, he emptied a bucket of horse manure onto his hallway carpet. 'If this vacuum cleaner does not remove all traces of this horse manure from your carpet, Sir, I will personally eat the remainder.'
The unemployed oilfield hand stepped back and said, 'Well let me get you a fork, 'cause they cut off my electricity this morning.'

Coming up in this week’s Gambit: Swear-free edition

Get Faced~Alex Woodward

Oak Street wine bar plans approved by New Orleans City Council~Bruce Eggler

Oak Street businesses ready for Po-Boy Fest crowds~Emilie Bahr

Miss. blues trail marker going up in Ferriday~Vershal Hogan

Vendredi

Corps' MR-GO claims should be settled, and fast, attorneys say
~Mark Schleifstein
~Winning Attorney Pierce O'Donnell said the Obama administration has two choices in responding to Duval's Wednesday ruling.
"The Justice Department could continue the scorched earth policies of the prior administration and stonewall the people of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish for years to come," O'Donnell said. "We've been in court for four years, and if the Corps of Engineers exercises its threat, they'll go to the Supreme Court of the United States and literally continue this litigation for years to come. Or the new president and his Justice Department can honor (Obama's) campaign promise and his recent promise in New Orleans to do the right thing by the people of New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish," he said.
"It's time that we stopped litigating and we started negotiating."

"insouciance, myopia and shortsightedness"
~Your Right Hand Thief

Chalmatians and 9th Warders have their day in court ~NOLA-dishu

How the judgement against the Corps of Engineers in NOLA affects you ~Levees.org

Katrina 'Blame Game' May be Over for New Orleans
~Carol Forsloff
~Editilla Crow'tellas: Don't Bet Your Life On It!~
I have something to say about the "Blame Game" as it relates to Responsibility, Culpability and just plain old Ability --none of which seems in evidence even still at the Corps of Engineers as they prepare their Next Crime, to wit: Appeal this Settlement to the US Supreme Court. What abject Perp Cowardice!
To appeal this case to the Supreme Court is absolutely Criminal.
But that is not what worries me the most here.
We call it the "Poor Meme" Game, to wit: Blame New Orleans for sticking it to the Poor American Taxpayer AGAIN --and after aaalll the billion$ we already gave'em!
Yessir'ya'betcha! Just as plain as Lipstick on a Pig, I see it already happening coast to coast in comments sections, in articles and editorials starting to come out. As if just compensation in a Defective Product Liability Case is a Government Entitlement, misguided citizens seem to see only the Pay-Out as a Hand-Out --and not WHO made this Deadly Toy named MR-GO...
--and, just as important, How they did it.
Soooo, many Taxpayers have begun now to Harp on another supposed Hand Out for New Orleans. But, we need to ReFocus their attention back onto the Criminal Toy Makers, as over half the nation lives in counties with Corps of Engineers Toy Levees.
Blame Games are why we have Courts. Entitlements are why we have Politicians. The idea that this ruling "opens up the American Taxpayer to another pay-out for New Olreans" is wrong.
But we can scratch that broken record. We can and will correct this new Katrina Shorthand: MR-GO Settlement as a Hand-Out. We must ReFrame the Nation's Story back onto the Corps Failed Engineering, and away from a misunderestimated view of the Settlement of that Defective Product Liability as a Hand-Out of Government Largess rather than Survivors' Just Recompense.

Effects of judge's Katrina ruling could mean huge change in how levees are designed nationwide
~LA Times

Kenner City Council asks Corps for information about Garbage in substandard Levee
~Mary Sparacello
~The Kenner City Council asked Thursday that the Army Corps of Engineers disclose who allowed a section of Kenner lakefront levee to be raised with substandard material. "I want to know where that weak link is," said Councilwoman-at-Large Michele Branigan. "I want to make sure we're angry at the right people ...Because this just cannot happen again."
Enough construction debris was recently discovered buried in the top 2 to 2.5 feet of the levee between the Duncan Canal Pump Station and Williams Boulevard in Kenner that about 5,000 to 7,000 cubic yards of the levee must be removed and replaced with new clay. {Thanks youz fo'da Illustration, Masqued E'vinga!}
~Editilla Goz'intas~
Are we talking about an Extra 1400, 5-yard dump trucks like the one pictured, or 700,
10-yard double-axle trucks,
as above, on the streets?
But, regarding Paper Mache Trash Levees, we of Corps-flooded Orleans Parish would like to remind the Councilwoman-at-Large that, from the looks of the Corps' actions and reaction in Jefferson Parish ...it IS happening again.

Corps Pays Times-Picayune for Editorial Alligator Tears
~Editilla Tearellas~ This is beyond Laughable, eh?

Corps allows public to mouf'talk on canal pump station plans
~Mark Schleifstein

Congressional leaders hear plea for Morganza~Nikki Buskey

New Technologies Repair Levees ~Phil Leggiere

Whoda’ thought it – Rooting out fraud and safeguarding taxpayers from illegal conduct are among the Justice Department’s highest priorities ~slabbed

In Katrina's Wake: Portraits of Loss from an Unnatural Disaster, Photography of Chris Jordan
~"This series, photographed in New Orleans in November and December of 2005, portrays the cost of Hurricane Katrina on a personal scale. Although the subjects are quite different from those in my earlier Intolerable Beauty series, this project is motivated by the same concerns about our runaway consumerism."~Special H/T and Thanks to Polly Jackson

NOIR Fest III
~Humid Beings

Jeudi

Nola.com White Washes Corps' Graft on Garbage-filled Levees
~WARNING! Blatant Financial Conflict of Interest!
~That contractor is off the hook now, Mr. Herr said, because the corps accepted the job back in 2000 and 2001. So taxpayers will have to pay a yet-to-be-determined amount for repairs that involve replacing enough dirt to fill 350 standard-sized dump trucks.
~Editilla Sewwwellas~Seeing the Ad as Editorial
Why??? All sane citizens and savvy Gentl'rillas would of course logically ask that question: Why is this Contractor "off the hook"?
What Hook? What Hump? OK, if they are "off the Hook", then What Is Their Name? But NOLA.COM ASKS NO QUESTIONS WHILE THE CORPS TELLS'YA... MO'LIES.
It is bad enough that the T-P/Nola.com has passed over So Much Corps Malfeasance, but this Editorializing Nothing but the Corps Word with an Corps Expensive Flash Ad on the same page is getting very old and borders on Newspeak Hubris. PR News.
The term for this type of insipid "Information Management" is: Advertorial. Come on this is unmitigated Bull Shit.
Do we need Mitigation here? What we truly do not need here is a Fail'ya ta'Commoonicate from a Barker Mouf'Piece for Killer's.
Can we getta Witnaaassss?

The story so far ~Fix the Pumps
~The Corps is planning a round of public meetings to take input on the synopsis and the phase 1 RFP for the permanent pump stations. The first meeting is due to take place Nov. 19th
(details here).
They had previously scheduled such a series, with the first one scheduled for October, but they had cancelled them to gve more time to negotiate the Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) with the state. Now, even with the PPA under negotiation, they are pushing ahead with the first meeting. It is undoubtedly a cheap PR move on their part to tell a room full of citizens that the State is holding up their storm protection - a lie of course.

Panel considers proposed levee paths~Nikki Buskey

Review: "Ameriville" is a remembrance for Katrina victims~Kurt Brighton

I'm a f*#!%ing Eagle Scout, bra
~Library Chronicles

My Fake Life~Karen Gadbois

No Property & Casualty Implications In Latest Katrina Ruling ~National Underwriter

Flood ruling could bring new deluge of lawsuits
~Cain Burdeaux

Hurricane Katrina: It was not an act of God~Daniel Howden

MR-GO SLABBED: Judge Duval Rules Corps’ mismanagement flooded lower 9th in New Orleans following Katrina
~"Appealing Duval’s decision would be another Man-made Disaster with “we the people” picking up the tab. It’s time to say no!"

~Judge Stanwood R. Duval found that nonfeasance lay at the base of the flooding of East New Orleans, but that misfeasance was the cause of the "Lower 9th" and St. Bernard disasters.~PointofLaw.com
~Editilla Notellas~ But, Not to be confused with the Corps deliberately, consciously building levees with Construction Garbage.

~"The judge agreed with us that Katrina was not a natural disaster. Katrina was a Man-made disaster caused by the Army Corps of Engineers."
~Pierce O'Donnell, in LA Times.


~"I think he's called a spade a spade. Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans was a manmade catastrophe with a hurricane trigger. I saw the suffering of the people in New Orleans. Finally there is the potential of compensation." ~Dr. Ivor Van Heerden

On Judge Stanwood Duval’s ruling~Book Review: "Perilous Place, Power Storms: Hurricane Protection in Coastal Louisiana"
~Levees.org


New Orleans: Where Accountability Failed, Liability Follows
~Harry Shearer

Judge rules Army engineer corps liable for Katrina flooding
~Mark Nero

Mercredi~ Hammer Down MR-GO!

Corps liable for failed operation of MR-GO: doomed homes in St. Bernard, Lower 9th Ward,
judge rules~Mark Schleifstein
~"Judge Duval exposed 40 years of the Army Corps of Engineers' gross malfeasance with regard to the operation and maintenance of the MR-GO," said Pierce O'Donnell, a Los Angeles-based attorney and co-leader of the plaintiff's legal team. "His decision is an extreme condemnation of the lack of concern for the safety of New Orleans and St. Bernard residents."
~"Until such time as the litigation is completed, including the appellate process up to and through the U.S Supreme Court, no activity is expected to be taken on any of these claims,"
said Corps Public Affairs spokesman Ken "Doll" Holder.

In landmark ruling, judge says Corps' negligence caused Katrina flooding~Chad Bower, WWL
~Levees.org gets hat tip from Dallas Morning News
~AP~NYT~Bloomberg~Digital Journal ~CNN ~CS Monitor

~WDSU~While still evaluating the 156-page opinion, the MRGO Litigation Group issued the following statement:

"We are pleased with Judge Duval's ruling in this historic case. This decision is one step on the long road to recovery for the people of New Orleans.
The government has always had a moral obligation to rebuild New Orleans. This decision makes that obligation a matter of legal responsibility.
It has been proven in a court of law that the drowning of New Orleans was not a natural disaster, but a preventable Man-made travesty."

Leslie Jacobs, good opening Ad --except for a mispilled gut check on the Teeensy Fact that Katrina did not cause New Orleans to flood on August 29th, 2005
~Editilla bites the tongue that feeds it~
It is but a tiny little bone in my heart, the difference between a Man Made Disaster, a Weather Event and Natural Selection.
Oh Well... sorry for Mrs Jacobs, but the Irony here is thicker than blood in the viscous toxic soup left behind after the Corps' levees failed and spilled New Orleans' guts out into the streets for all to see, lament, criticize. Now that was a true to gods gut check.
Indeed, I saw peoples' guts checked, literally rendered with an AK-47 --because those Corps-built levees failed-- not because Katrina missed the city by nearly 30 miles.
Really, Editilla's trying to be nice about this but... Jeez Louie!
It is a bald faced Fact that Katrina did not flood New Orleans, yet this political candidate would have the gall to open their first campaign commercials with a dreadful scene of people walking through Corps-caused floodwater and say:

"When Katrina happened, and you had to leave the city, it was gut check time."

Other than ad-word presumption, isn't that like saying:

When automobiles caused the Minnesota Bridge Collapse, and everyone had to find a different route to work, it was Traffic Check Time.

Yeah well, maybe for someone watching from a safe distance they might could lump man-made disaster into a carpet bag with natural disaster, but for we on the scene when Katrina came and went such a vicarious view honestly pales in light of the death and destruction that I witnessed wrought by the Corps of Engineers. Yes, Mother Nature kicked ass, but this candidate wouldn't own that opening scene in their commercial without the Corps of Engineers. They could at least show the genteel good manners to offer credit where it is due, a difference that makes a difference.

Frighteningly Stupid Campaign Manager: "Got any Clues?"
Sanguine yet Sharply Chagrined Editilla: "Go Fish Yer'self!"

This actually hurts Editilla, as we initially like Leslie Jacobs for obvious reasons. But I also saw what happened that first week of 8/29/05. People really died, right in front of me.
This really happened --and it has grown to deeply disturb me as a survivor when anyone tries to say that it wasn't man-made engineering failure that did it. If this Candidate does not know why New Orleans flooded what else can she possibly know about insuring that it doesn't happen again?
Yeah, like we'll hea'ya mouf'talkin.
I surely hope this campaign can tweak their marketing model to offer more proof that Leslie Jacobs knows what it means to drown New Orleans. Otherwise... what's the diff ya'know?
Thank Goddess Editilla isn't the only silly'rilla wit'a flea up our bum about this slip'd'rip, this Funky Katrina Shorthand Jive. Whew! Thanks youz, Mz Charolette!


~Stephen Sabludowski on this Mares' Race

Can You Teach an Old Corps New Tricks?~Dan Farber
Photo: shieldfirst.com
~The levee failures in New Orleans a few years ago — the picture is to help refresh your recollection in case you’ve forgotten about them —
put the spotlight on some major deficiencies in the operation of the Army Corp of Engineers. According to E&E News, lawmakers are complaining that the Corp has failed to heed legislative mandates for reform:
"Three of the most significant of these programmatic reforms, independent peer review, safety assurance review, and mitigation reforms, became effective upon enactment,” the lawmakers wrote to Jo-Ellen Darcy, assistant Army secretary for civil works. “We are extremely concerned that almost two years later, little progress has been made to implement these critical reforms.”

Social Media for Non-Profit,
Case Study: Levees.Org
~Stanford Rosenthal

Independent study sought in Charity Hospital debate
~Jan Moller

The most mysterious drink in the city: the enigmatic, Mass Portal
~American Zombie

Clueless~We Could Be Famous

Applications available for NOLA health program ~NOLAFemmes

From Look'see to Come'see: Corrupted Levees in Kenner demand explanations from Corps, state legislator says
~Sheila Grissett

Waste in Your Levee? Don't Blame the Corps~Harry Shearer

EPA keeping close eye on Louisiana, new chief Lisa Jackson says in N.O.
~Mark Scleifstein

Work on artificial reefs to start Friday~Daily Comet

WPA 2.0: Working Public Architecture Competition Announces Winners ~The Dirt
~“Aquaculture Canal New Orleans” was created by Fadi Masoud, a Master of Landscape Architecture student at the University of Toronto, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. Masoud’s proposal re-envisions the New Orleans’ Industrial Canal, which is set to be closed by the Army Corps of Engineers, as productive infrastructure that can provide flood control and and enable aquaculture.

Coastal Conservation Corps:
Why not institute a “green” corps for the coast?
~LACoastPost

Rules aim to use dredged mud to save coast~Jeremy Alford

Humpty Dumpday Slabbed

East Coast states totaling damage from nor'easter~Wayne Parry

Mardi

Leslie Jacobs to launch ad blitz in New Orleans mayoral race
~Frank Donze

Liprap's Lament - The Line:
Leslie Jacobs and the Bloggers
~Apart yer'ho'so humble Editilla (who was jus'schleppin the Gambit Twit) , Liprap is first outta'da gate on Leslie Jacobs Live from last night's "Mayor Mugs Bloggers" meet'n'greet.
We always enjoy the way Leigh lays it right in da'pocket. She was able to put this latent candidate into broader context, where Editilla jus'wanna get all emotional don't'cha know.
American Zombie got tanked there too.
Hey, it's tough bein'a Zombie. Practice Practice.
Huck UpChuck was there so we Know he gonna have some cool treatment fo'da Ladda and will hang it forthwith!
There were other heavies in attendance so we hope to hang wit'it.
Mitch Landrieu is rumored to have been calling blogger cell phones to distract them with text messages about his new band: "Mitch and the Pitch Fuckers". Stay tuned.

Corps of Engineers PR to hold meaningless community meetings on permanent pump stations in Metairie

Politicians and celebrities uncensored in new Wexner Center film: ‘The Silent Echo Chamber’ by Harry Shearer
~The opportunity to see this type of footage is a privileged experience. Shearer’s footage comes from a broadcast satellite feed that only industry insiders have access to. Shearer first discovered these clips, which he calls “found objects,” while working for SNL, and was intrigued by these unscripted moments.
“The Silent Echo Chamber” was collected during the 2008 presidential campaign. Well-known political figures are seen preparing themselves to go live on air. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama can be seen staring straight ahead preparing as they try to compose themselves. David Gergen, Henry Kissinger, and James Carville are among others featured in the clips.

Leslie Jacobs reaches out to Nola Bloggers before official campaign announcement ~Gambit Twits!

Leslie Jacobs
Speaking with Sandy Rosenthal of Levees.org, Kevin Allman of Gambit and Leigh Checkman of Liprap's Lament

~Editilla Counsuellas~Again, Big Whoa Thanks Youz to Kevin Allman of Gambit for fielding this blogger's question to the Candidate. Unfortunately, Mrs Jacobs' uncool, pragmatically nuanced, faux position on Re-Opening Charity dropped her platform a few rungs down the ladder, as it reflects directly on Karen's hard work on the Post-Flood Housing Crisis, Liprap's extensive coverage of City Schools and the fate of A Place for all the other Actual Human Beings who made up the greater population of the city before the Flood and who will never live on "Da'Sliva by Da'Riva" much less afford such uptown gold-plated health care. This was no Progressive Sunrise.
I wouldn't like Joe Lieberman even if he put on a wig and started wearing a dress any more than I like the idea of any conservative Democrat who would try to paint lips on New Orleans with a Baton Rouge, who might expediently misunderestimate Charity as nuance for "Indigent Care", rather than the fulcrum of affordable health care in New Orleans. But even deeper than that for me is the question: is she coming from Baton Rouge or New Orleans?
Is this Live or is it Memorex?
We really don't need Baton Rouge in New Orleans, supporting LSU and the flattening of an entire neighborhood of Returnees to facilitate the school's Medical Industry real estate land grab.
Her "Focus Response" of "Indigent Care/Charity" was a "polled" dance to the left of an answer, and frankly left Editilla flatter than a lap-dance in a Clown Car. Such calculated bourgeois naivete bespeaks to me of an ignorance of Charity Hospital as not only the Capstone of Affordable Health Care for most of the City's Citizens, but of Charity's pre-Flood place as the #1 Trauma Center in the south and Top 3 in the entire nation.
To put it bluntly, Charity Hospital has always (200 years) confronted the devastation and stitched up the victims of both Nature and Bad Government in New Orleans.
For this latent, virtually recordless candidate to simply equate that with "indigent care" is to ignore how Charity stood Bravely (much braver than me or Leslie Jacobs) during the flood --yet is, like so many of us from that horrid time, in danger of falling through the aftermath like rats into a carpet bag.
Jus'sayin... To demure is NOT to lead.

The Mayor's Race as Sitcom
~Adrastos as Laugh Button

EPA head to visit New Orleans ~WXVT~Jackson is expected to spend two days in New Orleans, where she will speak at the EPA's National Brownfields Conference, tour the Lower 9th Ward and speak at Southern University at New Orleans and Tulane University, her alma mater.

Can't Do Katrina Shorthand Jive
~Sandy Rosenthal

N.O. contractor to pay $40K fine for dumping waste

Louisiana passed up for Corps' Katrina Lie Machine contract
~Dion Roberts

TUCLA Conference
~The Huck Upchuck

And I Am To Vanish Into the Mists?~Gentilly Girl

Serve America, Place Your Child in Foster Care!~Soldier single-mom refuses deployment to care for baby
SAVANNAH, Ga. — An Army cook and single mom may face criminal charges after she skipped her deployment flight to Afghanistan because, she said, no one was available to care for her infant son while she was overseas.
Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, 21, claims she had no choice but to refuse deployment orders because the only family she had to care for her 10-month-old son — her mother — was overwhelmed by the task, already caring for three other relatives with health problems.
Her civilian attorney, Rai Sue Sussman, said Monday that one of Hutchinson's superiors told her she would have to deploy anyway and place the child in foster care.
Kevin Larson, a spokesman for Hunter Army Airfield, said he didn't know what Hutchinson was told by her commanders, but he said the Army would not deploy a single parent who had nobody to care for his or her child. "Spc. Hutchinson's deployment is halted," Larson said. "There will be no deployment while this situation is ongoing."

Aung San Suu Kyi, Omar Khadr, and Barack Obama: A Dreadful Tale of What America Has Become~CJO's Avenger212

Sunday! New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival
~Ride the St. Charles street car to Stop #46.
The 2009 New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival will be held 11am to 6pm, Sun Nov 22 on the newly renovated Oak Street between Carrollton and Eagle.

Jenny LeBlanc demonstrates art with New Orleans tamale-making ~Doug MacCash

Randy Newman Talks New Orleans and the 'Princess and the Frog' with Variety

John Prine, John Mayer bound for New Orleans~Keith Spera

Lundi

Contaminated Soil in New Orleans: New Research Finds Arsenic is from Federal Flood
~Gina Solomon

Corps looks to strengthen flood walls~Jennifer Van Vrancken

Nation's largest gay newspaper publisher closes~Dorie Turner
~H/T~ BBuzz

$7,500 grants available to strengthen homes against storms ~WWL

Gov. Bobby Jindal raising money in Houston, Michigan
~Jan Moller
~Editilla Tollin'ya~Little Pee'you is just raising money and sssmeagling his name around the Hokum'N'Strokum Circus to run for Vice President with Haley Barbour.
T'ink about it... Babar and Zephir 2012?

Ray "Babyhead" Nagin proves that being Mayor of NOLA is easier than Rocket Scientry

Odd: why is Mary Landrieu sending campaign funds to the U.S. Treasury?
~Your Right Hand Thief

The stinky on SWB
~American Zombie

Editilla expecta'hear One Word
about Leslie Jacobs for Mayor...

~Yeah!~We have been trying to get a Woman elected God for the longest time. But, since Heaven ain't exactly what you'd call a Democracy if you know what I mean, Editilla would have settled for President of the United States --yet that meant the idea of possibly another 8 years of you know who in the Hen House. Sooo, a Woman for Mayor of New Orleans would just set us up smooth to the fine!

Mayor’s Race? Fuhgettaboutit!
~Clancy Dubos

Corps of Engineers must now tell why it breaks promises of flood protection across nation
~For years, residents along the Little Calumet River believed the construction of a 21-mile federal levee system would save their streets and homes from the ravages of flood waters and the burden of flood insurance.
Now, with the levee system nearly complete, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has reneged on its earlier promise. There are about 200,000 residents within the flood plain, and they had been told that once the levee project was completed next year, their homes would be removed from the flood-plain map and they no longer would have to pay for expensive flood insurance. Estimates claimed that the region would save about $18.6 million in annual flooding damage with the completion of the levee project. The Army Corps now is backing off that assessment.
Flood "protection" is now no longer in the Corps' lexicon. Instead, it has renamed the $245 million project the Little Calumet River Flood Risk Reduction Project.
The Army Corps of Engineers apparently became squeamish about pledging protection from flooding after its system of levees failed in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
Citizens in New Orleans maintain that those levees did not perform to the capacity the Corps is legally required to satisfy.

Public Relations show tonight on Corps of Engineers' plans for Metairie lakefront --no mention of Compromised Levees

Corps to build World's Largest Lie Machine, in Colorado!
~FORT COLLINS - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has hired a world-renowned Colorado State University water researcher to design and build a levee testing facility capable of simulating erosion from the enormous waves that likely contributed to Hurricane Katrina’s devastating toll on New Orleans.

Companies still wary of state’s vulnerability to storms, flooding
~NO City Business

New Orleans' OIG and Ethics Review Board targets of more criticism ~Kelly Parker

Investing in Disaster

Geothermal energy emerging as another alternative
~Jeremy Alford

Lo, the Monday slabbed

DePaul educator says Race to the Top and similar programs lead to privatization
~“What the advocates for charters who want to strengthen public education do not seem to realize is that once traditional public schools are transformed into charters, they are easy to close and replace with private providers,” Saltman said.
“My research has found the push for privatization is based less in evidence and far more in ideology and profit-seeking.”

After The Deluge
~Tropical Storm Ida has left her mark on Delaware.
The question we have is will we learn from Ida’s destruction or will we keep on doing the same old, same old. WHYY reports that it will cost some $15-20 million to replenish the beaches.
The News Journal reports that over $100 million has been spent on beach replenishment in Delaware since 2001.
So, should we continue to throw good money after bad and rebuild Delaware’s coastline or should we call it a day and say that was a fun 100 years at the beach?

Kiss My Gumbo

Banh Appetit ~Robert Payton

~The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation is proud to present the third annual Fiesta Latina, a celebration of Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean, and their influence on the music, food and culture of New Orleans. This free festival will take place Saturday, Nov. 21, at Zephyr Field (6000 Airline Highway, Metairie, LA - Map This Location), from 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Performers include many of the area's favorite Latin, Brazilian and Caribbean artists, including Grupo Fantasma, Rumba Buena, Fredy Omar, Otra, Vivaz, Som Brasil, Mariachi Agave, AsheSon, Julio & Cesar, the flamenco group Ven Pa' Ca and many others.
~H/T~NewOrleans.com

Blast from the (not too distant) past~Mosquito Coast

Pearl River review ~Steve Jones

Yes, well... how'bout Our Undefeated Saints...who'dat?

*

Dimanche~Oh Yeah! 9-0 Baby! Who'dat?

Kenner levee 'compromised' by debris, Corps officials say
~Sheila Grissett
~Warning Dixclaimer Bat Signal~
Screen Shots of Expensive Flash Adverts from today's nola.com above and at right. Yes, they are real and the Irony galling...
--like the T-P/Corps would stick a Thump Up in our...eye.
Public Relations Media. It's the Newspeak Sensation!
Who needs Actual Journalists, when you can just Whore your news media out to the Corps' own whorish $5,000,000 Succubi Optimal Process Partners? This is your Brain...
on Dirty Acid, with Pitch'forked Eyes and Ice'Picked Ears.
Night of the Levee'ng Dead. Nightmare On Leake Street.

~So much construction debris has been found buried in the hurricane protection levee in front of Kenner's Pontchartrain Center that the top 2 to 2-1/2 feet of the earthen barrier must be removed and replaced before several million dollars worth of pending levee improvements can begin.
It was a cost-saving measure suggested by the contractor, who was doing the work at both corps sites, said corps section chief Brett Herr, who now supervises improvements to the East Jefferson levee system.
"I don't want people to read this and think the corps is building levees with landfill material," Herr said. "That isn't accurate."
~Editilla just has to step in here wit'a HO'YEAH?
Whoa! Good thing That Sucka didn't blow on 8/29/05, eh?
Who'dat? Who'dat? Who'dat say they Gonna Flood Them Saints?
The corps on Friday did not respond to requests for the names of the 2000-01 contractor and corps inspector on that job. Thank You, Ms Grissett! We know who Not to Axs!

Regional levee commissioner Tom Jackson,
an engineer, said he was stunned and troubled by the news.
"It's scary, and it makes me even more concerned that we could end up with levee system (features) that aren't built according to corps plans and specs," said Jackson, East Jefferson's appointee to the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East.
"There is no way to accurately predict the strength of the levee with that stuff in it. It definitely has to come out," he said. "And we may have to see if we have enough levee district personnel to put out on the levees to watch the watchers who're supposed to be making sure these things are properly built."
~Editilla Uuuhhhhmmbrellas~Sooooo...Boo'dat!
--how will the Next Mayor handle this Problem with the Exquisite Corps? Tune-in to see who Gets It -as when they do, that Mayoral Candidate will be all ova'yo New Orleans Ladder.
This is Serious Bid'ness, and we are Way Past Done Fucking Around with Political Ambiguity as regards our Flood Safety.

~Special Thanks FDL

Flood Control Infrastructure Contracts Keep Coming
~Defense Industry Daily

How good are schools if students can't get in?~Jarvis DeBerry

Editilla's New Fav Blog Thingy

Sunday Funnies~Citizen K

Brazilian Health Fair NOLA- Kenner, Sunday, Nov. 15th
~A Minha Vida

New Orleans focuses on the visual

The Revival of Gypsy Jazz
~Nick Catalano

Professor Longhair - Tipitina
~The Devil's Guitar