Saturday, December 19, 2009

Samedi

Flashback, 1950: Suburbanizing
New Orleans: the end of Charity?
~Patrice Frey

~The current LSU and VA development plan abandons Charity Hospital, one of New Orleans’ most iconic buildings, in favor of a disjointed and sprawling medical campus located to the west of the Charity and Tulane Hospital (see the proposed development plan.) To make way for this decidedly retrograde development, over 250 homes and commercial buildings in the Lower Mid-City neighborhood will be demolished. (Approximately 165 of these buildings are historic, and the National Trust named Charity Hospital and the adjacent Lower Mid-City neighborhood to its 2008 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.) Stunning.
That’s the best word I can think of to describe the irresponsibility of the proposed development. In a city that has suffered so much loss, so much devastation, how can the further destruction of a viable neighborhood be justified? And for what gain?
~Here is a viable alternative that includes rebuilding Charity Hospital as a world-class institution.

In north Lafourche, floodwaters still threaten homes
~Raymond Legendre


"With trenches full of poets...
Spanish songs in Granada,
oh mi corazón"
~Your Right Hand Thief


Judith Owen and Harry Shearer Holiday Sing-Along

Friday, December 18, 2009

Vendredi

Ed Murray say Pay No Attention To That Man Behind The Levee!
~Editilla sho'willas~ Who is this Boo'dat???
We have been waiting for the Clueless Political Opportunists (CPO) that might pick up this Chip and take a seat at our table.
We had such high hopes for Leslie Jacobs given her relationship to the founder of levees.org. But alas, she chose the Price Is Right Showcase mini-vacation and stupid book by the ocean.
But the name of the game here is Flood Safety, and this stupid man is having none of it. It has been four years, said Ed, (yet we still don't have answers z'Editilla) so let's move along, Ed sayz, stop this "blame game", nothing to see here folks. Bad Call Ed. You're a dumbass mud'head, but go stick it in some other hallowed ground. This ground is taken by the survivors of the Federal Flood who deserve to know what happened, not the victims you seek to snooker like illiterate backwoods deacons.
You would be the leader to assume the position for the Exquisite Corps? We need a mayor who leans into a challenge rather than bends over, a mayor who is the city's Point Person... not a Prophet of Sham'wow.

Red Sarah the Pig Lip Sticker Quits Vacation In Co'gnito No'Mo'Coca'Mo ~Wonkette

Jack Bauer vs. Santa
~Huck UpChuck
The “Mitch The Mayor” video!
~Kevin Allman, Gambit

~Editilla Herolerras!~
Oh yeah! This Gumshoe has got it goin'on!
Kevin Allman is the News Bartenda!
Lines'em Up, Knocks'em Down! Yes! Hey, News'tenda!
I'm lookin'fo some strange, wha'chu got today?
"Welll, Hey there Editilla! How'z yer'Hammer Hangin?
NO PROBLEMO! How about our new Mad Mitch's Mayorhattan wit'a Rovian Political Wedgie Chaser?
It'll Flat Jack yer'Georges!"

I say Hey News'tenda! Hey Man Looka Heah!
My hammer be ringin'yay fo'Mad Mitch's Mayorhattan, but errrah we gonna pass on'da Rovian Political Wedgie Thingy
--been there done that and got the dicktaters to prove it.

'Carpetblogger' is now a Word!
~American Zombie



Louisiana ranks as 'happiest' state ...state of what, me worry?

La. ranks No. 1 in deaths from diabetes
*

*
OH OH D'OH! Merrrrrry Christmas Coronary!

Thank Goddess for Blogs and the friends who read'em.
Editilla all'betta now. Thanks Youz slabbed'ats!
Be careful out there, people!

*
4-day work week, no Mardi Gras
parade stands cuts to city service
~Bigad Shaban, WWL


Battered New Orleans Police Department was beaten by the storm: Jarvis DeBerry

Top Stories '09 | #6: Our nation's promise to the Gulf Coast
~Facing South


I am a Drone~Mark Sashine

Arbeit Macht Frei

Bay Bridge metal failures still a mystery~Andrew McIntosh

December 2008 Coal-Ash Spill Left Giant Mess, Big Legacy
~Pam Radtke Russell


Recent floods are what a warmer, wetter world would look like: A guest column by Tracey and Tom Sherry

The Netherlands — Engineering on the “down low”~Greg Gross

Sunny and cool weekend ahead, giving residents a break

Recovery School District looks at making charters pay rent
~Sarah Carr


New Orleans gets 150,000 books from local group~Nick Grabbe

Super Bowl leads to more Carnival change

Five reasons New Orleans is the best city on earth
~Nathan Deuel


Bustout Burlesque
~America's only authentic 1950s-style burlesque show, recreating the glamorous nightclub entertainment found on Bourbon Street decades ago. It brings back sexy, glamorous, and risque New Orleans-style entertainment with elegance, flair, and wit.
Next Show: Fri., Dec. 18.
HOB (225 Decatur St.)
Two Shows: 7:30pm & 10pm
$20 (Mak'A'You Holla!)

Morgan had right pieces for NO jazz photo book~John Wirt

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Jeudi

St. Charles Parish prepares for more rain; officials ask residents to curtail water use

What Dumbass would want to live on a cliff that erodes into the sea, when they could come and live 'happiest' in New Orleans?
Live Oak Levees in Louisiana, Why Not?~Quinta Scott
~Live oak along Bayou Chene, Avoca Island
~The following quotation from my upcoming book,
The Mississippi, explains the vulnerability of levees:
“As massive as they are, levees are fragile come floodtime.
Leave a stick in the levee during construction, when it rots, it creates a cavity, weakening the levee.
Let a small animal or crawdad burrow into the levee, it creates a cavity, weakening the levee.
Let it rain for days and weeks and months, water will saturate its soil, weakening the levee.
Build the levee of light, sandy soil, it is vulnerable to wave wash from wind or barge traffic, weakening the levee. A flooded river roaring downstream might scour its base, weakening the levee.

The weight of the flood is the greatest danger to the levee.
Two, three, four stories of water press against the levee, seek out its vulnerabilities, and saturate it, burrowing underneath it and erupting as sand boils–geysers of river water–on the inside.
If the spout is muddy, the river is eroding the core of the levee.
The taller the levee, the more massive the crevasse, the greater the damage to the land when it breaks.”

~Special thanks to John Poole for this wonderful addition.
"Boy Bouncing on a Live Oak Branch New Orleans"
© 1989, 2009 John Poole. Editilla swears we know this tree...

Flooding provides ammo for critics of development
~Naomi King


River Ridge drainage project could help homeowners dealing with recent flooding
~Maya Rodriguez


Flood waters recede in Lafourche Parish ~Advocate

Corps awards $2.4M Industrial Canal project to Covington firm ~NOCB~The contract calls for driving 1,400 feet of sheet pile approximately 4,000 feet south of the Ted Hickey Bridge, also known as the Seabrook Bridge. According to the corps, the work will address potential seepage and reduce the risk of storm damage from an event that has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year.

When levees fail, so does this nation

Conservative bloggers question my manhood and (may) want to kick my ass~YRHT

I need a word for this
~American Zombie


And then there were... fewer than before~WCBF
~The_Gambit Who woulda thought Manny Chevrolet Bruno would outlast @Leslie_Jacobs in #nolamayor race?

Politics with a Punch Tonight!

City to expand Norman Mayer Library with demolition of adjacent property

Help fight hunger two ways with the gift of a backyard vegetable garden~Judy Walker

Odd Words
~Odd Bits of Life in New Orleans


Interview with Colour Expert; James Martin~Colour me Happy

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Mercredi

Costco Removes Tomatoes In Anticipation Of Palin Visit ~Wonkette~Once upon a time a very long time ago (last week), a man attempted to throw a tomato at Sarah Palin and missed. The Salt Lake City Costco, determined not to allow the greatest possible attempted horror in world history to repeat itself on Costco premises, reportedly took all of its tomatoes of its shelves during Sarah Palin’s recent book-signing visit.
~Editilla Fetishizlas~
We have decided that Sarah is the most deserving, weirdest Piece of Strange, Fetishsista Nut'Oil Handmaiden's Tail to emerge in a loong time you know it.
And we like her in Red.
Tomato is a member of the family Bella Donna --Nightshade.
Also, Red is the color of, you guessed it, Santa, Lucky Dogs in the morning, tender the Color of Victory,
Christ on
a Stick and STOP signs. Red is the color of Abortion.
We see the Ho'Woly communion dominion of Red Sarah, but instead of wine we bring Tomatoes, and instead of feeding upon the Body of Her Exquisite Red Corpse we feed Her...Tomatoes. Yes! Bushels of Bloody Red Tomatoes upon Red Sarah's Italian Spectacled Brow! MMmmwhwhwahahahahaaaaaa whew!
Clown Show I
~Library Chronicles

~Edwin Edwards once said of Dave Treen, "He takes an hour and a half to watch 60 Minutes" Well I just spent about 5 hours watching, pausing, making notes on, walking away from, coming back to and watching more of what was only about a 45 minute or so debate. And it was freaking hilarious.
~Big Molluski's take over at Humid Beings
~Since buying a house elsewhere to ride out the next flood is out of the question here, Editilla really has only one question to ask of our next leader, which not one of them has addressed yet:

*Editilla is gripped by a sadness deeper than Grief, wider than the River Styx and meaner than Hell.

Say what, Mr. Carville? ~Adrastos

Mayoral Candidates Pledge Never To Travel, Ever ~Nolafugees

Georges, Murray both get endorsements from gay-rights PAC~Michelle Krupa

Obama promotes FEMA official from New Orleans office
~Jonathan Tilove


Estimate puts Louisiana crop damages at $363 million

Jindal: ‘We don't need studies, we need... a partnership'
~Brett Schweinberg


Hazard Mitigation Grant Program rules changed to speed reconstruction, elevation
~David Hammer


St. Charles tallies damage, pumps out water after rains

St. Bernard housing permits now in hands of appointed panel
~Chris Kirkham


Hump'day Dump'tay~slabbed

State Farm Withdraws Plan to Quit Florida Home Market
~Bloomberg

Moody's upgrades Univ. of New Orleans bond rating

Coast Guard awards Bollinger $141 million contract
~Daniel McBride


LaCoastPostal Scuttlebutt

CFP: "Entering SLA's Next Century: Let the Good Times Roll" Success stories in action!
~A Library Writer's Blog


Federal Flood Survivor And Family Close To Finally Having Home Rebuilt~ J.D. Harris

Crumbling Mississippi Hotel Restored to Grandeur

Cakespy: Gingerbread Mad Men
~Serious Eats


New Orleans’ Celebration in The Oaks~E.E. Grunewald

A basketful of goodwill at BaBa Blankets~Missy Wilkinson

Interview with Jazz Guitarist Jon Bremen~Dr. Matt Warnock

Music and Culture Are Crucial To New Orleans' Future ~offBeat

James Rivers: It Ain't Over Yet
~Home of the Groove

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Mardi

Corps: Want quicker levees?
Ask Congress~Nikki Buskey


December rain has already set a record for New Orleans
~Mark Schleifstein
Levee authority, Corps closing Company Canal gate Westwego

St. Bernard Parish distributing sandbags to residents

Parish made levee overtopped in St. Charles Parish~Update
~More Heavy Weather ~WWL
~USGS River Flood Gauge Readings
New Orleans,LA
~ Bonnet Carre Spillway, LA

How could flooding happen?
~A letter to the editor


Water overtopping Bayou St John on Jeff Davis

THE RAIN SONG ~ADRASTOS
30-year Corps Veteran-turned- Tetra Tech-senior-flood-control- engineer proposes alternative Corps levee study to Independent 8/29 Review
~Bob Hall is Tetra Tech's senior flood control engineer, overseeing engineering studies, reports, and designs. He has nearly 40 years of experience in the field, including 30 years with the Los Angeles District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), working primarily with flood control projects in Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada. His previous positions with the Corps include Chief of the Hydrologic Engineering Section, the Flood Plain Management Section, and the Design Branch, as well as the Assistant Chief of the Engineering Division.
Q: What’s driving this new focus on modernization of flood control systems?
A: When Hurricane Katrina happened and the levees failed around New Orleans, that got everybody’s attention and made them realize that flood control projects can fail. It got people looking at levees throughout the country, and as a result, FEMA is now requiring all levee owners to certify their levees.
That has put a large amount of work out there for consulting engineers, because the only people who can do that certification—other than the owners—are consulting engineers.
Also, a National Committee on Levee Safety was set up and it has just released its report to Congress, recommending that a National Levee Safety Program be established.
If Congress approves and funds this effort, it could dramatically change the way levees are perceived by the general public, and affect the way the levees are analyzed and treated.
~Editilla Boo'dats~This will be like the IPET Writ large, more Corps self-study. This is a former Corps Engineer who now does levee certifications, in a PR piece which advocates that the Corps do more levee study of its own failing levees, as we had in New Orleans, in order that we may not get any independent engineering views of those structures.
The Corps hires the engineers, everywhere.
But of course, since we have nothing like this on the ground, in Congress, no independent study of levee failures to use as a template, we should expect the Corps to move quickly forward with their own. As Editilla has said here many times: either we get this story straight our way or the Corps will do it for us their way ...or the flood way.
Perhaps Sandy Rosenthal can use her new-found fame as a Huffington Post Blogger to shine some light on this new Corps Levee Safety Program and how it contrasts and compares with the stillborn 8/29 Independent Review that Mitch Landrieu's Sister allowed to Drown in Committee last year. Indeed it appears tweeted that Levees.org will pay a visit to our intrepid Senator.

Discussion of “Overview of New Orleans Levee Failures: Lessons Learned and Their Impact on National Levee Design and Assessment”

The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025 ~ASCE

Structural Project Engineer -Flood Control, New Orleans

GOP makes hay over Boxer’s ‘ma’am’ comment~The widely played video clip of Senator Barbara Boxer of California reprimanding a Corps of Engineers general for calling her “ma’am’’ is the gift that keeps on giving for the two Republicans hoping to challenge her next year.

Isle de Jean Charles Community now a poster child for global warming~John DeSantis

Coordinate ocean, ecosystem policies, report urges
~Amy Wold


Cane Harvest hampered
~Jeff Moore


Louisiana pipelines change hands ~NOCB

Watch Sen Al Franken Nail A Republican's Testicles to the Senate Floor Over Health Legislations Facts!
~"We are entitled to our own opinions. We're not entitled to our own facts," Franken repeated after the back-and-forth.
"The fact is benefits kick in on day one, and the large majority of benefits kick in on day one. And we shouldn't be standing up here with charts that say the exact opposite."
Later, while riffing with Brown, Franken added, "Senator Thune did say that none of the benefits started next year. He just, I guess, hasn't read the bill."

Blow back, blow out and a lot of hot air around state-funded insurance plans ~slabbed

State streamlining report online

HANO's new leader tries novel approach: listening
~Katy Reckdahl


New Orleans school changes since Katrina win approval, poll shows

Propublica, Times Pic and Frontline team up for Katrina aftermath coverage~Chad Bower

Trees We Hate (#5 In a series)
~Library Chronicles


Mrs. Martha Hardy
~Liprap's Lament-The Line


Football, politics kick off a joyful winter: James Carville

To Call Blair Bush's Poodle Is An Insult to Poodles~Harry Shearer

Zoroaster: Historical Prophet of Iran ~SEMP

Bridge to Nowhere~Julie Bloom

Scenes from the Dumaine Street Gang Second Line and the Saints Second Line in ATL~Red Cotton

Project 2010 at Ashe Cultural Arts Center - Thurs. Dec. 17th
~New Orleans’ Cultural Ambassador Irvin Mayfield, and Luther Gray, the head of the Congo Square Foundation will join with members of the cultural political action committee Project 2010 to distribute funds raised for local artists in need of urgent healthcare. The presentation will take place at a holiday celebration at the Ashe Cultural Arts Center, 1724 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard on Thursday, December 17th, from 6 to 8 PM.

2010 Jazz Fest Line Up
~Pearl Jam, Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Lionel Richie, The Neville Brothers, Allman Brothers Band, Anita Baker, My Morning Jacket, Darius Rucker, Widespread Panic Among Hundreds Scheduled to Appear at 41st Jazz & Heritage Festival


Remembering the Warehouse: Bill Johnston~Alex Woodward


Monday, December 14, 2009

Lundi

Recent Ruling Shows True Tragedy of Katrina was Federal Government's Creation of the Disaster Itself~Sandy Rosenthal
~Editilla Congratulatas~ Yay Sandy and levees.org for getting onto Huffington Posts! Bout'damn Time!

OSC Honors Katrina Pumps Whistleblower With 2009 Public Service Award~Maria Garzino’s Multiple Disclosures Detail Unsafe Pumps in New Orleans.
~As well, Congratulations to Dr. Ivor Van Heerden on receiving the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage!

You're a Student of History, And I'm Not~Harry Shearer

New calendar showcases Saints' most colorful fans while raising money for a worthy cause
~Sheila Stroup
Dense Fog: Careful Out There!
"In these days of truly dangerous dreams I think I've had a few...
down'side the water by the French Quaters in New Orleans.
Yes! Yes! I'll call that City's Name. I'll pray to her Patron Saint
--I'll do whateva it takes to feel safe--
when the Fog falls Thick and Quick, so White
you can hardly hear the Church bells ring."


Census tally of New Orleans addresses nearly matches locals' count~Michelle Krupa

2 dead, several missing after cyclone hits Fiji

Mardi Gras, New Orleans Saints Becoming One Big Easy Partay

A Merrry Who Dat Christmas ~NOLAFemmes

New Orleans Saints fever cools interest in mayor's race
~Michelle Krupa


New Orleans Election Profile:
Lt Governor Mitch Landrieu
~Christopher Tidmore


Surprise and Angst
~Clancy Dubos


DEQ looking into oily discharge from refinery into St. Bernard neighborhood during rains
~Chris Kirkham


Streamlining panel tries to rein in state expenses~Jan Moller

IEM takes the money and runs
~The Baton Rouge-based risk management consulting firm that gained national attention by predicting many of the catastrophic impacts of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans will move its headquarters to Research Triangle Park in North Carolina.

Just how involved is Broussard? ~YatPundit

Slabbed quietly passes our second year online

A.C. Thompson still trawling NOPD, fear and loathing in the City the Corps Forgot ~ProPublica

U.S. Census plans to hire 2,000 at new New Orleans HQ

Bond decisions clear way for sale in New Orleans

Project labor agreements irk contractors~Richard A. Webster

Corps speeds testing of tubes to plug levee breaches ~Amy Wold

Levee Board Votes for Corps- Approved Plan~Adam Lynch
~The Rankin-Hinds Pearl River Flood and Drainage Control District voted this morning to move head with a levees-only flood-control plan endorsed by the Corps of Engineers.

Corps approves emergency repair plans for Alton Ill. levee

Lake Lanier Association Files Motion in Water Wars

BUILDER Magazine Partners With Marianne Cusato To Present Concept Home 2010: A Home For The New Economy

Closer to home
~Crescent City Hack


New Orleans events, Dec. 15

Hank III jams with Kyle Turley
~Saving Country Music



Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra's "Book One" Nominated for a 2010 Grammy Award~All About Jazz

Top 10 Louisiana Albums of '09
~Static TV


Jack Brass Celebrates Tenth Anniversary, New CD, Dec. 18th
~Andrea Canter


Galactic enlists New Orleans legends for new album

Gift Hoarse
~Judith Owen and Harry Shearer's Holiday Sing-Along is where chestnuts meet the roast
~Noah Bonaparte Pais


World of music is silenced again by death of Ralph Johnson
~Geraldine Wyckoff

Sunday, December 13, 2009