Another Unique Election ~ClancyDuBos Storm-related problems haunt dedicated cops~Our father, along with the other heroic NOPD cops, was abandoned by the same government that is now pointing fingers at them. They stayed and were loyal to their city and citizens. In fact, our dad still lives in his New Orleans house. May God bless the NOPD cops who are still dealing with storm-related issues.
Savannah Book Festival: Escape From a Cold Virtual World ~Georgianne Nienaber Green Goddess~Ian McNulty ~Editilla Sssnowtellas~ Since we got onto Gambit a little late this week we be'hangin on wit'it. I like to try and swing them out as they crawl on out of the weekend to publish. This goes way back for me, remembering waiting on the week's Gambit, before the advent of this online fishionado thingy'world. It used to last nearly the whole week too! You'd wait and wait, order another Dixie, maybe some oysters too, finally give up and go to the bathroom... and there'd you'd find it, sitting on the back of the turlet. Jus'sayin... Gambit is still everywhere you gatta go.
Further Evidence that Mitch Landrieu is Satan and Hell has Frozen Over ~Editilla excapes da'Punitarium. Until now, the only Democrat allowed to cozy up with GOP superstar strategist, and Haint of Satan Mary Matalin was her husband, political consultant Jim Carville, and Satan. But it looks like another candidate for HellBoy has won a bite of Jezebelzebub's heart. According to an invitation circulating this week, Madame Shewolf (above) is slated to co-ho'st an upcoming $1,000-a-person fundraiser in Washington, DC for Lt. Gov Mitch Landrieu. Thank'ya Cheezus and the Republican Party for buying off another Democrat Mayor of New Orleans AGAIN... --Yea'N'Verily, Praise-GOP! Saveth Us from Ourselves! Asseth... --the Succubus cometh! Watch yer'Bucks! Yaaass!
County wrestles with federal officials over Orick flood maps ~John Driscoll~Humboldt County is pushing federal emergency officials to take another look at draft flood maps that project the little town of Orick will be under water during big floods, which threatens to force property owners to buy insurance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency in August aired the new maps to Orick, dramatically changing earlier predictions that a 100-year flood -- or one that occurs statistically once every 100 years -- on Redwood Creek would be contained by its 1960s-era levees. Landowners are now scrambling to buy flood insurance before the maps become final, for the lower rates. Panama awards $268 million canal digging contract
Newsweek calls Babar the Anti-Obama ~WLOX ~Could a wealthy, white, well- connected southerner really grow up to be president? That's the question Newsweek magazine is asking about MS Governor Haley Babar. In a four page article, Newsweek calls Governor Babar "The Anti-Obama" and offers a less than flattering account of Babar's weight, his office adorned with Confederate artifacts, and his habit of riding in an SUV to cross the street from his office to the state capitol. Babar's name has been on the GOP's presidential radar for some time, even leading up to the 2008 race. But the former party chair and Washington lobbyist always seems to brush off any presidential push. And if you don't believe us, then read this deep-background report from Wikipedia: After Babar witnessed the slaughter of his beloved mother by a hunter, he fled from the backwoods of Mississippi to find his way to Washington, DC, where he was befriended by an old lady, who bought him clothes and enrolled him in school. Babar's cousins Celeste and Arthur found him in the big city and then helped him return to the Elephant realm following the death of the King of the Elephants, who had eaten a poisonous mushroom. A council of elephants approached Babar, saying that as he has been educated in the Beltway, he would be suitable to become the new King. Babar is crowned King of the Elephants, marries his cousin Celeste, and founds the city of Celesteville in a suburban Iowa strip mall. With a Babar Presidential Bib... which fawned southern GOPper Vishnu'Excorcist can we expect to play the role of Babar's monkey friend Zephir on the VP Reality Show? 'Tis the season for GOP elves in their talking-point workshops ~Your Right Hand Thief
Apocalypse Man? Apocalypse N.O.?~Maneuvering in an abandoned-looking city and toting a backpack, Reyes showed us how to gain access into hospitals (where independent generators can be jump-started in areas in which electricity has been knocked out, the host asserted) and libraries (Reyes said that after Hurricane Katrina, libraries were some of the few places that weren’t broken into,(???) and yet which contained valuable information such as city maps.)
The Front Man opens in NOLA ~Life After Rhodes ~The Front Man, a dark comedy so true it can only be told as fiction, captures the excitement, danger, and scandal of early Rock & Roll with eighteen original songs by New Orleans composer Todd Souvignier, and an energetic, talented cast.
"The Heralds of Carnival" ~Happy 12th Night! Celebrate the start of the 2010 Carnival Season! ~The Phellows are an historic Mardi Gras organization that first took to the streets 1878 through 1898. They were known for their satirical parades and today's krewe members’ costumes often reflect topical themes. The group was revived in 1981. "A little nonsense now and then is relished by the best of men." Lassezes Le Bon Temp Roule' The Mardi Gras season officially begins on January 6th or the "Twelfth Night," also known to Christians as the Epiphany. Epiphany comes from a Greek word that means "to show." Jesus first showed himself to the three wisemen and to the world on this day. As a symbol of this Holy Day, a tiny plastic baby is placed inside each King Cake. Normally whoever gets the baby usually buys the next cake. In offices and schools and homes all over New Orleans the King Cake is a weekly tradition from January 6th until the beginning of Lent, Ash Wednesday. And, of course, whoever gets the baby in the cake on Mardi Gras day has to buy the first King Cake next year. Editilla likes to have My Own King Cake, sooo we always find the little baby soooo we always get buy ourselves the next cake!
Ingredients:~2 Pounds of the Best Flour~12 Eggs ~A Cupful of Sugar~A Pound of the Best Butter ~1/2 Ounce of Yeast~1/2 Ounce of Salt
Levee statistics show their importance to U.S. economy ~Homeland Security Newswire ~New Orleans region and its levees is not alone ~When Gerry Galloway revealed in a briefing to Congress last year that 43% of the American population lives in counties protected by levees, we wanted to know exactly where those counties were. So I called Galloway on his cell phone and asked him for it. Galloway told me he didn’t have it, that it was “probably in a file cabinet somewhere at FEMA” and that Levees.org should go ask FEMA for it. So we filled out a FOIA request, and six months later, we finally got our data. For the record, Levees.org is not pleased that it took this much time and effort to get data that Galloway had very recently quoted in a congressional hearing. Corps awards $17.3M West Bank pump station contract ~NO City Business
Aw Damn! Say it Ain't So! No'mo Portable People Eaters? Yaaaaaahahahaha! TSA Confiscates Boy’s Play-Doh at New Orleans Airport ~“You know all you have to worry about is it getting in the carpet – a small problem to have as opposed to a child who is entertained for half an hour,” said the child’s mother Christy Pitney. “I had the kids and my husband was there with all our bags, she continued. “Josh and I were sitting, getting our shoes on and, my husband kind of motioned to us and said – they took our Play -Doh.” Pitney continued, “And the man from TSA was taking every can out at a time and putting it on a table, and Josh saw and he started fussing. I tried to explain that those were the rules, but it turns out it’s not prohibited on the TSA’s website – so apparently those are not the rules.” --Christy was right. Play-Doh is not a prohibiteditem and it is allowed on board. ~Child Triple Agent working Terrorist Play-Doh factory
Corps of Engineers rushes to build pump stations ~David Winkler-Schmit ~The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says time is of the essence when it comes to building the permanent pump stations at the three outfall canals: London Avenue, Orleans Avenue and 17th Street. Col. Robert Sinkler, commander of the Hurricane Protection Office, says the Interim Closure Structures (ICS) at the mouths of the canals have a lifespan of five to seven years and must be replaced in order to avoid a gap in hurricane risk reduction. (BWAHAHAHAHAHA!) ~John Hummel, a mechanical engineer who retired after 37 years working for Shell Oil and is currently a board member of the advocacy group Pump-to-the-River Jefferson/Orleans (Option 2A), disagrees. Hummel says that according to a report funded by the Corps, the structures have a longer service life of 20 to 40 years. Hummel says beginning work on the new stations now will hinder the possibility of Option 2 or 2A. At a New Orleans City Council meeting on Dec. 9 with Corps representatives, Hummel questioned the urgency to start work on the new pump stations: "What is the hurry with getting on with Option 1?" he asked. ~Editilla Umberagellas~ We remember Gambit hotly covered this bad road here too. And Speaking of the lifespan of Bad Inoperable Pumps... We also remember at that very Council Meeting cited above, how Levees.org questioned the Good Colonel Sinkler on the Law as it has been settled and written. (Where do they get these Names?)(Col. Sinkler? Corps of Engineers?)(This is like a game of Clue: Colonel Sinkler? With a Levee? On Leake Street?)(anywayz) Sandy Rosenthal asked Sinkler point blank had the Law changed regarding the consideration of the Outfall Canals as part of the Hurricane Protections System (HPS)? Obviously used to getting relentlessly picked on as a child with a name like that, For the Record Sinkler Sucked! No, was his Answer! He shuffled the deck of his papers, looked down at the floor, toed his boot, cried to the heavens "Eli Eli Lama sabachthani", leaned over to an aid for more cool-aid then said lemme'get back to'yaz --just like his boss did before a Senate Hearing! Talk about pulling your Rank Wit'a File! HAHAHA! The Exquisite Corps really gives Not A Flying Go Fish about Reducing Risk. The Corps is in the business of Marketing Risk. Next thing you know the Corps will have some Corporate Mouf'head like Gerald Galloway come down here to our local newspaper and tell us levees don't matter that much, pee down our leg and tell us it was Katrina, Muskrats or Nutria!
The gates are too short ~Fix the Pumps~You are reading that right. The gates are too short. I'm referring to the three outfall canal gate structures that the Corps built in 2006 and 2007. When the gates drop, their tops are 16 feet above the lake. That matches the top of the adjacent protection in Orleans Parish. However, that does not meet the Corps' own design guidelines, which have been in effect since October 2007.
Louisiana Matters ~US Energy Information Association ~Louisiana ranks fourth among the States in crude oil production, behind Texas, Alaska, and California (excluding Federal offshore areas, which produce more than any single State). ~The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) is the only port in the United States capable of accommodating deepdraft tankers. ~Two of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve’s four storage facilities are located in Louisiana. ~The Henry Hub is the largest centralized point for natural gas spot and futures trading in the United States, providing access to major markets throughout the country. ~The liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal at Sabine is the largest of nine existing LNG import sites in the United States. ~Click pic to enlarge~Also~A Pipeline GIS for Shreveport and Bossier City, La.
Who Launched the USS Fannie Mac?~Bruce Krasting ~“Would the United States be immune for all damages if a Navy vessel lost control and broke through a levee where the sole cause of the failure of that levee was the Navy vessel’s negligence?” This Watershed Election ~Clancy Dubos Fielkow Seeks Second Term on New Orleans Council ~Christopher Tidmore~Arnie Fielkow was propelled into political prominence in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The longtime Saints executive who lobbyed for his team before the City Council and the Legislature found himself at the center of calls to run for office, and despite the fact that he could have earned far more in professional sports management positions elsewhere, did.
Are our levees really that bad? Regional panel wants FEMA to show evidence of flaws ~Mike Fitzgerald ~ More than two years after the Federal Emergency Management Agency started pushing the idea of new flood insurance maps for the region, the agency still has not revealed any evidence to show which metro-east levees are deficient, and if so, to what degree. FEMA's failure to show its cards on what it knows about local levees is fueling legal efforts of metro-east towns and levee districts to prevent or delay the flood maps' implementation planned for August. "Again, I want to see the record and we will be stepping up the legal pressure on FEMA to respond to our request," said Les Sterman, chief engineer for the Southwestern Illinois Flood Prevention Council, in Collinsville. "Let's take a look at that record and see if they were justified in coming to that decision."
Bear deaths complicate management ~Amy Wold ~A fifth Louisiana black bear was found shot dead, a development that wildlife and fisheries staff view as potential backsliding in the state’s attempt to get the bear off the Endangered Species List. “It is a bit unusual. We’ve had more this year than we normally have,” said Lt. Col. Keith LaCaze, assistant chief of law enforcement with the Louisiana Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries. Click pic to enlarge. Bayou Terrebonne dredging under way ~Loyd J. Nelson III Explore business with Army Corps — The Army Corps of Engineers will host an upcoming seminar about potential projects for New Orleans businesses. The corps' Louisiana Industry Day is set for Jan. 13 at New Orleans Marriott at Lakeway, 3838 N. Causeway Blvd, Metairie. Two sessions detail storm-protection projects expected to begin within the next two years. Sessions will be held from 8 to 11 a.m. and from 1 to 4 p.m., with an hour-long networking session to follow each. Registration starts at 7 a.m. To sign up, e-mail pao@usace.army.mil. Please include your company's name, address, contact info, names of those who would like to attend and the size of the business. For information, call Michael Bloom at 504-862-2627. La. homeowners insurance is nation's third-most-expensive, study says~Rebecca Mowbray Prepare yourself: Insurance bills on the rise~Jeremy Alford The new 'Katrina' flood: Hospital liability~ProPublica ~Three years before Hurricane Katrina inundated New Orleans, a senior executive at Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital assessed its vulnerability to the sort of flooding that had been long feared there. ~Editilla Rotellas~ Once again ProPublic employs their astounding gift for gabbing up the wrong tree in reporting on New Orleans, in this case the Federal Flood. With unmitigated gall and journalistic hubris they could not rest with trying to frame our Flood Violence as a Cop Race War on da'Black Peoples, and hence we move on to MisFraming the Flood Writ Large as a Natural Disaster in regards our Medical Industry Recovery. It could be an otherwise informative article, but for the burning bag of gorilla'doo poo'rah they have left at the front door. Righteous referrals~Ian McNulty
~Mardi Gras Parade Schedules.com
