Samedi

Coastal restoration vital
~R. King Milling
~Louisiana coastal wetlands loss - 1932-2050
-Gulf Restoration Network

Don't starve Louisiana's coast

Using constructed wetlands to protect Louisiana water quality
~Eddie Millhollon, Darinda Dans

New levee lessons, part one ~LaCoastPost

LRA funds may be available for Rapides Parish levees
~Bret McCormick

CWPPRA begins divvying funds for region's coastal projects
~Tri-Parish Times

International leaders study crisis response on Coast~Sun Herald

Atchafalaya River eyed as energy source ~Richard Burgess
~Morgan City has a pending application for a federal permit for hydroelectric power on the Atchafalaya, and state Rep. Sam Jones, D-Franklin, is pushing legislation this year to create the St. Mary Hydroelectric Authority to pursue projects on the river.
“There is a significant amount of flow, and we don’t use it for anything,” Jones said. Both initiatives focus on the Wax Lake Outlet, a deep channel that breaks away from the lower end of the Atchafalaya and empties into the Gulf of Mexico.
The interest is not in conventional hydroelectric power using dams, but rather so-called hydrokinetic energy created by large underwater turbines suspended from barges or fixed to the bottom of a river channel. ~Please also see Wikimapia

NOLA Master Plan Hearing This Monday - Please Be There!

New Holy Cross school dedicated in Gentilly ~WWL

Tim Whitmer has a new attorney – oh, by the way, a JP School Board member testified before federal grand jury ~slabbed

Vitter (R-Pamp) participates in political meacharound
~Your Right Hand Thief

Merchant of Hate~CenLamar

'Pawm' reader facing lawsuit
~The New Orleans Levee~Several hundred more people have joined a class-action lawsuit seeking at least $22 million in damages against Jackson Square “Phychic” reader Miss Cindy, claiming her advice has ruined their lives.

Social Scientist Wanted: USACE?
Agency: Army Corps of Engineers
Job Announcement Number: SWGY10121181D
SALARY RANGE: $47,448-$74,628 US(tax-paid)D/year
OPEN PERIOD: Friday, March 19 to Friday, April 02, 2010
SERIES & GRADE: GS-0101-09/11
POSITION INFORMATION: -This is a Permanent position.
-- Full Time PROMOTION POTENTIAL: 11
DUTY LOCATIONS: 1 vacancy - LA - New Orleans Metro area
WHO MAY BE CONSIDERED: US Citizens and Status Candidates
Weeelllll Ah'Say Ah'Say, Isn't That Yer'Ho'So Humble Editilla d'Aphasia? Are We Not Status Candidates? -Get'Down!
Yes: US Citizen, for now -former Boy Scout -Get back Up Again!
We have PROMOTION POTENTIAL out'da'aasss!
We graduated in the 12th Grade! And passed most 101 Classes...
but failed those Ink Blot Tests, right, animals copulating my Eye?
We Want That Money! We Editilla da'Mad: Social Scientist!
MMWWHAHAHAHAHAHAaaaaaaaaa... whew!
I'm makin'BBQ so ya'leave me alone.

Conference on Sugar Processing Research~Sugar Processing Research Institute, Inc. (SPRI) wishes to invite you to attend the SPRI 2010 Conference on Sugar Processing Research. The conference will be held at the Iberville Suites/Ritz-Carlton Hotel (French Quarter), New Orleans, Louisiana, USA on March 28-31.
The John Folse Manufacturing Plant nestled in the heart of sugarcane country in Louisiana will host this years Conference Tour. The John Folse Plant produces over 200 different food products that serve the local needs of the New Orleans famous flavor as well as a national and international clientele in the food service industry. SPRI delegates have been invited to tour the operations at the Donaldsonville Plant in Louisiana of the world famous Chef John Folse with lunch then a tour of the Houmas House Plantation and Gardens before returning to the Ritz Hotel.
...we wonda, if Chef John has seen this one...

*
StoryCorps stops in New Orleans to record memories of ordinary?

N.O.-The Good, The Bad, The Ugly ~Misunderestimations of the New Glitterati

Real World New Orleans: House

Lock your doors! Hide the children! New Orleans Worst Film Festival rises from dead
~Mike Scott

'Mr. Big Stuff' arranger turns 80
~Judy Walker

September Gurls:
Vicki of The Bangles Shares
Alex Chilton Memories
~Karen Dalton-Beninato
*

*Now check this Exquisite Galactic Congroovience

Vendredi

Smart Growth calls for action
~SaveCharityHospital.com

Greening The Globe: World Water Day March 22nd, Get Tapped!

Survey Finds Americans Rank Polluted Drinking Water as Top Environmental Concern

Hurricane Katrina was never about you, Baton Rouge
~Jarvis DeBerry

Mayor Landrieu's New Flood Safety Task Force Meeting Today Already On The Ground!
Get'Down! Get Back Up Again!
MFKN-A Mitch Git'n'Wit It!
Sandy Rosenthal's husband, Steve, and Tim Doody confer before start of first Flood Task Force meeting for N.O.
~Hat Tweet~ Levees.org ~Photo by Sandy Rosenthal?

Coastal groups urge elevation and relocation~Nikki Buskey

Military technology installed at Port Fourchon
~Katherine Schmidt

‘Just’ compensation difficult to define in Detroit
~Eli Ackerman, The Lens

Jefferson Parish “searchhounds” – this one’s for you! ~slabbed

New Orleans Entrepreneur Week ~Gambit

Rebuilding Together Announces Plans for "Fifty for Five"
~Rebuilding Together announced plans today for "Fifty for Five." This anniversary event, which will start on August 24 and culminate with a major celebration on August 28, will showcase and celebrate Rebuilding Together's commitment to Gulf Coast rebuilding and renewal. Rebuilding Together will rehabilitate fifty homes in New Orleans on the eve of the fifth year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in a week long effort and finish with a community block party and all-welcome major community evening outdoor celebration.

Fuller Center celebrates 5th Anniversary, builds homes for Hurricane Katrina evacuees

Real World New Orleans: Toothbrush-as-toilet scrubber sickens housemate, triggers police action
~Editilla gotta ax~What kinda Community Service do'ya suppose Real World New Orleans will doo (ahem) to top scrub'n toilets with a toothbrush? Stay tuned, yer'gonna love it!

Harry Shearer: The Silent Echo Chamber, Exhibition @ CAC Today, 11am to 4pm

Geaux God of Compassion! Protester outnumbered 500-1!
~The Protester, (at right) Anthony Battaglia, of First Baptist Church in Gonzales, discusses God and homosexuality from a spiritual point of view Thursday with several hundred people who gathered at Dutchtown High School evening to counter a threat made by Westboro Baptist Church, of Topeka, Kan., to protest the school's production of 'The Laramie Project,' a play that tells the story of Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student who was brutally beaten in Laramie by two locals later convicted in his death. Westboro Baptist also picketed Matthew Shepard’s funeral with signs that read: “Matthew is burning in Hell.”
Additionally, The group made it to Canada in August 2008, where they picketed the funeral of a young man who was the victim of a brutal murder on a Greyhound bus, (Sliced and Diced by a Crazy God Man I say) which was national news in that country. Authorities there reportedly tried to prevent the group from entering their country, but the WBC claims it was able to evade Canadian border patrol agents to stage the protest.

I swear we don't ask for this stuff, it just comes on our screen

Fleur de lis bustin’ out all over La

Welcome Fleur De Lis Fashions
~Sheriff's spokesman Capt. Dane Clement said the man's body has three tattoos: praying hands on the left forearm,
a deck of cards with dollar signs on the right forearm,
and a fleur-de-lis with the words "New Orleans Saints" on the upper right arm.
~Editilla lamentellas~New Orleans: the City of Living Metaphor...where misunderstanding Cliche can flat get'ya kill't.

Chimp center probe still open

'Our time to shine:' Cities rely on festivals to grow, pull in dollars
~Alexandria Town Talk

Walker Percy Center inaugural

Spirits: In defense of absinthe

Jeudi

Coastal restoration and levee spending for 2011 outlined
~Mark Schleifstein

Researchers: Data belies flood risk ~Nikki Buskey
~Errors in land-elevation data used by federal agencies are overstating the flood risk in some communities while understating it in others, an LSU scientist said Tuesday.
FEMA is using the inaccurate data to draw new maps that assess communities’ risk of flooding, said Roy Dokka, executive director of the LSU Center for GeoInformatics. And the Corps of Engineers is relying on the data to build levees and other structures aimed at protecting communities from hurricane storm surges. Dokka spoke during the 2010 Central Gulf of Mexico Hurricane Conference, an assembly of national hurricane specialists, scientists, academics and state and local emergency officials. The two-day conference brings together federal hurricane experts, academics, emergency officials and local government representatives to discuss issues facing the state during the next hurricane season.
~Editilla says Wait A God Damn Minute Here!~
~First Off~ We do love that word: Geoinformatics!
~2nd Off~We thought that FEMA, and any other Stake Holder got all this information from the Corps of Engineers! But yet here they say: "And the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is relying on the data to build levees and other structures aimed at protecting communities from hurricane storm surges."?
Oh Yeah? Well, where in Hell did or does FEMA get this Primary Engineering Data, before they pass it over to the Corps of Engineers? If the Corps "relies on FEMA", then upon who's engineering does FEMA rely? For Pity's Sake, this is such a Good-Cop-Bad-Cop-He-Said-She-Said-Protection Racket by the Corps of Engineers (to get out of liability) and FEMA (to get out of liability) for rolling the American Taxpayer.
We find such Insurance Hubris damn near constipating.
Who'z on 1st. What'z on 2nd. I don't know'z on 3rd.
Who'z on 3rd? I don't know. Who'z on 1st.
I wasn't axin'bout Who'z on 1st!
We was axin'bout who'z on these levees!
Sooo we axed the Reporter.
Ms Buskey informed us that the Data the Corps refers to consist of a "data pool" wherein is deposited many different "studies" from different locations over time. Sounds plausible, but it also sounds disturbingly like the Shell Game happening across the country to municipalities confronted with having to pay the extortion money to this Corps/FEMA NFIProtection Racket
---or Else! I mean, if the Corps is getting it from FEMA, and FEMA is getting it from the Corps, and they're both getting it on in this "Data Pool"... then WTF is Going Down Here?
Who ya'gonna Call? Who'z on 1st?
For example, The Great Levee Study by geographer Ezra Boyd, commissioned by Levees.org, blew the doors off of just who in this country lives behind levees --over half the population! Well, he got much of his Data from FEMA.
Where did FEMA get its Levee Map Data? Is it me? Are we having nightmares of playing games of Keep-Away with an 800 pound syphilitic gorilla sitting right here in our living room?
~Also~Experts say storm modeling needs improvement
~And just to remind'yaz...

*
Help In Ike Recovery Has Been Slow~Jim Blackburn

Folks race against nature
~Minneapolis Star Tribune
~Bill Meister waved to a woman on the Stillwater lift bridge after they chatted briefly before he passed under in his '65 Amphicar.


Heated meeting of Jefferson Parish Personnel Board with Parish Attorney has “Aha Moment” ~slabbed

Property insurance industry 'cherry-picking' targeted in draft legislation

Louisiana Gets $244M From Stimulus For Schools ~BBuzz

In case you were feeling exceptionally important today
~American Zombie

South American rainforest activist to speak at Temple Sinai on Sunday

Higher oil prices pave the way for a robust sale of Gulf of Mexico drilling tract leases

Inside the City of RVs
~Nate Berg, Planetizen

Senators who opposed jobs bill come from states hit hard by unemployment~Facing South

It’s Infrastructure Decision Time
~John Simourian

Rebuilding New Orleans, Block- by-Block~Quilting Gallery
~Quilting is my idea on helping rebuild New Orleans board by board.
Years ago I bought the book "Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!!" by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes.
I became enamored of a block with the name "swamp angel."
Maybe I liked the block because its name made me remember the Louisiana of my childhood. I want to invite all quilters to help rebuild the city of New Orleans. My proposal is that groups, guilds, and individuals make quilts using the swamp angel block. The quilts do not have to be large. The colors of Mardi Gras are gold, green, and purple so it would be fun to use those colors, but any color would do. The quilts could then be auctioned and the money raised could be donated to help rebuild homes in the city.

Recipe: Chef Keny Veron's Crawfish Etouffe

Odd Words
~Odd Bits of Life in New Orleans

"Sleeping Winter Willow", acrylic on canvas, 18 x 36" Polly Jackson

What'Up?

Uber Creepy Tour: Abandoned Six Flags New Orleans 69 Pics

Long after Hurricane Katrina, Isleno Fiesta in St. Bernard Parish to enjoy refurbished museum complex~Bob Warren

Alex Chilton Dead at 59
~Rolling Stone
~Dave Itzkoff, NYT ~Karen Dalton-Beninato
~We are greatly saddened by the death of our longtime fond acquaintance. We often used to have lunch together way back, at the Babylon Cafe in Memphis --before he moved back to New Orleans, bought his house, gutted his house, rebuilt his house, and stayed in his house when the levees failed 8/29/05.
He was trapped during the flood 1 day longer than me.
As well, Alex Chilton was one of the first people I recognized upon my own 1st Return. He had returned almost immediately after the Flood Waters receded. He was having drinks at one of the few uptown bars, wearing a Seersucker Suit and a wide hat for crying out loud, and smiling. Alex Chilton truly loved New Orleans.
Our heart goes out to Alex's family, sister C and fans.

*Thank You, Friends: A Tribute to Alex Chilton


*

Mercredi

Coastal strategy should include more investment in raising homes, relocating families, activists say~Mark Schleifstein
~The state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority should invest more money in "nonstructural" strategies such as raising, relocating or buying private buildings in coastal flood areas as part of its $600 million fiscal year 2011 annual plan for ecosystem restoration and hurricane protection, say five local and national conservation groups. "Architectural, land use, and community planning solutions -- such as elevation and evacuation planning -- must work in conjunction with restoring wetlands and strategically placed levees to reduce risk to people and property," said a joint statement by the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Environmental Defense Fund, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, National Audubon Society and National Wildlife Federation. "The good news is that such techniques can be implemented in just a few years and they are very cost-effective."

Storm surge risks complex, group told ~Amy Wold

Enhancing IHNC, part three
~LaCoastPost

Paying for the Pumps
~David Winkler-Schmit

Mayor-elect appoints two Levees.org "staffers" to Transition Team
~H.J. Bosworth Jr. PE, research director for Levees.org, and Sandy Rosenthal, founder and executive director of Levees.org will serve on the Subcommittee of the broader Flood Protection and Coastal Restoration Task Force.
The Flood Protection Subcommittee will be chaired by Stephen Rosenthal, founder of the Flood Protection Alliance and husband of Sandy Rosenthal.
The Coastal Restoration Subcommittee will be chaired by King Milling, Chairman of America’s Wetland Foundation.
~Editilla Crowtellas~ We couldn't be more pleased with Mitch Landrieu's attention to detail and delegation here, and remain tickled pink that he took our advise in forming just such a Task Force. Yet, perhaps His'oner favors more of a Family Affair?
Still, this is a Great Day in New Orleans for Future Flood Safety, which has never happened before in our city government.
We feel safer, the Tide like Time of coming home draws nigh.

Speaking of “green”~slabbed

Congressman Cao still a ‘no,’ vote hinges on abortion flap
~Eli Ackerman, The Lens

La. journalists claim police violated their rights
~PoliceOne.com

Lawmakers push for quicker release of money~Naomi King
~The Senate killed a proposal Tuesday that aimed to send millions of dollars in federal coastal-restoration money to Louisiana two years sooner than projected.

World's largest drainage pumping station being built near Harvey, La.

Some flood maps rely on outdated information, hurricane experts say

Coin du Lestin canals being cleared, while St. Tammany continues to push FEMA for payment

Levee Information Management System (LIMS)

Pint-sized dogs used to hunt nutria on Bayou St. John ~WWL

Jackson, MS: Engineers Want Lower Lake Plan on Table
~Adam Lynch

Flood risk for third of U.S.
~More than a third of the contiguous United States faces a high or above average flood risk this spring, the National Weather Service reported Tuesday.

Latest flood control details in Des Moines~Jason Pulliam

Sandbagging Major Focus of Day-2 Flood Operations, Fargo
~119th Wing

Fargo area at 'major flood' stage

MMS receives 642 bids for tomorrow's central GoM Sale 213
~US Gulf oil lease sale attracts $949 mln high bids

U.S. West Coast-East Coast Port Rivalry

New Orleans FLOAT House: Design with a Cause in Mind

New Orleans' tree-planting campaign to address Hurricane Katrina's toll

Travel Detective Files: The New Orleans Road Food Festival

The P & J Oyster Cookbook
~So. Food and Bev. Museum

Oeyster and Crabathon dialogue
~Your Right Hand Thief

I'm not gonna watch Treme
~Library Chronicles

New Orleans After the Storm, Culture, and Tradition
~Building the Perfect Beast

French Quarter Festival 2010 ~Live Broadcasts from WWOZ!

Savannah Music Festival 2010 Performance Schedule

Mardi

Corps says deal reached on permanent pumps at outfall canals ~Mark Schleifstein

Option Neutral Editilla's Ass! Please see Fix the Pumps
~And also please sit back and enjoy this webcast from just last year, of the Senate Hearing, non-optionudinally entitled:
"New Orleans Hurricane and Flood Protection and Coastal Louisiana Restoration: Status and Progress."
The Corps is Flat Bull Shitting that Congress did not Mandate Funding for Options 2/2a. Alas, through no small degree of shifting Project Funding, these extortionists confounded matters to the degree that Landrieu and Vitter had to Re-write New Legislation that Lost in Congress because the Corps doesn't lobby riiiiiiight. Come on, we don't need to roll these dice.

Levee, coastal restoration financing mechanism being built
~Louisiana officials on Monday took a small step toward issuing bonds to help finance the state's share of levee and coastal restoration costs based on money the state will receive from offshore oil production after 2016.

Ivor van Heerden's Supporters Go Blog'Wild... Ye and Virally!
~On Transmigration

Legal Katrina Shorthand
~On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans, Louisiana. The levee protecting the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans failed during the hurricane, causing the Mississippi River to flood the area. Widespread devastation and death ensued. In the course of the disaster, Barge ING 4727, which was one of hundreds of barges and vessels to break away from their moorings during the storm, came to rest against a house on the land side of the levee.

Zeitoun By Dave Eggers ~Reviewed by Harry Shearer

Karl Rove tossing rocks at New Orleans from a glass house
~Jarvis DeBerry
~Editilla Scrotellas~ Although Very Rare, we gonna have to disagree with Jarvis on this one: "Turd Blossom" isn't "throwing rocks from a glass house".
1) Turd Blossom has left the White House. Turd Blossom lives in the Out House. 2) Them ain't Rocks dis'Monkey be'flingin.

*
Levee certification testing required~Galena, Illinois is about to experience a bit of the fallout from 2005's catastrophic hurricane [Corps of Engineers Failure] flooding at New Orleans. After watching flood walls failing and the consequent flooding during that tragic event, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have decided they need to have more knowledge of the condition of all the dikes and levees protecting populated areas in flood prone areas.
Result: Galena's levee, which has famously protected Galena's downtown almost annually from high water in the Galena River, must now be certified by a civil engineer specializing in this type of work. In the Feb. 22 council meeting, the Galena city council voted unanimously to approve a contract with IIW Engineers and Surveyors for the certification of the Galena River Dike, for an amount not to exceed $59,000.

“Balance this city”~Eli Ackerman

Mid-City hospital complex land seized by state; former owners plan to sue~David Hammer

Louisiana Citizens CEO John Wortman has “no class” ~slabbed

West bank levee officials forge stronger lines of communication with Corps of Engineers
~Paul Rioux

83rd Annual Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference~October 2-6, 2010, New Orleans
~Here they come...

Addressing water quality
~Julie Buntjer

~NASA's Earth Observatory tracks growth of Dubai's sand palm and urban growth, 2000-present
Hat Tweet~Mark Schleifstein

Power Struggle~Alex Woodward
~Will the Louisiana Public Service Commission give the state the green light to or pull the plug on renewable energy?

More interest in Gulf offshore lease sale~Alan Sayre

The Green Project // Salvations 2010 + Sweet Sixteen
~Humid Beings

Storypod Makes Room for Writing~Brandon Meginley
~A project by Tulane School of Architecture students is helping to facilitate the writing process for young authors working at the Neighborhood Story Project in New Orleans. Working through Tulane City Center, the students designed and built the Storypod, a room to provide a place for writers to conduct interviews.

Major Floods Predicted, Tiger Woods, Karl Rove And New Orleans, Budget Woes ~BBuzz

This should be Required Transport to Work for every Elected City Official

What say you, Governorcist Jindal: Vatican Exorcist says Pedophiles tempted by Satan, not possessed?~"The students, led by Susan's sister and Louise, a member of a charismatic church, engaged in loud and desperate prayers while holding Susan with one hand. Kneeling on the ground, my friends were chanting, "Satan, I command you to leave this woman." Others exhorted all "demons to leave in the name of Christ." It is no exaggeration to note the tears and sweat among those assembled. Susan lashed out at the assembled students with verbal assaults."
~Bobby Jindal, Exorcist, Governor of Louisiana

Can the British just sail right up the Mississippi River?

Satirical Web site favored in ruling ~Debra Lemoine
AMITE — A Web site that satirizes news can run a fictional story about a giraffe attack at Global Wildlife Center in Folsom, a state district judge ruled Monday afternoon. After a two-hour hearing in the 21st Judicial District Court, state District Judge Beth Wolfe struck down a temporary restraining order signed March 2 that had called for the removal of the story from the site, Hammond Action News.
~Editilla Gotta Toll'ya~Satire? Who'don Believe Us Now?
Special thanks for the photo to Adam Thinks, who proves statistically, by the Great Google, the World Wide Spread of this Wild Viral Phobia: "Without a doubt, my favorite search of all time is can i make it look good? or am i gonna look like a crazy giraffe with rabies. Not only is that an awesome thing to search for, but I am the number one Google result!"

Prime Angus: Prof. embraces music, mystique of N.O.

24th annual Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival: Cocktails & Cinema

Alternative Media Expo '10

French Quarter Festival 2010: April 9-11

Win 2 tickets to the Top of the Hops Beer Festival
*

*

Lundi

National Flood Safety Week
~Educate yourself on the risks and impacts of flooding during National Flood Safety Awareness Week so you can protect your family and your property.
~Hat Tweet~EDF Louisiana

But the silence will rise to shout
~Library Chronicles
~Lawsuit: Police harassed journalists, bystanders

The Loss of New Orleans Wasn't Just a Tragedy. It Was a Plan. (?)
~Jonathan Rauch, TheAtlantic
~Editilla's Brain in a Chinese Finger Trap~
We are still working on this one. If this were a fly-by-UFO outfit like Alex*Jones we'd just leave it under da'rug if you know what I mean. But we are just one of bazillions who take The Atlantic seriously for the most part. Thoughts? "Bazillion" is the number of times/sec one can say Oh Shit! while running from Godzilla.

Ivor van Heerden on Youtube! Please show our support by viewing his video up the tubes!
~Make sure to Rate the Video and Leave Comments! The more Views, then the higher the video moves on the Youtubes and the more exposure it will grow.

Rebuilding coast requires hard choices~Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law & Policy
~Any shot this city has at reclaiming that greatness will also have to be rooted in the realities of re-establishing a sustainable landscape for New Orleans and the surrounding communities. The key element in achieving this is the Mississippi River, or more precisely using the waters, nutrients and sediments of that river to maintain and enhance our rapidly disappearing coastal wetlands. Everyone knows this and everyone knows this is urgent. The state knows it, the Army Corps of Engineers knows it and Congress and the White House know it. They have all said so in many ways (you can look it up). We have all said it many times and in many ways. But it isn't happening. Not even close.

Cruising in MS on the Capt Pete
~Gulf Restoration Network

Climate Change Isn't Just About Energy; It's About National Priorities~Christine Shearer
~Many disaster management programs and policies began with the requirement of post-disaster mitigation efforts in exchange for federal aid. That is, a community would receive federal government assistance if it adopted measures to prepare for and thus lessen damage from similar future events.
As local boards moved toward mitigation, however, such as requiring more wetlands in coastal regions to buffer hurricanes and limiting development in flood-prone areas, private developers began decrying such regulations as an unconstitutional taking of their property value. This eventually led to 1992's Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, a Supreme Court case that found mitigation requirements lessening a property's value are unconstitutional, unless not instituting such requirements would create a public nuisance. In other words, providing for the public interest is not enough, and local planning boards began backing off mitigation measures.
{Editilla calls this Shit In One Hand, Half-A-Dozen In The Other.}
Hurricane Katrina took this cashing in on disaster funds to whole new levels, as still-habitable low-cost and public housing units were torn down for post-disaster gentrification projects, leaving hundreds of thousands of former Gulf Coast residents permanently displaced. This looting of the federal treasury during an emergency event by private developers and contractors, while the poor and working classes are left in a truly laissez-faire nightmare, is what author Naomi Klein refers to as disaster capitalism.

Saving U.S. Water and Sewer Systems Would Be Costly
~Charles Duhig

Important Historical Paper from 1927 on the Mississippi Valley ecosystems ~Watershed NOLA
~Editilla Ho'tellas~For fun reading, please click our Flag.

Flood preparations continue as Iowa warily watches weather
~Des Moines Register

Flood threat increasing on Missouri River

The Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum awarded over $10 M dollars from Stimulus ~BBuzz

New Orleans RTA and Veolia Transportation Receive Grant of $45 M for Streetcar Expansion

Developers Pouring Money into Washington to Influence Transportation Spending ~Planetizen

Developer Stewart Juneau requests “temporary suspension” of Municipal Auditorium deal
~Kevin Allman, Gambit

Divergent views on N.O. schools ~Kevin McGill

Additional public meetings scheduled to discuss New Orleans' Master Plan

Natural-gas development brings mixed impacts
~Katherine Schmidt

Slabbed by Monday

MEMA Says Funds Were Not Misspent

N-Map in Mississippi
~New Media Advocacy Project

Three and Half Days Until New Orleans!!!~The Thomas Society
~"Hey Thomasites, So, thirteen atheists and tweleve Christians drive down to New Orleans..."

New Orleans spring garden show

AT&T conducting Network Disaster Recovery drill in N.O.

SmartSynch Conference 2010

Louisiana Public Health Association 2010 Conference

Association of Dental Implant Auxiliaries (ADIA), New Orleans April 22-24~"Implants by day and good times on Bourbon Street by night – what are you waiting for?"
Editilla jus'gone let Y'all chew on that one for a moment.

7th Annual N.O. Int'l Human Rights Film Festival opens
~Louisiana Weekly

Pics of recent Lens Launch ~Humid Beings
~Editilla Crowtellas'n'Congratulatas~Thanks Youz!
We are very proud of our New Heroleros at The Lens on their formal Launching. Our city has already began to come together, due in no small measure to the hard work of the people behind The Lens. Adding to the dogged excellent coverage by Gambit, The Focus of The Lens' real investigative reporting steps in to fill other breaches. Extra! Extra! Readallaboutit!

How Norman Mailer Shaped John Buffalo Mailer (Part II)
~Mark Corker

Hank III and Assjack Spread Hell's Evil in New Orleans
~Metal Underground

Loyola hosts symposium on songwriting

Foburg wraps up a successful, exhausting and enjoyable indie music weekend
~NewOrleans.com

Dimanche

Alexandria-area levee alliance to keep pushing for federal help
~Bret McCormick

New Orleans - no longer the Big Uneasy?

~Le Show live 12 noon (cst) KCRW or Harry's website
~Editilla Cotellas~But do please sit back and enjoy this webcast from just last year, of the Senate Hearing entitled:
"New Orleans Hurricane and Flood Protection and Coastal Louisiana Restoration: Status and Progress."
(We recommend the Flash Player)
In it you can see our Sen. David Vitter doing the Blunt and Direct Thing, replete with BIG-PRINT STORY BOARDS even, steadily confronting the Corps of Engineers' Brig Gen Michael Walsh (who himself shifts around like a card shark at a game of Go Fish) with evidence and concern that the Corps is proceeding forward on our outfall canals with The Wrong Solution: Option 1.
If, like Ho'So Humble Editilla, you are addicted to Bad Characters in Crime Noir, then wait until you get a bead on Brig Gen Walsh as he waits behind Mary Landrieu during her witness testimony, with Eyes like Switchblade Bayonets! Military PR. Got Mil?
But don't take our word for it that this Corps Head behaved like a stupid and total dick, a tiny penis with one slit eye cocked.
Allow us to offer this tasty John Wayne Chicken Nugget from the Brig Gen Walsh, "Yes, MAM Lady, simmer down there now!"
Please note in viewing the webcast that the People's Senator Boxer let this bad soldier boy have his insubordinate way a few times before dropping this now famous hammer:

*"We passed a Law and we expect that Law to be followed."

Flood News: Storm leaves NE soggy, windblown and dark
~Hundreds of volunteers fill sandbags in Fargo
~Red River rising faster than expected in ND, MN
~Moorhead looks to update flood fight plan Mon.
~Minnehaha County officials monitor Big Sioux
~Ohio River towns brace for flooding
~Old flood photos are sought to help with 2010 forecasting-Des Moines Register
~Family doubts warning system after river death
~Interactive map of flood and high flow conditions

No extra tax break for hurricane shutters

MEMA misspent nearly $18M
~Chris Joyner

400 companies are asked about ties to Tim Whitmer
~Wichard Rainey ~H/T~slabbed

Self Insuring Property Owners Become Masters of Their Own Destiny

Coroner: Post-Katrina Mortality Rate Still High ~WDSU

Gather by the river
~Odd Bits of Life in New Orleans

Please Read~Rhonda Strickland

Sunday Funnies~Citizen K

"Flowering Peyote", mixed media on cardboard, 16 x 12",
Polly Jackson

1964: Corned beef'n'sauerkraut ~John Kelly

Foburg, Night II: Fledgling fest hits a mellow groove
~NewOrleans.com

Keeping It Real Second Line Parade Today 1-5pm
~Red Cotton

447. Dr. John – I Walk on Guilded Splinters
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~But sometimes repo men go further...like John Wayne