Friday, July 4, 2008

Vendredi~Independence Ladder

Warning: Don't blow your hands off/Lebowski Fest 2008
~37 Flood


Juneteenth or July 4th? Conflict woes as an African-American
~Affrodite's Adventures in Nappy Hair


McCain Girl Vs. Obama Girl
~casa de Charlotte della Luna

~Editilla wanna'tolya~~but can't stop laughing long enough to breath. This has got to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Jeez Louie!
Now I can face Independence Day!



WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT

Chris Nearly Drowns ~Bagnews

Happy Birthday, America.
Everyone gets a shovel.
President George W. Bush participates in the ceremonial groundbreaking for the Walter Reed National Medical Center Thursday, July 3, 2008, in Bethesda, Md.

White House photo by Eric Draper
We gonna need mo'shovels...


Vitter hopes war chest can pay legal bills~Sen. David Vitter, R-Pamp., is asking the Federal Election Commission whether he can use campaign money to pay fees related to legal issues and bad publicity he confronted after being linked to a prostitution ring.
~Editilla pops brain into toaster, bites tongue gnashing fingers like a banshee, screams bleating down da'street~
NONONONONONONONO and NO!!!

And that goes for Obama paying Clinton's campaign debts. What is the point of giving any money to any candidate if they can just give it to each other
--or other actually professional prostitutes who work harder. It should be just as illegal for Obama to pay Clinton's debts as it is for Vitter to pay for his prostitute debts with our campaign money.

Why don't we instead make honest working girls and boys legal and illegalate these politicians who are making Millions of Dollars running for office.
Screw these rich politician bastads and bastadettes, instead of the poor Madams. This is ridiculous.
Editilla has no problem with folks doing sex however they want to do it, ya'know. It is when someone tries to do it to me, without asking--or even paying for it--that gets under my eyelids like broken glass.
If paying for sin was good enough for his Jesus then why not David Vitter? Happy Birthday, America.

What Fresh Hell?
~Levees Not War
~Get in Barack’s Face
Revised report assesses storm dangers, offers more BS promoting the as yet unreleased ASCE/IPET study done by the Corps for the Corps
And all this time the 17th Street Canal Levee Breach Repair is LEAKING flowing water towards the Lakeview neighborhood. Right now, this very minute. Even as you read this, salt water is streaming beneath the Corps brand new "T-Wall".
That is the problem that I have with this article and the Times Picayune's incomprehensible bias towards its major source Dr. Link. With this Ladder we have wedded together, into an expanding albeit syllogistically sticky web, his colleagues Gerald Galloway, who commanded USACE and VP of Titan Corp-which gets all the concrete contracts,
ASCE former La president and smarmy Fuckmook Tim Ruppert who stands to gain considerably from defending Corps Project Engineering work and his hat'tip friends, and Corps Public Relations Contractors [note: the 2nd PR link has removed testimonial quotes from Corps personnel- clients after they turned up in the article linked to Galloway...HA! Fast, them--but that is why the Corps pays'em da'Big Money!]. I don't care what blog'o'sphere club may wanna be playground epicenter, We the People can no longer trust the word of these criminally compromised engineers--or any other fool that would stand between us and those levees with a Corps of Engineers press release sticking out of their ...mouth. Sorry. These are the same villains who built all of this infrastructure which is failing, which I witnessed fail in New Orleans the week of 8/29/05--which is GODDAMN LEAKING RIGHT NOW. The levees are leaking after they repaired them. The folks at ASCE don't need to make it any plainer than that. I did not need a slide-rule to stick my arms elbow deep in those leaks, no degree in biology to recognizes the smell of the lake in that flowing water. This is insanity to even allow these creeps a bank loan--let alone the $30 Million we have already paid them for this still unreleased IPET report <-[note: the link to said report at the end of the TP article led to "unauthorized" or no where.] These are the engineers and their dirty carasses who are being sued by the citizens of New Orleans who lost everything when the Industrial Canal levee failed. Why allow the Corps and their employees- spokes'hos to publicly taint the jury on that lawsuit with articles like this?
What would Perry Mason say? "Objection, your Honor! HERESAY! The Corps attempts to misdirect the Public's view away from ENGINEERING and onto Funding, Small Town Councils, Quilting, Muskrats, Katrina the Clown, the American People! How dare they!"
What would the wizard say?
Since Perry and Toto wouldn't take that BS for a second then neither will yer oh'so humble Editilla. I remember when this country did Smart Television and built things that Worked. And if it didn't work we fixed it. We sent people to the moon and brought them back with Duct Tape when it broke. Our engineers did not used to run from a problem--they waded out into it up to their forking necks and put it into their mouth as did Robert Bea when taste-testing the alleged ingredients of these failed levees. Where is he in this freak'show article? Defending the people of the City of New Orleans in this very lawsuit that's where. Robert Bea, Dr. Seed and other engineers who authored the ILET Study are no where to be found in this article, not a word. Why? Dr. Link owes his career to the Corps. We do not need to consult engineers who work for the engineers who built our failing engineering infrastructure when there are Plenty of other engineers in our country who would beg to differ with the Corps and ASCE over Water
Policy Management. Why give these buffoons any word least of all the last word on these levees in our country?
Why do anything but ride these Dope Dealing Fakirs out of town on a Barge? The Exquixotic Corps slithered away on taking responsibility for the other levee failures in court (for now). But will we stand neck- deep with the people of New Orleans, when the Tide Rises, or do we hide behind failing levees with Public Relations hack spin'filtraitors and the people who flooded New Orleans? Well? Please demand the 8/29 Commission.


Levee neighbors must wait for ruling on tree removal

Independence Day~Toulouse St.

A Week in the Life of
New Orleans


Non-profit news related to eastern New Orleans ~NONPB

Faithful Servants of New Orleans

Smooth sailing for yacht builders despite economy

Cummins says flood damage will top $100M

Flood damage is latest challenge to Iowa mosque

Insurers based in Wisconsin getting lots of flood damage claims

Amtrak flood disruptions to end

Red Cross volunteer hurt helping Iowa flood victims

Viacom vs. YouTube:
Beyond Privacy


Chris Rose: 60 Second Interview with Christian Scott

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Jeudi

Homeowners back in court today in suit to block Corps from removing fences, trees
~Parties in a lawsuit brought against the Army Corps of Engineers by residents who live along the 17th Street Canal are scheduled to appear at Civil District Court this morning. Much of the land to be cleared is in residential back yards along the 17th Street Canal, just as it was along the heavily populated London Avenue Canal. Once cleared, the property must be maintained as green space and cannot be fenced or improved by the owners, who will still be required to pay property taxes on the land.

FEMA requires certification of Great Falls, Vaughn levees, Westside resident doubts soundness of levee
~In order to get the levees certified, owners can either hire professional engineers or try to talk the state's congressional delegation into persuading the Corps of Engineers to do the certification(???), which would be good for five to 10 years, according to Nancy Steinberger, regional hydraulic engineer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency office in Denver.
Steinberger told board members that only a small number of engineering firms nationwide are certifying levees because of the fear of getting sued if a dike breaks. She said there is no provision yet for an extension of the two-year limit to get certified, despite the shortage of firms doing the work.

A deluge waiting to happen
~Katharine Mieszkowski

~“The Army Corps of Engineers certifies its own projects. It’s kind of like children giving themselves their own grades,” says Robert Criss, professor of geology at Washington University in St. Louis. “There’s a definite conflict of interest there.” says Nicholas Pinter, a geologist at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Hat Tip on Conflict of Interests-Loki~Tim Ruppert?

Loki:"Be silent, Odin! Not justly thou settest The fate of the fight among men; Oft gavst thou to him who deserved not the gift, To the baser, the battle's prize."

Odin:
"Though I gave to him who deserved not the gift, To the baser, the battle's prize; Winters eight wast thou under the earth, Milking the cows as a maid, Ay, and babes didst thou bear; Unmanly thy soul must seem."
Engineering New Orleans, post-Katrina

KHOW guest co-host McInnis repeated misleading and false talking points on domestic oil drilling
~Discussing energy issues on the June 30 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Caplis & Silverman Show, guest co-host and former Republican U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis -- who has worked as an energy industry lobbyist -- falsely asserted that "on offshore drilling, we have not had an accident in offshore. I think they had one spill in '47, 1947." McInnis also claimed that "through all the [Hurricane] Katrina disaster, not one episode" of an offshore oil spill occurred -- a statement echoing that of Fox News contributor and former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, who asserted on the June 27 broadcast of Fox & Friends, "When Katrina, a Cat[egory]-5 hurricane, hit the Gulf Coast, not one drop of oil was spilled off of those rigs out in the Gulf of Mexico." As Media Matters for America has pointed out, according to a 2007 report prepared for the MMS by the international consulting firm Det Norske Veritas, damage related to Hurricane Katrina resulted in 70 spills from outer Continental Shelf structures with a total volume of approximately 11,104 barrels of oil and petroleum products, including damage to 27 platforms and rigs that resulted in the spilling of approximately 3,433 barrels of petroleum products and 2,252 barrels of crude oil and compensate. Approximately 5,419 barrels of oil and petroleum products spilled due to damage to 43 pipelines, the report stated.

The NBA's David Stern Does Doo-Doo Diligence
~Harry Shearer


Homeland Security Bills in House ~Fire Chief


Flood aid announced for 14 Illinois counties

Petition may finish what flood began

PRO-CON: Are levee upgrades the best solution for Midwest flooding? YES

Katrina the very short “Cat” ~slabbed

The Shame of Mississippi

CDC tests ID sources of fumes in FEMA trailers
~Toxicity in FEMA Trailers Blamed on Cheap Materials, Low Construction Standards

Will Midwest Floods Be as Toxic as New Orleans?

UI Flood Recovery Information Web site launched

Notes from New Orleans:
St. Francis de Sales Church
~Walter Gallas


Dispatch from New Orleans: Second-guessing myself
~Ariane Wiltse


Ian McNulty’s "Season of Night" Book Release~Laureen Lentz

Fouth of July book recommendation
~Library Chronicles


Thrifting in Oblivion
~Editilla gotta tol'yaz~The Scout is helpful, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, Thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
~And always prepared!

A Few Beads More!
~Ms. Judy's Possibilities


Champion Jack Dupree of New Orleans~Blues Town

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Mercredi

The author of this picture is Andrew Lichtenstein, a New York-based documentary photographer and former Open Society Institute Justice Fellow.
He writes:

The picture is from the funeral of Bunny Long, a Cambodian American marine who was killed in Anbar province on March 10, 2006, and buried outside of Modesto, California on March 22nd, 2006. The actual carrying of the casket in a military funeral is a very formal ritual. So much so, that many honor guards who have been assigned the task choose to practice at the graveside before the funeral party has arrived. But the "dry run" is not formal at all-that is, it is not a built in part of the military funeral ceremony, just a rehearsal. I was able to make the photograph because I had been to plenty of funeral before this one, and saw on several occasions military honor guards practicing their steps without a casket. So it was a picture that I was aware of, in that I had seen it, but not found the right light, moment, or mood. At the Long funeral, which was held at a veterans cemetery in Hughson, it was really raining. I am not someone who minds the rain, in fact I kind of like it. But this was a relentless, cold, downpour. I like the picture because it is something that I admire about the marines, or soldiers in general, or for that matter anyone with heart. Here they were dressed in their finest uniforms, and it did not stop them for one second from leaving the shelter of the funeral tent and walking in the rain, stepping in the puddles with their dress shoes. It seemed to sum up not only the sorrow of the occasion, but also the spirit.


An Update on the Summit on Sustainability ~CenLamar

~Editilla shout'outs shin'shillas~

These cats up in Alexandria are kicking down on this entire Summit.
Get that, right here in the oil industry's nuptial bed of love and grief: Louisiana. Ya'gotta love'em.
Stay tuned to CenLamar and of course da'Ladda as they fang down on the issue of the day for our State: To Be or Not. That is da'forking Question, eh?


Volunteers from New Orleans headed to Cedar Rapids

Louisiana's credit rating upgraded

Mixed Ruling in Tulane Lawsuit on ‘Donor Intent’

Breaking: Zach Scruggs gets 14 months in prison for failing to report an attempt to influence a state court judge. UPDATE ~slabbed

The ignored nonrecovery of
New Orleans


EPA recommends against Corps of Engineers' Yazoo Pumps project

Funding squeeze puts La. levee building at risk

Locks expected to reopen on Mississippi River

Flood level falls at foot of the Arch

Unsettled territory: Flood victims forced to search for housing in tight markets

FEMA says 40 trailers on their way to eastern Iowa

President of Algeria donates to Elkader flood relief

Up A Creek

Jus'sayin... another page on Corps Spokesman Gerald Galloway's Corporate interests.
Editilla notes: To bring it up to speed, Gerald Galloway is the ASCE / Corps of Engineers' learned mouthpiece, and former commander, who has been all over the national media the past week, from the NYTimes to the LATimes, spreading the rumor that the Corps is not responsible for their own engineering failures, that they did not build these breached levees. Given Mr Galloway's Corporate interests as a VP at TITAN, one really wonders why this creep is always showing up around Corps flood control problems. If we could but investigate this at the congressional level perhaps we might find that Mr Galloway indeed may have caused some of these failures. Is Gerald Galloway the engineer who signed-off on our levees?
We are still waiting for those names by the way:
who built our levees?


Doolough~Citizen K

Announcing the world premiere of our first New Orleans participatory film!
~Video Voice Collective


Marcia Ball: Standing Tall for Her Texan Musical Roots

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Mardi

Field Of Dreams
~
War Is Personal~BAGnews

~Editilla Warns~and Honors
the Graphic Loss in the 2nd story
.


Experts say flood terminology misleads the public
~"We, the United States Geological Survey, almost need to quit using the term `100-year flood,'" said hydrologist Gary Wilson with the USGS Missouri Water Science Center in Rolla, Mo. "It could happen twice a year, if you're unlucky. Or 200 years could go by without a 100-year flood," he said.
~Villanova University professor Robert Traver,
who specializes in storm water management,
was more succinct:
"Whoever invented that term should be shot."

~Editilla crowillas~M'ah Engineer Daddy felt the same way about the Corps of engineers as well, only somewhat less charitably than learned Professor!
Personally, it seems to me that the Corps uses
"Soap Opera Times" (SOTs) rather than "Dog Times" (DTs) or "Biblical Times" (BTs) when cypherin'up their Project Engineering Budgets.
In SOTs, we can witness Soap Opera Child getting born, growing into rich juvenile delinquent and then gambling addicted college student, in just a few months, a year tops. While Soap Opera Woman seems to actually age in reverse,
Soap Opera Man remain always the same, Rock Solid Ridge...or Cliff, Storm, Thorn or Forester. Yeah, that's it...
the Corps of Engineers uses Soap Opera Time!
So, 100 years of our time is actually appx only 33 years of their time...based on the 15 year flood calculation ('93) but if you use the last year's flood calculation (2 in one year) or the year before (2)...or the ongoing, flowing 17th Street Canal Leak for Flood Calculation then...errrrah, 1 year of our life time is equal to, umm...gozinta'gozinta, the time it takes one of the Corps' levees to spit in our drowning face?


Hold U.S. liable for neglect of levees~Pierce O'Donnell
Editilla wanna tol'yaz
~about this author's Big Time Litigant Career,
but Pierce is only too happy to tol'ya bout'it his'self.


Corps to hold meeting tonight in Lakeview~Can Somebody Maybe Walk The ExQuixotic Corps Over to the Leaking 17th Street Canal Levee "Repair" and ask the Corps: WTF?

Come One, Come All to Tuesday’s Scoping Meeting!
~Editilla No'Tellas~Yes, the Big Titan Corporation mentioned is the same conglomerate where Corps PR Spinfiltraitor Gerald Galloway is a Vice President.
It turns out that his company has been embroiled in this land grab the whole time that his levees have been failing in the Mid West. Amongst his many Spookish Media pursuits, we can easily see what he has invested in Water Management Issues, and hence, have had to endure his Public Relations Storytelling in media across the country, constantly attempting tell and retell the Shot-Gunned PR Fib that the Corps is not responsible for building those levees which are failing right before our own lyin'eyes, along the Mississippi River. This Big Creepo was the first person that I saw on the nets who started that stupid story: that those failed levees are actually a patchwork affair built by bubbas with bulldozers, small town councils, muskrats, Katrina the Clown--who'evah ---but not the Exquixotic Corps of Engineers, NO!
If Gentle'rillas beg to question who Big Time benefits from Corps of Engineers' Water Management Policy, the failure of which makes painfully evident that it is Not We the People, we may start with this Titan Corporation (Corps' PR Fuckmook Galloway), next look to who will have the farmland, ultimately, that is under the control of such Flood Control Water Policy, to wit: Archer Daniels Midland (Ethanol Corn) or Tyson (Well, we are all about to find out just how weird that shit can get.) or Homeland Security (Border Fence Property Seizures).
This is not about Flood Protection for the little citizens of Iowa, but the Water Policy of Big Money Corporations at the receiving end of the 2nd largest Agriculture Business Subsidies in the Nation.

I'll Take 'Potpourri' For A Thousand Alex~Ryan Bird

Oh Insurer Where Art Thou? Part 1 The Prelude~slabbed

Insurers Criticized For New Rate Models

We Have Almost Defeated The Flood of 2008!~PYIR

Flood Waters Ripple Though Iowa Politics

NYC, Bluestockings, Aftershock & Kansas Mutual Aid Presentation on Disasters

Sea Turtles Saved Before Katrina Back Home In Water

Freshmen flock to New Orleans

Young teachers flocking to NOLA
~Editilla enterrruptas~This thing of media always referring to "education-related" peoples wit'da sheepish birdbrained: "Flock"...just finally gets me. Considering the weighty issues involved with such a discussion as the future of New Orleans,
I would prefer to hear: "Young teachers Gravitating to NOLA", or "Students Gyrate to New Orleans," or what is actually happnin,
"Volunteers from across America Descend upon New Orleans...
--and Take Root in'da verdant Mons!"
We don't need no steengk- keeng sheep- herders. We don't scurry about like blasted seagulls without a coastline to call home.
If you don'wanna beeleeve me...then talk to da'Pelican!

Liptrap's Lament - The Line

Even more reasons to visit New Orleans

New Orleans Bikefest Motorcycle Rally & Music Festival


A Journal of a Weekend in New Orleans~Southern Lagniappe

Researchers make noises of pre-Columbian society
~Scientists were fascinated by the ghostly find:
a human skeleton buried in an Aztec temple with a clay, skull-shaped whistle in each bony hand.
~Editilla Jus't'inkin~
Gotta get this Cat for my 2nd Line.


The Big Idea: Nancy Kress ~Whatever


Dog fight over rescued Hurricane Katrina dog ends with arrest

Study shows "Spiritual" effects of mushrooms last a year
~In 2006, Roland Griffiths of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues gave psilocybin to 36 volunteers and asked them how it felt.
Most reported having a "mystical" or "spiritual" experience and rated it positively. More than a year later, most still said the experience increased their sense of well-being or life satisfaction, Griffiths and colleagues report in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.


New Orleans potter launches web site to promote local art

Cocktail museum shakes and stirs history

Tres Jazz: Jazzercise International Fitness Convention, New Orleans, LA ~July 10-13
~Editilla pulls phattay, James Brown~
Oh Yeah! Ya'gotta Get Down!
~~to Get Back Up Again!
GIT'DOWN!
NOW GIT'BACK UP AGAIN!
GIT'DOWN!
GET BACK UP AGAIN!


Third Annual VH1 Soul "Summer Of Soul" in New Orleans

New Orleans Native Son:
Grayhawk Perkins


Read and Spin~NO Magazine

Jammin' generosity of two families places guitars in the hands of young rockers
~Chris Rose

Monday, June 30, 2008

Lundi

HOKUSAI
Wet Dreams?
~by Daniel Simpson


“Our Recovery in Progress”
~People Get Ready


~
Corps of Engineers' flooding defenses in Midwest made New Orleans vulnerable
~S. Rosenthal


Like Corps Levees, Hope Springs Eternal~Pierce O'Donnell~H/T-GN

FEMA plans evacuation exercise in New Orleans

New HUD chief says New Orleans public housing is back on track
HOOOHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA
HAHAHAHHHOOOOHARHARHA
HRHRHAHRHARHARHRHARHA
HARHHARHRHAHRHRHRHRHA
HRHARHRHARHRHARHAHRHEE
HAHAHAHAHEHAHEHAHEHEYAH
GET OUTTA HEAH YA'KILLIN ME!!!

Jindal Exorcises $9.3 Million from Spending Bill~Casteth Out Legislative Pay Raise

St. Henry Church parishioners may camp in church

Archdiocese of New Orleans Selects DeepNines iTrust

NORA to move blighted sites back into use

Working Families Now Own Homes through NEW ERA
~Louisiana Weekly



Marée Croissante Longtemps de Trois


New Orleans to Iowa
~New Orleans Slate


Tim Wise: New Orleans vs. Iowa

It’s Time Slabbed Busted a Nutt

"Cat" Bonds Are a Savvy Hedge against Disaster

Shaw Group spent $220,000 on lobbying in 1Q

Homeland Security Capital Corp

Godwin Pumps Active In Midwest Flood Relief

River cresting above flood stage at St. Louis, no major problems

Lansing gets initial OK to clear flood area, $2 million FEMA grant would buy land, raze homes

Inundated towns along river ponder their futures
~"Why live here? Maybe people shouldn't live in Kansas because of the tornadoes," said Gary Madaus, 44, who moved to Foley from California after living much of his life in the Mojave Desert. "Some people don't have choices. You have to go where you can make the mortgage payments."

What’s Happening to Displaced Pets in Iowa?
~ALilSumptinSumptin


Political Scientists Stick With New Orleans, Face Boycott
~Edtitilla jus'gotta ax'ya~
Aside from da'sheer "Tell Me Why I Don't Like Mondays"-irony of people boycotting a PolySci convention...do these Scientists believe in Evolution as a theory, or perchance Rrrrevolution as the Bookie on'da race between Habit and Novelty?


Sharp Solar 'SOLA in NOLA' Honored by the Alliance for Affordable Energy

Dispatch from New Orleans:
The foundation saga, continues


My Summer Vacation
(or, All Roads Lead to Gardens)
~Red, White & Grew


Dear Harper Collins
~Chasing Ray


Irvin Mayfield, the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra in Macau

Download two free MP3s from Revolutionary Snake's
Forked Tongue,
Year of the Snake
~all about Jazz


I've come full Circle
~Berkley in New Orleans 2008

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Dimanche

Drawn to New Orleans

Students from 152 Campuses Rally to Rebuild New Orleans on July 4th

Dog Town City Bark

No Flood Insurance Hangs 'Em High And Dry

Illinois flood assistance and hard truth~Many may be advised to give up homes not covered for flood damage.

Bill requiring mandatory flood insurance assailed
~Pending federal legislation requiring homeowners protected by levees and dams to buy flood insurance is being challenged by local and national leaders who say the proposal would force thousands and perhaps millions of people to buy insurance.

slabbed~Insurance news blogging the way ya'momma would'a fed it to'ya--if ya'momma was Molly Ivins and yer'daddy H.L. Mencken
...and yer uncle'daddy: Clarence Darrow


Insurance threat forces municipalities to reconsider flood maps

Jindal repeats right wing talking point about oil spillage after Katrina/Rita
~Your Right Hand Thief


Mike Huckabee falsely claimed "not one drop of oil was spilled" during Hurricane Katrina
~nea & verily nor could enough oileth passeth through even the butt of an angel what rideth a camel onto the head of a needle...that too!
~Editilla stigmatabates~
...and reposts this one from yesterday's Ladda, as it would appear from da'Noble Oyster's restless, relentless, reparteific, riparian, reptiliac, rigor mortificient, repo'maniacle hammering of this Demon onto the Cross of Jindal's record, to wit:
GOD IS IN DA'HOUSE and it is OK to LIE if that will make Jesus come early, prematurely premadonna.
Are we maybe looking at Vicodandy McSame's Wife's
White House Medicine Cabinet here: Vitter? Craig? Huckster? Jindal? Mitt? Jezuz Judaz Prezley...
--da'horrrraah--sssombody tt'row me a hhit off'dddat!

Aral Sea region, reproduction of a photograph of the Kokaral peninsula~UNESCO
United States Participation in UNESCO’s International Hydrological Program Intergovernmental Council Meeting
June, 2008


U.S. Threatened to Attack Saudi Arabia During 1973 Oil Embargo

Florida Buys U.S. Sugar to Save Everglades~Sugar land deal may open a natural path to restore the Everglades
~"There's clearly a philosophical divide between the Corps, who want to build more structures, and those of us who believe that nature can do a good job by itself,"
said Stuart Pimm, professor of conservation ecology at Duke University. "Yes, it could be a natural system, but only if the Corps could be persuaded not to over-engineer it."

City's reservoirs epicenter of flood fight

Turning a frown upside down ~James Bruggers
~The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did their best to bury the important news in a press release it issued yesterday, following my inquiries about a problem at the leaky Wolf Creek Dam that I had heard about from unofficial sources.
"...closing the grout line with our current grout processes is not possible?"
If I were Jon Stewart, or if I lived down river from the massive dam that the Army Corps considers among its top five most dangerous, at those words I'd shake my head back and forth, make a funny noise and rub my eyes, as if to say, "What the %$&^?"
The dam is reportedly settling at a rate of one-eighth of an inch per year, but the section in question, has dropped nearly an inch in the past year.


Dams of death:
Army Corps of Engineers' secrecy puts lives at risk~David Cuillier


The Flood of 2008
~The Amateur Magician


Farm View: Farmers optimistic about fall harvest

Police see uptick in crime after flooding

Long road to recovery for arts groups

National Weather Service on Flood Threat to Those Downstream ~Kevin Gosztola

Farmers, Residents, National Guard shore up Missouri levees at West Alton, Portage des Sioux

BNSF Flood Advisory:
BNSF restored limited service over its Transcon route at 1:45 a.m. CT today, Saturday, June 28, when one of the two main lines near Marceline, MO., was re-opened. The second mainline track in that area remains flooded but is estimated to return to service late on Saturday, June 28, 2008.

Hike for a Cause, rebuilding our parks one step at a time
~On March 1, 2009, Katie Glennemeier, Adam Herman, and Jen Carlston, will begin a 2,200 mile charity hike of the Appalachian Trail,
from Georgia to Maine, to build a nature trail in
St. Bernard State Park, Louisiana.


Our trip to New Orleans
~Megan's Blog


Destruction.. ergo Construction
~Did We Survive Katrina or Not?


One vacationer's guide to New Orleans

Indonesian art & craft store takes root in French Quarter ~Jakarta Post

New Orleans musicians to kick off Democratic convention

FYYFF It’s Black and Gold Forever