Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Times-Picayune back-slides, uses Katrina Shorthand to mis-frame "The Great Corps of Engineers Levee Failure Event of 2005"
~Editilla Commentellas~In the face of such an insulting and self-aggrandizing, Katrina Shorthand attempt to continue to Lie about the cause of our devastating Federal Flood 8-29-05, we at Da Ladder find it quite gratifying that so many comments on this screed support the True Story.
Over the diaspora we have screamed about this problem of mis-framing our man-made disaster as a natural one. I mean, yous guys have seen me lay down some pristine rant & retart as to the very real PR War waged by the Exquisite Corps and theys minions to spin'filtrate any other story about their criminal engineering to the American public --but da truf. Yet, it was always the T-P that sent poor Editilla over Niagara Falls with their Corps/OPP advertising contracts, "Shilla" Grissett's damn near laudanum infused coverage of levee leaks and tons of debris used in their new filling, and their incessant use of Katrina Shorthand. Hell, they would even attempt to Defend misstating actual facts! But, over time, some of their journalist came around to our view of Reality with a capital Rrrrrrr --due in no small measure to the Direct Actions of a tiny, local grassroots group to stay on top of this with editors and journalist across the country.
It's true. Our friends and compadres at Levees.org deserve a big hand here as they have changed the entire narrative of our damn'nation simply by insisting that news media call it by its true name. Alas, we still have a few piglet dragons to slay right here in our own back yard.
~Special T'anks to Da Masqued E'vinga! for our snappy cartoon.

Aaron Bennett pocketed $600,000 intended for New Orleans pump station upgrades, lawsuit alleges

Oh Snap! Corps of Engineers boss lackey wants to get into our pants to head NORA!

Lookee! Corps says it has $55M more for dredging

Louisiana's infrastructure is in trouble, engineering society says

Ed Blakely can't get anything right~James Gill

The Nova Scotia SouthCoast Today picks up the latest developments ~Slabbed

“There’s a war going on, and we’re all on the front lines:” Uptown residents decry increase in crime, insufficient police manpower
~Uptown Messenger


Curfew: Stripping kids’ access to the cultural heart of New Orleans~C.W. Cannon, The Lens

Hat Tweet~ & not only support, but are Senate cosponsors of PIPA. What is PIPA/SOPA?

Satellite Image Shows Heat From Chevron Drill Rig Fire, Offshore Nigeria ~Skytruth

First retailer in New Orleans unveils electric vehicle charging stations ~WWL

Grape Expectations~Blackened Out


Breaking Bread New Orleans Style
~He Said/She Said


Green To Go’s Big Adventure
~New Orleans Food Trucks
~Recently I had the pleasure of witnessing a salad spread suitable for the pickiest veggie-only eaters and also for those that consider themselves carnivorous chowhounds. Meet Green To Go, a New Orleans-based mobile food business doing salads justice and delivering to you by bike.

Preview of new Galactic song available on NPR blog~Alison Fensterstock
~Also~Big Freedia to perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live, January 25!

Dr. John to Lead Three-Weekend Residency at BAM; Dan Auerbach to Join in Debut of Music from New Album, "Locked Down"
~Nonesuch Journal

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The Official Thanks-Our-New-Orleans-Saints-For-A-Great-Season Thread

Lift Your Head Up High (And Blow Your Brains Out) Part 1 ~moosedenied
Jefferson Parish gives 3 garbage contracts to single Texas company?~Richard Rainey

Fox 8 and WWL TeeVee is reporting Karen Parker will be in court to plead guilty to Misprison of Felony ~Slabbed

500-year protection for under $2 billion? Why wait 20 years to start?
~Mark Moseley, The Lens


FEMA chief pushes public-private approach to disaster response

Ed Blakely's new book tells Hurricane Katrina tales few will recognize

Keep an eye on flooding issues in New Orleans' Hollygrove: An editorial

Orion Marine Group Provides Mid-Period Update on Its Outlook (USA)

Carville says LSU threatened~WWL

Here's your sneak peek at Spud McConnell in Hairspray~Will Coviello, Gambit

Manning’s to open Thursday!
~Ian McDonald

Krewe du Vieux announces new route!

DiFranco fires back~Jeff Miers

~Editilla Patronellas~My recently aquired, real life painting by Polly Jackson in early morning light: Elms of Atura Park, 22"X33" Acrylic. Don't know if a cellphone pic could do this justice, as the colors really seem to light themselves. I guess that is a difference for me between Art and anything else, to wit: live paintings like this don't need artificial light. Indeed, Polly's paintings seem to thrive in natural light. I also got 2 of her Chicken paintings (behind that one) --but before showing y'all will wait for a Chicken Day when we really need it. Click to enlarge

Monday, January 16, 2012

What a dilemma~ Kevin McGill
~What impressed me most as I read the state's latest plan to save its coast is the map. A sea of red, representing an encroaching Gulf of Mexico, consumes almost every inch of every inhabited community south of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes. And the parts that are left within 50 years look like they would flood so often it would make them impractical to inhabit.
Dulac? Gone. Cocodrie: Underwater. Dularge? History. Montegut: A memory.

Green, Purple, Gold, Black and Blue…
~The Accidental Cajun


Tough isn't a given, it's taken.

So Bobby Jindal is holding this fundraiser for Billy Nungesser on Tuesday ~Slabbed

Last ONE left standing? Sucker punch whacks ‘citizen participation’~Tim Garrett, The Lens

Coastal restoration money bills may fall victim to partisan squabbling

Corps gets busy as river levels drop

Migration to Louisiana slowing down

Monday Morning Reads~Sky Dancing

Wetland Watchers Park adds outdoor learning area

One Oven to Rule Them All: Ancora Pizzeria and Salumeria~He Said/She Said NOLA

Brerl't Gulf Oysters~Louisiana Kitchen

Superfood Bar, O! Vegasm, Offer Veggie-Oriented Sunday Brunch~

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Happy Birthday Drew and Baylen Brees!
~Hat Tweet ~HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! We love you and everything you do for the city of New Orleans! // "Me and Drew by "
New Orleans Saints burned by blitz in final minute ~Jeff Duncan

~Hat Tweet ~Hey fans, just to let everyone know...I'm doing great...it was a nasty hit but this is the sport we play, can't...

Saints 32 @ 49ers 36: Who Dat Say!?!
~Canal Street Chronicles


~Editilla Lamentellas~ My thoughts on yesterday's loss are few, grief- stricken & simple:
1) Unbridled Love & Pride: for Our New Orleans Saints and our City of Whodats enough said. HIGH FIVE!
2) I've always found it difficult to criticize even Shockey, or anyone else remotely connected to Our New Orleans Saints at any time in their lives, let alone presume to 2nd guess our Coach Sean Payton WHODAT!, Drew Brees BREESUS! or even His Assholeness Greg Williams. Which brings us to...
3) I don't want to talk about Greg Williams, or his Rams-punking, no-catching, no-ball-stripping, no-interceptin, snuggy-wearin fat ass.
4) Aaand finally, I remember feeling this way on my knees in the water during the flood outside of WWOZ, buckled crying, in utter shock at the screaming silence the day the music died.
I'm crying now, in a way simular yet honed, as then I truly thought it was all over.
I never thought I'd ever see New Orleans do the things she has done in the 7 yrs hence.
To imagine anything less from Our New Orleans Saints would be sheer blasphemy.


~Happy 40th Birthday, American Pie!

Sop gets a cyber first: Behavioral finance- economics intersects with Slabbed. An Aaron Broussard/Trout Point Lodge Update

Coastal Restoration Heads Up - UPDATED
~NOLA-dishu


In BP case, legal ties are topsy turvy
~James Gill


BP donates $4 million to Fletcher
~
Matthew Albright~BP has donated $4 million to Fletcher Technical Community College for a new wing dedicated to training students for oilfield jobs. The new Integrated Production Technologies center will be built alongside the school’s $19.1 million campus expansion on La. 311, which is under construction. It will include state-of-the art classrooms for college and high school students seeking oilfield jobs.
~Editilla gotta toll'ya~ I sure hope those limey pirates don't get a cut of the curriculum, know what I mean? I meeeeannn... fickn BP doesn't have what you'd call a stellar record on oilfield management. In fact, BP has a casualty record of at least 27 killed needlessly, 180 injured, billions of dollars of serious environmental damage in at least 3 US States and worldwide. I mean, do we really want to let BP teach our babies to grow up to be cowboys?

Land battle looms in Livingston
~Faimon A. Roberts III


Arc soup business provides job training for people with intellectual disabilities

~Hat Tweet ~Found it! I did 2 of these. This is the recipe I would follow for the venison though.

Undefeated Divas and Gents second line parade today! ~Big Red Cotton, Gambit

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Louisiana coastal restoration 50-year blueprint released~Mark Schleifstein
~The strategy is outlined in the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority’s draft five-year master plan update, which for the first time contains maps showing the location and scope of proposed projects and maps showing what the state’s coastline will look like in 2061 if they’re built. Lists of the projects also show their cost. Click pic to enlarge.

River turbine testing site gets $150,000 grant

Keep lower Mississippi River open

Did I mention with all the shit going down a few of us are engaged in what I’ll term high stakes blogging? ~Slabbed

Judge halts release of 21 prisoners pardoned by MS Governor Babar

Hell hath no fury like a great team thirsting for gridiron vengeance
~Mark Moseley, The Lens


Chefs and Casual Food ~Robert Peyton

Cooking With Wine~Blackened Out

Willie Nelson at House of Blues tonight! David Allan Coe, Kyle Turley Band at Howling Wolf!

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2012/01/11/3681468/judge-halts-release-of-21-prisoners.html#storylink=cpy

Monday, January 9, 2012

Levees can be a mortal, as well as a moral hazard ~Len Bahr, LaCoastPost
BP hires chefs Emeril Lagasse and John Besh in massive oilspill PR whitewash
~Rat Fink spies the evil British Usurpers paying chefs Emeril Lagasse and John Besh to promote Gulf seafood, it’s hired two seafood trucks to hand out fish tacos and seafood-filled jambalaya to the hundreds of thousands of tourists and fans pouring into the city for the football games and it’s spreading its messages at galas, pre-game parties and vacation giveaways.
The campaign, launched just before Christmas, has ramped up for the two-week period around the Sugar Bowl and Bowl Championship Series title game to be played on Monday between LSU and Alabama.
“I’m glad to report that all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy!” BP representative Iris Cross says in one TV spot to an upbeat soundtrack. “And the economy is showing progress, with many areas on the Gulf Coast having their best tourism season in years.”

Drew on Pierre Thomas: "Phenomenal" game ~WWL

Report: Saints defensive coach Williams could follow Fisher (to Rams?)

Alabama player's girlfriend dreamed of seeing him play for BCS title in her hometown
~Nakia Hogan


Is Alabama coach Nick Saban a miserable sum'bitch? Let's talk! ~Slabbed

Upcoming South Claiborne drainage project will take more than two years, officials say ~Uptown Messenger

The Parc England Hotel ~CenLamar

Shaw Awarded Environmental and Restoration Services Contract from Corps
~The Shaw Group Inc. SHAW +0.11% today announced it has been awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to provide nationwide environmental and restoration services for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Louisville District.

Tribute to New Orleans, Inside and Out ~NYT

Save the Date! 2nd Annual King Cake Death Match, February 2!~He Said/She Said NOLA

Sunday, January 8, 2012

WHODAT? WHODAT? WHODAT SAY DEY GONNA BEAT DEM SAINTS?


Business Insurance and the Myth of Hurricane Flood Risk Modeling in N.O.
~Paul R. Becker, president of the construction practice at Willis North America Inc. in Nashville, Tenn., and another participant on the October tour, said in talking with Willis brokers in New Orleans last week, “they really haven't seen much change based on the tour.”
“We're choosing to look at it as half full,”
Mr. Becker said, the glass' full half being that insurers participated on the tour and they are underwriting business in New Orleans.
In the construction area and the market for builders risk property coverage, “generally it's available, although you need to get multiple carriers for things that are over $20 (million) to $25 million in size in the zone because (insurers) don't want to put that much capacity at risk,” Mr. Becker said. That coverage typically involves a high deductible, he said. In the fixed-property market, “our property guys are seeing what they characterize as massive increases—30%, 40%, 50%—and that's due to the infamous RMS 11 modeling,” Mr. Becker said in referring to Risk Management Solutions Inc.'s version 11 U.S. hurricane model. “The fixed property seems to be much more driven by the cat modeling than the builders risk.”
~Photo: Curtsey of our friends and comrade compadnas at The New Orleans Levee, who snapped this secret under cover lapel pin camera shot of a Corps Risk Reduction Handlin' Officer, CoRRHO, as he nervously Handles his Ratty Hands, furtively eying a newly completed Corps Risk Reducin' Experimental Action Model Assemblage, or CoRREAMA, made up entirely of print copies of The New Orleans Levee.
Well, they don't hold anything back either!

Army Corps Cooks the Books Again

And you’re still outta here! Big D Fazzio’s lawyers remain disqualified and that’s all we’ll be hearing ’bout that for a while ~Slabbed

Road Home buyout properties being sold back to New Orleans~David Hammer

Four major weekend events obscure the important coastal happening ~LaCoastPost
~Yesterday I was reminded by a coastal colleague that a fifth important event will happen Monday, January 9…but with extremely little fanfare. I’m talking about the release of the much anticipated* 2012 Louisiana Master Plan for Coastal Protection and Restoration.

Major Bayou Lafourche cleanup seeks volunteers~Nikki Buskey

What's the word, Hummingbird?

New Orleans Fuit Tree Project spreads the wealth ~Katy Reckdahl

Chefs looking to start small carve out temporary quarters in established kitchens
~Naomi Martin


Do you love brunch? Here are some of Nolamaven's favorite places in New Orleans

Sunday: Lady Jetsetters 2012 second line parade! ~Big Red Cotton, Gambit

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Don't Stop Now~Library Chronicles

Just as New Orleans Saints did in 2006, Detroit Lions lifting the spirits of a city
~Bob Marshall
~We've been there, Detroit. We lived it for 12 agonizing months after sub-standard federal levees collapsed, turning a hurricane named Katrina into a record-setting disaster and killing 1,400 of our neighbors. Their bodies were still floating in the streets, wedged in attics when the insults began, from the talk-radio oracles and even national politicians. "Why would you live there? Why spend money fixing that city? The people are crazy to move back. It should be moved. If they want to live there, they should help themselves. All they want is a handout." It continued as we buried our dead, gutted our houses, reopened our schools and businesses. It became such a constant refrain -- following us even on vacations and business travel - we gave up responding. We became resigned to the fact that it would always be "open season" on our city. Then the 2006 NFL season opened.

Surging Saints a tough playoff draw for Detroit~Brett Martel

LSU fans take tailgating to the extreme

River Birch Landfill's clout seen in federal legislation

La. AG challenges ruling in Gulf oil spill cases

Beat the Crowds: Visitor Alternatives for New Orleans~He Said/She Said NOLA

Friday, January 6, 2012

The truth, gosh…it’s just “so long and so complicated…” ~Disenfranchised Citizen
~And academically speaking, it’s got to be hard to be Board Chairwoman, Glenna Kramer, so I have taken it upon myself to offer up the text of a marker, text I think she would certainly approve of, and I doubt will offend anyone, unless they were to care at all about what happened in Louisiana at the breach site of the 17th Street Canal and the East side North breach site of the Industrial Canal, but anyways, here goes: “At this site, on some date, something happened, which caused a lot of other things to happen, bad things, though none of these bad things came as a result of anyone’s fault because tragedies are sometimes like that, blameless. And so we remember the loss of life, of homes, of community and confidence we once shared that bad things such as the kind that happened here, wouldn’t ever actually happen, and will hopefully never happen again.”

Nomination for Katrina breach sites sparks debate ~Kevin McGill

Final version of Corps MO River flood plan

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/06/3356159/nomination-for-katrina-breach.html#storylink=cpy

Coastal plan to be released next week

~Nikki Buskey, Daily Comet


Happy King Day! Let the Good Times Roll!

JoanFest! 6 Joans of Arc Celebrate Patron Saint's 600th Birthday

We took a little bacon and we took a little beans. We caught the bloody British in the town of New Orleans ~NOLA DEFENDER

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Welcome To The (Mercedes-Benz) Terrordome ~moosedenied
~Photo: Wesley Hitt, Getty Images, via our buds at Bleacher Report

Drew Brees on the cover of Sports Illustrated! Mag picks New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl!

Our amazing Saints: An editorial

To New Orleans police, innocent until proven guilty doesn't apply to victims~James Gill

Levees.org Continues Drive for Federal Markers at Katrina Levee Breaches ~WWNO

Corps of Engineers finagles itself into MS Levee Board to bring back huge Boondoggle Pump Project?~The Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners appealed a Mississippi federal judge's dismissal of its lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments Feb. 9. The levee board wants to move forward with the Yazoo Backwater Project, a proposed pump station to drain wetlands, farmland and forests north of Vicksburg when the MS River is high.

Competing Conflicts of Interest cause Gulf Coast Claims Facility to suspend payments: A periodic report from the gutter where its all going down ~Slabbed

Dear Carl, I thought what we had was special
~Disenfranchised Citizen


GCCF suspending payments for BP losses

Louisiana businesses slapped with $2.5 million in pollution penalties
~Mark Schleifstein


New Orleans man gets prison for role in Clementine Hunter art forgery plot

foburg.film Festival now accepting submissions ~Gambit

~Hat Tweet New rum distillery under construction in Lacassine, LA.

St. James Cheese News!

Cooking With Wine ~Blackened Out

Oh Yeah! Creole Turtle Soup~Ponchartrain Pete

Parasol's and Tracey's battle for Irish Channel roast beef po-boy supremacy
~Brett Anderson
~Hat Tweet @nolamaven

Poland Band Heading to New Orleans

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Governor-appointed Board in Louisiana Says Levee Breach Sites Not Historic
Six members of a governor-appointed board in Louisiana recently voted against placing the sites of two catastrophic levee breaches in New Orleans during Katrina on the National Register of Historic Places. Two-thirds of the 9-member state Review Board voted down the flood protection group Levees.org’s quest to list the breach of the 17th St. Canal and the east side north breach site of the Industrial Canal to the prestigious Register.
“The board members signaled that they didn’t believe the sites of the worst civil engineering disaster in U.S. history were historic,” said Sandy Rosenthal, founder of Levees.org.
Some board members said they were ‘uncomfortable’ with the nomination text because it faulted the Army Corps of Engineers for the levee and floodwall failures. Several members thought the text contained too much information.
“You have made this very difficult for us,” noted Board Chairwoman Glenna Kramer of Franklin. “It’s so long and so complicated.”

Despite the Board’s 3-yes, 6-no vote, the State Historic Preservation Officer, Ms. Pam Breaux and her staff continues to support the eligibility of the two breach sites.
On December 29, Ms. Breaux confirmed that she has sent Levees.org’s 39-page nomination along with her letter of support and other documents pertinent to the breach sites’ eligibility to the Corps of Engineer’s Federal Preservation Officer in Washington, DC. This is in accordance with regulations 36 CFR 60 which govern the National Register process.
“We believe the document to be procedurally and professionally correct,” stated Ms. Breaux in her cover letter to the FPO.

According to Ms. Nicole Hobson-Morris, executive director of the State Preservation Office, the state Review Board does not have the final say. “We will be sending the nomination to the FPO,” said Ms. Hobson-Morris. “We will also send all 44 letters of support for the nomination including U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu’s letter.”
Mark Barnes, consultant to Levees.org noted that sending the nomination text to the FPO is an appropriate step. “It’s an attempt to obtain a solid statement of support for the nomination from the corps or not, “ said Mr. Barnes.

According to regulations, the corps’ Federal Preservation Officer, Mr. Terrence Salt has 60 days to respond with the federal agency’s position on the eligibility of the two levee breach sites. Click here for cover letter from Ms. Pam Breaux to the Federal Preservation Office.
To see who voted and their comments click here for transcript of Review Committee Meeting.
To see who submitted letters of support click here.

Founded in November 2005 by Sandy Rosenthal and her then 15-year old son, Stanford Rosenthal, Levees.org is a flood protection advocacy group devoted to education about the true cause of the catastrophic flooding in the New Orleans region during Katrina.

~Editilla What the Hellas~ Sorry y'all, but Ah gotta step in heah. Correct me if Ah'm wrong, this is the State HISTORICAL Review Board, right?
Mah lovely step-mother, rest her soul, was a History Professor at Delta State University mah entire life and I can remember her saying one day, "A 'History' by definition is a simple story to many people, yet our pursuit of it involves -at least- complicated dedication." Ah'm just wondering what is the Fickn Problem here wit'dees faux history buffs on this pseudo Hysterical Review Committee?
Now, I've read the Levees.org proposal Twice, and bare in mind Ah had 2 strokes during this in December, and Ah got it just fine. Ah'm jes'sayin... Ah have certified brain damage and did not have any trouble with Getting the levees.org proposal.
Indeed, back in the August Heat, we went to Baton Rouge to witness the FIRST full powerpoint presentation by Mrs, Rosenthal to this band of hayseeds. (It should be noted here, but Mrs Rosenthal is a nice Lady, that the Corps stepped in, like schoolyard punks, at the last minute, with their own erroneous property ownership issues to scuttled the entire presentation that day. Yet, Mrs Rosenthal bravely soldiered on with it for the Committee, and had to return a few months later with Exactly the same presentation --to which these History Rogues thumbed their provincially ignorant noses.) Yes, it is thick with Data, incredibly copious details about Exactly what happened and where. Indeed, the NRHP requires nothing less. They encourage the nominator to include As Much Detail As Possible. It's the way these things work. This is the Only Way these things work.
Levees.org had to have put in WEEKS/MONTHS pouring over geographical GIS maps, cultural HISTORY, city plats, photographs, geotechincal studies, court rulings, expensive title searches, whateva the NRHP wanted --and they want it all! High Five to Sandy Rosenthal and her krewe! This is what it means to FINISH STRONG in The City the Care Forgot and the Goddamned Exquisite Corps of Engineers Left For Dead!

Yet, our State Hysterical Review Committee seems to be dominated by Lazy Historians! They must hail from Yankee North Louisiana or other boondock environs of the tragically ill-bred, badly medicated Nola-haters. Our State Hysterical Committee members look at History and say "EWE! THIS IS TOO COMPLICATED!" Our State Hysterical Committee members look at History and simply stick their heads in the sandy levees.
To these boorish white-sock wearing nimnybobs in Baton Rouge Ah say: FYYFFs!

Exonerated death row inmate John Thompson digs for the roots of New Orleans crime epidemic~Jed Horn, The Lens

Owen Courreges: The inner workings of the speed traps ~Uptown Messenger

FKN MFKRs! GCCF claimants ordered to pay federal lawsuit attorneys 6 percent

Reason #183 BP’s cleanup was about PR from the very beginning ~Disenfranchised Citizen

BP money buys sports towels, Xmas lights, jingles

Hesco Baskets helping coastal restoration, its original us ~WWLTV

Mardi Gras goes green if resident has her way
~The VerdiGras All-Green Ball, on Jan. 21 from 8 p.m. to midnight at the Southport Music Hall in Jefferson, will include music by The Susan Cowsill Band. The ball will be preceded by a patron party from 7 to 8 p.m. with food by New Orleans chef Robert Bruce. Tickets are $30 per person or $50 per couple; or $100 for the patron party.

Vote on sale of LA drinking water to TX looms

Besh’s Borgne to open next week in Hyatt Regency ~Ian McNulty, Gambit