New Orleans' Mayor C Ray Nagin is on the road again but this time he's not racking up any International Flyer Miles. C Ray is attending the US Conference of Mayors this week in Washington DC where he will present his recommendations for changes in the Stafford Act to President Obama and key Cabinet officials. The Stafford Act covers financial and physical assistance to areas designated as disasters by Presidential order. One of the areas Nagin hopes to improve is the alacrity of reimbursement by FEMA for recovery projects which have been completed and paid for with non-recovery funds.
One wonders if Nagin is aware of the definition of 'completed". In the three and a half years since Katrina, Nagin has been tinkering around with plans and placing his cronies in key positions of recovery projects which never seem to come anywhere near completion. FOX8/The Lens recently ran an interesting story on Nagins' machinations which can be read here.
Nagin has reduced the Claiborne Corridor funding from 4.5 million dollars to 2.5 million citing that the money is needed for "shovel ready" projects, however councilwoman Stacey Head states that those projects in her district are indeed "shovel ready" but have been delayed by the Nagin Administration.
Interestingly, the Claiborne Corridor money has found it's way into the coffers of the Lake Forest redevelopment projects of Cesar Bugos, A close, personal buddy of, you guessed it… C Ray Nagin! Nagin says political alliances had nothing to do with the funding increase. Still, the Lake Forest project has gone from 4.5 million dollars to 9 million. Curious, no?
Nagin has also drained the Recovery School District coffers of 10 million dollars leaving its block grant account at zero stopping projects dead in their tracks. At risk are the Federal City military academy, the downtown international business school and renovations to the CAC. (So you see, the Mayor does have certain powers over education in the city.)
Add to this Nagins' recent funding of Sean Cummings' "Reinventing Sean Cummings" plan, his appointing of cronies Irvin Mayfield and alleged coke dealer and soft-core porn photographer Bernard Wade to head the Municipal Auditorium recovery and his continued attempts to buy the Chevron Building for a City Hall he'll never even sit in and you have one severely disconnected son-of-a-bitch.
I urge the City Council to do whatever it takes to strip C Ray Nagin of all powers and duties for the next four months. It becomes clearer each day that Nagin exists only for the profit of himself and his allies and I shudder at what more damage he may do to this city if allowed to continue his rape of the our financial coffers.
Showing posts with label Ray Nagin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ray Nagin. Show all posts
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Charity
I shot this in April of 2006, when hope still shone on Charity Hospital like a beacon. At the time I didn't do anything with it, but I remembered thinking that the surrounding clouds looked like a portent of dire warning if ever there was one. Fancy that. Now this photograph has decided it wants to speak, to scream in agony with a voice that could pierce the ears of the deaf. I am only too happy to lend it my stage.
It has become painfully clear to me now that there is no hope for Charity. LSU wants a shiny new sprawling medical complex and they don't care what historic landmarks or neighborhoods or communities stand in their way. It's been four years since Hurricane Katrina gave LSU and the State of Louisiana the Golden Opportunity to lock the doors on Charity. Since then it has languished, decaying day by day like the health of the citizens of New Orleans.
Mayor Nagin is a clueless, ineffective caricature of leadership, concerned more with lining his pockets than the well-being of this city. Governor Jindal is on the money train with his cronies and frat brothers at LSU, even though they have failed multiple times to find financing for their boondoggle. President Obama certainly could care less, otherwise he would have sliced us off a tasty hunk of that Stimulus Cheese to help solve the problem. So what can we do?
Let's die.
Winter is coming and this gives us all a great opportunity to catch pneumonia and die. And when it's time for all of us to go, let's use our last breaths to crawl to the locked and boarded cyclone fence that surrounds Charity and shuffle off this mortal coil in mass protest. That'll show 'em! Piles of corpses surrounding the building, cough drops and throat lozenges clogging the sewers like so many discarded Mardi Gras doubloons and Moon Pies, rivers of phlegm and mucous running down Tulane Avenue to the river, and in each of our hands a can of LSU brand Chicken Soup with the handwritten message, "It's not working." Is that what it would take for someone in Baton Rouge to finally wake up and do something?
Unless of course, that's exactly what they're waiting for…
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Holiday Hodgepodge!
Our top story… Generalisimo Francisco Jackson is still dead.
In what is destined to be the hugest waste of time since the coverage of Sarah Palin's Vice-Presidential run, the Death of Michael Jackson continues to fascinate and dazzle the media. Now with Diprivan!! And just a few years ago everyone was calling for Mike's immediate incarceration, castration and execution for being a "weirdo, a freak and a child molester." Now it's all tears and tributes. Sometimes you people sicken me.
Michael Jackson was simply what we all are. A sad, flawed human being, struggling to find happiness in a world that simply doesn't give a shit. Do I think he was a child molester? No. I think he had a severely regressed personality which would not allow him to enter adulthood the way normal people do. Do I think he was the "King of Pop?" No. That was Elvis. It is still Elvis. It will always be Elvis. So do me a favor and bury Michael and the incessant media coverage. It's sad that a person died, but I don't need updates every ten fucking minutes. Thank you.
And speaking of Sarah Palin…
She quit.
Bwah-hah-hah-hah!
In a rambling farewell address that lasted almost as long as her Vice-Presidential run, the Republican dilletante-du-jour threw in the towel. She cited the fact that great changes can be made outside of government as one of her reasons for stepping down. That's nice, but it's usually the type of thing used to motivate the citizenry to get off their asses and participate in events, not sitting governors! Essentially, her statement reads as, "I am so ineffective that I can't do anything, even with the power of a governor."
She cited her decision not to run for re-election as one of the many motivating forces in her decision to resign. According to La Palin, lame-duck politicians are lazy bastards who do nothing but pick up a check at the end of every month. The thing is, to qualify as a "lame-duck," you need to be on your way out. Had you lost a re-election campaign, you would be a "lame-duck," not because you decided not to run. Not only that, but Palin still has a year-and-a-half left on her term!
The media is circulating rumours of impending and ongoing ethics violations as possible reasons for the surprise resignation. Fact is, Sarah Palin is the Alaskan equivalent of New Orleans Mayor C Ray Nagin. She spends almost no time in office, preferring instead to travel the Lower 48 begging for political handouts. And she brings her brood everywhere she goes, paying their way with state money. Each time she travels, someone slaps an ethics complaint against her. Each time the cases are reviewed the outcome is the same: Palin's trip is classified as "state business" but the bill for her family is not covered, so she ends up repaying the state for that portion of her spending. Then she holds a "press conference" explaining that she did nothing wrong. While it's true that she did nothing wrong, it's only because the people of Alaska have to keep after her to pay her share of the bills. She's like the dumbass college roommate who's always mooching off his buddies even though his parents are loaded.
During her vapid farewell, she also quoted General Douglass MacArthur, saying "We are not retreating, just advancing in a different direction." Strong words. Strong, and for Palin as usual, wrong. The actual quote comes from USMC Major General Oliver P Smith and stems from a British reporter asking him about the UN Forces "retreat" from the Chosin Reservoir during the Vietnam War. Smith's reply was, "There can be no retreat when there's no rear. You can't retreat, or even withdraw, when you're surrounded. The only thing you can do is break out, and in order to do that you have to attack, and that is what we're about to do. Heck, all we're doing is attacking in a different direction." Sounds like an admission that she's in way over her head to me.
She also compared herself to wounded war veterans and basketball stars as she tried to explain her actions. Speculation is that she's more concerned with her new million-dollar book deal or a possible 2012 run for, (and this is the part that really makes me giggle,) president!
Bwah-hah-hah-hah!
Call Us When You Get Some Real Weapons!
North Korea fired off a half-dozen or so "Scud-like" missiles while we slept last night. Seriously? "Scud-like?" Weren't those the cheap bottle-rockets that the Sovs foisted off on the Middle East back in the Eighties? You know, the ones that fell apart and failed to detonate when US Forces gave them a stern look? Come on Kim Jong, we know you wanna be a World Class Gangsta Nigga, but Scuds ain't nothing but D Thang. That's D for Derision. Or Dumbass. Or Douchbag, Dope, Dipstick, Dip-tard… the list goes on. Next!
It's about damned time!
Today, the Statue of Liberty opens her crown to the public once again. The crown has been closed since 9/11 and has symbolized the empty-headed policies of the Bush Administration over the last eight years. If President Obama gets nothing else right during his term, I will still be forever grateful to him for this one act.
Gentlemen, Start Your Gastrointestines!
Just a few hours to go until the Nathan's Famous Hot-Dog Eating Contest. We here at the NoM wish good luck to all the entrants, but especially to the 2007 and 2008 Champion, American, Joey Chestnut. Give 'em Hell, Joey!
In what is destined to be the hugest waste of time since the coverage of Sarah Palin's Vice-Presidential run, the Death of Michael Jackson continues to fascinate and dazzle the media. Now with Diprivan!! And just a few years ago everyone was calling for Mike's immediate incarceration, castration and execution for being a "weirdo, a freak and a child molester." Now it's all tears and tributes. Sometimes you people sicken me.
Michael Jackson was simply what we all are. A sad, flawed human being, struggling to find happiness in a world that simply doesn't give a shit. Do I think he was a child molester? No. I think he had a severely regressed personality which would not allow him to enter adulthood the way normal people do. Do I think he was the "King of Pop?" No. That was Elvis. It is still Elvis. It will always be Elvis. So do me a favor and bury Michael and the incessant media coverage. It's sad that a person died, but I don't need updates every ten fucking minutes. Thank you.
And speaking of Sarah Palin…
She quit.
Bwah-hah-hah-hah!
In a rambling farewell address that lasted almost as long as her Vice-Presidential run, the Republican dilletante-du-jour threw in the towel. She cited the fact that great changes can be made outside of government as one of her reasons for stepping down. That's nice, but it's usually the type of thing used to motivate the citizenry to get off their asses and participate in events, not sitting governors! Essentially, her statement reads as, "I am so ineffective that I can't do anything, even with the power of a governor."
She cited her decision not to run for re-election as one of the many motivating forces in her decision to resign. According to La Palin, lame-duck politicians are lazy bastards who do nothing but pick up a check at the end of every month. The thing is, to qualify as a "lame-duck," you need to be on your way out. Had you lost a re-election campaign, you would be a "lame-duck," not because you decided not to run. Not only that, but Palin still has a year-and-a-half left on her term!
The media is circulating rumours of impending and ongoing ethics violations as possible reasons for the surprise resignation. Fact is, Sarah Palin is the Alaskan equivalent of New Orleans Mayor C Ray Nagin. She spends almost no time in office, preferring instead to travel the Lower 48 begging for political handouts. And she brings her brood everywhere she goes, paying their way with state money. Each time she travels, someone slaps an ethics complaint against her. Each time the cases are reviewed the outcome is the same: Palin's trip is classified as "state business" but the bill for her family is not covered, so she ends up repaying the state for that portion of her spending. Then she holds a "press conference" explaining that she did nothing wrong. While it's true that she did nothing wrong, it's only because the people of Alaska have to keep after her to pay her share of the bills. She's like the dumbass college roommate who's always mooching off his buddies even though his parents are loaded.
During her vapid farewell, she also quoted General Douglass MacArthur, saying "We are not retreating, just advancing in a different direction." Strong words. Strong, and for Palin as usual, wrong. The actual quote comes from USMC Major General Oliver P Smith and stems from a British reporter asking him about the UN Forces "retreat" from the Chosin Reservoir during the Vietnam War. Smith's reply was, "There can be no retreat when there's no rear. You can't retreat, or even withdraw, when you're surrounded. The only thing you can do is break out, and in order to do that you have to attack, and that is what we're about to do. Heck, all we're doing is attacking in a different direction." Sounds like an admission that she's in way over her head to me.
She also compared herself to wounded war veterans and basketball stars as she tried to explain her actions. Speculation is that she's more concerned with her new million-dollar book deal or a possible 2012 run for, (and this is the part that really makes me giggle,) president!
Bwah-hah-hah-hah!
Call Us When You Get Some Real Weapons!
North Korea fired off a half-dozen or so "Scud-like" missiles while we slept last night. Seriously? "Scud-like?" Weren't those the cheap bottle-rockets that the Sovs foisted off on the Middle East back in the Eighties? You know, the ones that fell apart and failed to detonate when US Forces gave them a stern look? Come on Kim Jong, we know you wanna be a World Class Gangsta Nigga, but Scuds ain't nothing but D Thang. That's D for Derision. Or Dumbass. Or Douchbag, Dope, Dipstick, Dip-tard… the list goes on. Next!
It's about damned time!
Today, the Statue of Liberty opens her crown to the public once again. The crown has been closed since 9/11 and has symbolized the empty-headed policies of the Bush Administration over the last eight years. If President Obama gets nothing else right during his term, I will still be forever grateful to him for this one act.
Gentlemen, Start Your Gastrointestines!
Just a few hours to go until the Nathan's Famous Hot-Dog Eating Contest. We here at the NoM wish good luck to all the entrants, but especially to the 2007 and 2008 Champion, American, Joey Chestnut. Give 'em Hell, Joey!
Monday, September 1, 2008
Ray-Ray: Wrong Again
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin warned people to get out of Gustav's way as it was the "Mother Of All Storms." That may be the Mother Of All Hyperbole considering soon after those words left Ray-Ray's lips, Gustav began weakening. That's all I have to say about Ray-Ray.
OK, not really. And this is going to hurt. A lot.
Ray-Ray, you done good.
You got almost the entire city off their asses and out of harm's way. Granted, I think a lot of motivation came from not wanting to end up like the victims at the Superdome and Morial Convention Center, but still… And you actually got the buses moving out of state with asses in seats! Well done sir! You still don't deserve that fake award given to you by your photography connection, (what a snow job,) but you really accomplished something New Orleans can be proud of this time around. Congratulations.
Now get back to work and fix the Ninth Ward. And Uptown could use repaving while you're at it.
OK, not really. And this is going to hurt. A lot.
Ray-Ray, you done good.
You got almost the entire city off their asses and out of harm's way. Granted, I think a lot of motivation came from not wanting to end up like the victims at the Superdome and Morial Convention Center, but still… And you actually got the buses moving out of state with asses in seats! Well done sir! You still don't deserve that fake award given to you by your photography connection, (what a snow job,) but you really accomplished something New Orleans can be proud of this time around. Congratulations.
Now get back to work and fix the Ninth Ward. And Uptown could use repaving while you're at it.
Gustav Update
The Mississippi Gulf Coast is once again receiving the brunt of a hurricane as Gustav continues to send high winds and storm surge across Highway 90. Latest videos showed Hwy 90 West under about a foot of water with waves cresting at a height of about three feet. A ten foot surge is slowly moving through Waveland but flooding inside homes is said to be minimal.
In New Orleans, the Industrial Canal levees are holding and the waters have begun subsiding according to FOX "News." There is high water inside the levees where a number of warehouses have flooded, but so far the residential areas of the Upper Ninth remain relatively dry. At one point, an Army Corps of Engineers worker jumped off of a tugboat and into the raging waters in order to secure a large propane tank, (and I mean large; SUV sized large,) which was being slammed into a nearby building. The man was able to return to the tugboat. Check FOX for the video, It's pretty freaking amazing, (except for Geraldo's continued "Is that a perthon? That'th a perthon!") and I expect this guy to be a media darling in the next few days.
On the political front, all the major players are sounding off on Gustav. First Ape George Bush says that the federal government is better prepared than it was during Katrina. Thanks for the info, Georgie. You're doing a heckuva job!
Barack Obama is monitoring the storm while on the campaign trail, cutting speeches short in order to devote more time to the situation in the Gulf of Mexico. Good to know that he's alert, but he's gotta remember that he ain't the Prez yet. Still, it's an incredibly bold statement that he's ready to take charge if the current administration drops the ball again and it adds a sense of leadership to his aura.
John McCain has stated that he knew Bristol Palin was pregnant before he chose her mom, Sarah, as his running mate. McCain representatives also refuted rumours that the pregnancy was announced at the height of Gustav in order to sneak it under the collective conscience of the country. Really? If that's true, why not announce it a day or two earlier or later?
In light of these last two items, I feel comfortable in calling the 2008 Presidential Election for Barack Obama. While John McCain is busy fighting a poorly timed press release regarding the loose morals of his running mates daughter, Obama is showing leadership in a time of real crisis. The only candidate that could possibly beat Obama would be yours truly, and I'm depending on your write-in votes to win. After all, I'm here updating the country, not just "monitoring the situation."
Locally, New Orleans' Mayor Ray Nagin publicly stated that all looters would go directly to Angola Prison with no temporary stay in the Orleans Parish Prison system. I wonder if that includes city employees who use their City of New Orleans credit cards for food, gas and lodging during their evacuation...
In New Orleans, the Industrial Canal levees are holding and the waters have begun subsiding according to FOX "News." There is high water inside the levees where a number of warehouses have flooded, but so far the residential areas of the Upper Ninth remain relatively dry. At one point, an Army Corps of Engineers worker jumped off of a tugboat and into the raging waters in order to secure a large propane tank, (and I mean large; SUV sized large,) which was being slammed into a nearby building. The man was able to return to the tugboat. Check FOX for the video, It's pretty freaking amazing, (except for Geraldo's continued "Is that a perthon? That'th a perthon!") and I expect this guy to be a media darling in the next few days.
On the political front, all the major players are sounding off on Gustav. First Ape George Bush says that the federal government is better prepared than it was during Katrina. Thanks for the info, Georgie. You're doing a heckuva job!
Barack Obama is monitoring the storm while on the campaign trail, cutting speeches short in order to devote more time to the situation in the Gulf of Mexico. Good to know that he's alert, but he's gotta remember that he ain't the Prez yet. Still, it's an incredibly bold statement that he's ready to take charge if the current administration drops the ball again and it adds a sense of leadership to his aura.
John McCain has stated that he knew Bristol Palin was pregnant before he chose her mom, Sarah, as his running mate. McCain representatives also refuted rumours that the pregnancy was announced at the height of Gustav in order to sneak it under the collective conscience of the country. Really? If that's true, why not announce it a day or two earlier or later?
In light of these last two items, I feel comfortable in calling the 2008 Presidential Election for Barack Obama. While John McCain is busy fighting a poorly timed press release regarding the loose morals of his running mates daughter, Obama is showing leadership in a time of real crisis. The only candidate that could possibly beat Obama would be yours truly, and I'm depending on your write-in votes to win. After all, I'm here updating the country, not just "monitoring the situation."
Locally, New Orleans' Mayor Ray Nagin publicly stated that all looters would go directly to Angola Prison with no temporary stay in the Orleans Parish Prison system. I wonder if that includes city employees who use their City of New Orleans credit cards for food, gas and lodging during their evacuation...
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Don't Mock Me!
A mock terrorist drill was held today near the river, simulating an exploded river craft and toxic gas. It certainly was comforting to see the news coverage of emergency vehicles proceeding slowly to the drill site and first responders casually strolling from victim to victim. A mock hurricane drill is scheduled in the near future. Sources report that Mayor C Ray Nagin has already purchased tickets to Houston for his family.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
A Few Hundred More
Tonight we welcome a few hundred new members to the Nation Of Morons. Namely, those caring citizens of New Orleans who are fighting the good fight to help keep poor black people stuck in the Projects for another generation.
Emotions came to a head at todays city council meeting when angry citizens lost control and began a brawl which cleared the dais and sent council members scurrying off to safe rooms. The council had just begun a meeting to determine if the City of New Orleans and HANO, the Housing Authority of New Orleans, had the right to demolish the many rat infested, mold covered housing projects around the city. Soon after the disturbance was abated, the council got down to brass tacks and unanimously ruled that the projects must go in order for New Orleans to move forward, but also added provisos that the units must be replaced and no one would be denied their rights to fair housing.
Meanwhile, outside the building, throngs of angry protesters got even angrier when they were denied access to the already over-attended meeting. Instead of the usual chanting and folksinging, a few bright individuals began to storm the gates, breaking them open and starting a riot in an attempt to gain access to the council chambers. NOPD officers responded with tazers and pepper spray until they could regain control of the gates and reseal them with the use of handcuffs. And it was all broadcast live on WDSU channel 6, the local NBC affiliate.
Shortly after order was restored, WDSU began interviewing protesters. My favorite among these is a spindly bald white guy whining about how he was denied access to "our" meeting, (as if he ever spent a day in a housing project in his life,) and complaining that the mean old policeman tazered him and pepper sprayed him. No kidding. What did he expect would happen? The NOPD would give him a front row seat because his vandalism proved how much the meeting meant to him? Get real.
And then there was the post-meeting press conference. Good old C Ray Nagin was asked why he sent a letter of support to be read instead of showing up in person. His response was that "this was the councils' day." In other words, he sent an errand boy to say, "I'll back your vote, but if this blows up in your face I ain't got nothin' to do with it." He sure did bask in the camera glow afterwards though.
The problem I have with these protesters, many of whom I think have their hearts in the right place, is that they're fighting a wrong-headed battle. If it weren't for Katrina, most of the projects would be gone by now and the residents would be living in their new dwellings in the same locations. The demolition plans were finalized years ago and the housing replacement plan was already ongoing. This is not something the city just decided to do. Not only that, but people have to realize that public housing is not the be-all and end-all utopia that some seem to think it is. Before Katrina, all we heard was how terrible the projects are, and can't something be done about the crime in the projects. Now the projects are presented as an idyllic community where the air is fresh and the neighbors are always friendly. Get your story straight, folks!
Public housing was created to give the poor of this country a chance to climb out of the slums and make a better life for themselves and their families. At best, people were expected to stay 2-3 years while they saved up for a home of their own. Unfortunately, many folks in public housing units decided that the cheap rents were worth the occasional bullet through the wall and dug in like doughboys in the Ardennes Forest. There are people in New Orleans who are actually proud to be third- and fourth-generation St Bernard or St Pete. I'm sorry, but that's nothing to be proud of. It's sad and it shows how truly messed up the welfare and housing branches of our government really are.
As for those who are screaming that they have rights and the city can't take away their homes; think again. They are not your homes, no matter how long you've overstayed your welcome. They are owned by the city and you are effectively renting and the rest of the country is footing the bill. If my lease is up and my landlord decides not to renew it so he can tear down my apartment and build a strip mall, there's really nothing I can do about it. My landlord is required by law to give me adequate time to find a new place to live and that's about it. The people of the projects have had over two years. It's time to fight for something other than the right to live in squalor.
Emotions came to a head at todays city council meeting when angry citizens lost control and began a brawl which cleared the dais and sent council members scurrying off to safe rooms. The council had just begun a meeting to determine if the City of New Orleans and HANO, the Housing Authority of New Orleans, had the right to demolish the many rat infested, mold covered housing projects around the city. Soon after the disturbance was abated, the council got down to brass tacks and unanimously ruled that the projects must go in order for New Orleans to move forward, but also added provisos that the units must be replaced and no one would be denied their rights to fair housing.
Meanwhile, outside the building, throngs of angry protesters got even angrier when they were denied access to the already over-attended meeting. Instead of the usual chanting and folksinging, a few bright individuals began to storm the gates, breaking them open and starting a riot in an attempt to gain access to the council chambers. NOPD officers responded with tazers and pepper spray until they could regain control of the gates and reseal them with the use of handcuffs. And it was all broadcast live on WDSU channel 6, the local NBC affiliate.
Shortly after order was restored, WDSU began interviewing protesters. My favorite among these is a spindly bald white guy whining about how he was denied access to "our" meeting, (as if he ever spent a day in a housing project in his life,) and complaining that the mean old policeman tazered him and pepper sprayed him. No kidding. What did he expect would happen? The NOPD would give him a front row seat because his vandalism proved how much the meeting meant to him? Get real.
And then there was the post-meeting press conference. Good old C Ray Nagin was asked why he sent a letter of support to be read instead of showing up in person. His response was that "this was the councils' day." In other words, he sent an errand boy to say, "I'll back your vote, but if this blows up in your face I ain't got nothin' to do with it." He sure did bask in the camera glow afterwards though.
The problem I have with these protesters, many of whom I think have their hearts in the right place, is that they're fighting a wrong-headed battle. If it weren't for Katrina, most of the projects would be gone by now and the residents would be living in their new dwellings in the same locations. The demolition plans were finalized years ago and the housing replacement plan was already ongoing. This is not something the city just decided to do. Not only that, but people have to realize that public housing is not the be-all and end-all utopia that some seem to think it is. Before Katrina, all we heard was how terrible the projects are, and can't something be done about the crime in the projects. Now the projects are presented as an idyllic community where the air is fresh and the neighbors are always friendly. Get your story straight, folks!
Public housing was created to give the poor of this country a chance to climb out of the slums and make a better life for themselves and their families. At best, people were expected to stay 2-3 years while they saved up for a home of their own. Unfortunately, many folks in public housing units decided that the cheap rents were worth the occasional bullet through the wall and dug in like doughboys in the Ardennes Forest. There are people in New Orleans who are actually proud to be third- and fourth-generation St Bernard or St Pete. I'm sorry, but that's nothing to be proud of. It's sad and it shows how truly messed up the welfare and housing branches of our government really are.
As for those who are screaming that they have rights and the city can't take away their homes; think again. They are not your homes, no matter how long you've overstayed your welcome. They are owned by the city and you are effectively renting and the rest of the country is footing the bill. If my lease is up and my landlord decides not to renew it so he can tear down my apartment and build a strip mall, there's really nothing I can do about it. My landlord is required by law to give me adequate time to find a new place to live and that's about it. The people of the projects have had over two years. It's time to fight for something other than the right to live in squalor.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Had Enough Yet?
David Vitter is spending our tax dollars on whores, Kathy Blanco is pushing through an 11 million dollar pay raise for every politician and state employee, Bill Jefferson and cronies, (the Judge Greens and the Gill-Pratts and other cronies,) are currently ripping the proverbial copper wiring out of every buisiness and governmental seat they occupy, Eddie Jordan has re-spun the revolving door formerly used by Judge Charles Elloie to release murderers and rapists, and Mayor C Ray Nagin is cramming his campaign coffers full of contractor cash in Kansas City, MO.
Any one of the above would be cause for alarm, but taken together it's amazing that you're sitting in what's left of your storm damaged home calmly reading this. (What's left of) the population of New Orleans and it's surrounding areas should be camped out in front of City Hall, the Governor's Mansion, and in front of every single local politicians home demanding wholesale slaughter! We should be pelting our so-called "leaders" with rotten tomatoes as they step from their luxury cars and walk smugly to their offices. We should be jamming their phone lines with complaints about their behavior. We should all be on strike, bringing this city to a standstill until our voices are heard and our problems dealt with by those who have sworn to work for us! We should be ashamed of ourselves for electing these scumbags in the first place.
The coming elections will be a great measure of just how incompetent we, the people are. Blanco has already realized the futility of running for re-election and is chomping at the bit to disappear from the public eye so that we forget about her incompetent "leadership" during Katrina and Rita. (Have you noticed that her "legacy" project, Kathleen Blanco's Louisiana Road Home Project no longer bears her name in the newscasts as it did at the beginning?) Vitter remains silent on his whoring, (and honestly I don't care what he did, it's the hypocrisy of his values and his inability to show up for work that piss me off,) but his days are pretty much numbered. Eddie Jordan will have to overcome his laissez-faire attitude to the safety of New Orlenians and his racist nature in order to retain his comfy job. (When he took office he fired about 50 people, mostly white, to which he replied that he fired black people too. He got it backwards though. He should have said he fired two black people.) The Jeffersons, et al, are moving on up to a dee-luxe apartment in Club Fed so regardless of elections, they'll be safely put away where they can intermarry and inbreed to their hearts content. And little C Ray has no chance of winning the gubernatorial race, does he? No matter how many votes he buys with his out-of state chitlin dinners and his whitey bashing charm, there are 63 parishes he needs to sway and that just ain't gonna happen, right?
Right?
Right?
Any one of the above would be cause for alarm, but taken together it's amazing that you're sitting in what's left of your storm damaged home calmly reading this. (What's left of) the population of New Orleans and it's surrounding areas should be camped out in front of City Hall, the Governor's Mansion, and in front of every single local politicians home demanding wholesale slaughter! We should be pelting our so-called "leaders" with rotten tomatoes as they step from their luxury cars and walk smugly to their offices. We should be jamming their phone lines with complaints about their behavior. We should all be on strike, bringing this city to a standstill until our voices are heard and our problems dealt with by those who have sworn to work for us! We should be ashamed of ourselves for electing these scumbags in the first place.
The coming elections will be a great measure of just how incompetent we, the people are. Blanco has already realized the futility of running for re-election and is chomping at the bit to disappear from the public eye so that we forget about her incompetent "leadership" during Katrina and Rita. (Have you noticed that her "legacy" project, Kathleen Blanco's Louisiana Road Home Project no longer bears her name in the newscasts as it did at the beginning?) Vitter remains silent on his whoring, (and honestly I don't care what he did, it's the hypocrisy of his values and his inability to show up for work that piss me off,) but his days are pretty much numbered. Eddie Jordan will have to overcome his laissez-faire attitude to the safety of New Orlenians and his racist nature in order to retain his comfy job. (When he took office he fired about 50 people, mostly white, to which he replied that he fired black people too. He got it backwards though. He should have said he fired two black people.) The Jeffersons, et al, are moving on up to a dee-luxe apartment in Club Fed so regardless of elections, they'll be safely put away where they can intermarry and inbreed to their hearts content. And little C Ray has no chance of winning the gubernatorial race, does he? No matter how many votes he buys with his out-of state chitlin dinners and his whitey bashing charm, there are 63 parishes he needs to sway and that just ain't gonna happen, right?
Right?
Right?
Friday, April 13, 2007
The Imussing of Ed Blakely
New Orleans Mayor C Ray Nagin actually suggested that Recovery Director Ed Blakely stop making comments and focus on helping the city recover. If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black, I don't know what is. Apparently Mayor Wonka is suffering from a serious case of 'Do As I Say, Not As I Do.'
Blakely is currently being 'Imussed' for his recent comments in the New York Times in which he described New Orleans as a third-world country, compared our racial divide to that of Sunnis and Shiites, called the locals insular, and implied that local buffoons are impeding our recovery progress. (You heard it here first folks! Imussed: When someone makes a public comment which causes people to cry out for their immediate firing, stoning, incarceration, etc. I considered 'Nagined' but I'm not naming anything after that idiot.)
Fact: New Orleans is like a third-world country. We all know it and until Blakely was quoted in the paper we all were proud of it in a twisted way. It was a perverse badge of pride in the locals that we didn't operate like other cities. It set us apart and added to the charm of the city. Get over it and move on.
Fact: Blakely is wrong in comparing the racial divide in New Orleans to Sunnis and Shiites. Those groups attack and kill each other for religious beliefs. Here in New Orleans, it's largely 'African-Americans' killing each other over trivial crap like drugs. While there is a sense that racism is rampant in New Orleans, it's mainly kept alive by the 'African-American' community. New Orleans is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world and we pretty much seem to be getting along except for a scant few who will never be satisfied with anything.
Fact: New Orleans locals are insular. Most people in the world are insular as it's more comfortable mixing with the familiar than it is trying to fit into new situations. There are certainly those locals who get along well with pretty much anyone, but for the most part, while this city desperately tries to get visitors to insert their hard earned money into our economy, there are those of us who glower at visitors from behind our daiquiris and mutter "fucking tourists." Grow a pair and admit it. I've done it, but it's usually aimed at those visitors who can't handle their liquor and end up spewing their whiskey-steeped Crawfish Meuniere across the hoods of parked cars in the French Quarter. Next.
Fact: Local buffoons are hindering the recovery process. There are folks out there like Sydney Torres who are trying very hard to help this city recover and doing a damn fine job. Then there are the buffoons like the folks at Dial One Plumbing, who so far have done excellent work for me, but seem completely inept at turning my paperwork over to the City of Kenner so I can get my gas service turned back on. It's been months now guys and I'd really like to take a hot bath without driving across town! Local buffoons exist here as they do everywhere else. We even elect them to high office once in a while. Deal with it.
As for Blakely, just because he's not far off from the mark this time doesn't mean he's not a moron. Since arriving here and taking the Recovery Director job, he has emulated Mayor Ray-Ray by using taxpayer money to fly wherever he wants, whenever he wants instead of doing the job for which he is being paid a substantial amount of our money. Like Ray-Ray, his head is full of conspiracy theories which he expounds on frequently, such as the "made-up" census numbers he believes falsely bloated the Pre-Katrina demographics of the city so it would qualify for "certain benefits." Blakely also said in an AP interview that he ran this city. Well, someone should, but not certainly this dink.
The upshot of all this is that the local buffoons have taken offense at Blakelys comments and are now calling for his immediate termination. To spot the buffoons, just look for those who doth protest too much. Cooler heads are taking it in stride, namely, City Councilwoman Stacey Head who was quoted thusly: "I think a lot of his comments hit the nail on the head... I don't take offense to his comments, and I think there are problems in the city we need to change." As for Local Buffoon Numero Uno, Mayor Nagin, he would do well to heed his own advice which oddly enough is the same thing I suggested to him over a year ago. For those with short memories, I shall repeat myself: Sit down, shut up and fix the city. Welcome to the Nation, Ed, don't let the screen door hit you in the ass on the way in.
Blakely is currently being 'Imussed' for his recent comments in the New York Times in which he described New Orleans as a third-world country, compared our racial divide to that of Sunnis and Shiites, called the locals insular, and implied that local buffoons are impeding our recovery progress. (You heard it here first folks! Imussed: When someone makes a public comment which causes people to cry out for their immediate firing, stoning, incarceration, etc. I considered 'Nagined' but I'm not naming anything after that idiot.)
Fact: New Orleans is like a third-world country. We all know it and until Blakely was quoted in the paper we all were proud of it in a twisted way. It was a perverse badge of pride in the locals that we didn't operate like other cities. It set us apart and added to the charm of the city. Get over it and move on.
Fact: Blakely is wrong in comparing the racial divide in New Orleans to Sunnis and Shiites. Those groups attack and kill each other for religious beliefs. Here in New Orleans, it's largely 'African-Americans' killing each other over trivial crap like drugs. While there is a sense that racism is rampant in New Orleans, it's mainly kept alive by the 'African-American' community. New Orleans is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world and we pretty much seem to be getting along except for a scant few who will never be satisfied with anything.
Fact: New Orleans locals are insular. Most people in the world are insular as it's more comfortable mixing with the familiar than it is trying to fit into new situations. There are certainly those locals who get along well with pretty much anyone, but for the most part, while this city desperately tries to get visitors to insert their hard earned money into our economy, there are those of us who glower at visitors from behind our daiquiris and mutter "fucking tourists." Grow a pair and admit it. I've done it, but it's usually aimed at those visitors who can't handle their liquor and end up spewing their whiskey-steeped Crawfish Meuniere across the hoods of parked cars in the French Quarter. Next.
Fact: Local buffoons are hindering the recovery process. There are folks out there like Sydney Torres who are trying very hard to help this city recover and doing a damn fine job. Then there are the buffoons like the folks at Dial One Plumbing, who so far have done excellent work for me, but seem completely inept at turning my paperwork over to the City of Kenner so I can get my gas service turned back on. It's been months now guys and I'd really like to take a hot bath without driving across town! Local buffoons exist here as they do everywhere else. We even elect them to high office once in a while. Deal with it.
As for Blakely, just because he's not far off from the mark this time doesn't mean he's not a moron. Since arriving here and taking the Recovery Director job, he has emulated Mayor Ray-Ray by using taxpayer money to fly wherever he wants, whenever he wants instead of doing the job for which he is being paid a substantial amount of our money. Like Ray-Ray, his head is full of conspiracy theories which he expounds on frequently, such as the "made-up" census numbers he believes falsely bloated the Pre-Katrina demographics of the city so it would qualify for "certain benefits." Blakely also said in an AP interview that he ran this city. Well, someone should, but not certainly this dink.
The upshot of all this is that the local buffoons have taken offense at Blakelys comments and are now calling for his immediate termination. To spot the buffoons, just look for those who doth protest too much. Cooler heads are taking it in stride, namely, City Councilwoman Stacey Head who was quoted thusly: "I think a lot of his comments hit the nail on the head... I don't take offense to his comments, and I think there are problems in the city we need to change." As for Local Buffoon Numero Uno, Mayor Nagin, he would do well to heed his own advice which oddly enough is the same thing I suggested to him over a year ago. For those with short memories, I shall repeat myself: Sit down, shut up and fix the city. Welcome to the Nation, Ed, don't let the screen door hit you in the ass on the way in.
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