Monthly Archives: May 2007

Day 641: “It’s Not Our Fault”

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No, Mayor Ray Nagin, it’s not our fault the federal government completely abandoned strengthening our levees prior to Hurricane Katrina and that the State of Louisiana has bigger shrimp to fry than New Orleans. It is also not our fault that the Bush administration continues to ignore our pleas for rebuilding support and makes it very hard for us to move on our plans.

Yet, it is YOUR fault for not being man enough to be mayor of New Orleans. It is YOUR fault for whispering, not yelling, to those above you in the legislative food chain, with a sound plan in hand. It is YOUR fault that we have a trainwreck of a criminal justice system. It is YOUR fault that not one of our existing plans contains a comprehensive makeover of our public schools system, without which this city is dead in less than a decade. It is YOUR fault this city languishes economically while you travel the nation and singlehandedly kill the empathy we have garnered so far. New Orleans is being rebuilt not because of you, but inspite of you.

“The orange cones that you see around the city are signs of progress and rebuilding!” Yes, we stuff them in our potholes; aren’t they cute, colorful and useful? “Public safety is the most important challenge our city faces and reducing violent crime in this city is my top priority!” Spikes in the body count are mere “blips.”

For the love of those working hard to make a meaningful life in this city everyday, how can you say these things?

Finally, if this speech were your attempt to get a message across to Bush, Blanco and their people, wouldn’t it be best to deliver these words to them than to us? We, meaning we minus you, know what this city needs, they don’t.

* Editor B: Nagin’s Speech

Up until the end I thought it probably played pretty well — positive, determined, critical but not whiny. Then at the very end he went off script with a repeated refrain: “It’s not our fault!” That soundbite won’t play well in the heartland, or anywhere else for that matter.

* Schroeder: ‘Tis The Season … Hurricane Season!

Could you please be a little more pro-active with the state and federal government?!! It’d be easier to point out their faults if you had a friggin’ plan, man! It’s our job to complain, not yours. Instead, we’re the ones trying to come up with a plan, and you’re the one doing all the complaining. You’ve got your roles reversed, man.

* Adrastos: Confessions of A Slacker NOLA Political Blogger

I knew he’d brag about the trash program; take credit for things that he didn’t have anything to do with and conclude by going off script and blaming the Governor for everything. Nagin is a perpetual innocent bystander.

* da po’ blog: State of the Nagin Address

What he meant: “It’s not MY fault.”

… May 30, 2007, the day Nagin gave his State of the City address, was 150 days into the year. As of that day, 77 people were murdered (by my count) on the streets of New Orleans. That is an average of one murder every 1.94 days. A murder every other day. The “blips” are not anomalies. They are analogous to a murder every other day in the city of New Orleans. Is that trending in a positive direction?

* American Zombie: Outside, It’s America

We’ve marched on City Hall, we’ve formed alliances, we’ve blogged our asses off … and every time we turn around we get hit with one more scandal, one more setback, one more blow to our very survival. But still we fight … and still we believe.

It’s not just New Orleans that is dying … I think it’s America in general. We are just the cynosure of the descent … the most photogenic example. [emphasis mine]

Day 640: Nagin’s State Of The City Address

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Not wanting to give myself a headache on top of the existing one, I declined showing up at the D-Day Museum this evening for Mayor Ray Nagin’s State Of The City address, completely last-minute and his first since right after the flood.

No, Mark Folse, you will not be stuck with the mere account of the Times Pravda, Alan Gutierrez, of Think New Orleans and the Citizens’ Road Home Action Team, uses Twitter to keep us updated on the mayor’s speech. Think of Twitter as the blogging equivalent of IM (instant messaging). I look forward to dissections from other SOTC attendees in the coming days.

Related Links:

* Text of the May 30, 2007 SOTC Address
* Video of the speech will be posted on Nola.com shortly after the address is completed.
* Nagin: NO On Road To Recovery, But Still Needs Help (AP)
* Your Right Hand Thief: Recall Nagin, unelect Jordan and force Riley to resign

We are way, way, WAY past the point of needing Nagin to “know” that we are “waiting for him to speak more forcefully”. We are at the point now, I believe, when Nagin needs to know that he will be recalled if he doesn’t fire Warren Riley immediately. That might get his attention … Expecting that this “State of the City” speech will mean something, that it will be full of specific promises that Nagin will fulfill is pure folly. It may have some soaring rhetoric, as did last year’s inaugural, but so effing what?

Day 638: One Way To Take Care Of Migraines

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Give yourself a permanent one.

While visiting family and friends up north this weekend, I slipped and fell (with a momentary, split-second blackout) at a friend’s housewarming party. Unfortunately, the last part of the fall involved the back of my head making strong contact with a wall and the subsequent raining of hot tea all over the dupatta of my nice off-white Indian outfit. And, no, I was not involved in a battle dance-off at the time.

Horror of horrors: My eyes and head cannot handle computer exposure for more than 10 minutes at a time. The prefrontal cortex has decreed that the current happiness of Maitri will be maximized by lying in bed, sipping water and watching Law&Order reruns until the cows come home.

Before this blog’s regularly-scheduled programming is postponed to some time later this week, here’s something to think about: On this Memorial Day, I’d rather be in bed with an aching skull than have its contents spilled on the floor of a land where the situation has gone from bad to worst. That blood, gore and misery is on all of our hands, not just a few, and no amount of head injury and vapid entertainment will let me forget it.

Day 636: “Oh Noes, That Sparrow’s A Terrist!”

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Thanks, Schroeder, for the stirring prologue to Memorial Day, followed by this:

Pooped

Related: Bush knows what he is, but what are you? – On War Funds, Democrats Saw No Option but to Cede Ground to Bush

As First Draft commenter, frenchdm, says, “Many Democrats in Congress proved today they stand for nothing other than getting reelected. A very small percentage of Bush’s base still supports him but he doesn’t abandon them. A large percentage of the Democratic base was abandoned by their members of Congress. I wish the media would cover the amount of military industrial dollars that flowed into campaign coffers today and the role of lobbyist in the vote.”

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An example of the news I find when out of town: $3.5 million Katrina memorial proposed for New Orleans. “The [Unified New Orleans Plan] is making its way through city approval processes. While the memorial is a far lower priority than upgrading drainage and reconstructing neighborhoods during the next decade, it is still listed among the top projects … It is not clear whether the memorial will ever get built. No money has been secured for it.” Aaah, priorities, especially hurricane-shaped ones that have nothing to do with the FLOODING that almost destroyed New Orleans.

Day 633: City Planning Commission Approves UNOP

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Tut, tut, not so fast.  All is not that easy in the city planning arena of the real K-Ville.

nola.com: As rebuilding of N.O. continues, recovery plan OK’d

No one on the commission or its staff expressed much enthusiasm for the plan, which was created by outside planners and consultants at a cost of several million dollars, and it is unclear what practical effect approval of the plan will have … Rebuilding already is well under way in some neighborhoods, and prospects for obtaining the more than $14 billion in federal, state or private money needed to carry out the plan’s laundry list of 95 infrastructure and other recovery projects are uncertain at best.

How recovery czar Blakely’s plan fits in with this Unified New Orleans Plan (UNOP) is murky at best:

It also is unclear how the plan’s sweeping citywide recommendations will mesh with the list of 17 targeted recovery zones where Ed Blakely, director of the city’s Office of Recovery Management, wants to focus rebuilding efforts. Blakely’s plan calls for spending $1.1 billion in public money to spur private investment in the 17 zones, and not even the source of that $1.1 billion is assured.

Right Hand, Meet Left Hand:  According to the UNOP website, “UNOP has informed the Office of Recovery Management and been used as a tool in selecting the initial 17 geographic focus areas in New Orleans,” which is somewhat corroborated in this City of NO press release.  But, of course, it’s short on specifics.  How will the UNOP’s “clustered neighborhoods” concept, for instance, interface with the 17 recovery zones?  Does Blakely’s plan target short- to long-term economic recovery while the UNOP plan focuses on long-term residential recovery?  If Blakely’s proposed development zones and the UNOP ostensibly do not operate exclusive of one another, why the media confusion?

Show Me The Money: The UNOP requires $14 billion while Blakely wants $1.1 billion.  If Blakely is unsure of the source of 1/14th of the UNOP budget, what’s UNOP to do?  Where’s the money machine?  “Investment incentives” for private businesses and developers?

How ‘Bout That Flood Protection?: As of May 21, 2007, the Bureau of Governmental Research expresses strong reservations against the UNOP in the area of residential flood protection. (Full 8-page UNOP Revisited report here)

… the plan indicates that some areas of New Orleans will remain particularly susceptible to storm surge for the indefinite future, but does not respond with comprehensive strategies. In fact, BGR found the plan would actually encourage settlement in high-risk areas through a voluntary, incentive-based, $1 billion clustering program.

Whoa, Horse: Wasn’t the object of the UNOP to create a replacement to previous plans that were rejected by FEMA and the federal government ?  To quote Becky Houtman, “The release of billions of dollars in federal recovery funds, as well as some private grants, depends on the formation of a master plan covering everything from city-wide infrastructure issues to neighborhood-specific projects.”  Does the City Planning Commission have an opinion on whether the UNOP, as it stands, will get us promised federal funding?  Probably not, because the plan has yet to hit the Mayor’s table before it is lobbed over to the LRA’s court (which may or may not exist by the time said plan exits New Orleans) and then plummets down a one-way trip to Federal Administrative & Partisan Hell.

Related Links: People Get Ready – City Planning Commission Passes The Buck; Some Came Running - Questions 67 and 68 (in which Celcus attempts to demystify the planning process and provides his answers to the questions posed above)

Day 633: Big Easy Rollergirls News

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Pictures from the last bout of the first Big Easy Rollergirls season are here. Alas, Fortuna did not shine on New Orleans this past Saturday evening: we lost to the Memphis Roller Derby Allstars (thanks mostly to this little piece of supersonic) and Victoria Van Doom ended up in the ER with a torn meniscus. The $500 raised for the Injured Skaters Fund at the bout will prove quite useful as Vandal O’Riley nicely recovers from several broken leg bones and shredded tendons. I make this rollergirl experience sound extremely tantalizing, don’t I? No worries – next season sees the debut of Mrs. Ashley Morris (at which time I expect all of your computer-chair-bound behinds out there at Mardi Gras World).

Yet Another Jam Ref Has A Word With Vic Van Doom

Lest you could not make it to regular season bouts and thus feel badly, the Big Easy Rollergirls are throwing you a party this Friday! Come join the rollergirls as they celebrate the end of their inaugural season, this Friday, May 25th at Generations Hall, 310 Andrew Higgins (Warehouse District) in The Metropolitan Big Room. There will be music, a cash bar and rollergirls and refs from around the country for the annual Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) conference. The doors open at 9PM, the awards start at 9:30, and the fun lasts all night! Let the rollergirls show you their appreciation for making this such a fantastic first season!

Vote and watch the results: Don’t miss the first annual Fleur de Wheel-Lis Awards at the Rollergirl party, hosted by Nutty McGillicutty. Who will win Chief of Skate: Rollergirl most likely be the president of the United States, The Flair Award: Best Dressed Rollergirl, Rollergirl You’d Take Home To Mom? You can go online now and vote for these categories and many more. Hurry! The polls close at midnight this Thursday.

Day 632: K-Ville

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Friend and VatulBlog commenter, Joel, asks, “I saw a preview on Fox last night for a new dramatic series called K-Ville, set in post-Katrina New Orleans. It looked — as far as I can tell — decent enough. Are they filming down there? Pouring some money into the local economy, I hope? And is there any hope that they will treat the city with respect?”

A well-informed source lets us know that

[K-Ville] is both good and bad for us because they want to use our house for the show, so we get money, but we can’t get in their way at all or anything like that so it’s just really annoying. A few hours ago they were putting a bunch of fake debris in front of our house, were painting a fake flood line on all of the houses, and a bunch of other fake hollywood junk.

Fair enough, one would have to get permission from absent homeowners to film in homes with a real floodline and real debris. But, lord, I hope the cameras caught some of the real languishing destruction.

According to the show’s writer-producer, “if you want to rebuild a city, where does it begin? It begins with protecting its citizens and making them feel secure. To me that’s a very hopeful sentiment.” So, Anthony Anderson is going to walk me to my car every night and keep the mail/package thieves and crack “prostitutes” off my front porch each day, right? Sounds like a good deal to me.

If the show is anything like The Big Easy, Fox had better be ready for a large package of rotten tomatoes.

Alright, little birdies, what do you know about this show that I don’t?

Day 632: Funny Like A Big Stuffed Rodent, I Amuse You?

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Just in from MSH (and mostly for the enjoyment of Mr. Suds & Soliloquies and JTG):

Looks like Hamas is finished.  They just crossed Disney.
Nobody messes with The Mouse and survives.

Related Links:

IP, IP, IP, Find Out What It Means To Me

It’s worth noting that, as someone who would love to earn a living writing stories and such, my mind isn’t 100% made up on, for example, the ultimate desirability (or undesirability) of copyright. But one thing is clear: The current IP regime is completely out of control, and it matters a great deal in terms of our wallets, our privacy, our real property rights, and — ultimately — our freedom.  The notion of intellectual property, as presently applied, is fundamentally at odds with a free society.

IHT: In print forever? Sometimes, authors would rather go out of print

Simon & Schuster, Random House, Inc. and Penguin Group USA are among the publishers who say that they are letting fewer and fewer books go out of print because of print on demand, or POD, which emerged a decade ago. Print on demand allows slow-selling titles to stay available by keeping them on a computer database and printing copies upon request, instead of keeping unsold texts stored in a warehouse, a system long regarded as costly and inefficient.