Louisiana
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5:28 p.m.
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Cindy Chang of The Times-Picayune hit the ball out of the park yesterday with her insightful and extensive report about the machinations and the inner-workings of the Louisiana prison system. Her report, titled “Louisiana is the world’s prison capital,” should be required reading for anyone and everyone who cares about the Gret Stet; it’s transcendental, award-winning [...]...
CenLamar - Mon 1:26 a.m. - 12 clicks 
Richard Campanella analyzes the various suggestions for replacing the name Hornets . What struck me was how, as a whole, the suggestions form a microcosm of local society. Three main local personality types are discernible: there are the preservationists, the cynics and the idealists. And most of the conversation we've been having about the character of this place, particularly since Katrin...
Library Chronicles - Sat 1:47 p.m.
So next Wednesday, if Cynthia comes out of her hiding place and sees her shadow, we're in for another six weeks of council without a quorum . In an effort to get the warring members of the city's legislative branch back to work, New Orleans City Council President Jackie Clarkson has called a special meeting for Wednesday morning, though it remains unclear whether at least five members will atte...
Library Chronicles - Sat 9:04 a.m.
On the bright side, Jordan Jefferson is available . Today is May 11 OTAs begin May 22 Minicamp begins June 5 The Saints and Brees have until July 15 to reach an agreement before the franchise tag terms kick in. Meanwhile, SaintsWin has compiled this summation of the NFL's unraveling case against the Saints players implicated in the so-called "bountygate" affair. ...
Library Chronicles - Fri 8:11 a.m.
Gambit reminds us that t he Mayor's position on marriage freedom is not as "evolved" as the President's Earlier this year, at the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, more than 80 mayors of U.S. cities signed the Freedom to Marry pledge in support of same-sex marriage rights. Democratic Mayor Mitch Landrieu was not among them. Asked by Gambit's Alex Woodward whether Landrieu ...
Library Chronicles - Thu 4:53 p.m.
Pete Finney reads old newspapers in an effort to mine ideas for renaming the Hornets . All of the ideas he finds are horrible. The NOLA.com commenters then rush to his aid with more horrible ideas. Really, the more people talk about this renaming business the more I'm starting to think it's maybe not such a great idea altogether. More interesting is this quote Finney pulls up f...
Library Chronicles - May 9
Four years ago, I, along with two of my friends, traveled to Denver for the Democratic National Convention. The three of us were selected as the “official” bloggers for the Louisiana delegation. We were given full access to the Louisiana Democratic Party’s events, floor passes at the convention, and were treated more like delegates than [...] ...
CenLamar - May 9 - 18 clicks
As if this news wasn't bad enough , I wake up this morning and find this in my mailbox sent by a former dissed employee from the first Gulf Coast Summit. Wimpy, Jr. actually has the balls to launch, yet another, bullshit Gulf Coast Restoration Summit. Of course he didn't have chutzpah to show his face in New Orleans....he's holding this one in Destin. The travelling snake oil sale...
American Zombie - May 7 - 4 clicks
Having two dual channel DVRs I can "beta test" a lot of shows. I tend toward sci-fi, cooking, and sports. But I try other stuff cause often I find there is a good show out there I wasn't aware of. I will admit I am now hooked on a reality TV show on A&E called Duck Dynasty . Here is the situation ..... An extended family in southern Louisiana. They made millions selling duck calls. Mill...
DailyKos (Louisiana) - May 5 - 3 clicks
During the last couple of years, Louisiana progressives have been fighting for the passage of an anti-bullying bill, which would better protect our children against harassment, intimidation, and bigotry in the classroom. This should be an easy issue. After all, with the exception of a commenter on The Town Talk‘s website who thinks it’s “sissified” for [...] ...
CenLamar - May 4
Hospitality district, board could be in the works for New Orleans And even better: New Orleanians: If you're not disgusted by the proposed Hospitality District, then you're not paying attention I ask, is cronyism not only possible — but perhaps inevitable? What could possibly go wrong as a result of the appointment of friends and associates to positions of authority, perhaps with...
American Zombie - May 1
On Thursday night, I played the stretchiest role of my fake acting career — frat boy-slash-zombie — for a horror flick to be shown on the SyFy Network. Filming took place in one of Baton Rouge’s ritziest neighborhoods. So it was no surprise that we had to climb a ladder over a fence to get to the set from the parking yard. Two ladders sat side by side — a metal one and a wooden one, each abo...
Ian McGibboney - Apr 29
Louisiana celebrates it's bicentennial this year and — though our state has a long and colorful history of shenanigans — one would be hard pressed to find a more reckless piece of legislation than HB-969 (PDF) by Rep. Kirk Talbot of Jefferson Parish. The bill is part of the great Jindal public education funding raid that includes grabbing public tax dollars and diverting them into th...
Louisiana Democrat 2 Democrat - Apr 26
Brown Bag Lunch #5 centered on Louisiana's recurring budget problems. Jan Moller of the Louisiana Budget Project and Representative Katrina Jackson of Monroe were the speakers. Both made the case that the state's budget problems are self-inflicted wounds that are the result of run-away tax expenditure policy. Mr. Moller maintains that the policy dates back to the initial attempts to ...
Louisiana Democrat 2 Democrat - Apr 26 - 2 clicks
The newest allegations against the New Orleans Saints, that GM Mickey Loomis allegedly bugged opponents’ boxes in the Louisiana Superdome from 2002-04, is the latest in a series of revelations that taint the team’s recent accomplishments. But these are hardly isolated incidents — indeed, the Saints have been cheating for as long as they’ve existed. And they've hardly ever had anything to show for...
Ian McGibboney - Apr 24
Let's get something straight. These insanely racist, prejudiced, hateful bills being pushed through the Louisiana state legislature are coming from one place.....the Louisiana Family Forum and its president, Gene Mills. DuBos: Pro-segregation bill is wrong for state ...
American Zombie - Apr 24 - 2 clicks
Jeffery pointed out this article I missed in the TP: 2 years after Gulf oil spill, Louisiana seafood still battling negative perception ...and in particular, this gem: On Thursday, a National Enquirer-esque story was featured on the local online publication, Eater Nola, which mostly writes about local restaurants and food trends. The story told of "borderline Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle...
American Zombie - Apr 24 - 2 clicks
Jim Bridger, former Public Belt RR exec, sentenced to 2 years of probation These teaches me one lesson....crime pays in New Orleans. Want to me to prove it again? Did any of you happen to catch the story about the new $710k Hano contract given out to a company called "Junkaroos & Moveroos" to redevelop the Iberville projects? Housing Authority to approve four Iberville-related ite...
American Zombie - Apr 24
Oil from Deepwater Horizon still causing damage in gulf 2 years later, scientists find Maybe we can get James Cameron to make the next Avatar series in the Gulf. We can market to tourists and tell them, "We can make you into a Na'vi". ...
American Zombie - Apr 24
...just don't move...sit and watch. Maybe the best political strategy in the book . Unfortunately, so few listen. Landrieu Backs Scandal-Plagued Potential Sucessor in Council Race? I guess we'll find out how that strategy works soon enough. paz y amor, bro's. ...
American Zombie - Apr 24
Louisiana's Family Forum: More Questions Than Answers I mention this all for a reason: The Louisiana Family Forum continues to dole out hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to the Louisiana Family Forum Action (the LFFA), its sister organization which is prohibited from receiving tax-deductible donations but is allowed a more expansive ability to lobby and influence the l...
American Zombie - Apr 24
Mitch Landrieu to endorse Cynthia Willard-Lewis in City Council race Because this city needs to go backwards? This stinks as bad as the Gentilly landfill. And BTW: Landrieu is expected to appear with Willard-Lewis at an afternoon, get-out-the-vote event the candidate is staging at the New Orleans Healing Center on St. Claude Avenue. Isn't the New Orleans Healing Center a non-p...
American Zombie - Apr 24
When I was seventeen years old, I wrote for The Town Talk as a member of its Youth Council, a small group of would-be journalists and writers who were graciously given barrels of ink every Sunday. It gave me my training wheels and, for the first time in my life, an audience. Looking back, I’m not entirely [...] ...
CenLamar - Apr 23
Nearly a year ago, I wrote about the financial statements, specifically the “990″ forms, submitted to the IRS by the Louisiana Family Forum (the LFF), an organization that is roundly considered the most powerful lobbying group in the State of Louisiana. These forms paint an intriguing, albeit incomplete, picture of the operations of an organization [...] ...
CenLamar - Apr 20
New Orleans is my favorite destination in America. Bad food in the Big Easy is good food anywhere else. It's like New Years eve in Times Square at least six nights a week in the Quarter. New Orleans and the surrounding parishes have a real problem with violent crime. Just last month the New Orleans Police shot and killed Wendell Allen a 20-year-old unarmed man during a marijuana raid ins...
DailyKos (Louisiana) - Apr 17
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has a link featured on the front page of the Louisiana Legislature's website . It's been there so long that the image is not even the current logo of the organization. ALEC's influence on Louisiana and other state legislatures has soared into the national spotlight in recent weeks, as evidence of a significant number of ALEC-written bills...
Louisiana Democrat 2 Democrat - Apr 16
LAJUICE (Louisianians Against Jindal's Unjust Intentionally Created Emergency) and friends have been hosting a series of Brown Bag Lunches in Capitol Park in Baton Rouge during the current session of the Louisiana Legislature. Each week, we have a few speakers come in and address aspects of public policy issues up for consideration during this session. The second Brown Bag Lunch (Marc...
Louisiana Democrat 2 Democrat - Apr 16
LAJUICE (Louisianians Against Jindal's Unjust Intentionally Created Emergency) held its third Brown Bag Lunch on the topic of prison privatization. This event was held on Wednesday, April 4. Louisiana has the highest rate of incarceration in the United States. Mandatory sentencing laws have worsened the problem by taking power away from judges to make the punishment fit the crime — and t...
Louisiana Democrat 2 Democrat - Apr 16
During the last two months, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has attempted to assert his commitment to meaningful and substantive public education reform, introducing a series of controversial bills that would, essentially, defund struggling public schools in order to bankroll private, parochial, and charter schools. Mr. Jindal, who unveiled his plan in front of the largest [...] ...
CenLamar - Apr 14
Buddy Caldwell did the Louisiana Democratic Party a huge favor when he defected to the GOP. We may elect our Attorneys General, but more than any other statewide office, the Attorney General, once elected, should attempt, as much as humanly possible, to steer clear of politicking. At the very least, our Attorney General should be [...] ...
CenLamar - Apr 11
As many of the sports fans here are aware, the New Orleans Saints are in really hot water for operating a program that paid "bounties" to defensive players for deliberately trying to knock opponents out of games. Former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely for masterminding the program. Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season, while ...
DailyKos (Louisiana) - Apr 7
By Elizabeth Walters How can we improve public education for our children? The answers to this question--and the perspectives on the current quality of public education in the United States--are as varied and individualized as the 55 million students who attend public school in this country. Recently, legislators in Louisiana, like their counterparts in many other states, have sought to i...
DailyKos (Louisiana) - Apr 6
The Lafayette Daily Advertiser ran this op-ed on page 4B of their March 29, 2012, print edition. Objective Analysis of Legacy Lawsuits Still Lacking By Mike Stagg Somewhere there is an objective analysis of the economic impact of the environmental damage oil companies have inflicted on Louisiana as well as an assessment of what the cost of cleaning up that mess has had ...
Louisiana Democrat 2 Democrat - Apr 6
It really isn't enough that Republicans are hell bent on dismantling our public school system at all cost. Promise to eliminate the Department of Education? Check. Candidates campaign against higher education? Check. Co-opt ALEC position papers in legislation? Check. Substitute religion for science in schools? Hell yeah. Louisiana apparently plan...
DailyKos (Louisiana) - Apr 5
On Monday, Louisiana College President Joe Aguillard sent out, through his secretary, this press advisory: Tuesday, April 3, 2012 11:00 a.m. Granbery Conference Center Louisiana College will hold a Press Conference where Dr. Joe Aguillard will announce that Louisiana College has won the seven year legal battle regarding our right to teach according to our religious beliefs. Please plan to atte...
CenLamar - Apr 4
Gov. Bobby Jindal (Gage Skidmore) The great thing about being a Republican governor is that when you go after public workers, you can exempt yourself from the pain. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is proposing just that—he's pushing legislation that would make public workers pay more toward their pensions, but the governor, statewide officials, judges, and some legislators would be exempted...
DailyKos (Louisiana) - Apr 4
The Southern Poverty Law Center is demanding that Orleans Parish, Louisiana Sheriff Martin N. Gusman immediately transfer a transsexual woman who has been raped repeatedly. The transwoman, identified only as S.T., has been a victim of repeated violent sexual abuse and torture…while guards have failed to protect her. All of the jail buildings are all extremely dangerous. The f...
DailyKos (Louisiana) - Mar 31
In case you missed it, Zack is back. Last year, as a senior in high school, Zack Kopplin made national headlines when he spearheaded an effort to repeal the Louisiana Science Education Act (the LSEA), a law that serves absolutely no purpose other than allowing religious fundamentalist public school “science” teachers the opportunity to inject [...] ...
CenLamar - Mar 30
A few days ago, perhaps with the hope of attracting the attention of the national media that towed along, Louisiana College President Joe Aguillard announced at a campaign event he hosted for the erstwhile Republican Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich that he would “consider shutting down” Louisiana College if Obamacare ever became the law of the [...] ...
CenLamar - Mar 27 - 2 clicks
Ex-aide about to turn tables on Broussard . (And “no” surprise since Broussard is the best pal of my first cousin, Nick ’13 count confessed federal felon’ Baroni – former president of the Kenner Council when Broussard was mayor!And seems like Broussard loves to be a bully since Broussard evidently “bullied” the owner of NewOrleans.com to cancel my weekly political column and I would have been the...
Right Hand Thief - Mar 26
Due to technical difficulties, now resolved, I was not able to post about the extraordinary words of Rev. Dennis Terry on the occasion of his notorious introduction of Rick Santorum and Family Research Council president Tony Perkins to his congregation at the Greenwell Springs Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Better late than never I suppose -- because we should never forget what T...
DailyKos (Louisiana) - Mar 25
Our primary highways series continues with a visit to Louisiana. We begin with my own trip to New Orleans and then radiate outwards in a virtual visit through the state. Thanks to Daily Kos member Crashing Vor for numerous photos of Southern Louisiana. I will admit upfront I don't have a lot in the article from the northern part of the state, though I do travel up I-49 to Sh...
DailyKos (Louisiana) - Mar 24
Mitt Romneybot drops his drawl, forgets about catfish, and decides it's time to play the authenticity card in Louisiana: Romney calls the folks here "Y'all" then corrects himself to "You all." "I'm not trying to pretend like I'm from Louisiana." — @GarrettNBCNews via TweetDeck No cheesy grits for you, Mitt! ...
DailyKos (Louisiana) - Mar 23
Putting aside all of the bloviating hyperbole from sports journalists who seem all too eager to brandish their pitchforks, the hypocritical pronouncements about protecting the safety of players, and the notion that the NFL is somehow “sending a message” that it will no longer tolerate players incentivizing one another to take out their opponents (at [...] ...
CenLamar - Mar 22
For the last two days, Baton Rouge pastor Dennis Terry has been trying--and not too convincingly--to claim that he didn't really tell liberals and anyone else who doesn't by the "Christian Nation" myth to "GET OUT!" Today, he and his cohorts at Greenwell Springs Baptist Church proved just how hollow that claim was. They're actively trying to scrub all reference to it from the Web. ...
DailyKos (Louisiana) - Mar 21
Dennis Terry must have figured out he stepped in it when he famously said that liberals, non-Christians and anyone else who doesn't think we're a Christian nation need to pack up and leave. The pastor of Greenwell Springs Baptist Church in Baton Rouge is in full spin mode, telling WBRZ in Baton Rouge he didn't really say that . For those who missed it, here's Terry's speech : ...
DailyKos (Louisiana) - Mar 20
Topics: BP Whistle-Blower Says Gulf Atlantis Facility Remains Unsafe, P Atlantis whistleblower alleges imminent safety threat for first time, Judge wants 'minimum of sealed records' in BP platform case, BP's Settlement With Plaintiffs Addresses Unpaid Medical Claims, BP Settlement Lacks Enthusiasm Along Gulf Coast, BP oil spill trial settlement proposal could be filed in New Orleans federal cour...
DailyKos (Louisiana) - Mar 20
I had the opportunity last night (March 15) to give a presentation to the LSU College Democrats as part of their "The Truth About ..." series. The topic of the discussion was health care reform — The Affordable Care Act (ACA), officially; "Obama Care" according to many of the law's critics. I believe critics of this law will regret the day that they decided to start referring to ACA as Obama...
Louisiana Democrat 2 Democrat - Mar 16
Yesterday, I received a robocall poll concerning Louisiana's Republican Presidential Primary on March 24, 2012. I missed the number at the end which may have identified the polling organization, but the questions appear below. 1) Are you planning to vote in the Republican primary? [Yes or No] 2) Which candidate will you vote for? [Names given alphabetically] 3) Who is your second choice? [Na...
DailyKos (Louisiana) - Mar 16
