Monday, January 25, 2010
Marching Orders pt. 1
Apologies for the delayed postage. Google was sweating me and my password on the comp at home. But thats past now...
Celebrations amidst devastation. One stat I heard Mitch Landrieu drop the other night was this: 1,800 people lost their lives to Hurricane Katrina. Now from a recent news report I am lead to believe Haiti has already buried 10 times that number. Its hard to forget about the Island right now considering how its fate has been historically linked to Louisiana's. There probably are already thousands of Haitians living in New Orleans right now, it only makes sense that there will be a another great diaspora of survivors to land in the city soon too.
Calendar of events to catch you up:
Mardi Gras is 3 weeks away, the election and Big Bowl are only 2 weeks away.
Feb. 6 Mayoral Elections
Feb. 7 Supaball
Feb. 16 Fat Tuesday, end of Mardi Gras
There are 6 canidates for Mayor:
Rob Couhig- The only republican in the race. I heard him speak and his plan for reform was this "All we have to do is change the culture of this City..." good luck with that one. Next!
Nadine Ramsey- Only female in the race. Gave up a judge position to run. That was an appointed, not elected seat. So-so speaker, late to announce & last in polls.
James Perry- Looks like Biggie Smalls, Speaks like Barack Obama. Definitely a good dude. Smart honest canidate but its rather clear he's not gonna win if only because he's far behind these 3 people.
Mitch Landrieu- Current Lt. Gov, lost to Ray Nagin 52/48% in last election. Brother of US Sen. Mary and son of former Mayor Moon (fyi: the last white mayor of NO, 1970-78). 22 years in Government, career politician.
John Georges- Former Republican, millionaire who made his money from installing poker machines in bars. Should be disqualified for general clownishness after saying this about the internet. Great Clip.
Troy Henry- CEO of Henry Consulting, Inc. Pitching the idea that a successful businessman (rather than an experienced politician) will make for a good government man. This hypothesis has been clearly disproved over the past 8 years by Ray 'Dubya' Nagin (The W is included only because of similar parallels of lying and covering it up like certain former prezidentes). Henry is currently being sued by two groups, one of which is his former business partner. He is the leading black candidate.
Disclosure time: why am I getting paid by Mitch Landrieu? Because I'm broke and need the work, duh (10 bucks an hour and somehow untaxed? yes please!). But this is also how the LA/USA/TOdoMuNdo political system works and he's definitely not the worst candidate. At first I thought if they're going to pay me to canvas, I can just roam the streets unsupervised and spout off about how I think James Perry is really the man. And he is the man, but I also believe now that Mitch is the man for this job. This is not a Barack-Obama-election moment with one stellar candidate out to reform history. You know what they say about politics and sausage, right? I believe Mitch Landrieu is the best sausage maker around and the butcher with the cleanest hands. That's all.
Here's how the race works: general election is on Saturday the 6th of February, the same day that the streets of St. Charles and Canal will be blocked off for Mardi Gras parades (Dubya-Tee-Eff, Nola?!). If no candidate gets a 50% majority that day, the top 2 will go into a runoff. This is usually a black guy and a white guy and that generally becomes the racially divisive and decisive issue. When I went out canvassing for Mitch in the wealthy Garden District, I either ran into to his supporters or the supporters of John Georges, nowhere was the Troy Henry contingent present. My concern is not that a black guy will be elected Mayor, my concern is that another nicompoop, former CEO will be. The goal is to get Mitch elected with 50+ percent the first time and avoid the runoff altogether. That's all.
Stay tuned, well get around to that other good news real soon...
Celebrations amidst devastation. One stat I heard Mitch Landrieu drop the other night was this: 1,800 people lost their lives to Hurricane Katrina. Now from a recent news report I am lead to believe Haiti has already buried 10 times that number. Its hard to forget about the Island right now considering how its fate has been historically linked to Louisiana's. There probably are already thousands of Haitians living in New Orleans right now, it only makes sense that there will be a another great diaspora of survivors to land in the city soon too.Calendar of events to catch you up:
Mardi Gras is 3 weeks away, the election and Big Bowl are only 2 weeks away.
Feb. 6 Mayoral Elections
Feb. 7 Supaball
Feb. 16 Fat Tuesday, end of Mardi Gras
There are 6 canidates for Mayor:
Rob Couhig- The only republican in the race. I heard him speak and his plan for reform was this "All we have to do is change the culture of this City..." good luck with that one. Next!
Nadine Ramsey- Only female in the race. Gave up a judge position to run. That was an appointed, not elected seat. So-so speaker, late to announce & last in polls.
James Perry- Looks like Biggie Smalls, Speaks like Barack Obama. Definitely a good dude. Smart honest canidate but its rather clear he's not gonna win if only because he's far behind these 3 people.
Mitch Landrieu- Current Lt. Gov, lost to Ray Nagin 52/48% in last election. Brother of US Sen. Mary and son of former Mayor Moon (fyi: the last white mayor of NO, 1970-78). 22 years in Government, career politician.
John Georges- Former Republican, millionaire who made his money from installing poker machines in bars. Should be disqualified for general clownishness after saying this about the internet. Great Clip.
Troy Henry- CEO of Henry Consulting, Inc. Pitching the idea that a successful businessman (rather than an experienced politician) will make for a good government man. This hypothesis has been clearly disproved over the past 8 years by Ray 'Dubya' Nagin (The W is included only because of similar parallels of lying and covering it up like certain former prezidentes). Henry is currently being sued by two groups, one of which is his former business partner. He is the leading black candidate.
Disclosure time: why am I getting paid by Mitch Landrieu? Because I'm broke and need the work, duh (10 bucks an hour and somehow untaxed? yes please!). But this is also how the LA/USA/TOdoMuNdo political system works and he's definitely not the worst candidate. At first I thought if they're going to pay me to canvas, I can just roam the streets unsupervised and spout off about how I think James Perry is really the man. And he is the man, but I also believe now that Mitch is the man for this job. This is not a Barack-Obama-election moment with one stellar candidate out to reform history. You know what they say about politics and sausage, right? I believe Mitch Landrieu is the best sausage maker around and the butcher with the cleanest hands. That's all.
Here's how the race works: general election is on Saturday the 6th of February, the same day that the streets of St. Charles and Canal will be blocked off for Mardi Gras parades (Dubya-Tee-Eff, Nola?!). If no candidate gets a 50% majority that day, the top 2 will go into a runoff. This is usually a black guy and a white guy and that generally becomes the racially divisive and decisive issue. When I went out canvassing for Mitch in the wealthy Garden District, I either ran into to his supporters or the supporters of John Georges, nowhere was the Troy Henry contingent present. My concern is not that a black guy will be elected Mayor, my concern is that another nicompoop, former CEO will be. The goal is to get Mitch elected with 50+ percent the first time and avoid the runoff altogether. That's all.
Stay tuned, well get around to that other good news real soon...
Friday, January 15, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
The comeback Kid
Its a New year, New Orleans; I'm holding out hope that everyday back can be as good as this first one.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Two Top bummers of the year in Fiction
I just remembered two pieces of fiction about New Orleans I encountered in 2009 that offered up such ugly and totally believable portraits of the city that I've tried to block them out ever since. For the most part they both fall into the genre of "Whitefolk in NOLA Acting Batshit Crazy."
Seeing as they both left me trembling on the floor in a pool of my own piss& tears questioning the fiber of my being, I would certainly NOT recommend that you...
read Ellen Gilchrist's disturbing book of short stories where every other male psychopathic character (and there were a few!) seem to be from Nashville, TN
"But most of all they just wouldn't allow themselves to believe that a man would do such thing a to $3,000 dollar labrador retriever." -The Land of Dreamy Dreams, last line of the first story
NOR
watch Nicholas Cage in The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call- New Orleans spiral frighteningly out of control and never totally lose control as only a person in a position of too much power can pull off.
"I also wish I could tell you — sort of embarrassingly so — that in Orleans Parish I had a police department that I could point to with a lot of pride, and say, you know, we’re doing a good job with that department. I wish I could say that they were as effective or efficient as the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, or that they were able to investigate cases as effectively as the FBI. But in all honesty I can’t tell you that either.
I have to tell you that when I took office, roughly 50 percent of the cases that were brought to my office by the police department were outright refused.
Think about that, just for one second. If I’m a D.A., and I don’t get a case to court without a police officer, and I’m telling my team mate or my partner that 50 percent of the work you bring to me isn’t even acceptable to go to court, then we’ve got a gigantic problem...
We have some serious problems. And to complicate those problems, ladies and gentlemen, we have unfortunately a population — no fault of theirs — that doesn’t have any respect, or any confidence, in the criminal justice system. They not only have a lack of respect or confidence in the police department, they have a lack of confidence and respect for the judges that work in the criminal court, and they have no confidence or respect for the district attorney." -Leon Cannizzaro, the District Attorney of LA, real life
:(
Seeing as they both left me trembling on the floor in a pool of my own piss& tears questioning the fiber of my being, I would certainly NOT recommend that you...
read Ellen Gilchrist's disturbing book of short stories where every other male psychopathic character (and there were a few!) seem to be from Nashville, TN"But most of all they just wouldn't allow themselves to believe that a man would do such thing a to $3,000 dollar labrador retriever." -The Land of Dreamy Dreams, last line of the first story
NOR
watch Nicholas Cage in The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call- New Orleans spiral frighteningly out of control and never totally lose control as only a person in a position of too much power can pull off.
"I also wish I could tell you — sort of embarrassingly so — that in Orleans Parish I had a police department that I could point to with a lot of pride, and say, you know, we’re doing a good job with that department. I wish I could say that they were as effective or efficient as the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, or that they were able to investigate cases as effectively as the FBI. But in all honesty I can’t tell you that either.
I have to tell you that when I took office, roughly 50 percent of the cases that were brought to my office by the police department were outright refused.
Think about that, just for one second. If I’m a D.A., and I don’t get a case to court without a police officer, and I’m telling my team mate or my partner that 50 percent of the work you bring to me isn’t even acceptable to go to court, then we’ve got a gigantic problem...
We have some serious problems. And to complicate those problems, ladies and gentlemen, we have unfortunately a population — no fault of theirs — that doesn’t have any respect, or any confidence, in the criminal justice system. They not only have a lack of respect or confidence in the police department, they have a lack of confidence and respect for the judges that work in the criminal court, and they have no confidence or respect for the district attorney." -Leon Cannizzaro, the District Attorney of LA, real life
:(
Saturday, January 2, 2010
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