we've been following this saga for a few years now. we dont even remember how it was that we first learned about this tree probably through a news story or the like.
anyway the wollemi pine tree is a native of australia and thought to be extinct for millions of years. then one day back in 1994 a guy named david noble who is a nsw national parks and wildlife services officer was out "bush walking" near sydney and came across a small stand of unusual trees. he took a branch back to be analyzed and thats how they were rediscovered. the australian government immediately moved to protect the stand - its location is a secret and began a program to propagate them.
so we have been waiting the past few years for them to become available to the general public and we noticed that from 01 april they are available to australians and will be soon be available to interested parties in the usa, uk and elsewhere.
we have always been interested in having new and unique things around here and thanks to the green thumb we inherited from our irish grandmother we believe that since we have slash and ponderosa pine trees here that wollemi pine trees would do well here also.
billy chandler wins...this was a neck and neck race through the first 50 precincts reporting then chandler began to pull ahead.
we had already made up our minds a few days ago that we were not voting for this turkey for secretary of state - it was his vote in support of state senator and fellow fake republican julie quinn's sb 564 that we blogged about here that did it for us. dardenne's rather lame excuse for his vote yesterday against an abortion ban adds insult to injury:
Louisiana Political News Service:
Although abortion has been a controversial and divisive issue at the State Capitol in past years, the tone of Wednesday’s debate was calm and professional as the pro-life position has apparently gained great support over the past decade.
Only seven senators voted against the ban: Diana Bajoie, Jay Dardenne, Cleo Fields, Ken Hollis, Lydia Jackson, CD Jones and Ed Murray.
The target of immediate and intense criticism for his vote, Senator Jay Dardenne issued a statement at the end of the day claiming that he had accidentally pushed the wrong button on the voting machine on his desk. Pro-life leaders, who have fought Dardenne on a host of issues, ridiculed Dardenne’s claim, insisting that no veteran senator would make such a monumental mistake on a highly visible bill such as SB 33.
Adding to Dardenne’s credibility gap on the issue is his past support of a bill that allowed taxpayer funds to be used to finance abortions.
Republican leaders plan to meet with Dardenne to ask him to exit the race for Secretary of State and run for another statewide office at a later date so the senator can have time to recover some of the credibility he has lost overnight.
“The problem is simple: No one believes Jay Dardenne is telling the truth…that he pushed the red button instead of the green button by mistake,” one GOP leader insisted.
UPDATE: mayhaws for sale in central louisiana 2011
mayhaw jelly is quite simply the best jelly in the world. growing up it was extremely hard to come by. receiving a jar of homemade mayhaw jelly from friends or family was (still is) one of the best gifts you could ever receive. kept refrigerated and eaten only occasionally in order to save it for as long as possible it serves well to cement friendships because you cant help but think about the person who gave it to you as its savored. thats why we are so glad that mr elmer langston has been so successful with his mayhaw orchard and mayhaw processing company located near pollock, grant parish, louisiana. there is a story in today's town talk captioned: "Mayhaw production continues to ripen in Cenla" heres a snip:Langston, who began his farm in 1988, has helped build the industry in Central Louisiana and boasts the largest mayhaw production farm in existence. Culled from about 2,000 hawthorn trees, the farm is nestled in the rolling hills of Grant Parish, a little northwest of Pollock.according to the article langston is inviting people to come out to his orchard and pick their own mayhaws from 8am till 4pm monday - friday. what you arent there yet? click here to view the town talk's photo gallery of langston's mayhaw orchard and his processing facility. click the link to read the story.
The Louisiana Mayhaw Association also sponsors an annual mayhaw cooking contest, in which locals are encouraged to submit their recipes to help find new and innovative uses for mayhaws.
This year's contest, which was held on March 18 in Woodworth, featured a wide range of recipes, said Lou Altazan-Brown, an extension agent with the AgCenter.
"There were cakes, a glaze for a smoked salmon, and someone had a new wine," Altazan-Brown said.
naked ownership has posted about sb 77, which is a bill (constitutional amendment) about civil suit appeals. it seems like a good idea but before we decide we would like to know where the jurisdiction for administrative agency determinations and workers compensation matters will lie? otherwise the bill changes the appeals court civil scope of review to questions of law only. currently the appeals court may review civil suit appeals: "as provided by law' and/or "in the interest of justice." allowing the appeals court to consider in the interest of justice brings in a lot of other things for the court to consider like your attitude, state of mind, whether people like you or not, or if they consider you good enough to decide for, all this despite whether or not you are right legally. you know the usual louisiana crap. one example that comes to mind that shows "louisiana crap" is in the film easy rider... the restaurant scene...you might remember who attacked and beat to death jack nicholson's character george hanson? - the name of the parish was mentioned in that scene. the guy wearing the cat diesel power hat lol. that attitude is louisiana crap.
so if the appeals court is limited to reviewing matters of law only that should (although you never know what the leges are up to) take away the louisiana crap. sb77 was scheduled to be heard by senate committee on judiciary a on 25 april 2006. however, according to its website the bill wasnt heard that day.
====fake republican watch series
oh and look which senators voted in support of this draconian legislation.
here comes jackass joe salter...again. this time with house bill 731. salter's amendment "repeals two-thirds vote requirement for legislative approval of imposition or increase in certain fees." louisiana constitution article VII section 2..1. now this guy is governor blanco's hand picked speaker of the louisiana state house of representatives and we have to ask is this the best the governor can do? and to the people of house district 24 we have to ask is this the best you can do in electing someone to represent you in baton rouge?
====April 22, 2006, 12:35AM
Prison-run radio has captive listeners
'It kind of frees you from the atmosphere that you're in,' DJ says
By PAUL VON ZIELBAUER
New York Times
ANGOLA, LA. - KLSP, a radio station with one turntable, six employees and a $48 weekly payroll, has limited reach over this patch of swampy farmland and razor wire northwest of Baton Rouge. It is meant to be that way.
The station director and many of the DJs are convicted murderers. Most of its 5,100 listeners are serving life sentences at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. The 100-foot metal pole that transmits the station's FCC-approved signal — a relatively weak but consistent 100 watts — rises from a grassy knoll behind death row.
Home to 83 men, death row is where KLSP-FM (91.7), which prison officials say is the nation's only licensed prison radio station, finds its most dedicated audience and the inspiration for its core mission: spreading the word of Jesus (and an occasional message from the warden) to men doomed to die behind bars.
"Our greatest challenge is to give hope where there is hopelessness," said Burl Cain, the warden at Angola, where the average sentence is 89.9 years with almost no chance of parole.
"This radio station helps do that — it beams out positive information, positive gospel music," he said. "Even gospel rap."
The station is in a two-room cinderblock shed next to Angola's main prison compound. KLSP, "the incarceration station, the station that kicks behind the bricks," as Sirvoris Sutton, a DJ and program manager, puts it, broadcasts from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m.
A Harris AirWave mixing board, two CD players, an aging Gem Sound turntable and a digital playlist pump out a steady variety of gospel during work hours. After 6 p.m., the prison's six DJs, who earn 20 cents an hour, spin an eclectic mix of bluegrass, hip-hop and golden oldies. Friday nights, after a talk show for 170 Muslim inmates, KLSP reveals its regional bias, playing hours of swamp pop, a Cajun brand of rock 'n' roll.
Prison officials screen all music for sexual, violent or negative lyrics; gangsta rap and heavy metal are not played. The station has no telephone, so song requests arrive by prison mail. DJs, all of them inmate trustys allowed to move without guards, can be fired for breaking the smallest rule.
"It's one of the better jobs you can have here," said Sutton, 35. (His on-air name, DJ Shaq, was given to him by inmates when he dunked a basketball.)
KLSP, says Cain, is central to what he calls the prison's "Bapticostal" underpinnings, which foster a mutual respect between his administration and the inmates.
"When you hear a song from your childhood, it kind of frees you from the atmosphere that you're in," said Rockin' Robin Polk, a KLSP DJ and technician.
added 11:05 am cdt sunday 22 april 2006: boy were we wrong. we predicted that neither mayor nagin or lt gov landrieu would make it to the runoff. lol@us. now we have nothing against mayor nagin he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. a victim of circumstance. consider the military. if the captain of a ship no matter how great of a captain he may be if something catastrophic happens to that ship and/or its company he is relieved of his command. simple as that.
we are shocked that 31,499 (29%) of you were dumb enough to actually vote for mitch landrieu. you know mitch landrieu scion son of the the same crowd who left your black and white asses stranded at the superdome and convention center? the same crowd who appointed and perpetuated the corrupt orleans levee boards. you remember the levee boards right? they were more interested in having a party than in actually inspecting and maintaining the levees? you remember the levees right? those large lumps of dirt that failed and allowed the water to flood new orleans?
that loud sound that you hear this morning is the collective sigh of millions of americans from hawaii to alaska to maine who upon awakening opened their morning paper only to discover that hurricane katrina taught orleanians nothing - you still havent learned your lesson. and yes its true the city is yours to vote in whomever you please, however, when you are going before the rest of the country with your hat in your hands looking for a handout you have the responsibility, no the duty to meet potential benefactors at least halfway. if you think that the people of this country were sick of hearing about new orleans and its plight before then as is said in the navy "stand by for heavy rolls."
www.thedeadpelican.com
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we came across these by way of rense.com and thought we would share- to view these and the other winners click the link.
EXTERNAL LINK
we received this email from christopher tidmore; please consider listening and/or calling into his show today:
To all candidates and friends of candidates,
Please pass on.
From 4-5pm on WVOG 600 AM New Orleans, any candidate
for office in the Orleans Elections will receive 5
minutes to pitch his or her candidacy to the voters.
The slots will start at 4 after the news and go
without interruption until the show's end.
For those I told of this previously, the call in
number is different. 504-830-5619.
Candidates can reserve slots in advance by emailing me
with confirmation of their call and what time best
suits them this afternoon. Otherwise, just call in,
and every candidate will be taken on a first come,
first serve basis.
This is, of course, free of charge...My service to the
electorate.
Tell your supporters to listen to WVOG 600 AM New
Orleans from 4-5pm, and pass on this message to any
campaigns that might be able to use it.
Look forward to talking,
Christopher Tidmore
"The only thing a field-negro despises more than a house negro is a cooning negro...
The most famous coon in American history is a man by the name of Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry. -If you guessed who this is, you might be a coon- This famous coon is also known as Stepin Fetchit, and in honor of him I have a list. Yes, it's the first annual Stepin Fetchit Awards, and the nominees are: Drum roll please!
excerpt:
Nipsey Russell-Have you ever watched those reruns of game shows? Nipsey was the brother with the big afro and the pearly whites cooning for the game show audience.
Cuba Gooding, Jr,.-Show me the money! No, show me the coon. Ever since Boyz In The Hood, it's been all down hill to coonville for my man.
Al Roker- Yo Al, is the weather always sunny in your world? Geez, could you cut down on the cooning just a notch?
AND THE STEPIN FETCHIT AWARD GOES TO..... you know what, I think I will see what type of feed back I get via emails and posts and make my decision then."
A Message to The Voters Of New Orleans
Dear Voters of New Orleans:
This weekend is your opportunity to reshape the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana. Although New Orleans is one of the greatest cities in the world, it is also filled with corruption and poverty. There are two classes of people in New Orleans, the upper class and the lower class; the middle class has almost completely vanished from the city. Without a middle class, the structure of the city is weak. The gap between upper and lower class has become a black hole that continues to destroy the cities economy.
In reality, the upper class does not care about the lower class. Since the upper class controls the city, their actions are not in favor of the lower class. The perfect example is the Orleans Parish school system, which is one of the worst in the state. The upper class has no interest in improving the school system and the lower class does not have the voice to make a difference. There are always promises to improve education, but have any improvements been made?
The point I am trying to make is that New Orleans needs a fresh start. When you go cast your vote on Saturday, please make an educated choice. I am not endorsing a particular candidate, but I do think Mitch Landrieu should not be the next mayor of New Orleans. The City of New Orleans has been on a downfall since Moon Landrieu (Mitch Landrieu’s father) was Mayor. Mary Landrieu, Mitch’s sister, has done nothing but make false promises. Is this the type of leadership you want? Do you want this continuous incompetent leadership that has plagued New Orleans for years? There are two dozen candidates running for mayor and having Mitch Landrieu as one of the top candidates does not show the nation that New Orleans wants change.
Governor Blanco has made an effort to “blast” Ray Nagin she claims he has done nothing because he is campaigning. It is obvious Governor Blanco wants Mitch Landrieu in office because he will be a puppet. Mary will be pulling one side while Blanco is yanking on the other side. I think Blanco is also a little upset because Nagin called her out during the aftermath of Katrina. Nagin could not get the resources he needed because the governor could not make a decision. So now, she is turning this around as if she made no mistakes. With a low approval rating of 36% and Mary Landrieu’s continuous approval rating numbers falling, electing Mitch Landrieu will be giving power to the two most unpopular “leaders” in our state. It is unfortunate, but if Mitch is elected the federal government will be least likely to fund more rebuilding efforts in New Orleans. Mitch Landrieu is New Orleans’ worst enemy so remember when going to the polls this weekend “Ditch Mitch, Voter For Someone Else.”
Thank You,
Christopher “Chris” Williams
last month we blogged about la speaker of the house of representatives joe salter's ridiculous house bill 259 see salter's spidery windshield scheme. bonehead salter's plan is to require windshield repair people to have to register with and pay a you guessed it a fee to the state. well recently the full house voted on salter's bill and below are the members of the la house of representatives who are for unneeded and oppressive fees, regulations and beurecracy:
**updated** ladb finally files charges against ogden middleton
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we went on the governor's website a few minutes ago with the intention of contacting her to express our disappointment and outrage at mike thompson being appointed chairman of the commerce and industry board per our post here. this is what happened instead:
as you can see from this screen grab off the governor's website they have a contact page. on the contact page there is a link that says "E-mail the Governor"
now if you notice up in our browsers address bar it says www.managekeelson.com so we began to wonder who is managekeelson.com and why are they "managing" the governors website when there already is a state agency the Office of Telecommunications Management that according to their website among other things are: "To establish and coordinate all telecommunications systems and telecommunications services affecting the management and operations of the executive branch of state government;" this is by Act 1098 of the 1997 Regular Session (LA R.S. 39:140 141 142 143)
UPDATE 26 june 2008: mike thompson, terry denmon and william coenen indicted
we recorded tonights debate in .mp3 form and have posted it here.
note: msnbc.com for some unknown reason at time 52:14 chose to cut off peggy wilson and the rest of the debate and cut to some bizarre new orleans news report.
posted raw
so, last night we were channel surfing and came to stop at...we are embarrased to admit this..faux news, but only because they were doing an interview with the aunt (fathers sister) of natalee holloway. anyway, during the course of the interview we noticed in the crawl all the "news channels" do nowadays, something about franklin graham comparing the us army 's [iraq] sacrifice to the sacrifice made by jesus?!? so this morning we held our nose's and went on fox news website but couldnt find the story. next we did a google news search on franklin graham (which is what we should have done in the first place) and found a story.
first off it was an army the ROMAN army that scourged jesus. it was an army the ROMAN army that crucifed jesus. it was soldier's ROMAN soldier's that gambled over jesus's garments. when jesus, hanging on the cross asked for water it was soldier's ROMAN soldier's that gave him vinegar to drink instead. it was another soldier a ROMAN soldier who took a spear and stabbed jesus in the side. you get the picture?
army's are meant to kill people not provide aid and comfort and certainly not to carry out the great commission.
franklin graham's even suggesting something like this is offensive and odious. we wonder how many pieces of silver it took for graham to become a propaganda prostitute for the bush white house, the zionists and the military industrial complex?====
related posts====
WST note: On Monday at 8:00 p.m. CDT, the top seven of the 23 candidates will face off in a nationally televised debate about their visions for the future of New Orleans. MSNBC's Chris Matthews and NBC affiliate WDSU's Norman Robinson will jointly moderate the one-hour debate, which will take place at WDSU's studio and will air live on WDSU and on MSNBC.
After so many emails after my first article on “We Saw That” I decided to get another one out soon. I am glad to see that people are excited to read my articles.
After much coverage, the New Orleans Mayor race will finally be decided on Saturday, April 22, 2006. I am getting a feeling Mitch Landrieu is losing ground and I will go as for as saying Landrieu could possibly not even make it into a runoff. First of all, he took heat when he ran a commercial in which he was “saving” people in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. It was obvious Mitch took advantage of people suffering in order to strengthen his political career. Unfortunately for Mitch, it backfired. Mayor Ray Nagin is going to be in the runoff, but who will battle it out to be the leader of New Orleans for the next four year? It will either be Ron Forman or Peggy Wilson. I think Ron Forman has the edge over Wilson. To further support my prediction, lets see who will be voting.
There will be the black lower class who will be taken to the polls throughout the state. Most of the evacuees will vote for Nagin but Landrieu will take away some of Nagin’s votes, however Nagin will still get enough from this group to push him into the runoff. Then there are the middle and upper class voters who are of both white and black. Nagin will carry the middle and upper class black voters, but Landrieu will take away some of these votes from Nagin; this only helps the other candidates. The group that will decide this race is the middle and upper class white voters. The middle and upper class voters of both races will go out and vote, but no matter how much the media tries to hide it, race will always be a factor in elections. The white middle and upper class voters will vote for a white candidate who shares their views. Although Forman is a democrat, he might appeal to enough conservative voters to put him ahead of Landrieu. However, Wilson will take away some of these votes from him, but since Forman is a Democrat he will pick up votes from the other groups (lower class whites and some middle class blacks) to give him the strength to beat Landrieu.
Robert Couhig could possibly be a sleeper in this race, but Wilson and Forman and Couhig will all be each other’s own worst enemy. However, all three will take away votes from Landrieu. If the Republican voters stick together, it will be enough to get either Wilson or Couhig in the runoff. In reality, I do not see a white female Republican winning a New Orleans Mayors race. I think the lack of leadership that Governor Blanco has shown will play a factor in some voters’ decision not to vote for a woman. Blanco has given female politicians a black eye, but hopefully voters will realize that Blanco’s lack of leadership had nothing to do with her being female. There are many male politicians who show lack of leadership and many female politicians who were born to be a leader. State Rep., Karen St. Germain, is an example of a female leader who has done a lot for her district. So it would be disappointing to see voters base their decision on sex.
This whole New Orleans election is a complex election for all candidates and with the voters spread throughout the United States, it will be interesting to see what will happen. There are so many factors in this race and it is possible that the unlikely will happen. Ray Nagin or Mitch Landrieu might not even make it into a runoff. With 24 (it might be 22 now) candidates pushing voters in a city that was nearly destroyed 7 months ago the unexpected will happen. I honestly think that the people are tired of the Landrieu’s so Mitch has lost some creditability and Ray Nagin lost the white vote when he made is Chocolate City comment so it will be a wild election day on Saturday. There is one thing to watch out for.
Citizens of New Orleans please be aware of one thing, CORRUPTION. With so many places to vote all around the state, only the candidates with a lot of money will be able to have people stationed at each voting location. One thing I learned when I ran for office was that it is important to have people watching what goes on, because other candidates will try anything they can to influence voters. Also, is there an “official” voters list? Who is to say that someone is not registered to vote? Did any voting records get destroyed during the hurricane? I know that this is a recipe for chaos.
My prediction: Ray Nagin and Ron Forman will be the top two candidates who will battle it out in a runoff. Ray Nagin will then have the upper hand, which will lead to a victory over Ron Forman, but it will be a close one.
One more add in: We all know Governor Blanco is behind the scenes in Mitch Landrieu’s campaign. Governor Blanco has a 36% approval rate. Governor Blanco will do more harm than good for ole Mitchie boy.
I want to thank all of you who read my articles and please continue to visit “We Saw That”. Look forward to more of my articles.
--END--
note: christopher "chris" williams follows and participates in louisiana politics from his lair at plaquemine (iberville parish) louisiana. williams looks forward to receiving your email at the following address:
la state sen ben nevers la (right) & state rep francis c thompson
