28 February 2006

mardi gras 2006

**UPDATE 04 july 2012** with the recent death of andy griffith, we've noticed that a lot of people are googling don knotts and because google does such a lousy job of indexing individual blogspot post pages, google is sending googlers to the link of the entire month of february 2006 archive posts instead of directly to the don knotts post page.

if you arrived here by googling don knotts then you know what we're on about. you may either scroll down to that post or click here to go directly to it.

----ORIGINAL POST----
2006 official mardi gras poster courtesy jazzystuff.com

its fat tuesday so here is our obligatory mardi gras post. not being native new orleanians we really dont understand mardi gras. we live in the wasp part of our state.

this poster also comes by way of jazzystuff.com and this is a good company, a few years ago we ordered from them, for our friends a few of these zydeco alligator mardi gras posters and a few other souvenirs. our copy is framed and hanging in this room right now.

EXTERNAL LINK

27 February 2006

farrar trying to axe the town talk again

the other day when we were researching for our post about moon griffon we came across a couple of interesting prefiled house bills and we blogged about the first one here. the other one is house bill 8 its funny because the guy rep farrar defeated carl gunter had a lot of problems with the town talk as well and whether or not carl would have filed a bill like this is something for speculation as he passed away in 1999 long before the internet grew to be the medium that it has. according to the guy that gave carls eulogy, claude "buddy" leach, gunter once threatened governor edwards if he didnt remove joe smith the then town talk publisher from the lsu board of supervisors.

note: farrar was narrowly defeated in 1995 51% to 49% by randy wiggins.
farrar rewon his seat in 1999 defeating pineville lawyer randy tannehill (the seat was open as wiggins ran unsuccessfully for the la senate)
farrar won reelection in 2003 (he beat the bug blaster guy pete ferrington and if he runs again will face a challenger in 2007
so now the rickster is trying to remove the town talk as the paper of record for rapides parish. farrar wants the legal notices published in the town talk, moved to the police jury's website. this probably isnt such a bad idea because the town talk isnt fit for purchase. the town talk used to print the corporate filings the civil suits, bankruptcies and conveyances now they dont print any of it. that doesnt make them fit to purchase at least with our dollar. oh they still print obituaries but the funeral homes usually have that information on their websites anyway.
misplaced priorities
instead, the town talk always has made a big deal out of printing d.w.i's and whether or not everyone in an auto accident was wearing their seatbelt or not. thats funny we thought newspapers job was to report the news not hold themselves out to have some sort of moral authority. ridiculous.

its probably too early in time for farrar's bill to be workable perhaps if the internet was free in everyones home then it would be possible.

so while we are for anything that will drive a stake through the heart of the town talk we cant in good conscience support this bill right now.
====

dennis weaver

darn we arent meaning to be an obituary service but dennis weaver was just too cool of a guy to pass up blogging.

weaver portrayed mccloud just right, a fish out of water as mccloud was supposed to be on loan or something to the nypd from the taos, new mexico police department. we remember how he always had to do battle with his boss who couldnt stand him being there especially his hick town ways.

now new mexico is considered very cosmopolitian. (it probably always was)

mccloud snip from the internet movie database:

Sam McCloud is a Deputy U.S. Marshal from Taos, New Mexico. He goes to New York to find an escaped criminal, and there falls for reporter Chris Coughlin, who is the cousin of the deputy police commisioner. After he tracks the criminal down, Chris convinces her cousin to request that Sam be assigned to temporary duty with the NYPD, to learn modern police methods. He is assigned to the detective bureau headed by Chief Peter B. Clifford, who is less than thrilled with having McCloud under his command and gives him nothing but menial duties, but Sam always winds up deep in homicides, drug busts and various other major crimes, often helped out by Sgt. Joe Broadhurst, and solves them using a combination of good police work and good old country know-how. read more.

mies bouwman with dennis weaver on the set of mccloud

dennis weaver memorial at find-a-grave
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"murphy browns dad" darrin gavin
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Schedler amazed

c b forgotston, shares an email conversation with senator tom schedler. according to the senator, c b wrote a "cheap shot" commentary here according to c b, sen schedler said that we louisianans "just dont understand" meaning that we are too ignorant to understand what the legislature has had to go through since katrina etc... in essence insulting our intelligence as well.

forgotston called schedler a "kool aide drinker" and other choice words.

Schedler said the public, riled up by radio talk shows and other less-than-informed sources, “doesn’t understand that compromise is a crucial part of lawmaking.”
schedler snip from the advocate.

I have been elected five (5) times in one of the most conservative districts in the State, twice with no opposition. Additionally, I was elected for two (2) terms to the State Republican Central Committee, and I was elected by my peers and have served six (6) years as the Senate Republican Chairman. Obviously, my constituents and my peers have accepted all these evils you claim I possess.
la state senator tom schedler to c b forgotston


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26 February 2006

new political blog - Louisiana's Campaign Train

chris william's of "You Are A Sissy-Man" fame has started a new blog to track louisiana politics. william's blog promises to "...take you around Louisiana so you can get the current status on campaigns throughout the state..."

check it out here.

25 February 2006

don knotts dead at 81

don knotts official website
(note: this link is now broken 16 september 2006)

don knotts memorial at find-a-grave
====
BREAKING NEWS
Updated: 5:43 p.m. ET Feb. 25, 2006

LOS ANGELES - Don Knotts, the skinny, lovable nerd who kept generations of television audiences laughing as bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on “The Andy Griffith Show,” has died. He was 81.

Knotts died Friday night of pulmonary and respiratory complications at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills, said Paul Ward, a spokesman for the cable network TV Land, which airs “The Andy Griffith Show,” and another Knotts hit, “Three’s Company.”

Unspecified health problems had forced him to cancel an appearance in his native Morgantown, W.Va., in August 2005.
====
Don Knotts, star of 'The Andy Griffith Show,' dead at 81
Knotts died Friday night of pulmonary and respiratory complications at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills.
By Scott Collins, Times Staff Writer
2:30 PM PST,February 25 2006

Don Knotts, the saucer-eyed, scarecrow-thin comic actor best known for his roles as the high-strung small-town deputy Barney Fife on the 1960s CBS series "The Andy Griffith Show" and the leisure-suit-clad landlord Ralph Furley on ABC's '70s sitcom "Three's Company," has died. He was 81.

Knotts, who lived in West Los Angeles, died Friday night of lung cancer at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to Sherwin Bash, his longtime manager.

Family members said that his longtime friend Griffth was one of his last visitors at Cedars on Friday night.
read more or click here and download .pdf.
===
related posts
  • andy griffith dead

  • ====

    fools gold

    we love it when crooked lawyers finally get theirs. let us hope that these lawsuits lead to the unseating of alexandria's two federal judges - judge f a little jr and judge dee drell because these two both came from the gold law firm. judge drell's son bradley drell is an attorney at the gold firm.

    *to view the lawsuit case no. 223J39 "Gene Smart , Priscilla Babin v. Gold, Weems, Bruser, Sues and Rundell" in .pdf form click here.


    Charles S. Weems, III, Esq.

    Gold law firm sued again
    By Jim Leggett
    jleggett@thetowntalk.com
    (318) 487-6346

    One of Alexandria's largest law firms and its partners have been named in a class-action lawsuit alleging breach of contract, overbilling and unjust enrichment.

    Gene Smart and Priscilla Babin are the named plaintiffs, but according to the suit, they sued on behalf "of themselves and a class consisting of all persons who retained The Gold Law Firm (Gold, Weems, Bruser, Sues & Rundell) for legal representation and who were represented by (J. Ogden) Middleton for the period of 10 years immediately preceding" the filing of the lawsuit.

    In a case decided last year, 9th Judicial District Judge Harry Randow ordered Dr. Tommie Mack Granger to pay $49,999 to the Gold firm plus $7,500 in legal fees and $5,000 in expenses after the doctor had refused to pay the Gold firm its legal bills.
    In another case in which Granger sued Middleton, 9th Judicial District Judge Rae Swent dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds its intent was to claim malpractice, which had prescribed, and to expand to a class-action lawsuit.

    Now, Baton Rouge attorney Chad Dudley has filed another lawsuit. He has the same two named plaintiffs as he tried to introduce into the Granger lawsuit. He said he decided to separate because the judge ruled the matters for Granger had been covered in the two lawsuits involving him.

    The lawsuit contends Smart was married to LaQuita Ann Burnett and they were divorced in November 1995. It said he retained the Gold firm in September 1999 to represent him in child custody and child support issues arising from that divorce. It said the case was assigned to Middleton.

    Then, the lawsuit contends, "On June 24, 2002, nearly two and a half years late, the issues concerning increase in child support and modification of visitation rights had not been resolved. From September 1999 to June 2002 (he) was billed approximately $66,368 for the work allegedly performed by the Gold firm."

    The lawsuit said Babin retained the Gold firm in February 2001 to obtain a divorce and divide the communal property. She gave the firm a $10,000 retainer, the lawsuit said. Babin terminated the firm a year later because nothing had happened, the lawsuit states. She was billed "approximately $18,964.99."

    A Web site, www.ogdenmiddletonvictims.net, has several complainants listed who could be potential members of the class-action lawsuit. Babin is included, but Smart is not. The Web site says the Office of Disciplinary Counsel has not acted on complaints against the Gold firm or Middleton in 1,254 days.

    Charles Weems of the Gold firm could not be reached for comment.

    Dudley is asking for a jury trial. The case has been assigned to 9th Judicial District Judge George Metoyer.

    Originally published February 25, 2006
    ====

    EXTERNAL LINK

    24 February 2006

    flip-flop farrar aka the rickster

    rep rick farrar

    one of the house bills prefiled is house bill 18 by representative rick farrar (d) pineville. by the way we call him flip flop farrar because in the just concluded special session he voted against voter fraud then turned around and voted for it on final passage.

    anyway, present law gives an injured party one year to file a civil suit. representative farrar wants to increase the length of time to two years, geeze dont the trial lawyers already have enough to do?

    this bill needs to be killed.

    oh yeah maybe this has something to do with rep farrar's bill - both rick farrar and his brother todd farrar are trial lawyers. nothing like using your position as a lawmaker to drum up some business eh?

    the law as it currently stands: (farrar wants to increase this to two years)

    CHAPTER 4. LIBERATIVE PRESCRIPTION

    SECTION 1. ONE YEAR PRESCRIPTION

    Art. 3492. Delictual actions

    Delictual actions are subject to a liberative prescription of one year. This prescription commences to run from the day injury or damage is sustained. It does not run against minors or interdicts in actions involving permanent disability and brought pursuant to the Louisiana Products Liability Act or state law governing product liability actions in effect at the time of the injury or damage.

    Acts 1992, No. 621, §1.
    ====

    moon griffon gets one wrong

    first off, for the most part, we like moon. so when we turned on his radio program at 9 (1500 gmt) this morning he was going on about house bill 23 by representative martiny.

    moon was saying how this bill would make it a crime to threaten a public official with the intent of influencing his conduct in relation to his position, employment or official duty - in other words by talking negatively about a public official, publicly or broadcasting their voting records or even campaiging against a public official in effect could be interpreted as "threatning" in essence chilling free speech rights.


    naturally we immediately went to the legislature's website to view this atrocity and we were surprised at what we found. it is already illegal to do those things moon was saying this bill would make illegal.

    a cursory review of this bill shows that it removes the very provisions that moon was railing against.



    we immediately sent an email off to representative martiny and then went a step farther and phoned his office at metairie and talked to a secretary there she said that they had several phone calls about it already she asked if we had the call in number to moon's show so we gave it to her (1800-259-1440). a few minutes later representative martiny called in to talk to moon, however, he didnt really do a very good job (in our opinion) of explaining his bill, he even said that it was drawn up by a lawyer in his office at the behest of "judge drew" a search of the louisiana state bar website only returns one judge drew - 2nd circuit court of appeal judge r harmon drew.

    in our opinion house bill 23 should be supported and passed into law.

    rep martiny call into moon griffons radio show is here.
    ====
    tags:

    23 February 2006

    mitch landrieus kick off speech

    **updated 3:30 pm cdt sunday 21 may 2006**
    click here for mitch landrieu's 20 may 2006 mayoral concession speech.mp3
    ====
    **updated 8:24 am cdt monday 24 april 2006**
    click here to listen to mitch landrieu's post (22 april) election speech.
    ****
    today, louisiana weekly writer christopher tidmore gives us his take on mayor of orleans politics with mitch landrieu's announcement. tidmore attended and tells what went on and gives background as he plays clips from the speechs. jim brown is on the show with tidmore for a little while but he sounded pretty rough. brown said that he had just got out of the doctors office and he has a respitory ailment.

    the .mp3 sound files are here - http://www.freewebs.com/lurgis/


    everyone thinks the upcoming race for mayor of orleans is mitch landrieu's to lose. we disagree, we think that landrieu will draw enough votes away from mayor nagin to give a third and maybe a fourth or even a fifth candidate a good chance to get into the runoff. we dont think that given a good honest chance that even the citizens reportedly 30,000 - 50,000 in number stranded at louisiana's superdome and ernest n morial convention center plus everyone else from orleans will vote for the old guard again. why would they? after being stranded for days and shuffled around the country do you really think they will vote that way ever again? they can see for themselves what the old guard really thought of them when the chips were down and the people needed help. hadnt they always came through in elections before when the old guard counted on them? and now this betrayal.

    even though technically its we the peoples fault for voting the way we have in the past we will never blame ourselves, we will take it out on and blame it on our elected officials.

    all this voter fraud business the legislature and others cooked up its plain to see that its just a ballot box stuffing exercise. what else could it be? even so if the election is halfway honest because of public attention and interest then the old guard has committed a colossal blunder.

    if we were one of the other candidates we would be out every day, every spare moment, meeting people looking them in the eye and shaking hands because the secret to winning elections in spite of slick tv spots and sound bites in spite of radio and newspaper advertisements is this - whoever meets the most people and shakes the most hands wins.

    stay tuned
    ===
    tags:

    supreme court ok's hoasca tea for religious purposes


    we have to wonder why the BBC (uk) is covering this supreme court ruling and not a word from the american press. to view the supreme court ruling (.pdf) click the title link.


    US court backs hallucinogenic tea

    A small US congregation can use hallucinogenic tea as part of its rituals to connect with God, the Supreme Court has ruled.

    The unanimous decision is court's first religious freedom case since Chief Justice John Roberts was appointed.

    The hoasca tea is considered sacred to members of the group, O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal.

    In its ruling, the court said the government must allow the use of the tea under religious freedom laws.

    Mr Roberts wrote that federal drug agents should have been barred from confiscating the tea.

    However, the justices sent the case back to a federal appeals court, which could consider more evidence.

    Controlled substance

    The administration of President George W Bush had argued that the tea was illegal and potentially dangerous.

    Members of the group believe they can understand God only by drinking the tea, which is consumed twice a month at four-hour ceremonies.

    The brewed tea, made from two plants that grow in the Amazon, contains dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, a controlled substance banned under federal drug laws.

    About 130 members of a Brazil-based church were involved in long-running dispute with federal agents, who seized their tea in 1999.

    Mr Roberts, a conservative, was appointed to the court last year.

    Since he replaced another conservative, William Rehnquist, that change was not thought likely to affect the court's balance.
    ====
    tags:

    EXTERNAL LINK

    22 February 2006

    Isn't This Amazing?

    we snatched this off of rense.com anyone have any ideas to the question at the end?

    Isn't This Amazing?

    From M Meza
    2-22-6


    Transforming a constitutional republic into a socialist democracy. Isn't this amazing?

    TAXES

    Accounts Receivable Tax
    Building Permit Tax
    Capital Gains Tax
    CDL license Tax
    Cigarette Tax
    Corporate Income Tax
    Court Fines (indirect taxes)
    Dog License Tax
    Federal Income Tax
    Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
    Fishing License Tax
    Food License Tax
    Fuel permit tax
    Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
    Hunting License Tax
    Inheritance Tax Interest expense (tax on the money)
    Inventory tax IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
    IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
    Liquor Tax
    Local Income Tax
    Luxury Taxes
    Marriage License Tax
    Medicare Tax
    Property Tax
    Real Estate Tax
    Septic Permit Tax
    Service Charge Taxes
    Social Security Tax
    Road Usage Taxes (Truckers)
    Sales Taxes
    Recreational Vehicle Tax
    Road Toll Booth Taxes
    School Tax
    State Income Tax
    State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
    Telephone federal excise tax
    Telephone federal universal service fee tax
    Telephone federal, state and
    local surcharge taxes
    Telephone mi nimum usage surcharge tax
    Telephone recurring and non-recurring charges tax
    Telephone state and local tax
    Telephone usage charge tax
    Toll Bridge Taxes
    Toll Tunnel Taxes
    Traffic Fines (indirect taxation)
    Trailer Registration Tax
    Utility Taxes
    Vehicle License Registration Tax
    Vehicle Sales Tax
    Watercraft Registration Tax
    Well Permit Tax
    Workers Compensation Tax

    COMMENT

    Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago and our nation was the most
    prosperous in the world, had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

    What the hell happened ?

    EXTERNAL LINK

    senator jay dardenne to run for secretary of state

    sen jay dardenne

    senator dardenne was on ringside radio with jeff crouere today. dardenne talks about the just ended special session calling it "...the most emotional session we have had in quite some time..." in dardennes view "the two fundamental items that needed to pass in the session and those are the levee bill and the creation of the LRA"

    dardenne thinks that the end product of those bills are good and that they are "going to serve the people of the state well they were both hotly debated and difficult issues"

    dardenne said that the levee bill in particular is representative of what happens "when people really get involved in the process because there was such a groundswell of support for levee board reform out of the new orleans area and new orleans surrounding area that thats what drove that debate..."

    senator dardenne also discusses his plans for this falls secy of state race.

    the .mp3 of the interview is here:

    ====
    related posts:
  • new secretary of state candidate carla dartez
  • whats the secret
  • secretary of state candidate
  • sos jay dardenne
  • la-state-senators-betrayal-noted
  • ====

    finally a town talk editorial that makes sense

    **clarification** when this was first posted on the town talks website this morning it was listed under "our view" our view is where the town talk posts their editorials - now we see that it has been moved and attributed to the columnist bonnie erbe.

    The time has come to impeach President Bush

    Those blasphemously "liberal" media outlets have once again deprived the American public of widespread coverage of nothing less than startling poll results. The non-partisan polling firm Zogby International last month found that by a margin of 52 percent to 43 percent, Americans want Congress to consider impeaching President Bush "if he wiretapped American citizens without a judge's approval."

    Well, there's no "if" about it anymore. The president approved warrantless wiretaps in 2002. Two years later, during a campaign appearance in Buffalo, N.Y. he volunteered he'd done nothing of the kind. That's called breaking the law and lying about it.

    Yes, the poll results have been reported on a few Web sites. But they have not exactly been trumpeted by the Blow Hard Boys on the Fox News Channel, nor even "front-paged" on the New York Times. Nor have they appeared as the lead story on any of the evening newscasts. From the right to the left, this poll has been ignored -- as has a recent Gallup poll showing a majority of Americans consider the Bush presidency to be a failure. Why? Because it's seen as risky.
    Media inattention to the growing American pro-impeachment sentiment is not a partisan issue. Reasonable, honest Republicans such as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., have criticized Bush's wiretapping "sans" court approval as a violation of the law and basic civil liberties.

    Former Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., now a conservative TV commentator, also sees the president's actions as law-breaking. Conservative legal analyst Bruce Fein, who worked in the Reagan Justice Department, wrote in The Washington Times that Bush should face "possible impeachment" if the practice is not stopped.

    Personally, I do not find illegal wiretapping to be the worst offense committed against our nation by this president. I'd rate purposefully destructive federal overspending as the most egregious transgression. Did you happen to notice last week Treasury Secretary John Snow "informed Congress that he would begin borrowing from the federal employees' retirement fund to avoid exceeding the nation's statutory debt limit of $8.184 trillion"? That, as reported by my Scripps Howard colleague, Dale McFeatters.

    I'd rate "tricking" Americans into a costly, deadly, unwinnable war in Iraq and alienating most other nations as second. I'd rate wanton disregard for science and the promotion of so-called junk science -- to wit, global warming is a gossamer concept -- as an excuse for environmental destruction as third. Abramoff-related partisan corruption and the outing of CIA agent Plame would figure in there somewhere. And somewhere lower down the list would come warrantless wiretaps.

    But grassroots passion for impeachment prompted by this president's circumvention of Congress and the Constitution is what's driving growing public support. And America's transition from "Bush fan" to "Bush foe" is being ignored by the mainstream media.

    Surprisingly, the media did anything but ignore the Republican-led impeachment movement against former President Clinton, even when the public was decidedly more supportive of that president than it is of the current one

    In December 1998, after the House voted to send articles of impeachment to the U.S. Senate, 59 percent of Americans told Washington Post/ABC News pollsters they disapproved of the House action. A minority of 40 percent said they favored it. And that followed months and months of nonstop, primetime, mainstream media coverage of Clinton's lie. If anything, the constant chorus of conservative calls for Clinton's ouster coupled with unending coverage of same should have pushed the public into a more solidly pro-impeachment stand. It did not. But the media did not relent. (For the record, I wrote at the time that Clinton should step down.)

    Of course, U.S. leadership is rearranged now. Clinton, a Democrat, faced an opposition-led Congress. Even if congressional minority party Democrats could muster the backbone to make a unified call for impeachment hearings, they lack the votes to succeed in either chamber. At least Republicans succeeded in the Republican-controlled House against Clinton, although they ultimately lost in the Republican-controlled Senate.

    Where are the oft-denounced "liberal" media on this issue? Truth is, the "liberal" media is and always was a figment of extreme (not mainstream) conservative rhetoric. The corporate media stays where it almost always has been -- to the right of center and shying away from risky topics.

    Originally published February 22, 2006
    ====
    tags:

    EXTERNAL LINK

    21 February 2006

    bushs national security values

    we're not feeling very eloquent today forgive us, all we want to know is when are you people that still support this moron of a president going to wake up and see that all he is about is the destruction of this country, our constitution and way of life? we mean whats it going to take? what more proof do you need? wake up and stop living a lie.

    Feb 21, 12:52 PM (ET)
    By WILL LESTER

    WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist called Tuesday for the Bush administration to stop a deal permitting a United Arab Emirates company to take over six major U.S. seaports, upping the ante on a fight that several congressmen, governors and mayors are waging with the White House.

    "The decision to finalize this deal should be put on hold until the administration conducts a more extensive review of this matter," said Frist. "If the administration cannot delay this process, I plan on introducing legislation to ensure that the deal is placed on hold until this decision gets a more thorough review."

    In the uneasy climate after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration decision to allow the transaction is threatening to develop a major political headache for the White House.

    "I'm not against foreign ownership," said Frist, "but my main concern is national security." He was speaking to reporters in Long Beach, Calif., where Frist was doing a fact-finding tour on port security and immigration issues.

    The administration, however, insisted that national security issues had received a full airing before the interagency panel that reviews such transactions gave the go-ahead for the deal.

    Tony Fratto, chief spokesman for the Treasury Department, the agency which chairs the review panel, said that all security issues raised by members of the panel had been addressed and the panel was able to give a unanimous recommendation that the deal go forward.

    He said under the law, the review panel does not have the responsibility of determining "whether the decision will be popular. Politics should not play a role in the review process."

    Frist, R-Tenn., spoke as other lawmakers, including Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said they would offer emergency legislation next week to block the deal ahead of a planned March 2 takeover.

    Frist's move comes a day after two Republican governors, New York's George Pataki and Maryland's Robert Ehrlich, voiced doubts about the acquisition of a British company that has been running six U.S. ports by Dubai Ports World, a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates.

    The British company, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., runs major commercial operations at ports in Baltimore, Miami, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York and Philadelphia.

    Both governors indicated they may try to cancel lease arrangements at ports in their states because of the DP World takeover.

    "Ensuring the security of New York's port operations is paramount and I am very concerned with the purchase of Peninsular & Oriental Steam by Dubai Ports World," Pataki said in a statement. "I have directed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to explore all legal options that may be available to them."

    Ehrlich, concerned about security at the Port of Baltimore, said Monday he was "very troubled" that Maryland officials got no advance notice before the Bush administration approved the Arab company's takeover of the operations at the six ports.

    "We needed to know before this was a done deal, given the state of where we are concerning security," Ehrlich told reporters in the State House rotunda in Annapolis.

    The arrangement brought protests from both political parties in Congress and a lawsuit in Florida from a company affected by the takeover.

    Public fears that the nation's ports are not properly protected, combined with the news of an Arab country's takeover of six major ports, proved a combustible mix.

    Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina said on Fox News Sunday that the administration approval was "unbelievably tone deaf politically," and at least one Senate oversight hearing was planned for later this month.

    Critics have noted that some of the 9/11 hijackers used the UAE as an operational and financial base. In addition, they contend the UAE was an important transfer point for shipments of smuggled nuclear components sent to Iran, North Korea and Libya by a Pakistani scientist.

    911 dad: 'presidents gone insane'

    well duh! anyone with a lick of sense can see that.

    'President's gone insane' – 9/11 dad

    BY JIMMY VIELKIND
    DAILY NEWS WRITER
    Peter Gadiel just doesn't get it.

    How, asks Gadiel, whose son James died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, can a company owned by a terror-linked country get control of our nation's ports?

    "I'm a lifelong Republican and I think the President's gone insane," said Gadiel, 58, who heads 9/11 Families for a Secure America.

    Two of the 19 9/11 hijackers were citizens of Dubai, the Arab emirate whose bid to run ports in New York, New Jersey and four other cities was okayed by the White House even though investigators have found signs that money used to finance terrorism flowed through Dubai banks.

    "How the hell could this happen?" fumed Bill Doyle, 58, a retired Staten Island stockbroker whose son Joseph also died when the Trade Center fell.

    "We're not securing our country in any way by selling our ports to foreigners," he said.

    Gadiel and Doyle stood with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) yesterday at the harbor to express their outrage.

    Bruse DeCell, 55, whose son-in-law died in the attacks, said that homeland security should be the highest concern when approving the activities of foreign business interests.

    "This administration is putting the selling of our country on a fast track," he said. "There are a lot of loose ends that caused 9/11 to happen. I'm trying to close them."

    Only 5% of the cargo containers entering U.S. ports are inspected, said Schumer, who has called for upgrades in port security for years.

    Originally published on February 20, 2006

    ====

    EXTERNAL LINK

    18 February 2006

    bring nola back to life

    in the days of hurricane katrina, nola.com came to the forefront of the best places to go for breaking news...we had been there before off and on over the years mostly to view bourbocam the oyster bar the river cams the karoke cam is good too...we came across the forums there first the volunteer forum then soundoff.


    we posted on soundoff daily from around the 1st september up till the first special session that started at the 6th november 2005. watching that special session and the hijinks and shenanigans took away our zest for posting ~sigh~


    we had such high hopes for our state at that first session and the legislature failed over and over time and time again on everything they did oh we never had reason to believe in our louisiana legislature before, its just that we thought that katrina's winds had blown in a new conscienceness a new way of thinking and doing business, we felt as a lot of others did too we had the perfect opportunity to start over, to do things right, and make up for past mistakes.

    geeze were we ever wrong. if you're reading this and you're an american citizen please contact your congressional delegation and tell them no federal funds until the ballot box has sprung, down there in louisiana. we need to vote the whole lot of them out from the governor the entire legislature down to the parish level.

    anyway, there is a regular on soundoff whos nick is carolina fats. he posted the following back at 13 october 2005 and its so good we saved it for posterity we dont know maybe a time capsule to see if what he suggested came to pass about the quarter, the port and algiers we had debated this a lot.

    if you have a few minutes you may see soundoff by clicking here.

    63231. nola is dead, long live nola
    by carolinafats, 10/13/05 15:09 ET
    This is so harsh. It is not meant to hurt anyone's feelings but rather as some kind of focus. its just my opinion.
    All these ideas for this and for that in the future of nola, like casinos, Fortune 500, school improvement, police improvement, etc. are worth talking about in the abstract but lets take a look at the facts.

    In the Pic today, there are articles about businesses that are finding it peachy in Houston and that arent coming back til Cat 5 protection is in place. We know that can't happen for years and years. Read: the businesses are in Houston for good.

    Another article says that the school population has been reduced by as much as 70% and that at least half of school buildings are no longer needed.

    Another article says that there was a high percentage of renters in devastated areas and they aren't coming back.

    We already know the city has terminated half of its employees and more are likely to follow.

    Its going to take a long time just to bulldoze the tens of thousands of ruined houses. How much more time for the individual processes to rebuild by individual homeowners?

    Pple with children have been told to stay away. If you are mom or dad, you are going to leave your kids, for how long?

    The new Casinorleans has been declared DOA by the Governor.

    Face these facts: for the old nola, city of 450,000 pple, it is taps, over, finito.

    A lot of the plans, etc dont take any of this into account. They seem to assume away all these facts in the calculation.

    This is like arguing about how to dress up the corpse in the funeral parlor. Its fun but it is not going to bring nola back to life. Its a totally new nola, not the old,that is the future.

    NOLa's new role, at least for the near future, is going to be greatly diminished. Baton Rouge is the new queen city of La. Respectfully, focus on how to start from a base of the quarter, the port and Algiers. We know that works, we know it will survive a very nasty hurricane, and go from there.

    EXTERNAL LINK

    15 February 2006

    shaw group guy

    we just saw one of those shaw group television advertisements mr jim bernhard has been running lately, he closes the commercial with a eerily similar sounding mantra just like the governor sounds when she repeats her mantra better, stronger, smarter, safer...creepy.

    look at all the work bernard testified back in november 2005 the shaw group had done and is doing since katrina, to the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina.

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    EXTERNAL LINK

    coulter flaunts floridas voter laws

    know-it-all ann coulter registered to vote using an address her realtor says she never lived at. suzanne frisbie is her realtor and friend she says she knows why coulter did it but shes not gonna say. ms frisbie just might have to say because florida statutes make it a third-degree felony to vote knowingly in the wrong precinct. lying on a voter's registration card can cost up to $5,000 [4,208.84 eur] and five years behind bars.

    this is where coulter told palm beaches voter registar she lived up on indian road ...check out the limbaugh estate.


    meanwhile this is where she really lived down on seabreeze avenue


    EXTERNAL LINK

    libby dole half right

    trial balloon floated

    blah blah blah

    cheney statement on fox news

    "ultimately iam the guy who pulled the trigger...that fired the round that hit harry you can talk about all the conditions that existed at the time but thats the bottom line...it was not harrys fault... iam the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend"


    "the image of him him falling is something that will never leave my mind...it was i would have to say one of the worst days of my life at that moment"


    "struck him right side of his face his neck and his upper torso on the right side of his body" - dick cheney to brit hume.

    brit hume i take it you missed the bird.

    cheney about katharine armstrong:

    "she was an eye witness she saw the whole thing"


    raw 1st excerpts from vp cheneys statement released by brit hume and fox news television 1:45 pm central time
    for more - see fox news. we cant believe we just said that.
    ----
    steve clemons has the transcript here.

    ====
    tags:

    msnbc caught scrubbing beer quote from cheney shooting article

    the raw story has an article complete with before and after screen shots check it out here.

    snip from the raw story

    The following paragraph was removed for unexplained reasons from the article sometime after it first was published on the Internet:
    #

    Armstrong also told NBC News that she does not believe alcohol was involved in the accident. She says she believes no one that day was drinking, although she says there may have been beer available during a picnic lunch that preceded the incident. "There may be a beer or two in there," she said, "but remember not everyone in the party was shooting."
    #
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    tags:

    14 February 2006

    5.2 earthquake off coast of louisiana


    this is from thursday the 09th february 2006:
    Earthquake Details
    Magnitude 5.2
    # Date-Time Friday, February 10, 2006 at 04:14:17 (UTC)
    = Coordinated Universal Time
    # Thursday, February 9, 2006 at 10:14:17 PM
    = local time at epicenter
    Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
    Location 27.586°N, 90.183°W
    Depth 5 km (3.1 miles) set by location program
    Region GULF OF MEXICO
    # Distances 183 km (114 miles) S (185°) from Grand Isle, LA
    # 201 km (125 miles) S (178°) from Golden Meadow, LA
    # 206 km (128 miles) SSE (166°) from Dulac, LA
    # 266 km (165 miles) S (183°) from New Orleans, LA
    Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 10.6 km (6.6 miles); depth fixed by location program
    Parameters Nst= 21, Nph= 21, Dmin=610.4 km, Rmss=1.29 sec, Gp=122°,
    M-type=surface wave magnitude (Ms), Version=Q
    Source USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
    Event ID usizan

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    related post:
  • louisiana has a 3.0 earthquake
  • ====

    12 February 2006

    Heh, Heh, Heh, Ethics Law

    louisiana's old boy network in action
    HB50

    c b forgotston has uncovered a story here about these two.

    Rep. Jeff Arnold, D-Algiers, father is Algiers Assessor Tom Arnold,

    Rep. Alex Heaton, brother of Orleans 7th District Assessor Henry Heaton

    these two are on the house ways and means committee, the committee considered hb 50 and killed it 6-8.

    the bill a constitutional amendment would have helped lower the number of orleans tax assessors from 7 to 1. its the right thing to do because two-thirds of new orleans citizens are still not back. and most wont and there is no place for all anyway.

    neither one of them should have been allowed to vote or take part in the debate but our question is simply this - what were the other 6 thinking that voted with rep arnold and rep heaton? the six that voted yes you're not off the hook either. 14 representatives voted out of 14 representatives we dont have even one honest representative not one that will stand up and say what your doing is wrong. no way can anyone convince us that not one single representative on that committee knew about arnold and heaton's family connections. so again we ask why didnt someone stand up and raise so much hell on the committee floor that arnold and heaton would have had no choice but to abstain? how can they get away with this? why isnt the ethics board investigating? the whole world's watching blah blah blah...

    - if the legislature is serious about making this legit..[but how many of their lawfirms and friends would get rich off the litigation...] then they should reconvene and void this vote in favor of a legitimate one...and if someone could be arsed to investigate and to bring charges the guilty should be locked up, even if it includes the entire house ways and means committee and the whole legislature.

    forgotston writes:

    According a media account (here) two leges may have violated the state Heh, Heh, Heh, Ethics Law by voting on matters affecting members of their “immediate family.” The case at hand involves an effort to eliminate the 7 assessors in the New Orleans where the son and brother of two of the assessors voted to kill the effort. more here
    ====
    snip from nola.com
    The House Ways and Means Committee, with two of its members related to assessors, voted 8-6 to defer action on a proposed constitutional amendment to reduce the number of assessors in New Orleans. House Bill 50 by Speaker Joe Salter, D-Florien, would have needed a two-thirds vote to clear the Legislature and approval of a majority of the voters in the state. Also, if it had reached the ballot and passed in all 63 parishes but was defeated in Orleans Parish, it would be dead.
    ====

    interested in filing a Heh, Heh, Heh ethics complaint? heres how:


    PROCEDURE FOR FILING COMPLAINTS

    A potential violation of any law administered by the Board of Ethics can be reported by submitting a complaint to the address below:

    LOUISIANA ETHICS ADMINISTRATION PROGRAM
    2415 Quail Drive, Third Floor
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70808

    Complaints filed with the Board must be in writing and signed by the person submitting the complaint. The complaint should also contain sufficient information for the Board to determine whether a potential violation of any law within the Board's jurisdiction is presented. Complaints are confidential and it takes a vote of at least eight members of the Board to refer a complaint to investigation. Persons filing non-sworn complaints only receive notification of the final disposition of the complaint. Alternatively, a complaint may be sworn before a notary. Such a sworn complaint may be referred to investigation by a majority of the Board. A copy of a sworn complaint must be mailed to the person it is against. Otherwise, sworn complaints are treated confidentially. Persons filing sworn complaints must be notified of any action taken on the complaint.

    It is a misdemeanor to reveal any information about an Ethics Board investigation.
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    tags:
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    updated 06 may 2007 to fix broken html links
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    EXTERNAL LINK