Day: November 7, 2011

Miss Piggy sends three more names to Obama for Federal Judge.

I have not heard anything about the latest batch of names sent by Mary Landrieu to Obama for the vacant article III judge slot in the Louisiana Middle District but when I see the name McGlinchey Stafford in someone’s pedigree I generally get the urge to shower.

Meantime a Landrieu nominee that I have heard lots about is Phelps Dunbar partner Susie Morgan and evidently word of her checkered past has made its way to the senate as her nomination will be receiving further scrutiny.

Having corrupt judges is a large part of the key to perpetuating the cycle of systemic corruption that has long had this area in a stranglehold. With Senators like Landrieu and Vitter making the recommendations I wouldn’t look for much to change.

sop

Prisoner’s Dilemma back in the news….

Stephanie Grace and James Gill tacked the topic of the 7 year sentence given Rene Gill Pratt for her role in the Jefferson clan scheme to loot out bogus charities funded in part by state/federal earmarks.   We saw the outrage at the sentencing disparity between Betty Jefferson and Rene Gill Pratt on these pages late last week as the topic is framed that Gill Pratt got a stiff sentence because she elected to go to trial and fight the charges while Betty Jefferson essentially received a free pass.  My own opinion is I do not accept that argument to frame this issue.

Way back on these pages I revealed I was a student of low-level game theory and certain related branches of mathematics.  Game Theory 101 includes the concept of prisoner’s dilemma, a topic that has appeared several times on these pages. The bottom line is that the person in legal trouble who cuts the first deal gets the best deal and those that do not roll over end up steamrolled if guilty.  For example, in the continuing criminal investigation involving shit house double-dealing in the Nagin Administration, Greg Meffert wisely chose to cut a deal and will no doubt get a much lesser sentence than the one given Mark St Pierre. St Pierre thought he could con his way out to the bitter end and the results were very bad for him.  Was the sentence a punishment for electing to fight until the bitter end or is it the well deserved fruits of his illegal activity, proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law?  I gravitate to the latter point of view personally.

None of this means that Betty Jefferson isn’t a piece of walking excrement Continue reading “Prisoner’s Dilemma back in the news….”

Julie Quinn makes the Op-Ed page……

I am beginning to form a mental picture that the Louisiana Home Elevation Program is little more than Oil Spill Cleanup Lite where the politicians figure out how to loot it out and keep competition to a minimum.  Today the Times Picayune takes a more even-handed stance on their editorial page in regards to Senator Julie Quinn, a political financial beneficiary of the program via Orleans Shoring, one of the newer entrants to the biz that has somehow managed to capture 25% of the market. It is worth the read as we’ll be keeping this subject on our radar screen here on Slabbed as information has begun to trickle in that should allow for a substantive post here on this topic.

sop