Month: December 2013

Tuesday Twofer: Ask not what Good Government Citizen groups can do for you……..

Ask what you can do for Good Government Citizen Groups.

FEMA is out of touch ~ Tommy Elkins

StopFemaNow is a group of concerned citizens, who have not only been effected by Super Storm Sandy, but who have been impacted on varying levels by the implications of the new FEMA flood maps. The decision to adopt these maps is premature and requires additional consideration. We want to, quite simply, Stop Fema Now!

Our goal is to create community awareness as the adoption of these maps will heavily impact many communities across this country. These maps will tear many from their homes, force many to make harsh decisions about their futures with no real place to turn and ultimately change our lives. The financial implications alone are frightening!

We are faced with many unanswered questions and very little direction. StopFemaNow intends to provide a fact based argument as to how and why we can rebuild stronger and more resilient with a more “realistic” approach. Together we will prevail!

2013 is going out with a bang: Drug related double murder in Metairie

But first a word from the good folks at Trip AdvisorTM:

Arrived Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Tub was filthy. Coffee pot had old coffee and mildew in it. One of two full beds had hair and dirt on sheets. Wound up having to clean tub before even taking a shower.

Told front desk and property manager Wednesday. Cleaning staff cleaned coffee pot but not the bed.

Told them again Friday. Property manager claimed sheets were not changed because “Do Not Disturb” sign was on the door. When I asked how the coffee pot got cleaned, he had no response.

Breakfast staff very nice and helpful. Actual fod(sic) items very poor Night shift desk person drunk (male) could not adjust water tempereture(sic)

This was not one of the finest hotels I have been accostumed(sic) to. The service was fine, but the hotel elevators smelled of urine, the actual room had a moldy odor. The comforters also, I just slept in the sheets. The shower was impossible to get to the temperature of my liking

Gunfire from Metairie double murder sends parents rushing for children; shooting is drug related, JPSO says ~ Naomi Martin

Other vital background here, here and here.

Jim Brown’s Weekly Column: New Year Thoughts from the Bayou State

December 27th, 2013
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

NEW YEAR THOUGHTS FROM THE BAYOU STATE

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I always do. A New Year always brings with it promise and uncertainty, but the coming year brings with it a greater foreboding than we have experienced in the past. I would rather be absorbed with the more mundane things in life. But that’s not going to happen in these especially turbulent times. However, I’m not about to give up hope.

One resolution I make each year is to maintain my curiosity. It doesn’t matter how limited your perspective or how narrow the scope of your surroundings, there is (or should be) something to whet your interest and strike your fancy. I discovered early on that there are two kinds of people — those who are curious about the world around them, and those whose shallow attentions are generally limited to those things that pertain to their own personal well-being. I just hope all those I care about fall into the former category.

Another resolution I make each year is to continue to hope. I hope for successful and fulfilling endeavors for my children, happiness and contentment for family and friends, and for the fortitude to handle both the highs and lows of daily living with dignity.

Each year, I ask my children to give me two gifts for Christmas. First, I ask them to make a donation to a charity that will help needy families in their community. And second, I ask them to re-read Night, the unforgettable holocaust novel by Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace laureate who survived the Nazi death camps. I have a Wiesel quote framed on my office desk: Continue Reading………….

Saturday links

The rain and other circumstances have converged to make this one of those days when I’m tempted to break out the knife and hit the chop shop. Turns out, I’m woefully behind on recent developments in the Mississippi Coast TeeVee news congroovancy, such deficiency I made a point of curing this morning. The “cure” was almost a complete waste of time but before I get to that:

Sun Herald will get first look at Mississippi DMR records Monday ~ Paul Hampton

I’d give the Sun Herald Box diving gang some secret CPA auditor box diving tips but I’ll be keeping those trade secrets.  😉  I’m sure the gang will do a good job raking muck next week.

Federal judge dismisses most of remaining Katrina damage lawsuits ~  Mark Schleifstein

Welp, the two vagrants you’d see most at the Waveland Walmart have now been eliminated from the Highway 90 social scene.

Homeless man charged in Bourgeois murder ~ Dwayne Bremer

Moving right along…..

Football concussion lawsuits reach high school: Mississippi suit goes after NCAA and NFHS ~ Jon Solomon

‘Duck Dynasty’ star Phil Robertson back on A&E, network says ~ AP Story via NOLA.com

Finally, I missed the re-debut of Channel 25 TeeVee news a month or so ago.  This is good news because you lifers know I live to shoot spitballs at the TeeVee news although Hammerman is making it harder:

Toni Miles, former WLOX reporter, joins WXXV 25 News team ~ Patrick Ochs

Though I didn’t cover Miles unfortunate association with a cocaine distribution arrest I did make sure she could get a taste of home here on Slabbed anytime she wanted it after she Continue reading “Saturday links”

In other Christmas Eve News

David Welker? Where in the heck have we heard that name before.  😉

Former FBI agent appointed interim CEO of BP oil spill claims office ~ Mark Schleifstein

Anyone so interested in the goings on at the BP Spill claims office should be reading Jason Berry over at American Zombie, especially you trial lawyer hating GOP types.

Moving right along we have the small town of Semmes Alabama and their Christmas parade (h/t Jr in comments).

Surprise! Alabama Town Accidentally Invites Black Drag Queens to Perform in Christmas Parade ~ Progressive Populist

The pictures of the locals reacting to the The Prancing Elite are simply priceless. I know this, should the Prancers be retained for the Bay St Louis Christmas parade, I would most certainly go. Something tells me business will be picking up for troupe. You go girls!

The Best Cadillac Corporate Welfare Package Taxpayer Money can buy: Brought to you by Barack Obama and Southern Company

And the best part folks is everyone one of us in Mississippi that buys electricity from Southern Company gets stuck with the difference between what Obama didn’t give ’em and the final cost of the project, now estimated at $4.2 billion. According to the good folks over at the Bigger Pie Forum think tank the average Mississippi residential ratepayers electric bill will go up about 61% to pay for the boondoggle, an increase of $76/month. I mention this because: (h/t RFP in comments)

Kemper County power plant, oil producers find political sweet spot for Obama with ‘carbon capture’ technology ~  Dina Cappiello Associated Press

So folks, for those of you that will not be bankrupted by the NFIP rate increases will need to dig deeper to keep the lights on. I wonder what rocket scientist dreamed up the idea of sticking the poorest state in the union with the cost of President Obama’s environmental policies?