NOAH and VA Hospital busted

Compare the demolitions to the VA map. Notice a pattern? Someone in C-Ray's administration has used inside information on the VA hospital to strategically demolish properties that will be valuable in the future. That person or a partner in crime will buy up the properties and redevelop them after millions of federal dollars are spent.


Prima facie evidence of a huge corruption scheme that tore down people homes for a profit. Whoever buys these properties will be in on the crime. Wait and see.

Good job, Leigh, Karen, et. al.

Also, I think that the refurbishing of Big Charity would be far more economical (and end up with a far superior final product) than this bloated, Nagin-backed project. Renovations wouldn't be cheap, but the base construction is so sturdy, the final building would be stronger, more aesthetically pleasing and cheaper to the taxpayer.

Nagin thrusts his shiny head back into the spotlight

Ever since his little shindig downtown, Ray Nagin has been in the spotlight (or scurrying away from it). Here's a little recap:

First off, speaking of the awards, Chris Rose lays down this steaming turd of an article. What sort of an editor doesn't hit the delete key on this article? Editors at the Times-Picayune are now in the same area as aliens and bigfoot. They don't exist, despite occasional "sightings."

Nagin then walked out of a Katrina documentary after making the ridiculous assertion that cooks are making over a thousand dollars a week.

I can't even begin to recap Mayor Numb Nuts' actions with Gustav more than I already have because it simply burns me up too much. I will say this much: when he worries about people not evacuating next time, it's almost like somewhere in his shiny head, he thinks people don't like him.

Eli recaps the Airport deal. Nagin wants to "sell that sucker" badly, but only if he is in total control of where the money goes. I'll give you a hint: none of the money will go to anything, oh, say useful.

Matt McBride returns with a report on how Nagin now wants to unilaterally flatten the city. His analysis on the timing of the "emergency order" is VERY interesting. Looks to me like it might be a wonderful opportunity for him to know down a few houses on NOAH's list before the FBI can put together a case. Conspiracy and Obstruction of Justice anyone?

UPDATE- Oh yeah, not directly related to Chromedome, there's Eli's extensive post about Southern Scrap and the personalities behind it. A must read for understanding corruption in New Orleans. Lots of connecting the dots.

Where have I heard that before...

“I’ll get you that list later”

Also, good to see everyone out tonight. See y'all tomorrow.

News Buffet - 13 August 2008

Got a few things that have caught my eye lately...

China houses 10 MILLION quake survivors in temporary prefab housing. FEMA could barely handle a hundred thousand or so.

On the military:
The Pentagon as global landlord. Some interesting statistics about the Department of Defense.

The Caleb Campbell Story from Deadspin. Very serious journalism out of Deadspin. Good work.

Greatest Twitter Tweet Ever. No other way to describe it.

On the economy:
Joyous that oil prices have been going down? Don't get too excited yet. A lot of it is due to central banks and the Fed propping up the dollar. A moderate sized intervention has a widespread effect, given how over leveraged most players in the market are.

How the rich think about money. God bless British journalists. They have to do this with ridiculous libel laws. I dare any American journalists to get something like this published.

Some property news:
Section 8 moves to the suburbs.

In New Orleans housing market, Uptown shines while St. Tammany takes a bad hit.

A portrait of the true victim of corruption. From our Karen Gadbois.

Politics:
GOP drops like a stone in voting rolls ...Except in Louisiana. Even Kentucky is smarter than us.

"Principaled conservatism out of Baton Rouge" HA!

On Energy:
The Dark Side of the Toyota Prius. Suck on this smug hippies: you Prius is soaked in the blood of slave laborers!

Great map of the Gulf of Mexico with infrastructure and lease blocks. Be warned, very big PDF file. Unless you work out there, people don't realize how much infrastructure there is offshore.

Chuck Schumer is about the last person you want to listen to when it comes to energy. He wanted to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as, "world oil prices continue their meteoric ascent to nearly $25 per barrel. "

LA Gangs Experiment with Pedal-By Shootings. Reducing your carbon emissions? You know gas prices are getting bad when...

On Evolution:
Tech geek takes on creationist in Kansas. I kicked into his campaign.

Colleges allowed to refuse admissions to students who have creationism in their science classes. Good. Maybe when little Johnny from Mandeville High gets turned down for Columbia, then Louisiana parents might get what Jindal's stealth creationism bill means in the long term to Louisiana. Also, I just realized we have a Louisiana Science Coalition. Anyone a member? How can I sign up?

I could watch this video a few times...

Squirm, baby, squirm!

When that runs out of entertainment value, try the main article on the new issue of the New Orleans Levee.

Johnny Come Lately on NOAH

The Times-Pic actually did do some reporting on the NOAH scandal. Here's their initial report and Here's an update from today's paper. Both are buried.

I guess they're too busy reporting on the Causeway commute.

Meanwhile, look what a REAL journalist has dug up:

The fourth highest-paid contractor, S&A Construction earned $137,000 in the home remediation program. According to Secretary of State records, the owner of S&A Construction is Nagin's brother-in-law, Cedric Smith.