Corps of Engineers

New Orleans Sues the Corps

This lawsuit is very interesting. I think there's a very low probability of money ever reaching the victims (Congress will never appropriate the money), but I don't think the lawsuit is a waste. Here's why: during the discovery phase, thousands of documents will be subpoenaed and the Corps will be forced to turn over incriminating documents. I'll bet Ivor is chomping at the bit. He's already probably parked on River Road with a U-Haul and a forklift just waiting to get inside.

Among the documents will be design memos, early revision drawings, soil samples (that's that I'm most interested in), and seals. Whenever a change is made on a project, a document with an official seal from the engineer taking responsibility for the change must be produced.

Sample Seal:


I think the documents will lay out a case for negligent homicide so clearly that even Easy Eddie can convict someone (and that's saying quite a lot). I think someone will finally be held accountable for their failures. More than just firing the most convenient scapegoat.

Fantasy Baseball

If anyone is interested in joining a fantasy baseball league, please let me know.

5x5, mixed, non-keeper, 10-team league.

Draft date is on Friday, March 30th at 4:30 PM.

The league is on CBS Sportsline.com. The league name is "Hands Off, Harold Renolds." Email me for the password.

Letters to the Editor

I'm surprised the TP published this. They normally don't allow anything bad to be written about the Quarter.

Our Dear DA speaks. I'm glad he has so much spare time he can write letters to the editor. Unfortunately, he doesn't have time to include a single fact or figure in his letter. Jordan needs to be Jimmy Hoffa'd. Just disappear for the good of New Orleans.

Defending Evil Bastards

I really hate to say this, but the insurers have a point. They're pulling out of commitments all over the Gulf Coast. I loved it when Gene Taylor said, "There should be a national registry for child molesters and insurance executives." Some people have been completely screwed over by their insurers. I also think they should pay out in Mississippi because the law clearly states that any ambiguity in the contract should be arbitrated in the favor of the policyholder.

That being said, I don't blame them one bit for what they're doing right now. Here's a couple of reasons why:

* They, like most of us, thought the levees were properly built and the dudes at the Corps got their engineering degrees were real and not written on napkins. We don't trust the Corps, so why should we be surprised if they are underwhelmed with the repair job they've done since the storm.

* Katrina, Rita, and Wilma could be the start of a generally more turbulent climate and they should reduce their exposure on as many fronts as possible.

* Someone has got to stop people from building in areas of the city that just should be converted into wetland. A city of 200,000 people has no business having the footprint of a city of 600,000 (the city's historical peak).

* I've flown over the wetlands in a helicopter multiple times recently. I've seen the weltand devastation with my own eyes. I'm going to make the argument that, when you factor in Katrina-caused wetland loss, the city is more vulnerable to hurricanes at this very moment than EVER before. That's a scary thought.

I'm not the only non-insurance person out there that feels this way

If I were an insurance executive, I'd shoot myself. Because I'd be an evil, seal-clubbing bastard. But, I'd leave in my suicide note instructions to pay everyone out for damage caused by Katrina and Rita in full and pull out of all future commitments in Louisiana and Mississippi south of I-10.

I'm a young engineer in the city. I've got the money to invest in property, but there's a reason that I'm renting an apartment on the second floor in one of the highest areas in the city. This summer, I've got to decide whether or not purchase a home that was built by my great-grandfather more than 100 years ago. I don't know whether or not I'll do it and I've been thinking about it for months. I'm that serious about this.

Forgotten History

New Orleans has a better historical memory than any other American city, but it is still a selective memory. There are certain parts of our history we try to forget.

For example, One Shell Square now sits on what was once one of the largest slave markets in the New World. There's nothing about that on the internet. I learned that one back at Larry Powell's History of New Orleans class.


Liberty Monument is one of those things people would prefer to forget about. There have been numerous battles to take the monument down. Defenders of the monument say it's a part of history and serves as an example of the people opposition to tyrrany. Hey, even I'd love to launch a Coup D'Etat against our current crop of political leaders (from Shrub all the way down to little ole' Nagin). Detractors point out the battle was fought over integration and is racist. The monument was changed some years ago to include the names of the members of the biracial police force who lost their lives in the battle. It was also moved to a less prominent location.

I decided to go hunting for the monument on my way home from work today. It is NOT easy to find. I had a good idea of where it was and I know the area extremely well. I thought for a time that the monument had finally been taken down. But no, it's still there.


The weather was bleak. The photos, even though they were just taken with the little one on my phone, came out terrific. Just played around with the color a little and the look foreboding.


Here is exactly where it is. Like I said before, it's not easy to find.


Here's some more forgotten New Orleans history:
Mark Essex, the hotel sniper. I remember sitting in Cafe Envie on Decatur a few days ago listening to two of the older cops speak about him in hushed voices. Even all these years later, he gives them nightmares. The forgotten heroes of that night.

Robert Charles and New Orleans' forgotten race riot. I remember Walker Percy mentioning in Signposts in a Strange Land that New Orleans has never had a race riot. I've also heard others mention it as a symbol that, while race relations have been frosty, they've never boiled over into a race riot. They were all wrong.

Joy in Cubicle Land

When business is good, my firm invests lots of money into new equipment. They're replacing everyone's CRT's with flatscreens. I just got mine. Yipee!

The Worst Job in the World

On an episode American Gangster, they interviewed a gang member (Crips I think). He told the story of how the leader of the gang once raped him, just to prove who was top dog.

On Bastards of the Party, Cle Sloan was under no illusions on what went on in a gang. He went into detail about how gang members call everyone "Nigga" instead of "Brotha," because killing a "Nigga" is a whole lot easier than killing a "Brotha." You know it's wrong to kill your brother, but nobody cares about the other one.

Two Questions:

If BET were to start running regular commercials on how shitty the lives of most drug dealers are, what effect do YOU think it would have?

There are some sick fucks in gangs, but there are also some who are just doing what they need to to survive and reach a high level because they're pretty sharp. The kingpins of drug schemes are some of the most talented people in the urban core. If one could harness the creative talents on the most gifted black urban youths towards something positive (say, the reconstruction of New Orleans), what do you think could be achieved?

BTW, I recommend Freakonomics to anyone who's interested in looking at things from a fresh perspective.

Beer Robot

Someday, machines will rule the earth.



The Hole - video powered by Metacafe

This is their initial assault.

Ah, engineers. Ain't we a wacky bunch.

Google News finds

I've got a "New Orleans" feed on my Google News setup. A few times a week, it spits out some really interesting articles.

Here are a few recent ones:

Baton Rouge's advice on the fight against crime

Andres Duany's take on New Orleans. Absolutely incredible. We aren't a broke, third wold country in America. We're the most affluent, efficient city in the Caribbean. He also debunks the "New Orleanians are fat, drunk, and lazy" myth by reframing the debate. A must read.

Teaching the Unteachable. Great post by one of the few other moderate bloggers out there.

A non-fuckmook outside opinion of New Orleans

WWL's owner buys defunct-WUPL Channel 3 buys Channel 2. It's going to be very interesting to see how this works out. Also, NOBODY has really mentioned it. Here's the ideal way this works out: WWL spins WUPL off as a niche station and WWL focuses on doing the excellent investigative reporting it does (but only does outside of Saints/Jazz Fest/Mardi Gras season). Worst case: more media conglomeration.

Mardi Gras Crime Wave

Here's a map of the "Mardi Gras Crime Wave of 2007." This is only a partial list. There are 2 shootings Ash Wednesday that aren't included. Also, there was a shooting outside Ampersand Monday that isn't in there because I couldn't find a news article. Ampersand is a sort of yuppie bar near One Shell Square in the CBD. Despite the beliefs of some, crime doesn't go down during Mardi Gras. If anything, it goes up. The REPORTING of crime goes WAY down. 'Dear God, we can't let these tourists see how bad the problem is, otherwise they'd never return.' Shoot the messenger. That's the traditional Louisiana solution to any problem.

Pass near the area under I-10 on Claiborne near Canal after dark and tell me you aren't scared for your life. It's Woodstock for thugs and rival gangs. There were shooting victims in the double digits in that area.

Here's the KMZ file that goes along with just the Mardi Gras Crime Wave. Note- The yellow pins are shootings. The red pins are murders. The numbers are the number of victims.

Help on Quotes

Now that Mardi Gras is past us, everyone needs to get back to hammering Jordan and Riley to get their act together or resign.

To that end, I need some help. A few weeks ago, there was a meeting with Jordan, Riley, and the City Council. I listened to part of it on the radio. I was hoping someone can recall the exact phrasing of two things Jordan said.
* He said, "It's not my job to keep people in jail" when grilled about 701's.
* In a 'dog ate my homework' moment, he said that the rats in the evidence room are eating all his drug evidence.

I'm looking for the exact phrasing of those two quotes. Any assistance would be appreciated.

Times-Pic's coverage of the meeting

3 Articles Worth Reading

Report on an FBI Study. This is a must read for residents. Think of it as survival training. Know your enemy! The FBI interviewed 50 police officers and 43 felons. Their goal was to learn more about violent encounters between police and criminals. Their conclusions are shocking.

Here are some points that I thought were particularly interesting:
* All but one gun was obtained illegally. Handguns were the weapon of choice, but beyond that, criminals used whatever gun they could lay their hands on. Availability was key. Oh yeah, when asked if there were any laws that hindered them in arming themselves, they laughed in the face of the researcher.
* A lot of the criminals have EXTENSIVE experience with firearms. More than most of the police officers. Also, they don't necessarily aim, they just throw up a bunch of rounds and go for the hit. Their less sophisticated technique is actually more effective, in terms of hitting the target, than that of the police.
* Criminals have weapons concealed on them (or their girlfriends) at all times. They never use holsters. They tend to keep it in the waistband. Since they don't use holsters, they must constantly check to make sure the gun hasn't shifted. This is a way to spot if someone is packing and can give a keen observer valuable warning of impending danger.
* Police officers are generally extremely reluctant to shoot. Even when they are put into a situation where deadly force is authorized, most hesitate.
* Here's a quote to end with: "Offenders typically displayed no moral or ethical restraints in using firearms," the report states. "In fact, the street combat veterans survived by developing a shoot-first mentality."

That article got me thinking. Just think about the comparison between a cop and thug. The cops are outmatched every time they face a thug. Most of the thugs have extensive battle experience, where most cops are rookies. A thug who's survived numerous gun battles is treated like a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. A cop who has comparable experience is treated like a thug. He's a PR nightmare. Anytime he shoots again, even if it's someone like Ivory Harris, he will immediately come under suspicion. I know of one NOPD officer who has shot several suspects over the course of his 20-odd year career. Killed them each time. With the exception those dozen or so instances over a 20 year career, he never drew his gun once. Every single person he shot was in the commission of a major crime. NOPD took him off the streets and behind a desk because it was bad PR. He was able to extract one concession from the brass, though. His new job was training new NOPD officers how to shoot.¹

I'll bet you $20 he was a Marine. Wish we had more people like that in New Orleans. Take the Thug quotient down a notch.

All about the sectarian strife in Iraq. A real eye opener. The first 2 paragraphs just grab you. From Time.


¹It's really unfortunate, but I'm really hesitant to ever print the name of any good NOPD officer. It's almost guaranteed to get him/her into trouble. That's the way NOPD works. The tallest tree gets chopped down. Thank you, Warren Riley.

Happy thought of the Day

Happiness is Aaron Brooks' face on a milk carton.

The unemployment line is close enough.

Brits

"And my word, were we in for a shock."

"We sort of assumed that after 12 months the wealthiest nation had earth had fixed it... But we were wrong. How can the rest of America sleep at night knowing that this is here?!?!""