Weekend digest

• This morning I emptied the bookdrop and found two diet books, one book on how to pray yourself rich, one success-in-life type biography of a well-known business person, and one book about how "effective people" communicate. I should probably start paying attention to the circulation rates of these sorts of items. If there's a reliable method to gauge the general "unhappiness" of the population during a recession, this would be it.
  
  Also, I'm not sure what this means, but this title was stolen almost as soon as it arrived.
  
  



• On Wednesday, James Gill's column speculated about Gov. PBJ's next career move.

  The secret of Gov. Bobby Jindal's success may be that he can fast-talk his way into a fancy job before he has had quite enough time to be judged a flop in the last one.
  He has held so many prestigious posts in a relatively short career that he must get credit for knowing when to get out of Dodge.

  Gill goes on to suggest that Jindal may not be quite ready to run for President in 2012, but instead may be interested in replacing Michael Steele as RNC Chairman. This morning, NOLA.com points us to yet another possibility.
  
  Catholic bishops say more exorcists are needed
  
  

  Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., who organized the conference, said only a tiny number of U.S. priests have enough training and knowledge to perform an exorcism. Dioceses nationwide have been relying solely on these clergy, who have been overwhelmed with requests to evaluate claims. The Rev. James LeBar, who was the official exorcist of the Archdiocese of New York under the late Cardinal John O'Connor, had faced a similar level of demand, traveling the country in response to the many requests for his expertise.
  
  The rite is performed only rarely. Neal Lozano, a Catholic writer and author of the book "Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance" about combatting evil spirits, said he knows an exorcist in the church who receives about 400 inquiries a year, but determines that out of that number, two or three of the cases require an exorcism.
  
  No one knows why more people seem to be seeking the rite. Paprocki said one reason could be the growing interest among Americans in exploring general spirituality, as opposed to participating in organized religion, which has led more people to dabble in the occult.

  
  
  Talk about your indicators of general unhappiness during a recession, right? More and more Americans are looking to magic for answers. And if that means more and more amateur witches and exorcists seeking office, then that's what it means. Whether or not it means we can still teach science to our children remains to be seen.



• Easy reference question of the day: "I can't get the internet on this computer" Answer: "Double click the blue 'E'"



• Oh and speaking of career opportunities, State Rep. Walker Hines has made quite a turnaround in seeking his.

  State Rep. Walker Hines of New Orleans announced today that he is switching his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, making the GOP the majority party in a legislative chamber for the first time in modern Louisiana history.

  
  
  A few years ago, Hines invited several local New Orleans bloggers to meet over coffee where he made some statements about his "principles" that are interesting to reflect upon now.




• This one kid came in today chewing on a plastic pen cap. He spent the whole day here and out on the basketball court without discarding it. Just chewed the hell out of it all day long.



• William Jefferson's freezer cash eclipsed by bills in a bra In which T-P reporter Bruce Alpert actually writes, "They didn't explain how she had enough room for so much cash."



• Witness recounts 'pop' that felled Glover In which read the following testimony:

  Calloway also testified Friday about his experience at the police compound, where he said officers beat, insulted and threatened him and two other men as Glover lay dying in the backseat of a car.
  
  "They said this is gonna be the judge and jury right here," Calloway, 39, testified. "They were saying stuff like they were going to cut our tendons ... push us in the river ... they kept saying we were looters, pieces of s---."
  
  Glover's brother, Edward King, grew angry with the officers and said he would find and kill the person who killed his brother.
  
  That's when an officer choked and slapped King, said Calloway, who added that he saw the officer's name tag -- at least "all the way to the little 'm.'" He pronounced the name "Schumacher" in early interviews with the FBI, an apparent reference to defendant Scheuermann.
  
  Calloway recalled Friday seeing an officer with roadway flares in his pocket -- identified by another witness as officer Greg McRae -- drive off in the car containing Glover's body. McRae's attorney has admitted his client drove the car to the levee and set it afire.
  
  Sometime later, the officer who hit King gave them an update, telling them Glover had been shot for looting and that they could get the body from the coroner, Calloway testified. The officer then instructed colleagues to give the men a bottle of water and let them go.
  
  Calloway said he and King ran in a criss-cross pattern from the police compound "because we didn't want to get shot in the back ... I never ran that fast in my life."




• I'm so old I can remember reading Josh Marshall's TPM when it was one years old. And today it is ten. Ten years seems like a long time, especially in internet years, but sometimes even the old internets still seem sort of newish to me.



• Difficult reference question of the day: "When are they gonna fix that water fountain?" Answer: Who knows? A few days ago, I took this picture of the leaking water fountain on the basketball court at Laurence Square.
  
  
  
  About 8 months ago, I took this one.
  
  



• Right now Georgia is trying to give Auburn some trouble which could further screw with the BCS picture. More importantly, it can give LSU a real shot at an SEC title should Alabama, you know, find some motivation later in the schedule when they play Auburn. Les Miles will be grazing on ULM later this evening.



• And finally, speaking of grazing, last night we made chicken enchiladas with a salsa verde, which requires many many tomatillos.
  

And that's all I got. No Saints game tomorrow so I've been scheduled for alternative activities which I sincerely hope are not rained upon.

The textbook committee decided to leave it all out... for now.

No mandatory "alternative theories to evolution" for Louisiana students. Not yet, anyway.

A state advisory panel Friday voted 8-4 to endorse a variety of high school science textbooks that have come under fire for how they describe evolution. The vote was followed more than three hours of discussion.

Two of the “no” votes were cast by Senate Education Committee Chairman Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, and House Education Committee Vice-Chairman Frank Hoffmann, R-West Monroe. The decision likely paves the way for the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to approve the textbooks when it meets Dec. 7-9.

The textbooks that triggered criticism were approved earlier this year by a review committee that spent months studying them. But final action on the biology I and biology II, and environmental science textbooks was delayed by BESE last month amid criticism that they put too much credence in Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

End of the day link dump

Must read Matt Taibbi piece on the foreclosure crisis.

For most people, the former bit about homeowners not paying their damn bills is the important part, while the latter, about the sudden and strange inability of the world's biggest and wealthiest banks to keep proper records, is incidental. Just a little office sloppiness, and who cares? Those deadbeat homeowners still owe the money, right? "They had it coming to them," is how a bartender at the Jacksonville airport put it to me.

But in reality, it's the unpaid bills that are incidental and the lost paperwork that matters. It turns out that underneath that little iceberg tip of exposed evidence lies a fraud so gigantic that it literally cannot be contemplated by our leaders, for fear of admitting that our entire financial system is corrupted to its core — with our great banks and even our government coffers backed not by real wealth but by vast landfills of deceptively generated and essentially worthless mortgage-backed assets.

You've heard of Too Big to Fail — the foreclosure crisis is Too Big for Fraud. Think of the Bernie Madoff scam, only replicated tens of thousands of times over, infecting every corner of the financial universe. The underlying crime is so pervasive, we simply can't admit to it — and so we are working feverishly to rubber-stamp the problem away, in sordid little backrooms in cities like Jacksonville, behind doors that shouldn't be, but often are, closed.

See also: Debtors' prisons!

The Lens: Even with plenty of subsidized housing, most still clustered in poorest areas

Despite the demolition of the city’s four largest public housing developments, New Orleans has more subsidized housing for its poorest residents now than it had five years ago. But even after spending billions to tear down the old projects and issue vouchers to encourage low-income renters to settle in better neighborhoods, the Housing Authority of New Orleans continues to see these clients concentrated in the city’s poorest areas.

I've always been dubious on the very concept of alleviating poverty by scattering people. Some of these "discoveries", for instance, seem like they should have been fairly obvious from the start.

“People who are poor don’t depend on incomes to get by,” she said. “They depend on social networks: the person that is taking them to grocery store, the auntie who is watching their child. If that is how you are surviving, you are going to move to be close to that community.

“When we started this, we expected the choice to be constrained,” Reid added. “But we expected the constraints to be structural. What we’ve found is that the situation is far more nuanced.”

Reid said that the experiences and desires of low-income people must be figured into the policymaking process in a deeper way, if cities want do more than simply relocate poverty.

“We need to be talking to the people that are affected by policy,” she said.

Some of us remember back when these housing policies were being debated rushed through in the wake of the federal flood, "talking to the people that are affected" basically meant gawking at the size of their televisions. Oh and also blowing kisses at them too, which was nice. But those were simple simple times.

CNN: Pilots urged to avoid body scanning

Pilots' unions for US Airways and American Airlines are urging their members to avoid full-body scanning at airport security checkpoints, citing health risks and concerns about intrusiveness and security officer behavior.

It's good to read about these "health risks" just before the Holiday traveling season. Saints fans who are used to their "welcome hug" each time they enter the Superdome may not be as averse to opting for the pat-down as other passengers.

Obama deficit reduction commission recommendations worse than previously thought.

1. Raises the retirement age for Social Security and Medicare to 69.

2. Cuts Social Security benefits.

3. Ends the mortgage tax deduction.

4. Ends the tax deduction for workers' health benefits.

5. Freezes salaries for federal workers for 3 years.

6. Establishes co-pays for veterans at VA health services.

7. Raises fees to visit the national parks and the Smithsonian.

8. Merges the Small Business Administration into an agency (Commerce) that has always prioritized helping bigger businesses, and cuts their budget.

9. Eliminates the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools.

See also: Many deficit commission staffers paid by outside groups

Instead, about one in four commission staffers is paid by outside entities, many of which have strong ideological points of view about how to tackle the deficit.

For example, the salaries of two senior staffers, Marc Goldwein and Ed Lorenzen, are paid by private groups that have previously advocated cuts to entitlement programs. Lorenzen is paid by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, while Goldwein is paid by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which is also partly funded by the Peterson group.

Finally, on a happier note, New Orleans East doesn't have to say goodbye to its beloved zombie apocalypse hell-scape quite so soon after all.

Six Flags razing rumors denied

Although a video making the rounds on the Internet says the theme park is scheduled for demolition next year, New Orleans officials say there are no plans to demolish the Six Flags amusement park and that an offer to redevelop the site is still pending.

Detritus photographers everywhere rejoice.

Un-Serpased

There's been some positive, or at least not horrible, news coming out of this week's budget hearings as both Chief Serpas and Sheriff Gusman appear open to reasonable changes that can reduce the costs in grief and funds generated by unnecessary arrests and an out-dated system of paying to house those arrested. See the following Lens articles:

Thousands arrested needlessly on warrants; Serpas makes pledge to end NOPD policy

The New Orleans Police Department arrested 20,000 people needlessly on warrants last year at a cost to taxpayers of almost $2 million, said Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas at a City Council budget hearing this morning.

“To say I was stunned was an understatement,” Serpas said, describing his reaction to the statistics. “To know that we have 20,000 arrests that we didn’t need to do under state law. Certainly I’d like to see that go down by almost 100 percent.”

Most of the arrests were for warrants on relatively minor matters, such as unpaid traffic tickets, Serpas said. Those arrested spent an average of 4.2 days in Sheriff Marlin Gusman’s jail.

In turn, the city paid Gusman $22.39 a day to care for each of those prisoners, many of whom were released after the other parishes declined to come pick them up.

Meanwhile, Gusman says he's willing to consider giving up the per-diem system for pricing his operation.

Gusman open to negotiations about how jail is financed

Sheriff Marlin Gusman would be willing to move away from being paid a daily rate by the city per inmate, he told a City Council budget hearing this afternoon.

New Orleans’ daily rate per inmate originates from a lawsuit filed by the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union in 1969, on behalf of all prisoners at the Orleans Parish Prison, asking that the city pay the Sheriff’s Office sufficient money to maintain constitutional conditions.

An order establishing the daily rate was added in 1989 and has been amended several times since, most recently in 2003, to the current rate of $22.39 per day.

The ACLU withdrew its name from the lawsuit last year on the grounds that its original intent — to improve jail conditions — had ultimately been turned on its head by the per diem system. They say the arrangement encourages jailing more people, leading to worse conditions.

Later, Gusman said he was going to consult with his legal counsel over this year’s budget.

“We need to have more to properly run the facility,” Gusman said, in answer to a question by Council President Arnie Fielkow about whether the city is in violation of the 2003 legal agreement.

Obviously, Gusman isn't convinced that abandoning the per diem system will translate into overall reduced costs. And he may be correct about that but removing the perverse incentive to incarcerate more people is a step in the right direction either way.

On the other hand, some perverse fetishes for heavy-handed policing die hard.

The department is well placed to focus even more on violent criminals next year, Serpas said. But it should also be able to focus on more community policing, too. Councilwoman Stacy Head had a thought on that front.

“I firmly believe that the murderer also litters,” Head said, encouraging Serpas to get officers to issue summonses to people who toss cigarettes. Serpas agreed.

So be warned. If you aren't up to her fastidious standard of tidiness and personal rectitude (which we have learned by now can be quite harsh), you're practically a murderer in Stacy Head's mind. And Serpas agrees.

Not really surprising

Attendance Low Despite Hornets' 7-0 Start

It's nice to see the Hornets off to a good start, but as the team continues searching for a niche in the busy NOLA calendar, it's looking more and more like for real basketball season around here is kind of a post-Mardi Gras thing.

Also,I noticed Sean Payton sitting courtside during last night's game. I'm starting to wonder if Saints players and staff have some quota of Hornets games they're required to attend each year. Do any Hornets ever come to Saints games?

WTF has Obama not done so far

He has not protected Social Security or Medicare.

Debt Commission Report Targets Social Security, Medicare

Today's upcoming report by the White House's fiscal commission is expected to include recommendations to raise the retirement age for Social Security and cut Medicare benefits -- two policy prescriptions that will be met with deep opposition from Democrats and some Republicans -- according to a source who has been briefed on the proposal.

More from Digby

Now, in reality, keep in mind that all this is just to form the basis for "bipartisan cooperation." So, I wouldn't expect that in the end we'll see any cuts to the VA or farm subsidies. I think we know very well that there will be no tax hikes of any kind. And as I mentioned defense and Homeland security aren't on the menu. This is just an exercise designed to create a new "bipartisan"starting point for the destruction of social security.

WTF has Obama not done so far

Because stupid children are indeed stupid incorrigible with no concept of the magnitude of what's been squandered, we're going to start a list of things that our timid, pro-war, pro-torture, pro-Wall Street President has failed to accomplish despite the overwhelming electoral mandate for change that swept him into office.

WTF has Obama not done so far?

He didn't get us out of Afghanistan.

Obama to begin backing away from 2011 Afghan pullout date

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has decided to begin publicly walking away from what it once touted as key deadlines in the war in Afghanistan in an effort to de-emphasize President Barack Obama's pledge that he'd begin withdrawing U.S. forces in July 2011, administration and military officials have told McClatchy Newspapers.

Serpased

Looking for saturated motorists again.

New Orleans– As required by the Louisiana Supreme Court, the New Orleans Police Department is issuing a public advisory regarding an “Impaired Motorist Saturation Patrol.” This patrol is a tactic used to significantly impact an area that is known for a high concentration of alcoholic impaired drivers, based on recent fatal crashes and serious injury crashes. The Special Operation Division Traffic Section will conduct all testing from the SOD Traffic Mobile Command Post that will be positioned at a predetermined location.

The New Orleans Police Department’s SOD Traffic Section will conduct the Saturation Patrol on Wednesday, November 10, 2010, in the Lakeview/Lakefront area, beginning at approximately 9:00 P.M., and concluding approximately 5:00 A.M., and on Friday, November 12, 2010, in the Warehouse District area, beginning at approximately 9:00 P.M., and concluding approximately 5:00 A.M. Motorists will experience minimal delays and should have proper documentation, i.e., proof of insurance, and a valid driver’s license if requested.

Compare and contrast

Demo 2010 student protests - live coverage

Why are they protesting?
The government is proposing to raise tuition fees, allowing some universities to charge as much as £9,000, while cutting university budgets by 40 percent. Currently, students in England pay £3,290 pounds a year. Students, lecturers and some university vice-chancellors say these proposals are an unfair transfer of the cost of higher education from society to the individual.

Meanwhile, in Louisiana,

Jindal meets with students on LSU cuts.

Hudson said Jindal focused his discussions on talking about how LSU and other colleges must improve their value and graduation rates. Jindal also argued the budget cuts have been minimal when factoring in tuition increases and funding hikes that occurred before budget cuts began, Hudson said.

In the UK, if you make higher ed less valuable and less accessible, the students storm your offices. In Louisiana, if you do the same thing, you get to run for President.

Update: Storming the tower in Louisiana

See also, Gill: Is Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal plotting another getaway?

HDLC

T-P: Historic New Orleans neighborhoods to get new guidelines

A draft of the proposed revised guidelines will be presented to the public Tuesday at a joint meeting of the New Orleans HDLC and Central Business District HDLC. It will start at 6:30 p.m. in the parish hall of Grace Episcopal Church, 3700 Canal St.

At the meeting, Dominique Hawkins, a Philadelphia consultant hired to write the document, will present the proposed revisions and the public will be able to ask questions and make comments.

HDLC is a non-elected, unapproachable quasi-governmental body empowered to levy fines on people whose houses don't conform to the arbitrary aesthetic ideals set forth by a club of social elites. They love to talk about "historic preservation" as though they're doing God's work, but mostly what they do is make it as difficult as possible for families of modest means to own homes in much of New Orleans.

Besides the irony that working class families are being excluded through the "preservation" of architectural forms originally developed out of the necessity of providing affordable housing for those very same sorts of working class families, preservation boards like HDLC also hamstring innovations that could reduce societal costs of living such as energy consumption.

Of course, every 40 years or so they make a move to catch up to some of that stuff.

"LeBlanc said the most up-to-date thinking about historic preservation influenced the proposed revisions, such as addressing energy-efficiency measures and streamlining the method of rating the significance of buildings in historic districts.

The guidelines we had didn't address any of the advances in technology since the 1970s, so every time someone wanted to install solar panels, for example, we didn't have any consistent guidelines to go by," he said. "Now we will."

Here's a true story. My parents, after an extended and frustrating period of haggling with the HDLC restrictions in the Irish Channel finally moved into their newly constructed home this year. During the contentious approval process, Mom and Dad appealed for permission to install solar panels on their new roof. They were flatly turned down at first but after some argument they were grudgingly granted a response of, "Well... maybe if they're hidden under a tree or something." And so they just decided to drop the whole thing.

Also, note that the existence of "guidelines" celebrated in this article doesn't necessarily mean the guidelines will be particularly friendly to innovation in the future. But nobody ever said rule by a patrician class would be efficient, only that it would be pleasing to the patricians.

Coming events

It's a busy November. If you're not too exhausted from last week's Mirliton Festival or the NOLA Bookfair or the upcoming Festival of the Overstuffed Oak Street this weekend, rest assured there's more coming.

Next week, the NOLA Fringe Alternative Theater Festival The Fringe website explains the idea here.

Fringe theater is a tradition that started in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1947 when eight performing groups were excluded from the mainstream annual arts festival. They decided to perform anyway, finding inexpensive or free venues on the fringes of the city. The Edinburgh Fringe Festival has since grown into one of the largest arts festivals in the world, eclipsing the original festival that was too afraid for fringe.

Great ideas spread. Fringe Festivals have been launched in cities throughout the US, the most well-known being the festivals in Minneapolis and New York. New Orleans has always been a city that embraces artists, where creativity has flourished and the avant-garde has gravitated. These are the roots of the New Orleans Fringe Festival – the festival of the wild, weird, fresh, and original.

The Festival provides the venue and the audience; the performers do the rest. Anything can be performed: we let the audiences decide what is excellent, astonishing or brilliantly insane.

Interestingly enough, the NOLA Fringe Fest has grown so large that it has become necessary to exclude some of its participating performances from the main venues due to time limitations. And so you get a number of shows designated as "Bring Your Own Venue" events which I suppose we could call the Fringe of the Fringe.

One such Fringe² show called To Moscow, You Betcha! will be at John Paul's (940 Elysian Fields Ave.) for two performances on November 17 and a third on November 21. The play is a mash-up of scenes from Chekhov's Three Sisters with actual quotes from Sarah Palin's various media encounters, and internet postings in such a way that inserts her into the play as a character. Menckles, who appears in the cast as Masha, says the effect is something like watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon with Palin as Bugs wisecracking over a melodramatic background. Check it out if you can.

Also we're hearing there will be two one more Testaverde shows the week of Thanksgiving. One on November 22 at One Eyed Jack's with Dax Riggs, and another at the Circle Bar on November 27. Perhaps the new record will be available at one of these this shows.

Update: Sorry about the Facebook link to the play's info. It requires a Facebook login. Facebook is pretty stupid generally.

Upperdate: As corrected in the text, there is only one Testaverde show scheduled now.

Monkey's brains, though popular in Cantonese cuisine, are not often to be found in Washington D.C.

If you need the reference, which I doubt, scroll to about 1:30 or so into this. If you're wondering why, it's because it's no longer possible to leave comments at YRHT.

I believe I am the first person to make this reference

The only thing worse would be if Tom Wolfe decided to write a book about it.

A fund manager for Smith Barney is getting off without felony charges after he allegedly ran over a cyclist with his Mercedes and fled the scene in Eagle, Colorado, because, the DA says, felony charges would be bad for the fund manager's business.

Martin Joel Erzinger will not be charged with a felony because "Felony convictions have some pretty serious job implications for someone in Mr. Erzinger's profession," according to District Attorney Mark Hurlbert.

Update: Colbert explains why we really should be relieved at this.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Nothingness
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

Tricks Before Treats or This Grandma's Gone to Heaven

Knee surgery is sort of like shoe repair. One brings one's knee into the shop, speaks with a receptionist, signs a piece of paper, and if one's knee happens to be attached to one's wife, one is told to drop it off and come back in an hour. All told, it's actually very convenient. And the small specialized facility where we brought Menckles is fairly discrete too. So if you're looking for a quick, no frills place to get your torn meniscus cleaned up with little or no fuss from the press, I highly recommend bringing your spouse's knee there. In other words, Brittany Brees, shoot me an email if there's anything we need to talk about.

Anyway we're very happy to report that Menckles is doing well and has already returned to work. She even made it to her regular position in the Dome for the Pittsburgh game, which is more than we can say for Pierre Thomas.

"I feel pain all over my ankle," Thomas said. "When you touch it, I feel pain all over my ankle. They touch different spots and they say, 'You feel it there?' And I say, 'Yeah, I feel it there.' So I really messed it up. They say I really messed it up pretty bad."

And also this.

Thomas was also asked about a NewOrleans.com report that suggested he was nearly traded to the New England Patriots for a cornerback before the Oct. 19 trade deadline. He said he had never heard of the report and seemed genuinely taken aback, laughing and saying, "Wow."

"No, no. That's shocking. That's real shocking," said Thomas, who had also pleaded ignorance to a recent Fox Sports report that he was in Coach Sean Payton's doghouse because of his lingering recovery process.

So Pierre can barely walk, and he was almost traded to New England just before Sean Payton remembered the first rule which is never make any deal with Belichick. I want to be clear that I'm not exactly implying that my wife is actually tougher than Pierre Thomas. She also could barely walk.. for like a week or so, anyway... after having a pencil-sized scraping device jammed into her knee. But at least she had this creepy hand-carved cane to get around with on Halloween night.


Yes, those are actual human teeth.

We're not sure what Frenchy was dressed as that night. We know he wasn't going as a football player, which is a shame because he missed a hell of a game. At least we were where we were supposed to be for that one, and the one before it which, while not as satisfying to watch, did make for entertaining reading in the hospital waiting room the next day.

Saints vs. Browns and Steelers:

• Dirty: The first amusing story I read in the waiting room involved yet another team accusing the Saints of playing dirty football.

  NEW ORLEANS -- Nick Sorensen and Josh Cribbs accused the Saints of dirty play during Sunday's 30-17 upset by the Browns.
  
  Sorensen said Saints players were gouging at his eyes and ripping at his face while he was down on the ground recovering a fumble on a kickoff return. Cribbs said the Saints were grabbing his groin while he was down after the opening kickoff of the second half. And linebacker Blake Costanzo told Sorensen he saw Saints choking Browns in the pile on the opening kickoff of the second half.

  These sorts of complaints first started popping up toward the end of last season when various football pundits suggested that the Saints' playoff victories were somehow "illegitimate" because old people don't like being hit or something.
  
  But this year, there may be something to it. I haven't watched a Saints game yet this year that didn't include a lot of extra pushing and shoving between players after the whistle. It happened again all night during the Pittsburgh game. It's something to keep an eye on as the "Bad Guys" make their way through the remainder of the schedule.



• Cleveland Rocks: Brown fans are pretty cool. When their little team came in to play the Saints, they were 1-5 and hoping a rookie quarterback could hold down the fort for them until Jake Delhomme was healthy enough to be... Jake Delhomme. But they sucked it up and made the trip anyway, and in impressive numbers. And they were nice people too. We had a good time explaining to the Cleveland people in our section what a Fleur-de-lis is. They didn't mind telling us what a Brown is. We didn't mind telling them how badly our kicker sucks. Good times.



• When traveling to away games, don't forget to bring a Terrible Towel: The Browns fans also told us the incoming Steeler fans would be assholes. They certainly showed up in numbers large enough for a statistically valid sample. The Pittsburgh fans travel in even greater numbers than the Cleveland fans do. Just before kickoff on Halloween night, I could have sworn the crowd was 40-50 percent Steeler fans. But they weren't assholes. Had as good a time talking to them as we did talking to the Cleveland people. For the most part, all of the visiting fans to the Superdome have been pretty cool. The Saints fans have been less so at times. More on that in a minute.
  
  Meanwhile, I'm wondering two things.
  
  1) Have Saints fans been selling their tickets in greater numbers lately because they're having money trouble or because they're losing interest?
  
  2) Since Ben Roethlisberger says this was the most noise he's ever had to deal with, are Superdome sound technicians pumping in artificial noise to make up for the reduced number of Saints fans in attendance?



• Tricks: Not sure what's worse about the Cleveland game. It's either that Eric Mangini thinks he's coaching high school, or that all that high school shit he tried actually worked. Let's see here. Cross-field lateral on a punt return? Check. Fake punt for 60+ yards? Sure, why not? You want your slow, fat halfback to run a throwback pass accross his body and accross the field to your rookie quarterback? You know what? Fuck you. That Les Miles shit is all well and good if it beats Alabama, but if you're gonna do weird shit in the NFL, come back when you learn how to bounce pass.
  
  
  Actually, Darren Sharper should have stuffed this play but got caught sneaking into the backfield.



• None of those trick plays were called by Coach Fujita:We knew going in that Cleveland would benefit from having ex-Saint Scott Fujita around to match wits with his former teammates. We didn't realize just how much he would own this role. Fujita (10 tackles 1 sack 1 interception) managed a defense that not only seemed to know what the Saints were running before most plays, but also disguised its own alignment throughout the game frequently lining up with some or all defensive linemen in standing positions off the line of scrimmage. The Steelers tried a little of this the next week. Expect the Saints to see it often for the rest of the year.
  
  As frustrating a day as it was for the Saints' offense, most fans wouldn't begrudge Fujita his successful homecoming. Fujita was and continues to be an advocate for the rebuilding of New Orleans and the restoration of its surrounding wetlands. In addition, it was clear that Fujita's decision to leave for a once-in-a-career free agency payday was the correct decision for him and his family while the Saints' decision not to match the offer was just as sensible. It was an amicable parting all around. Why, then, were audible boos detected from the Superdome crowd at every mention of Fujita's name during the visit? No one expects fans to cheer the opposing side, but there's just no call to single out Fujita for unearned hostility here. Saints fans are having a strange year.
  
  
  How do you boo such a winning smile?




• Seriously, Saints fans, chill.
  
  
  
  By this point, we're all well aware of the imperfections of the first half of 2010. But I have to ask again, what exactly was everyone expecting? Are the Saints supposed to win every game from now on or are they just supposed to win the Superbowl every season? (Note: At 5-3 they're still in the hunt for that) We cannot possibly be this spoiled or stupid. The Saints are the current champs. They're winning more than they're losing. I'm not saying that you can't be concerned if things don't go well, but it's important to keep at least some small sense of perspective.
  
  But I suppose if 5-3 really does necessitate some theory as to what is "wrong" with the Saints, try this. Every football season is different. Each year every team makes changes in personnel, coaching and strategy in order to adjust to the results of the previous season. Even if you make the bare minimum number of changes, you're liable to have a harder time of things in the new environment.
  
  While the rest of the football universe was making adjustments and signing free agents and begging Brett Favre to come back, the Saints were spending their offseason signing books, and riding in parades, and poorly planning their families. (Again. Nothing wrong with that. Super Bowl Champs. High five and whatnot) This is why it was perfectly logical for us to believe, as we said at the beginning of the season that it was possible for the Saints to play as well as they played last year and still win fewer games. So far, they haven't even played as well as they played last year and still have managed to win five out of eight. This during the same stretch where the two pre-season darlings of the NFC, Dallas and Minnesota have more or less collapsed. We're still here, us. We'll take that. Right?



• Grandma gone to heaven: As we walked away from the Superdome after the Cleveland game, it started to rain... but in the most annoying way. It rained just hard enough to prompt us to open our umbrella and struggle to share it as I stumbled about after having too much liquor and she limped along after having too few painkillers. But it was also raining lightly enough to cause us to wonder just how necessary this precarious side-waddle was in the first place. It may have been only drizzling, but we had to walk a long way in the drizzle and so felt like we should try and keep the drizzle from accumulating. Even if we felt a little silly about that.
  
  So we were already self-conscious when we heard someone about a block behind us shouting criticism at other umbrella users he judged inappropriately timid. "What the fuck are you doing? Why are you people afraid of a little weather? Put that away! It's a nice day out!" After a Saints loss, even random advice to enjoy the weather carries a hint of malice, especially when shouted by strangers. And soon enough, the vaguely angry advice was being directed at us. "Oh come on! It's just a little wet!"
  
  We turned to face our aggressive moisture advocate and were pleased to recognize him as the "Sean Payton Killed My Grandma!" guy we had last encountered nearly two years ago. As I lowered the umbrella, Menckles blurted right out, "How's your grandmother?" After a few moments of explaining ourselves, we learned that, yes, his grandmother may have survived Payton in 2007 but only long enough to see the Saints win the Superbowl earlier this year. At first I thought, "Ah so he got her eventually" but somehow managed not to say that out loud. I got the impression that it might have been okay, since the guy went on to say that she got to see what she had been hanging on to see and he seemed pretty content with that and isn't a nice day out here after all.



• Tricks: Doesn't Sean Payton know that he also is not coaching high school football? Hell, there aren't even any grandmas left to kill now but Payton spent the Pittsburgh game trying all sorts of crazy shit. The fourth down shift out of kicking formation had us scared half to death that Chase Daniel might actually be called upon to do something during a real game. Marques Colston was asked to execute a play where he might, should he so choose, throw the football. Luckily, he chose not to but then, after pulling the ball down and becoming a runner like he might on any play, Colston slid feet first as though the mere assignment of becoming a potential passer rendered him incapable of taking on tacklers. Any actual high school coach (as opposed to one just calling high school plays) would have thoroughly bitched him out for that.
  
  Worst of all, Payton finally busted out the one trick play we all knew he'd had in his pocket for the better part of two seasons now. The long-awaited "Number 64 is an eligible receiver" payoff was dialed up. This was a trick we would have actually considered a treat to witness. And yet...
  
  
  Eh... maybe next Halloween



• Let the Thomas Morstead for Pro Bowl campaign begin now: It all starts with press clippings.

  In a season in which the Saints have struggled for consistency, Morstead has not. Each week he excels in one way or another. He averaged 51 yards on four punts against Cleveland and dropped three kicks inside the 20-yard line against Pittsburgh.

  
  
  As I was making my way to the top of the Superdome last week, a stranger noticed my Morstead jersey and asked, "Are you with the Morsteads?"
  
  "I.. um... well, no.. see I'm a.. uh, I'm a fan, I guess"
  
  The upshot of that encounter is I now know what section the Morstead party sits in during the games. I had been wondering where Morstead himself had been lately during Saints kickoffs and was pleased to see him back out there on the last one of the night last week. I thought for a minute that Hartley was being punished for hitting a spastic looking squib kick earlier on but it turns out, he's got some sort of injury. Maybe if 6 booms a few through the endzone at Carolina, he gets the job back permanently.



• Malcolm Jenkins is still a No-catching Motherfucker: It's good to see Jabari Greer and Tracy Porter coming back this week since it means we no longer have to watch Malcolm Jenkins try to play corner. Jenkins had been coming into his own at free safety and we think he probably deserves to continue as the starter in that position even though it was nice to see Darren Sharper get back to doing what he does when he collected the fumble that saved the game against Pittsburgh. When they're all standing upright, the Saints (ranked 3rd in total defense and 3rd vs the pass) have some impressive depth in the secondary.
  
  
  Darren Sharper: Catching motherfucker
  



• Brees' knees: Okay so it may be slightly less than 50 million gillion percent certain that Brees' play is being affected by his obviously still sore knee. Whatever the cause, there have certainly been problems. It's true that he's been hit a lot more this season than he has in the past. Watching him against Pittsburgh, I was convinced there had to be something physically affecting his ability to throw the deep ball. But that's a tricky thing to judge knowing that Brees' arm was never very strong in the first place.
  
  Of course, it could still be the dreaded, oft-whispered about Madden curse. Until the Cleveland game, I had been putting off giving any serious consideration to the video game based superstition. (I've already invested most of my capacity for magical thinking in this pants thing) But after watching Drew throw two interceptions to the same defensive lineman whose name is only one letter off from the one Brees just gave his newborn son, I have to wonder whether or not something cosmic does have it out for him after all.
  
  
  David Bowens indicates the current number of Brees children as he runs his second interception of the day back for a game-clinching score

Speaking of magical thinking, could somebody please inform the media that one win in black pants does not instantly erase a longstanding losing record? It certainly doesn't make them look any less stupid anyway. Besides, there could have been any number of mitigating counter-jinxes in play on Halloween night. For example, the Saints could have been aided by the presence of our Who Dat Pumpkin.



Or maybe the outcome was just in the cards that night.



Either way we're keeping the Pumpkin. I mean, just look at how well he fit in at the bar after the win.



If for some reason we are called upon to build another altar this year, it seems like a logical item to build around. And as we move into the second half of the season with the Saints in the thick of things the thought that something that ridiculous may still become necessary is pretty sweet thought to start on.

Impeachment

If the incoming GOP majority in the House really is looking for an impeachable offense in the Obama administration, might I suggest obstruction of justice for his refusal to prosecute George W. Bush for approving these war crimes.

In his book, titled "Decision Points," Bush recounts being asked by the CIA whether it could proceed with waterboarding Mohammed, who Bush said was suspected of knowing about still-pending terrorist plots against the United States. Bush writes that his reply was "Damn right" and states that he would make the same decision again to save lives, according to a someone close to Bush who has read the book.

The Satchel Paige of rock and roll

Just one of the great insights from this interview with Philadelphia sportswriter and GBV fan Reuben Frank the following line being the highlight.

One night in New York he (Pollard) was onstage ripping Bright Eyes, just killing ’em. He was going, “Ask the person next to you if they own a Bright Eyes album, and if they say yes, punch them in the face.” And it turned out Conor Oberst was standing about 10 feet behind me.

I want to buy a piece of the Mega Zeph

Maybe they'll make some of it available after Six Flags is finally demolished. Watch this video of the abandoned park that's been going around the internets today.




Jazzland/Six Flags New Orleans was only marginally successful at best during its brief run in Eastern New Orleans but that roller coaster was really something special.

Mega Zeph during better days

End of the Internets

TPM: All 95 Candidates Who Pledged Support For Net Neutrality Lost On Tuesday Thanksabunch, all you "freedom-loving" Tea Partiers.

I should be finishing the football post right now

One thing I was going to note this week was Drew Brees' problems this year look to me to be physical. During the games, we frequently notice him flexing his knee as though he's working through discomfort. Every deep ball he throws just looks terrible. Last week, he was intercepted by Pittsburgh's Ike Taylor on a badly underthrown ball to Devery Henderson that looked like it should have been a touchdown. Even his successful deep ball to Robert Meachem later in the game was so weak that Meachem had to come back and field it as though it were a punt.

And so today we learn (or we think we learn) Report: Saints hiding fracture, torn meniscus in Brees' knee

Kenny Wilkerson of WIST radio in New Orleans recently reported, with a high degree of conviction and passion, that Brees has a fracture and a torn meniscus in the knee.

Wilkerson cites an "impeccable source," and he claims that the information is "100 thousand-trillion-million percent" accurate.

Wilkerson also claims that, at times, the pain is causing Brees to make mistakes when calling or executing plays, citing unnamed sources in the offensive huddle.

"100 thousand-trillion-million" has got to be like the most percents of accuracy ever assembled by one human. And yet amazingly there remain those who question this report. PFT cites Wilkerson's shocking lack of medical expertise as one reason for skepticism. Others point to his suspiciously slurred speech during the broadcast. But I'm willing to look past the source here on the grounds that the visual evidence corroborates the claim, or at least makes it plausible.

In a better world, we could just ask the player and his coaches what was wrong but, unfortunately, we live in a world where those people are paranoid lying dickwads.

Update: Payton is denying the report at his press conference today.

Payton said the report on Brees' knee is "inaccurate.... completely false."

Which, of course, only further feeds our suspicions. Everyone knows that "100 thousand-trillion-million percent accurate" is more than "completely false"

Upperdate: Brees responds and matches the percentage ante

When approached in the open locker room session with media Thursday afternoon, Brees joked about the report before saying that reporters see him every day working without a brace, which he hasn't worn in two games.

He also did jumping jacks in front of his locker and said he practiced drop-kicks during practice. When asked if he could do drop-kicks with an injured knee, he said he was "100 thousand-trillion-million percent" sure it would hurt if he did have an injured leg.

Also, there was this.

When told some questioned arm strength on deep balls. Brees: I'd like to watch film w/those people.

To which we say, when would you like to come over? You can even bring Bowen.

Crack addicts

City Council supports reinstatement of New Orleans red-light camera system

The Agenda part 2

Can't wait to watch the awesome return to fiscal responsibility.

Not that you heard this from anyone during the campaign, especially not the fucking liberal media, but if you could cut out all of the discretionary spending for the year--including the entire fucking Department of Defense budget--that would balance the federal budget. Unless you raise taxes, that's the only way to do it. Now, of course, you can't touch the Pentagon's money. If you cut that even by a penny, you're not supporting the troops, and you might as well hand the launch codes right to Osama bin Laden. So let's leave in the $664 billion for the DoD. Oh, and the $43 billion for Homeland Security. Can't touch that, either. And the $24 billion for DoJ--can't be soft on crime! Let's just cut out those pussy things like education, the EPA, Interior, Commerce, Agriculture, and the VA (It's an all-volunteer military, amirite? Why keep coddling those non-producers after they're out of the service?). Okay. You're still half a trillion dollars in the red. That's right. Oh, but I'm sure a tax cut will make that up. But only a tax cut on the rich. That way, they'll create jobs for the underpants gnomes, or whatever that stupid supply-side religion says.

And hopefully there will be time left over for very serious hearings on every little thing.

Compromise on renewable energy standards is possible, but the posturing between Rep. Joe Barton, the chairman of the energy committee, and the administration, may make this terribly difficult. The GOP plans to hold high profile hearings examining the alleged "scientific fraud" behind global warming, a sleeper issue in this election that motivated the base quite a bit.

But most of all I can't wait to get the office pool started on which made-up scandal will ultimately lead to the next purely political impeachment. TPM has the early favorites here.

Past is not even past

I can't make up my mind as to whether the current Democratic President's failed attempt to govern from the right is more like Carter's or Clinton's. This Moldy City post got me thinking about that all over again.

And then there's this as well.

I'm also old enough to remember the local press praising Ray Nagin for his handling of city finances. Doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but it must have been a totally different press corps than the city has today.

The agenda

Obviously the first thing that needs to happen now is filibuster reform. Let's see if Obama mentions that today.

I called it backwards

As it stands at a little after midnight, it's looking like +65 or more in the House and +6 or 7 in the Senate. So I overestimated the Senate gains (by a little) and underestimated the House gains (by a little).

Democrats deserve the loss. From the beginning of this Congress (and this Presidential term) they've consistently sought out the most cowardly ways to accomplish the least anyone could possibly hope for given their numerical advantages and electoral mandate going in. They suck. It's tragic that real people suffer because Democrats suck but what can we say? This is the way of things.

David Vitter defeats Charlie Melancon. For some unknown reason, NOLA.com has labeled this a "remarkable comeback". Please, someone remind me when the Vitter campaign was hopelessly down in the polls during this election. At what point did anyone think that Melancon, or anyone like him, had any shot at unseating Vitter? Sure, the soon-to-be-second-term junior Senator has had to endure a prolonged media circus over his colorful and hypocritical escapades in the sex trade. But those "serious sins" never seriously threatened his political career. Not even for a moment. Not even in July 2007, as the Wendy Cortez story was breaking, did Vitter look beatable. Please indulge me as I quote my own observations from this YRHT thread posted on 7/24/2007 (I've combined three separate comments minus a few lines that only make sense in the context of the conversation)

Vitter's not leaving. He's not really all that damaged politically.

I'm not kidding. He doesn't have many friends in state politics.. not even among Republicans. But that just means he's hard-headed enough to resist the pressure to resign. If he hangs on, he'll be strong enough again by 2010 to be reelected.... particularly if a Democrat wins the Presidential race in 2008.

I think David Vitter is very much in line with the current political zeitgeist of stubborn denial of responsibility. Regardless of facts, he won't back down. Like Nagin, like Jefferson, like Bush, like Gonzales and.. you name it, Vitter will continue to lie and lie and blame his "enemies" as long as necessary.

Once reelection time comes around, the issue will be that GOP held seat of his and an opportunity for a more staunchly Republican Louisiana than ever to defy whatever weak-ass Democrat is sitting in the White House.

I know. Uncanny prescience, right? Remember, though, I am not a witch. I am you.

The 2nd Congressional District lived up to its dismal reputation this year presenting voters with yet another election between two despicable phonies and the horrible horrible establishment political types backing their campaigns. This campaign also became a proxy war of sorts between local muckraking blogger Dambala and professional political reporters at the Times Picayune and Gambit who appear to have intentionally misrepresented his allegations against Cedric Richmond in order to discredit them. I know that's a strong statement for me to make without intending to go too far into detail right now. But please read this post where Dambala responds to some of what appeared in the T-P last month. Note the constant focus from the pro reporters on the Rolex question (which they get wrong anyway) instead of on the larger issue of the "Con-Profit" story Dambala was and is still developing. Note also a similar fixation on the Rolex from Clancy Dubos in a Gambit column about this race written shortly afterward. I think these journalists are doing this on purpose partially to snipe at the amateur media and partially because it's just in their nature to protect the political establishment. Both the Gambit and the T-P went out of their way to pair and conflate Dambala's work with the paid political hackery of the Cao campaign's own internet rumor mongering although those two things are clearly not related and easily distinguished from one another.

Richmond's win isn't an easy thing to get excited about but it at least means that voters in the 2nd District know their Representative's vote will be more likely to reflect their actual interests during the next Congress. This stands in contrast to the situation with the outgoing Congressman who repeatedly insulted his constituents by voting against the (admittedly weak) health care reform act and the Lilly Ledbetter Act to name a couple. We know that Stacy Head and Erroll Williams presented a further insult to 2nd District voters by asking them to continue to forfeit their Congressional representation in order to satisfy Ms Head's and Mr. Williams' vanity and/or warped priorities. Cedric Richmond may be an asshole but, if you're a Democrat and you supported Joseph Cao, you're a bigger asshole. And the scene of perpetual feud between assholes and bigger assholes about sums up things in this district.

Jay Dardenne is going to be the Lieutenant Governor. I didn't vote for him, but I'm kind of excited about it anyway because I can't help but feel a little good about seeing a political heiress Junior Leaguer waste of space like Caroline Fayard get crushed. Also Dardenne is among Dambala's next targets which should make for an interesting next few years.

Anyway, it's 2:00 now and I'm packing it in. If you're having trouble sleeping maybe you can try counting (or possibly recounting) the Colorado votes until you nod off.

Crap weather

It's a sloshy election day in New Orleans. I'm not sure how much this is going to affect the local races other than reinforce the likelihood that Dardenne and Vitter will cover the spread. Maybe it will help Cao keep things close, but I rather doubt that.

Meanwhile I'm putting the GOP at +50 seats in the House and +8 in the Senate.

The one thing I'm looking the least forward to is the onslaught of punditry telling us that the Republican victories are the result of some mythical liberal overreach by our pro-Wall Street, pro-war, pro-torture, center-right President.

But that's what happens when you live in a fact-free media environment where the daily narrative is written by simpering elites validating the crazy fears of crazy people.

The good news about that is I should be used to it by now having lived through the Clinton administration. The bad news is I'm used to it and nobody has learned anything.

Assembled QsOTD

Krugman:

Look, it might have been slightly better if Obama had acknowledged the economy’s problems more forthrightly, rather than continuing to insist that the ARRA was doing just fine. But that’s not about focus — and not at all opposed to doing health reform too.

What’s crucial to remember here is that economic policy is about actually doing things, not about saying “Message: I care.” A bigger stimulus — and, importantly, one that wouldn’t fade out just in time for the midterms — would have mattered. “Focus”, not so much.

First Deputy Mayor Andy Kopplin at the City budget hearings (as paraphrased by The Lens):

Kopplin says government efficiency consultant could help government identify needless consulting contracts.

Also via The Lens Twitter feed from the budget hearing:

"I'm not sure who's in charge of things, but we just lost several lights here," (Councilman Arnie) Fielkow said. Lights blown out in the chamber.

Former Mayor Ray Nagin on former Technology Officer Greg Meffert's decision to reach a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

“The reality is this was an independent act by Meffert,” Nagin said. “I’m not the target, have never been a target of any of these investigations. In fact, during the civil trial, I wasn’t even called as a witness. I don’t see it. I haven’t done anything wrong, so I hope he tells it all.”

Just for kicks, Dambala digs up a famous radio interview in which Meffert aggressively denied any and all wrongdoing.

Drew Brees on Saints' offensive tackle Zach Streif to whom Brees almost completed a touchdown pass Sunday night while running a play some of have been waiting years to see.

"I remember throwing about three balls in practice right at about his face mask, and he'd just snatch 'em," Brees said. "He's a really good athlete. You should see him play basketball."

Gambit readers are assholes

Exhibit 50 billion

Vote Long

As in Huey P.

Huey P. Long wants to turn the lights out on DuWayne Bridges’ tenure as Alabama House District 38 representative. Literally.

Long, a former Lee County commissioner and Democrat from Salem, charges that “60 to 70” lights at Interstate 85’s exit 70 generate an estimated monthly power bill of $3,000. Bridges owns the truck stop and boot outlet at the interchange in Cusseta.

“There’s a lot of money wasted in Chambers County,” Long said. “That money could be used for our school systems. This guy needs somebody to get after him. I’m a Hornet missile zeroed in on him. He says he’s against waste in government. That’s a joke.”

Via: The Lens

The only election preview you'll ever need

Comes from Deadspin's Drew Magary:

We elect a bunch of assholes who promise change, then we turn around and elect a bunch of new assholes two years later who promise to be a total change from the people who were supposed to be a change to begin with. Then THEY turn out to be morons, too. We're never gonna end up liking any of tomorrow's new batch of dipshits.

None of them will change what is fundamentally wrong with everything right now, and that is this: If you live in this country and you are not rich, YOU ARE FUCKED. Completely and utterly fucked. Even if you aren't technically fucked, you will still FEEL brutally assfucked. If you are just graduating college and you aren't rich, I strongly encourage you to marry someone who is already rich. Because otherwise, you are fuckstarted.

But by all means go vote anyway. Deep down the simpering elites who run the T-P are pissed that you still can. Also I understand you get a free cookie.

There are 10 amendments to the Louisiana constitution on your ballot tomorrow. This BGR document does a good job of demystifying them for you. although I wouldn't put too much stock in their recommendations. (I am voting Yes on 1,2,4, and 5 and No on the rest for what it's worth) and of course as always I can't wait to vote against Stacy Head.

Anyway, have fun killing the democracy again.

Who's missing the money now?

Surely I'm not the only one who gets the impression that this is really an argument over whose friends get to lose the money next.

The issue arose as part of a larger debate over spending on an executive-branch office of economic development and the Nola Business Alliance, a nonprofit organization funded by a mix of public and private funds and operated independent of City Hall. Fielkow believes that the public-private partnership should take over the job of the city office. While the UDAG money won’t be spent to hire new employees for either organization, the fund is relevant to the debate because its mismanagement has been used to bolster arguments that economic development funds should be managed by business professionals rather than City Hall officials.

In short, Arnie is proposing that we address the problem of publicly accountable public officials mismanaging funds by removing the "publicly accountable" part of that altogether and just allowing a private club of businesspeople to pass the money back and forth amongst themselves. What could go wrong with that?

Whiz Kid

Meffert is expected to plead guilty today. The question on my mind right now is which T-P editorial columnist will be the first to trot out the phrase "whiz kid" to describe him this week?

More on our local media-endorsed office-seekers

All good if you're in the club, I guess.

Ironbutt vs Steel

Hey how 'bout dem Hornets, right? No? Okay well I'm about to try and get Menckles and her bum knee down to the Superdome in time to see... I don't know what we're going to see tonight. I do know that I'm late with last week's football post again and that I've been promising to stop that. But we've been playing a lot of Plants vs Zombies at home this week as we recover from surgery and that has sapped some of the time. Also, we (meaning I) just kind of suck this season. (Unlike Wang who continues to nail it week-in and week-out)

Every week at about this time, I promise to get this shit straightened out. And then a few hours later I'm reading the Saints' post-game interviews where they're promising the same thing. But what the hell, it's only Week 8. We'll get this shit sorted out next week Promise.

Meanwhile, in the spirit of our accustomed laziness, please enjoy this recycled image of last year's Fleur-de-Jack-O-Lantern.

The stories of our lives are told by simpering elites

AZ pulls up a Taibbi quote that says it pretty well.

I grew up around journalists. In the 50s and 60s, Journalism wasn't a profession. It wasn't something you went to college for—it was really more of a trade. You had a lot of guys who came up working in newspapers at the copy desk, or delivery boys, and then they would somehow become reporters afterward and learn on the job. They tended to be working-class guys who had an attitude about power. They saw themselves as being working people, and they had an emotional mandate to stick-it-to-the-man. I remember those people—when I grew up there was this kind of iconoclastic attitude. There are still some people who are from that world—Seymour Hersh is a great example. The guy grew up in newspapers and still just fucking hates people, and works in this dirty little office in Washington—he doesn't do fancy lunches. But somewhere along the line, in the 80s or 90s, after All The Presidents Men came out, journalism became this very fashionable profession, a thing for the Ivy League kids. If you go on the campaign trail, what you find is a lot of people who are really turned on by the experience of being near powerful people. They see themselves as being on the same team as the people that they're covering.

It's something to think about when you read the Times Picayune's election recommendations.

Knowing it gets worse as it goes

I think I've made it abundantly clear over the years that I'm fairly unhappy with and distrustful of the Democratic Party and President Obama. But as frustrating as it has been to watch Democrats (predictably) squander opportunities these past few years, watching what happens next can only be worse.

We are on a need to know basis

Some secrets are too important to let go of until game time.

The New Orleans Saints will wear black jerseys for the first time in the Superdome this season - fitting for Halloween night. Some players are expecting the black pants, as well, though Payton didn't confirm the choice of pants, which he said can be changed up until game day. The Saints' choice of uniform is often one of the most discussed topics among fans, who believe some uniform combinations lead to better outcomes on the field. Payton, however, said there isn't much strategy or superstition when it comes to choosing the colors.

Because some people still like to do Friday cat-blogging

Yes there will be a late football something or other either tonight or tomorrow.

It'll be like the Superbowl for stray dogs

Quote of the day from The Lens' continuing coverage of the city budget hearings.

Clarkson said the council cuts money, not services, adding that the LA/SPCA needs to determine what services it can offer for 12 months for the money the city is willing to pay.

Zorilla said her agency doesn’t simply offer a menu of services. She warned that decreasing services might result in an increase of strays, more bites and attacks and ultimately more euthanasia.

“When the Super Bowl comes, do we want roaming packs of stray dogs?” she asked rhetorically.

I'm not sure if Super Bowl for stray dogs is a sign of progress or regress from "Super Bowl for prostitutes" New Orleans hasn't hosted the actual Super Bowl in a while so it's difficult to determine the baseline.

Why Captain Hindsight matters

This week's South Park episode featured a character called Captain Hindsight, a superhero imbued with the power to confront major crises by telling those involved what they should have done in order to prevent each disaster in the first place. Captain Hindsight "The Hero of the Modern Age" flies to the scene of a catastrophe (he also has the power of flight, apparently, although it is of little consequence) and shouts at people the various ways they could have avoided their predicament.

It's a clever jab at modern punditry. (Captain Hindsight, is himself a "former TV reporter") But the joke can be read as a discounting of the need to hold responsible parties accountable for their actions, inactions, obfuscations, corruptions, and other nefarious activities rather than allow them to continually reoccur.

For example, yesterday we learned via the Oil Spill Commission Captain Hindsight Committee

National Oil Spill Commission investigators have found that the Halliburton cement used to seal the bottom of BP's wild Gulf well in April was unstable and was used despite multiple failed tests in the weeks leading up to the massive well blowout.

What's more, the commission investigators found Halliburton knew about the problems and used the cement mixture anyway.

The trouble with acts of criminal negligence on the scale of the Macondo blowout is that they are so large and so horrifying that we tend want to see them as uncontrollable acts of God rather than pinpoint the specific acts of malfeasance behind them. But if no one does this, if no one undertakes the necessary act of employing our the benefit of hindsight to locate the specific points of failure, then those points of failure become embedded institutional givens. And what we're left with is a perpetual cycle of nobody-could-have-predicteds where the best most victims of unpredictable events can expect each time is a new round of "We're sorry" commercials.



See also: A Photo of a Group of Soon-To-Be Dead People

Who are you and what have you done with Charlie Melancon?

It's strategically pointless to wait until the garbage time of the final days of a campaign to come out swinging, but Melancon demonstrated in tonight's WWLTV debate that he at least knows how a person might theoretically run a successful race against David Vitter if a person... even a person as generally lame as Charlie Melancon... wanted to do that.

Watch this debate. It just gets better as it goes along.

Part 1

Part 2

Part3

Part 4

They should have brought in Colbert

Last night President Obama appeared on The Daily Show where Jon Stewart asked him some fairly easy questions mostly about politics instead of policy. Even so, Obama didn't seem up to it. The President was at turns annoyed, condescending and even stupid in dealing with the largely deferential Stewart. The "Heckuva job, Larry Summers" blunder was particularly telling and not at all the "intended pun" Obama tried to pass it off as. When the conversation turned to the financial crisis, Obama mostly just ran out the clock by talking long enough to keep Stewart from getting any tough questions regarding the issue he knows the most about.

Earlier in the day, the President met with five well-known progressive bloggers who asked more specific questions and received more thoughtful, if decidedly wormier, answers.

Q Mine is an easy question. Will you rule out raising the retirement age to 70?

THE PRESIDENT: We are awaiting a report from the deficit commission, or deficit reduction commission, so I have been adamant about not prejudging their work until we get it.

But I think you can look at the statements that I’ve made in the past, including when I was campaigning for the presidency, that Social Security is something that can be fixed with some modest modifications that don’t impose hardships on beneficiaries who are counting on it.

And so the example that I used during the campaign was an increase in the payroll tax, not an increase — let me scratch that. Not an increase in the payroll tax but an increase in the income level at which it is excluded.

And so what I’ve been clear about is, is that I’ve got a set of preferences, but I want the commission to go ahead and do its work. When it issues its report, I’m not automatically going to assume that it’s the right way to do things. I’ll study it and examine it and see what makes sense.

But I’ve said in the past, I’ll say here now, it doesn’t strike me that a steep hike in the retirement age is in fact the best way to fix Social Security.

In other words, no, the President will not rule out raising the retirement age to 70. The "I'll study it" dodge is particularly grating to anyone who has watched Rep Joseph Cao pretend to care about issues important to his constituents before voting against them for two years. It what a politician says when he can't say, "I don't really give a shit about you"

Also, I can't help but notice the conspicuous absence of any questions about the war during either of these sessions. Was that a condition of the President's participation?

Whoops, missed one

Sobriety checkpoint last night in Bywater. Hope you didn't get Serpased.

Pokes head up; ducks

I've been playing home nurse these past few days so there hasn't been a whole lot of time to look at the news. Here is a brief impression as to what has been going on out there in the meantime I gathered by occasionally glancing at my phone.

Injured NFL official listed in stable condition in the neuro ICU Not the most encouraging report. Crappiest thing about a pretty crappy day in the Dome. (More on this game later this week, of course)

On Monday morning I had a chuckle at this story about the 2nd District Congressional candidates canvassing churches over the weekend. The best line,

At Historic Second Baptist Church, the pastor, the Rev. Robert Jackson, commended Cao, for whom Jackson's son, Jed, works doing constituent casework.

"I know he has good judgment," Jackson said of Cao. "He hired my son. He's a very intelligent man."

Jackson, it turns out, had less of a chuckle since his church does not endorse either candidate. The T-P ran a clarification on Tuesday.

Budget hearings are underway in City Council. The coverage by The Lens, particularly via Twitter has been helpful. Councilmembers, however, not so much. So far this week we've learned that Stacy Head wants poor people to pay more taxes.

Head said she will be looking for ways to scale back the increase because the property tax burden is borne by only a small percentage of the city's population. Most property tax is paid by business owners and owners of expensive houses.

"We've got to come up with more money," she said, but it would be unfair to put most of the burden on a relatively small number of taxpayers.

-snip-

Head also suggested raising the city's utility tax, which appears on Entergy customers' bills, because she said that increase would be borne by everyone who uses electricity in the city, even those who live outside New Orleans. She said, however, that she is still researching whether the council can legally do that.

Councilwoman Cynthia Hedge-Morrell objected to that idea, saying she would oppose adding any charges to utility bills. "There is a portion of this city that is struggling to survive," she said, and the council should keep in mind those who can barely pay their rent and utility bills now.

It is amazing to me that there are still ostensible liberals in New Orleans who approve of Ms Head. Not only is she hostile toward poor or less than upper class people when she encounters them at Wal-Mart, she openly endorses policies and also Republican candidates who will advance these hostilities beyond the check-out queue and into people's lives, their wallets, their housing, their health care. I've said in this space many times that Stacy Head is the Peggy Wilson of her generation. I am told by Facebook friends that I'm being suckered into buying a contrived T-P narrative in making this observation although I've always thought of it as my own contrived narrative.

Also the budget hearings have taught us that Arnie Fielkow may have lobbied hard for that NORD reform initiative, but he's not too keen on funding it right away and that coucilmembers' go-to suggestion for every department is, maybe you can write a grant.

When Deputy Director Charlotte Parent told the council that the city’s Health Department budget gave $3.2 million to help service clinics, Councilwoman Stacey Head asked why the department couldn’t run and administer clinics with grant money instead.

In response, Clarkson said that Trigs needs help finding outside money: “It may not be able to be more from the city or more from millage, but you do need another source of income.” Clarkson said that the fact that the city’s libraries were so devastated after Katrina should be enough substance to gain considerable grant funding.

Not gonna get too bogged down in this, but "considerable grant funding" is keeping several city departments operating at current capacity already. Imagine your computer stops working, and you call Jackie Clarkson for technical support. You probably aren't surprised when the first thing she asks you is if the computer is plugged into the wall, but you can't help but sigh anyway. Now imagine that's the extent of the help you get from her and you see how these discussions are going.

And I think that's everything I missed. Oh.. and also Teabagger Paultards in Kentucky are now stomping on women's heads. Adrastos says

This is the second time in a week that teanut goon squads have roughed someone up. This episode was particularly egregious as it involved Ms. Valle being tackled and then stomped on. The teabaggers, of course, are blaming the victim. Rand Paul's statements have been ludicrous in attempting to blame this assault on "political passion." Fuck you, Rand and the horse you rode in on. Someone should send this malaka dead flowers...

Rand Paul is the scariest of this year's crop of tea party extremists. Why? He's smart and a genuine zealot with an overweening sense of entitlement. Watching him smirk his way through the campaign has sent chills up and down my spine. I've come to realize that he's George W Bush with a brain: a frat boy who reads Ayn Rand is just as dangerous as one who doesn't read at all. The analogy is perfected when I contemplate their fathers: both Poppy Bush and Ron Paul are wrong on many issues but not terrible human beings. Their sons on the other hand...

To which I say, yep, pretty much.

Tea Party presents its election 2010 closing argument

See here via here

Landrieu administration all-in on traffic cameras

People hate them. Courts keep chucking them out. No reason not to err on the side of assholery, though.

It's not clear what will happen next. The Supreme Court's ruling puts the kibosh on the cameras from the time being, but officials in Mayor Mitch Landriue's administration have said they believe they will be able to pass ordinances to help the camera system pass legal muster.

Whoah Hey!

Seems there's quite a premium on stress relief in New Orleans today. Hang in there, kids. You still have a nifty trophy to look at.