Carnival links

Tchotchke vendors setting up in front of Ms. Mae's prior to yesterday's Druids parade.

• Officials urge Mardi Gras revelers to celebrate with common sense

  To ensure a safe celebration, Mayor Mitch Landrieu said, the city has been working to ensure existing laws are followed more stringently than previous years.
  
  “Safety, really, at the end of the day is our priority. We don’t want to spoil Mardi Gras with senseless actions,” Landrieu said. “Common courtesy, safety and common sense should drive what everybody does.”

  
  
  ...
  
  

  Over the years, Endymion typically has attracted revelers who stake out spots and set up sofas, tents and ladders along the Mid-City parade route days before the parade rolls.
  
  “You now know that if you go out to Orleans Avenue and rope off an acre and you bring your living room, somebody’s gonna move it,” Landrieu said.

  
  
  We'll keep an eye out to see how well this is enforced along the route, but communicating the issue in precisely the language the Mayor used yesterday is a big help in and of itself.



• Grassroots Mardi Gras marching groups opt for spunk and sparkle over pomp and prestige Really cool stuff in this article illustrating how rich and organic popular Carnival celebrations are and can be. If you don't live here, it's easy to miss the degree to which Mardi Gras defies the concept of a rigid program.



• This club themes itself upon red beans. The article appears in what remains of the T-P's Food section so it contains a recipe for red beans which seems nice but I have to give it the thumbs down on the grounds that it contains no pickle meat.
  
  I usually make a big pot of red beans on Mardi Gras day to feed all the visitors. Mine typically contain seasoning ham, pickle meat, and smoked sausage. I might add a hamhock or two this year. Today's Blackened Out post concerns itself with some common sense parade party etiquette and also suggests red beans as parade day fuel.



• We caught Druids last night which was all in all not a bad showing for what's usually a fairly rinky dink parade. I haven't uploaded the pictures yet. Will get to it later. Meanwhile, this afternoon, Mattie's Little Angels daycare held a brief parade down Magazine Street. The "floats" were lightly decorated wagons and strollers pulled by parents and teachers. The Sophie Wright Charter School marching band led the parade in full uniform.
  
  
  
  

Lots of activity going on outside right now as people start getting ready for tonight's action. Hopefully the rain will hold off.

Blessing the children

I know it's Mardi Gras and all but...

Wife’s Charity Offers Corporate Tie to a Governor

WASHINGTON — Louisiana’s biggest corporate players, many with long agendas before the state government, are restricted in making campaign contributions to Gov. Bobby Jindal. But they can give whatever they like to the foundation set up by his wife months after he took office.

Story goes on to catalog several obvious instances of pay-to-play. Some are amusing to read, others less so.

A review of the donors shows the broad range of regulatory power that the governor and his administration holds over these companies, which otherwise are limited in making a maximum contribution of $5,000 per election to Mr. Jindal, or $10,000 for certain political action committees.

Dow Chemical, which has pledged $100,000 to the foundation, is the largest petrochemical company in Louisiana and has had numerous interactions with state officials during the Jindal administration, including an investigation into a July 2009 spill at its St. Charles Parish plant that forced the evacuation of area homes. The state in December 2009 proposed fining the company and its Union Carbide subsidiary for allowing the release of a toxic pollutant and failing to quickly notify state authorities of the leak, but so far no fine has been assessed.

Alon USA, an Israeli oil company that has pledged $250,000 to the Jindal Foundation, last year sought permit changes that would allow it to discharge more pollutants at its Krotz Springs refinery. In 2009, state environmental officials also eased requirements for the company to check for spills of oil, ammonia or other contaminants in waterways to twice a month, instead of twice a week, records show.

Jeff Morris, Alon USA’s president, said his company expected no special favors in return for its contributions to the Jindal Foundation or other charities. “I can understand how people might be concerned, when you have a congressman or others who have their own charities,” he said. “But that is not the case here. It is apparent that the children of Louisiana have been blessed by Supriya’s involvement.”

I'm not exactly sure what kind of "blessing" ritual involves anointing the children of Louisiana with "oil, ammonia or other contaminants" but then again I'm not the expert in spiritual cleansing here.

Rain

Despite the optimistic tone of the local weatherfolk, I get the feeling most of this weekend's (and possibly Thursday's) parades are going to be washed out big time.

This can either be bad or very very bad. The worst scenario I can think of would postpone Endymion probably to Sunday and, although they haven"t announced this, probably also to the Uptown route behind Bacchus. Which will be a stupid mess. As we all know, the Endymion crowd is the most poorly mannered when it comes to observing city ordinances and generally respecting people's space. NOPD says they're cracking down on that shit this year, but something tells me they'll be looking less for ladder violations and more for stuff they think they can collect heavy fees for. If I were you, I'd be careful where I park my car this weekend.

On the plus side, I'm hearing that they're planning to do some Treme filming on lower St. Charles during Muses which strikes me as a far greater obstacle to citizens enjoying their public festival than any ladder phalanx could ever be. The good news is maybe that will get rained out too.

Jindal: Crime can pay for private prison operators

Or to borrow Gill's more clever phrase, "Crime is money"

The deal would liberate about $100 million to ease the pain of the imminent budget cuts, but would then obligate the state to reimburse the new owners for accommodating our less desirable citizens for least 20 years.

It sure doesn't take these fiscal conservatives long to forget about posterity once they get elected. But hypocrisy from the Jindal administration never comes as a surprise. The plan to turn state prisons into private profit centers is hardly conducive to rehabilitation. Everyone knows that, if we ever are to enjoy the social and economic benefits of reduced recidivism, jailbirds need to get off drugs and into education and job training. Prisons run by public employees for the public weal have a powerful incentive to effect that. Where the objective is to make a buck, the idea that inmates might return again and again is by no means distressing.

Oh well

BATON ROUGE — If Louisiana is to head off what could be the inevitable huge loss of the southern part of the state, it will take a steady revenue stream, commitment from federal, state and local officials and a public willing to do what's needed.

I'd read further but I've already got my head in my hands.

2011: The football season that might have been

Should we have a football season in 2011, the Saints will have played with an improved defensive line. More on the imaginary 2011 football season in months to come.

Bonus marching band footage

This is a Sophie B. Wright Middle School practice march turning from Camp Street onto Napoleon Avenue yesterday afternoon.

Noble Energy

Because.. because they just had to go with something called that. How could they not, really?

Noble Energy also makes no mention of BP in its press release from yesterday. In announcing a major discovery in Mississippi Canyon Block 519, back in 2009, Noble spelled out the various ownership stakes, including BP's -- the largest single slice, with a 46.5 percent stake alongside Noble Energy's 23.25 percent share.

I know we keep reading that BP is "leaving" the Gulf Coast soon. But they only mean that in a certain sense, obviously.

Meanwhile, we're at least hoping they hang around long enough to pay us back for this.

Gov. Bobby Jindal today announced that the state will spend $12 million to restore wetlands and rebuild oyster beds that have been damaged as a result of the BP oil spill and will bill the company for repayment. Jindal said the step was needed because BP has not responded to the state's request for money to pay to put out oyster spat in beds where oysters were killed after the state opened freshwater diversions to block oil from moving into wetlands. The states request for BP to rebuild wetlands oiled during the uncontrolled release of crude from the Macondo well has also gone unanswered.

Seems like a "noble" enough of an idea. Or at least the beginning of one. Anyway, it looks like we'll know where to find BP if we're still looking for them later on.

Keep recycling weird

Because making it easy and convenient with a clear picture of what the sanitation fees pay for would only confuse people.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s administration did not answer a host of question on the matter, including why this expense was not disclosed sooner or a ballpark expectation for the cost. Late Monday, the administration said it will tap the city’s capital budget to pay for the carts.

In an unexpected development, the service will be offered only upon request of residents, so not everyone would automatically be issued a recycling can, though every customer saw their trash fee doubled this year. Interested residents can now sign up to get a cart here.

The bid specifications seek carts similar to the regular trash containers used by the city’s three trash companies, rather than the small, open bins familiar to residents before Hurricane Katrina. The recycling carts will be 64 gallons, whereas the most common trash cart is 96 gallons.

Broken

The way we live today is utterly broken. Go read this comforting catalog of things people buy with a billion dollars.

Let's Go Shopping

So you say to yourself, "I want me some of that. I’d like to place the following order, please."

* One Maybach Landaulet for $1 million to drive around in.(Actually to be driven around in.)
* One $100 million yacht for when I want to get seasick.
* One Gulfstream G550 private jet for $40 million.
* One private island for $24.5 million (castle included) for when I want to escape the masses.
* One $8 million estate for when I have to go ashore and mingle with the masses (but not too close.)
* One $5 million watch so I can have one.
* Total: $178.5 million.


My change after paying with a billion-dollar bill is a meager $821.5 million left over. I might be hard up for cash after my spending spree, but I can still stay in a $20,000 room every night for 112 and 1/2 years.

So, as you see, $1 billion is more than enough to really live it up. People today are amassing multiples of billions, paying very little in taxes and using it in ways that harm the rest of us.

The Maybach thing section of this article was fun. I didn't know what one was so I'll excerpt that part too.

This is a Maybach. Most people don’t even know there is something called a Maybach. The one in the picture, the Landaulet model, costs $1 million. (Rush Limbaugh, who has 5 homes in Palm Beach, drives a cheaper Maybach 57 S -- but makes up for it by owning 6 of them.)

Your $1 billion will only buy you a thousand Maybach Landaulets.

Last week, Limbaugh Maybached his way down to his studio to call Wisconsin teachers protesting the threat to their collective bargaining rights "parasites" and "A Bunch Of People Who Feel Entitled To Be Freeloaders"

For a sense of perspective, here's what all that parasitic freeloading amounts to. Depending on how recent your data is and where it comes from, and how it is defined, Wisconsin teacher salaries appear to start somewhere between $25,000 and $32,000 and average somewhere around $50,000. Which is to say an "average" Wisconsin teacher might be able to afford about 1/20th of a Maybach Landaulet.

Update: See also last night's Daily Show segment.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Crisis in Dairyland - Angry Curds
www.thedailyshow.com
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The sight of so many bloated right wing media hacks spitting hatred at working people specifically at teachers even is just beyond sickening.

There was a band, they were sickening

St. Aug Band Won't March In Rex Parade

NEW ORLEANS -- The St. Augustine High School marching band will not be in the Rex parade on Fat Tuesday this year, the krewe confirmed Monday.

The organization that produces Mardi Gras' signature event issued a statement in response to inquiries from WDSU about the school's participation in next week's parade. According to that statement, the popular and decorated student band asked to march ahead of another local high school marching band, Warren Easton.

Bunch of primma donnas. Don't get me wrong. St. Aug has a pretty good marching band. But it occurs to me that their reputation as THE band to see each year is based more on this kind of stupid posing than it is anything of substance.

And they certainly can't make a claim to the title of hardest working band in the city. That distinction could go to St. Mary's,



or Xavier Prep,



or McDonough 35



who, bless their little hearts, seem to march in nearly every parade. I swear there have been times that I've seen one or more of these bands come down St. Charles more than once on the same day, as if they had reached the end of one parade's route and then bussed back to form up with the next one.

Heck even Warren Eastson whose position of prominence in this case is the cause of St. Aug's jealousy shows up more frequently than the "Marching 100" does. The two schools' colors are similar. Maybe St. Aug was embarrassed that they weren't the only girl wearing that outfit to the dance this year.



Anyway, here is some marching band video I shot over the weekend. We caught every parade but I don't remember seeing St. Aug at all, although I am told they were out. These first three are from the Krewe of Carrollton on Sunday which is the best parade to see if you like marching bands.

McDonough 35



St. Mary's



Q: How do you know a Catholic school band is coming down the street?

A: Listen for the xylophone. They all have one and feature it prominently. This is Brother Martin playing a xylophone-heavy tune which also happens to be the only damn song they know how to play... ever.



And finally, check this out. I know it's in the dark so it's kind of hard to see. It helps a little that the band is wearing luminescent novelties tied to their uniforms but anyway it's the Get a Life "adult marching band" playing Lady Ga Ga.



They seemed like they were having a good time. I wonder if they knew how insulted they should have been that there were other bands marching ahead of them in the formation.

February of 2011

For those of you who had that month and year in the "When will homophobic preacher Grant Storms be arrested for something perverted?" pool, you may cash in your tickets now.

The Rev. Grant Storms, a Christian fundamentalist best known for his bullhorn protests of the Southern Decadence festival in the French Quarter, was arrested for allegedly masturbating at a Metairie park Friday afternoon.

After Saturday night's parades, Menckles and I made a trip down to Bourbon street where we indulged in our annual Lucky Dog.



Since some time during the late 90s, I've been allowing myself one of these each year usually on Endymion Saturday but sometimes a bit earlier as was the case here. Menckles also thought this might be a fun time to actually engage the Christian missionaries (blurrily pictured wielding a cross in the photo below) in theological debate.



In both of these activities, the results were unsurprising. I ended up with indigestion, and she didn't make much headway convincing the missionaries that our souls weren't in any greater peril than usual. Likewise, Grant Storms isn't surprising anybody today either. But I don't think we'll be seeing him shaking a cross at anyone on Bourbon Street anymore so there's that.

I've been doing Mardi Gras all weekend

Go read First Draft

Whoops, not done yet. Go read Digby too.

More Carnival advice

This helpful hint was posted on the wall of a food truck parked along the route during Oshun last night. I liked the sign although I thought its goal would have been served well had the prices been listed on the menu.



Ros had the pork chop. It came on a hamburger bun. Apparently it was good. I didn't try it. Like I said yesterday, I'm not going too crazy with the Carnival food during the early going. Sticking to basics for now.



Also sticking to basics, as usual, was the modest Krewe of Oshun. If, as the axiom goes, Mardi Gras is a marathon, not a sprint, Oshun is kind of like a light Segway tour on the way to where the marathon starts. Everything is very very basic. I think I counted four marching bands... maybe five. I'm sure I saw St. Mary's, Xavier Prep, West Jeff, Roots of Music, and probably one more but I'm having trouble remembering who. Most of the floats are small "Maid and Duke" type arrangements carrying Krewe officers and children like this one.



The three or four themed floats, in keeping with the early parade mode of widely accessible pop culture reference, were based on Broadway shows. This one represented The Color Purple



As far as the parade itself goes, that's all there is to tell. Oshun is short and simple and barely throws anything. Here's our total catch from the night.



Some people like to complain about that but I don't. On the first night, I'm usually just looking to have a few beers and stand around re-acclimating myself to the sights and sounds like the omni-present Sportscenter theme interpreted by this (and every other) marching band.



Sorry about the dim light. I can't remember who I was filming. Also listen for a few seconds after they finish. The drum cadence is quintessential Mardi Gras to me.

All told, Oshun is an appropriate starter event considering what's to follow. And what's to follow is going to be an extraordinarily busy parade season if last night's crowd is any indication.



I've never seen that many people out for Oshun. One of the effects of the warm weather, perhaps. I know the mosquitoes (another effect of the warm weather) had a feast. This morning, I drove Menckles to work and already there are the beginnings of a larger crowd assembling on St. Charles which I think I'll go add myself to in a little while or just as soon as the camera charged anyway... in case I start doing any "drinking to forget".

Okay sure I bought one of these

I'm not so sure I'm going to eat it, though. I'm trying not to let Carnival fuck up my CCC training too too much this year. I realize this is a foolish aspiration. But as of today I still haven't had one single slice of king cake much less whatever this Hubig's ball of goo is.

Some tips for enjoying Carnival

I promise no ladder harangue today. At least I think. Let's see how it goes.

1. Do not plan anything. Wait. Okay number one is wrong already. Yes, plan. You'll need a plan of some sort just for the sake of comprehending certain logistics. Just don't expect those plans to work out the way you've conceptualized them. Have an idea where you'd like to be and how you'd like to get there. But don't be surprised as that plan falls apart piece by piece in the execution. The key is to be flexible. I'll explain what I mean.
   
   This past weekend, we had planned to take a taxi down to the quarter to see Krewe du Vieux. And although that plan was pretty much shot when Menckles ended up working later than she thought she would, we dutifully spent a good fifteen minutes hitting the redial button in a futile attempt to reach United Cab. Finally we just hopped in the Tercel and started drifting downtown. One of the many reasons I'm happy to live so near the Uptown parade route is that it minimizes the annual experience of crawling through solid traffic hoping to find a not-too-inconvenient parking space before the radiator explodes.
   
   When we eventually landed our craft, we found ourselves much farther downriver than we had planned to be... almost exactly right here, actually. And thank goodness we did because, as it turned out, Royal Street in the Bywater was the best place to catch KDV on this year's route. The crowd wasn't too dense and we were able to see the parade all nice and close-like.
   
   
   
   And all nice and close-like is THE way to see Krewe Du Vieux. It's the only way you're going to pick up on the themes of the small floats and costumes and the only way you're going to pick up any throws from the marchers. It may be a sign of our old age, but we've gotten to a point where we're actually friends with or acquaintances of a ridiculous number of KDV marchers some who deliver to us personalized trinkets. One Krewe member, for example, handed me a package which was supposed to have come from Jeremey Shockey. It contained a can of Axe body spray. My favorite throw was the below pictured "Ticket to Mardi Gras" handed out by the subkrewe of PAN this year. The gag even worked on Menckles who, for a while, thought we had KDV ball tickets and later tried to palm them off on other folks as such.
   
   
   
   
   Anyway, we'd staked out a killer spot this year, and had done so completely by accident.
   
   



2. If at all possible, BYOL. Because you don't want to spend too much time running back to the nearest bar or to the house for a refill, it helps to plan to drink on the street. One of our annual traditions is the embarrassingly un-manly mini-cooler I frequently carry around known affectionately as the Pink Thing (seen here at a parade in 2008). We haven't broken out the Pink Thing just yet this year. Instead, Menckles carried an insulated backpack with two bottles of white wine an as much beer as we could cram in there with it. We even brought our own portable wine glasses.
   
   
   
   What to do with the consumed liquor once it needs to be... um... deposited is another problem altogether, and, as we all know, just something else that demands flexibility on the part of the participant.



3. Be ready to do some walking. If you're doing anything worth doing during Carnival, you're doing it on foot. And probably you'll want to be more than one place on any given day or night so expect to cover a lot of ground that way.
   
   After KDV passed us by, we still had to get down to where we had planned to be in the first place. The only way to get there that made any sense was on foot. Because most humans walk faster than a parade generally moves, this meant we managed to catch much of the parade a second time while saying hi to Adrastos and Dr. A in front of the Royal Street Grocery, and then a third time when we finally caught up with the rest of our party at St. Peter Street.
   
   The cool thing about moving around like this, is it gives you the opportunity to sample the variation in experience that happens along a parade route. When we saw the parade in the Bywater, the mood was very laid back and familiar as the crowd was mostly comprised of neighbors with a lot of room to move around. When we got to Royal and St. Peter, the scene was a little more chaotic.
   
   
   
   The following day's Times-Picayune suggested that the crowds were thinner than usual this year. I saw a lot of the route that night and didn't get anything like that impression.
   
   Later on, due to the continued impossibility of obtaining a cab, we ended up schlepping the whole way back to the car. All told we put in about three and one quarter miles hiking around that night. Pretty tame, actually, especially considering the long rest at Johnny White's between the end of the parade and the walk back.
   
   



4. I know this one can be difficult but try not to ask "why" too too much. This strategy is particularly helpful once you've passed beyond the limits of sobriety and the scene around you gets a little too ridiculous to keep track of. For instance, why was the climax of Krewe Delusion a guy in a big pig mask? I never found out but look how cool.
   
   
   (This is Harry Shearer, right?)
   
   And, of course, nobody quite knows what explains the Noisician Coalition, but we nonetheless feel our evening was enriched by their presence.
   
   




5. Finally, and above all, remember Mardi Gras is a marathon, not a sprint. I think we hit the ground at too hard a pace this year since my hangover knocked the shit out of my Sunday. This week, as the parades start coming nearer one another, we won't have the luxury of a day to waste in recovery. The Friday night Oshun to Saturday afternoon Pontchartrain turnaround will give us a chance to work on our stride a bit. But getting up Sunday morning for Carrollton will be the real test.

Please read

Really Bad Reporting in Wisconsin: Who 'Contributes' to Public Workers' Pensions?

Gov. Scott Walker says he wants state workers covered by collective bargaining agreements to "contribute more" to their pension and health insurance plans.

Accepting Gov. Walker' s assertions as fact, and failing to check, created the impression that somehow the workers are getting something extra, a gift from taxpayers. They are not.

Out of every dollar that funds Wisconsin' s pension and health insurance plans for state workers, 100 cents comes from the state workers.

How can that be? Because the "contributions" consist of money that employees chose to take as deferred wages – as pensions when they retire – rather than take immediately in cash. The same is true with the health care plan. If this were not so a serious crime would be taking place, the gift of public funds rather than payment for services.

Thus, state workers are not being asked to simply "contribute more" to Wisconsin' s retirement system (or as the argument goes, "pay their fair share" of retirement costs as do employees in Wisconsin' s private sector who still have pensions and health insurance). They are being asked to accept a cut in their salaries so that the state of Wisconsin can use the money to fill the hole left by tax cuts and reduced audits of corporations in Wisconsin.

This may not be the most popular opinion

But the Hornets made a good move here. Everybody loves Marcus Thornton and we're all sad to see him go. But if there's one thing the Hornets have been in dire need of for... well.. practically since they've been in New Orleans... it's muscle and Carl Landry has that. Not the NBA's greatest team but they are doing what they need to do be viable during the playoffs.

Shut up

Ed Blakely blah blah blah. Notice this time he's standing on a whole new pile of rubble as he spouts incorrect things and tells people they should have been careful and had plans and stuff. He's like a professionally late Smokey the Bear. Or perhaps, the "Hero of the Modern Age", himself.

Are we starting to get it yet?

A big part of what's missing from the reporting on the labor protests going on right now is that the victims are tired of taking the blame for the crime.

MATT TAIBBI: Governor Kasich, yeah, and he was intimately involved with selling—getting the state of Ohio’s pension fund to invest in Lehman Brothers and buy mortgage-backed securities. And of course they lost all that money. And this, broadly, was really what the mortgage bubble and the financial crisis was all about. It was essentially a gigantic criminal fraud scheme where all the banks were taking mismarked mortgage-backed securities, very, very dangerous, toxic subprime loans, they were chopping them up and then packaging them as AAA-rated investments, and then selling them to state pension funds, to insurance companies, to Chinese banks and Dutch banks and Icelandic banks. And, of course, these things were blowing up, and all those funds were going broke. But what they’re doing now is they’re blaming the people who were collecting these pensions—they’re blaming the workers, they’re blaming the firemen, they’re blaming the policemen—whereas, in reality, they were actually the victims of this fraud scheme. And the only reason that people aren’t angrier about this, I think, is because they don’t really understand what happened. If these were car companies that had sold a trillion dollars’ worth of defective cars to the citizens of the United States, there would be riots right now. But these were mortgage-backed securities, it’s complicated, people don’t understand it, and they’re only now, I think, beginning to realize that they were defrauded.

Read the whole Democracy Now interview here. They're discussing Taibbi's latest Rolling Stone article, "Why Isn't Wall Street In Jail?"

Comfortable shoes

No idea where he could have put them.



Was he duped by psy-ops into sending them to Afghanistan? Did he lend them to Blankfein? It's a funny thing about the President and footwear. Nobody knows what happened to that boot he was supposed to apply to BP's neck either.

Un-vanished

New oil surfaces near Elmer’s Island

BATON ROUGE — New oil is still washing up on local beaches, including Elmer’s Island, 10 months after BP’s Deepwater Horizon explosion, state officials said.

It’s a contentious time for crude sightings, especially as BP and the federal government begin to inch out of the Gulf Coast.

Officials with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries say they’ve been told that the clean-up partners are planning to “pack up shop” at the end of this month.

Secretary Robert Barham called the departure “unacceptable,” especially since new oil is being discovered in places like Bay Jimmy, Red Fish Bay and Pass-a-Loutre.

"Packing up shop" also entails:

BP has reneged on promises made in November to negotiate early payments to Louisiana to help rebuild oyster beds, repair damaged wetlands and build a fish hatchery to allow the state to respond immediately to the collapse of commercial fisheries in the wake of the BP Gulf oil spill, state officials said Monday

Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority chairman Garret Graves and Department of Wildlife & Fisheries director Robert Barham said the state will instead scramble to find millions of dollars to begin the work itself, then bill BP for the costs.

"BP has clearly changed their approach," Barham said. "All we've asked is for them to do what they said they would do in their commercials, be here for the long haul and make it right."

Instead, he said, the company has clearly moved from a public relations strategy to one focusing on litigation over whether damage to the state's oyster beds was BP's fault.

Here's part of what "focusing on litigation" has meant.

The documents that oil spill claims czar Kenneth Feinberg is making people sign in exchange for their final damage settlements are illegal and should be voided by a federal judge, according to the plaintiffs in the massive federal civil case against BP and others.

U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier ruled earlier this month that Feinberg must stop representing himself as independent of BP. The oil giant owned the deepwater oil well that exploded last April, fouling the Gulf of Mexico for three months, and pays Feinberg's law firm $850,000 a month to dole out money from a $20 billion compensation fund.

Now, Barbier is considering whether Feinberg, who was jointly appointed by BP and President Barack Obama, has set up a claims payment procedure that properly follows the law.

Kudos, again, to David Hammer for putting the bit about Feinberg's relationship with BP right there at the top of the article.

Meanwhile, returning to the theme we began this little round-up with, more and more oil continues to un-vanish out there.

At a science conference in Washington Saturday, marine scientist Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia aired early results of her December submarine dives around the BP spill site. She went to places she had visited in the summer and expected the oil and residue from oil-munching microbes would be gone by then. It wasn't.

"There's some sort of a bottleneck we have yet to identify for why this stuff doesn't seem to be degrading," Joye told the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference in Washington. Her research and those of her colleagues contrasts with other studies that show a more optimistic outlook about the health of the gulf, saying microbes did great work munching the oil.

"Magic microbes consumed maybe 10 percent of the total discharge, the rest of it we don't know," Joye said, later adding: "there's a lot of it out there."

One more note about the "magic microbes." When they first appeared, we noted that the "more optimistic" studies referred to above were funded this way.

The research was supported by an existing grant with the Energy Biosciences Institute, a partnership led by the University of California Berkeley and the University of Illinois that is funded by a $500 million, 10-year grant from BP.

Should we ask Judge Barbier to determine whether or not the microbes are "independent" too?

"It was a totally outrageous paradigm."

Wang gives Poochie a worthy send-off.

Live ammo

Keeping it classy

Shut up

Gov. Bobby Jindal wades into Wisconsin budget fight

The message drew a quick rebuke from the Louisiana Democratic Party, whose spokesman said in an emailed news release that Jindal should be focusing on his own state's budget problems. "The economic crisis looming in Louisiana could be as devastating as any we have ever faced and Louisiana deserves a governor who is 100 percent focused on solving problems here at home," Democratic spokesman Kevin Franck said.

Not sure what Franck is talking about. The frugal Jindal administration is cutting corners in all sorts of creative ways in Louisiana right now.

In case you haven't heard yet

Scott Walker is kind of an asshole.

Adding: In light of DOJ's decision not to defend DOMA, Scott Walker now allowed to take calls from "Amanda Hugginkiss"

How I learned to love spam

The NOLAinfo alert emails tend to fill one's inbox with bullshit on most days. Unnecessary PR releases from NOPD, recycled CNN headlines, obscure product recalls, that sort of thing. But they're worth having because every now and then one will tell you when and (approximately) where the next Serpas checkpoint will be set up. Also during Carnival they make an effort to remind people of the freaking rules. To wit, the following is excerpted from a multi-colored, large type email I received this week.

Remember the Neutral Ground (Median) is public property and it is illegal to “rope off” or barricade areas for private use.

If your children are in ladders, remember they must be placed as many feet behind the street curb as the ladder is high

In other words, this is the right way to position your ladder.




While shit like this, which we see all the damn time, Is wrong. This is actually wrong on both counts above as the ladders are not only too close to the curb but they are also bound together in such a way that they form a barrier to fellow parade goers who may wish to pass nearby.



Also notice,

Do not place ladders, ice chests, chairs, or other items in intersections. These areas must be kept clear to allow emergency vehicles access to the parade route if needed.

Which means these people are also doing it wrong.



What these rules are designed to do is reinforce the notion that the public streets are for everyone to share as they enjoy the parade together. This means being flexible, not territorial, and willing and able to give ground as the size and position of the crowd changes. If you're going outside to be with the people, be prepared to cooperate.

Personally I'd like to see this language amended to include a few words about portable chairs which, in recent years, have become a worse hindrance to freedom of movement than even the ladders. Take a look at this picture.



Blocking this intersection, we find not only two ladders but also a wall of chairs right up in the front of the crowd where they absolutely do not belong. Not only do they inhibit movement but they also reduce the number of people who can comfortably enjoy the parade in the space they occupy. This doesn't mean chairs are inappropriate altogether. Not everyone is young or strong enough to stand for hours at a time and there is plenty of room at the back of the crowd to set up some place to rest. But I'd venture to say that there are far more chairs in use out there than are necessary. And more importantly their inconsiderate use as territorial boundaries is hostile to everyone who has to step over or around them.

I can't imagine the NOLAinfo spam will beat any sense or courtesy into anyone but at least somebody is trying.

Chicken Bonne Femme

It's been a while since our last episode of cooking on the Yellow Blog so, before we start, let's clear up a few things first. Those of you who have become accustomed to reading the ever-expanding wealth of informed professional grade food writing on the local internets in recent years... and also those of you who read Blackened Out... should know right off the bat that you're not going to get anything approaching that kind of refinement here. I haven't taken any training. I don't know any chefs. I've never written a book. I've only worked in restaurants as a very young man when I bussed tables and washed dishes during the summer. I'm just a guy who grew up in New Orleans, reads a lot of cookbooks, and screws around in the kitchen.

I'm a home cook who cooks homey food mostly of the sort I grew up eating. I do the usual predictable stuff around the appropriate holidays. I do a lot of "smothered" this or that. I put bacon and butter all over everything. Every now and then I'll try to copy something I've had in a restaurant. And sometimes I even experiment with mixed results. But mostly, I like to stick to the classics because it's what I know and it's where I don't suck so much. Also I hate doing dishes. So whenever possible I like to cook whatever I'm cooking in one pot or pan which is what I did last night with this simple execution of Chicken Bonne Femme.

"Good woman's chicken", as I understand it, is so named because it represents something a resourceful housewife might come up with with a store of simple ingredients. As an aspiring housewife myself I take this as high praise. It's also a versatile baseline for other New Orleans classics. Throw some peas on this and you've got Chicken Clemenceau, or maybe with some Bernaise sauce you can call it Chicken Pontalba. In any event it's about as homey a dish as one can think of and that suits our purposes nicely.

• Start by chopping up the following:
  
  One bunch of green onions
  
  
  
  One very blurry medium sized Spanish onion
  
  
  
  About this much fresh parsley. (I could have used the whole bunch but I'm saving some for some pasta I'm making later this week.)
  
  
  
  And I like a lot of garlic so go through at least one (maybe one and a half) of these
  
  



• Okay throw it all together in a bowl and set it aside somewhere. Then go grab two of these.
  
  
  
  That's your ordinary run-of-the-dirt Russett Potato. I used these because, well, that's what I had laying around the house last night. But I should note that I've been using red potatoes to make soup lately as well as the best french fries I've ever done so I might recommend subbing those in next time.
  
  Anyway just hack at them until you get these little irregular shapes.
  
  
  
  I've got them in a bowl here tossed with salt, black pepper, cayenne, and a little garlic powder. Do that or something like it and set them aside.



• Chicken. You're gonna need to brown some chicken pieces. First, dust them lightly with a mixture of flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne. What kind of chicken pieces is up to you. Some people like white meat, some people like dark meat. Some people like skin, some people like bones. What I've got here is boneless chicken thighs.
  
  
  
  Why boneless? Because they were easier to shove into the cast iron skillet to brown in a little vegetable oil. Like this.
  
  
  
  Just as that is about ready to come up is about the time in the process when your wife will call you on the telephone and ask you to run into the other room to check for the exact number printer cartridge she is supposed to be buying. If you keep her on the phone as you walk back into the kitchen, she'll probably wait until the exact moment that you're reaching for the tongs to ask, "Wait. Are you sure it said 4216 and not 4260? Because I don't see that here at all." And then you'll get a little distracted and knock over the whole plastic Saints cup full of slotted spoons, ladles, and spatulae you were retrieving the tongs from. That may even take a full glass of water with it on its way to the floor resulting in shit everywhere plus one very excited cat.
  
  Don't freak out. Just get off the stupid phone, throw the scattered utensils into the sink, put some paper towels down and remove the chicken from the skillet. Set aside.



• Okay, now, deglaze the pan with something. Most people will do this with a little white wine but we had shoved all of our white wine into Menckles' backpack and took it with us to Krewe du Vieux Saturday night. I did happen to have some brandy available. It did the trick.
  
  By the way, now would be a good time to start pre-heating the oven. This worked well enough.
  
  



• Bacon is such a cliche nowadays. WHATEVER, get over yourself, Bourdain, and chop some up. That looks like enough right there.
  
  
  
  Add some to your deglazed pan with a chunk of butter. Pause to take one glorious photograph.
  
  



• With the exception of the chicken, start adding all the stuff we chopped up earlier to the pan. It doesn't really matter what order you do this in. Just make it so that your bacon fat is rendered, your vegetables are softened, and your potatoes are at least pliable and maybe starting to crisp. Add some herbs if have them laying around. Thyme and rosemary are nice.
  
  



• Really what you're looking for is a situation where all that stuff is cooked down to the point where your chicken pieces fit comfortably back into the pan with it. Notice I dropped some more butter on top just to be an asshole.
  
  



• Okay. Whole skillet goes in the oven. Cooking time at 350 degrees was about 45 minutes in this case. Although I left it in there a bit longer because I had to help Menckles carry a bunch of shit into the house just as the timer was going off. Just make sure you aren't serving your bonne femme any raw chicken and you'll be alright. Here's what it looked like.
  
  

Maybe the refined professional out there would say the presentation is a little monochromatic or something. So, I don't know, sprinkle some parsley on top or something. Otherwise, enjoy.

Moving on

New Orleans Saints cut tight end Jeremy Shockey

Well let's see. Our friend Poochie was over the hill, often injured, overrated, about to have his role in the offense taken over by and up and coming star, and also from what I'm seeing in the Tweeter Tubes, he was every bit the dick to people around him we suspected he was.

So yeah. Bye, Poochie. Try to stay hydrated out there.

Interesting

City Council RFP

"The City Council of New Orleans desires to engage an experienced professional or private firm to formulate or evaluate proposed changes to the various city employess' pension systems..."

You see, since New Orleans city employees are mostly not unionized, we wouldn't expect much of a problem...

Internet thought of the day

From The Annoyed Librarian's list of predictions for 2011:

Facebook will replace all Internet search and independent news reading, as people finally realize they don’t care about anything their friends don’t already like.

I think this might be the year. Search engines are becoming overwhelmed by content farms and spamdexing. Add to this the growing distaste people have for uncomfortable ideas, and you get the Facebook universe.

I know that most Facebook complaints start with concerns over privacy. But leaving aside the service's own questionable approach to sharing users' personal data, I wonder if we should focus less on what information is shared and more on how it is applied. If your Facebook profile features a lot of pictures of you out partying with your friends, there's nothing intrinsically wrong with that. Just like there's nothing wrong with reading and sharing news online. Just like there's nothing wrong with belonging to this or that political organization. Instead of asking whether or not people should want to share their perfectly acceptable activities with the internet, we should be asking why a creditor, or a school or an employer should make any of this their business. Okay so I went to Krewe du Vieux this weekend and people took pictures of me wearing a silly hat. Who cares?

The real problem I see with evolving social media is, as AL's blurb suggests, it facilitates a more closed circle model of communication where it's more difficult to stumble upon information and points of view that come from outside of one's accepted social or professional peer groups. I disagree strongly with much of what I read on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and for that matter on professional news sites on a daily basis. But I try to read and follow (or even "friend") as much as I can possibly hope to consume. I'm not sure that's the majority approach, however.

What's disgusting? Bob Delgiorno

Like a lot of people in New Orleans, I was a bit out of sorts yesterday and so I'm only just this morning reading Athenae's account of Sunday in Madison.

Protesters were fighting to retain the rights of organized labor everywhere, now under siege by the newly elected governor and Republican legislature. Democratic state senators fled the state, avoiding a quorum call on the governor's budget bill, and in their absence the citizens of the state decided to move in. Some carried instruments, a flute, a drum. Others pounded on plastic buckets. A child banged a pot lid and sleigh bell together. "What's disgusting?" they called out during a lull in the music.

"UNION BUSTING!"

Also here's a pretty okay column from Paul Krugman which at least makes the crucial point.

Some background: Wisconsin is indeed facing a budget crunch, although its difficulties are less severe than those facing many other states. Revenue has fallen in the face of a weak economy, while stimulus funds, which helped close the gap in 2009 and 2010, have faded away.

In this situation, it makes sense to call for shared sacrifice, including monetary concessions from state workers. And union leaders have signaled that they are, in fact, willing to make such concessions.

But Mr. Walker isn’t interested in making a deal. Partly that’s because he doesn’t want to share the sacrifice: even as he proclaims that Wisconsin faces a terrible fiscal crisis, he has been pushing through tax cuts that make the deficit worse. Mainly, however, he has made it clear that rather than bargaining with workers, he wants to end workers’ ability to bargain.

This morning, WWL radio's Bob Delgiorno was being as unhelpful as ever for listeners tuning in in search of informative discussion. All of WWL's hosts are bad but when it comes to ignoring facts and talking over and around his guests and callers, nobody does it quite like Bob. A phone conversation this morning with Louisiana AFL-CIO Vice President Robert "Tiger" Hammond went like this, for example. (paraphrased)

Delgiorno: Walker is saying times are tough and everybody's got to make sacrifices to fix this budget. And these public workers have got to be willing to give some things up.

Hammond: But, Bob, the unions have already made these kinds of concessions. But Walker is telling them that's not enough and that they need to give up their collective bargaining...

Delgiorno: (Immediately changes subject to "taxpayer supported union dues" and then moments later returns to) Walker is saying times are tough and everybody's got to make sacrifices to fix this budget.

And this circle was repeated several more times. And it's what DelGiorno does every day. When we allow a shouting doofus like this to serve as a professional information conduit for our community, is it any wonder we have difficulty keeping informed?

But is it far enough away from a church?

Deutsches Haus negotiating purchase of state-owned property on at Bayou St. John

The land is currently zoned residential, Bourg said, so Deutsches Haus may have to seek a conditional-use permit or zoning change. For that, they will likely need the support of the Faubourg St. John group and nearby Desaix Area Neighborhood Association.

Update: Meanwhile, Uptown might get another Walgreens which I'm beginning to think is the only land use that actually complies with New Orleans zoning rules.

Q.O.T.D.

"We try to learn, but we got bats"

Happy Marty's Something

After last year's apocalypse bating convergence of a city wide election and a Saints Superbowl championship right in the thick of Carnival season, I gotta say I'm digging the late Mardi Gras this year. Although it's exciting in early seasons to see the grandstands go up in front of Gallier Hall during December, the value of time to decompress after the holidays should not be underestimated.

Plus the warmer (but not yet too hot) weather is more... well... Carnival-like. Not to mention foggy.



If the fog sticks around tonight it can only add to the atmosphere at Krewe du Vieux. Night time fog in the Quarter is one of the coolest things about this time of year.

Of course the late parade season does have its drawbacks, bigger crowds and more spring break assholes being the first two that come to mind. But there will plenty of time for bitching once things get going. For now... cause for optimism. The following (including the all-cap emphasis) is cut and pasted from a NOLAinfo alert that was sent to subscribers yesterday.

Owners of property along parade routes are reminded that this Mardi Gras ordinance also prohibits the erecting of stands or platforms on the sidewalk, street and/or medians. The CHAINING OF LADDERS to public property, light standards, utility poles, and/or to each other, IS PROHIBITED. ALL LADDERS used by parade spectators should be structurally sound. No ladders, chairs, ice chests, chaise lounges, etc. should be placed in intersections, on medians or between curbs of public streets. The rule governing ladders is: LADDERS SHOULD BE PLACED AS MANY FEET BACK FROM THE STREET CURB AS THE LADDER IS HIGH.

MARDI GRAS is a show enjoyed by millions, and the New Orleans Police Department will utilize all resources to assure that it is as safe as possible for all to enjoy.

Will this be the year we finally get the ladder problem under control?

Too generous

BP tells Feinberg he's being too generous with claims

The administrator of the $20 billion fund for Gulf oil spill victims, under fire for red tape and delays, has been told by BP that his formula for determining final payments is actually too generous

Also "too generous" is the AP description of Feinberg's position and background.

An Associated Press review published Monday that included interviews with legal experts, government officials and more than 300 Gulf residents found a claims process beset by red tape and delay, and at the center of it all a fund administrator whose ties to BP have raised questions about his independence.

Now, lawmakers in Washington are demanding the White House step in, the Louisiana governor and others want a federal judge to intervene, and the people most affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster are threatening to line the courthouse steps if they don't get the changes they seek from Feinberg.

Feinberg, the Washington lawyer who runs the fund and was lauded for his work overseeing the compensation fund for 9/11 victims, has insisted he is being fair.

Missing from this generous account of the (ahem) "lauded" for his 9-11 fund work Feinberg, is the fact that a federal court has ruled he has no right to claim he is in any way "independent" of BP. There is no excuse to write any account of anything Feinberg says or does without including this information.

Put bars and churches on every other corner

Two Riverbend restaurants approved for liquor sales, but Central City bar can't reopen

In Central City where the preachers run everything,

Bean Brothers Lounge, however, did not fare so well. A decades-old establishment and occasional stop on Central City second-line parades, the lounge has been closed for long enough that it lost its conditional use to operate and could not reopen without the city’s permission

At the January planning meeting, Michael Robinson of the Jericho Road development said he didn’t strictly oppose the lounge, but that his neighborhood had not been approached by the owner.
“Even though historically there has been a lot of bars in the area, it’s something we’d like to get out of,” Robinson said. “In general, we are in favor of the moratorium, and this is in support of that.”

City Councilwoman Stacy Head, who represents the area, described her reasons Thursday for opposing its reopening, starting with “intense opposition from community members and leaders.” A church is 110 feet away, and the bar is actually built across property lines so that four structures would receive commercial zoning in a residential neighborhood if it were approved, she said before leading the council’s “nay” vote.

Can we at least agree that this has got to be the most irrelevant criterion for denying a liquor license imaginable? Tomorrow I will go down to St. Louis Cathedral with a tape measure and see if I can get 110 feet away without striking booze in any direction.

Conspicuously absent

Athenae writes:

And hey, Mr. President, anytime you want to show up and put on a cheesehead, Bucky's ready for you:

In an interview with Milwaukee television station WTMJ, President Barack Obama said he was monitoring the situation in Madison and acknowledged the need for budget cuts. But, he said, pushing public employees away from the bargaining table "seems like more of an assault on unions."

SEEMS?!? You're welcome for that fucking election, Obama.

This is one of those times where the "political realities" defense of Obama's passivity ceases to have any power. Here is a perfect opportunity to counter a year's plus worth of somewhat manufactured and mostly incoherent tea party rage with an actual bona fide demonstration that deficit hawkery isn't the only acceptable form of populism. And yet, where is he? Where is much of the Democratic leadership for that matter? You want your momentum back? Here it is. And it's not just in Wisconsin either. I often wonder what this President and his party actually give a shit about. This is one of those frequent times.

Update: I refer to Tea Party outrage as "somewhat manufactured and mostly incoherent" here when it may make better sense to describe it as manufactured incoherence. Anyone who thinks working class Americans haven't had reason to be outraged hasn't been paying attention for.. oh thirty years now. The Tea Party movement of the past election cycle, though, has been (mostly) the latest successful attempt by money to confuse and co-opt that rage. And that's, of course, nothing new.

I and many others have long argued that the way to beat this back is not through the sort of elitist pooh-poohing we get from Obama and establishment Democrats of justifiable outrage and aggressive tonality. Responsive political leadership would, instead, welcome the opportunity an energized electorate presents to address its valid complaints.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Crowds of public employees protesting a sweeping Ohio proposal to strip unions of collective bargaining rights are wearing red in an effort to steer public opinion away from the idea that unions are all-Democrat organizations. The move came as union protests by firefighters, teachers, police and state workers were joined by a smaller number of tea party activists who support the legislation. The measure would end collective bargaining and replace negotiated salary schedules with merit raises.

It's bi-partisanship we can believe in. Furthermore, it's an opportunity to affect meaningful political realignment while pulling us all back from the abyss. Even if Obama doesn't really give a shit about working people, this is a big big chance for him just within the context of the stupid politics. Is he going to just let that go too?

Awesome bi-partisan agreement

Obama Proposes $20.3 Million Reduction in Library Funding

President Obama delivered a budget proposal to Congress on Monday that would cut federal library funding by 9.5 percent.

Obama is requesting $242.6 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which is down from $265.9 million in FY11 (or $282.2 million if $16.3 million in earmarks is included). The Library Services and Technology Act, which IMLS administers, is budgeted for $193.2 million, down from $213.5 million.

Louisiana's share of LSTA funding came to $2,634,925 for FY2010. The State Library uses this money to help local public libraries with internet connectivity, public online database access, inter-library loan services, and several other things including literacy programs such as the summer reading program.

It's disappointing to see Obama's budget proposal ask public library users to sacrifice this way, particularly on the heels of his despicable decision to continue the Bush tax cuts for millionaires at the end of the last Congress.

But then it isn't surprising to see Obama open negotiations by making huge egregious sacrifices before compromising that stance later on. Nor is it surprising to see Republicans take a... somewhat different tact.

All IMLS, LSTA Funding in Jeopardy

A bill that is coming up for a vote this week in the House of Representatives* calls for the elimination of all Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) funding, including Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding, for the remainder of FY2011.

The good news here is the President and Congressional Republicans both agree on something. They hate public libraries. The only quibble now is just how much they hate them. We're fast on the way to a bi-partisan compromise where "both sides" win. And, of course, libraries lose but that's never the point.

*Amendment 35 to the budget continuing resolution was introduced by Rep. Scott Garrett (R–N.J.)

I-Walls

WWLTV: Corps using floodwall design that failed in Katrina?

NEW ORLEANS – One of the lessons the flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina taught New Orleans and the engineering community is that so-called I-walls – like the ones that failed along the London Ave., 17th St. and Industrial canals – are less stable and more prone to failure than upside down T-walls.

“In general, I think it’s safe to say that T-walls are a more substantial structure,” said Bob Turner, executive director of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Authority East.

Now, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers scrambles to meet the June deadline for 100-year flood protection in this region’s levee system, construction crews are building a floodwall along Hayne Blvd. in eastern New Orleans.

And as they drive 45-foot steel sheet piles into the ground and build a floodwall, they are also doing something that some engineers and public officials did not expect and are clearly concerned about. The crews are building an I-wall on top of the levee.

Answering one question

Thanks to The Lens for being on this.

As Louisiana wraps its Gulf Opportunity Zone lending program, only 3 percent of the $7.8 billion went to projects in New Orleans, a review of state records show.

-snip-

These projects include:

These projects include:

* $96 million for a rental car facility at Louis Armstrong International Airport
* $30 million for improvements to the Tulane University campus
* $25 million for Sewerage and Water Board infrastructure
* $22.5 million for a hydrogen pipeline connecting New Orleans to Norco
* $15 million for a Drury Inn and Suites hotel in the Central Business District
* $4.5 million for a Borders Bookstore on St. Charles Avenue at Louisiana
* $7 million for two Robert Fresh Market grocery stores, one in Lakeview and the other in Carrollton.
* $7 million for a warehouse and distribution facility at the Port of New Orleans, west of the Industrial Canal.
* $5.5 million for a new residential facility and headquarters for Bridge House, a substance abuse clinic and homeless shelter
* $8.5 million for a boutique hotel in the Warehouse District
* $4 million for a New Orleans-based company, Southern Theatres, to renovate the 12,000-square-foot Canal Place cinema, along with a 50,000-square-foot theater in Kenner.

And, in case you haven't been paying attention today,

Bookstore chain Borders Group Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today and said it will close about 30 percent of its stores nationwide, including the two it operates in the New Orleans area. The bookstore chain plans to shut both its Metairie store at 3131 Veterans Memorial Blvd. and its New Orleans store at 3338 St. Charles Ave in the coming weeks. The latter location is the site of the former House of Bultman Funeral Home, which Borders converted and opened in 2008.

They all moved to Dallas

Harry Shearer

Now for what we don't know. According to Allison Plyer, of the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center, which makes it its business to collect all available statistical information on the area, we don't know where those 100,000 people are now, whether (as Barbara Bush famously predicted) they're happier in their new environs or whether they ache to come home. No public or private entity has thought it important to track those folks who were so suddenly uprooted. We have better information about the movie preferences of minor-league ballplayers than about these survivors of a major catastrophe.

"From Cairo to Madison"

I know not a lot of people in New Orleans have been following the attempt by Wisconsin's Republican Governor Scott Walker to crush the state's public employee unions but it's kind of a big deal.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Scott Walker proposed stripping nearly all government workers of their collective bargaining rights. And as a warning shot across the bow, he told Wisconsin reporters Friday that he's alerted the National Guard ahead of any unrest, or in the event that state services are interrupted. Under his plan, which he'll include in his forthcoming budget proposal, most state workers would no longer be able to negotiate for better pensions or health benefits or anything other than higher salaries, which couldn't rise at a quicker pace than the Consumer Price Index.

I don't think I need to explain how fundamental collective bargaining rights have been to the creation and preservation of the American middle class. An attack on anyone's right to unionize is essentially an attack on every individual's equitable treatment by his or her employer with regard to salary, safety, health care, retirement, and just general fairness and human dignity.

Following the sweeping Republican victories in state houses last November, it isn't surprising to see this kind of assault beginning now in several states.

Today Wisconsin is a flash point but it won't be the last. Here's some of what's going on there. (link via First Draft)

Hundreds Turn Out To Protest Bill

Meanwhile, protests and rallies are already taking shape in an attempt to thwart or modify the governor's plans.

Hundreds of University of Wisconsin-Madison students and their teachers told the governor to drop a bill that would strip most public workers of almost all their collective bargaining rights.

Chanting "kill this bill" and brandishing signs with messages such as "From Cairo to Madison Workers Unite." the students and instructors jammed the corridor leading to Walker's Capitol office. They poured valentines on the desk of Walker's office guard, which asked the governor not to break their hearts.

You may find it hokey but I actually like to see these union members frame their protest in the context of the Egyptian revolution. It will be interesting to watch American pundits who love to cheer on foreign human rights movements they aren't very familiar with turn on their own once the news cycle catches up to this.

At least the Green Bay Packers get it.

Present and former members of the Green Bay Packers, all members of the National Football League Players Association, have signed a letter in support of the AFL-CIO's efforts to derail Gov. Scott Walker's plan to cut some union bargaining rights.

The letter was signed by Curtis Fuller, Chris Jacke, Charles Jordan, Bob Long, Steve Okoniewski, Brady Poppinga and Jason Spitz.

The statements reads: "We know that it is teamwork on and off the field that makes the Packers and Wisconsin great. As a publicly owned team we wouldn't have been able to win the Super Bowl without the support of our fans.

"It is the same dedication of our public workers every day that makes Wisconsin run. They are the teachers, nurses and child care workers who take care of us and our families. But now in an unprecedented political attack Governor Walker is trying to take away their right to have a voice and bargain at work.

"The right to negotiate wages and benefits is a fundamental underpinning of our middle class. When workers join together it serves as a check on corporate power and helps ALL workers by raising community standards. Wisconsin's long standing tradition of allowing public sector workers to have a voice on the job has worked for the state since the 1930s. It has created greater consistency in the relationship between labor and management and a shared approach to public work.

"These public workers are Wisconsin's champions every single day and we urge the Governor and the State Legislature to not take away their rights."

The NFLPA's office in Washington is expected to make a statement later Tuesday.

Notice there's nothing in there about buying a second home in Dallas.

Meanwhile, they've apparently scared the Governor out of the Capitol.

MADISON, Wis. -- For the first time in many years, Gov. Scott Walker will deliver his annual budget address in some place other than the state Capitol.

Walker announced Tuesday he will deliver his budget address at Vita Plus, a livestock manufacturer based on Madison’s East Side. A joint session of the Legislature will meet at the plant at 1:30 p.m. next Tuesday.

Link, again, via First Draft where there are further updates and photos from Scout and I expect there will be for much of the day.