Sydney Torres for Mayor Bumper Sticker

This is not an endorsement, but I thought this Sydney Torres for Mayor bumper sticker was funny.

Holy Cao!

Dollar Bill is out, Joe Cao is in. Great news for New Orleans. The Democrats were so self-destructive on this issue. They should have forced Bill Jefferson out and allowed a Democrat to be elected in his place rather than stand behind yet another criminal among their ranks and allow him to lose to a Republican.

Bobby Jindal in the Wall Street Journal

Good op-ed by Bobby Jindal in the Wall Street Journal.

Krewe d'Etat to Ride New Uptown Route

Krewe d'Etat plans to take a new Uptown route for Mardi Gras 2009, starting on Jefferson, turning on Magazine, then to Napoleon and St. Charles.

Bobby, Veto the Pay Raise

I saw this great Bobby, Veto the Pay Raise bumper sticker.

(Hat tip: New Orleans Bumper Stickers).

Veto the Pay Raise

Worst roads in the nation? Check.
Failing public schools? Check.
Corruption? Check.
Too much regulation? Check.
Taxes too high? Check.
Despite the failure of leadership among our elected officials, the City employees have decided to treat themselves to meals on taxpayer money, and the legislature decided they needed their pay doubled. Governor Jindal needs to grow a pair and veto the pay raise.

Red Light Cameras on St. Charles Avenue are a Bad Idea

The City has decided to put up red light cameras in a desperate grab for more taxpayer money. Mark my words, this will follow the same pattern as it has in every other city that has done this: (1) initially, the City will raise a bunch of money catching people running red lights; (2) people will figure out where the lights are and slam on the brakes as they approach those intersections to avoid a ticket, causing lots of injuries and property damage in rear-end accidents; (3) as the accidents pile up and people learn better, they will avoid red light tickets more and more, causing the City to "earn" less money off the backs of taxpayers; and (4) the City, desperate to keep this new source of taxpayer money flowing, will shorten the yellow light time at the ticketing intersections in order to catch more people, leading to more accidents, etc. Red light cameras are a bad idea anywhere, but they're particularly idiotic on historic St. Charles Avenue, where they've been sprouting up lately with an ugly gray box in the middle of the neutral ground, unsightly tall poles with ugly cameras attached, and attention-grabbing street signs announcing a red light intersection.

More Jefferson Family Criminals

Pretty soon they'll be hosting Jefferson family reunions in prison. I am shocked -- SHOCKED -- to report that Dollar Bill isn't the only criminal in his family. A group of them, including assessor Betty Jefferson, set up bogus "non-profits" that were designed to take taxpayer money and profit the Jeffersons. I reported this before, and Forgotston has given this great coverage. There is no legitimate (or Constitutional) justification for the government to confiscate taxpayer money only to dole it out to pet non-profits of their choosing, whether they are legitimate or criminal. Just return this money to the taxpayers, who can distribute it as they see fit a lot better that our politicians can.

Clancy DuBos on Jim Bernazzani

Clancy DuBos has an interesting review of the situation involving FBI Special Agent in Charge Jim Bernazzani.

Bobby Jindal's Progress

The Wall Street Journal has a good column on Bobby Jindal's progress.

Bobby Jindal for Vice President?

This American Spectator article, reprinted on The Wall Street Journal's website, makes a strong case that Senator John McCain should pick Bobby Jindal for Vice President.

CityBusiness Poll on Tax Surplus

CityBusiness runs a poll each week. This week's poll asks what the State should do with the $1 billion budget surplus. It gives suggestions such as roads and education. Apparently, it did not occur to the folks at CityBusiness to include the option of returning the money to the taxpayers who paid all those taxes in the first place.

ESPN's The Sports Guy on New Orleans

Link here.

Errol Laborde's Top 25 Mardi Gras Parades

Errol Laborde's Top 25 Parades of Carnival.

Jazzfest Lineup Announced

Link.

Brangelina to Adopt Another African Baby

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have decided to buy adopt another African baby.

Bill Clinton is Running for President Again

Bill Clinton has decided to run for President again.

Kentwood Still Supports Britney Spears

Kentwood, Louisiana still supports local train wreck Britney Spears.

Bill Jefferson Regrets Making Family Members Criminals

Dollar Bill Jefferson now wants the feds to ignore his family members' crimes. Obviously, he should not have made all these sham companies in their names to launder his dirty money. If my spouse/father/brother was a known criminal who asked me to sign off on a sham company in my name that did nothing but receive suspicious checks, I would say thanks but no thanks.

(Image source: People Get Ready).

Ray Nagin, Economic Genius

Ray Nagin has positioned himself as a shoe-in for the Nobel Prize in Economics with his latest scholarly work, "Recession: Bad for Everyone Else, Good for the Chocolate City."

Pres Kabacoff and the Voodoo Priestess

Jeffrey, Oyster and Suspect Device react to Pres Kabacoff's plan to develop a healing center with his voodoo priestess girlfriend.

Woman With Large Screen TV and Hardwood Floors Whines About "Pitiful" Free Money From Taxpayers

A New Orleans resident, Sharon Jasper, had the gall to sit in her taxpayer subsidized home with a large screen tv and hardwood floors and whine that it's "pitiful" what the rest of us taxpayers are giving her for free. If anyone knows Ms. Jasper, I hope they tell her how sorry us people who work for a living are that she doesn't enjoy as many luxuries as she might otherwise like courtesy of those of us who choose to work for a living and pay taxes and that we hope she can upgrade to a better free government handout that she finds less pitiful real soon.

Thanks for the Christmas Eve Property Tax Bill

The morons at City Hall think it's a good idea to mail property tax bills right before Christmas. I received my bill on Christmas Eve, as I assume others did. Do the idiots who run the government ever stop to think that perhaps people don't enjoy receiving a big property tax bill that must be largely a waste of money given the crappy condition of our roads, public schools, etc. on the night before Christmas? Would it kill them to send the bill some time other than right before Christmas? Do politicians ever think like normal human beings? Imagine if you had a business with thousands of customers whom you only billed once a year -- don't you think you'd have the common sense to issue that once-a-year bill some time other than Christmas Eve?

Good Press for New Orleans from the New York Times

New Orleans received some good press from, of all places, the doom and gloom New York Times.

Bill and Hillary Clinton's Drug Use

American Digest takes a look at Bill and Hillary Clinton's past drug use in response to the Clinton campaign's attempt to score points bases on Barack Obama's admitted drug use. "Believe me, the last thing Hillary Clinton wants is for anyone on her campaign or any other campaign to start looking into drug use. Especially for Candidates shacking up in Berkeley . . . in the lovin' summer of 1971."

Sucre on The Today Show

Joel Dondis' sweet shop Sucre will be featured on The Today Show this morning.

Patrick Quinn Takes the Fifth Amendment

Hotel developer Pat Quinn is a mess. His nasty divorce and trip to rehab in Antigua have been the subject of frequent media attention, spiced up with the political angle to it with Julie Quinn, John Young and Mary Lou McCall. The four of them need adult supervision. Quinn appears to be hitting rock bottom. Yesterday, he took the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify in a deposition. He was sworn in and asked his name, which he gave. The next question was "what is your address," and he refused to answer, citing the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination. He then walked out on the deposition and left the building, refusing to answer any more questions.

Armed Robbery at Prytania and Webster

An Uptown resident was armed via a gun to the head at Prytania and Webster Uptown. The victim cooperated with the armed robbers and fortunately was not injured, though the thugs took his wallet and jacket. In an e-mail, his wife recommends that if this happens to you, wait a couple hours before reporting stolen credit cards. That way, in that time, the bad guys may use the credit cards at places like gas stations that take surveillance videos.

Hurricane Katrina Fiction Reading List

Today's Times-Picayune has a Hurricane Katrina fiction reading list in the Living section. I've read more of the Katrina non-fiction than fiction but plan to read more of the fiction next year. Here is the list:

• A Little Bit Ruinedby Patty Friedmann.
• Blink of an Eyeby Rexanne Becnel.
• Jesus Out to Seaby James Lee Burke.
• Life in the Wake: Fiction from Post-Katrina New Orleansby the writers of NOLAFugees.com.
• Last Known Victimby Erica Spindler.
  
• Murder in the Rue Chartresby Greg Herren.
• New Orleans Noiredited by Julie Smith.
• Revacuationby Brad Benischek.
• The Tin Roof Blowdownby James Lee Burke.
• Tubby Meets Katrinaby Tony Dunbar.
  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Wendy Yow Ellis Discusses Relationship with David Vitter

Prostitute Wendy Yow Ellis discusses her relationship with David Vitter.

Trial Date Set for Vince Marinello

Vince Marinello will stand trial on Feb. 25, 2008 for the shooting death of his estranged wife. Things don't look good for Vince, who made a to do list of things to do before he murdered his wife.

It's Time for Eddie Jordan to Resign

Eddie Jordan is a disaster. He needs to resign. He has done the unthinkable -- almost managing to make us forget how incompetent he is at his job, i.e., at prosecuting criminals. His incompetence as a District Attorney has largely been overshadowed this week by the need for taxpayers to pay for his racist employment practices and by his apparent harboring of a fugitive cop killer. We all need to jam the phone lines at the District Attorney's office with calls for his resignation, tell all of our other elected officials they need to publicly call for his resignation, tell our state senators and state house members to impeach him, flood local talk radio with complaints about him, and do anything else you can think of to force him out of office. The Eddie Jordan Should Resign bumper sticker is available here.

Wall Street Journal Column on Bobby Jindal

The Wall Street Journal's John Fund has a column on Bobby Jindal's win.

Quentin Brown for City Council

Just kidding with the post title. I'm not really endorsing him, but I thought I'd share my experience with local character and perennial City Council candidate Quentin Brown, who is now running for the at large slot that is open after Oliver Thomas' guilty plea and resignation.

During the run-up to the last City Council election, I was outside edging my lawn when Quentin walked by and introduced himself as a candidate for the spot that Stacy Head ultimately won. He was funny. Since I was tending to my lawn, he also offered his lawn care services to me. He gave me two business cards, one for the lawn care and odd jobs business, and for some reason, he gave me a second business card with a business name of "Cash Money, Inc." or something along those lines. I looked it up in the Louisiana Secretary of State corporations database, and it wasn't listed there, so if he really has such a company, it must be registered in another state or offshore.

My lawn guy hadn't returned after Katrina at the time, so I called Quentin for an estimate and ended up using him for months. Many yard men come and go whenever they want, and you never know when they may show up, making it difficult to open locked gates, arrange payment, etc. Quentin was different. He came promptly every two weeks and always called in advance to confirm to make sure he was paid on time.

He was also serious about campaigning, saying that he took three days a week away from his businesses to campaign. His handwritten campaign flyers and signs were classic. His signature catch phrase was "No More B.S." On some signs, he wrote out the word "bull" and abbreviated the "s." On other signs, though, he abbreviated the "b" but spelled out the "s" word. If you're going to abbreviate one of the two words in b.s., who would abbreviate the first word but not the second?

I ended up parting ways with Quentin and his lawn service for two reasons. My pre-Katrina yard man returned to the area, and I wanted to support him since he flooded. Also, Quentin pushed his car detailing business as an add-on service he could provide, and I had him detail one of my cars. When he and his assistant were done, the loose change in my console was missing.

Yellow Jacket Problem

I have been having a problem with yellow jackets lately. Apparently, this is an active time of year for them, and they have formed a nest. I tried some wasp and hornet killer, but it hasn't killed them all yet. Today, I sprayed some more of the pesticide, and I put up a yellow jacket trap. We'll see if that works. The trap I purchased is reusable, but I don't think I'm going to want to clean out a bunch of dead yellow jackets to reuse the same trap, so today, I ordered a disposable trap. Hopefully, the combination of the insecticide spray and the trap will eliminate the problem.

Bill Jefferson on List of Most Corrupt Congressmen

I am shocked to report that Bill Jefferson made the list of the most corrupt members of Congress.

Little Tokyo Owner Leases Site of Table 1

The owner of Little Tokyo has leased the site of the restaurant Table 1 at Magazine and Washington. Presumably, he will open another Little Tokyo there. Seems strange given that it's right next door to Sake Cafe.