Here is a story from today’s New York Times about receiving care from a nurse or doctor at a drugstore where your prescription can also be filled. The concept in interesting and is clearly only a band-aid to the problems with healthcare in this country right now, but I wonder if something like this would work here for the time being?

Well, by now I’m sure everyone’s been going over the new maps. Personally, I don’t really see much difference. But then I have to remind myself that even a little is a lot in a flood situation. One side of me really wants to believe the ACE but another side of me wonders why they have been allowed to work on this project at all. I also can’t ignore the idea that there’s a political agenda behind the maps. But really, it doesn’t matter. And its still better than if the City or the State were running the project.

Everyone’s going to have to decide if they even want to bother looking at them. I would think most people would out of curiosity if nothing else. But I also think most people in some of the more prone areas have enough denial to ignore the information if they want even if the ACE had any credibility in this city. Still, I guess if you’re buying or selling a home right now, this could be important information to have.

One interesting thing ACE is doing is providing Google Earth Overlays. You can download Google Earth for free. Then you can use the overlays and interact with the maps in a much more meaningful way. It’s a little disorienting at first but worth it. Here’s a screen shot I took of the shanty with the 100 year overlay in place.

heh heh – hundred year storm….I’m just happy if I come up with a good plan to make it through the weekend.

Maybe or maybe not? I really don’t care anymore. Knock yourself out Mayor Kevorkian. What really does interest me is that naginforgovernor.com has been purchased and is “under construction”.

It’s not so interesting that the website/domain name has been reserved. To me, the more interesting part of the whole short story is what company reserved/purchased the website name.

Imagine Software LLC, the company that has essentially run the city’s Office of Technology since Nagin was elected in 2002 is the owner of that domain name.

Imagine Software LLC is the company that was begun by Greg Meffert and other friends who ran the city’s IT department for about 4 years.

Imagine Software LLC is the company that has received large city contracts for “work” that frankly is weak. Anyone tried to use the city web site in the last two years? Anytime I click a link I get an internal error message.

Imagine Software LLC is the company that “owns” a yacht that was used as a “party ship” after Gov….err Mayor Nagin’s re-election campaign.

Imagine Software LLC is the company that was or did bid on crime cameras for the City of New Orleans. They installed some cameras that never worked or did not have any “innards”. Kind of like an empty shoebox. Nice box, where are the shoes?

Greg Meffert btw is the guy that squashed a 7 million-dollar federal grant for interoperable communications before Katrina because the technology companies that Meffert dealt with were not involved in the grant.

So where’s this going? Not sure, but I know registering domain names is rather cheap. Not a big amount of money to be lost if you choose not to do something with it. But I also know and have known since Katrina that something in the mayor’s office really stinks and it’s seeping out of the city’s IT office on a daily basis.

I wrote a letter to the editor of the Times-Picayune and it was published on Saturday, August 18. It is in regards to the homeless people occupying the New Orleans Center and how maybe it would be a good idea to clean up the Superdome area before regular football season starts. (I think it would also be a great idea to address the homeless problem as well, for that matter). You can read the article here.

In the interest of not offending anyone, scaring off potential tourists or new residents, and portraying the city of New Orleans in the most positive light possible, I’ve decided to go for a new style when I post something. Certainly hope that you enjoy and learn just how easy and wonderful the city of New Orleans is after Ms. Katrina. I hope this new style will bring millions of people rushing to New Orleans, to experience just how great we are rebuilding America’s most unique city.

I woke up this morning and had some cereal for breakfast. The milk was so cold I got a brain freeze and almost passed out! What a way to start the day! Plus it was Capt’n Crunch. I just love those little red cereal pieces. Did anyone know they tasted like fruit? I was very surprised.

The Pepper-naitor was jumping all over the place wanting his walk. I wouldn’t want to hold my bladder either so I threw on some shorts and out we headed. Boy has anyone noticed how hot it is? I have a brilliant idea! Why don’t we build a big plastic bubble over the country, air conditioned of course, so we don’t have to suffer in this heat? I’m going to write my wonderful congressperson and senator on this idea. I know they will jump right on it because my ideas are perfect for everyone!

As Pepper and I were taking our laps around the French Quarter, a wonderful man approached us. In other cities, I might have been concerned about some kind of criminal activity. But not here in New Orleans. Everything is wonderful, all is well. This wonderful man just needed some spare pocket change because his momma’s baby needed some diapers. That is really a worthy cause so I went to the ATM and got him 50 dollars. Diapers cost money now a days you know. As long as that baby’s ass isn’t dirty, I’m a happy camper. I’m sure he would never use the money for some other less-worthy cause.
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Today was a Raheim and Jamay day. We played some softball. Their dad bought them each gloves so we could play. Raheim has a natural talent for sports, he can hit the ball to the fence with ease. He’s a very aggressive kid. His brother, Jamay, is very softspoken and wise beyond his 9 yrs and patiently puts up with his brother’s constant harrassment.

We took extra time to get Jamay’s batting skills up to speed. I noticed Jamay was having trouble focusing on the ball, whether it’s catching or hitting. I said what is it that makes you mad? He talks to me a lot about kids who pick on him and people stealing his stuff from his yard. Raheim and I said, ‘pretend this ball is that thing’. Raheim added, ‘Pretend this ball is Hurrican Katrina’. We coached Jamay on his swing and pitched to him until his hands got tired. He definitely got better and more confident as the day went on. We had a lot of fun. While we played some casual catch, Jamay tells me his dad used to coach baseball, then he reminded me, he’s in jail. I said, well, be sure to tell him you are playin’ some ball.
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As Craig wrote earlier, there is a hurricane heading to the Gulf of Mexico within the next three or four days. It’s certainly not time to panic, start contraflow or evacuate the city just yet, but obviously we have to be aware of the situation, monitor the progress/direction of the storm and make decisions based on future events.

That’s how the majority of us handle it anyway. We, at a minimum, will wait for Dean to enter the Gulf and see what the area needs to do at that point. Other’s handle the situation (and it’s just a situation so far) differently and I will use our fantastic Governor as an example.

We all know Governor Blanco had a hand in butchering the response to Katrina. She’s not the only one. (On a side note, anyone else notice how Prez Bushie is hanging in Crawford Texas? What a douchebag. Can the hurricane hit there somehow? Pretty please with whipped cream and a cherry on top?)

Governor Blanco has declared a state of emergency for Louisiana. She also asked federal officials for a Presidential Emergency Declaration to ensure federal assets are available to Louisiana in advance of a possible landfall. Did anyone tell her that Hurricane Dean was 2000 miles from New Orleans when she made this declaration? That Mr. Dean (as I call all storms now, proper title shows respect) has not entered the Gulf of Mexico yet? I’m surprised she didn’t call one for Ms. Flossy who was in the Pacific recently.
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And, sure enough, the forecast models have changed rather dramatically since this original entry less than four hours ago. Kinda like Hurricane Roulette, with a new spin of the wheel every 3-6 hours when new updates come out. The latest update removes Louisiana from all forecast models.

Earlier entry…..

That time of year again, when we pay more attention to what’s going on tropicalwise and try to prognoticate what the hell is going to happen. As a Gulf Coast resident for 25 years (and a Gulf State resident for nearly 50) it’s just part of What We Do.

While the official forecast track shows direction toward the Texas/Mexico border, a look at the various forecast models shows the sometimes maverick GFDL forecast going into about Morgan City. This would put New Orleans on the worst (northeast) quadrant of the system. I learned a long time ago to never say never about such things.

That said, it’s all just educated speculation for now. Do they take bets on this kinda thing over at Harrah’s?

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Photos: Magazine/ Melpomene Saga

The section of Magazine St. bordered by Erato St. and Melpomene St.was reopened this morning after three years of closure due to a lawsuit involving the contractor for the Sewerage & Water Board and damage caused to two historic buildings in the immediate vicinity. The problem began during the installation of a pipe under Melpomene St. to serve the Convention Center.

I began writing about the saga regarding this portion of Magazine St. back in January. I attended a number of City Council hearings and SW&B Board meetings regarding this in support of the Council and Residential efforts to cut through the red tape to stabilize the buildings and get the street repaired and back open. Councilwoman Head and Council President Arnie Fielkow have been at the forefront of this effort at the City level.

At one key juncture, the owners of the Green Building, the Milton’s, had asked their attorney file for a permanent injunction against the City to prevent ANY work being done until their lawsuit against the S&WB contractor was resolved. Had that happened, the street could have been closed for another three years.
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It’s not bad enough that the citizen’s of Orleans Parish and the metro area in general have to suffer the inept “leadership” coming from the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office. It’s been well documented how DA Eddie Jordan cannot keep murderers in jail, cannot find witnesses that are across the street and how he nor his office cannot assist in making people around here feel safe.

Now it’s time to pour salt in our gaping wounds. After being elected, Eddie Jordan, AKA the Hat, basically went through the DA’s office and fired all the white people. Maybe not all the white people, just the one’s who had experience in convicting some criminals around here. They didn’t convict them all obviously, the former DA’s record wasn’t a whole lot better but they did succeed occasionally. So the white people who were fired sued The Hat for discrimination. Well they won the first go round and of course the Hat appealed. And lost again yesterday. The Orleans Parish DAs office now owes millions of dollars to wrongly fired former employees.

This is where we all lose twice though because of the Hat. Eddie Jordan made the decision to fire these people. Eddie Jordan SHOULD be responsible for paying this judgement. But he’s not. It does not matter whether you voted for the Hat or not, if you’re a citizen of Orleans, YOU will be paying this judgement.
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