Employees said they were not free to comment on the incident, referring any questions to the store’s owner.

But one employee, who saw the security camera footage, said that since the suspect made the effort to dress the part of a woman, he should not have halfhearted it.

“He should’ve gone to the spa first,” the employee said.

–full story at NOLA.com

In the guy’s defense, though, it was Mother’s Day, so maybe he needed the cash to take his mom to the spa after brunch.

Unfortunately, the National Guard doesn’t serve for free, and Jindal wants to pull out the troops next month. Keep in mind, he’s doing this at exactly the same time that lawmakers are (a) debating what to do with a projected surplus in the state budget and (b) talking about eliminating the state income tax.

I mean, no, really, that’s fine, Bobby: New Orleans is only the state’s goddamn economic engine, so what does it matter if you wreck it? As Katrina showed everyone, the state can hobble along without us just great.

Fucktard.

The National Guard is scheduled to leave NOLA in June! Take 5 to Help Us Keep Them in the City!

Crime rates across the city have skyrocketed since Hurricane Katrina. Murder rates have spiked, and assaults and burglaries are up. Meanwhile, the police shortage makes NOPD patrols in the storm-affected areas, especially in the Lower Ninth Ward and eastern New Orleans, nearly non-existent. It also pushes response times to 911 calls to an hour or more. Citizens for 1 Greater New Orleans is supporting the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association in their efforts to keep the Louisiana National Guard in New Orleans until the following goals are achieved:

NOPD sub stations are rebuilt and re-staffed in all the storm-affected areas of the city. The number of NOPD officers reaches pre-storm levels. FBI crime statistics show a decrease in violent crime rates.

To date, they have only received 2300 signatures with a deadline to acquire 10,000 by June 2008.  It is imperative that you let your voice be heard! Take 5 Minutes To: Send a pre-formatted email to Gov. Jindal…> Read the complete petition…> Forward this to your friends…> Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

Faubourg Tremé is arguably the oldest black neighborhood in America, the birthplace of the Civil Rights movement in the South and the home of jazz. While the Tremé district was damaged when the levees broke, this is not another Katrina documentary. Every frame is a tribute to what African American communities have contributed even under the most hostile of conditions.

Also, no Chris Rose. Seriously, check it:

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TRAILER
Since Wordpress sucks for embedding media

(Thanks Xeni and BoingBoing!)

In response, author Joshua Clark has started an amped-up, higher-tech version of Neighborhood Watch called QuarterSafe. In a nutshell, he’s encouraging Quarter residents to purchase inexpensive video cams and create their own closed-circuit TV systems to monitor street activity.

Now, on the one hand, I think Clark’s plan is kinda laudable and forward-thinking and potentially very useful, especially given New Orleans’ under-funded police department. On the other hand–the Dear goddess, it’s Big Brother hand–it’s a little creepy. (Though it would be creepier if participants were giving NOPD full access to their computers.) Also of concern: Tuesday’s report in The Guardian that CCTVs don’t have much of an impact on crime. And on a practical note: how big of a hard drive do you need to store all that data anyway? Read the email release I got this morning and discuss below:

For ten bucks and a few minutes of work, you can help drastically curb the daily robberies and assaults on our French Quarter streets. QuarterSafe.com is working alongside the NOPD to build a reliable network of citizen-owned security cameras to deter and catch criminals. There is nothing as efficient and effective as well-placed video cameras to capture criminals. It’s as easy as…

1) Order a camera on eBay for $10 (w/shipping), so discrete [sic] it fits in the palm of your hand. Just search for “480K 6-LED Night Vision USB WebCam” or click here.

2) Install it. It runs off your PC. The driver disk comes with the camera.
Then download monitoring software free from SuperVisionCam.com. Make sure it faces the street as close to eye level as possible, and leave your computer running passively. Once you have the camera, please contact Detective Mike Carambat at 504 400 5214 or mcarambat@cityofno.com if you’d like him to come help you.

3) Send an e-mail to QuarterSafe@gmail.com and 8thDistrict@cityofno.com with the subject “Camera” with your name, phone number, and the exact address of the camera. Only when a crime occurs near you (God forbid you should be the
victim) may the police ask to obtain specific footage. Already have a camera? Let us know!

That’s it.

Please visit QuarterSafe.com or more information, options, extension cables, and easy links.

Oh, wait. That’s nothing to celebrate.

BATON ROUGE — All college students 21 or older who have qualified for concealed handgun permits would be able to carry firearms to class and other parts of campus under a bill approved 11-3 by a House committee Thursday.

The Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice sent to the House floor House Bill 199 by Rep. Ernest Wooton, R-Belle Chasse, its chairman. Wooton said he expects lengthy debate on the bill’s merits when it hits the floor.

The bill drew support from college students who say they feel unsafe and inadequately protected when leaving campus late at night. Student leaders from several campuses teamed with Joseph Savoie, commissioner of higher education for the State Board of Regents, the agency that coordinates higher education funding, policy and curriculum, in asking the panel to reject the measure….

Wooton said his bill is an attempt to make colleges safe by allowing students to protect themselves against a gunman who breaks into a classroom and starts shooting randomly….

Savoie said that similar bills were filed in 17 state legislatures this year and killed in 15 — including Mississippi and Alabama. The only two states still considering the issue are Indiana and Louisiana.

–complete idiotic story at NOLA.com

Now, I understand we have a Republican governor, and I understand the Republican Party’s allegiance to the NRA, and I understand that Charlton Heston’s craggy, homophobic ghost may be roaming the land, terrorizing legislators who don’t support handguns for toddlers. But seriously: Mississippi–the state that thought it was totally fine for me to own a 20-gauge shotgun before I’d learned to write in cursive–put the kabosh on this crap, and Louisiana’s gonna give it a shot (so to speak)?

In the bill’s favor, however, I suppose hiring competent campus police officers would be way more costly than having students just shoot the crap out of each other.

Residents of our great state might wanna drop a note to their legislator about this. And if they don’t know who their rep happens to be, there’s an easy way to find out.

A woman who police believe to be Deborah Jeane Palfrey, known as the “D.C. Madam,” was found dead in Florida Thursday, according to Tarpon Springs police.

Deborah Jeane Palfrey was convicted of running a high-powered prostitution ring.

The body has not been positively identified.

“Detectives are investigating an apparent suicide of a (white female) that appears to be in her early 50s,” Tarpon Springs police said in a news release.

Suicide notes were found near the body in a small storage shed next to a mobile home, police said.

Palfrey, 52, was reportedly staying at the home of her mother, who owns the property where the body was found, police said.

The Pinellas County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the cause of death, police said.

The county sheriff’s office and the FBI are participating in the investigation.

Palfrey was convicted last month in connection with a high-end prostitution ring catering to Washington’s elite. She was found guilty of money laundering, racketeering and mail fraud. She was awaiting sentencing with a potential of 50 years in jail.

At least one lawmaker, Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, a Republican, turned up in the phone records of her business, Pamela Martin & Associates.

State Department official Randall Tobias resigned in May 2007 after confirming he patronized Palfrey’s business.

She argued it was a legitimate, legal escort service.

–via CNN.com

UPDATE: Joe.My.God. has a fascinating addendum to this story:

During several recent appearances on The Alex Jones Show, Palfrey also said that she was at risk of being killed and that authorities would make it look like suicide. She made it clear that she was not suicidal and if she was found dead it would be murder.

–more at Joe.My.God.

Today, the staff of the website in question sent us Metrobloggers a link to the New Orleans article. And I’m happy to report, it’s nothing like folks had feared. It’s basically a guided tour of French Quarter hustlers (the panhandling kind, not the Corner Pocket [nsfw] kind). And you know, I’m not a fan of that kind of thing myself, so I found it pretty inoffensive.

What was totally offensive, however, was the writing style. Seriously, it reads like something from a bunch of dull, A&F frat boys. Very “what I did for my summer vacation”. I could barely keep my eyes open. Total snooze.

And FYI: ordinarily, I wouldn’t have even bothered to mention the piece, since the only people it’s going to anger are those who enjoy well-written prose. But I thought since the visit was kind of a big deal recently, I’d do the honors. I won’t bother posting the link, though, ’cause seriously: screw their page view stats.

Right-wing pastor John Hagee says Katrina was New Orleans’ fault. John McCain sought out, and embraces, Hagee’s support. MoveOn members are trying to deliver a petition to McCain in New Orleans just a few hours from now: will you sign?

Here’s the background: McCain wants America to see him as a compassionate, mainstream politician. So he’s going to New Orleans today for a photo-op in the 9th Ward.

But he’s still trying to shore up his right-wing base—so this past Sunday, he again welcomed the support of right-wing evangelist John Hagee, who said "Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans."¹

MoveOn members in New Orleans have organized an emergency rally outside McCain’s event today. With the media looking on, they’ll try to deliver our petition asking him to stop pandering to right-wing bigots like Hagee. They’ll announce an up-to-the-minute number of signatures, and we’ll have a real impact if we can say that hundreds of thousands have signed in only a few hours. Clicking here will add your name:

http://pol.moveon.org/mccain_pander/o.pl?id=12500-5148471-J6FuvA&t=3

The petition reads: "John Hagee continues to blame the people of New Orleans for the catastrophe of Katrina. Senator McCain: If you reject intolerance and bigotry, reject Hagee’s political support and stop courting hate-mongers like him."

This is not a gaffe or a "gotcha." Hagee has a history of bigoted comments and he stood by his New Orleans remarks just days ago.² And McCain’s strategy is intentional—he’s been working hard to court far-right leaders like Jerry Falwell and John Hagee, despite their hateful views.³ Even when he was pressed about Hagee’s hateful views, McCain said he was "glad to have his endorsement."⁴

Hagee’s words matter. Katrina was a terrible reminder of the consequences of bigotry and exclusion. People without resources, without political power, literally sank beneath the waves while our government did nothing.

John McCain is relying for political support on a man who preaches bigotry and exclusion, who spreads the kind of hate that allowed Katrina to become a man-made tragedy. While the media is focused on his New Orleans visit, we need to call him on it.

The more folks who sign the petition in the next few hours, the greater our impact. Clicking here will add your name right now:

http://pol.moveon.org/mccain_pander/o.pl?id=12500-5148471-J6FuvA&t=4

We need to let Senator McCain know that he can’t use New Orleans for a photo-op while still courting the political support of hate-mongers like Hagee. New Orleans deserves better and America does, too.

Thank you very much for all you do.

–Eli, Justin, Lenore, Patrick S., Anna, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team, Thursday, April 24th, 2008

Sources:

1. "Will MSNBC devote as much coverage to McCain’s embrace of Hagee’s support as it did to Obama’s rejection of Farrakhan?" Media Matters, February 28th, 2008
http://mediamatters.org/items/200802280018

2. "Hagee Says Hurricane Katrina Struck New Orleans ‘Because it was ‘Planning a Sinful Homosexual Rally,’" Think Progress, April 23, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/23/hagee-katrina-mccain/

"Will MSNBC devote as much coverage to McCain’s embrace of Hagee’s support as it did to Obama’s rejection of Farrakhan?" Media Matters, February 28th, 2008
http://mediamatters.org/items/200802280018

3. "Hagee: McCain ’sought my endorsement,’" ThinkProgress, March 20th, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3603&id=12500-5148471-J6FuvA&t=5

"McCain Gets Into Bed with the Religious Right," People For the American Way, February 28th, 2008
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=25053

"McCain Woos the Right, Makes Peace With Falwell," ABC News, March 26th, 2006
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=1779141&page=1

4. "McCain Flip-Flops In 30 Seconds: Hagee Endorsement A ‘Mistake,’ But ‘I’m Glad To Have’ It," ThinkProgress, April 21st, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/21/hagee-flip-flop/

I didn’t think much of it when the floodgates swung open a couple of weeks ago (although some people clearly think about it a lot). But then I drove over the spillway en route to Baton Rouge yesterday, and…well, it’s kinda cool. Water is rushing through little inlets and bayous, and a couple hundred yards into the lake, there’s all this mist–presumably where the warm-ish river water reaches the colder depths of the lake. I didn’t get so obsessed that I pulled over to take pics or anything, but, yeah, it was nifty. See it if you can.

YES, THERE IS VIDEO!
Unfortunately Metblogs makes it impossible to embed, so you’ll have to follow the link.