Help Sought For Nigerian Unit

This seems strange:

The Nigerian corruption commission that investigated some of the West African business transactions involving Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, has signed up a Washington lobbyist to help it gain financial resources from government and non-governmental entities in the United States. In a filing with the Justice Department, KRL International and its managing director, K. Riva Levinson, said they will be doing the work on a "pro bono" basis.

The September 2006 report from the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission gave some of the first indications about some of the individuals and companies that the FBI was examining as part of its corruption investigation of the congressman. The FBI had asked the commission to investigate.

Jefferson was indicted in June on bribery, racketeering and other charges. He has proclaimed his innocence and is now scheduled for trial Feb. 25. According to its filing with the Justice Department, KRL said it would be "seeking U.S. support for the anti-corruption agenda of the Nigerian commission." It said it would be meeting with members of the executive branch, Congress, the private sector, the news media and non-governmental organizations such as think tanks.

Am I missing something?

Houston's Real Estate Market: Boom or Bust

Houston love to compare themselves to New Orleans, leaning more to pointing out how they have outpaced the "Big Easy" in everything from dealing with the homeless to solving crime. Well, Houston, since you want a little fanfare, here goes:

The number of home sales — which was down 3 percent for the year at the end of November — will likely outdo the number sold in 2005. And on the commercial side, robust job growth and leasing activity gave developers reason to start and propose new buildings.

The historic surge in the energy industry fueled this growth, as big oil companies took on more office space and transferred employees from outside Houston who bought homes and leased apartments.

Still, the local real estate market lost some of its resiliency toward the end of the year, as the credit crunch caused some commercial deals to fall apart and contributed to a slowdown in the housing market.

You left out the part concerning the vast amount of real estate scams here in Houston. When you toot your own horn, make sure you report all of the facts.

Friends Held Fundraiser For Convicted Ex-Councilman Oliver Thomas

Oh, how nice. Was Stan "Pampy" Barre in attendance?

"Join us in the spirit of the season as we gather for unity in the community and to support our friends Oliver and Angelle Thomas," the brunch invitation read in part.

Toward the bottom, in smaller type, was: "Your generous contribution to help sustain the Thomas family will be greatly appreciated. Make checks payable to: Angelle Thomas."

The T-P also reported another interesting tidbit about ole Ollie:

Thomas has gotten word that he will serve his time in Atlanta, in a facility that includes both a high-security penitentiary and a "satellite camp for minimum-security male inmates," according to the Bureau of Prisons' Web site.

Presumably, Thomas will stay in the camp section, although officials said they could not comment.

Maybe the vocal corruption probe critics can become his regular visitors. They can discuss why corruption probes are such a bad idea.

Harris County DA Has 'Skeletons'

News here in Houston, Texas never ceases to amaze me. Now the Harris County, District Attorney's secret quirks has now been exposed. He has been sending "sexy emails" to his secretary.

They surfaced as exhibits in a civil rights lawsuit filed against the Harris County Sheriff’s Office by two brothers who photographed deputies executing a search warrant on a neighbor’s property.

The lawsuit alleges DA Chuck Rosenthal refused to investigate the sheriff’s office.

While preparing for the case, attorneys for the brothers ran across some e-mails of an intimate nature that Rosenthal had sent to his executive secretary.

In a message dated Aug. 10, Rosenthal wrote, “The very next time I see you, I want to kiss you behind your right ear.”

The DA should lose his job for this one. It is obvious that the sheriffs office had the goods on him that he did not want exposed. Do us a favor Rosenthal: STEP DOWN FROM OFFICE.

Can We Trust The Grinch?

The feds filed a motion to postpone Stan "Pampy" Barre's sentencing until April. An excerpt from said motion read as follows:

Barré "is cooperating with the government regarding other matters under investigation, but not yet completed."

Can we trust this scuzz ball? After all he is a psychopath. I hope the feds have corroborating evidence to back up his statements. That scuzz ball will do anything for a buck.

This Old House Focuses On New Orleans

In a city chock-full of 150-year-old houses with wooden porches and scrolling wrought iron, New Orleans would seem perfect fodder for This Old House.

But when producers of the television show surveyed the city's post-Hurricane Katrina landscape, they found old houses were only part of the story.

They couldn't ignore the pastel-colored homes being built for displaced musicians, or the construction projects spearheaded by actor Brad Pitt. So both will be included in the show's 10-episode series scheduled to begin airing nationally next month on PBS.

Houston''s Greenway Theatre To Close

The Greenway Theatre, which has screened films in the basement of Greenway Plaza for 35 years, will close at the end of this year.

Employees say Landmark Theatres lost its lease at 5 East Greenway Plaza. Landmark, a chain that specializes in independent and foreign films, has operated the Greenway since 1994.

Four Felons Get Christmas Present

Just in time for Christmas, judgment day was postponed for four New Orleanians convicted in noteworthy public corruption cases, guaranteeing each one at least three more months of freedom.

Former Orleans Parish School Board President Ellenese Brooks-Simms, restaurateur Stan "Pampy" Barré, businessman Reginald Walker and former Johnson Controls project manager Terry Songy all were scheduled to be sentenced the second week of January.

Now, at the request of prosecutors, none will face the music until April.

The postponement is an indication that federal investigators still are probing leads provided by members of the group, all of whom pleaded guilty to felonies and signed plea agreements requiring them to cooperate with the government.

Jolie & Pitt draw attention to kids' health issues

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt used their star power Saturday to help The Children's Health Fund focus attention on the more than 46,000 children still displaced 2 1/2 years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed their homes.

Though the mood was light among many of the attendees, the tone of the topic at hand was dire and distressing. Having used their star power to draw the excited crowd and media attention, Jolie and Pitt remained mum and let the experts do the talking.

"We are seeing an exacerbation of problems," said Mississippi pediatrician Persharon Dixon, who ticked off a list of ailments that she said are afflicting children at an alarming rate in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, including stress, hypertension, diabetes and depression.

The news conference at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School follows closely the release of a study that found that more than 46,000 children along the Gulf Coast are still struggling with mental health problems and other serious aftereffects of the 2005 hurricanes.

The study -- completed by the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and the Children's Health Fund -- estimated that more than half of the still-displaced children in Louisiana exhibit one of three "risk factors" that can have a permanent impact in their lives. The factors are a drop in academic achievement, limited access to health care and clinically diagnosed depression or behavior disorders.

Houston's Homeless

Houston, Texas is known for attributing their problems to former New Orleans' residents. After Hurricane Katrina, they tried to attribute their crime to Katrina evacuees. Now since they are receiving aid to deal with the homeless crises, once again Katrina evacuees are thrown in the midst.

The Houston-Harris County area will receive $19.7 million in homeless assistance funds — about a 20 percent increase from the previous fiscal year, said HUD spokesman Scott Hudman.

"The (homeless) population is changing some," Longino said. "I think you'd be surprised at the number of people who were not traditionally out there, who are out there now because of financial circumstances or because of (Hurricane) Katrina."


Wake up Houston: Katrina evacuees are not responsible for your woes.

Illegal Immigrants Stealing Documentation

Most of us from New Orleans know that if you are now living in Houston, make sure you have a good paper shredder. They are on the prowl to steal your identity.

As many as 20 janitorial and maintenance workers at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, who are believed to be illegal immigrants, are being sought on charges they used forged documents and stolen identities to obtain jobs in the Texas Medical Center.

A six-month investigation by UT-Houston police uncovered widespread use of stolen Social Security numbers, forged Social Security cards and forged State of Texas identification cards by contract employees of Marcis and Associates, a janitorial service company that staffs the cleaning crews for UT’s Health Sciences Center.

Investigators believe all of those charged are illegal immigrants. Police began arresting the contract workers as they reported for their shifts Thursday morning.

Investigators said too, that it appears that neither Marcis nor UT Health Science Center had any knowledge the workers were using forged documents.

I doubt it very seriously that no one knew about this. After all if you are Hispanic and your id says you are "John Smith", that should raise a red flag. Another thing I notice too: Make sure you watch your mail. You can't trust the mailman. (Speaking from personal experience).

Should New Orleans' Public Housing Be Demolished?

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A raucous debate over the shortage of cheap housing and the demolition of 4,500 public units is sweeping the city and likely to become more intense.

Protesters planned to disrupt a meeting Thursday of the City Council, where members were expected to approve demolishing dozens of buildings — a move that would open racial and class divisions.

The City Council vote is a critical moment in a protracted fight between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and residents, activists and preservationists.

HUD wants to demolish the buildings, most of them damaged by Hurricane Katrina, so developers can take advantage of tax credits and build new mixed-income neighborhoods.

HUD says the redevelopment, in the works before Katrina hit, will mark an end to the city's failed public housing experiment that lumped the poor into crime-ridden complexes and marooned them outside the life of the rest of the city.

But critics say the plan will shrink the stock of cheap housing at a time when housing is scarce and drive poor blacks out of the city. They also say the buildings are, contrary to popular opinion, mostly handsome brick structures that will outlast anything HUD builds in their place.

By Wednesday, opponents of demolition appeared resigned to a council vote that would go against their wishes, and were accusing council members of discriminating against blacks.

A news release from the Coalition to Stop the Demolition, one of several groups organizing protesters, characterized the pending action as a "rubber stamp" at a "sham meeting."

"It is beyond callous, and can only be seen as malicious discrimination. It is an unabashed attempt to eliminate the black population of New Orleans," said Kali Akuno, an organizer with the group.

A recent shake-up on the seven-member City Council turned it into a majority white chamber for the first time since the 1980s, a shift that will certainly make the vote even more racially charged.

Three of the council's white members were quick to say they supported the tear-down plan, while the council's three black members were hesitant about expressing their intentions.

One black member, Cynthia Hedge Morrell, issued a statement late Wednesday in favor of demolitions. The fourth white member, Council President Arnie Fielkow, has been careful to tread the middle ground, but reportedly supports demolition.

"It's not racist and it's truly not a done deal behind the scenes," said Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson, a newly elected councilmember-at-large, about the council's pending vote.

Besides opening fissures between whites and blacks, the clash has divided along political party lines.

Many Democrats, including presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John Edwards, have said they would like the Bush administration to stop the demolitions. Louisiana's Democratic senator, Mary Landrieu, has also supported overhauling the redevelopment plan.

By contrast, Republicans have come out in favor of demolition. On Wednesday, Sen. David Vitter and three Republican congressman wrote a letter to a Senate committee considering the redevelopment plan, saying it needs to be left alone because overhauling it would delay and even derail redevelopment.

"Public housing in New Orleans has for many decades served almost no other purpose than to warehouse the city's poor and disenfranchised," the letter said. "That generations of our fellow citizens were allowed to live in government-operated and sanctioned slums is offensive and intolerable."

Mary Landrieu Gets It Right

From: T-P

U.S. Sen. David Vitter and U.S. Reps. Richard Baker, Jim McCrery and Rodney Alexander, all Republicans, today said that New Orleans does not need as many public housing units as it had before Hurricane Katrina.

Louisiana's Senators are at odds over the future of public housing, with proposed legislation by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La. calling for "one-for-one replacement" of the government-subsidized apartments with new mixed-income developments.

Landrieu said the need was unmet before the storm when about 6,000 low-income people were on a waiting list for the city's 7,000 public housing units -- of which only 5,100 were occupied while many were in a state of disrepair.

With rents up 45 percent since the storm, an estimated 12,000 homeless people in the city and low-wage service-industry workers struggling to find housing, Landrieu said the demand is as great as it has ever been.

Landrieu's Louisiana colleague, Vitter, has taken the lead in opposing the bill, saying that with just two-thirds of New Orleans' population back after Hurricane Katrina, the need for public housing has fallen off.

Listen to Mary.

Predator targets teen online

Keeping kids safe is our number 1 priority. It is imperative that you keep track of your kids online activity. There are perverts lurking. For example, a Houston man has been accused of trying to hook up with a child from the Internet.

According to court documents, Asif Khokhar chatted with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl, but it was really an undercover investigator.

Khokhar is charged with solicitation of a minor.

One less pervert out there. We have to watch out for the others.

Awards Won By Local Firms

It is always nice to report good news about New Orleans.

Eight metro area construction and design firms received Best of 2007 recognition from South Central Construction magazine during an awards luncheon this month in Baton Rouge.

Boh Bros. Construction Co. LLC of New Orleans, Barriere Construction Co. LLC of Metairie, Gibbs Construction LLC of New Orleans, DonahueFavret Contractors Inc. of Mandeville, Landis Construction Co. LLC of New Orleans, Ryan Gootee General Contractors LLC of Metairie, Eskew+Dumez+Ripple of New Orleans, and Ledbetter Fullerton Architects of New Orleans.

South Central Construction is a construction trade magazine owned by McGraw-Hill Cos. and covers Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Can they lend their talents to the rebuilding efforts? Just thought I would ask.

Running Into the police Can Be a Scary Thing

No one wants to run into a law enforcement officer here in Houston but this has to be one of the weirdest encounters yet:


A motorist claims a motorcycle officer took her car keys after pulling her over and left her stranded on the side of the freeway.

Valencia Lee and Latesta Onyenike were Northbound at Crosstimbers on Highway 59 when a motorcycle officer, who was supposedly escorting a funeral procession, waved them over.

Lee says he told her, “‘You on the cell phone and I'm directing traffic,’ that's all he said,” Lee, added the officer ordered her to keep her car where it was. The women said the man, who was wearing a black jacket with the word “Sheriff” on the back, then asked for the car keys.

I expect anything from these officials. They have a proven track record for the bizarre.

Noteworthy praises of DA's office

"It looks like some of the dysfunction in the district attorney's office has changed," said FBI special agent in charge Jim Bernazzani, who also testified before the legislative panel Monday. "The community is beginning to cooperate because tips are up. We have to build that confidence."

Darlene Cusanza of Crimestoppers Inc. said the anonymous tip line has helped clear 40 murder cases in 2007 and given out $101,000 in cash awards this year, up from about $60,000 last year.

New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley, whose officers have been struggling with a seemingly never-ending cycle of revenge killings and a code of silence among witnesses, said the new lead prosecutor has helped ease a strained relationship.

Child abuse on the rise in Houston

I was wondering whether or not the number of child abuse cases here in Houston were part of the norm or was it something unusual. Ever since I moved here to Harris County, there has been one abuse case after another. According to 11 news:

CPS officials said the higher numbers can be attributed to a rise in the population and better reporting. They said the majority of abused children are under the age of 2, and the parents are setting inappropriate expectations. The abuse ranges from shaken baby syndrome to fatal beatings, such as the Baby Grace case.

Let's hope this trend decreases because all children need to be safe from abuse.

Never In New Orleans

Yesterday it was reported that students, at a local high school, in Texas, killed, cooked, and ate a baby racoon in their classroom. I have to go on record by saying: Never In New Orleans.

That statement is important because when teens from New Orleans evacuated to Houston after Hurricane Katrina, there were very cruel remarks made against New Orleans' students as to whether they could measure up to Houston teens. I even heard a news report where the local Houstonians were discussing the difference between the cultures.

There is a difference: New Orleanians are very particular about their cuisine. That is why I can definitely say: Never In New Orleans.

Is This True?

Some cry racism:

This Saturday, the federal Housing Authority will begin demolishing all 723 apartments in the Magnolia projects.

Also set to be destroyed are 896 units at the Lafitte houses, 1,436 apartments at St. Bernard and 1,550 at the B.W. Cooper.

All told, 4,600 low-income housing units will be razed in a shocking act of class and racial cleansing disguised as reconstruction. All the former residents of those projects, after all, were not only low-income, they were all black, say Hann and housing advocates in New Orleans.

The message from the Bush administration couldn't be clearer: We didn't rush to save you poor people in New Orleans when Katrina hit, and we don't want you back now.

What conclusion would you draw after viewing this video?



SCARY, huh

Recovery Cash Slated For Parishes

With the official release Monday of $3 billion from the federal government to plug the Road Home gap, Louisiana's hurricane recovery leaders can finally dole out a half billion to local governments they have been holding on to just in case.

The Louisiana Recovery Authority is expected to allocate the recovery cash to 23 affected parishes at its monthly meeting in Baton Rouge today, in what will amount to a huge shot in the arm for the state's most ravaged parishes.

New Orleans is expected to collect the lion's share of the money, at $296 million. If approved, it would be the largest single allocation of hurricane relief sent to a local government to date. |Read on|

Brad Pitt backs "New Orleans" designer homes

Leading American architects have been commissioned to design homes for the New Orleans suburb that bore the brunt of Hurricane Katrina two years ago, under an initiative launched by the actor Brad Pitt.

The architects have been told to design properties that are cheap to build and maintain, robust and environmentally friendly. Thirteen firms were each asked to draw up a 1,200-square-foot house, built between five and eight feet off the ground, with a front porch and three bedrooms. The cost of building and fitting out each home was not to exceed $150,000 (£74,000).

Morphosis, a Los Angeles firm, has designed a property made of lightweight concrete that would float should the city flood again. The New Orleans-based architectural firm Concordia has proposed a home erected on stilts with steep and wide front steps.

Residents can choose which design they would like and building is scheduled to begin next month. One of the key characteristics of the project is that the properties will be built using structural panels that can be easily stored and erected quickly and cheaply.

Major Art Festival Planned

Dan Cameron, the CAC's new director of visual art, has a grand plan: to frame an international art extravaganza here next year, featuring work of the world's top artists and drawing 100,000 visitors from near and far. |Read on|

HANO to demolish New Orleans' Public Housing

What a tangle web we weave when we practice to deceive.

This Is Very Interesting, Ollie

Feds Ask Judge To Be Lenient
Defendant helps put Oliver Thomas in Prison

The government's motion provides an interesting peek into how Thomas came to be a target of federal prosecutors, as well as the roles that Jourdain and convicted restaurateur Stan "Pampy" Barré played in making the case against the popular councilman.

During the feds' probe into the city's energy contract with Johnson Controls Inc., the document says, investigators discovered four checks written from Barré to Jourdain in 2002. After Barré pleaded guilty to three felony counts in January related to the contract, FBI agents and prosecutors grilled him about the checks.

Stan "Pampy" Barre probably cried like a baby during the grilling.

Barré, who had signed a plea agreement requiring him to cooperate with prosecutors, explained that the checks were part of a larger bribe he paid to Thomas in hopes of getting the councilman to help him keep a parking contract.

Bribery is the only thing Stan "Pampy" Barre knows how to do well.

Thomas had been named in 2002 to the board of the French Market Corp., a public agency that owns various properties in and around the Vieux Carré, including three parking lots near the French Quarter's downriver end.

A company owned by Barré had snared a share in the operation of the lots during the administration of Mayor Marc Morial, a Barré confidant. With the sun setting on the Morial years, Barré sought to persuade Thomas -- who was thought to be close to incoming Mayor Ray Nagin -- to go to bat for him to keep his share.

What did Stan "Pampy" Barre have to give up, during the previous administration, in order to snare a share in the operations of the lot?

Thomas wanted Barré to pay him $15,000 in cash, as well as to install Jourdain -- the brother of Thomas' chief of staff, Andrea Mumford -- as a silent partner in the deal, Barré told investigators. Thomas directed Barré to give Thomas one-third of his proceeds. Barré complied, paying him with checks.

Oliver Thomas must have had previous experience in collecting bribes when he orchestrated this plan. This is not what someone would do if they had never engaged in bribery.

Each time Barré made a payment to Jourdain, Thomas followed up and asked Jourdain for a cut. Jourdain gave him $1,000 in cash on four occasions, according to the government.

Oliver Thomas thought Jourdain would shield him from getting caught.

The prosecution's motion notes that investigators initially had no proof, other than Barré's word, linking Thomas to the deal. But when they interviewed Jourdain, the document says, he "contacted an attorney and agreed to cooperate."

We know we cannot trust only Stan Pampy" Barre's word. But for Jourdain's cooperation, the case would not have been made.

Agents and prosecutors interviewed Jourdain three times, the motion says, and he "provided essential corroboration as to both Thomas' and Barré's roles in this scheme." For instance, Jourdain gave investigators "details of meetings and payoffs with Thomas and Barré" and also "provided documents and records and assisted investigators in interpreting checks and payment records."

When Stan "Pampy" Barre made allegations against Una Anderson last month, was their details of meetings and payoffs with Barre and Una's husband? Could Barre provide documents and records that would assist the feds in interpreting the alleged bribery? If not, why would anyone give any weight to Barre's allegations?

"As a direct consequence of Jourdain's cooperation, the government secured a guilty plea from Oliver Thomas, thereby avoiding a costly and complicated trial," the motion concludes.

One reason why Jourdain should receive leniency.


Along with arguing that Jourdain's help was essential in making the case, prosecutors maintain that Jourdain played only a peripheral role in the scheme, and that Thomas was truly the bad actor.

Another reason why Jourdain should receive leniency.

"The government believes that Jourdain was used by Thomas in an effort to insulate and conceal Thomas' involvement in this bribery scheme," it says. "This scheme was not conceived by Jourdain. Jourdain would likely have never become involved in this criminal activity but for Thomas directing Jourdain to contact Barré on his behalf."

Well Ollie, is this how God uses you? It sounds more as if you are Satan's right hand man.

New Orleans' Homeless

Many people are concern about the present homeless condition in New Orleans. Some of the homeless are transplants from other states who arrived in The Big Easy after Hurricane Katrina with hopes of finding employment. After the hurricane, I met several people traveling to New Orleans with hopes that they would somehow find any type of employment with the rebuilding efforts.

Of the estimated 12,000 homeless in New Orleans, I wonder how many are transients from other states.

Myspace Gets It Right

It seems that myspace finally got it right and became its own crime buster when it decided to delete a convicted felon, from New Orleans, from its social networking site. Stan "Pampy" Barre, III, son of convicted political operative, had his Myspace page deleted. The convicted residential burglar will have to find some other playhouse, for his meanderings, during his home detention.

Hey Stan, What's In Your Mouth These Days?

What's Wrong With These Videos?

This is a perfect example of false advertisement. A New Orleans criminal went on a crime spree from Houston to Washington. His crimes finally caught up with him in Washington, however, he plea bargained. His house arrest video is a testament to his psyche. When one lives in a delusional world of being a rapper can lead to one's demise. View the psychopath up close and personal.


paper-chasin artist

Add to My Profile | More Videos
These Two Videos Have A Lot In Common

To My Chicago Readers

American Rail Excursions is offering a New Orleans New Year's Sunshine Special Tour departing from Chicago's Union Station at 8 p.m. Dec. 29.

Your private room on board will be your hotel for the four-night trip, which costs $1,599 per person (double occupancy). Single bedrooms are $2,999. The price includes en-route meal service, beverages and snacks as well as a guided tour of New Orleans and a Mississippi Riverboat cruise, with lunch. The train arrives back in Chicago at 9 a.m. Jan. 2.

Get details at American rail.com or call (708) 758-6680.

What Is The Price Of Louisiana Corruption?

The following article, that was posted in the The Advocate's opinion section says it all regarding the changes that have to be made, in Louisiana, in order to increase Louisiana's socioeconomic base and make it more conducive to future business opportunities:

Our Views: A real price of corruption

The cost of doing political business-as-usual is too high.

If there’s one thing Louisiana voters know instinctively, it’s that times have to change.

One anti-incumbent voter in the statewide runoff elections said he’s worried about the cost of good-ole-boy politics.

“That’s what I call the Southern mafia, and that’s going to have to change in Louisiana,” Dalton Cooper, 46, told The Alexandria Daily Town Talk. “Until we change our corrupt culture nobody is going to do business with us.”

Cooper’s view does involve a broad brush: A number of state senators and representatives who backed reform measures for years were among those term-limited out of office in this year’s election. There is a lot to be said for expertise, in government just as much as in business.

But the dramatic changes in state politics during the past year show that a tide is definitely flowing in the direction of reform.

Term limits for legislators is just one element in the equation. The dramatic primary victory of Gov.-elect Bobby Jindal might one day be looked upon as a landmark in the transformation of Louisiana’s economic and social prospects. But to do that, Jindal and his followers have to tackle the deep-rooted skepticism of voters such as Cooper.

They’ve seen too many politicians caught with hands in the public bank accounts, or long-term political families who accept gifts and a lifestyle of privilege as perks of power.

Jindal plans to have a special session of the new Legislature early in the new year. It will focus on changes in ethics laws, toughening the statutes and putting more teeth into enforcement.

Jindal’s plans cannot be seen in isolation as high-minded expressions of good government. Instead, tougher ethics laws should be seen as a vital first step in a concrete new business plan for the state.

As an Ivy League-educated son of Indian immigrants, as a Rhodes scholar, the young governor-elect is in himself a unique salesman for a Louisiana turnaround. But he is staking the reputation of his governorship at the very outset on getting from the Legislature the tangible proofs that he can carry to national and international business leaders — ethics laws that are evidence Louisiana is going to be a safer place to invest for the long term.

At a hearing of the transition committee impaneled by Jindal to consider ethics law changes, several witnesses talked about the impact of Louisiana’s reputation for political corruption.

While the Baton Rouge Area Chamber does not talk about communications with specific companies interested in this area, BRAC President Stephen Moret told the panel that one prospect did not even list Louisiana as a potential state for a major project. Louisiana is not a safe place to invest, the BRAC representative was told.

A survey of business leaders by LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab found that the state’s history of corruption lives on, in a negative view of the state for economic growth.

There are, as Moret and Jindal note, probably more important factors hurting Louisiana’s economic competitiveness, but ethics laws are likely the easiest to change.

However, easy is a relative term. One of the more significant reforms blocked during the administration of Gov. Kathleen Blanco was personal financial disclosure for legislators. Early on in her term, Blanco had to get one of her personal friends to sponsor the bill, as lawmakers were so cold to the idea.

That attitude has changed in part because of the advocacy of Moret and his allies in the ethics law push of the 2007 session, and by the fact that many legislative candidates pledged to support ethics law improvements.

But before Jindal’s salesmanship is successful with the business world, much less folks such as Cooper in Alexandria, the new governor has to pass meaningful ethics bills.

If he can do so, there might well be a tangible payoff, in terms of jobs and new industries.

Texas Proposes New 'State Bulb'

Hooray for Texas!!! Texas will have a favorite state bulb -- a light bulb. Texas believes in action and not just words according to the following:

To kick off a statewide campaign to get residents to replace old light bulbs with energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs, Texas mayors vowed to launch an effort to make the bulbs available, to encourage their use and to suggest that people give them as gifts for Christmas or other occasions.

"Individual Texans can save themselves money, and also take a lot of pressure off of utilities to not have to construct very, very expensive and polluting power plants," said Austin Mayor Will Wynn.

Mayors said use of compact fluorescent bulbs may help reduce electric demand from power plants that emit carbon dioxide, a gas blamed for global warming.

Also attending the Energy Conservation Summit called by San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger were Houston Mayor Bill White, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and El Paso Mayor John Cox.

The mayors declared the compact fluorescent, the "State Bulb of Texas," and took turns turning on the bulbs in sockets marking their cities in a huge granite map of Texas.

"Energy conservation starts at home," said Cox, who said if every Texas household converted a single light bulb to a CFL, it would mean the equivalent in air pollution reductions of removing 55,000 cars from city streets.

Now what is the State of Louisiana going to do? We all need to ask, "What buildings are benefiting from the Johnson Controls Energy Efficiency Contract?" Louisiana take note.

Myspace Won't Help

I am definitely not a fan of the social networking site, Myspace. You can search the internet everyday and find a negative story about young people's behavior on the site. I remember the difficulty various Attorney General's offices had when they attempted to get Myspace to release the records of convicted pedophiles. That was an uphill battle.

Why would anyone who want to do harm fear posting anything on Myspace? This news article is a prime example of lack of fear to use Myspace as a terrorist playground.

East St. John High School in Reserve will be closed Friday after two anonymous bomb threats and an Internet posting on myspace.com that warns that the school would be set on fire tomorrow.

St. John the Baptist Parish Schools Superintendent Michael Coburn said he ordered the closing as a precautionary measure and is hopeful the culprit will be found soon.

Parents will be notified of the closing using the district's telephone notification system. Students also were told of the day off.
School officials will determine next week how the day will be made up, Coburn said.

Two bomb threats were telephone into the Sheriff's Office emergency 911 system on Monday and Tuesday, officials said. The posting on myspace.com, a popular social networking site among teenagers, was apparently sent on Wednesday.

I do believe that they will be able to trace the bomb threats but trying to get cooperation from Myspace will be a totally different story.

'Justice Delayed' becomes 'Justice Denied'

This is one of the worst cases of justice denied that I have seen in a long time. According to KVUE Defenders Reporter, Rudy Koski has exposed several critical missteps in a criminal case that is more than 10 years old. It involves an escape to South America by an accused drunk driver who police say took the life of a University of Texas student. Marilyn Datz,mother of Lindsey Brashier,the co-ed who was killed, is still waiting for justice.

According to the accident report, the car Lindsey was riding in spun off the road and hit a utility pole.

“Was basically one car going way too fast,” said Robert Hasselman, now retired, was the investigating police officer at the scene. “I mean, this is totally a one car wreck, that the driver is totally responsible for everything.”

Brashier was dead at the scene. Another passenger, Tatina Sartori, 19, was critically injured. She was paralyzed and eventually returned to her home country of Brazil. Austin police arrested the driver, Evelyn Mezzich, 18. Her blood alcohol level was .10. The legal limit is .08.

Officers booked Mezzich into the Travis County Jail. Bond was set at $10,000. She was released after paying $1,000 to post the bond. Lindsay’s mother, Datz, wanted a higher amount.

While out on bond, a grand jury indicted Mezzich for intoxication manslaughter. The charge apparently did not slow down her social life. Datz was provided a photograph of Mezzich at a UT frat party. In the picture, she is seen smiling and holding some type of drink. It was only two months after the crash. Less than a year later, when District County Judge Bob Perkins called her case for trial, Mezzich did not appear. She jumped bail.

Mezzich is from Lima, Peru. She and her parents packed their belongings, left Texas and escaped to South America. A warrant was issued, along with a new indictment for bail jumping. FBI agents found Mezzich in 2001. She was starting a new life in Lima, but the agents were not allowed to bring her back. There was a loophole in the treaty with Peru. Manslaughter did not qualify for extradition.

Datz wanted that loophole closed and contacted KVUE News. While researching the Treaty, Congressman Michael McCaul listened to Datz’s story.

“She is a broken woman, and she needs to be made whole,” said Rep. McCaul.

The congressman reviewed the case file and was surprised by what he read.

"It is a case that slipped through the cracks," said McCaul.

A former federal prosecutor, McCaul is currently a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. After some digging, he discovered the loophole was closed. It had been since 2003 when a new treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate. At the time, no one in the Travis County District Attorney’s Office knew about the new treaty. The case remained filed away.

“I sense that the attention that it deserved, it wasn't given the proper attention, they closed the book on this case, with the new treaty the book should be open,” said Rep. McCaul.

With the treaty problem resolved, all the Justice Department needed was a letter from the Travis County DA’s office requesting that the extradition process start up again. The DA’s office was notified in May. Five months would pass, and still no letter. In October, KVUE sent a letter requesting an interview with District Attorney Ronnie Earle to explain what was taking so long. In a phone interview, D.A. Earle explained he was just being made aware of the problem. He scheduled his first assistant, Rosemary Lehmberg, for an on camera interview.

“Well, I wish we could have accomplished more in the last five or six months, but, we are a busy office," said Lehmberg.

A formal request to extradite Evelyn Mezzich was made in late October. When asked if the delay was troublesome for her as a manager, Lehmberg said, “Well in our world that doesn't seem like such a long time.”

It was long enough for Evelyn Mezzich to experience several life changes.

Along with videos, her MySpace website is packed with pictures. She earned a degree in psychology, got a boyfriend and a diamond ring. She celebrated her engagement with friends at a Lima bar, married her boyfriend in August and is now pregnant -- big changes that certainly had not happened in 2003, when the new extradition treaty was ratified, or in May, when Travis County was told it could go get her.

It is all hard for Datz to understand and accept.

“And all I’m looking for is, I’m sorry, because the pain is just, it’s immense,” said Datz.

Datz may never get that apology. Why? Peru can simply say no. All treaties recognize a sovereign country's right to do that. Those working the extradition case at the Justice Department are not giving up, and neither is Congressman McCaul.

“This has been a long hard road for the mother, it’s been ten years, but we are going to keep fighting,” said McCaul.

It is a fight made even more difficult because Mezzich is pregnant. So as Mezzich prepares to celebrate a new life, the life Datz had so much hope for, ended much too soon. Her child remains buried at a Houston cemetery. Only time will tell whether Lindsay's story will continue to be one of justice denied, or justice delayed.
____________________________
Ms. Mezzich must be a very cold harded person. I know Myspace did not have anything to with her actions but it would be a nice gesture if they would delete her myspace account.

Should Police Officers Be Allowed To Wear Beards?

Well, according to the Houston Chronicle, four Houston police officers were placed on plain-clothes duty for wearing facial hair. These officers have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit claiming discrimination for a skin condition that primarily affects black men.

Sgts. Shelby Stewart and Kenneth Perkins said they wear goatees because they suffer from pseudofolliculitis barbae, a dermatological condition common among men of African descent. Shaving can cause severe irritation, rashes and ingrown hairs. Stewart and Perkins, who are not allowed to work in uniform and have been reassigned, estimated that more than 100 HPD officers have the condition.

The lawsuit, which was also filed Tuesday by officers Adrian White and Raul Collins, claims the Houston Police Department is enforcing only the part of its appearance and grooming standards that disproportionately afflicts black officers. The City of Houston also is named as a defendant.

HPD lawyer Craig Ferrell said the department adopted the standards because officers with facial hair cannot properly seal gas masks in the event of bioterrorism attacks. He said the policy was not discriminatory, but will be changed.

What do you think? Should these officers be allowed to wear facial hair?

Racism Alleged In New Orleans' Trash Dispute

Alvin Richard, right, of Richard's Disposal and Jimmie Woods, president of Metro Disposal, left, confer as sanitation workers fill council chambers.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
A debate that started simmering last month over whether New Orleans' two highest-paid trash vendors are complying with the terms of their contracts boiled over Monday into a racial clash as dozens of black ministers and civil rights activists alleged that the City Council has singled out the deals because they are held by minority-owned firms.

Supporters of Richard's Disposal and Metro Disposal, both New Orleans companies owned and run by African-Americans, told council members during a hearing in advance of Friday's vote on the city's 2008 budget that any attempt by the council to change terms of the agreements, which Mayor Ray Nagin signed last year, would amount to racism and could incite activists to abandon the city in the throes of the winter tourism season.

Last month, city officials acknowledged that a provision of the contract that Richard's and Metro signed calls for collecting "unlimited bulky waste," including demolition material. The city, however, is not requiring the contractors to pick up construction debris generated at properties under renovation because of Hurricane Katrina.

Instead, Nagin's sanitation director, Veronica White, has said the city requires the vendors to collect only debris that conforms with limits laid out in an ordinance adopted five months after Nagin signed the deals. She also has said that the contract's inclusion of an option for emergency collection of storm debris implies that such waste is not covered by the regular terms.

The companies' owners, Alvin Richard and Jimmie Woods, reiterated Monday a point they have made throughout the debate: that in bidding on the contracts last summer, they assumed city officials were following industry norms when they called for "unlimited bulky waste" collection. That refers to debris created in the course of ordinary life and by minor construction projects, they said, not the mountains of waste generated by a flood.

Noose Sightings Are Spreading

In the wake of the Jena 6, noose sightings have been spreading rapidly:

Stories of nooses hanging in offices, schools and public spaces have peppered local newspapers across the country, and not just in Southern states.

A mixed-race student found the image of a noose and a racial epithet painted on his car Oct. 19 after attending a high school football game in DeKalb County, Ala.

A Haitian chaplain found a noose hanging from the door of his office in a Rockland, N.Y., children's psychiatric center Nov. 4.

A toilet-paper noose was discovered hanging from a campus bathroom stall Nov. 8 at North Carolina State University.

Construction workers in Cicero, Ill., found a noose hanging from a beam where they were working on a municipal building Nov. 12.

An African-American police sergeant in Bridgeport, Conn., found a noose under her patrol car Nov. 14.

In Louisiana, teachers at an elementary school run by Grambling State University put a noose around a child's neck in late September during a lesson on the civil rights movement and the Jena Six rally.

The Thibodaux Police Department fired officer Michael Rodrigue on Oct. 29 after another white officer reported seeing a noose hanging from the rear-view mirror in his personal car parked on public property.

Until law enforcement officials view this as a serious offense, I doubt that these horrific and hateful acts will diminish.

In Name Only

The headquarters of Intermarine Inc. exist in New Orleans in name only.

What Can A Company Do When "New Orleans" Is So Bad?

The company's chief executive, chief financial officer and most of its senior staff live and work in Houston. Most of the company's clients are in Houston, too.

"The official headquarters is in New Orleans. There is no desire to change the headquarters," said Mike Dumas, the company's chief financial officer. "But now most of our employees are in Texas. Most key personnel is in Texas, and we're hiring mostly from within the Texas area. At the end of the day, we have to attract high-quality employees who are comfortable with the living environment."

In order to do that, the company has slowly and relatively quietly moved its base of operations to the neighboring state.

Intermarine is one in a long list of companies that -- citing concerns about infrastructure, corruption, crime, taxes and work force -- have shifted operations from the metro area. Katrina exacerbated those pre-existing issues.

I can relate to this business. I have been living in Houston, Texas and I feel torn right now. Part of me would like to return to New Orleans, however, I realize that it is not feasible economically as well as mentally.

Spring Girl A Baby Grace Match

While investigators struggle to learn the identity of the girl they’ve named Baby Grace, one grandmother in Ohio is praying the tip she gave them doesn’t solve the mystery.

Galveston County Sheriff’s Office investigators are taking DNA samples from an Ohio father, Robert Sawyers, to see whether it matches the remains of a little girl found Oct. 29 in a plastic tub on a small island in Galveston Bay, spokesman Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said.

Test results take two to three weeks.

He said the Sawyers case is one of several investigators are focusing on, but said he didn’t want to highlight one lead over another.

Sheryl Sawyers last saw her granddaughter, 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers, May 25.

Sex Offender Mayor Barred from City Hall

The mayor pleaded guilty to indecent conduct toward two girls and is barred from going to City Hall because it is near a youth center. But he still doesn't plan to resign.

Mayor Lino Donato entered the pleas Oct. 31 to three counts of indecency, cutting short a trial on accusations that he exposed himself to two girls between 1996 and 2000 and improperly touched one of them.

He planned to resign at a meeting a week later, but he changed his mind, saying he wasn't guilty.

As a registered sex offender, Donato is required to stay more than 1,000 feet from places where children congregate, and the Atascosa Boxing Club and Youth Center is less than that distance from City Hall, City Attorney Frank Garza said. Probation officers checked the distance with a tape measure, officials said.

The mayor did not attend Tuesday's council meeting, saying it was the first meeting he's missed in five years. But Donato reiterated Wednesday that he wouldn't resign.

His term doesn't expire until May 2009. He can't be forced from office because he received "deferred adjudication" of his case, which technically isn't a conviction. There's also no rule in Poteet requiring a mayor to attend meetings, Garza said.

Poteet, population around 3,500, is about 30 miles south of San Antonio in South Texas.

Fake Cop Forced Teen To Undress

A fake cop pulled a gun and forced a teenage girl, in Kingwood, to take off her clothes. The assault happened in a kingwood park.

Children are taught that Police are the ones to trust-

"He said I'm with HPD and you don't have to worry,” the teen told 11 News.

Just one problem.

11 News: Did he look like HPD?

Victim: “Not really."

The 15 year old was alone in Elmgrove Park about 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

She had been dropped off by some friends, when the man approached her.

"He had a black cap on and it had like a badge on it,” said the victim, whose identity 11 News agreed to protect.

The “officer” asked if she'd seen two boys on bikes.

"I pulled out my phone to call someone and the second that I pulled out the phone to call someone. He pulled out this gun,” said the victim.

The man then led her to a wooded area, forced her to take off her shirt and pants, and fondled her.

When the victim started to make noise he told her to just go home.

"I was scared and I just I don't know,” the teen girl said.

“She came in just running up the stairs and she seemed to be having an anxiety attack,” he mother said. “(She said), ‘Mom this man he came and he had a gun.’”

Her mother called police. But what frightens her most is she thinks others have been victims.

And it is not the only one reported assault in the Kingwood area.

In July of 2006, two teenagers were approached in very similar fashion by a man claiming to be HPD. His description is also very similar to the one given in the latest attack.

Police say the suspect is a white male in is 30s. He is 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-10 and about 160 pounds.

He was wearing a red windbreaker type jacket and tan shorts, along with the black police-style baseball cap.

Investigators also think that there could be more victims. They are also concerned that the suspect used a gun in this latest attack.

Former Councilman Sentenced Today

Former New Orleans City Councilman was sentenced to 37 months in prison today. The judge scoffed, at the ex-councilman, for his actions:

"By all accounts, you could have been the next mayor," the judge told him.

For all his work, he was rewarded by constituents' votes and the power of office, Vance said.
But at a "critical time," Vance said, Thomas "sold out" and took a bribe.

"The defendant has not been truthful or fully cooperative," Judge Sarah Vance said in sentencing the former city councilman, who pleaded guilty to bribery and has refused to provide prosecutors with information on other public corruption. "Mr. Thomas, your actions are a tragic disappointment to this entire community."

Thomas earlier pleaded guilty to taking about $15,000 in exchange for helping to rig a French Quarter parking contract for Stan "Pampy" Barre, who told the government about the deal as part of his own plea agreement. Barre pleaded guilty to skimming money from a City Hall energy contract.

Oliver Thomas Decides Not To Do A "Pampy"

Former Councilman Oliver Thomas has decided that he will not follow Stan "Pampy" Barre's example by becoming a rat.

The prosecution's motion, filed under seal Thursday, makes it plain that federal authorities believe Thomas has knowledge of other crimes but is refusing to divulge it. It says that Thomas met once with FBI agents and federal prosecutors in early September and had a discussion that "covered several areas of interest to the United States of which Mr. Thomas was believed to have knowledge."

A week later, Thomas and his lawyer, Clarence Roby, met with authorities again, but this time "indicated he did not wish to be a 'rat' and that very close family members did not want him to be a 'rat' and therefore he would not relate any knowledge about other criminal activity to us."

What will be the punishment for not taking a bite out of the cheese?

Oh Really!!! - What Does Mississippi Have?

New Orleans can't host a debate but Mississippi can!!! What is the real reason for this decision?

New Orleans lost out in the competition to host one of the 2008 presidential debates Monday after the commission that selects the sites decided that the city has not sufficiently recovered from Hurricane Katrina to handle such a major event.

Backers of the New Orleans debate, who had won the support of seven presidential candidates and three of the nation's leading newspapers, reacted with indignation and disputed the debate commission's assertion that New Orleans has not recovered its touch for staging national events.

"Politics trumped the moral decision," said Anne Milling, founder of Women of the Storm, one of the sponsors of the proposed debate.

"They missed an opportunity to help America," said Norman Francis, president of Xavier University, which joined forces with Dillard, Loyola and Tulane to host the debate. In passing on New Orleans' bid, the commission skipped an opportunity to award a debate to a historically black college for the first time.

One of the cities selected, Oxford, Miss., which will host the first presidential debate on Sept. 26, won even though it lacked the hotel rooms required by the debate commission, Milling said. The University of Mississippi is the host of the Oxford debate.

TSU Outlines Broad Reforms

Texas Southern University is proposing top-to-bottom changes to ease the concerns of state lawmakers, including greater oversight from regents, tighter controls over spending and the involvement of outsiders in academic and financial matters.

The sweeping set of reforms comes after nearly two years of turmoil at the state's largest historically black university and could lead to an infusion of money from the state.

While the additional funding is an immediate and critical need, campus leaders characterized the proposed strategy as the best chance for improving a school with myriad of problems, including declining enrollment and low graduation rates.

The long-range plan calls for new policies that would require the governing board to be more involved than before, especially in money matters. At the same time, it says the regents' first priority should be to hire a permanent president.

The 167-page blueprint draws from ideas already proposed by Gov. Rick Perry's TSU advisory committee, which offered a stinging assessment of the chronically troubled university in March. In following the committee's report, the new plan suggests a renewed focus on undergraduate education while making no mention of earlier research ambitions.

Oliver Thomas to be Sentenced Wednesday

Ollie could not deliver others in handcuffs:

Less than four months after he shocked New Orleanians by pleading guilty to accepting bribes while in office, former City Councilman Oliver Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced this week.

Observers called the quick sentencing a clear sign that Thomas, who resigned his at-large council seat after his plea in federal court, has given investigators little or no information to aid other public corruption probes.

The sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday at 10 a.m., four days after city voters elected former City Councilwoman Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson to replace Thomas and serve the two-plus years remaining in the term.

Thomas will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance, who, if history is a guide, may have stern words for him. When the councilman entered his plea in August, Vance called his actions "a body blow to a community that is already reeling under a wave of public corruption," adding: "If this city is ever to recover, we have to have an end to this type of venality."

Though he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, Thomas is likely to receive far less for various reasons, including his previously clean record, his admission of guilt and the relatively small amount of money, about $20,000, that he confessed to taking.

Federal sentencing guidelines call for a sentence in the range of 30 to 37 months based on the offenses Thomas admitted, according to Tulane law professor and former federal prosecutor Tania Tetlow. Federal judges are no longer required to follow sentencing guidelines.

However, it appears unlikely he will receive extra leniency in exchange for providing what federal law calls "substantial assistance" in the investigation or prosecution of another person, according to courthouse observers. Were that the case, prosecutors would have almost certainly asked Vance to delay Thomas' sentencing.

"When someone is cooperating, you usually see one or two motions to continue," said Loyola Law School professor Dane Ciolino. "The purpose is to make sure he cooperates as expected, and that he testifies as expected."

"The government has a policy of waiting (to sentence a convict) until after he has testified," agreed lawyer Julian Murray, a former federal prosecutor. "It doesn't mean he hasn't given them some information that was helpful, but it's unlikely he'll testify in another case."

Not only does a delay ensure prosecutors the testimony they seek, it gives them time to complete the paperwork to request a downward departure, often known as a cooperation letter, or a 5K1 after the section of the federal sentencing code that describes it.

That Thomas' sentencing appears to be on schedule is a "pretty good suggestion that he is not cooperating -- or at least has not been able to deliver any additional wrongdoers to the government," Ciolino said.

In contrast, Ciolino noted, convicted restaurateur and political operative Stan "Pampy" Barre, -- who helped provide the government with the evidence it needed to prosecute Thomas -- still awaits sentencing.

Barre pleaded guilty in January to conspiring to skim more than $1 million from a large City Hall energy contract awarded by former Mayor Marc Morial. His sentencing, now set for January, has been delayed numerous times.

Thomas' lawyer, Clarence Roby, said he couldn't discuss the details of Thomas' conversations with investigators. But he hinted that his client hadn't provided the government much information, and he said he doesn't expect any delay in the sentencing.

"He's cooperated the best he could," Roby said of Thomas. "But unlike Stan Barre and others, he didn't necessarily walk in saying, 'Let me tell you about every corrupt act I've ever witnessed.' He's in an unenviable position. But he's taken responsibility for his misdeeds."

It appears that Ollie was not privy to any other misdeeds. If he did have other info, I am pretty sure he would have provided it.

Feds Looking Into Morial's Records

What could it be Marc? Did Slimy Mac-P (aka Stan "Pampy" Barre) steer the feds your way?

For his part, Morial's lawyer Pat Fanning said he "cannot imagine" why prosecutors would be subpoenaing legal records. He characterized the latest subpoena, which he said he was not aware of until receiving a call from a reporter, as another "bewildering" turn in a senseless investigation.

"I cannot imagine why they would be subpoenaing Adams and Reese's records," he said. "I can't imagine they would think those lawyers over there are going to participate in a deal to help Marc get some illegal money. That's a big business over there.

"My read on all this is that somebody either at the FBI or the IRS got a bug up their ass and said, 'Let's send a subpoena over there.' I never have been able to figure out what they're investigating about Marc. I guess it's just the government being the government."

Could that "bug up their ass", that Pat Fanning is eluding to, be Stan "Pampy" Barre quivering at the prospects of spending his golden years in prison? I guess we just have to wait and see.

Louisiana Election Results

Jalila Jefferson-Bullock lost the election. Could it be that her father's misdeeds played a factor in the voters' decision? Una Anderson lost to Walker Hines. I would hate to hear that voters were swayed by anything convicted felon Stan "Pampy" Barre had to say.

Another Report of a Noose Incident

Thousands of black Americans marched around the U.S. Justice Department on Friday to protest what they described as heavy-handed law enforcement and a reluctance to prosecute racially motivated crimes.

Chants of "no justice, no peace" and "fired up, can't take it no more" echoed off the monumental government buildings along Pennsylvania Avenue as an overwhelmingly black crowd of about 10,000 circled the department's Washington headquarters.

Civil rights leaders organized the march after a spate of incidents in which blacks have been harassed with nooses, a symbol of racist lynchings.


Meanwhile, a Slidell city employee is under investigation by city officials and the FBI after he apparently hung a paper figure from a crudely constructed noose on city property following a disagreement with his African-American supervisor.

The employee evidently created the makeshift noose -- fashioned from electrical wire hanging in an old work barn on Bayou Lane -- before the hearing took place, Morris said. He used white paper to make a paper doll to hang from the noose, Morris said.

The FBI visited the barn Thursday morning and interviewed several employees, said Morris, who met with investigators. Sheila Thorn, a special agent in the agency's New Orleans office, confirmed Friday that the FBI is looking into "an incident involving a noose" to determine whether it warrants further federal investigation.

National League of Cities Held In New Orleans

The National League of Cities' conference began yesterday, in the City of New Orleans. President Bart Peterson, the mayor of Indianapolis, opened the conference by "saying local governments emerged as the nation's pre-eminent policy incubators starting in the 1990s: the era when a standoff between President Clinton and a Republican Congress resulted in a government shutdown."

More than 3,500 mayors, city managers and council members from around the country arrived in New Orleans this week to swap ideas about common interests, from highway congestion to aging public infrastructure to the recent slump in the housing market.

Through a series of neighborhood workshops and bus tours, they also tried to soak up lessons from New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and other city leaders on how to plan for and recover from disasters.

Visiting leaders were attuned to the disasters that can erupt when government fails to maintain its infrastructure: not only roads and highways but also the levees that failed in New Orleans and the interstate highway bridge that collapsed this past summer in Minnesota.

The conference continues today with appearances from high-profile speakers such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former chairmen of the Republican and Democratic national committees. Donald Powell, the president's Gulf Coast recovery czar, will speak Saturday.

Who Owns The City's Landfills?

Something smelly is going on again concerning contracts signed in the waning period of Marc Morial's administration. It appears that private owners bought some of the land, however, the City of New Orleans, under Morial's administration trumped their ownership that has now resulted in a civil lawsuit. According to the Times Picayune:

The current landfill's origins date to 2001, when a nearby construction dump -- the AMID Landfill, also operated by Stumpf -- was nearing capacity.

Saying New Orleans needed a facility that could accept construction debris, officials in Mayor Marc Morial's administration proposed opening a new landfill partly atop a city dump that had closed nearly two decades before.

At the time, City Hall claimed to own the land in question. When the city sought a state permit for the landfill in 2002, City Hall officials attested to the city's ownership.

In 2001, Stumpf and Woods formed a joint venture and submitted the only proposal to operate the new facility. In the final days of the Morial administration in early 2002, they signed a deal under which -- provided the landfill received a state permit -- they would keep 97 percent of the proceeds, with the city getting the other 3 percent.

It would be more than three years before the facility opened, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, when officials from the state Department of Environmental Quality gave it emergency authorization to begin accepting debris. It soon became the busiest debris depot in the state, taking in as much as 100,000 cubic yards of construction waste on some days.

Let's see how this play out. Will it result in possible other revelations about Morial's cronies dipping their hands in the city's coffers? I do smell scandal.

Prosecutors Ask Court To Uphold Skilling's Conviction

Prosecutors want to keep former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling behind bars, without retrying any part of his case, and did not give an inch in the reply they filed to Skilling's appeal today.

The Department of Justice filed a 218-page reply to the appeal of Skilling, who is serving a 24-year prison sentence in Minnesota on 19 convictions of conspiracy, securities fraud, insider trading and lying to auditors at Enron.

Skilling was found guilty by a Houston jury in 2006 and appealed his conviction to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in September. He argued that prosecutors sought to criminalize normal business practices and overreached in prosecutions relating to the fall of Enron.

Skilling's multi-faceted appeal included arguments that the government had a faulty theory in claiming Skilling denied Enron his "honest services," that the judge gave improper jury instructions, that the sentence is excessive and that the case should not have been tried in Houston, where the company imploded.

The Justice Department's fraud section disagreed with all those contentions in its response today, written by San Francisco-based prosecutor Douglas Wilson. The government argued that a court decision on "honest services" in another case does not mean Skilling's convictions should be reversed.

Skilling was tried with former Enron Chairman Ken Lay in part because they shared the conspiracy charge. Lay died six weeks after their four-month trial ended in convictions for both of them. Lay's record was later wiped clean.

Houston Police Are Looking For A Serial Kller

There is a serial killer, on the loose, here in Houston. Several nude victims have been discovered over the past 22 months. Most of the victims' bodies were found dumped near churches, in Acres Homes.

The slayings have spurred one of the most intensive homicide investigations in Houston history, filling seven 4-inch-thick binders and yielding a 695-page report. But investigators say the hunt has become a roller coaster ride of frustration and 18-hour work days.

The women lived in a shadowy, secretive world, where their final movements are extremely difficult to trace and witnesses reluctant to step forward.

Cactus Records Reopens In Houston

A longtime hotspot for Texas and regional musicians -- and a beacon for their fans -- has reopened with some of the same faces.

Except for ownership and location, little has changed at Cactus Records, which reopened Saturday. Quinn Bishop, who managed the old store, is an owner of the new.

The independent music boutique sells all types of music, but it specializes in Texas music and focuses on providing a venue for local and regional musicians. The 6,000-square-foot shop sits in a shopping strip just a few blocks from the original.

After owners of the original store, Bud and Don Daily, retired and shut down the business in March 2006, they gave the naming rights to Bishop, who had worked at the store for 20 years.

He is now one of four owners. In addition, most of the old staff has returned.

Judge Harassed Woman For Years

Here in Houston, it was reported recently how a district judge had been sexually harassing a woman for years:

Family and friends of a federal court employee whose sexual misconduct complaint led to the suspension of U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent told a newspaper that Kent repeatedly harassed the woman over four years, including allegations of improper touching.

Those include the alleged assault in March that began an investigation ending with the September reprimand against Kent by a federal panel, a rare disciplinary action against a federal judge.

The reprimand by the Judicial Council of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals includes no details of the complaint. But in a story published Sunday by the Houston Chronicle, people close to the alleged victim described in detail the alleged groping in an office room.

It probably took her a long time to convince someone that this was happening. People tend to look at a person's position and then reaching an erroneous conclusion that since that person holds a certain position, they could not possibly be guilty of what they have been accused of.

Looking back on Huey Long

With everything that has been in the news lately concerning politics in Louisiana, I decided to step back in time. I found this excerpt in Times. It sort of reminded me of the charges of today. Enjoy!!!

Days passed and Louisianans waited —waited for their Governor Huey P. Long to deny charges leveled at him publicly in the papers of Col. Robert Ewing, Democratic National Committeeman from Louisiana. The charges which Governor Long was challenged to deny read:

"First—That Governor Long frequently appears in New Orleans in public resorts and engages in drunken debauches.

"Second—That Governor Long is a visitor to the so-called studios of New Orleans.

"Third—That Governor Long plays the role of the singing fool in cabarets and other places.

"Fourth—That Governor Long's bedfellow and inseparable companion is Mr. James Brocato, alias 'Jimmie' Moran, keeper of notorious speakeasies, pal of gamblers and convicted lawbreaker."

All last week Louisianans waited in vain.

"The Big Easy"

visit videodetective.com for more info

The Big Easy is an American neo-noir film released in 1987, directed by Jim McBride and written by Daniel Petrie Jr. It was later a television series for two seasons on the USA Network (1996-1997).

The picture was executive produced by Mort Engelberg and the cinematographer was done by Affonso Beato.

The film stars Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman, and Ned Beatty.

It tells the story of how New Orleans detective Remy McSwain (Quaid) and Louisiana district attorney Anne Osborne (Barkin) investigate mob violence, possible police corruption, and in the process learn to deal with their very different personalities.

The action takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana and was shot on location.

World's Most Expensive Dessert Unveiled

I know I have told all of you about Dina K. who spends a fortune on paid chat lines trying to find her prince. What she found, however, was GPAMP, the convicted burglar for whom she paid his bail. There are rumors that she view herself as a fine piece of white chocolate, although she is one big glob of fat. She brags about loving chocolate. Her pseudonym is 'Dina K. does chocolate'. She dreams of owning the most expensive piece. Well, here it is Dina K. Do you think you can afford it?




World's most expensive dessert unveiled in New York goes straight into the Guinness Book of Records.

The $25,000 "Frrrozen Haute Chocolate" has officially become the most expensive dessert on the planet.

The indulgent delicacy is being offered at Serendipity 3 Restaurant in New York City's Upper East Side.

The dessert is made with a blend of 28 rare and exotic cocoas from around the world, whipped cream, black truffle shavings, and 23 karat edible gold.

Some Actors Lend Support To Writers' Strike

This strike has even affected New Orleans' own 'K-Ville'.

The Fox network cop show "K-Ville" stopped filming in New Orleans on Thursday, cutting short its planned 13-episode shoot by several weeks and cutting loose its large local crew.

The series, starring Anthony Anderson and Cole Hauser as post-Katrina New Orleans Police Department officers, was reportedly a victim of the Writers Guild of America strike, which started Monday.

Fox on Wednesday released a strike-shuffled schedule for January and beyond, and "K-Ville" isn't on it. But the show's main NOPD station-house set, built in a Harahan warehouse, will not be disassembled immediately.

Perverts Visits Chat Lines

Pedophilia is in the air. You can hear it. You can see it. Indeed, just two weeks ago, the US Supreme Court was waist-deep in the vile mess struggling with the oral arguments in U.S. v Williams. In that case, Michael Williams engaged an undercover agent in an on-line Yahoo! chat room dedicated to child pornography. Williams bragged about possessing such filth including pictures of himself engaging in sexual conduct with his own young toddler-age daughter.

The federal authorities arrested Williams and while they didn’t find pictures of his daughter, they found plenty of others. He was charged with two federal criminal counts: one for possession of child pornography and one for what has been labeled pandering in child pornography.

Some General Aspects of a Psychopath

The following information provides another glimpse into the mind of a psychopath:

A psychopath is often filled with greed inside, relating to the world through power, even though on the outside he can claim to be on the side of the disenfranchised or the downtrodden. The psychopath can also often identify himself as a revolutionary.

On the flip side, however, the psychopath can paint a picture of himself as the downcast anti-hero (his "own worst enemy type") and some like to see themselves as lone-wolves. The psychopath may even claim he is sensitive and profound, but inside he feels nothing but emptiness and greed. Whether or not the psychopath is aware of his behavior is something that is often debated. I do believe that psychopaths usually know exactly what they are doing, although others suggest that psychopaths are "born, not made."

I believe that psychopathy is primarily genetic. A son with a psychopathic father often will be psychopathic as well, especially if the father was abusive and/or abandoned the family as well.

A Glimpse At How a Psychopath Views the World

Yesterday, I commented on an article, in the Times Picayune, title "The Two Sides of Stan Barre". The following information will perhaps shed more light on Mr. Barre's personality:

Most psychopaths are very arrogant and cocky. However, when charming a potential victim, they say all the "right" things and make you believe they are kind-hearted souls; not always, but often enough. The truth is, psychopaths are not altruistic and do not really care about friendships or ties.

Guggenbuhl-Craig states that they are very talented at appearing much more humble than the average person, but are hardly so. Some are also able to feign concern about the lower classes and profess that they are on the side of the underdog, the poor, and so forth. A psychopath may claim, for instance (if he's from a low socio-economic class), that he dislikes rich people intensely, but at the same time, he will inwardly yearn and envy what they have. He is like the narcissist, desiring to reflect a false image of himself through his possessions.

Among his possessions are included human beings: girlfriends, wives, and children. Some psychopaths can even be very fond of animals (contrary to the common viewpoint), but still view them as objects in relation to themselves.

Don't Let Drug Addicts get at your old Meds

Drug addiction is a serious problem in our country. There may have been a time when you were prescribed medication that would appeal to a drug addict. Have you ever thought about what you could do with those unused drugs? I ran across this interesting article that I think you should read:

Got some leftover drugs -- the kind that someone else might want to use, such as painkillers or stimulants? Wrap them up in used kitty litter or other pet droppings, the U.S. government advises.

A pilot program at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is looking at ways people can safely dispose of unused prescription drugs that are liable to be abused.

The Food and Drug Administration recommends flushing some of the most dangerous ones down the toilet, including the strong, addictive painkillers oxycodone and fentanyl and stimulants such as methylphenidate.

On its Web site at http://www.samhsa.gov/rxsafety/, SAMHSA recommends ways to disguise leftover pills.

"Mixing prescription drugs with an undesirable substance, such as used coffee grounds or kitty litter, and putting them in impermeable, nondescript containers, such as empty cans or sealable bags, will further ensure the drugs are not diverted," it says.

Of course some people do not drink coffee. But maybe they have a pet ferret.

"Ferret waste, like nearly any other form of pet waste, can be effectively used to help prevent the abuse of unused prescription drugs," SAMHSA spokesman Mark Weber said.

This news delighted the American Ferret Association.

"The U.S. government declares ferret poop to be an effective weapon against drug abuse," the group said in a statement.

SAMHSA said the problem is no joke.

"One in five teens reports intentionally misusing someone else's prescription drugs to get high. Nearly half say they get the medications from friends and relatives for free," it says in a statement.

Dr. Ilene Ruhoy of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, studied leftover pharmaceuticals found in the homes of 473 people who died in 2006. She found 3,562 controlled substances, or an average of nearly eight per person.

More than half were hydrocodone painkiller products, while the rest were oxycodone, morphine or fentanyl.

Myspace Becomes Hybrid for Phishing Scam

The online social networking site, is causing a lot of problems for unsophisticated teens and unwary adults whose sites have been targeted by a phishing scam. The scam offers the users a free Macy's gift card. Macy has denied that such offer exist.

The users of Myspace are tricked into giving out their usernames and passwords. After their information is captured, the scam also sends out the same Macy's gift card offers to the users Myspace friends. Myspace seems to not be able to control this type of scam.

Myspace Is a Haven for Gangs

The online social networking site, Myspace, is always in the news. It appears that the online social networking site is only interested in their revenue dollars and not the interest of the large numbers of young people who spend time on their site. Myspace appears to not be concerned with what is being posted on its sites.

There has been incidents of alleged internet posturings by gang-banger wannabes that has run smack into school officials with zero tolerance.

Three Kamiakin High school students were hauled before the school board last week to answer questions about photos posted on their Myspace, accused of flashing gang-signs and clothing on school grounds.

A Times-Picayune Award Winning Story

After reading and commenting on the horrors of New Orleans, that ranges from murders to bribery, it is a good feeling to finally read an article that focuses on someone who has character and substance. The following article was refreshing:

Rhode Island eye doctor Thomas McCauley acknowledges that he came to a medical convention in New Orleans with his head on a swivel: wary, defensive and expecting calamity at any moment in a city he had been told was the crime capital of the country.

So when he lost four wads of crisp, newly won Ben Franklins totaling $8,000 at Harrah's New Orleans Casino on Thursday night, he figured his pocket had been picked, until Harrah's buffet waiter Al Castro handed the cash back to him an hour later, every hundred accounted for.

McCauley was still thunderstruck on Friday. He broadcast Castro's honesty to everyone he saw, beginning with Harrah's management, which eagerly grasped the incident as an opportunity not only to shower praise on one of its own, but also to counter New Orleans' image as a crime-ridden city that tourists enter at their peril.

"The man can't be tempted," an effusive McCauley said of Castro. "He's the saint of New Orleans."

McCauley, an eye surgeon from Narragansett, is in New Orleans attending a convention of the American Academy of Ophthalmology with a friend, Steve Carlson.

McCauley said he won $8,000 at craps and blackjack Thursday evening and stuffed the winnings in a spare wallet that carried no identification. He said he carries a second wallet as a defense against pickpockets, which he said friends back in Rhode Island warned him about.

Leaving the tables, McCauley said, he and Carlson spent an hour at the Harrah's buffet. Castro, 34, who also is an accounting student at the University of Phoenix, waited on them with such amiability that McCauley filled out a complimentary remarks card for Harrah's management. Then he and Carlson left to catch a show elsewhere in the casino.

An hour later, McCauley said, he realized his spare wallet -- stuffed with money but no identification -- was gone.

"I thought I got picked for sure -- that somebody had set me up," he said.

The waiter said Friday that he found the wallet stuck in the booth McCauley and Carlson had vacated.

When they rushed back to the restaurant an hour or so later, Castro recognized McCauley and readily returned the wallet, McCauley said.

"He said, 'Don't worry; it's all there,' " McCauley recalled.

McCauley quickly determined Castro was right. He insisted on rewarding Castro, who has a wife and 1-year-old daughter. But Castro refused to take anything, he said.

Even so, McCauley spent much of Friday making sure Harrah's, his convention colleagues and a good many others knew of Castro's honesty. "The day he graduates I'd hire him to do my books," he said.

As the story spread, Harrah's General Manager Jim Hoskins relayed word all the way up the corporate chain to Harrah's headquarters in Las Vegas.

"Don't worry, we're going to take care of him," Hoskins said.

So finally, the question: Why return a cash-stuffed wallet with no ID?

"Well, Dr. McCauley was a gentleman, and I put myself in his shoes," Castro said. "Plus my wife's been telling me she believes in karma.

"Good things happen to people to who do good things."