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

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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.