When Jindal told his Harry Lee story it sounded off to me. TPM has beenposting on the veracity of the story and thelatest is here. Also of note isthis found in yesterday’s column by Stephanie Grace of the Times Picayune: Jindal then proceeded to tellone of his favorite stories, about the time he walked into the late Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee’s office just after the storm and found him up in arms over the fact that “some bureaucrat” wouldn’t let a flotilla of volunteer rescue boats through without proof of insurance and registration. (my emphasis) One of his favorite … Continue reading One of Jindal’s “favorite stories”

Our fate is your fate… The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has just delivered a bombshell to the city of Dallas, rating the integrity of the Trinity River levees unacceptable in a draft inspection report . The rating means that Dallas’ primary flood protection, the massive berms of earth that run along the Trinity floodway, do not meet current standards set out by the corps after the disaster of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. “It means that some of the items of our levee system must be fixed and on others we must do further testing and analysis to determine if … Continue reading Dallas Levees Rated Unacceptable

I don’t know if journalism is dead, dying or simply evolving, but you can’t turn around these days without seeing a newspaper shuttering its doors. The Rocky Mountain News has called it a day, with it’sfinal issue having rolled off the press today. (You can feel free to blame whomever you’d like for this foreclosure, but if the ad at the bottom of this story to “subscribe to the Rocky Mountain News” is any indication of their ad and marketing department’s level of sales acumen, it’s a small wonder the paper lasted this long.) In San Francisco, the Chronicle is … Continue reading Dulce et Decorum est pro journalism mori

Not to pile on any further, but this article from the local rag underscores the degree to which Jindal underwhelmed. You see, the local paper, as well as local television stations have relentlessly promoted the governor–and did so well before he became governor. To be sure, there’s a bit of ‘local boy makes good;’ however, Jindal’s brand of hyper-conservatism sells down here. I remember in 2003 being mildly surprised at the degree to which local reporters displayed their disappointment at Jindal’s loss to Kathleen Blanco…not that I expect journalists to actually be objective, but you’d think if nothing else they’d … Continue reading What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?

From theSun Herald: GULFPORT — Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr and his wife, Laura, quietly cried in the corridor of the U.S. District courthouse mere blocks from City Hall after they were each indicted on 16 charges, including conspiracy, fraud and making false statements to obtain a total of $222,798.10 in federal Katrina relief and insurance funds. The Warrs pleaded innocent to the charges in U.S. District Court this morning. They flanked their attorney, Joe Sam Owen of Gulfport, as they stood before U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Roper. Gulfport’s first couple potentially faces maximum penalties of 210 years each in … Continue reading Gulfport Mayor Indicted for Katrina Fraud

Yeah, HOW Jindal said it, his halting sing-songy Kenneth-the-NBC-page delivery was FAIL-tacular, but Maddow’s befuddlement on WHAT he was saying was spot-on. His appropriation and flip flop of the post-Katrina fed debacle is jaw-dropping. And don’t even get me started on the Train to Disneyland and volcano-monitoring. Sheesh. Jindal took a few billion of the stimulus for road and bridge infrastructure, in a state that’s more than half underwater, but the very idea of a train, for people, for tourists, taking future needs into account, well that’s just elitist wasteful crazy talk. (Aside of course, from the fact that Republican … Continue reading Because it can’t be emphasized enough

Felt weird to type out that title. This is the kind of effort that will do much to keep many Americans safe… Newly appointed Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano reportedly will order a review of hurricane recovery efforts made in the Gulf of Mexico. The review will measure the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s progress since Hurricane Katrina made landfall in August 2005. In prepared testimony released to the Associated Press, Napolitano said she will create a team to clarify the federal government’s role in long-term recovery and work to resolve disputes. —– Continue reading FEMA efforts to be reviewed by new administration

Top Chef finale tonight. Please FSM and all other deities in the firmament, send all the winner love to Carla, because Hosea is a passive-aggressive null set and Stefan is a pig. (Well, he’s like a pig but without the charm or taste.) Our girl Carla, though, she knows that what the world needs now is love: I believe that all of the emotions you are feeling when you’re cooking food, especially when you share it with other people, go into the food. I really do call love the secret ingredient because if you’re in a happy place — if … Continue reading The Hootie-Fu is strong, ya’ll

Jon Stewart on Republican Govs against the stimulus bill yet are taking the money… …because that seems like the equivalent of saying, look I don’t believe in gay rights but if that guy in the cowboy hat is giving out free blow jobs, hey who am I not to get in line? Watch it: .cc_box a:hover .cc_home{background:url(‘http://www.comedycentral.com/comedycentral/video/assets/syndicated-logo-over.png’) !important;}.cc_links a{color:#b9b9b9;text-decoration:none;}.cc_show a{color:#707070;text-decoration:none;}.cc_title a{color:#868686;text-decoration:none;}.cc_links a:hover{color:#67bee2;text-decoration:underline;} The Daily Show With Jon StewartM – Th 11p / 10c Clusterf#@k to the Poor House – GOP Govs at Odds http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:218391 Daily Show Full EpisodesImportant Things With Demetri Martin Funny Political NewsJoke of the Day Continue reading Govs at Odds