There has been much written about the happenings in Jena, Louisiana, a town that few people outside of the direct area had ever heard of. However it made the national, and international news with the brutal beating of Justin Barker, in early December 2006. Six of Jena’s finest with Mychal Bell as their leader knocked […]

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Today we have another case in our long, long list of indicted Democrats who are mysteriously not identified as Democrats by the media. This time it is in the great state of Louisiana where two Democrat judges are caught up in Federal racketeering charges for taking bribes.
State District Judge Michael Walker, Democrat of Shreveport, […]

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It’s a damn shame that there are places like Jena, LA where racial prejudice not only lives but thrives! Places where a black kid can get beat up by white kids because he choose to sit under the wrong tree, places where children have been brought up to hate based on the color of a […]

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The Carnival of Hurricane Relief has posted its 103rd edition this week, noting the two-year anniversary of the first of three big hurricanes to pound the Gulf Coast.
Beyond its usual collection of links to blog posts and news stories related to Gulf Coast hurricane recovery, there are two items of special note included with this […]

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In Jena, Louisiana, a black student challenged the de facto segregation of his high school by asking permission to sit under the “white tree.” School officials told him to sit where he liked. The next day three nooses hung from the tree, which triggered an impromptu protest by the black students of Jena High. LaSalle […]

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Do you know how to tie a noose? Get a piece of string and try it. It’s not a simple slip knot. You have to practice it to get it right. If you live in the south, you probably have a special aversion to nooses. We know what they mean, as surely as Cubans know […]

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 Photo courtesy of Ruffit at Flickr
It never ceases to amaze me that we keep seeing additional allegations of abuse, fraud and waste come to light as a result of the Katrina hurricane, and it’s aftermath.
Brian Beutler of the Media Consortium (courtesy of AlterNet) wrote a pretty telling article of the abuses dealt to laborers, who […]

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The second most important issue facing Americans is Health Care. It falls slightly behind an immoral war based on lies and neither issue will resolve itself. As a concerned and wide awake American, I want to know more and I want to know how I can help to make it better. 
It really, REALLY bugs me that I am […]

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After Hurricane Katrina hit, relief came pouring in from donors and charity organizations to help rebuild the city as quickly and efficiently as possible. However, nearly two years later, the process of rebuilding is still underway and just now beginning to pick up the pace. Also, the billions of dollars raised has been needed for […]

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There she goes! The Siegen Village 10 cinema, the only cinema in town to play any independent and/or foreign films, is closing it’s doors to the public after the 7:45pm showing of Delta Farce tonight. This is but a symptom of the ugly disease that has permeated the area in the past 10 years. Before […]

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Republicans have ejected legislators in the recent past who have done wrong (Foley, Ney). Now the Democrats, who ran on the issue of getting rid of “the culture of corruption” in Washington — a culture they attributed to Republicans — have a chance to finally stand up for that conviction of theirs.
An indictment charging […]

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Oprah brought Lalita Tademy’s Cane River to my attention. Lalita Tademy brought Red River to my attention. It has been several years since I read Cane River, the story of Lalita’s mother’s family. It was Ms Tademy’s talent of story telling as much as it was the history of her people that captured my interest […]

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New England Patriots defensive end Marquise Hill was found dead in New Orleans’ Lake Pontchatrain on Monday afternoon after he and a friend fell off a jet ski Sunday night. He was 24-years-old. The two were not wearing life vests when the jet ski toppled over. The unidentified woman who was with Hill survived by […]

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After a deluge of rain with water drainage problems all over town on Friday, Saturday turned out to be a perfect day for an outdoor arts festival. The festival weather couldn’t have come at a better time since this was the 30th Anniversary of the Baton Rouge Fest-For-All. The artists were superb this year. There […]

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Richard Ryan Wargo of Shreveport, LA has allegedly threatened to kill Sen. Hillary Clinton. Senator Clinton is scheduled to be in Baton Rouge this weekend for the National Conference of Black Mayors. A classmate of the 19-year-old Wargo reported a conversation he had to LSU Police. Wargo is alleged to have asked the classmate if […]

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The hurricane disasters, and their commentary on social issues, continue to amaze me. To me, the rest of the world can learn a lot by studying the ongoing problems related to the disaster.
The amount of money wasted, or lost to fraud (over a billion and growing) is a sad commentary, when a lot of the […]

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Bruce Alpert, of the Time Picayune did an excellent article concerning all the recent prosecutions for fraud in the Katrina and Rita hurricanes.
One woman, LaWanda Williams collected $267,377.15 in an identity theft scheme using several other people’s information.
I wonder if any of the people (who had their information stolen) were denied benefits, as a result […]

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What is Nancy Pelosi thinking ? She puts a possible inmate -to be, on the Homeland Security Committee. It is just a matter of time before his legal troubles are front and center in the news headlines. Rep. Jefferson got a brief delay in his down slide, when the politicians on Capital Hill were able […]

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There is no doubt about it - the Katrina and Rita debacle - was NOT a shining moment in our nation’s history. Fifteen months later as New Orleans prepares to celebrate “Fat Tuesday” (Mardi Gras), more allegations of fraud and mismanagement are coming to light.
Two reporters (Michelle Roberts and Frank Bass) of the AP wrote […]

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A grim search is underway tonight in French Settlement, Louisiana for 13-year-old Kaitlin Marie Aydell. Kaitlin disappeared from the small community that sits between Baton Rouge and New Orleans on Thursday, February 1. She apparently vanished just after getting off her school bus.
Around 3 a.m. Friday, the Livingston Parish (La) sheriff’s department arrested Mark Sterling […]

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With all the allegations of “poorly spent money” in the hurricane disasters, it’s become apparent that a lot of money hasn’t reached the people, who need it.
For instance, take the “Road Home Program”, which has paid a company called ICF International over $60 million to issue $4 million in checks. The program is intended to […]

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The new identity theft protection and recovery service by Truston is live. The service is unique because it doesn’t require you to give up your personal information, which could be stored in a database, and used to commit identity theft if it falls into the wrong hands.
In case you’ve missed the weekly stories, databases are […]

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This decision (very good though brief AP coverage; actual decision text here) has a lot of subtleties. A judge has issued an injuction requiring FEMA to continue benefits to Katrina evacuees — some applicants were recently denied.
First of all, I think it needs to be clear it’s a preliminary injuction, not a ruling. That simply […]

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First gypsies impersonate Dr. Phil and now someone is selling tickets to the Oprah show that smell a little “phishy.”
Illinois Attorney General, Lisa Madigan warned the public in a official statement:
In this case, e-mail recipients are asked to submit personal information and told they will receive tickets to The Oprah Winfrey Show after verification of […]

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by Craig Dimitri
On Friday, November 17 - ten days after the election that propelled Democrats to take control of both houses of Congress - there were still six Republican-held districts, where the GOP is poised to retain control: five incumbents and the Republican candidate in a Florida open seat.
Of the 435 House seats, 428 now have certified winners, after Rep. John Barrow (D., […]

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News Item:
New search sought for bird
Louisiana is seeking specialized federal funding, but not for hurricane relief.  Seems there’s this bird that they really want to find.  The critter in question is an ivory-billed woodpecker, not that long ago thought to be extinct, but in 1999 a hunter in Arkansas shot some video of what the […]

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I’ve had the opportunity to look at a lot of identity theft services, but until now - I’ve never run into one I considered “victim friendly.”
I’ve written off most of the services I’ve seen — either because they were financial services products (created by those who had compromised victims themselves) — or they were selling […]

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In late May, I did a post about the Jefferson scandal - where money was discovered in a freezer - that was allegedly “earmarked” for the Vice President of Nigeria, Abubakar Atiku.
At the time, Vice President Atiku stated “that Jefferson was name dropping and obviously committing a 419 (Nigerian Penal Code for Advance Fee) scam.”
For […]

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The local administration in Louisiana is planning to use millions of gallons of treated sewage to repair the marshes along the New Orleans coast, in an attempt to protect the city from catastrophic storm surges produced by hurricanes like last year’s hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina pounded the coast, permanently flooding the marsh lands, which serve […]

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and it’s a tidal wave of hookers…
Business is booming for the gals in the French Quarter, even though police are making more arrests than ever. With roughly 50,000 construction workers in town, post-Katrina, and all with more than enough cash to burn, the influx of street walkers ready to sell their wares makes the California […]

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