American Zombie

Oh look...

2012-01-31T00:19:00.004-06:00

...BP's add cycle must have ended with WWL:

More dead dolphins wash up on Southeast Louisiana coast

Now I can't play BP ad tetris anymore. No worries, I'm sure after they publish a couple more stories like this one BP will renew another round of ads and these stories will simply vanish. It's like the magic microbes of journalism, BP buys an ad cycle and the stories simply disappear just like the oil did.

Yeah...this makes perfect sense...

2012-01-24T13:10:00.000-06:00

...because the arena kind of looks like a toilet anyway?

Louisiana seafood marketing group says it may buy naming rights to New Orleans Arena

Ohhhhhhh....yeah....I know....that was really nasty. But you know what? I'm not going to back off until these morons realize they have a serious fucking problem instead of taking BP's hush cash and spending it on stupid shit like this. This is a slap in the face to all the sick men, women and children along the Gulf Coast.

These pictures were taken at Mobile Bay, AL last week (pictures by Kathy Looney):

Come on in! The water's fine!

Grand Isle....last week (Pictures by Mac Mackenzie):

If the Louisiana Seafood Marketing Group is going to spend that amount of money on buying naming rights to the New Orleans Arena....I think we should change the Hornets mascot to the "dead dolphins". That picture above should be plastered across the front of the arena.

The only thing that makes me sicker than these pictures are watching the actions of our own state officials who are gladly taking BP's cash and doling it out on stupid marketing shit like this to hide the truth. This ludicrousness is beyond belief.

But go right ahead...mitigate BP's risk for them. As it begins to backfire and the cash eventually dries up...we'll be left with a dead industry and a sick community.

So much hate...so much fear...

2012-01-23T00:53:00.001-06:00

They're leaving for a "Christian" organization.

Transgendered Girl Scout in Colorado causes stir in St. Tammany

Hey North Shore....I hope you enjoy your "Heritage" cookies. Me...I'm gonna be doin' some late night muchin' on some Tag a'longs, bitches. That's right....peanut butter and chocolate. While you're chokin' on your own bile...I'm gonna be in chocolatey, peanut buttery bliss.

If you any of you non-hatin', non-fear-driven, decent folks out there want some kick-ass Girl Scout cookies....I can hook that up for ya. Just let me know.

Peace on, Girl Scouts!

Stop SOPA

2012-01-18T12:07:00.003-06:00

Very important for all of you to click this link and fill in the form. Only takes about 20 seconds:

Stop SOPA

Please fight censorship and keep the intertubes free, free, free.....

In the prolific words of Fatboy Slim..not...Black Sheep...

2012-01-13T16:02:00.002-06:00

You can go with this:

Dauphin Island fish show up with lesions, BP spill link questioned

Or you can go with that:

How Microbes Teamed to Clean Gulf

Dr. Valentine and colleagues have now used a computer model to explain just how that scenario might have played out, though some scientists remain skeptical.

Magic microbes story, redux. This story keeps coming back almost as much as the oil itself. Awesome.

"Our scientific study didn't actually go down to the Gulf and see if there is oil still washing ashore on a daily basis, as Gulf Coast residents are continually reporting...but...BUT.... this computer model we created really kicks ass!"

Keep up the good work!

Don't worry guys...just keep dancing.

BlogRight....I love it.

2012-01-13T11:31:00.002-06:00

Watch the whole interview...good stuff:

What to do?

2012-01-11T23:44:00.000-06:00

Guys...I suspect that some of the avenues for information input to this blog have been hacked or compromised. I'm telling you this because I do not want anyone to send me information and assume you will remain anonymous. Until I can figure out what to do about it, or until I can find out what exactly is going on...please do not contact me by email or by the comment section unless it's simple commentary.

If there is anyone out there who can help me find a secure solution for transferring information, I would appreciate the help. Email me or call me and I'll meet you in person.

Thanks.

Ashe,

J.

Grandmaster Wang does not disappoint

2011-12-29T18:41:00.001-06:00

I've been waiting all week for his commentary on the "Brees is a dick" scandal.

We Make the Rules, Pal.

It was worth the wait.

It was all so cute and quirky and hip. A little "edgy" yet wholesome as milk. Real funky but not threatening. Made for great media. A tightly-scripted little melodrama that if you didn't know any better you might have mistaken for an HBO Original Series.

And the critics raved for some reason.

But it wasn't supposed to get renewed.

That's funny shit.

About half way through it I felt like the "fuck you's" were getting a little a redundant but then I suddenly got this renewed sense of sanctimony and I couldn't get enough fuck you's. That's great writing.

I think this post should be inscribed in stone and placed outside the Dome. Or maybe in the press box.

Oh look...somebody is paying attention

2011-12-19T17:26:00.000-06:00

Why Is the FDA Saying It's OK to Eat Seafood 10,000 Times Over the Safe Limit for Dangerous Carcinogens?

After you read that, if you haven't already, please watch Dr. Scott Milroy's presentation I posted in the previous post:

Take into consideration what Dr. Milroy is suggesting:

The FDA is not only allowing PAH levels 100 to 10,000 times higher than normally considered safe....in fact, the FDA guidelines for testing are inadequate to begin with. From not testing the entire organism's body to grossly underestimating the amounts of seafood consumed by the average seafood eater...we should be very concerned about FDA guidelines for Gulf seafood.

Milroy's findings estimated that your true risk may be 12.3 times higher than what the FDA testing controls assume.

I can't help but once again point out the irony in Sen. Vitter and Sen. Landrieu's letter to the FDA:

"Unfortunately, many consumers still believe that Gulf seafood is unsafe, in part because some groups continue to spread misinformation and unscientific claims that deny what this testing has proven."

Unfortunately, the organization Sen. Landrieu and Sen. Vitter are writing to may be spreading misinformation based on flawed scientific studies.

From the Alternet report:

Robert Dickey, director of the FDA's Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory, who's taken the lead for the agency in responding to the NRDC report, elaborated in an email to AlterNet, "Overly conservative estimates would lead you [to] remove a great deal of food from our refrigerators and pantries than is needed."

In an interview with AlterNet, the study's lead researcher, NRDC staff scientist Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, said that such a response from the FDA "begs the question of whether or not it was a political versus a scientific decision" because the agency "does not provide scientific evidence" for the claim that being more health protective somehow carries an increased risk of doing harm.

She added, "PAHs in food have been evaluated and standards set in the European Union without jeopardizing anyone's nutrition."

AlterNet confirmed that the FDA indeed has provided no scientific evidence to back up this claim in either its formal response to the NRDC report or in addressing AlterNet's questions.

So the FDA's primary concern is about empty refrigerators and pantries? Even if they are stocking them with potentially carcinogenic food stuff?

Folks, look, we have a serious, long-term problem in the Gulf. We need to face it. We must resist the desire to ignore the facts these independent scientists are finding and push back against the enormous pressure by government and corporate officials to sweep the problem under the rug. Instead of spending boatloads of cash on propaganda/marketing campaigns to convince the rest of the country that "everything is just peachy", perhaps we should face the facts and pressure our politicians to do what they promised to do at the beginning of this crisis....make BP accountable for their actions.

What is that going to take?

It's going to take BP subsidizing the entire seafood industry over a decade or more. That is the reality but apparently our elected officials don't have the intestinal fortitude to stand up to their corporate masters and fight for their constituents. They would rather stick their heads in the sand of our oil/dispersant covered beaches and pretend everything is OK while their silk pockets and purses are being stuffed by the culprits. The end result will be a decimated seafood industry and the loss of a culture which has come to define who we are as South Louisianans.

The senators' current actions will have the exact opposite effect of what they are supposedly struggling to save.

The truth always has a way of getting out, regardless of the propaganda. If we continue to parrot, "Everything is great!!!", that message will inevitably come back to haunt us. When we finally can determine our seafood is safe and the species populations have rebounded, no one will believe a word we say.

If our senators really want to help this industry...one day...come back, they should stop providing the fodder for BP to mitigate its risk.

The name of the game is plausible deniability.

BP will spend a wheelbarrow of money today in order to avoid spending the dump trucks full of cash they would have to spend tomorrow to convince us we're not sick because of their folly.

They will do this even if it means increasing the health risks to the multitude of people living along the Gulf Coast of the United States of America.

IN EDIT:

Will the FDA join the chorus?

2011-12-18T23:21:00.004-06:00

This sentence is from a jointly signed letter to FDA Commissioner, Margaret Hamburg, by Sen. Landrieu and Sen. Vitter:

Unfortunately, many consumers still believe that Gulf seafood is unsafe, in part because some groups continue to spread misinformation and unscientific claims that deny what this testing has proven."

OK...here's your "unscientific" opinion from "un-scientists". In other words, scientists who haven't been on BP's payroll like LSU's Irv Mendelsshon and Ed Overton (yes, I can back that up with documentation):

Science of the Spill: Presentations on Emerging Impacts of the BP Oil Disaster

The first presentation is Dr. Ed Cake, Marine Biologist and Biological Oceanographer, Gulf Environmental Associates:

A decade...maybe two...for our oyster population to recover. Aside from the safety of eating them, they simply aren't reproducing.

The second presentation is Dr. Scott Milroy, Marine Biologist and Biological Oceanographer at the University of Southern Mississippi:

Science of the Spill: The Emerging Impacts of the BP Oil Disaster - Dr. Scott Milroy from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

The third presentation is by Dr. Wilma Subra, Environmental Chemist at Subra Incorporated and LEAN Technical Advisor:

Science of the Spill: The Emerging Impacts of the BP Oil Disaster - Dr. Wilma Subra from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

These are just a few of the "un-scientific" voices making claims.

You know? If the FDA is stupid enough to actually make the claim Vitter and Landrieu are asking them to, people are not just going to get sick...BP will have all the stroke they need to walk away from the damage they did to our seafood industry and ecology. Do you think they understand that...Vitter and Landrieu?

Baton Rouge: The Crime Cameras Sequel?

2011-12-16T15:03:00.000-06:00

A rather interesting and contentious board meeting took place in Red Stick last Tuesday when EBR District 3 Metro Council member, Chandler Loupe, grilled Mayor Kip Holden's CAO, John Carpenter, over the 2011 MMR crime camera contract. Luckily, I got the video so...just watch this:

Kind of like watching this, huh?

Man...watch Loupe again...he's so angry he's literally shaking. Carpenter is reduced to a mumbling fool and then actually uses the excuse that they were paying MMR's contract with discretionary funds....yeah well....that may be illegal too, John.

This is a classic ploy....in the eleventh hour a council is presented with a "do or die" situation where if they don't extend a contract, or re-sign a specific company (MMR in this case) all services will come to an immediate end. I saw this happen with the Coventry Insurance contract with OPSB back in 2004. In fact, I'm going to name it, "The Eleventh Hour Scam".

For new readers to AZ, MMR is the company who took over all of Netmethods' (St. Pierre) contracts after Mark St. Pierre was indicted. In return the company hired S2 Consulting, Stacy St. Pierre's company, for what I think was 20k a month according to a memo in the Camsoft lawsuit. Now that's not illegal...these are private companies doing business with each other, they can hire whoever they want.

But where there's smoke there's fire and with MMR, it looks like there is a quiet inferno burning within EBR city government. We already know Don Evans was wined and dined by Netmethods when he was the BR CTO but I have a hunch U.S. Attorney for the middle district of the gret stet, Don Cazayoux, may be about to pull a Letten. How deep does this rabbit hole go? I'm betting Mayor Kip isn't getting a lot of sleep these days.

All Hail....

2011-12-12T01:38:00.001-06:00

Anson Villere Ferrara

Hey.....Let's play BP Tetris! Here's my Gambit.

2011-12-11T23:52:00.001-06:00

Re-link to Motorola/Atlanta deal

2011-12-06T18:21:00.001-06:00

Here.

Also on MarketWatch: Here

For the next phase of the project, Motorola Global Services is integrating CIBER's advanced Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) solution. CIBERSecure will combine current and planned video camera systems in the city's downtown and mid-town areas into a single Command and Control display at Atlanta's E911 VIC. In addition, Motorola will architect and integrate the solution to provide scalability to realize the city's vision for public-private partnerships.

Rape the little guy...fleece the village...move on down the road.

I'm going to ask again..."Why the fuck is Ed Burns not in jail?".

Ruth said...
Ok Jason I will give your readers a good one to chew on...Ed Burns rec'vd $365,700.00 in 2008 reported in 2009 from CIBER. 12,000 shares of CIBER stock & 8,000 options were reported as well. This over and above his other payoffs, or should I say salary?

Let me ask it one more time, "Why the fuck is Ed Burns not in jail?".

Here's the lesson...if you're a smaller player in the corporate kleptocracy food chain like Netmethods/St. Piere....you go to jail. However, if you are higher up on the C/K food chain like Ciber/Motorola/Dell...you can do whatever the fuck you want and get away with it.

See...this blog has taught me some valuable lessons about how the American justice system actually works. I have a whole rant about that forthcoming.

A moment of clarity?

2011-12-02T20:27:00.001-06:00

Thank you.

It's on Amendment 1274 of yet another attempt to re-define the Department of Defense budget and the Constitution.

Here's the voting record.

seems like things are getting smaller.

Tweety tweet

2011-11-23T13:24:00.001-06:00

I figured I'd held out long enough....I am not jumping into the wonderful world of twitter. Subscribe if you're so inclined.

A Big Bushel of Road Apples

2011-11-15T22:29:00.002-06:00

Crime cameras...

I realize most folks who read AZ probably cringe at those two words and have no desire to rehash the debacle that has come to define the corruption and ineptitude of the Nagin administration. I realize most folks think the final nail was buried in the coffin when St. Pierre was sent off to a Texas pokey to serve a 17 1/2 year sentence. I realize most folks drive around the city, gaze up at those lifeless cameras sitting on tilted, wooden poles and murmur under their breath, "un-fucking-believable".

I understand...it's like driving by the house of a crazy ex....you can't help but look even though it conjures up horrible memories. You just hope he/she didn't see you drive by.

In this case, it's like your crazy ex lives on telephone poles all across the city...the ultimate silent stalker. Although you don't have to worry about it seeing you...it's too fucked up do that.

Anyway...I hate to do it but I need to rehash the crime cameras in light of a recent series of memos of opposition filed by the prosecution in response to motions to dismiss filed by the many defendants in the Camsoft civil suit. You see, the Camsoft lawyers never stopped conducting the autopsy on exactly what was going on. In the wake of the St. Pierre trial they seemed to have filled in many of the gaps...some of them are infuriating and I think you need to hear them.

Six memos were filed in total but for the sake of brevity I want to focus on this one:

Camsoft Memo in Opposition to Earthlink MSJ

Unfortunately, many of the exhibits in the case have been sealed by the judge. I don't understand this whole concept or why it is necessary but I would love to get my hands on the original emails and documents referred to in this case. Even the cursory info in the memos is tantalizing enough.

Regardless, this memo is a quick read and it not only fills in some blanks, it also provides a great snapshot of what actually happened with the crime camera contracts in multiple Louisiana cities. Most importantly, it spells out why 900 pound gorillas like Dell and Earthlink took such an interest in the little mud puddle we live in.

One thing I want to restate in this post that you absolutely need to understand....the crime cameras themselves were not the crown. They were just a jewel in the crown. The crown itself was the wifi antennae array which encased three jewels: crime cams, public wifi, and an interoperability communication system.

Of all the companies listed in the Camsoft case, the pivot point is Tropos. This is the company that actually made the individual antennae nodes...the crown itself. This is the company who hired Patton Boggs, one of the largest contributors to Senator Mary Landrieu's campaigns. Mary Landrieu who serves on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee.

Even before Ciber, Tropos was the center of the wagon wheel. In fact, I think they may have even been the catalyst which inspired the 7 million dollar DOJ grant the City of New Orleans was supposed to get in order to install the first municipal interoperability communication system. That initiative never transpired thanks to Meff's hijinks but Tropos would have been at the center.

Let me break the big picture down this way:

Tropos: Antennae array distributor

Motorola: Antennae manufacturer

Dell: Camera sales and any mainframe servers/computers

Earthlink: Public wifi

Ciber: Prime vendor/ Staffing services/ Money funnel

Netmethods: Installation/maintenance services and possibly interoperability

Imagine: Software services and possibly interoperability

The hidden player in the equation being Microsoft with Ciber serving as the underlying buffer between them and the city. I'll get to that in a second.

Now the memo. First let's look at this email sent by MOT employee and Netmethod principal, Chris Drake, to then Tropos rep., Ellen Kirk:

Yes, I knew.

Now comes the bitching. Everyone has their deal lined up except the guys who
put it all together. I’m gonna come unglued here at some point really soon.

I can’t pimp Tropos and Earthlink the rest of my freakin life, and neither can other
folks (Darth Vader) without some ROI [return on investment]. This is getting out
of hand.

Allen [Carr of Tropos] said he would call Tolepegin [Earthlink Defendant]back when he gets off the plane to Atlanta and let him know that we will be theholdup on this if EL [Earthlink] can’t get a deal done with us and get theirpanties out of a wad over the fact that we have worked for the City like rightnow…

‘Scuse me if I don’t join the celebration just yet. (Emphasis added)

I'm not sure if Darth Varder was Meffert or St. Pierre...although I love Star Wars metaphor whenever and wherever.

It's pretty clear all the parties involved understood the kickback scheme to Netmethods and the possible problems it could cause for everyone if it was discovered. New Orleans City Council voted on giving Earthlink the public wifi franchise agreement (that's a story in itself) after Google and Yahoo withdrew their bids. Apparently, Google and Yahoo caught wind of the stink coming off the Netmethods kickback scheme. Motorola (the actual manufacturers of the antennae) went along with the deal but tried to hedge their bets by suggesting a $35/node installation price in the contract.

Drake and the boys didn't take too kindly to that line item and threatened to scuttle the whole deal if Netmethods didn't get to set their own price. Even though city council voted on the franchise agreement, the CIO (Kurt/Jones) could have killed the deal.

The memo goes on to explain that St. Pierre bribed the CTO/CIO of three different cities: Meffert/Jones - New Orleans, Donald Evans - Baton Rouge, and Keith Thibodeaux - Lafayette. We already knew this but it's important to note that Evans and Thibodeaux were never charged.

Speaking of folks who never got charged, the memo then moves on to reveal some shocking revelations about Ed Burns and Ciber's graft of the city. Just so we know how much money was officially pumped out to Ciber and funneled to Imagine during Nagin's tenure, here it is spelled out in the memo:

Ciber’s answers to interrogatories revealed that in exchange for giving St. Pierre’s and Meffert’s companies $9,326,075.20 in kickbacks payments to Imagine Software, Ciber billed the City of New Orleans a total of $44,072,217.00. This constitutes a 4 to 1 return on Ciber’s kickback investment dollar.

Now we already knew those approximate numbers. But what follows is something I didn't know:

Ed Burns (“Burns”) of Ciber, Meffert and St. Pierre developed a mutual business that not
only extended to the City of New Orleans’ basic IT computing needs, but further extended to the sale and marketing of CamSoft’s municipal wi-fi networks and video surveillance applications. Ciber even enlisted the help of a Mississippi lobbiest, Chip Reno, to land federal funding for their joint projects.

Reno works for the Jackson based firm, The Talon Group...I don't know a lot about them but I will defer to the Mississippi maestro over at Slabbed to fill in the blanks on these guys.

The memo goes on to discuss how Reno set up meetings for Burns, Meffert and St. Pierre with Sen. Thad Cochran through Patton Boggs lobbyist, Jeff Turner. Turner was/is apparently the point man at PB for Tropos. This meeting was set up for Sept. 15, 2005 but it never transpired because of Katrina.

Of course after Katrina the whole game had changed:

On November 10, 2005, Burns emailed Reno and carbon copied Meffert, St. Pierre, and
Guzman. See Exhibit “15”. Burns noted his discussions with Meffert regarding the upcoming meeting with Senator Cochran. The email further noted that Meffert intended to send either Drake or Kurt to Washington D.C. In a reply email, on November 11, 2005, Meffert emailed Reno, Burns, St. Pierre, Guzman and Whitwell with Meffert’s list of desired technology projects. Meffert’s list expressly identified $12,654,900 for “Citywide Crime Camera Network.”

Meffert noted his belief that President Bush approved the entire $414 million technology budget for the City of New Orleans. Meffert further noted that he needed the money forwarded directly to the City of New Orleans, where obviously Meffert could divvy out the federal proceeds between the kickback gang (“We already have approval from presidential level, but need these projects to remain as is and not sliced up down the political vulture chain and be appropriated directly to the City of New Orleans.”) Meffert later asked Kurt to explain his costs estimates for the $43 million 911 call center. Kurt replied, “I think the 43M number came from our ass.”

Can you imagine? $414 million coming down the pipe right into Meff and the boys' hands. I can't begin to "Imagine" how much these guys could have fucksnu'd with that kind of cash.

With that amount of dough, you assume some big players would be involved:

Emails dated November 15, 2005 indicate Meffert coordinating his Washington, D.C. trip
with former Mayor Nagin. See Exhibit “16”. Emails dated November 16, 2005 evidenced
Meffert and Mayor Nagin on their way to meet with Senator Hillary Clinton in Washington D.C.
See Exhibit “17”.

Whaaaa....whaaaattt!!???!! WTF??!!?? Did that happen? Nagin and Meffert met with Hillary? That is surreal...surreal, I tell you. What the hell were they meeting with Sen. Clinton for?

Alright...twas a crazy sidebar but let's get back to reality.

Moving on:

Given the overall $414 million technology budget, Ciber, Meffert and St. Pierre even recruited technology giant, Microsoft, Inc., to join forces. The plan by Microsoft, Ciber and Imagine Software to entirely take over the technology rebuilding process for New Orleans was called, “Phoenix Rising.” (“This document is produced
by a joint team effort between the City of New Orleans, and key partners Imagine Software, Ciber and Microsoft to provide a response to FEMA following Katrina.”) See Exhibit “19”. Phoenix Rising specifically included their plans to take over of the New Orleans crime camera project.

Ok...now this is a very big revelation. I don't know what is in exhibit "19" and I don't know how they know crime cameras were being bundled under "Phoenix Rising" but if this is correct...it adds a whole new dimension to what the hell was going down with Microsoft and the city per Ciber. I have contract amendments with CNO and Microsoft regarding Phoenix Rising which shows Microsoft as the prime contractor and Ciber as a sub for "Phoenix Rising" but I thought Phoenix Rising was just a name for the educational software the city purchased from Ciber and never received.

This is an amendment to a work order regarding Microsoft's services for accounting systems they provided to the City of New Orleans....post-K:

Amendment #6 to Work Order #20060271

This amendment appears to be a stop work order to the original contract for the accounting services and pares down Microsoft's services....I assume they didn't get paid or realized they weren't getting the amount of money they expected:

Amendment #7 to Work Order #20060271

Now this document is, I believe, the original proposal from Microsoft/Ciber/Imagine for the educational software the city actually purchased but never received:

Phoenix Rising - Solution Area Profile - Education Student Information Managing System

I've pointed this out before, according to that document, the business reference for this software came from Chicago Public Schools. The word from anon on that post was that we actually purchased the software from Ciber and they (Ciber) then turned around and donated it to Chicago Public Schools. There was also some speculation that Nagin got some campaign kickbacks for that maneuver when he had his campaign fund raiser in Chicago circa 2006.

Campaign conduit financing....Matt Coman kept repeating that term in the St. Pierre trial. I hope his department didn't forget it.

After reading this memo, I am now assuming that "Phoenix Rising" was some kind of overarching code name for all the IT initiatives the city was launching after Katrina. If Phoenix Rising was actually the overarching tech. recovery plan for the city and Microsoft was the prime....that adds a whole new dimension to this thing.

Back to Chip Reno....this is the revelation that absolutely chaps my arse (in Kentucky we always mispronounce that adage...I know it's chaffs but I love to say it the wrong way):

After examining Ciber’s invoices for Imagine Software’s time, most interesting of all is
the fact that Ciber was not even paying for Reno’s lobbying efforts. See Exhibit “27” at NOIG 13697, 13699, 13701, 13703, 13705, 13707 and 13709. Rather, Ciber directly billed the City of New Orleans for all or a portion of the work performed by Reno and his associate, Whitwell, just as if they were direct employees of Ciber performing computer related work under Ciber’s GSA schedule. But despite all of the above, when CamSoft asked Ciber in Interrogatory No. 7 to identify any project involving the sales, marketing, deployment, lobbying or other similar efforts related to municipal wi-fi systems or wireless video surveillance systems, Ciber wrote, “Without waiving the objections, CIBER states that it has engaged in no such efforts and thus, has no information pertaining to same.”

How...for the love of Dambala.....how....the fuck.....is Ed Burns not in jail? How did Ciber completely skate out of this bullshit? They hired Reno and The Talon Group to pimp their private services but instead of paying for it...they bundled the cost of the Talon Group's services into the City of New Orleans tab....the 56 million dollar tab.

You know...that one.

Jesus Homer Christ, Jim...as in Letten.....WTF?!?! They not only screwed us...we were being billed for their marketing efforts to screw everyone else? What fucking planet am I on that these fucksticks don't go to jail? Better yet....what country am I in?

Luckily the memo does a pretty good job of summarizing the situation, albeit to a civil court judge not a criminal court judge:

As far as CamSoft is concerned, Ciber’s interrogatory responses are unethical and Ciber will be held accountable for its lies before a jury of its peers. Ciber simply left too great a paper trail, which utterly contradicts Ciber’s interrogatory responses. CamSoft’s mountain of evidence implicating Ciber’s involvement in kickback contracts and in the takeover of the crime camera project constitutes much more than “formulaic incantations,” as if CamSoft could somehow put a spell on the Court. If anything, the Court should be spellbound by the level of RICO enterprise operated by these MOT officials, along with some of the biggest technology companies on the planet. At the heart of these arrangements is one common denominator: MOT officials teaming with Ciber and Dell to circumvent the state’s public bid laws for municipal wi-fi network contracts and video surveillance deployments. Ciber, Dell and St. Pierre’s companies surreptitiously sought to take over the very wi-fi networks and video surveillance applications CamSoft developed and marketed to public officials legally and in good faith. Considering the overall level of corruption involved in the case sub judice, if Ciber and the other defendants win this case on written motions, then something is very wrong with our justice system. CamSoft cannot imagine that our legal system has degenerated to the point where our rules and laws condone and protect from liability those individuals and companies that engage in illegal acts of bribery and back-door kickback contracts for the corrupt influence of public officials.

I realize this is a highly subjective take from Camsoft, but it seems to be backed up in documentation. It is, after all, being presented in a court of law.

I am truly dumbfounded as to how so many people in this cesspool escaped criminal prosecution. It concerns me greatly because the one public official who I believe is most responsible, Ray Nagin, may get the same free pass as Burns, Minyard, Thibodeaux, Evans, et al. That would be the straw that broke the camel's back for me.

If Nagin is not prosecuted for what he did to this city...at a point when it was struggling for its life....that negates St. Pierre's conviction, Meffert's, Bennett's, Jones'...anyone else involved in this bullshit. Nagin, above all, betrayed the public trust.

Once again, the Camsoft memo touches on that betrayal of public trust and the overall effect it has on our community:

If CamSoft loses this case before ever seeing a jury, we as collective citizens of Louisiana have no room to ever complain about the public corruption that forever entangles our local and state governments. If you’re a Fortune 500 company, why not come into Louisiana knowing that you can make four dollars for every one dollar you spend on kickback contracts, especially when you know that there are no legal repercussions? Public
corruption continues to tarnish the reputation of our beautiful state, and we have no collective reason to argue that Louisiana’s national reputation for corruption is not otherwise warranted, unless our legal system does something to stop it. Nor do citizens of Louisiana have any reason to complain why our small local companies never grow to become Fortune 500 companies like Dell, Ciber or Motorola, who can afford to enter our state and pay for political influence through kickback contracts with politician’s friends, which contracts are equally as corrupt as a direct bribe itself.

That pretty much nails it in respect to the criminal issues as well. If we can't expect our justice system to punish the public officials, all of them, that have fucked us over for so long then we may as well just throw in the hat and do our best to create a cottage industry out of pimping our corruption stories to Hollywood. We've made enormous strides in fighting public corruption since the storm but if those strides sidestep the biggest horse turds in the road, we're still as stinky as we ever were.

Still Editing.....

PSA - Artdocs

2011-11-08T15:54:00.002-06:00

Hey Folks, if you're an art lover please come check out ArtDocs on Thursday the 17th to get some really great deals for a really great cause.

Peace

Subtle moments in political jockeying...

2011-11-08T15:45:00.001-06:00

~~political~~...~~judicial~~.....corporate? I give up....

..perhaps...no...I'm sure...you didn't notice this little item in the Baton Rouge based Business Report yesterday:

Three B.R. attorneys recommended for Tyson replacement

Why do I mention this article?

Lipsey, 59, is a partner in McGlinchey Stafford. She earned her bachelor's and law degrees from LSU. She has served on the Louisiana Public Defender Board, and she teaches ethics and professionalism as an adjunct law professor at LSU.

Hmmm....just so happens that Lispsey is the head lawyer representing Ciber in the Camsoft civil suit. As a matter of fact....she was the lead Ciber lawyer in the Active/Southern lawsuit as well.

Who nominated her?

Sen. Mary Landrieu has recommended three Baton Rouge attorneys to President Barack Obama as possible replacements for U.S. District Judge Ralph Tyson, who died in July.

Why is that important?

Remember when I asked you guys if you knew anything about this law firm?

Is Sen. Landrieu connected to Patton Boggs in any way? Is Tropos or Ciber connected to Patton Boggs in any way?

Hmmmm......

IMMEDIATE UPDATE:

I really love AZ readers. Thanks Anon....

Mary Landrieu contributors:

http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00005395

Patton Boggs clients:

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/b_three_sections_with_teasers/clientlist_page_P.htm

Double hmmmm......

How deep doest that rabbit hole go?

UPDATE 2:

Slabbed and I must have been channeling each other.

Counting Coup

2011-11-08T11:05:00.001-06:00

Back from last week's road trip to the great state of Texas. I successfully slipped into to TX under the cover of night, touched the enemy while he slept and got back to N.O. without a scratch.

Native Americans from the plains region used to have a custom known as counting coup. Even more courageous than facing an opponent in open battle, if you could "touch" your opponent without his knowledge and get out of it unscathed it was considered an even greater act of bravery.

Last week I earned an eagle feather.

And kicking off this week...a curious combination of news stories here and then this announcement at 4 today. Could there be a possible connection? We shall see.

Road Trip

2011-10-31T11:58:00.003-05:00

Guys, I thank everyone who donated....muchos gracias.

I am out of town for a few days but I'll be back Thursday.

Paz y amor

Holy Crap guys :) !!!

2011-10-28T01:52:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much. I have a $265.00 surplus right now on donations from my original $25 request. Thank you!

I am going to sit on the remainder and explain every dollar I use. I used 28 bucks to buy a domain name: theamericanzombie.com (can't believe it was still available) and I'm going to start ramping up my efforts to a new level...bear with me because it will take some time.

In the meantime, I am going to spend about 20 bucks tomorrow to obtain a copy of a civil district court lawsuit. I will hopefully be able to scan that by tomorrow and share it with you. I hope it bears fruit.

Ashe'

I get by with a little help...

2011-10-26T16:52:00.000-05:00

Hey folks....I need $25. I promised my wife I would not burden our finances with any AZ related efforts as it already takes up so much of my time. But I am trying to expand my efforts on certain fronts and I need to register a domain name. If you are a reader of AZ and appreciate the blog, please help a brother out and dump a couple dollars into the PayPal donation button on the right side of the page. I am trying to execute a larger vision for AZ and I need all the help I can get. Thanks so much.

And special thanks to KJ for your recent generous donation.

Ashe',

Dambala

A simple poll

2011-10-25T23:18:00.000-05:00

Just out of curiousity....which, um, commercial....do you consider to be the most absurd?

This one...

Or...this one?

I need daggers...

2011-10-25T01:42:00.002-05:00

Is that Kirsha Kaechele on those mysterious St. Claude Avenue billboards?

I thought she was short o' cash. She has the money to buy billboard space with CBS, yet she doesn't have the cash to clean up the pile of shit she left in her own neighborhood?

Wow. What kind of person goes into a neighborhood...takes a dump in other people's yard...then posts a big picture of herself dancing over it?

That really takes narcissism to a whole new level. You think she was fucking Bennett or Meffert? They should have gotten along swimmingly, no? Could someone text her Wimpy Loiry's number? That's a match made in heaven. Maybe she'll follow the next big disaster to whor...I mean stardom.

Hey...I found a Brabalfish

2011-10-24T11:28:00.001-05:00

Foraging through the Benetech forrest, I found this elusive Brabalfish swimming in a stream:

Interesting little company between Plaquemines Parish District Attorney, Chuck Ballay and his law partner, former Plaquemines Sheriff's (Hingle) attorney, former Plaquemines Parish attorney (hired by Plaquemines Pres. Nungessor), Stephen Braud.

Zurik has already laid out the Braud/Bennett thread which ran through multiple layers of Plaquemines Parish government and the potential conflicts of interest on Braud's part. I'm curious if this company, Brabal Investments, was also on Benetech's payroll or involved in any business investments with Bennett.

My zombie intuition is atingle when it comes to Brabal, Bennett, Braud, Nungessor and Hingle.

OK that was really bad, but it does rhyme.

Mr. O' Dwyer

2011-10-23T22:53:00.001-05:00

I have to admit I've only casually looked into the Ashton O'Dwyer story.

My interest is increasing. I spoke with Mr. O'Dwyer on the phone today and I plan on taking a harder look at his claims. The videos he has produced are rather complicated and if you don't have a basic background on his story, it's even harder to follow. Nonetheless....here is his latest offering:

King Georges just can't stop throwing turds

2011-10-19T13:15:00.001-05:00

Last night I got a curious friend request on Facebook....take a look

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003053869217

You know if you wanted to do this surreptitiously, you'd think you would know better than to be the first person to friend the page:

Since last night, it's gone from Landrue to Blandview....so clever. Also, missing from the original page last night...when you clicked on a link in the info section it took you here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Marcello

I guess they lacked the courage of their conviction to keep that one up....don't blame them.

I am guessing this is yet another brilliant idea financed by King Georges and executed by his former online campaign strategists. If you remember, we exposed some of their bullshit during the last mayoral election.

I don't think King G got the memo that he lost the last election. Either that or he's already campaigning for the next mayoral election. That should excite about 1/4 of the city who got paid by the Georges campaign in the last election....but then didn't vote for him.

I guess King G just can't shake those adolescent tendencies he's so fond of from his glory days at Tulane.

You'd think he has enough to worry about instead of throwing shit at MML.

Good night, sweet prince.

2011-10-18T23:01:00.002-05:00

You were a constant in our lives, Goatee.....trip the Infinite Loop, Captain Fantastic!

Comment Bump: Have their been any "independent" seafood tests?

2011-10-18T14:01:00.000-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Big Fix Presser":

"Cheesing out"?

C'mon.

I have a basic question: are there any independent (you know, I mean not paid for by anyone remotely influenced by the $$$ or politics of it either way) scientific reports on say a random sampling of oyster poboys or seafood gumbos, or raw or boiled seafood of any kind, from various restaurants or seafood stores?

That does or does not exist, is or is not possible?

The answer is yes and their is great cause for concern:

BP Oil Spill Seafood Sampling Project Results Overview

Tissue

Alkylated PAHs were and continue to be detected in aquatic seafood species from the wetlands and estuaries along the Louisiana coast from Atchafalaya Bay eastward to the Louisiana/Mississippi border.

Oyster

Oyster samples have contaminated with up to 8,815 to 12,500 mg/kg Oil Range Organic Petroleum Hydrocarbons. The oyster samples have also contained up the 4 Alkylated PAHs, Fluoranthene, Naphthalene, Phenanthrene, and Pyrene in concentrations of 1.4 to 63 ug/kg.

Blue Crab

Blue crab samples have contained up to 2,230 to 3,583 mg/kg Oil Range Organic Petroleum Hydrocarbons and up to 4 Alkylated PAHs, Fluoranthene, Naphthalene, Phenanthrene and Pyrene in concentrations from 84.6 to 162 ug/kg.

Shrimp

Shrimp samples have contained up to 8,356 mg/kg Oil Range Organic Petroleum Hydrocarbons and 5 Alkylated PAHs, Anthracene, Fluoranthene, Naphthalene, Phenanthrene and Pyrene up to 69.4 ug/kg.

Mussel

A mussel sample was contaminated with 6,900 mg/kg Oil Range Organic Petroleum Hydrocarbons and the Alkylated PAHs Anthracene, 2-Methylnaphthalene, Naphthalene, and Phenanthrene at a total concentration of 386 ug/kg.

Fish, Crab and Snail

Samples of fin fish, fiddler crab, hermit crab and snail contained up to 21,575 mg/kg Oil Range Organic Petroleum Hydrocarbons and the Alkylated PAH Phenanthrene.

The problem is that any independent testing is dismissed as non-scientific and simply not recognized by regulatory agencies as "valid". Once again...I believe the government and regulatory agencies have lied to us in order to help cover up the impact of the spill.

You must put your trust in the Ministry of Seafood and Propaganda.

Seriously, whether or not you eat the seafood...it's up to you. I just ask that you understand the risks and listen to those voices who have seen this type of tragedy before. Let them speak as to whether or not you can trust your government:

The Big Fix Presser

2011-10-17T16:28:00.000-05:00

One of today's good reads is over at Drake's Place regarding a new study on the safety of Gulf seafood.

Even though, the yellow blog thinks I'm cheesing out over The Big Fix documentary, I'm going to go Munster and keep harping on the spill issues all week.

In regards to the safety of Gulf seafood, I'm not as flippant about the issue as Jeffrey. I've seen too much evidence and heard the issues directly from the fishermen themselves. I'm not telling anyone to stop eating it....it's up to you, it's your health, it's your life. At least listen to what some of the fishermen have to say about the matter:

Donations

2011-10-15T17:57:00.001-05:00

Much love and thanks to BB and GR for the donations. Ashe'

Casual late night reading...

2011-10-14T00:30:00.004-05:00

Interesting story.

"Asked if he provided Coastal with any information about which properties qualify for the parish grants, Rodrigue said the amount of information was simply too vast for him to have provided his employer with any special advantage. "With the hundreds of properties I dealt with, I'd have to be Houdini to remember all of that," he said."

It's either the stupidest analogy I've ever heard...or perhaps....the most brilliant.

I need to quiz this man on the biography of Houdini.

Go here

2011-10-13T23:06:00.002-05:00

Now.

Forget tar patties...

2011-10-13T11:37:00.000-05:00

....try tar logs.

When I shot the previously posted interview with Bay St. Louis resident, John Gooding, he showed me numerous "tar logs" they had found on Ship Island, Mississippi immediately following Tropical Storm Lee. Check this out:

These things were turned over to the Coast Gaurd and the Mississippi DEQ....they came back and claimed it was not oil from BP. John was told by the Coast Guard that these things were "machine grease mixed with aluminum shavings". Right. Apparently there are some octopi doing some heavy industrial work at the bottom of the Gulf.

Just so you understand how many of these things washed onto the shore...please watch this video of the day the tar logs were collected:

I have sent one of the tar logs off to a lab for independent analysis, as soon as I get the results back I will let you know what they are.

Folks, please wake up. We still have a very serious problem in the Gulf and if we don't raise hell now we are going to pay a heavy toll for decades to come.

Please attend the press conference for the documentary film, The Big Fix, tomorrow, 2 pm, at the Contemporary Arts Center. Now is the time to make your voice heard and this film may be the best...and last...chance we have to tell the rest of the country we are still battling the BP spill. I think the premiere is already sold out but the press conference is just as important....see you there.

Comment Bump: The Big Fix

2011-10-12T19:14:00.000-05:00

Red has left a new comment on your post "The Big Fix":

I had almost the exact same experience as the guy in the first the video. Twice since the oil spill I ate fried oysters from two different nice restaurants - one was a Brennan's. The first time my ovaries got so inflamed I couldn't walk for three days. The second time my formerly dormant colitis (ulcer in my colon) started bleeding and, regardless of various medicines that usually work, it didn't stop for 1 1/2 months. I ended up being hospitalized for 9 days because of it. I tried to tell the doctor I thought my illnesses were related to eating post-oil spill gulf coast seafood and I was scoffed at.

I know my body and I know for a fact that our seafood is not safe. Whenever I eat seafood from other locales I'm fine. If I eat so much as a mouthful of Gulf seafood, my stomach begins to cramp and burn. No one wants to even hear about it cause it cuts into their 'quality of life'. No one wants to give up eating local seafood. No one wants to deal with the economic hit to our tourism and restaurant industry and what it would take to mitigate that. No one wants to deal with the long arduous battle against BP and their power and resources. So we ignore the obvious and eat poisoned seafood instead.

We listened to the same rational from Bush after 9/11 and it was to our detriment. "keep shopping, traveling, consuming. Don't let 'the enemy' win by changing our lifestyle". Following the advice of an incompetent and his capitalistic lifestyle prescription as an antidote to what ails this country got us into a massive phony war and ultimately disemboweled our economy. Using common sense on either of these fronts would save lives, money and our future. Unfortunately I see us repeating the same self destructive route with this oil spill that we took with 9/11: sticking our heads in the sand and accepting the lies we're being fed.

"...these are Grand Lies"

2011-10-12T15:39:00.000-05:00

The Big Fix: Trailer

2011-10-12T09:51:00.001-05:00

Please attend the Big Fix press conference this Friday, 2 pm, at the Contemporary Arts Center.

This film may be the best opportunity we have to get the truth out about the reality of this oil spill.

The LAI contract(s)

2011-10-11T17:31:00.001-05:00

I've been researching the questionable Louis Armstrong International Airport contract with Picke Construction. I think I have a much clearer picture of what happened and I want to share what I've found. I need to file a public records request for the contracts but I just haven't had the time or resources to do that yet.

Here is what I THINK happened.

To begin with...there were two contracts in question. One went to Picke (not sure how much yet, but I think it was about 3-4 million) and a smaller one went to Benetech. The Picke contract was to renovate an entire concourse and the Benetech contract was to renovate a bathroom. I believe the Benetech contract was for an even 1 million dollars.

Both companies defaulted before the work was finished.

I am not sure yet about exactly why the Picke contract went into default but I believe the bond company, Infinity Surety, owned by a guy named George Black of Texas (of course), was found to be a bogus company.

In regards to the Benetech contract, I know a little bit more. Apparently, Bennett received the 1 million dollars from the city and dispensed 300k of it to subcontractors to begin the work. However, he then stopped paying the subs (which was his M.O.) and the contract went into default. He kept the remaining 700k.

Now...here are the issues. I do not believe the city ever recovered any money back from either Picke or Benetech on either contract. At this point, I'm not even sure we filed suit against them. At the very least, both companies should have been reported to the state on ethics issues and both should have been banned from receiving any future city or state contracts. That didn't happen. They continued to accrue more contracts including Benetech's federal, 50 million dollar, A.C.E. contract.

Why did our city attorney's office not pursue those companies for restitution and why were they not reported to state officials?

Even more egregious is the issue of how Picke's bonding company, Infinity Surety, qualified for the bid in the first place.

All bonding companies involved in city and state contracts must be approved by what is called the T-list. The T stands for treasury. The U.S. Treasury Dept. provides a list of approved bonding companies which city and state governments must refer to when qualifying all bids for construction contracts.

Infinity Surety was never approved on the T-list. This begs the question, "How did the Picke (and possibly Benetech) bid ever get approved by the city attorney's office?"

T-list approval is a basic requisite for any bid to qualify. Whoever approved Picke's bid "overlooked" this basic requirement.

On top of that, I have heard scuttlebutt (hell hath no fury) that a certain city attorney actually took the competing bids for the LAI bathroom renovation job over to Aaron Bennet's house the night before the bid was to be awarded. Aaron was allowed to tweak Benetech's bid to ensure they got the contract. That....of course....is very much illegal.

If that rumor is true...it may not only lead to criminal charges it may even lead to civil charges against the city on behalf of the losing bidders.

The damage these bastards have done may haunt us well past the Nagin era.

I will try to get more info. as soon as I can.

How full of caga is this guy?

2011-10-11T13:06:00.000-05:00

This was one of the webpages on Benetech's old website. They reportedly sent this to A.C.E. when the questions begin to arise that Benetech actually qualified for the disabled veteran clause:

That's amazing. He actually claimed he was a combat vet. Was that the first Gulf War? Nope...previous to 1987. Was it Vietnam? Maybe if he served as a 3 year old. Was this guy even in the military or was he making that up as well?

Also...I've figured out some stuff on the LAI contract(s). I will post on that later on today.

The Big Fix

2011-10-11T00:12:00.000-05:00

This Friday, 2pm @ the CAC....please attend the press conference for the documentary film, The Big Fix. More info at the Krewe of Truth.

This film is extremely important as it's the best chance the Gulf Coast has of exposing the truth of what's actually happened in the wake of the BP oil spill. I will be at the presser shooting it...I think it's important to document everything that has gone on in the wake of this spill in order to at least set the historic record straight.

Since the spill, I've been documenting (video) the ongoing health problems and continuing barrage of oil washing up onto the Mississippi and Louisiana shores. The oil did not disappear. There are no magic microbes. The seafood is not safe....yes...you heard me....the seafood is not safe....don't kid yourself. I wanted to believe it as badly as anyone...but it just ain't fo' true.

Don't believe me? These two pictures were taken today...right off the edge of Cat Island in Mississippi. The witnesses said the sheens were miles long.

This is the general area where these pictures were taken:

This stuff is continually coming on shore, not only on the MS. barrier islands, it's coming in on the main coast as well. Ship Island is currently open and has been for the entire summer. I will have more on that later in the week.

These are two interviews I conducted for LEAN a couple of weeks ago. The Mississippi coast, in particular, is seeing continual waves of oil coming in shore. Mississippi officials are actually "beach farming" the affected areas and you will see the video evidence of that in the following interviews.

Much more evidence to come. Much more. Please stay tuned and please show your support for exposing BP's cover up by attending "The Big Fix" press conference and the film at The New Orleans Film Festival. This could be the best opportunity we have to bring this issue back up on the national stage. Please help...occupy the CAC during this press conference.

Ashe'

I'd like to make an apology to Greg Meffert...

2011-10-10T00:16:00.000-05:00

...I once said he had the biggest ego and biggest mouth in the city. Man, was I ever wrong:

Aaron Bennett thrives in the heat of enterprises many would shun

I don't even know what to say about this. He's just gleefully admitting he bribed Nagin. I really am gobsmacked to the point that I can't even comment on how stupid this is.

Well...a couple of things I would point out in this article. Reading between the lines and perhaps some subtle foreshadowing on Hammer's part....

"Sources close to the case tell The Times-Picayune that after Bennett began cooperating with investigators, he tried to talk to Fradella in an apparent attempt to help the feds make their case."

If that's true...and I'm not convinced it is....that would mean Fradella still hasn't cut a deal with the Feds. What this also means is that Ray Nagin is almost certainly about to get indicted. It also means there must be other people the Fed wants to nail in this investigation and they need Fradella to sing.

Who are those people? Well...Hammer throws up some suspect contracts Bennett was involved in:

"Bennett could be a fountainhead for investigators because he has held so many public contracts with different government entities -- with the city of New Orleans, Louis Armstrong International Airport, New Orleans public schools, the St. Bernard Parish port, Plaquemines Parish, the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office, the Army Corps of Engineers."

Interesting that the LAI contract is thrown in. I think the MSM will soon find out what happened with that contract and we'll get some answers.

"This is not the end but the beginning of the next phase," Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, said when Bennett was charged. "This could be something that would overlap parish boundaries."

River Birch, perhaps?

In the following years, he bundled illegal campaign contributions for federal elected officials, schmoozed at hot spots near and far with top local politicos and landed multimillion-dollar federal and local government contracts for everything from storm-abandoned vehicle removal to technology management to large Army Corps of Engineers and port construction projects to house lifting and shoring.

Whoop...there it is! That abandoned vehicle removal "contract" which there is no record of at City Hall. I think that's because it was handed out as an emergency contract after the storm but the details of the contract don't seem to be recorded. Ever wonder where those cars ended up? I think I have found a couple of companies in Texas and Florida who may have been the lucky recipients of those waterlogged vehicles...more on that to come. Speaking of...

The next year, the attention that surrounded the Chicago and Las Vegas plane trip Bennett arranged for Nagin didn't slow Bennett down a bit. Benetech soon hired one of the city attorneys for consulting services, and a year after that Benetech took over a Home Solutions contract to do city-paid construction work at the French Market -- work that got more lucrative with a series of change orders.

Interesting that he didn't name Ellis as the attorney. Is he threatening to sue you now as well, Dave?

even though Bennett at that point already knew the feds had caught him on tape making a $10,000 payment to Hingle.

You know...one thing I want to point out....he must have done this after Zurik was already reporting on Hingle. That's just fucking stupid. So was this:

Last year, after one of his ex-wives supplied Benetech financial information to The Times-Picayune, he sent her a taunting text message with a nude photo of himself flexing his biceps, which she forwarded to the newspaper.

I got that pic as well and I posted it not knowing it was him. I thought it was just a joke....well...I guess it was a joke. What the kind of farking moron would do something like that? This guy....jeez.

I almost wish he wouldn't have cooperated so I could watch that trial. Well, I suppose I can at least hope for a Nagin trial.

Comment Bump: All Roads Lead to King Georges

2011-10-07T13:25:00.004-05:00

Of course....of course this makes sense. Please read the previous post and comments then read this comment.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "They did merge":

As an aside, the property ownesrhip and parcel / description information for 2423 Bainbridge St Kenner is strangely not available on the JP Assessors site. It's one thing for the address not to pop up in the assessor site, it's a whole other for the property to have absolutely no description info, this is what turns up:

"Address: 2423 BAINBRIDGE ST
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lot: N/A
Square: N/A
Section: N/A
Subdivision: N/A
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Area: KENNER
Zip Code: 70062
Neighborhood: CITY OF KENNER
Council District: 3 - BYRON LEE "

This may be a topic for another day (or these parcels could be related, who knows, because there are a lot of them) but the property ***right next door 2501 Bainbridge St Kenner shows up with absolutely ZERO assessed value (though obviously having a lot of structures and work on it):

"Parcel# Owner Location Description Assessment Action

3923110751 M & M GAMING INC 2501 BAINBRIDGE ST 0
3923110755 M & M GAMING INC 2501 BAINBRIDGE ST 0
3822313271 M & M GAMING INC 2501 BAINBRIDGE ST 0
3701410110 M & M GAMING INC 2501 BAINBRIDGE ST 0
3430884503 M & M GAMING INC 2501 BAINBRIDGE ST 0
3420832373 M & M GAMING INC 2501 BAINBRIDGE ST 0
3420835282 M & M GAMING INC 2501 BAINBRIDGE ST 0
3300507545 M & M GAMING INC 2501 BAINBRIDGE ST 0
3200312772 M & M GAMING INC 2501 BAINBRIDGE ST 0
3100129862 M & M GAMING INC 2501 BAINBRIDGE ST 0
3100129864 M & M GAMING INC 2501 BAINBRIDGE ST 0"

And if you look up M&M Gaming it is owned by none other than John Georges.

The zero assessments in JP for some major properties is something that ha turned up on Slabbed before.

Just an fyi, but those are a lot of parcels, it is the property next door and again there is no ownership or description info for 2423 Bainbridge itself so who knows.

Hey isn't Chehardy now the JP assessor?

They did merge

2011-10-07T12:00:00.001-05:00

So it looks like Picke's (originally an HSOA/Fradella subsidiary) assets were dumped into Bennett's Associated Contractors.

I knew this but I couldn't remember exactly what happened. I surmise once Fradella got tagged by the SEC, he dumped all his Picke contracts, I think mostly N.O. contracts, into Associated Contractors.

I believe Picke was the HSOA company who originally had the airport contract, the Picke website is no longer:

Anonymous to me
show details 9:51 am (1 day ago)
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "All Roads Lead to HSOA?":

http://pickeconstruction.com

It is a beautiful website. It looks professional and polished. The writing on it is a little nauseating. Were it not for the news stories about money problems and lawsuits, I'd be impressed by them at first glance.

Under investors they tell you they area wholly owed subsidiary of Home Solutions of America. They say they work on the Gulf Coast, but all their projects are in New Orleans, and most of them seem to involve getting government contracts. And they DO have a multi-million dollar contract out at the airport.

Under the projects heading, they tell you right up front:

French Market Shed Renovation
$6 905 834

Orleans Parish Prison
$1 779 771

Louis Armstrong International Airport
$4 324 555

New Orleans Public School
$20 739 176

French Quarter Sidewalks
$ 750 000

Tulane University-- Emergency Temporary Housing
$1 502 232

Would someone check my math, please, because I think that adds up to $36 001 568.

That is a lot of public money to entrust to a company that seems to have big problems.

Does anyone know what happened with that airport contract? I thought we ended up in a lawsuit against Picke but I don't remember if it was settled or what. Any help?

I admit....this one fell into the memory hole. I never followed up to find out what went on with that airport contract.

BTW

2011-10-06T23:37:00.000-05:00

When I write posts, I don't edit. I just kick them out and then edit...hopefully....within 24 hours. Sometimes, I never get back to them for months, maybe years.

I just edited this post from 7 am this morning and I think it's ready for primetime. In other words, I think it's past "stream of consciousness".

The post right below this one...not so much. That is simply me looking back through my notes. I appreciate any help in my studies.

Diggin' up bones

2011-10-06T21:27:00.001-05:00

A Bone to Picke

Anonymous said...

ARRGH...http://www.secinfo.com/dujPe.vcn.a.htm

November 1 2006 "Home Solutions of America Acquires Associated Contractors; Acquisition to Allow Company to Participate in $270M Rebuilding Project for Stennis Space Center"

Contact people: Jeff Mattich (HSOA) and Matt Kreps, Halliburton Investor Relations.

Interesting huh?

Read that whole thread...including this comment:

Anonymous said...all of those HSOA subs have been sold or are defunct. i dont think there is anything of note left to the old picke/hsoa now that fradella is gone. a contractors license search shows the picke license is now registered to an address in kenner. the key here is what did hsoa give to nagin for these contracts? we know at least a trip was given but i think there were other things that were undisclosed. why would nagin meet so frequently with fradella? does nagin go the boh brothers, Gootee etal for regular meetings? why were the hsoa meetings redacted? ..one other tidbit just for fun. when HSOA was putting out their story to wall street they hosted an investors day in new orleans. the keynote speaker was virginia boulet.AUGUST 28, 2009 9:16:00 AM CDT

Don't give two shits about Boulet but note that Picke's contractor's license was transferred to an address in Kenner. A "Pump and Dump" doesn't just mean you're dumping the stock, it means you're transferring the entire "wealth" of the company...to....perhaps...another company?

Remember that Fradella originally had the French Market renovation contract and it then ended up in Bennett's hands...I could be mistaken on that but I'm pretty sure that's how it transpired. And I'm still not sure what went on with the Airport contract or the lawsuit the city filed against HSOA. A lawsuit which I believe may have been in the hands of a certain city attorney.

Also check out this post, particularly this comment:

Ndiyo. Kuna mengi zaidi hapa kuliko hukutana jicho.

... Makini makini.

Anonymous said...

I heard that according to the Department of Insurance, neither Infinity Surety nor Infinity Surety of Louisiana Inc. were ever licenced insurance companies in LA.

They never were authorized to make bid bonds or to write surety insurance.

The case you are pointing out appears to be some sort of personal injury suit. I don't understand that. Is this that Houston bred moron again?

Is THIS the personal injury work his Texas law firm (with the New Orleans City Hall telephone number) does?

Is he, as a City Attorney, allowed to do the side work he did for Aaron Bennett's Benetech if Bennett is part owner of a company (Picke) that gets no bid city contracts? Is that allowed?

And that same company uses moron's wife as an agent or attorney, even in business dealing with the city?

I can't decide if these people are insane baffoons or criminal masterminds.

Who has the contracts at the airport, and how about that story in the paper about Federal City over in Algiers?

I know a lot of amazing men who are Marines or former Marines, and I'd like to be for the investment over there, but that map of Sparky's is unforgetable.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2009 3:13:00 PM CDT

Yeah...hell...just read that whole comment thread.

Let's talk in a new comment thread...and we'll all look at Sparky's map.

werd bitches :)

Prometheus Fallen

2011-10-06T13:27:00.001-05:00

I've shed a few tears today...perhaps that's hokey to some but I really can't think of another person, outside of my immediate friends and family, who has influenced my life as much as Jobs (and Woz).

Most of the peeps on the planet who use Apple products don't understand the magnitude of what Jobs, Woz and the Homebrew Computer Club did to liberate the power of computer technology to the masses. They were stealing it, re-inventing it, liberating it....when TPTB would have stifled it and kept it to themselves.

Jobs and Woz....are what makes America great. They are what makes humanity great.

Trip the Infinite Loop, Steve...Ashe'.

Xanax and Highballs

2011-10-06T07:57:00.000-05:00

Let's ponder who used that wicked combination to go to sleep last night:

1. Stephen Braud

2. Billy Nungesser

3. Bob Ellis

4. Frank Fradella

5. Ray Nagin

Bennett's indictment should come as no surprise but the possibilites of him cooperating with the Fed are elephantine. I've said all along I believe the Bennett/Fradella enterprise held more deep, dark secrets than the Meffert/St. Pierre enterprise ever did....especially in respect to our former mayor.

I'm not saying all five of those men (- Fradella who is already indicted on SEC charges) will face the gallows. I'm just saying that if Bennett has gone canary, the aforementioned men should be extremely worried. Even Fradella...who has already been indicted...should be worried.

The glacial pace of the DOJ should now make perfect sense.

They will carry the candles on their back

Remember, right around the time of the St. Pierre trial it was rumored that the Fed was attempting to negotiate with Fradella, hoping he would cooperate....

...he refused.

Shortly after that, The Fed announced they were introducing a shitpile of new evidence into Fradella's case. Evidence which undoubtedly means the original SEC charges are going to simply be the appetizer to the impending main course.

Unless....Frank cooperates.

He didn't.

Now Bennett has flipped.

Not good for Frank.

Definitely not good for Braud, Ellis and Nagin. I'm sure there are other names I'm not considering but I think these are the top five, fo' true.

I may throw in Billy Shultz as an aperitif but I'll hedge that gratuity for a moment.

There is one other name in this equation but I'm purposely leaving that person out. Having some exclusive insight into this story, I am sympathetic to that person and I hope the best for her/him.

Oh....I missed it by two weeks. I need to hedge my predictions better.

Wakka-Bam!

2011-10-05T11:54:00.000-05:00

Sheriff Jiff Hingle, businessman Aaron Bennett to be charged by feds, sources say

Superdome: "Lord won't you buy me, Mercedes Benz"

2011-10-04T15:53:00.002-05:00

I've tried to shy away from pure punditry in the past year or so on AZ. I made up my mind that unless I had some bits of information to share, I should forego the time it takes to post. That, of course, doesn't mean I don't gleefully inject my own opinion into everything but I do try to make sure I'm being informative without just being another asshole with an opinion. I aspire to be another asshole with an opinion and some good information to boot.

On this matter, I have no new information but I would like to share my opinion.

Here's what I think....in the grand scheme of things I think this could be a really good thing for the city.

Now, I am no fan of mega-corporations and I am definitely not a fan of Tom Bentsen. I also love the fact that the dome is called the "Louisiana Superdome". Yes...it is ours....it's sacred ground in ways that not even Wrigley Field is to Chicago. It will always be a metaphorical anchor in most New Orleanians' subconscious. Nowhere else in the city has there been so much joy and misery under one roof (unless you remember Monaco Bob's but that's another discussion altogether).

The dome has survived attempts to destroy it and subsequently became a beacon of the city's palingenesis after the storm. It harbored our citizens in a moment of crisis and then became a prison for our citizens in that same moment of crisis. It's generated millions and millions of dollars for our city and state and many of those millions were doled out as graft and slush funds.

It is, at once, old and new...loved and controversial...iconic and tragic. Its history and the emotions it invokes are as complicated as the city itself. Explaining what the edifice means to the city is like trying to explain "Creole" to a tourist.

It has come to define New Orleans as much as St. Louis Cathedral, Congo Square, Bourbon Street, St. Charles Avenue, etc. The dome is us.

The idea that it is now about to be branded with a corporate logo, from a non-Louisiana corporation, is unsettling to say the least. For me, it conjures up stomach turning images of "Capital One Superdome", "Bank of America Superdome", or Legba forbid, "BP Superdome". That would no doubt end up in an "Occupy the Dome" protest movement or much worse.

But here's the thing...looking past the moral argument of "Is it OK to rename the dome with a corporate logo?", let's look at who the actual corporation is. It's Mercedes Benz. It's a company that's been in existence since 1926...a company that is associated with the pursuit of perfection. It's a little pretentious, especially for New Orleans, but in the grand scheme of things I don't think I could pick too many other companies I would feel comfortable with having their name on the dome. At least companies that could afford to do it.

Apple...yes. Google...maybe. Entergy....never. I would love to see Abita, Tabasco...Dirty Coast :)....but that's just not feasible.

My point is...looking past the moral argument and looking at the qualifier...who the corporate sponsor actually is....I'm OK with this. I'm especially OK if it relieves a financial burden on the state. Especially if MB takes an active role in our city and hopefully our education system. Especially if MB considers building infrastructure in the state. Especially if it turns Germans on to the Saints and we expand our fan base across the ocean blue.

Maybe MB will build a new Deutsches Haus next to the dome.

Maybe I'm deluded and pipe dreaming. I don't know but I see the potential and in respect to the modern corporation, Mercedes Benz seems to be one of integrity. Maybe I'm wrong and if I am, please educate me.

If the byline to this development would not have included the qualifier, MB, I would probably feel completely different. Especially if the corporation was a Goldman Sacs, Halliburton, etc. But putting a face on the sponsor, for me, makes all the difference. I'm not saying I'm ecstatic about this but I see the potential and I'm willing to accept it because I somewhat trust the face I'm looking at. I hope I'm right.

What I desire, is man's red fire...

2011-10-04T13:14:00.001-05:00

Comment Bump: Bill "Wimpy, Jr." Loiry prices his new snake oil

2011-10-03T23:32:00.000-05:00

mandinola has left a new comment on your post "I want to drone attack Baton Rouge":

I received in the mail today the bankruptcy papers on William "Bill" Loiry. He's charging $450 per seat at his DC event Oct. 25th. FYI..... (sorry if it's not related to this story, just wanted to get ya the info.)
Cheers

The $450 Hamburger...Wimpy, Jr....you sly bastard.

I want to drone attack Baton Rouge

2011-10-03T12:33:00.000-05:00

Gene Mills calls for transparency....unbelievable. I guess he'd be willing to open up the LFF's book then, huh?

(cough...cough)...uhhmmm...excuse me...

2011-10-01T13:55:00.003-05:00

Benetech deemed ineligible for federal set-aside program

The federal government has booted controversial contractor Benetech from a set-aside program aimed at steering contracts to disabled veterans after The Times-Picayune published stories showing that Aaron Bennett, rather than his father, a Vietnam veteran, actually ran the firm.

Last year, The Times-Picayune reported that although William Bennett holds Benetech's contractor's license, he has no control over the company's daily operations.

Yeah? Well...there is this from two years ago:

American Zombie: "We" deserve a piece of the action

Just sayin'....

2011-10-01T01:56:00.001-05:00

Yo homeys

2011-09-30T00:25:00.001-05:00

Does anyone know anything about these guys?

Cuz.....I know some things. If you got 411... let's share.

:)

William Loiry, aka. "Wimpy Jr.", strikes again

2011-09-29T16:47:00.000-05:00

You know....in the course of writing this blog I have come across some snakes in the grass whose level of depravity truly amazed me.

Meffert...is at least, human. St. Pierre....I'm not so sure. Aaron Bennett...is a freak with even freakier friends (Dude is a Trashanova wannabe).

They're all characters fo' true.

But then along comes a guy whose proclivity for graft and bullshit leaves my head spinning like a coked-up, midget, dancer spiraling down a greased, stripper pole...upside down.

Yes I've seen that...and we're talking Whirling Dervish on acid....please feel free to query me at our next encounter.

Meanwhile...I think this cat, Bill Loiry, is the unholy child of Kirsha and Meffert.

I'm talking about traveling symposium superstar, William Loiry.

After conducting an extensive genealogy search on Ancestry.com....OK it was really a not-so-extensive search in my own subconscious....I found out who Bill actually descended from.

You remember Wimpy...from Popeye?

Turns out Bill is Wimpy's long lost son.

nice combover

Back in June, The Lens' reporter, Ariella Cohen, broke the story of how Lorie stiffed vendors and employees he disingenuously procured for the "Gulf Coast Summit". It was a wonderfully, pointless soiree he held at the Riverside Hilton in New Orleans on the anniversary of the BP oil spill.

Please refer to the Yes Men's spoof of the event here.

Cohen, bless her heart, uncovered a national trail of misery flowing in Wimpy Jr's' wake. From 10's of thousands in unpaid vendor bills to angry, uncompensated employees that Bill conned into helping him with whatever traveling road show he could dream up to exploit the ever-growing "disaster capitalist" frontier.

Bill had a history.....Ariella showed us the cliff notes.

This guy, Loiry, deserves his own chapter in Naomi Klein's next book.

Now, within the same year, Wimpy Jr. has managed to muster up yet another circus sideshow, The Keystone XL Pipeline Summit being held in Washington, D.C. on October 25. Loiry really is amazing...he slithers in to Nawlin's, puts on a dog and pony show, stiffs multiple businesses/individuals and six months later he's setting up shop again in D.C.

Oh, did I mention The Lens recently uncovered his bankruptcy filing?

He carpetbags his way through New Orleans, leaves folks high and dry....folks who desperately needed work in the wake of BP and Katrina...then files chapter 7 to avoid having to pay them. Now, within six months, he's doing it all over again.

Where do they make these farkin' guys?

I may just be a monkey in a tree way down in the anus of the country but thanks to the intertubes I can throw virtual turds at Wimpy Jr. from afar...and turds I gleefully throw.

Help me figure out how to hose this grifter, guys. Any ideas?

2011-09-28T01:09:00.000-05:00

0100110101101001011011010110100100100000010001000111010101100100011001010011101000100000010011010110100101101101011010010010000001101011011101010111000001100001011101000110000100100000011000010111001101110011011010000110111101101100011001010010000001101101011000100110010101101100011001010010000001111001011000010010000001101011011000010110110101100101011100100110000100100000011011100110000100100000011011010111001101110101011011010110000101110010011010010010000001111001011000010110101101100101001011100000110100001010000011010000101001000100011101010110010001100101001011000010000001101011011101110110000101101110011001110111010100100000010000010111001101110011011010000110111101101100011001010010000001101011011000010110110101110111011001010010000001101011011101010110011001100001011011100111100101100001001000000110100001101001011101100111100101101111000011010000101000001101000010100011011100100000011000100110000101100001011001000110000100100000011110010110000100100000011011010110100101100101011110100110100100100000001011100010111000101110001000000100000101110011011100110110100001101111011011000110010100100000011000010110101101100001011010110111010101100010011000010110110001101001001000000110101101110111011000010010000001101101011000010110100001101111011010100110100101100001011011100110111100101110000011010000101000001101000010100100110101101001011011010110100100100000011011100110100100100000011010110110000101101101011000010010000001101101011000010111001001100001001000000110101101110111011000010010000001101101011000010111001001100001001000000110101101100001011011010110000100100000010000010111001001100011011101000111010101110010011101010111001100101110

errhhh...P.S.A. - Flood Insurance Map

2011-09-26T23:01:00.000-05:00

I don't normally publish solicitations, especially from law firms.....but......this map/graphic these guys made is pretty damn informative. So, this is not an endorsement of the law firm but I think the map they made is pretty cool and helpful:

Louisiana Flood Insurance Claim Statistics

And while we're on the subject of solicitations....if you send me some bullshit spam then immediately send another comment asking me why I didn't post your bullshit spam....I will not only delete your comments, I may even dis your stupid-ass, commercial venture just for shitz and gigglz. Don't be a dick.

That wasn't directed at the law firm above, they were very polite....and more importantly...they were poignant.

Meanwhile...please check out boating.com...because they actually paid for a sponsorship and that helps keep me going. Thanks.

UPDATE: This map may be bullshit. I was sent these NFIP statistics from a reader:

http://bsa.nfipstat.com/reports/1040.htm#22

Which clearly states the losses for "The City of NO" as:

$7,180,396,137.78

That's a far cry from the "7 million + yellowed out Orleans Parish" graphic on that map. It ain't a million with a M....it's a billion with a B.

And now that map ain't nearly as sexy.

I await your response map makers.

Community Forum on Prison

2011-09-22T14:35:00.001-05:00

Some frightful stories here. Video by NOCOG as promised:

PSA - NOCOG LIVE WEBCAST TOMORROW

2011-09-19T14:50:00.000-05:00

Hey Peeps, the New Orleans Coalition for Open Government will be conducting a live webcast of the Community Forum on Jail Conditions being held tomorrow from 6pm - 8pm at the Mahalia Jackson Center, 2405 Jackson Avenue.

The webcast we be available on The Lens website. I've been helping NOCOG get their video and live webcasting initiatives in place (my real world profession) and this will be the maiden voyage for their live webcasts. Exciting stuff on a hot topic....please tune in.

Press Release:

NEWS RELEASE
For Release Monday September 19, 2011

CONTACTS:
Norris Henderson: 504-453-4819Sister Alison McCrary: 504-484-9710Dana Kaplan: 504-473-1403

Community Forum on Jail Conditionsto be broadcast live via web streamon The Lens news site.

On Tuesday, September 20th from 6 - 8pm the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition will be hosting a public forum for all community members concerned about conditions at OPP and related issues to have an opportunity to speak and offer recommendations for reform. Representatives from the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice will be in attendance to hear testimony. The forum, which will be held at the Mahalia Jackson Center 2405 Jackson Avenue will also be available for viewing via live webstream on The Lens News Site at www.thelensnola.org
In the wake of sweeping reform of the New Orleans Police Department and two years after their initial findings that the jail consistently violates the civil rights of people held in its care, OPPRC is also calling for the Department of Justice to take action to improve conditions at Orleans Parish Prison. Since their report was issued in September 2009, conditions have only deteriorated and thirteen more people have died in the custody of the jail. Stated OPPRC member Sister Alison McCrary, with the Congregation of St Joseph and Safe Streets / Strong Communities, “the Department of Justice must take immediate action through either a consent decree or a civil lawsuit to end the violation of rights of people housed in the jail. We cannot wait for another loss of life to occur.”
Exactly two years after the Department of Justice issued it’s September 11, 2009 report that found a practice of the violation of civil rights of individuals held at Orleans Parish Prison (OPP), the Orleans Parish Prison Reform Coalition (OPPRC) launched a new phase of its public education campaign for reform of the jail, with a billboard on 1-10 and the announcement of a series of community forums. The billboards include a set of five rotating messages, including support for a smaller jail of no more than 1438 beds, an end to the per diem system, and immediate action by the Department of Justice to improve conditions at the facility.
The recommendation for a smaller facility comes after national experts and a Criminal Justice Working Group convened by Mayor Landrieu determined that, through the implementation of reforms including pre-trial services, reducing racial disparities in lengths of detention, and increasing the use of citations in lieu of minor arrests, a jail of 1438 beds could be sufficient for the City of New Orleans. While the City Council approved a replacement jail of this size in February 2011 following this recommendation, there is significant work that remains for the full implementation of these reforms. According to Norris Henderson, Executive Director of VOTE, an OPPRC member organization, “The city needs to move aggressively towards implementing the types of reforms considered by the Criminal Justice Working Group, which when completed can be a beacon of pride for the city. Similar reforms have been demonstrated in other cities to improve public safety, to reduce jail populations, and to save invaluable taxpayer dollars. New Orleans can do it as well.”
OPPRC is also calling for an end to the per diem system, or the funding of the jail through payment by the City for each individual held daily in OPP. While the per diem is $22.39 per inmate, the actual cost is over $30 daily, including the additional costs of health care and staffing paid by the City to the Sheriff. This will cost the city $27.5 million this year. As stated by Mayor Landrieu at the August 9th District B Community Budget meeting, “If we pay (the Sheriff) per person, per day, the argument is he has an incentive to keep more people. What we really need to do is ensure that he keeps only the number that we need him to keep and no more.” New Orleans is the only major US city in the United States that finances its jail through a per diem system. As stated by Dana Kaplan, Director of the Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL), “Given both the perverse incentive that the per diem creates to incarcerate more people and the fact that $22.39 per person is insufficient to safely operate a jail, there should be no obstacle this budget cycle to ending the outdated per diem system and transitioning to a performance based approach to funding OPP.”

In the off chance...

2011-09-17T12:53:00.004-05:00

...that anyone has an extra 30k lying around their house and wants to get rid of it. Buy me this lens and I'll be your best bud for life:

Something I've been pondering

2011-09-16T22:49:00.001-05:00

How is that Cedric Richmond can make his bar fight incident in Baton Rouge simply disappear in the court system but Jordan Jefferson is being crucified?

Comment Bump - Eric Asher

2011-09-14T14:50:00.002-05:00

well Asher just responded to your "suggestion" or question of conflict as to the Canal Street property on his show. he did not mention you or you blog by name, but finished by a resounbding "690 is not for sale!" or something similar.
THEN he had Sheriff Noodles normand on and proceeded to give what was a softball, snowball, kittens in mittens interview that might as well have been a pr promo piece.
In fact every time someone from JP government (Young for instance) comes on they get a super-easy walk in the park interview that very much sounds like a free promo or commercial even rather than ask about any of the tough corruption or conflict of interest issues that arise in JP.
In fact Council Chairman Chris Roberts was given 3 HOURS AS HOST and featured as one of his guests (and this is fact as previously reported in the TP) a convicted drug runner. This was when Roberts was running or getting ready to run as Council Chairman (At Large election).
It's almost hilarious how the irony of featuring his diatribe about your daring to question his integrity juxtaposed with the Robinette situation (WHICH ORIGINATED IN JP) followed by his cake-walk interview with Noodles the chief law enforcement officer for that very parish (who has had payroll fraud and allegations of bribery sashay (sp?) by with nary a peep from his office).

I dared to ask the question? I "dare" (man, I'm livin' on the edge) ask the question because he stumped the 1031 Canal Street development relentlessly for two weeks straight.

So he answered with a self-righteous "NO!" Bully on you, Eric. I hope he's not because I like his show the best of any talk show in NOLA. Now that we have his word I hope he can find something else to talk about considering we have a shitload of problems in this city which make that issue pale in comparison.

Some suggestions:

DOJ Consent Decree on NOPD

NOPD in general...is Serpas even in control?

Louisiana Revised Statute 33:2740.3 ...what does this taxing district mean to the city and how is the money being spent?

The proposed "Sports District" which is now being floated by MML. What is it? Where is the money coming from to do it? Who does it benefit and is it a good move for the city?

I have 20 more I could rattle out of my head but I don't want to do Asher's programming director's job. Maybe that's the issue....they need a new programming director. I don't know, I just know 1031 Canal does not deserve two straight weeks of air time.

A picture is worth no words

2011-09-11T12:07:00.001-05:00

Could someone...anyone...out there send me the pictures of the...thing....that there are supposedly pitcures of? I am not going to use them, I just want to lay my own eyes on it so I understand what exactly we are talking about.

Don't ask me what the thing is...if you don't know I'm not talking to you.

Thanks.

Clancy weighs in on Garlandfill

2011-09-10T15:55:00.004-05:00

Stubborn, stubborn facts

A different perspective. It doesn't change my opinion but I appreciate the prerogative.

Oyster Bump

2011-09-09T18:36:00.003-05:00

Mark weighs in on GarlandfillGate:

Robinette’s silence on River Birch must also have been golden

This ƒ¨ç˚ˆ˜© City!

2011-09-09T17:13:00.000-05:00

We've all said it....we've all been there. As much as we love this city there are times that truly try our souls and we ponder why the hell we subject ourselves to the dystopian nightmares lurking around every corner.

Yes you have been there...don't f'n lie.

One of our city's very talented and compassionate peeps just had the misfortune of experiencing the very nasty side of Nawlin's. Watch this story:

Brazen Lakeview robbery puts neighbors on alarm

Well, the same thing happened to 3 peeps of AZ's. One is a designer for Dirty Coast and his computer and equipment he needs to make a living were taken in the robbery. I'd like to ask AZ readers to please donate to him at the following PayPal link:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=UUCC3CWUEBM7A

And if anyone else wants to embed the link in their blog, please feel free. This is not a donation to AZ, it goes directly to the affected parties.

I'm not going to go on a crime rant here, we all know the dangers of living in Nawlins and I'm sure the experience was traumatic enough for the three folks who went through it...no need to rehash it. Please consider helping a peep out, it would be much appreciated.

Ashe'

A Matter of Tru$t

2011-09-06T23:33:00.003-05:00

On the eve of what I expect to be Garlandfill's in high dudgeon exculpation, I would like to propose a simple challenge to Sir Robinette to quash any misgivings about his integrity we serfs may have.

I would simply ask that Garlandfill post a ledger at the town square which tallies the sales of his works of art so that we may see who values his work and exactly what value they've placed on his passion. WWL's website could serve as the virtual town square.

What say you, Garlandfill? Do you have the courage of your conviction to practice the same level of transparency you've so oft requested of our fiefdom's lords?

Comment Bump....

2011-09-06T18:46:00.001-05:00

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Carry on here....nothing to see...":

>>>"The terms of the loan mentioned in the article are contained in a signed note related to a piece of property. That loan is due and will be satisfied in October of this year.<<<

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2011/09/robinette_says_he_did_absolute.html

Er, which piece of property is that, Garl?

And I'd follow that with the comment Styborski just left on my FB page:

Michael Styborski OK, hearing now that the loan was to help out until they sold a property in St Tammany (7 Riverdale Drive). According to the ST assessor website ( http://www.stassessor.org/

assessor.php ), the lot is assessed at $9775, so that's what… about $90k max? Wish I knew how to pay off a quarter-mil with 90K…

St. Tammany Parish Assessor, Patricia Schwarz Core

www.stassessor.org

This explanation tomorrow should be a work of art....we're going to find out just how good of an artist Garland really is.

BTW....

2011-09-06T17:30:00.000-05:00

...I told you guys I was going to take a blogging enema.

This week should get even better.

Carry on here....nothing to see...

2011-09-06T10:28:00.000-05:00

Schedule a show on veterans and the war.....yeah...that's it. Everyone will forget.

Ahhh...just saw this:

Robinette to discuss $250,000 loan from River Birch owners on his WWL radio show

Resignation ensuing...I predict.

11:11 - Talking about the decline of the US Post Office, a caller got through and said, "Hi Garland, I think what the Post Office needs is a $250,000 loan with no interest!" Garland, "Alright...he's gone."

Update: I missed the beginning of the show:

Robinette says he did "absolutely nothing wrong" in accepting loan from River Birch landfill owner

"I can look my wife and my daughter in the eye and tell you the public I have done absolutely nothing wrong," Robinette said."

Sweet Buddha. If you can do that, G, you're a pathological liar. This is really unbelievable...it's amazing that WWL isn't firing him even if he refuses to leave. What he did is the equivalent of a professional athlete or referee accepting money to throw a sporting event. Pete Rose was banned from the Hall of Fame for placing a bet on his own team....this guy took 250k and not only stumped for the biggest criminal conspiracy in our region, he went to the TP and tried to get them to stump it.

Actually what he did is worse than an athlete throwing a game....a game is just a game.....this is our community...it actually affects our lives. His responsibility was greater than any athlete's.

WWL is shot...it's useless. Makes me sick.

UPDATE II: Slabbed goes gangsta as Entercom stock is in a free-fall, swan dive off the high board.

When all else fails....piss on the messenger

2011-09-05T17:12:00.003-05:00

Hit the story on the top right on the video menu.

I somehow missed this story on Thursday. Zurik was trying to track Bennett down at his apartment in the CBD at the Lengsfeld Lofts. That's where the security tape came from. My guess is that Bennett was flexing naked in the mirror when his doorbell rang....but that's just a guess.

And while Bennett filed trespassing charges, let's just take a look at what the law states for trespassing:

F. The following persons may enter or remain upon immovable property of another, unless specifically forbidden to do so by the owner or other person with authority, either orally or in writing:

(1) A professional land surveyor or his authorized personnel, engaged in the "Practice of Land Surveying", as defined in R.S. 37:682.

(2) A person, affiliate, employee, agent or contractor of any business which is regulated by the Louisiana Public Service Commission or by a local franchising authority or the Federal Communication Commission under the Cable Reregulation Act of 1992 or of a municipal or public utility, while acting in the course and scope of his employment or agency relating to the operation, repair, or maintenance of a facility, servitude or any property located on the immovable property which belongs to such a business.

(3) Any person making a delivery, soliciting, selling any product or service, conducting a survey or poll, a real estate licensee or other person who has a legitimate reason for making a delivery, conducting business or communicating with the owner, lessee, custodian or a resident of the immovable property, and who, immediately upon entry, seeks to make the delivery, to conduct business or to conduct the communication.

So Bennett get's the security tape and has a lackey make an incredibly ineffective not-so-viral video in order to discredit a journalist who's exposing the millions in dollars the guy has ripped off from FEMA and local parishes. I hope the video lackey took notes from Bennett himself and told him it took 20 hours at $350/hr. to make that stupid-ass video.

Watching Bennett go down is going to be 1000 times more fun than watching Meffert/St. Pierre. As big a mouth as Meff had, he was nowhere near as brash and delusional as AB.

Keep it comin' bro...we're all enjoying the laughs.

Rising Tide 6 - New Orleans Brass Bands

2011-09-05T12:55:00.003-05:00

http://vimeo.com/user6987770/rt6brassbands

Zurik Rocks!

2011-09-04T00:57:00.004-05:00

Some douchebags....I know that term is overused but in this case I swear it's warranted....some douchebags just sent me this Youtube video:

It came from this email: neworleansnews12345@gmail.com

1. Please feel free to send anything and everything horrible you can think of to that email. They spammed me and I would encourage you to reply to that email with "2 girls in a tub" and more....Please help me out in returning the favor in their douchebaggery attempts at propaganda. I'm gonna wake up tomorrow and take a picture of the dump I leave in the toilet and send it to them....I encourage you to do the same.

2. Congratulations, Douchebags, I posted it.

3. Lee Zurik just gained about 1000 points on my badass meter. Fuck YES! Break the fuck in! The crooks he's chasing are not playing by the rules, they disregard the law at every turn. They think they are above the law. If this is what it takes for a true journalist to get the story....BREAK THE FUCK IN! Congratulations Lee....you just prestiged X 40 if we were playing Black Ops. I don't just want to buy you a drink....I want to buy you a case of Maker's Mark.

4. Lee, the next time....take me. I'm all in. Me and about 40 of my friends will surround the building until we get what we need.

Congratulations Lee....you are now legend in my book.

To douchebags....you are idiots. You just showed everyone how scared and desperate your clients are. Let me extend more rope to you.....keep it coming. Right now you're probably telling Jeff Hingle this is a good thing....you're trying to convince him this video was a good idea....you're telling the idiots who paid you how clever you are and how as long as the video is spread it will discredit Zurik....excellent. I really hope they keep paying you to be this stupid, I really do.

BTW, how much did you get paid for this, you fucking morons?

How ugly can it get?

2011-09-03T00:53:00.001-05:00

Pretty damn ugly.....

WWL host got $250,000 from owners of River Birch

Hey...I have this great idea for a documentary.....if anyone's interested let me know.

UPDATE: Go to the authority if you want to learn more. Also da Yellow Blog.

BTW, while we're on this subject, has anyone else noticed Eric Asher's two week obsession with stumping for the 1031 Canal St. development? That's been bothering me.

Rising Tide 6 - New Orleans Food - Continuity and Change

2011-09-02T10:27:00.000-05:00

http://vimeo.com/user6987770/risingtide6foodpanel

Something Wicked this way?

2011-09-02T08:57:00.003-05:00

Something wickedly good, perhaps.

My spidey sense is tingling...I think we are about to catch wind of some major developments in the rattlesnake roundup we've been witnessing down on Poydras.

I may be hallucinating...that's definitely a possibility with me....but I just have a really strong hunch another shoe is about to drop.

We'll soon see if my hunch meter is working. Give it two weeks max. If nothing happens, I'll eat crow.

I have a black friend!

2011-09-02T00:45:00.002-05:00

Actually, she didn't even say that....she said her father had a black friend.

Clarkson offends crowd with remarks praising ’50s as a golden age, refuses to apologize

“Excuse me, excuse me – no, I’m going to finish,” she said. “I’ve never been treated like this in my lifetime, and I won’t have it.”

Wow. She's not gonna have it! That's just how it's going to be! "You people" have no right to have an opinion.

“I have defended you,” she said, “I don’t appreciate the treatment.”

Defended who? Defended from what? What does she mean by "you"?

” I’m sorry that there were a handful of people in the crowd that didn’t appreciate what I’ve done for them.”

Could somebody suggest to her that she may just want to shut the fuck. Every time she opens her mouth it gets worse...she should stop while she's behind. The original statement wasn't that egregious, if she wasn't so goddamn indignant she could have just listened to people's grievances and offered an apology and explanation as to what she meant. Instead, she lambasts "you people" for being upset with the comment.

This woman is so wound up in her own ego she can't imagine that people could be upset with her.

Earth to Planet Jackie....you are not the center of the universe. You may be a gas giant but we don't revolve around you.

Ma gavte la nata.

Ha...I just saw this post from Jeffrey...

No apologies

2011-09-01T22:52:00.001-05:00

17.5 years. Ouch.

Mark St. Pierre is sentenced to 17 1/2 years for City Hall bribery, kickbacks

As he did throughout his trial in May, St. Pierre had a large contingent of family and friends in the courtroom to support him at Thursday's sentencing. His normally stoic wife, Stacey, sobbed quietly when St. Pierre spoke before Fallon and praised her for enduring "ridicule, gossip and innuendo" since May's highly publicized trial.

I'm sure that was, in part, directed at me. You know, just like him....I make no apologies.

When a reporter noted that she didn't hear St. Pierre apologize for his actions, Letten said "we didn't hear it either." The U.S. Attorney said St. Pierre's lack of contrition once again demonstrates the "arrogance" he'd shown in his dealings with the city and at trial. Letten, who served as lead prosecutor in trial that sent the former governor to prison, added that St. Pierre's attitude was "reminiscent of Edwin Edwards."

Oh yeah....see the blindingly white, bald guy in this pic:

I know that guy :).

Rising Tide 6 - Richard Campanella Keynote

2011-09-01T22:08:00.003-05:00

http://vimeo.com/user6987770/richardcampanella

Speed the Reaper

2011-09-01T21:49:00.000-05:00

Karma is a bitch.

Robbins Umeda LLP Announces an Investigation of CIBER, Inc.

A little math problem I was working on tonight with my daughter...

2011-08-30T23:57:00.002-05:00

1 + 1 = Louisiana Conservative Coalition

I think she got it.

She's analytical, but not so much with integers. We're still grokking.

Zombies everywhere

2011-08-30T00:22:00.000-05:00

Benetech owner's foray into home elevation is being investigated by state

Bennett said he wanted to be involved but was not able to "because of my radioactivity in the media."

Obligatory Katrina recapitulation #6

2011-08-29T19:08:00.000-05:00

This year I'm so lazy I'm just going to hijack Styborski's FB page....it pretty much sums it up for me.

Rising Tide 6 - Ashley Award Presentation

2011-08-29T18:53:00.002-05:00

Congrats Dedra!

http://vimeo.com/user6987770/risingtide6asheleyaward

Rising Tide 6 - Ashley Award Presentation - Dedra Johnson, G-Bitch from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

This will be the last video uploaded until Friday. I still have Richard Campanella's Keynote, The Brass Band panel and the New Orleans Food Panel to go.

Rising Tide 6 - Social Justice, Social Meda

2011-08-29T13:13:00.001-05:00

http://vimeo.com/user6987770/risingtide6socialjustice

Rising Tide 6 - Social Media, Social Justice from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

Rising Tide 6 - Re-capping the Well

2011-08-29T07:04:00.003-05:00

http://vimeo.com/user6987770/risingtide6recappingthewell

Rising Tide VI - "Re-capping the Well" Panel Discussion from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

You know, watching these videos, it occurred to me how valuable this stuff is from a historical perspective. Having worked in the film archives of the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History and Museum of African Art, I know how important information like this is to future generations. A hundred years from now, this panel discussion and the other content in RT will be invaluable to researchers trying to understand what was going on in this city at this point in history.

Just thought I'd share that observation. Enjoy.

Rising Tide 6 Keynote - David Simon

2011-08-29T01:43:00.000-05:00

Happy viewing. More coming soon.

David Simon - Keynote Speaker, Rising Tide VI from Jason Berry on Vimeo.

The embed code is in the video, it is licensed to Rising Tide under a Creative Commons license, you are welcome to embed the video, email it, etc. under the condition that you cite Rising Tide as the owner of the media. It may not be used commercially without the consent of the Rising Tide organization.

The ebb and flow

2011-08-28T13:13:00.003-05:00

Congratulations to the Rising Tide organizers on an amazing conference yesterday and big congratulations to Dedra Johnson @ G-Bitch, the winner of the 2011 Ashley Award.

Yesterday was a flow tide fo' true....this conference is only getting bigger and better by the year and yesterday's event at Xavier made that apparent. All of the panels and the speakers were interesting and entertaining right down to the kick-ass performance by the TBC brass band at the end of the day.

My personal favorite was the "Re-capping the well" panel. I was surprised at Bob Marshall and David Hammer's candor about the power of the oil industry in da' gret' stet'. My favorite line was from Marshall who said he get's aggravated when he hears people say the oil industry has raped the state of Louisiana, he said, "It's much more like consensual sex." That was a funny line. Drake Toulouse of Disenfranchised Citizen was great as well....nervous....but still did a great job.

David Simon was exactly as you would expect...raw, poignant...mostly critical. He definitely left you with an acidic taste in your mouth. He drilled into both Mayor Landrieu and "the preservationists" about the way both sides handled the whole "HBO can save these houses" skirmish. He seemed disgusted by both sides' behavior during the incident but he was particularly critical of Mayor Landrieu and spent more than a few minutes expressing his distaste for Mitch. I don't want to say he was scathing, I think Simon is a guy who could really tear someone a new asshole if he wanted but he definitely made his sentiment known. He consistently warned the audience about the dangers of the "We just need to get the right guy in office" attitude and how there are no messiahs in the political world. He even referenced President Obama as an example of that.

Bottom line...he really doesn't like Mitch. I'd be curious to hear Mitch's take on it.

He also made hay that the proponents and developers of the "biomedical corridor" planned for mid-city are conspicuously using Baltimore's Johns Hopkins as teleiotes. He pointed out that Baltimore executed a grand plan to raze blocks and blocks of houses and neighborhoods around that facility in order to create a similar vision of a massive bio-tech/medical community. A decade later the area is mostly empty lots where the houses and communities once stood.

Even though I was there and listened closely to the whole thing, I don't feel like I have "standing" on the issue so I will let you, the viewer, assess his comments for yourself by watching the archived video (should be up momentarily but I have to coordinate with RT organizers).

Katy Reckdahl penned her perspective for the TP. I got a kick out of this line:

"Before discussing the hospital, Simon talked to the young journalists about how perceived outsiders often are criticized for writing about communities where they don't live."

Young? I think 80% of us are over 40 but I'll take the compliment.

The webcast was a glorious success by webcasting standards. I still don't have the grand, de facto total...it takes about a day after the event to get the final numbers because the report isn't totaled until each person who watched it actually closes their viewer window (so please do that if you're reading this and still have one open :) )....but at the moment the number is at 1248 viewers. That's pretty impressive.

The archived video files will be uploaded over the course of the next week and I'm sure they will be located on the RT site. I'll keep you posted.

Congratulations to everyone involved and dont' forget it's never too late or too early to donate to RT!

Git ya' Tide on!

2011-08-25T11:54:00.003-05:00

Saturday morn, 9 am, 1 Drexel Drive, Xavier University...Rising Tide 6 is going down.

I get asked by folks who read AZ a lot, "How can I help? What can I do?" You can start by simply participating in the conversation and the RT conference is where it begins. You want to learn how to start a blog? You want to find out dirty details that are too hot to blog? Whatever your interest is in this wonderful, amazing, fucked up city we livin in....RT is the place to be this Saturday.

If you live out of town and you can't make it...good news....it will be webcast live from the Xavier campus.

For my fellow bloggers and news outlets....you can simply drop this embed code in your blog/website and you too will be on the RT network:

Actually, click this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1B3UeMQWTou_zJhry0ok4rp11fiOEAMqONKyVmB6MerE/edit?hl=en_US

I can't figure out how to drop the embed code in the post without it loading the player so just cut and paste that code, drop it in, and you're off and running.

Also, check out the RT video page Varg set up HERE. Also please note the DONATE BUTTON on that page...if you're watching RT from home, please share some love and understand that it takes a lot of money and hard work for the RT organizers to stage this event. So hit that button and send them some love, homeys!

And just to remind you why we do this:

- We seek to protect and preserve the cultural qualities of New Orleans that make our city unique.

- We resolve to root out and expose the corruption and incompetence that harms us all.

- We work to enact a vision of a restored and resilient community that respects traditions and reaches for a sustainable future for all citizens.

Let the angling begin

2011-08-24T22:41:00.001-05:00

Wakka-BAM!

City Councilmember owed thousands in sanitation fees

Perfect timing for this story. CHM seems to have her sights set on filling the vacant Council-at-Large position left by Arnie Fielkow's exit and I've heard Mayor Landrieu is in her corner.

Of all the potential candidates to fill this spot, I really hope it's not Cynthia Hedge-Morrell. This office is too important to take lightly and it is an office, not an appointed staff position. In fact, I don't like the idea of the mayor endorsing any candidate for that position. It's just not kosher. I'm not suggesting that council members should be hostile to the mayor's admin. or agenda but they definitely shouldn't be chummy either. That's just not healthy for the city....in my humble opinion.

Having said that, here are some names I would like to see thrown into the pot.

1. Norman Francis - It's time. If he won't volunteer we need to draft him...hold him hostage until he agrees to run. Xavier is the best kept secret in the city and Francis has been at the helm for 4 decades. This city needs that level of leadership. At the very least I think he should be named to the interim position....then maybe we can just ignore the city charter and tell him he has to stay. It looks like there's a move to ignore the charter anyway.

2. James Perry - James' qualities are somewhat the opposite of Francis, he's a young gun but smart as hell and I think that would be refreshing for this city. I'd love to see him get a shot.

3. Caroline Fayard - I'm mixed about this one because I'd rather see her take a state office than a city office. I think she's the best thing....maybe the last thing....the LA dems have going and taking a city office may hurt her chances of winning a larger state office. Still, I think she'd be a good candidate.

4. Shelley Midura - Yup. I'm serious. I think she served District A well but she just got burnt out. Maybe she's rested, tan and ready to go.

Not-so-serious...

5. Sandra "18 Wheeler" Hester - Oh hell yes! We could sell tickets to city council meetings....and I'm giddy just thinking about a Clarkson v. Hester smack down in council chambers.

6. DJ Soul Sistah or Kermit Ruffins - I've said it before and I'll say it again....no one brings more New Orleanians together under the same roof and makes them feel better than those two. Just think, every council meeting would start with, "All Aboard!!!"

7. Jay Batt - Ha. I wish they would publish that new sarcasm font.

8. John Georges - Ha ha ha...I wish they would publish that new apeshit, megalomaniac font.

OK....I'm all ears. Who are you guys thinking?

Just so we understand what is supposed to happen right now...

2011-08-24T00:40:00.005-05:00

From the City Charter:

"the vacancy shall be filled by special election, to be called by the Council within ten days after its occurrence. . .provided that if any special or general election is to be held in the City after sixty days and within six months after occurrence of the vacancy, then the election shall be held in conjunction with such other election."

Snapitty Snap, mothafuckaz!!!

" It's twisted, but still good..."

2011-08-23T01:32:00.021-05:00

That was the comment I recently heard from a doctor who was looking at a section of my heart via ultrasound while describing it to some quasi-curious interns. I busted out laughing and asked him if I could quote him on that....he didn't get the joke. That sentiment is how I'd like to title the third and final chapter in the "St. Pierre Trial: Color Commentator Series; Vol. 3".

Sorry it's taken so long but I actually lost the notebook I was taking notes with that day. After cleaning up my office the other day, I found it stashed away in a cardboard, legal-file box. I put it there so I wouldn't lose it, then I forgot I put it there and hence lost it. Welcome to my brain, don't stay too long it can be detrimental to your sanity.

Brief Moment of Reflection

In part 2, We left off with wind-blown Eddie and Sir Flannagan's closing defense statements. Over all I would give them about a 6 1/2 out of 10. Considering what they had to work with I was truly amazed at the job the defense did.

I couldn't understand why Marky Mark didn't plea in the first place and the trial only strengthened that sentiment. I guess when you have Dell footing legal bills for you, you may tend to get a little delusional and begin to think somebody is going to pull a rabbit out of a hat. That didn't happen...not even close.

However, I have uncovered some pretty interesting info. which may explain Marky's defiant attitude. I will get to that later in the post.

Start your engines

You hear that? The engine is revving....light turns green....the Bugatti is off the line....

Coman immediately jumped on the fuzzy math Castaing tried to confuse the jury with. Castaing had tried to suggest St. Pierre wasn't actually making money off his contracts with the city. I kind of suspected that is what Coman would attack and he wasted nary a second going straight for Castaing's spread sheet. He got about two minutes into dissecting the numbers before Castaing objected but the point had been made in short order...the numbers were bullshit and he got enough of the explanation out for the jury, and the peanut gallery, to understand the basics.

I'm not sure why it took so long for the defense to object. Even though he didn't explain the fuzzy math completely, the general sentiment was relayed to the jury. It was only two minutes but an effective two minutes..

Coman then started firing off bullet points in rapid succession, with sprinklings of conjecture in between. I tried to keep up with them in my note taking but I've waited so long to actually synthesize those notes, I don't quite remember exactly what some of them mean. Anyway, I'm going to try to run them down as I wrote the bullet points in my notebook...here goes...Coman's closing talking points:

- New Orleans City Hall is notorious for "Bribes and Lies". This is yet another misuse of public tax dollars, a problem which has plagued the city for years.

That was a rather pregnant thesis to lead with. At one point in the defense argument Castaing had actually tried to use the integrity of the Nagin administration and City Hall as a defense strategy....that was laughable. Now Coman came out and stated what everyone already knows and believes, "Our city government is plagued with corruption." It was kind of a breath of fresh air....it's like he just cleared up all the bullshit we had just been subjected to by the defense. The tactic worked, at least for me.

- Netmethods was incorporated in Delaware...all dubious corporate ventures are incorporated in Delaware.

True 'dat.

- Coman points out that St. Pierre continually lied to his own lawyer(s), in specific, Danny Drake.

This was a big turning point in the trial. When Danny Drake (Netmethods' lawyer and father of Chris Drake, Netmethods' partner) was on the stand Castaing asked him if Meffert had lied to him about the nature of the business. Drake fired back, "They all lied to me!" BAM! Castaing's own witness just screwed the pooch. Coman refreshed the jury's memory on that revelation which I think was probably the second nail in the coffin behind the muthafukin' boat.

- Coman describes what Count 1 is, "Partnership in Crime".

Coman kind of took on the role of the judge and explained to the jury what this charge is and why St. Pierre is guilty. This was a counter to Castaing's attempts to confuse the jury with what the charges actually are.

Coman says, "A bribe is a bribe is a bribe." Yes, yes and yes. Sometimes it's just necessary to say "1 is 1 is 1." It's easy for people to get confused and think, "1 is 1 is 1 is 3." If all else fails, just do the math.

The lead prosecutor then drew attention to the multiple LLC's these guys had created in an attempt to hide their criminal enterprise and averred, "You can't hide behind companies."

Actually you can and that happens all the time. Very rarely do we see people get busted by following the bread crumbs from LLC to LLC to Con-profit to LLC to politician to offshore LLC.....yada yada.

(Hey I think I just subconsciously drew out the diagram for Nagin's Mexican casino deal...

...but I digress.)

In fact the crime camera gig is still rolling through new LLC incarnations, i.e., MMR (which we'll get to in a minute).

- Coman points out that "going to lawyers" is not a defense for committing a crime.

This was really important because the whole defense strategy seemed predicated on confusing the jury into thinking that St. Pierre can't be guilty because he was simply following the advice of his lawyers. Of course, even that defense broke down when we found out St. Pierre was lying to his own lawyer per the defense's witness.

Even if MM found lawyers that told him the kickback scheme he devised was perfectly legal (and they never told him that by the way), a crime is still a crime. It only goes to show that not only is St. Pierre a bad criminal, he must have had shitty judgement in his choice of lawyers as well. Not only is he a criminal, he's a dumb, arrogant criminal....that's what I came away with.

I really wish Coman would have stated, "Everything you heard in regards to what legal advice St. Pierre was given is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is if he committed the crime." Probably would have provoked an objection but I still would have spouted it out just to make sure the jury understood.

- Coman points out that St. Pierre couldn't produce an actual work description for the kickbacks he was paying Greg and Linda Meffert, as well as work billed to the city such as some of Jimmy Goodson's line items.

Coman points out the Mefferts got paid for nothing. How could that be anything other than a bribe? He also points out that St. Pierre had two years to make something up to describe what service he had paid the Mefferts for but he still can't explain it.

Very good point. Very...very....good point. You can't argue that it wasn't a bribe unless you at least try to come up with a fucking excuse as to why you're stroking all those checks. They could have at least made some shit up and said, "We were paying her for....consulting....on....stuff...yeah...that's it.". I mean anything would have been better than just letting the jury look at those frikkin' enormous checks and realize the cash was being sucked out of the public coffers and rolled into the Mefferts' bank account for doing....nada.

Major fuck up on the defense's part. Major. You have to make up some kind of shit to at least imply that St. Pierre thought he was paying that money for an actual service. Maybe they did that and I missed it, I wasn't there for the entire trial but I never heard a valid explanation for the check stroking to Linda. Trust me, in the end...the check stroking was much more egregious than anything getting stroked on the muthafukin' boat.

- Coman breaks down the $, with paperwork to boot.

All things said and done in this case, in the end it was the paper trail. The prosecution went all Tom Cruise on us and showed us the money. Boat, strippers, sugar addictions aside....what won this case was the paper trail that had been methodically reconstructed by the DOJ team. I don't see how you battle a paper trail like that.

Coman proceeded to brief the jury on the big payouts (bribes) and perks that came from public monies:

- $130,954.60 on the MeffCard
- the MF'n boat
- 601 St. Joseph (corp. apartment)
- Katrina overbilling (rat bastards)
- 25k for a trip to Vegas
- $404,240.52 in kickbaks for a pile o' steaming shit crime cameras that never worked
- $647,000 paid to Meff as outright bribes
- $22,000 in Anthony "Bowling Pin" Jones bribes
- Concealed campaign contributions (to our chrome-domed former mayor)
- $236k in Lafayette bribes through their CTO.

All with paperwork to back it up....paperwork which was shown in detail on the projected screen right over Marky Mark's head....from a Dell computer.

- Coman breaks down all the criminal charges.

Count 1 - Partnership in Crime;

Counts 3-26 - Wire Fraud;

Counts 2 & 27-42 - Bribery with Meffert;

Counts 43-52 - Bribery with Bowling Pin;

Count 53 - Money Laundering of 900k to two public officials.

Once again, he spells out what the actual charges are for the jury so they are not confused by the defense's attempts to convolute the crimes.

Finally, Coman draws to a close and goes right back to the opener about how this city is infested with corruption. He stares the jury down and states, "The corruption needs to end....here and now."

I got a boner...I don't know about anybody else but it made me randy.

Da Judge and Da Jesters

The jury recessed and then came back in order for Judge Fallon to explain all of the charges to the jury and their responsibility in deciding the verdicts.

Fallon has this buttery, Boston voice, "...if you believe aaalll....or paahhht....of the praahhh...se..cuuuhhhtion's....." He sounded a little like J.F.K. I realize buttery and Boston may be polarizing thunks in your head but I was digging it...very much. I still want to do a Judge Fallon dinner party, I like listening to that cat talk.

The St. Pierre clan sat rather somberly through this part. One of the clan got so bored she took her shoes off and was doing a little horizontal jig on the back of the church pew in front of her...I couldn't make out if it was a celtic folk dance or a cajun two-step but she had a pretty good rhythm going to the Fallon rap.

Somewhat of a surreal moment.

I imagined she was line dancing to the Doobie Bros., "What a Fool Believes":

Yeah...lyrics and all. Can ya dig it?

One other irony I noted was that every computer in the courtroom was a Dell. Maybe I'm the only one who sees the irony in that but it's something I noticed.

Meanwhile, Stacy had back-stepped over into the left-hand corner of the peanut gallery. She sat there quietly with her head down...and...wait for it....hair twirling did commence. Orchestrated or genuine, it made me worry about her state of mind and I'm sure the jury noticed as well.

Marky Mark was nervously rubbing his forehead. I think he was just pissed that he had to sit there that long. He wasn't feeling the "butteriness + Boston = something cool that I can't explain" Judge Fallon voice I described above. I honestly think he was just pissed.

Wow! Now that I think about it...he wasn't even scared....he really was just pissed. Maybe he was pissed at his defense attorney, maybe he was pissed at his bro's for ratting him out, maybe he was pissed at himself for not plea'ing....shit, I don't know but I did write all those things down in my notebook as possibilities. I do know he was pissed.

Damn, that's why it pays to take notes. I totally forgot that.

Da Verdict

The moment of truth.

As the guilty verdicts started rolling out, one by one, Marky Mark showed signs of what I interpreted as disbelief....head shakes, head rolls....I think he actually thought he was going to get out of, at least some, of the charges. The anger rapidly morphed into something else...not sure what that emotion was but it definitely wasn't anger.

I looked for the emoticon on my keyboard and I'm pretty sure no one has generically interpreted that emotion, yet. My best attempt would be :/?∞. Can I patent that? I want to patent that.

All and all, Marky Mark kept a great poker face.

The most notable reaction came from his parents. His father was sobbing uncontrollably.

Immediately following the reading of the verdict, the bailiff's ( I suppose federal) took MM into custody and escorted him out the back door. Some confusion ensued. Castaing approached the bench and Judge Fallon called for a meeting "out back".

I think the defense was caught off guard that Judge Fallon was sending MM straight to the pokey...do not pass go...do not collect $200. I guess the Judge considered MM a flight risk. Anyway, he eventually got out...St. Pierre has since been released until his sentencing the first week in September.

Of course, there could be an appeal.

The Aftermath

The press conference was quite a show. The prosecuting team looked like schoolgirls at a Bieber concert. They nailed every charge so I suppose they deserved to celebrate.

I must admit, I got a couple of hot flashes myself.

Letten praised his team and the cooperation of other federal offices. He even went local and threw "Q" and The Office of the Inspector General a bone.

I actually ran into Q a couple of days earlier at a coffee shop and took the liberty of introducing myself.

He stressed that I never refer to the office as "The Inspector General". He wanted to make sure the entity is always referred to as "The Office of the Inspector General" because it is a team effort, not an individual ego trip. OK...good enough. But I'm still going to call him Q because I don't want to have to remember how to spell Quatrevaux.

Letten suggested this case was won because of the methodic paper trail which was pieced together by the prosecution. I tend to agree....It's one thing to hear about strippers on the MF'n boat but to see the checks actually stroked to Meff by St. Pierre...that's impossible to defend.

WDSU reporter, Gina Swanson, asked Letten "What role did the press and bloggers play in this investigation?" Letten conferred with his bro's for a second then replied (parrot-phrased :) did you see True Blood last night?), "We can't comment a lot on sources as the investigation is ongoing but I can tell you that we do look closely at media resources, David Hammer, from the Times-Picayune and we have also looked at blogs. Hopefully we can shed more light on that after the investigation is complete."

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That shout out actually made me as giddy as a star-struck schoolgirl...I have to admit. Even if I am apparently, Voldemort....no one dare say my name.

....lyrics and all.

Reflection

After the press conference I sat down outside the Boggs Federal Building and stared down Poydras street, trying to take it all in.

"Damn, these guys had been brought to justice...it really happened.", methunk.

These peckerheads were ripping off our city at a moment when it was fighting for its life. This time, they didn't get away with it like so many rat-bastards have before. This time the common Joe's demanded answers and they got 'em.

I didn't feel schadenfreude towards them, I really didn't....I just felt hopeful. I felt like maybe the city has really turned a corner, since the storm, with the string of convictions we've had against corrupt, public officials. Shit, now we even got one of the sneaky, private-sector bastards who bribe the public officials. I'm not going Pollyanna but I really believe we've seen some enormous changes in the past 5...approaching 6 years.

I was awash with optimism.

Just when I thought I had exhausted my capacity for mental masturbation and should probably just go home...Lady St. Pierre, Castaing and Sir Flannagan came barreling out of the building surrounded by a torrent of reporters and cameras. In true form, Stacy bucked her way right through the press posse. She eventually broke free and galloped right on down Camp Street.

I suppose she rode off into the sunset that day in that big, black Mercedes....Marky Mark....I think he took a big, metal truck.

What now?

There have been some really interesting developments since the criminal trial...mostly coming from the ongoing "Camsoft v. All You Rotten Motherfuckers" civil case which I'll get to in a second.

I know the question on everyone's mind is "What about Nagin?" The question on my mind has been, "What about Ciber? What about Ed Burns? Do I dare say...Dell? What about Kurt? What about Drake?"

Here's what I know....nothing.

I don't know what is going to happen. I've heard rumors that the DOJ will not pursue Burns or Ciber. While that is incredibly aggravating to me, it doesn't come as a surprise. I should probably refrain from speculation on why it doesn't surprise me but suffice to say Ciber is much like BP or Goldman Sachs....they can't fail. Not necessarily because they're too "big" but because they are, quite simply, too evil. I'll leave it at that.

Kurt, Drake, Minyard...I don't understand how those guys can skate without any repercussions. With what was revealed in this trial, I just don't understand how those guys walk. I suppose that's the curse of viewing it from my panolpy...kind of like the view from the top of One Shell Square...where all those antennae arrays live.

Nagin...I don't see Nagin being charged as a result of this trial. Yes, his secretary used the Meff Card knowingly to book the Jamaica trip. Yes, he was taking illegal campaign contributions. Yes, Jimmy Goodson was working on his house. Yes, he took a trip to Hawaii, Chicago, Jamaica, Vegas on city contractors' dime.....but if none of these other guys are going to be charged I don't think Nagin is either.

However, that doesn't negate the possibility that he could be charged in his dealings with Frank Fradella and Aaron Bennett...I have always believed he committed bigger sins with those two dudes than he did with Meff/St. Pierre. And if you read the homework assignment I posted a couple of weeks ago, you'll know that the Fed just turned up the burner on Franky from simmer to boil. I heard some bone rattling that pre-St. Pierre indictment, there may have been some negotiations attempted between FF and The Man (S.E.C....and I don't mean LSU's division) but the talks fell through.

Now, in the wake of a blistering indictment of a Nagin crony, The Man introduces "60 boxes of information" and "a substantial but undetermined volume of electronic images including, but not limited to, emails" into the case. I would assume the "not limited to" part refers to .pdfs and perhaps self-produced images of aging men standing naked in a mirror....flexing.

I don't know for sure but at this point I'm willing to let my imagination try and live up to the reality. I am, obviously, a gullible lad at the ripe, old age of 42. At this point, I think anything is possible.

My take on the Fradella development is this......S.E.C. Translation: "OK...so you don't want to cooperate. Good enough. Oh, by the way, we're introducing all this extra shit we've got on you into your case. Hmmm....there may be some new charges in there....it's a lot of stuff....you need to look over it. Tell you what, you take a look at all that and get back to us. :) "

That's just my translation, of course...digest it or spit it out. It is simply conjecture.

And while we're on the subject of conjecture, I think the biggest sin committed in the history of the Nagin era is that Ciber helped him steal the 2006 mayoral election. I know...I know....call me a conspiracy theorist....tell me I'm paranoid schizo......but you will not convince me otherwise. I just want to remind you of one thing Meffert said when he was on the stand in this trial, "Both Ciber and us (Netmethods) had a very big interest in getting Nagin re-elected." I think he said that....that way....for a reason. I also think that is one reason Ciber will not be prosecuted. They've done it before and they were never prosecuted. As I said...they are too evil to fail. Just google Pennsylvania Turnpike & Ciber....same thing....same result.

Believe what you will.

Da' Geeses and Da' Ganders...what's good for one ain't good for the other

Now back to that info I was referring to about why I think Marky Mark was so defiant and pushed this trial right off the cliff.

First, let me ask you folks something. Did you ever wonder why Linda Meffert was used by Greg and Mark as a funnel and Stacy St. Pierre wasn't? I always thought that was curious....I mean if they figured they could hide money and kickbacks by sending it through Linda, why wouldn't they have done the exact same thing with Stacy? Weeellllll..........as it turns out........from an amendment recently filed in the Camsoft civil suit:

NetMethods hired MMR Construction to perform subcontract work on the Baton Rouge crime camera and Crescent City Connection camera deployment. MMR Construction was interested in learning about the wireless video surveillance technology and selling systems to its offshore oilrig customers. Aware of the NetMethod's pending New Orleans litigation, St. Pierre began negotiations with Kevin Alexander ("Alexander") of MMR Contractors. St. Pierre and Alexander agreed that MMR Constructors would open a new division, MMR Communications. MMR Constructors knew that the New Orleans litigation involved disputes over intellectual property misappropriation of the wireless video surveillance system. Pursuant to their agreement, NetMethods employees, Hodges, Ridge and Michael Merrit, transferred the technological know-how and NetMethod's future business to MMR Constructors. In January of 2010, Ridge notified personnel with Baton Rouge that NetMethods was transferred over to MMR Constructors. After Baton Rouge officials agreed to unilaterally transfer the maintenance of the Baton Rouge crime cameras to MMR Constructors under their state contract, MMR Constructors began paying approximately $10,000 per month to S2 Consulting, LLC. S2 Consulting was formed in the name of St. Pierre's wife, Stacey St. Pierre, on February 17, 2010. St. Pierre through S2 Consulting continued receiving $10,000 per month until the association between MMR Constructors and NetMethods was made public in the Baton Rouge Advocate."

Ride on sweet Stacy, ride on into the sunset, girl.

And the "LLC shuffle" beat goes on...it just keeps going on.

Keep in mind the situation with Meff was very different considering Meff was a public official and Mark wasn't. I don't think there are any laws being broken with S2, I think it's just an asset dump...or rather the fee for an asset dump. Regardless, St. Pierre clan is gettin' paid and that explains a lot about Marky Mark's motivation....at least to me.

Wrap up

All and all, I think the outcome of this trial was exactly how the cardiologist described my ticker, "Twisted, but still good." I'm past the schoolgirl crush thing but I'm still optimistic.

Next up....diggin' up some old bones. You remember e-maelstrom? You ever wondered who authorized that email deletion? I think I know. I probably can't tell you and you probably wouldn't believe me if I did tell you...but we're gonna do some diggin'.

Back....

2011-08-15T23:14:00.000-05:00

I'm gonna get back into blogging mode this week...I promise. I got backed up on posts but I am hoping to execute a blogging enema in the next few days.

School is starting, football is starting...it's time to move and shake my bones. Let's get busy.

Later Gator...

2011-08-06T11:06:00.002-05:00

Pill popper? That's the best you could do?

2011-08-03T22:31:00.004-05:00

Ya know....

Contractor Aaron Bennett's actions and his contacts in government warrant a probe: An editorial

....I really just want to sit back and watch this thing unfold like a Grisham novel. I got no skin in this. But then the petrified, little dicksmacks just can't stop lashing out on their way down.

Zombietracke? Dude signs into NOLA for the first time, nearly 2 years ago, under this story:

'American Zombie' blogger outs himself while facing libel suit from City Hall employee

Guy named himself after me? I'm flattered. I'm also flattered that he's taken the time to read my Facebook page (apparently incessantly) and discovered that I am indeed "popping pills".

I don't have a lot to hide, so I don't mind anyone knowing that I'm taking medication. I posted it on my FB page because I was amused at the side effects of the drug, Neurontin. I said it was like eating a pot brownie stuffed with Viagra....and that is a very accurate description. My doc said it is a "wonderful drug" with few side effects. She forgot to mention that the side effects are wonderful too. I would highly recommend you ask your Dr. for the prescription.

I expect to get a new sponsor in short order.

So anyway, cyber-stalking dude...I'm pretty sure you're reading this...and I'm pretty sure who you are. You gotta do better than that, man. Pill popper? I mean shit, brah....I've got a long and sordid chemical history but I've never been ashamed to throw that out there on this blog. Did you think that was going to discredit me?

Pills? Try DMT....really....I mean you should try it. I think it would help you a lot. But I'm not a doctor...a shaman, maybe....but not a doctor.

I've masturbated before. So now we got that out in the open. One night when I was drunk I ate 7 cupcakes. I know all the words to "Mr. Blue Sky" and I sing it at the top of my lungs when it comes on the radio in my truck. Sometimes I like the smell of my own farts...that's pretty fucked up but it's true.

I've even broken the law...more than once.

But I've never committed a felony. I've never betrayed the public trust by using my position for personal and financial gain at the expense of public contracts and public money. That's pretty shitty in my book, man. Especially in a city that has over a 50% high school drop out rate.

Stealing from that...fucking a city in that condition...that's lower than Jabba the Hutt's balls.

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School is back in session...homework for tomorrow

2011-07-29T00:20:00.002-05:00

Excuse me, Mr. Fradella....we have some things we'd like to show you.

1. 60 boxes

2. Undetermined volume of electronic images...yada yada.

What a sphincterific moment.

Please keep commenting...just keep talking, boo. I know you hatin' on me....but just keep talkin'....

Before you go batshit twitter crazy...don't assume what you're hearing is true

2011-07-20T14:15:00.003-05:00

Has anyone seen the sheet music...

2011-07-20T11:01:00.002-05:00

....for Opus Consulting?

I'm curious who the client list is. Thanks to Mr. Zurik we already know Benetech was part of the diddy. I wonder if....maybe...oh....I don't know....Ciber had a few bars as well? Also who was the other partner in Opus? Is it another city attorney?

Color me zombie.

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