Collateral Damage: A Specialty of the Feds

As we no doubt all know by now, the Feds took down Megaupload. Now, this may mean that a source of widespread "piracy" has gone dark, and the Feds' paymasters at the RIAA and MPAA are likely rejoicing a little about that.

(Just a little, though, considering they brought the fury of Anonymous upon themselves.)

The thing is, Megaupload had legitimate uses as well, uses that a lot of people are reconsidering. One such thing? Offsite backups. Yes, the promise of the vaunted Cloud. Whether it's a library of personal music rips or a priceless digital copy of precious photos, those were taken down along with the pirated copies of crappy movies, albums and porn vids.

Of course, being the highly paranoid type of girl I am, I keep onsite backups. I even have a copy of the contents of my first computer on a CD-ROM somewhere (which shows that machine's age.) I didn't trust the "cloud" from Day One because I was worried something like this would happen.

Now, it has. I feel like the smart one, but the fact is, many people lost a lot of stuff. One would hope that the Feds would show some compassion and try to make these people whole, but... I highly doubt that will happen. The more likely result is that the drives of the servers housing this info will likely rot in some evidence locker until the next Ice Age.

...And in the end, this is the M.O. of U.S. government agencies as of late, from the FBI to the military. To hell with the consequences, so long as the primary target is taken out.

I cannot stand for this. Something must give.

...Or the one.

After reading the preceding post, I had to chime in with my own.

I am one of the many. I am underwater - not due to a mortgage, but due to my house literally collapsing.

I live on government assistance not because I like doing so, not because of laziness, but because I have to. It makes me sick to my stomach that I've had to go to a food bank the last couple of months. I would love to be able to go earn a paycheck. I'd love to go do something with my life other than sit around all day wondering how I'm going to pay the bills, repair something that's fallen apart or put food on the table.

There are no jobs out there for me. I am one of fewer among the many. I'm mentally ill and have little work experience. Everything I am capable of doing, I have had to teach myself because I cannot cope in a traditional instructional setting. I didn't need school to figure out how to repair a vehicle, to put together a computer or build a website. I have passions and talents that simply cannot be taught. Sadly, that doesn't count for shit anymore. Merit and ability are irrelevant. It's all about cronyism, nepotism and money now. Who do you know? Who are you related to? Is there any incentive you can offer that makes you worth giving a chance to?

I don't know anyone important.

Even if I spoke to my family, none of them are important enough to get me into any kind of job.

I'm broke, so there goes money talking as an option. I cannot grease any palms.

Where am I left?

The saddest thing is that the bar is being raised higher with each passing day - not just for me but for the many... for all of us. Some have probably heard the stories of doctors working at fast food restaurants or people barely staying afloat due to unemployment benefits. Most of those unemployed have put in thousands of applications, and none get any response - but they keep trying. Even with no hope, they keep trying. Even as Big Business continues to downsize, they keep trying!

Those situations are becoming more and more common with each passing day. The jobs are drying up even as CEOs can continue to run companies into the ground and float away on their golden parachutes into a life of luxury. Companies are raking in record profits as they slash away at their job numbers and the profiteers and speculators rejoice.

If the continued plunder of the nation at the hands of the wealthiest continues, the many will grow. More will find themselves in the situation I am in. More will become like me.

Look down at my plight, that's certainly your right. I'll keep trying, even though there is nothing out there for me. The only help I want is a chance to make a living for myself. Don't pull me out of the hole, don't even throw me a rope - throw me a shovel so I can dig myself out. Do not speak for me, I will make myself heard.

But realize that if you stand by and do nothing, or worse take the side of the uncaring wealthy overlords, you will stand in my shoes soon enough. Then who will be left to speak for you?

There are still options. There is still time, even though it dwindles. Everyone has a voice. Everyone has a vote. Some of us still have some money - speak with your wallets. Some have stock in these businesses that continue to take and take - you can use that to speak as well!

Speak for yourselves, America... before it is too late.

The needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many?

I am sure by now everyone has heard about this Occupy Wall Street Movement. First off cool your jets, I am not going to condemn anyone. The news does a good enough job of that without me.

I will say this though. Perhaps It would be of everyone's best interest to stop, shut up, and listen to what these people are saying. I know its a stretch for most people and the fact that some girl on the internet said to shut up is enough to cause the rant to end all rants and to condemn me to hell for all eternity. But since I have your attention for this particular moment consider this.

Look back.

Way back.

Back to the 1700's.

The USA didn't exist yet. We were little more then Colonies under the rule of nations clear across the Atlantic Ocean. We were being taxed to no end. We were taxed on our pay and then taxed again when we bought the products we were making to get paid in the first place. We were heavily taxed. The rich were getting richer and the poor... Well the poor were looked at as the lowest form of life.

Damn, this sounds familiar.

Those being taxed and Financially oppressed were not being listened to. They tried over and over to get the Government's and the powers that be's attention. No one listened. So it escalated. They protested. They did something to protest that would shake things up wildly. They took a ship full of tea and dumped it in Boston Harbor. THIS WAS PEACEFUL!!! They dressed as the natives, another group who had no respect, and it escalated.

Wow this is horribly familiar...

The British sent in the Military to Police and control any "uprisings". It escalated into the Revolutionary War!!!

Seriously.

Now Fast Forward 200+ years later. We have been brainwashed! Look at what it has taken to get us to this point. We have been lied to, ignored, tossed aside, and given the false impression that things are getting better when our nation has been left in a toilet by crooked politicians and flushed down without us ever knowing. Now HISTORY IS REPEATING ITSELF!!! Instead of 1 tyrant 1000 miles away, we have 1% of the population who are the tyrants and the other 99% of us are being severely oppressed financially and excessively taxed. The 99% have begun to protest in a way that is getting the attention of the 1%! It's escalated. Now there are police attempting to control any "uprisings".

There are 2 ways this can go.

Listen and be the difference needed to make this country as great as every person who calls themselves an American believes it to be.

Or Listen and ignore this 'rabble'. As the British found out in the late 1700's, there is nothing more dangerous then a man defending his home.

Ours are being taken from us.

Do the needs of the few truly outweigh the needs of the many?

(Edited to be less wall-of-text-ish and for grammar. Content is entirely Melody's - T.)

Cats and Dogs... The Political side.

Hiya all!, I am a shiny new contributor to the blog! All shall love me and Despair! JK!

Today I was playing around on a game and I received a little message from a friend. Upon reading it I was rather disturbed...

It's just dawned on me !!

My dog sleeps about 20 hours a day.
He has his food prepared for him. He can eat whenever he wants.
His meals are provided at no cost to him.
He visits the Dr. once a year for his checkup, and again during the year if any medical needs arise.
For this he pays nothing, and nothing is required of him.
He lives in a nice neighborhood in a house that is much larger than he needs, but he is not required to do any upkeep.
If he makes a mess, someone else cleans it up.
He has his choice of luxurious places to sleep.
He receives these accommodations absolutely free.
He is living like a King, and has absolutely no expenses whatsoever.
All of his costs are picked up by others who go out and earn a living every day.
I was just thinking about all this, and suddenly it hit me like a brick .......
I think my dog is a Democrat!

To this I promptly replied...

my cat demands everything be done for him. He steps on everyone, treats everyone like they are his slaves and I think he is paid off by big animals outside the house to spill trash on everything... I think my Cat is Republican.

I am curious though... If cats are Republicans and Dogs are Democrats... What would the Independent Party be??? I mean I figure a 3 toed sloth would be the Green Party. I suppose it would be something elusive... Like a Bigfoot or something.

Drunk Eddie indicted!

NOLA.com: Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price indicted on perjury charge

Today must be the day of "about damn time," I swear. First, the news on the I-12 interchange, now this! Drunk Eddie's been indicted for something, in this case perjury, stemming from (alleged!!!) false testimony given in a 2008 criminal trial of one of his buddies. A sergeant in the Mandeville Police Department was also indicted.

Now, I used to give Drunk Eddie nearly daily grief in this blog because he seemed to be in the news every day over his near-criminal screw-ups. I also haven't talked about him in forever because he seemed to be in the news every day over his near-criminal screw-ups. Beating up on a dead horse gets boring after a while... but this is real news.

This has been a long time in coming. We here in Mandeville have known better than to bitch about the corrupt government across the Lake because Price was just as bad, punctuated by him obliterating a Causeway toll booth barrier in his city-owned SUV while loaded. Supposedly, there are even more charges being considered when another grand jury convenes later in the year over Mandeville's finances, of which there were improprieties found in a Legislative Auditor's report.

Again, the staff here (consisting of myself and a hyperactive cat) resume our calls for Drunk Eddie to resign so Mandeville doesn't have to wait to have its next corrupt ruler take office. Except now, it may not be necessary. He could end up having to leave office due to a change of address to one of Louisiana's wonderful state prisons. Thank $deity that Mandeville's city charter forces the mayor to go bye-bye if convicted of a felony.

Suicide on the CCC

Times-Picayune - Man kills himself by jumping from Crescent City Connection

At approximately 7 a.m. CDT, a young man pulled his car up onto the eastbound Crescent City Connection bridge. He soon shut his car off, exited it and went over to the side of the bridge. Showing absolutely no hesitation, he jumped, ending his life near the corner of Lawrence and Teche streets when he landed.

Things are going very wrong in the area as of late, with all the political scandal and incompetence, but this event is a stark reminder that real people are suffering, too. Many are being injured or killed on the streets at the hands of others, many of those offenders being the ones we forget, the ones we fail.

So, too, this man could have been another of those, another that we as a society have failed. No one is sure as of yet. No identification was found on the body, and even if they did find ID in the car, no info has been released yet.

It is not the manner of death which causes me to raise my voice today. Suicide is, sadly, common in this world. Usually, it is a very heart-wrenching decision for the person attempting it, this I can say from experience, having attempted suicide myself in the past. Thoughts run rampantly through one's head at that ultimate point as one wonders what is left to live for. Some, like me, pull back and decide not to die. Some choose to live. (There's a difference, trust me.) Then there are the ones for whom the only choice is death, so they go through with it.

Everyone deliberates the decision at the critical moment. Most of the time, it's at the point where the very next choice - to jump or not to jump - to fire or not to fire - takes place. It's on the bridge. It's standing there with the gun in one's hand.

Whatever deliberation was made in this case, it was made long before reaching the point to jump. There was nothing that could have been done... it is what makes this case all the more disheartening.

The future of the state is leading to more circumstances like these. There will be more times in the future where nothing can be done, even if the person can be talked down from the critical moment. There's a reason. The quality and frequency of mental health care in the state of Louisiana has been in shambles since even before Katrina, and now it threatens to only get worse.

The state is cutting mental health care. They're closing a major center in New Orleans, and consolidating care in the area to the Northshore. This simply won't work. True, the center they're consolidating to is in better condition than the one being abandoned in New Orleans, but this won't help matters. A vital component to mental health care is engaging the loved ones of the patient, somehow. Most of the time, visitation helps.

So how is it helping them to send them somewhere out of reach of the loved ones? Those with means have no need for centers like this, for they're most likely to secure and afford private care long before institutionalization becomes necessary. No, most of the people ending up in a state-run inpatient center will be the indigent and poor. How many of these people's loved ones will even be able to make it to the Northshore? These are the same people who had to hop on a bus provided by government money to evacuate from Gustav because they simply didn't have the means to run when their own lives were at stake.

Consolidation isn't the answer. If the center in New Orleans was in as bad a shape as they were saying, they need to improve it, or open a new center in town... not close the only lifeline some have and move it across the Lake.

We need more money for this, not less. I'm sure if we cut all government salaries some and wiped out the waste that exists all over the state, we could pour some into improvements in New Orleans, and elsewhere in the state.

It won't happen, of course. More people will have less options when the critical moment arrives, and more will die. As someone mired in poverty in Louisiana and not getting any care for mental illness, I could very well be one of them one day. (Note: Not a suicide threat - T.)

And the state will be responsible for every life lost in this way.

Yay, nepotism. (Yes, another Drunk Eddie post.)

NOLA.com - Contracts linked to mayor's family

And more shit hits the fan as the days pass. You've got to love nepotism. Get into power, pass the perks along to the family. Pity it's illegal.

Yet it seems that the City of Mandeville's Public Works Department has been handing out contracts to companies connected to Drunk Eddie's family - just one of the blatant violations of state law during that process. It's bad enough Drunk Eddie's been using taxpayer money to go to Pebble Beach and other destinations for the overlord-class, but his extended family's benefiting as well with these illegal lets.

Of course, the City also ran afoul of a law requiring public advertising for projects that are slated to be bid if they run more than $100,000... several times. Drunk Eddie's excuse? The projects were divided into phases and he "was not aware that the work should have been viewed as one project and added he was unaware of the bid law requirement."

Last I checked, ignorance of the law still means you're guilty if you break it. If I'm (hypothetically) illiterate and I do 90 in a 55, I'm still going to get busted for speeding. Never mind that I (hypothetically) can't read the sign or my speedometer.

Drunk Eddie's been in office now for 28 years or so. He can't have just been doing this for the past few years. He has to have been perpetrating this felonious stupidity for a long time. Who knows how much taxpayer money his crony in-laws and corrupt buddies have pocketed in the greater part of three decades?

The right answer is: "It doesn't matter how much it was - if he stole or squandered even one cent of taxpayer money, he should be jailed."

Now the Feds are looking long and hard at Business As Usual at City Hall in Mandeville, and I for one say it's well past About Damn Time. I'd beg him to resign while he still has some small sliver of a good name left, but it's WAY past time for that.

It's way too late to simply resign now, Mister Mayor. As they say in Monopoly: "Go to jail. Go straight to jail. Do not pass 'Go', do not earn $200." And feel free to drop the soap. You deserve the end result.

Last Call for Drunk Eddie?

WWL-AM/FM - Audit paints bad picture of Mandeville mayor

WWL-AM/FM - Goyeneche says Price needs to resign

WWL AM/FM - Mandeville Mayor says he won't resign (NOLA.com - Related: Mayor's personal statement)

Legislative Auditor's Report (.pdf)

Lots of links, and I apologize for that, but it appears the shit's really hit the fan for Drunk Eddie. (Warranting three separate stories back to back to back on WWL's website, by itself, is amazing.) The Legislative Auditor's Office has released their report on what goes on in Mandeville city government, and some of it is pretty damning for Price and the rest of the Good-Ol'-Boy Network in charge here.

Areas of concern from the Auditor's Office include the Citizen's Service Fund, city credit card usage...

"The City issued credit cards to the mayor, all department heads, and numerous other City employees. Several of these credit cards are consolidated into one account and are summarized on one monthly statement by cardholder. In addition, Mayor Edward Price, III and Milton Stiebing, finance director, each has separate credit cards. From September 2003 through March 2008, Mayor Price made 620 credit card transactions totaling $56,733 and Mr. Stiebing made 119 transactions totaling $17,210. Of the amounts charged, we noted 65 personal charges by Mayor Price totaling $8,845; 356 charges for meals totaling $36,103 that lacked proper documentation; and 15 charges relating to parties and celebratory functions totaling $6,143. By using a City issued credit card for personal use, Mayor Price may have violated state law."

...personal use of City vehicles and Fuelman cards...

"The City provides vehicles to all department heads and certain employees including Mayor Price. In addition, the City provides insurance coverage, pays for maintenance, and provides each vehicle user with a Fuelman card to purchase fuel. During our review of vehicle and Fuelman usage, we noted (1) the City does not have a written policy on the use of City vehicles and Fuelman cards; (2) City employees, including Mayor Price routinely use City vehicles and Fuelman cards for personal purposes such as out-of-state vacations; (3) the City does not include the value of the personal use of the vehicles as income to these employees; and (4) the City does not mark all its vehicles in compliance with state law. By using public vehicles and Fuelman cards for personal use, these employees may have violated state law."

...improper gifts...

"Louisiana Revised Statute (R.S.) 42:1115 provides, in part, that no public servant shall solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, anything of economic value as a gift or gratuity from any person or employee of any person who has or is seeking to obtain contractual or other business or financial relationships with the public servant’s agency. During a review of Mayor Price’s e-mails, we noted several messages which indicated that people doing business with the City were providing things of value, including golf trips and hunting trips, to Mayor Price, Mr. Stiebing, and Councilman Gerard Coogan. We spoke with Mayor Price, Mr. Stiebing, and Councilman Coogan and some of these third parties and confirmed that Mayor Price, Mr. Stiebing, and Councilman Coogan may have received gifts."

...and the list goes on. Read the full Report for all of it. Needless to say that Mayor Price, as well as a couple of other city officials, seem to be pretty much caught red-handed on this stuff by the Auditor's Office. OF course, after the Report was released, Mayor Price responded, saying that he wouldn't resign. I'd post snippets from his denial, but I'm trying to conserve space.

Fact is, with some of these findings, getting kicked out of office would be the LEAST punishment that could be applied here. Louisiana politicians may have once been able to get away with murder, but that trend's been changing as of late. Don't believe me? Just ask Edwin Edwards, Jim Brown, William Jefferson or Derrick Shepard. They've either been burned already, or are feeling a ton of heat right now. Also ask the current governor. Although he hasn't done anything illegal yet, he sure as hell vetoed the raise the Legislature voted themselves after feeling the heat from the voters, including heat in the form of recall petitions.

In an age of near-universal discontent among not only the disenfranchised minority and impoverished populations but also the middle-class, and of massive amounts of information available to anyone who knows how to Google, politicians can't get away with outright blatant abuses like Price has appeared to do during his time in office. He might even end up as EWE or "Dollar" Bill's cellmate in federal prison.

The first thing he should do when he wakes up is to announce he's resigning. The second thing he should do is hire a damned good criminal lawyer. And please... please, for the love of $deity, use your OWN money to hire the lawyer.

Drunk Eddie: No record on file

Times-Picayune - Causeway stop exposed mayor's 'ghost' license plate

Back to my favorite subject around here, it's another post about Drunk Eddie!

So, you see, Drunk Eddie doesn't really exist. He has no record on file... oh, wait. His car doesn't really exist, or more accurately, its registration doesn't exist. This is yet another example of the abuses going on in Mandeville - the abuse of "ghost plates."

Ghost plates are a tool most commonly used for and meant primarily for undercover investigations. Simply give the car a false registration, feed in some fake info, and voila, your undercover has an identity that even shows when you run the plates. However, Drunk Eddie's SUV also has a ghost plate.

Chief Enabler Buell tried explaining that several city vehicles used by public officials have the ghost plates in case they're needed for an undercover op. Right. MPD has some unmarked vehicles set to go with the ghost plates that are meant for undercover. They don't need the officials' vehicles for that. In fact, the last time an official vehicle was used for an undercover op was "a long time ago" (according to the Enabler.) Almost every other local agency in the area (city and town governments) doesn't use these plates for any local officials' vehicles. Some even go as far as adding the city/town/parish seal to these vehicles. (At least, this is according to what the Picayune found out. Take it with a grain of salt if you must.)

However, many official city vehicles have the ghost plates, when they should have public plates.

Of course, now Drunk Eddie's SUV is among those with a government seal on it, and it's supposed to eventually gain public plates, like it was supposed to have in the first place. Just as soon as he completes his 13-step program and becomes Sober Eddie, that is. (Like that'll stick.)

Fact is, since Drunk Eddie's ride was off the grid, just how much did he screw up on the roads, with no record due to the plate? No one will know.

All I can say is that this cannot continue. He needs to get himself out of office yesterday.

More flames for the hometown drunk

NOLA.com - Price stopped for drunk driving in 2006, chief says

Why am I not surprised at all by this? Of course, if he's done it once, he's done it before. Now we know. He's a habitual drunk who uses his position to escape justice.

I still say the bastard needs to resign, of course. Or be arrested. I was sickened enough by Mandeville becoming a haven for idiots with seven-figure debts, but now I'm seriously pissed off. Just because you're a politician doesn't mean you can break the law. (Yes, that's supposed to be true even here in Louisiana.) Mayors are supposed to be subject to the same laws as everyone else. Instead, favors get done, while if anyone else did the same things, everyone would be clamoring to put them under the jail. Part of this is due to the fear that the big bad Mayor will make your life a living hell if you're the unfortunate cop that actually shows some backbone and does the right thing. Part of this is the good-ol'-boy network that still tries to run things around here. Either way, it all has to stop.

The Causeway officers who screwed up by letting this pass have paid for this injustice with their jobs. The Chief of the Causeway Police has resigned in disgrace. It's time to call for Price's job now. We have no need for an alcoholic with no regard for safety or the law to be in power of anything more substantial than a one-acre lot... certainly not to be in power of a town or a vehicle.

So, not only do I call here for Price's job, I'm also calling for his license.

They're finally catching on!

NOLA.com - Internet stokes flames of political scandals

Let it be known that Yours Truly stokes the flames on a regular basis. I posted about both Price's crash and the pay raise here.

Now that I'm done feeding my own ego...

It's about time the Internet got used to its full potential. Sure, the jokes are there that if there's a kink, there's porno for it floating around somewhere on the Net. Teenagers and losers alike use it for flaming people into the ground for no reason other than ego inflation. Now the politicians are starting to feel the flames of an entire pissed off populace. The people are beginning to mobilize on web forums, blogs and news sites, and DAMN, are they making themselves heard.

Times, they are a-changing...

Rant: An Open Letter to the Idiots Running Louisiana

*cracks knuckles*

To the Legislature:
What the hell are you people thinking? Are you smoking crack or something, you idiots? I'm betting with the raise you people just gave yourselves, you could probably afford a LOT of it.

The roads are in as poor a shape as ever, vital employees like teachers, firefighters and police officers are getting shafted in terms of pay, the coastline is continuing to be claimed by the Gulf, New Orleans still has crap for hurricane protection, a lot of Katrina refugees are still waiting to clear Road Home red tape and the economy is collapsing like a Minnesota bridge, and yet you idiots go and vote yourself a pay raise to DOUBLE your pay for essentially a part-time job?

I've heard the rationale, time to come in with my verbal Walther P38 and blow some holes in all of it.

First off, you're not getting paid enough. BULL! The pay is plenty enough for what it is, a part-time job... and the per diem you get paid isn't even counted in. Basically, you don't have to pay your own way while the Legislature is in session. Not to mention that the lobbyists can come in, even with the new limits, and wine and dine you until even your souls and dignity are forfeit. You idiots get so many perks that the salary doesn't matter. If I got a per diem and could eat on the lobbyists' dime, I'd do the damned job for free! As if power and perks aren't enough, you need more money too? Screw that. Go get real jobs if you're hurting for cash. Or propose a more moderate raise, or tie the CURRENT salaries to Congressional pay or the Consumer Price Index.

Second, you want to lure in more qualified candidates to run for office. Considering the amount of nepotism and providing for friends on the public dime, what it basically means is that you want to hook them up even more. If it's not family, it's friends, and if it's not friends, it's people you groom to take over from you. Aside from that, public service is supposed to be about public service, not fattening your damn wallets!

Third, other states pay their legislators and senators (or equivalents) more, why shouldn't we? Because, again, you're only working part time. We're not Texas. We're not California. You're not in session all the time like Congress. Next time you want to say "...well, other states pay more..." look at the damn workload first!

In short, I hope you enjoy these raises you voted for yourselves, and in the meantime, I suggest you update your resumes. You're going to need to look for work when all the enraged voters throw you all out on your asses.

And to those of you who voted against this asinine bill and refused to take the raise, thank you! Thank you for showing that at least a couple of you have some capability to do the right thing and listen to the people that sent you to Baton Rouge in the first place.

To Gov'nuh Bobby:
Shame on you, you lying spineless COWARD! I see the stories, you're saying the Legislature's screwing up, that they're making a mistake, yet you refuse to veto that mistake? You, sir, are an idiot. They'll be laughing all the way to the bank, not feeling remorse or anything. You promised us when you got elected that you would stamp out crap like this! You're going to be just like Blanco, a one-term failure. Unlike Blanco, though, your hugest blunder will be all on you. You can't blame the feds, FEMA, ICF or Mother Nature for this one.

Better take McCain's veep slot now while you still have some sort of political future, because like the legislators, the voters are going to toss you out on your ass as well.

New Orleans: Takes a cop's death to fix a broken drawbridge...

WWL-AM/FM (New Orleans, LA): Malfunctioning safety barrier to be replaced at Claiborne Bridge

This is the same bridge where, last month, a NOPD officer drove off into the water when a barrier failed to lower into place. Apparently the project was in the works already, but the death of one of NOLA's Finest caused things to get fast-tracked. It's just another example of Business As Usual as far as any sort of improvements or repairs go on the roads of Southern Louisiana... somebody has to die before they'll fix a drawbridge, put up a stop sign/traffic light, or build an alternate to a shoddy primary route. And if it's someone important like a cop or some yuppie, they'll go out of their way to do it yesterday.

It's always the same when it comes to public works around here, no matter the parish. I'll spare you the stories of the four-way intersection where my aunt totaled several luxury cars, or the "T" intersection of two highways, governed only by a stop sine for the terminating highway, that was one of my drug-addict cousin's favorite launching pads. Today the four-way is a four-way stop (with table-sized stop sines in all directions) and the "T" intersection has a stoplight. It took someone important dying at both of those intersections for something to be done at either one. Seems like LaDOTD can't be proactive even to save someone's life around here.

The Claiborne Bridge is just another case of this. It's been in disrepair for over a decade, and the only thing that was done was limiting the amount the state could be sued for over a broken safety device on a road, such as a drawbridge barrier. Go figure. Yeah, that really helps matters. What they should have done in the first place was fix it instead of legislatively saving their asses. Maybe then they wouldn't get sued!

Followup: Bill on "speed traps" dead

The News Star (Monroe, LA): Bill on "speed traps" dead for session

Original entry: The effort to ban "speed traps" in Louisiana

State Rep. Hollis Downs' bill that would have cracked down on what he describes as speed traps is dead.

Downs, R-Ruston, withdrew House Bill 1050 from consideration on Wednesday when it became clear the bill wouldn't make it out of the House Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs Committee.

"It came down to the strong influence that the mayors and police chiefs and marshals have, and they didn't want it," Downs said. "The legislators had to decide whether they would support the people or the institutions, and in this case it was the institutions.

"Obviously, we're not ready as a state to get this done. It's a cash cow for these little communities."

The way I see it: Keep avoiding the speed trap towns until they dry up like raisins. I'm sorry, but you can NOT sustain a town by having so much of your revenue coming in from speeding tickets. All they're doing is condemning their towns to long and drawn-out deaths.

Better luck next year.