Same old crap

Sometimes my naiveness is an embarrassment to myself. I truly thought that governor-elect Jeff Landry would actually make departmental cabinet appointments based upon an individual's experience and expertise in the area in which they were charged with overseeing. Today, in politics, it's almost a universal practice to appoint friends, cronies, or individuals who assisted monetarily in your election, to these positions.  Sadly, Jeff Landry has kept that tradition alive and even added the requirement that you supported Donald Trump to his qualification's list. His latest cabinet selection to the head the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries clearly demonstrates his appointment desires. 

The only qualification of that appointee that even remotely relates to Wildlife and Fisheries is her contact with water while serving as captain of the Ohio State rowing team, which Landry highlighted in his appointment speech.  The appointee has no formal experience in the areas of ecology, biology, or conservation.  However, she was a true Trump supporter, so she qualifies to head the department. Landry's other cabinet appointments follow a similar pattern.

Business as usual. Why would I think Jeff Landry would be a trail blazer, break the centuries old modus operandi and do the logical thing? Just how naive can I be?

Pay up or leave the city

As a former 40 year resident of the city, I wonder when the residents and businesses of New Orleans are going to put on their 'big boy' pants and start paying their fair share of the cost to live in the city they claim to love. Maybe if the city officials didn't 'rollback' property taxes and let them stay at the real value of property ownership in the city, they could adequately fund the sewerage and drainage system, police protection, the emergency response system, the school system, infrastructure repairs and maintenance, reliable garbage collection, and the drinking water purification system, just to name a few.

If New Orleans residents are truly desirous of a better quality of life for their children and themselves,they need to pony up and adequately fund the city.  Inflation is a reality, and the city finances need to reflect that.  Just as it costs more to shop for groceries, automobiles, and other necessities, so too does it cost more to provide city services. It's time for the New Orleans City Council to face reality and stop being an 'enabler.'

The Self-Destruct Mode of the U.S.

A recent poll conducted by the University of Virginia Center for Politics shows what many consider is the greatest single threat to our great nation.  And no, it’s not China, Russia, Iran, or North Korea, but the United States, itself; decay from within. The poll indicated that 52 percent of supporters of President Joe Biden say Republicans are now a threat to the American life, and 47 percent of former President Donald Trump supporters claim the same about Democrats.

Even more alarming was the finding that of those supporting Biden, 41 percent now condone violence as the way "to stop Republicans from achieving their goals." And almost identical percentages, 38 percent of Trump supporters, believe the use of violence is acceptable to stop Democrats.

Perhaps we should now assume that the January 6^th melee was not simply a onetime, isolated event, but instead an overt example of these feelings playing out in real time; a barometer of our future.

And if we as a nation don’t come to grips soon, our adversaries will get to see their game plan come to fruition.  Russia and China use social media to bombard us with disinformation in hopes of fueling division among us which will lead to societal destruction within the U.S.  They don’t need armies to defeat us if they can foster self-destruction by pitting us against each other. 

I always thought that such an approach was ridiculous and totally unattainable, for as we so proudly state in our Pledge of Allegiance, we are “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”.

But as a society we are becoming more and more divisive and obsessed with our own life’s style agenda as the only acceptable one.  Do it my way or I will do whatever is necessary to make you conform.  The abhorrent behavior of the present U.S. Congress serves as a prime example of the success of the alienation plan, as do both the present Democratic President and the leading Republican contender for the presidency.

When will it stop? When we as a society realize the value of human life, stop the idolization of material things, and put in the effort to function responsibly as a member of society.

We as a country have two choices.  We can continue on our present course of closed mindedness, intolerance, and violence, or we can actively work to achieve some middle ground approach to be more pliant and tolerant of others.

However, to save our society requires a desire to change and perhaps now, we as a nation, are beyond the point of no return. You decide!

Lay the Blame Where It Belongs

Once again, the B.R/N.O. Advocate has written a bias editorial ignoring the facts, simply for sensationalism. The decision to dredge the Mississippi River did not occur in some vacuum, resulting in some whim by the Army Corps of Engineers. It was done with the full approval of the Feds, the Louisiana legislature and the port authority of New Orleans. It was NOT some unilateral decision by the Army Corps. It came down to making New Orleans a central hub for commercial shipping with the prospect of billions in shipping revenues, or the loss of these dollars based upon the odds of what might happen if the project went forward. The state of Louisiana decided to take the cash and needs to man up and live with its past decision.  Louisiana folks, who are suffering through this latest saltwater intrusion and want to lay the blame on someone, need to find another scapegoat because unlike what the Advocate editorial would have you believe, the Army Corps only did what Louisiana wanted them to do.  Please research the facts; something the Advocate chose not to do. 

Louisiana's Shameful Non-Voters

We as Louisianians should be so proud.  Eighteen percent (18%) of the registered voters in our state carried Jeff Landry into the governor's office for the next 4 years.  If ever I hear any complaints from individuals about his tenure, the first question I will ask is, "Did you even vote?"  We as a state should be ashamed of ourselves, and Jeff Landry really has little to be proud of.  However, he doesn't most likely really care, because he is now governor.  Pathetic

Louisiana Auto Insurance Rates Myth

Once again, the myth that Louisiana automobile insurance rates are high only because of its number of accident-related lawsuits has been echoed in recent media ads by some of our gubernatorial candidates.  And, as always, other contributing factors have been omitted. Forbes magazine recently published an article about high insurance rates across states.  Their conclusion was, and I quote, "Louisiana’s insurance rates jumped by 19% from last year, to an average annual premium of $2,839, about double the national average, partly because of its large number of uninsured and under-insured drivers – about 11.7% of drivers in the state are currently uninsured."

If Louisiana would get tough about enforcing the uninsured motorist laws, insurance rates would drop.  Instead, our legislators pass laws making it easier to avoid insuring a vehicle; like mandating that a vehicle only needs to be inspected every two years instead of yearly.  Consequently, you only have to show proof of insurance once every two years instead of yearly to get an inspection sticker. Also, our esteemed legislators passed a law limiting the rights of those who do use the courts to pursue accident-related costs under the guise that rates would decrease.  That did nothing to reduce the increases because amendments that would have required insurance companies to reduce rates a set amount yearly were removed from the law by pressure from the insurance companies.  Consequently, our legislators gave financial benefits to these companies with no guaranteed benefits for the policy holders. 

Additionally, the majority of the penalties issued by law enforce personnel in Louisiana is simply the placement of a green sticker on a vehicle's rear window when caught by police for not having automobile insurance; instead of immediately impounding the vehicle and taking away the driver's license. The required state minimum liability insurance rate coverage also needs to be raised to address the under-insured problem.  People sue because an at fault driver doesn't have enough insurance to cover the victim's expenses resulting from the accident.

 

Insurance companies by law notify the state when a vehicle is no longer insured, but no immediate action is taken.  State troopers need to proceed to the owner's residence and impound the vehicle. There are already some laws on the books to drive down auto insurance costs, just no desire to actually do it by enforcement, coupled with no desire to tackle the under-insured problem.  The number of auto accident lawsuits is only the tip of the iceberg for why auto insurance rates are high in Louisiana.

No Money for Bailouts for Catholic Church

New Orleans Archbishop Gregory Michael  Aymond’s revelation that local churches and schools will now have to help bail out the sexual abuse of children disgrace that occurred under his watch and that of his predecessors is just the beginning of the additional suffering that will now occur for the poor and elderly of New Orleans.

As the Archdiocese seeks to round up all the money it can to pay for the over 500 sexual abuse cases, it is only a matter of time before they raid the coffers of the Catholic Charities of New Orleans and shut it down to pay trial judgments for these atrocities.

And as is always the case, the poor and elderly of New Orleans will be the most impacted.  According to its website Catholic Charities of N.O. includes the following:  Children and Family Services, Health and Behavioral Services, Housing and Homelessness Services, Immigration and Refugee Services, Justice and Employment Services, Seniors Services, Disaster Response Services, Adoption Services, and Abuse and Violence Services.

So as the rich folks and business owners continue to make large donations to the Catholic Church of New Orleans which it intends to use to help pay for these court cases, it should now become these folks’ responsibility to ensure that their money will instead only be used to continue to fund the charitable services of the church and not steered to bailouts and the continued salaries of those higher ups responsible for these acts of barbarity.  Just remember, all these guilty New Orleans priests reported to supervisors and none of these have ever been charged, let alone convicted, of any complicity in the actions of their subordinates.

A Pathetic Bunch

The front page story “State of Alarm” was not only a tragic example of the present pain and suffering of women in our state from inadequate prenatal care, but serves as yet another example of the failures of our esteemed Republican state legislators to improve the quality of life for the citizens of this state.

Sadly, instead they focus on whatever ‘hot topic’ is promoted nationally by extremists.  In the last legislative session, their main concerns were “protecting our children” from what they deemed unfit books in our public libraries, from unfair advantages in sports, and from transgender care for a minute population of our state.  They were in fact so obsessed with the last protection that they even called a special session to deal with it even though data shows that it is an inconsequential problem in this state.

And when it comes to “protecting the unborn,” they’re all about making sure none are aborted, but apparently couldn’t care less about how healthy that unborn child is.

In their decisions on how to spend all that extra money in the state’s coffer this year, our legislators chose allocating 30% of the state budget to 197 personal ‘pet projects’ for the particular parishes they represented.   Nearly a third of the total cash, 13.2 million, is going to the home parishes of House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, House Speaker Pro Tempore, Tanner Magee, House Appropriation Committee Chair, Jerome “Zee” Zeringue, and House Ways and Means Committee Chair, Stuart Bishop.

Meanwhile newborns continue to die at a rate “higher than the developed world,“ with no end in sight.

This trend could be stopped, but not with this pathetic bunch of legislators more interested in hot topic headlines rather than real improvement in the quality of life in our state. and let's not even talk about our esteemed A.G., Jeff Landry.

When is enough, enough?

 

With the exception of Mardi  Gras and the Essence festival which are actually run by private entities, what city services does  N.O. presently successfully offer?   Police response times for serious crimes such as rape, car jackings, theft, and shootings are still not even close to acceptable limits, and EMI response times also pale.  The sewerage and water board services and billing are still deplorable.  And let’s not even talk about the ongoing sanitation services debacles, coupled with failures to repair streets in a timely fashion.  Blight continues unchecked along with increases in the homeless populating its streets.

Now we discover that kids that worked this summer for various city projects still haven’t been paid, coupled with the tragedy of a child being injured by a fallen tree limb that could have been prevented by addressing the early warning signs of an unsafe tree in the highly trafficked Jackson Square.

The city of New Orleans continues to drift more and more into a reactive mode rather than a proactive one.  Sadly, I suspect that many have become so accustomed to the present environment in the Big Easy that they don’t realize that there are places where things are extremely better.

The excuse that the city’s problems are no different than any other big cities continues to lull its residents further and further into passivity and acceptance of the present city management.

One has to wonder when its citizens will realize that enough is enough, for they still continue to talk about how much, “they love the city.”  They need to stop living in the past.  New Orleans ain't what it use to be.

Greed Kills Bar Protection

When it comes to protecting the unborn our state’s Republican legislators have no problems enacting laws. When it comes to protecting our youth from transgender sports participants, and the discussion of sexuality in our schools, our Republican legislators have no problems with restrictive legislation. When it comes to regulating which books are available in our libraries and checked out by our kids, once again our esteemed legislators rise to the occasion and have no problems enacting regulatory laws at the state and local levels about a non-issue.

However, when it comes to protecting our youth from underage drinking, our Baton Rouge Republican legislators balk and claim any changes in raising the legal age to 21 for entering bars would, “not be in the best interest of our young people and, frankly this is not in the best interest of the state.”  At least this is what Sen Beth Mizell was told by the Senate Judiciary B Committee when they killed her bill aimed at protecting our youth from unscrupulous bars engaging in underage serving of alcohol. Presently in Louisiana you can enter a bar at 18 but must be 21 to purchase alcohol in a bar.

Am I missing something?  Maybe too much illegal money would be lost if the bar entry age was aligned with the alcohol purchase law, for it seems that such a change would be embraced by bar owners because enforcement of underage drinking would be a great deal easier. But they vehemently opposed the change which makes them all suspects in the illegal monetary benefits that presently exist.  Additionally, one has to wonder how many legislators own bars or have relatives or friends who own bars, or better yet, receive large campaign donations from alcohol lobby groups or owners of such establishments.

The hypocrisy in Baton Rouge never ceases to amaze me when the ‘almighty dollar’ is involved even when it may lead to harm.

Cal Thomas has lost all sense of reality

After reading Cal Thomas’ editorial opinion in the Monday, March 27^th Advocate, it is obvious he has lost touch with reality.  In his column he advocates for Donald Trump to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race “for the good of the country.”  Donald Trump is not concerned about what’s “good for the country.”   It has always been what is good for him.  He schemed to overturn the legitimate election results, culminating in the January 6^th debacle ‘to restore him to power.’  Today he advocates for his followers to “raise up” and “take our country back” soley because of his possible indictments, not because of his love for America.  Additionally, his business empire profited immensely at the expense of the tax payers during his presidential term.

Sadly, Cal Thomas also fails to understand Trump’s two major personality flaws, the abhorrence of being seen as a “loser” and revenge.  In Trump’s world a “loser” is the epitome of the lowest form of existence.  That’s why he has never conceded the 2020 election nor sent the usual congratulatory message to Biden on his win.  To do so would completely destroy Trump as a person.

Additionally, most everyone who has had an association with Donald Trump will agree he is obsessed with seeking revenge on those he perceived as being disloyal.  This was quite evident in his continual revolving door firing practices of his cabinet advisers during his presidency and his recent threats to “punish those Republicans” who endorse or assist other candidates.  Trump relishes the fact that if he is once again elected he can “rain down terror” on all those that maligned him.

So basically, Cal Thomas needs to get real because his wish for Trump to graciously bow out of the 2024 presidential race is never going to happen.

 

Old age, time to go

It’s time to remove the old timers from Congress.  Sounds like I’m advocating for age discrimination doesn’t it?  And, yes, regarding the individuals running this country, age discrimination should take front and center stage since many of our representatives are no longer relevant.

Today, almost 25% of our esteem members of the U.S. Congress are over the age of 70.  This contrasts with the fact that 50% of the country is 38 years old or younger.  Interestedly, from the 1950’s to 1980 about 10% of Congress was under the age of 40. It rose to about 17% in the 1980’s, but today is about 4%.  This occurred at the same time that the median age of U.S. residents continued to decrease.

Additionally, in the 1960’s, and for the next 30 years,  the median age (50% above, 50% Below) of Congress hovered around  54 while that  figure jumped seven years in the 1990’s to a high of 61 years by 2022.

At this point you make rightfully ask, “So what’s the big deal about all this?”  The big deal is that you can’t stop the realities of Farther Time and how it effects one’s cognitive functioning.

As one ages, their brain begins to shrink, resulting in more difficulty in processing information, multitasking, reduced attention span, and remembering things.  Fluid intelligence, our ability to reason, declines dramatically in most people because we get slow.  And let’s not confuse someone’s IQ score with their cognitive abilities. An individual’s IQ does not change with age.  In other words, if you compared someone’s IQ taken ten years ago with their current IQ score, there would be similar scores because IQ is always measured relative to other people your age.  So when old folks brag about their high IQ, it’s kind of irrelevant.  It just mean it’s high compared to others their age, but they may still suffer from reductions in cognitive abilities due to the aging process.

In reality don’t you agree that individuals charged with making decisions about running our country and its interaction with other countries throughout  the world should be able to operate at their peak both physically, and more importantly, cognitively?  Additionally. these same individuals should be in tune with those they represent.

And this same discussion applies to our country’s leaders.  Joe Biden will be 82 years old and Donald Trump will be 78 in 2024. They along with the old timers in Congress need to ride off into the sunset instead of drawing a salary on the public’s dime to perform in a job governing people that they can no longer relate to, and lack the physical and  mental ability to perform at peak capacity.

Term limits is one way to stop these old folks in Congress from continuing.   Some in their 80’s have served for 40 years or more.  However, since that would take a vote of the U.S. Congress to even give voters a chance to decide if they favor term limits, I doubt that any of our congressional leaders would vote for legislation that would put them out of a job.

Sadly, with the present system in place, our U.S. Congressional leaders are going to become still older, and more and more disenfranchised from those they purport to represent.  And that will have continued dire consequences for our society.  However, the good news is, in 2024 we can stop the process at the presidential level.  Please give the old folks the heave ho.  In full disclosure I am 78 years old and have no business being a member of the U.S. Congress or President of the U.S.

Legislative Censorship Replacing Parental Child Rearing

As the battle cry continues to ramp up among all ‘concerned citizens’ about how we must protect minors from what they deem ‘inappropriate material’ on social media and now in our libraries, one has to wonder where the role of a parent fits into all this.  It seems that nowadays parents are so overwhelmed by their parental responsibilities that they need government assistance in controlling the behavior of their children. 

These folks continue to buy their minor children smart phones, tablets, and laptops, and feel good about themselves for keeping their kids ‘technologically’ up to date.  They may also assist them in gaining access to their local library and feel good about themselves for assisting in the ‘intellectual development’ of their children.

Then they stop, for whatever reason, when it comes to controlling the use of these entities and are happy to abdicate that responsibility to government regulation.  I am willing to bet if I were to examine the laptops, tablets and smart phones of the children/grandchildren of our esteemed ‘child protector’ Attorney General Jeff Landry, and the legislators proposing laws to ‘protect’ minors from what they deem allegedly ‘inappropriate material’ now available in our libraries, I would not find one device with the parental control settings activated.  And how many of these 'child protectors' go to the library with their kids? 

These battle cry folks all talk a good game about this hot topic but apparently feel that they as parents have no personal responsibility in regulating the behavior of their kids.

How many periodically check the internet browsing history of their kids’ electronic devises to see where they go on the net, or regulate their Facebook/TikTok interactions?  My kids thought they would outsmart me by deleting their browsing history each night.  A blank history is definitely a ‘red flag’ for confiscation of the device.

Parents need to get off their butts, for ultimately it is THEIR responsibility to supervise their kids, not politicians.  All of this so called ‘protective legislation’ simply serves as an enabler for these lazy parents, guardians and grandparents.  Pathetic.

Let's put the blame where it belongs

Even though LSU has a questionable past regarding the handling of sexual assault cases, the latest incident of a tragic rape and death of a co-ed in no way should be connected with the other cases involving LSU as is presently playing out in the media. The entire blame rests with the bar serving underage kids and the state of Louisiana for its lack of oversight.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that most bars located near the LSU campus are probably breaking the law by serving underage clientele for monetary gain. And this could be easily checked out by the state conducting sting operations involving underage informants in these bars.  But then again that would involve a genuine pro-active approach by the state of Louisiana instead of its present re-active approach after some tragedy occurs.  

Removal of this bar's liquor license obviously should have occurred BEFORE this student's death.  One has to wonder just how many other bars are doing the same thing. The bar owners and its management team are directly responsible for this woman's death along with the state by not doing its job and serving as a facilitator, not LSU.

The City Bailout for Mardi Gras

I am totally confused by the recent monetary proposal made to Mardi Gras crews by Mayor Cantrell. I can't remember the last time that a business model was proposed without knowing its cost. Apparently in a cash-strapped city Cantrell has offered up a blank check, with the City Counsel's blessings. How could this take place without any cost estimate being made accessible to the public?  I can't find the expected cost anywhere in media reportings. It also seems that whatever the cost, the city's coffers should not be used to fund costs beyond its manpower limits. Mardi Gras crews are private entities and the city, based upon its manpower, provides security for these groups.  As was the case last year, proposed parade routes were adjusted based upon these limiting realities.  If changes are desired by crews to go over and above the proposed plan, sound business practice would suggest that any costs associated with such changes be born by the crews rather than the city.  So just how much will this one shot spending cost the city, and could the monies be better spent to make long range lasting improvements for its residents?

And yes, I realize that proponents of the cash offer will point out that Mardi Gras will supposedly add to the economic wellbeing of the city and will provide a good return on the additional money the city spends.  But then again just where is that money that the city earns spent for long range improvements since these are funds over and above its operating budget?  Where is fiscal accountability for all of this in a cash-deficient city?