Category: Overrated

Claude Mauberret is a total ass

I hate to move Baylen Brees down, but this really pisses me off.

Claude Mauberret, who made it to the runoff for the city assessor’s office, dropped out:

Claude Mauberret, a district assessor since 1994, will abandon his bid to become New Orleans’ first citywide assessor today, according to a source close to Mauberret.Mauberret’s exit, expected to be announced before noon, will mean that Erroll Williams — like Mauberret a longtime district assessor — will claim the new post, expected to be one of the city’s most powerful political jobs.

Mauberret spent his entire campaign attacking the reform candidate, Janis Lemle, with flyers  unfairly associating her (via a campaign aide) to Dollar Bill Jefferson.   He also used the “scary for white people” picture of her with dreadlocks as opposed to her official portrait.   At first he denied association with these shitty flyers, but the second round that came had his name on them.  He just barely edged her out of the race to get into the primary.

And then he dropped out, handing the race to his buddy Errol Williams.  Thanks a lot, dickhead.  Thanks for ensuring more of the same in New Orleans.

I suppose that we were given our chance to make a change in the assessor’s office during the race and we squandered it.  But Mauberret’s dropping out just makes it feel like the fix was in.

You knew it was coming

Raheem Brock of the Colts posted this on this twitter feed, then quickly took it down, saying he was hacked:

Bring it on.  We’ve seen worse.  We heard it all after Katrina.

Remember Chicago, 2006?

I was pissed off about that then.  Now, I’ve just grown used to it.  I heard all the “Why rebuild in a flood zone?” idiots in Atlanta.  I let it eat me up inside.

Not anymore.  You want to taunt us with the Federal Flood?  Go right ahead.  We took it for the past five years, and we will keep on taking it.  In that typical New Orleans way, we will wear it with pride:

In other news, I am so fucking excited about the Super Bowl that I am totally mentally crippled.  Can’t focus, can’t concentrate, can’t sleep.  I just sit and think of new things about Saints football.

PS: Raheem Brock, go fuck yourself.  Thanks for the motivation.

Early thoughts on the New Orleans Mayoral election

I watched a little of the debate last night.  There are a lot of crackpots and idiots running.

Ed Murray -Missed most of what he had to say.  “I have experience” seemed to be his theme.  “I have been a legislator and a leader in this city.”  Yeah, and the current government totally fucking sucks.

Troy Henry – Went on and on about a 5-legged stool.  I stopped listening to him, because I was trying to picture what a 5-legged stool looks like.  I think he was the one who wanted to give everyone tax credits so that people who would normally qualify for a $72k house could buy a $200k house.  I’ve heard that before,  and I’m pretty sure it caused 10% unemployment and a total financial meltdown.  It could have been Ed Murray that said that, though.

Nadine Ramsey – Looked way out of her league.  Said nothing except get the community involved in the police.  Great.

James Perry – Looked like an actual candidate.  Also looks like Biz Markee.  I’m not sure he really said anything of substance though.  There is promise there.

Some guy named Lambert – Redneck white guy who will be painted as a good ol’ boy racist, even if he is not one.

Manny Chevrolet – Officially on record as against crime and blight.  Funny guy with perfect deadpan delivery, but this city is seriously fucked up.

Some kid named Baschel – A stand up comedian, who is in a wheelchair.  Is running on the platform to make the St. Charles Streetcar line handicapped accessible.  Might actually make that happen, as he actually offered a legitimate, cost-effective solution: move some accessible cars from the Canal line on to the St. Charles line.  Very sad that he had to run for mayor to draw attention to that problem.  He seemed serious about that one issue, which is ironic, because you would expect the stand-up to be the joke candidate, and I think this kid actually wants to get the streetcars accessible.  Good for him.  But Manny Chevrolet is the better comedian by far.

John Georges – Republican in a Democrat’s clothing.  Wants to let people buy blighted properties directly, bypassing NORA.  I’m not sure who he was talking about, but it sounded like letting developers buy up properties without checks on what they will do with it.

Jerry Jacobs – Wants to legalize pot.  Wears a crazy guy’s hat.

Leslie Jacobs – Looks legit.  Talked about controlling commercial blight, not just residential blight. UPDATE: Dropped out.  I was just starting to like her.

Rob Couhig – Looks like an asshole.

Mitch Landreiu – Slick, smug, polished.  In terms of professional politicians, he is the most professionalest.

Also, Norman Robinson: What’s with all the “gotcha” questions?  They make you look dumb when you can’t phrase them correctly.

Months with an R

From today’s Times-Picayune:

http://www.nola.com/dining/index.ssf/2009/10/louisiana_blasts_fda_plan_to_l.html

In an effort to reduce cases of a rare, but potentially fatal, bacterial illness contracted from raw oysters, the FDA announced new rules this month that will require any oyster served from April through October to undergo a sterilization process before it can be sold in restaurants or on the market.

The rule will essentially eliminate raw oysters — at least as Louisianans know them — from restaurant menus for seven months of the year. Even oysters that will eventually be cooked during those months would have to go through the same cleansing process before being added to any dish, a move some say would undermine the culinary integrity of some of New Orleans’ most famous delicacies.

“It’s not only going to include raw oysters. You can’t fry oysters for a po-boy, you can’t put oysters in a gumbo and you can’t charbroil oysters unless they’re post-harvest processed,” said Tommy Cvitanovich, owner of Drago’s restaurant, a mainstay for oysters in the metro area. “That’s ludicrous.”

No more raw oysters from April to October.

Now I don’t really like to eat raw oysters in the summer, because I don’t think they taste as good, and I’ve gotten more bad ones than good ones.  But I most certainly will eat them in a po-boy or charbroiled.

The vibrio vulnificus disease, the target of the FDA initiative, affects about 30 individuals per year nationwide who eat raw oysters from Gulf Coast. About half of those who get the disease, which invades the bloodstream and can cause a severe fever and skin lesions, eventually die.

But those most at risk from vibrio are people who already have immune system disorders, such as AIDS, cancer, kidney disease, diabetes or alcohol abuse.

Fifteen already sick people die a year from raw oysters?  How many die from french fries and Big Macs?  What about the dreaded peanut?  I bet much more than 15 peanut kids die every year in tragic lunchroom food fights.  Doesn’t every menu you’ve ever seen warn you that if you have a liver disease, you may not want to eat raw oysters?  Isn’t that enough?

Is there a way we can ban oysters in other states that want to protect their citizens from the oyster menace, and let Louisiana continue to live dangerously?  It will be like a tourist attraction.  “Oh my goodness Mildred, they let you drink in the street AND eat raw oysters here!”

Why I’m down on Reggie Bush this year

I’ve been reading twitter updates from various Saints players these days.  It’s really unfortunate, because it’s a terrible reminder that these guys are mostly idiots.  From Drew Brees saying that Guantanamo isn’t all that bad to Pierre Thomas’ ridiculous motivational links to Shockey’s “givin a shoutout to God”, these guys are not rocket scientists.  I knew that, but it’s nicer when you don’t have proof.  Malcolm Jenkins showed a flash of humor as he was holding out: as other players complained about two-a-days, his posts would read: “Watching TV”, “taking a nap”, “relaxing.”

Then Reggie Bush, who had these gems:

reggie_bush: Man why is it that Chipotle and Taco Bell seem to go right thru you literally 15-20 minutes after eating it! But it keeps you coming back!
Original Tweet: http://twitter.com/reggie_bush/status/3409168884

reggie_bush: Just had some Chipotle and it feel like an Alien inside my stomach! Lol! Shheeesh!!!!!
Original Tweet: http://twitter.com/reggie_bush/status/3409188390

I accept that football players are idiots.  I just can’t believe they would eat at Taco bell.

Also, I realize I just wrote about twitter.   I apologize.

SuperBowl!

So New Orleans will host the 2013 Super Bowl.  That’s great news, since it means that the Saints and the state reached an agreement to keep the team in New Orleans until 2025.

The last time I was in New Orleans during the Super Bowl was in 1997.  Jamie and I marched up and down Bourbon Street chanting “DITKA AND SAINTS IN NINETY-EIGHT.”   I’m pretty sure that Jamie, a Rams fan, was laughing at the Saints, but I believed.  What a fool I was.

Even better, this Super Bowl will fall on Bacchus weekend.

superbowllogo

Let’s hope they redesign that logo.  I like the idea, but the execution is awful.  “A Perfect Ten”?  Yes, I know it’s the city’s 10th SuperBowl.  It’s still dumb.  The street sign looks like a license plate.

Seriously?!

From this morning’s Times-Picayune:

Charges reduced against trio arrested in Mardi Gras shooting

Prosecutors have dropped the attempted-murder case against the three men arrested in the Mardi Gras shooting of seven people, opting for lesser charges against two of them.

You may remember that Leslie and my mom and dad were on the scene when this happened on Mardi Gras day.  My mom is so proud of Leslie for knocking her down when the shots started.

Way to go DA Cannizzaro.  The city makes the national news for a shootout on St. Charles during our biggest day of the year, and you reduce the charges.  “Yeah, it’s ok.  Shit on just about the only thing New Orleans has going for it these days.  No big deal.  Never mind that you shot 7 people including a toddler.”  Talk about sending a message to criminals.

Gotta keep the brand out there.