HumidCity

No, this is not another post about the legendary Magazine Street Transvestite Crime Ring ™, that is covered elsewhere (at the moment). Instead this is to comment on what appears to be the theft of a dress design. Listen my children and you shall hear the story of a wholesale client that wanted more.

Trashy Diva is a great little clothing store on Magazine St., down near the big Rue De La Course coffee house. It has been around for years and is respected in the local community, I know that because I live nearby. Recently they discovered that a dress of their design had been duplicated by one of their wholesalers with no credit (or percentage) posted.

From the Trashy Diva MySpace:

Yesterday, a customer brought in a photo of a dress (printed out from one of our regular wholesale customers UNIQUE-VINTAGE.COM.-Now, if you haven’t heard of them, then no suprise. They are a generic non-offensive site, but not a site exploding with any original personality ). Anyway, this photo is of one of my dresses-but in a different color. The customer was wondering if we got some new colors instock in the popular “Trixie” dress. After a bit of investigation we find out that this website has actually taken one of our dresses to a factory and had the dress copied and is selling the dress as their design under their label on their website. WHAT!!?!

Read the rest of this entry »

free microchipping 4 ur lolcatz n faildawgs next Sat 10-3 at LA-SPCA - 1700 Mardi Gras Blvd. Algiers - more info 368-5191 via Dial_m

I spent a significant part of my day trying to acquire copies of my father’s death certificate that I need to deal with settling his estate. I would just like to note that the New Orleans Dept of Vital Records has at least one worthless waste of protoplasm working there.

When someone is calling about their father’s death you are not supposed to

• Interrupt them repeatedly
• Sigh in exasperation at every question
• hang up on them mid sentence.

While I cannot remember the woman’s name, and was so furious I did not write it down, I will have to aim my curses and profanity at my memory of her voice. Here’s to karma, baby, hope you get yours!
This is how the city departments run. This is why We Are NOT Okay. The feds and the state bear more than a fair share of blame, but there is a whole lot to go around on the local level.

A New Defend New Orleans Installation has launched, check it out! -Loki

Our video brother Drew has set up a website featuring documentary-style footage on the REAL new orleans, not the file footage seen over and over again on CNN. so check out his website, www.dnovideo.com, and give him some props, feedback, whatever.

massive party coming up in a week or two. we’ll let you know more of the details soon.

thanks kids,
Brian

Let the Good Times Roll

Originally uploaded by Karen Apricot New Orleans.

Karen has managed to sum up the housing situation and all of its attendant woes in this simple chart. (Click the image, as usual, to see it larger or leave her direct comments.)

Crucifix and Barbed Wire with Hobbyhorse Acsendent

Originally uploaded by Often Absurd in the Humid City.

Taken across the street from Dr. Bob’s compound in the Bywater. Anyone out there know why he is moving or where?

image courtesy of Skeleton Krewe

Taken during last weeks deluge.

Shelly Midura vs. Cynthia Hedge Morrell the fight of the minute!

So tell me if you’ve heard this one: The city council goes on retreat…

“I don’t buy it, Cynthia!” Midura shouted from her chair. “It’s to cover your political backside and I don’t believe you!”

Hedge-Morrell, who by now had risen from her chair and was standing over Midura, shouted back, “You think you’re Miss Goody Two Shoes,” her voice rising and face tightening, “and you sit there on your damn high horse!”

Ah professionalism, you’ve got to love it! The whole story is here on nola.com, be sure to read the comments. A few excerpts from the vox populi response:

NOLALARRY: A divided City Council, rotten DA office, Choc City Mayor that is M.I.A., Police force that can’t keep up with crime,…. what a dysfunctional mess.

1NOLANATIVE: You all miss the point. They were in a retreat. NONE of what was discussed during the retreat should have made it out of the hotel room, let alone into the newspaper. A retreat is supposed to be a place where you can vent, argue, cuss - whatever it takes - to get the tension and skeletons off their chests IN PRIVATE.
They’re going to argue. But, it should not have been made public.

MINDS: A retreat — how riduculous — what does that mean — we drink and then we tell each other you stink! How riduculous. I hope she went home to do something better than that! Get these fools on video. We want to see how you act in private. Have you got a different face?

A Guest Post by John Doheny, visiting professor of music at Tulane University.

Here’s my friend marieoroumania checking in from Socal.

Everybody was happy and smiling and seemed thrilled to death to be sleeping on FEMA cots. Free food, free water, impromptu dance lessons, live bands volunteering, some of whom were evacuees themselves. I cannot believe how much of a party atmosphere there is there. Especially after the grimness of the Astrodome in 2005 and the governmental fuckups. What a difference some organization, some money, and some genuine giving a shit enough to plan for an awful disaster makes. Seriously. I didn’t want to leave. I saw one girl with her face painted, and asked her where she got it done, and she told me “oh, over in the arts and crafts section.” Arts and crafts section! At an evac site!

While I am of coure happy that human suffering seems be being kept to a minimum, I actually felt sick reading this. Because I know that, sure as shit, this situation is going to be used to beat us New Orleanians over the head with how much better republicans, in a rebublican state, with a republican governor, are at managing disasters. And, once again, how the fuckups in Katrina are entirely our fault for electing a democrat mayor and a democrat governor (note the subtle ‘republicanspeak’ of substituting ‘democrat’ for ‘democratic.’ In the south, when you want to insult someone, you ‘call them out of their name’).

The fact that this is apples and oranges will be glossed over. It’s not just that SOCAL has a lot more money and a lot fewer poor people. It’s that it still has large metropolitan areas that are completely unaffected. It’s that the stadium has power, and running water, and the sewers haven’t backed up and flooded the place with shit.

Are the happy Southern Californians being kept inside by armed guards? When they tried to walk away from the fires (well okay, this is socal. drive away from the fires) were shotguns fired over their heads to turn them back? And, last I heard, about 600 homes had actually burned. That’s a tragedy for 600 homeowners, but over 150,000 homes were destroyed in Orleans Parish alone.

I sympathize, I really do. And if you have time later on, check the comment strings on places like Huffington Post. The same ass-trolls clamboring for my town to be abandoned are yammering on about hollyweird liberals too stupid to run from fires. So, you know, welcome to the club.

But in the long run, especially in the MSM, this is going to get spun as a triumph for Bush and the republican governorship of california, and a further indictment of Louisiana. And that makes me almost as sad and angry as the disaster itself.

Wordpress does not play well with YouTube so here is a link to my LiveJournal post where I have included a video from a recent Bill Moyers about Blackwater in New Orleans.

Funny, I’ve been writing about that for two years now.

http://humidcityloki.livejournal.com/53530.html

The Head Pelican’s thoughts on the District 5 Senate race, and it’s candidates.

I’d also like to point out the League of Women Voters page that contains breakdowns on all the current candidates (David’s is down at the bottom due to our last name)

I would also like to share the one quote from Gambit that shows where I got my civic streak from: “Williams has a long record of public service devoted to reaching across racial and economic lines.” While he and I may differ in a number of areas I am convinced that my own history of civic and cultural work comes from the same source as his, my grandfather.

While Gambit does not endorse David it is because they cannot decide between him and Cheryl Gray. “We wish they could both win seats in the Senate,” reads the line in their endorsements page. As always, my endorsement is obvious.

Elect David Williams.Com

Time for our resident engineer to share some news with us again. Ladies and gentlemen, humidcity is proud to once more present the epistles of Matt McBride:

Dear New Orleanians,

This afternoon, FEMA posted the press release announcing the changes in the Relocation Assistance program. You can find it here:

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=41323

This is the program that pays up to $4000 for moves and other relocation expenses for Katrina and Rita victims who have been displaced.

When the program was first announced on August 27th, FEMA only paid for moves between February 1, 2006 and Feb. 29, 2008. The reason for this was purely bureaucratic.

After a nearly instant outcry from many individuals that FEMA was penalizing early returners, the process for revising the program guidance began. Now, the opening dates have been moved back to the dates of the storms (8/29/05 for Katrina and 9/24/05 for Rita). This means that anyone who moved back after the storms may now be eligible.

The new press release does not make mention of the fact that this is a revision of the program, probably to prevent bringing up their error. That’s okay. What’s important is they made the program fair to all.

Also not mentioned in the release are the following points:

1) Acceptance of the relocation assistance means the ending of rental assistance. I suppose this could be controversial.
2) On the hotel room reimbursements (they pay for hotel rooms during a move), if the household has more than four persons or the hotel has occupancy restrictions, they will pay for additional rooms. Also, for each additional 400 miles travelled, they will pay for another night of hotel stays.
3) It’s not clear exactly what they are referring to when they say they will reimburse for “mileage,” in addition to gas & taxes.
4) They mention the cap on Individual & Households Program assistance, but do not provide the amount. It is $26,200.

As of today, the (800) 621-FEMA hotline now has a recorded message about this program. The recording mostly covers the stuff in the press release. As always, you should call the 800 number to register for the program and to get all the official information. Ask to be transferred to a Relocation Assistance specialist. FEMA has specifically trained personnel to process this paperwork and answer aid recipients’ questions.

Matt

ADDENDUM (2 hours later):

FEMA just placed another webpage about the Relocation Assistance program up:

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=41326

They refer to this one as a Fact Sheet. It rejiggers the information in the earlier press release to make it more readable.

Matt

Just had an accidental lunch with John Sinclair at the Sound Cafe. Turns out he is in town helping his daughter move back to NOLA. He, himself, is currently living in Amsterdam. He sends a particular shout out to Will Frank and Karl DeMolay of Zombie! vs. Mardi Gras fame.

Tomorrow night at Tipitina’s uptown (the original Tips) he will be showing his new film 20 Years To Life at 7pm. There is NO cover charge.

Whether it’s the side of your business , your business advertisement on the street, your neighborhood street signs or your local New Orleans artists, the “GRAY GHOST” will do his signature “TAG”…making him the least talented graffiti artist in the city. He TAGS with a “look-out,” is known to carry a gun and has allegedly assaulted a young man who tried to photograph his crime.

Originally designed to be a graffiti abatement / anti-gang activity program, it’s our assertion that Fred Radtke has over-stepped his boundary and his mission and ultimately become part of what he had disdained before. Ordained a vigilante graffiti czar by the corruption-riddled Morial Administration, he now no longer has any respect for private or city property and paints at his own whim.

If you see him,, report him to city officials and/or the police. What he is doing is as much graffiti as those he says he is “erasing.” If you see your neighborhood signs painted GRAY, call the street signs people at 504-658-2299 and asked that it be replaced.

Call your city council person and complain about this New Orleans nuisance!

Haven’t we had enough GRAY in the last two years? Do something about it!

STOP FRED RADTKE FROM PAINTING GRAY!!

Go Here to Access a printable copy of this flyer, help spread the word!

This message brought to you by Dingler , Loki, and the Bad Fred! Community on Flickr.

Freret Market

Originally uploaded by skeletonkrewe.

Come out and show some support for this new event. That area of Freret St took a beating during the Federal Flood, and has been slowly returning to life since.

Food, shopping, live music and blogger sightings, what more could you ask?
-Loki

Friday evening a New Orleans classic returns! My old friend Lionel Milton is having an opening and DJ Soul Sista from WWOZ is spinning!

Be there, or be octagonal!

Here we go, the latest email submission from Mr. Fix The Pumps! Brace yourself because this is really bizarre: good news! Take it away Matt…

Dear New Orleanians,

This morning, FEMA issued its new Disaster Specific Guidance (DSG) for the Relocation Assistance program. This is the program to reimburse folks affected by Katrina and Rita for moving back home or to a new permanent address. The guidance was issued internally to FEMA’s front line customer service folks.

Note that everything below is not official guidance from FEMA. You should call (800) 621-FEMA to get the complete scoop.

Now, on to the good news…

Previously, FEMA had restricted eligibility for the program for those people who moved between February 1, 2006 and February 29, 2008.

Today, that opening date has been changed to August 29, 2005! That means anyone that moved back after the storm (and who meets all the other tests for eligibility) is now eligible. In other words, FEMA is no longer penalizing the pioneers who came back - or those folks who decided to put down roots somewhere else - as soon as possible after the storm. The closing date remains the same - February 29, 2008.

I assume there will be a press release on this in the coming days, but here’s some more details, straight from the actual DSG (note you can’t have already received these benefits from another organization, such as the United Methodist Church, the Red Cross, or any other agency that might have provided the assistance):

- as before, the benefit is a maximum of $4000. That is counted toward the theoretical maximum Individuals & Families Program benefit of $26,200. Thus, if your household has not received more than $22,200, you could receive up to the maximum $4000.

- a new part of the benefit is that FEMA will pay for one night of hotel stay if the move was more than 400 miles. They’ll pay for the room and taxes, but not room service or any other hotel services. If you had more than one room, (due to occupancy restrictions or had more than 4 people in your group during the move), FEMA will pay for another room. For each additional 400 miles over the first 400, FEMA will pay one more night.

- as before, the move must be 50 miles or more

- FEMA will pay for truck rental, moving help, moving supply purchases from the rental company (boxes, tape, etc), car rental, and even gas. Apparently, receipts are only required for the gas purchases, although they also mention you can put in for mileage (assumedly at the standard gov’t reimbursement rate in effect at the time of the move, though I would wait until the official guidance is released to the public for that detail). If you don’t have receipts for anything else, I think you can supply estimates or you can call the moving or rental company to get a duplicate receipt. But receipts are always best.

- FEMA will not pay for gas if you used your private vehicle to move back (they feel you would have been doing so anyway as part of a normal evacuation, and that any extra expenses incurred in such a private-vehicle move were covered by the $2000 Emergency Assistance - I’m not saying I agree… I’m just passing along the reasoning). If you rented a trailer to tow behind, they will pay for that.

- FEMA’s still paying for plane, train, and bus tickets home, as long as you haven’t had them paid for by some other organization.

- the program has been opened up to everyone in the Katrina-and-Rita-affected counties and parishes in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Previously, this program was only open to Louisiana storm victims.

There’s a few more details (you can only apply for benefits resulting from one of the storms, not both), but the big news is the date change. This is pretty huge, and will benefit thousands of people.

FEMA has set up a special fax number if you wish to submit your receipts by fax. It is:

(877) 828-9388

If you want to mail in your paperwork, the address is:

FEMA Relocation Assistance

NPSC

P.O. Box 10055

Hyattsville, MD 20782

As always, you should call 1-800-621-FEMA to register for the program and to get all the information. Ask to be transferred to a Relocation Assistance specialist. FEMA has specifically trained personnel to process this paperwork and answer aid recipients’ questions.

Note that FEMA has been holding off processing anyone’s Relocation Assistance claims that have been submitted in the last month (the program was announced August 27, 2007). They knew the program would be getting changed significantly, so they wanted to wait for the revised guidance. That way, everyone is being treated equally. According to the fellow I spoke with, processing of claims should begin today or tomorrow.

When the press release comes out, I’ll point you to it.

Matt McBride

It would seem that Harry Lee will not be running for another term when election time rolls around again, he passed away this morning, losing his ongoing battle with leukemia at 75.

Shortly after arising this morning I was struck by the sounds of thunder. Lots of thunder. I counted 12 times in the span of forty minutes. Hurricane Humberto seems to have scooted east after hitting Texas and is now crossing Louisiana somewhat north of us. Everyone keep an eye on the pumps! Looks like we have an unscheduled test on our hands.

Then the joyous news comes in that killer bees are once more a threat to New Orleans. How seventies….

image courtesy of Greg Peters

Let us see now….

First Dean pounded the lovely island where my wife and I honeymooned a few short months ago:

In Dominica, a woman and her 7-year-old son were killed when a rain-soaked hillside gave way and crushed the home where they were sleeping, said Cecil Shillingford, the national disaster response coordinator. Dominica’s government reported at least 150 homes were damaged.

But at least this time if it heads this way we can take solace in the fact that someone will be watching….

Hurricane Dean’s every little ripple will be reported by the oil industry flacks and their willing mouthpieces in the media. The crescendo of ominous events will be forecast and analyzed, all with a unanimity of purpose leading to higher and higher oil prices. Whether the storm actually hits or not, one thing is sure. The mere specter of the event will have the oil industry and the oil trading community cheering, “Go Big Dean, Go”.

So what are the latest specs on our unwelcome guest in the Gulf? (No, not Dubya this time)

With sustained winds of 150 mph (240 km per hour), Dean was a Category 4 storm, the second-highest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. It was expected to smash into Jamaica on Sunday.

It could become a Category 5 storm after roaring by the Caymans in two days, with winds of over 155 mph (250 kph).

At 8 p.m. EDT (1 a.m. British time), Dean was located 405 miles (650 km) east-southeast of Kingston and about 165 miles (265 km) south-southwest of Santo Domingo. It was moving west at 17 mph (28 kph), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Almost in time for the two year anniversary of the Federal Flood. Gee……