Your Right Hand Thief

• Commentary by David C. Bellinger

  Number of comments: 0
  “Parish President Aaron Broussard is no Donald Trump; Can’t Say, ‘Tim Whitmer ‘You’re Fired!'”
  
  Dear Blogger:
  
  Re: “Whitmer pressed to reveal ties, Jeff official: Give details or resign” by Richard Rainey, New Orleans Times-Picayune, November 25, 2009
  
  With federal subpoenas in Jefferson Parish flying as fast as' [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 5:03pm EST
  by oyster

• Why so Hostile?

  Number of comments: 3
  Since Minor Wisdom has taken the gloves off so early, we will respond with
  
  The natural beauty of The Captain and Tennille, singing an alleged "kids song" about Lake Tahoe, accompanied by a musical muskrat and the charming morning hosts at Fox.
  
  Suffer.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2009, 3:14pm EST
  by oyster

• Phrase from stolen emails proves science itself is a hoax

  Number of comments: 10
  I've been told I'm supposed to care about cherry picked, out-of-context quotes from hacked emails from the Climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia. The only thing I know about the U. of E.A. is that their mascot is the Ragin Cajuns, which is pretty surprising.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 1:12pm EST
  by oyster

• This week in carcass

  Number of comments: 3
  1. Forty million turkey carcasses, give or take, are becoming stock or compost.
  
  
  2. The Dishrag reports:
  
  "Twilight" star Christian Serratos is only 19. But she's already posed naked for peta2, making her the youngest "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" model.
  
  [She]' [...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 10:31am EST
  by oyster

• Yule be sorry

  Number of comments: 4
  Before Thanksgiving turkey had even been fully digested, some nolabloggers couldn't wait to begin the "hostilidays". All I can say is... be careful what you wish for.
  
  Adrastos, Minor Wisdom and Humid City have entries. Not bad. [Update: Maitri and Liprap have joined in.][...]
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  Posted: November 28, 2009, 7:54am EST
  by oyster

• "Green Corps" for the coast

  Number of comments: 3
  Mark LaFlaur at Levees not War wrote an exceptional piece advocating a new "Green Corps" effort to save Louisiana's vanishing coast. It's not too long and the topic is important, so go read it.
  
  
  ---
  Speaking of green, last week I was wondering if Jay [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 10:57pm EST
  by oyster

• Quotes of the weak

  Number of comments: 3
  "Never in recorded history has diversity been anything but a problem."
  
  --Ann Coulter, who doesn't even offer a courtesy flush before dumping another load of hateful pollution into the bowl of public discourse.
  
  
  ===
  Hope Coulter informs the U.S. Marine Corps about "diversity's" unfortunate historical track [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 3:01pm EST
  by oyster

• Oyster Filter post up at Humid Beings

  
  
  The latest Oyster Filter post at Humid Beings is the story of Saints Fan Darvin Moon. [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 12:16pm EST
  by oyster

• "I had the little bastard killed. He was a thorn in my shoe."

  Number of comments: 8
  The Discovery Channel aired a new JFK assassination special the other night titled "Did the Mob Kill JFK?". I thought it was pretty solid, because it heavily featured conspiracy authors Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann, whose work I respect. Even though I plugged their new book, "Legacy" [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 9:01am EST
  by oyster

• Head is in!

  Number of comments: 3
  Noladishu informs us that City Councilwoman Stacy Head will run for re-election. That's great.
  
  "New Orleans has the greatest people in the country who do great things to make a great city," she said in a prepared statement."
  Sounds almost like she's trying to scoop Kenner's [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 4:10pm EST
  by oyster

• News to some

  Number of comments: 0
  USA TODAY:
  
  NEW ORLEANS — The recent ruling here by a federal judge confirmed what victims of Hurricane Katrina have been arguing the past four years: the catastrophic floods in 2005 were a manmade disaster, not a natural phenomenon.
  
  The landmark ruling blames negligence by the Army [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 4:03pm EST
  by oyster

• Artist at work

  Number of comments: 2
  The New Orleans Museum of Art has some hella-cool upcoming exhibits. I already mentioned Skylar Fein's punk-rock "Youth Manifesto", but at the end of January we can expect something magnificent:
  
  This winter the New Orleans Museum of Art kicks off the 2010 contemporary exhibition schedule with' [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 3:48pm EST
  by oyster

• Couhigtown

  Number of comments: 7
  Mayoral candidate Rob "inconceivable" Couhig wants to play "Let's Remind New Orleans":
  
  Asked what qualities they would look for in a new police chief, all [seven mayoral hopefuls] said the New Orleans Police Department needs a new leader identified through a national search.
  ...
  Attorney Rob Couhig reminded [...]
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  Posted: November 22, 2009, 9:57am EST
  by oyster

• WWL reports:LSU fans heading ...

  Number of comments: 1
  WWL reports:
  
  LSU fans heading to Oxford Mississippi may encounter the Ku Klux Klan as they go to the LSU-Ole Miss game on Saturday.
  
  It stems from the university ending a tradition at football games. The band has been instructed to stop playing a medley in which [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 2:11pm EST
  by oyster

• Banality of "prudent" mission creep

  Number of comments: 0
  Jeffrey has a great post on Vietnam, Afghanistan, LBJ, Obama. Go read it. I want to preserve this quote, I think so much of it:
  
  Listening to these conversations [between LBJ and McNamara], one sees how a slow-building disastrous tragedy like the U.S. war in Vietnam is [...]
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  Posted: November 21, 2009, 1:55pm EST
  by oyster

• Mayor, criminals must work harder to keep N.O. brand out there

  Number of comments: 4
  Jeffrey finds an article showing significant "trendbucking" in the greater New Orleans area. Trendbucking is a rather dubious economic phenomenon that the local business media seems to treat as an article of faith. Jeffrey has diligently documented the ballyhoo around trendbucking for quite some time, but this recent [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 2:45pm EST
  by oyster

• "A man with priorities so far out of whack does not deserve such a fine automobile"

  Number of comments: 6
  From an AP story titled "Texas man drives Bugatti into pond; blames bird"
  
  Police say a low-flying pelican distracted a driver in Texas, causing him to veer off a road and drive his million-dollar sports car into a salt marsh.
  
  La Marque police Lt. Greg Gilchrist [...]
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 11:54pm EST
  by oyster

• "insouciance, myopia and shortsightedness"

  Number of comments: 3
  Commenter joejoejoe checks in and alerts us to some specific excerpts from the recent ruling of interest. Joejoejoe writes:
  ===
  
  If you get a chance, read through pages 147-150 in the judge's ruling against ACoE. (189 page PDF here)
  
  A few choice excerpts...
  
  pg. 148
  [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 11:58am EST
  by oyster

• James "wtf" Perry crushes mayoral frontrunners in debate

  Number of comments: 31
  Mayoral candidate James Perry should scrap the planned "What the F---" ad, and just fashion a campaign commercial using clips from his recent debate performance.
  
  It's rare in politics for things to line up so well, to be in the fortunate position of having the most well-known [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 7:28pm EST
  by oyster

• The Filter at Humid Beings

  I'm introducing a new weekly blog at Humid Beings called "The Filter". It's going to be more or less like my longer YRHT posts-- witty, link happy, semi-cogent-- but I'll be publishing them each Wednesday (more or less) under "oyster".
  
  The initial effort is about [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 6:17pm EST
  by oyster

• I've reconsidered my opposition to the death penalty

  Number of comments: 0
  And I'm reviewing my stand on lynching, for good measure.
  
  In an article with the inadequate title of "Ex-wife of jailed official injured in fight", the T-P reports:
  
  The father of Candy Edwards' child has been arrested after an altercation that left the former wife of ex-Gov. [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 9:40am EST
  by oyster

• "Does have a little wang in it. Good, though."

  Number of comments: 4
  Grandmaster Wang titled his latest Saints post with a Morrissey lyric. This was a risky move, to be sure. Morrissey and football have been combined before, with substandard results.
  
  But the Grandmaster is not finished. With hand in glove, reaching deep, Wang pulls out an even gayer [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 8:51pm EST
  by oyster

• Hard to Resist

  Number of comments: 3
  
  
  I won't tune in specifically for this, but I can definitely see myself coming across it and getting totally sucked in.
  
  Didn't Seagal make a film titled "Blood Impulse"? [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 12:14pm EST
  by oyster

• Odd

  Number of comments: 6
  Why is Mary Landrieu sending campaign funds to the U.S. Treasury? [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 12:01pm EST
  by oyster

• I love rock'n roll

  Number of comments: 7
  Early in my youth, when I was young, just a little kid, wanting to have fun...
  
  Believe it or not, Joan Jett was something of a musical awakening for me. She absolutely knocked me over when I first heard her on the radio. Through her, I learned that I [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 2:02am EST
  by oyster

• "Irrefragable evidence"

  Number of comments: 4
  I'd like it if the amateur metallurgists who claim that 9/11 was an [implausibly] grand conspiracy by a hyper-competent government would instead focus their energies on the smaller, truer (and therefore more pernicious) conspiracies inside the aftermath of the attack. With all due respect to Youtube videos that explain' [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 11:50pm EST
  by oyster

• 13

  Number of comments: 3
  We Saw That links to a digest about the superstitions surrounding the number thirteen.
  
  LEGEND HAS IT: ...If you have 13 letters in your name, you will have the devil's luck (Jack the Ripper, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy and Albert De Salvo all have 13' [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 12:30am EST
  by oyster

• Early thanksgiving

  Number of comments: 0
  "In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for. As for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican."
  
  -- H.L. Mencken
  
  Evidence.
  
  (via SD) [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 5:02pm EST
  by oyster

• "With ingenuity and determination"

  Number of comments: 9
  From The Lens:
  
  The death of daily newspapers has been predicted for decades, but in the past year their decline accelerated. The consequence of diminished investigative reporting is especially dire on the Gulf Coast where communities remain in the throes of post-disaster recovery, with public policies undergoing major [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 3:39pm EST
  by oyster

• Change da "great debate"

  Number of comments: 1
  This year, Saints QB Drew Brees may get the chance to beat both of these guys. [...]
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  Posted: November 13, 2009, 1:23pm EST
  by oyster

• Defeat the radical Metroplexual agenda

  Number of comments: 10
  A NW LA Who Dat is requesting your assistance. Apparently the Shreveport Fox affiliate can't decide whether to broadcast the Saints or the Dallas Cowboys football game this Sunday. So they've created an online poll that will determine the outcome. As the Who Dat fan explains
  
  The rivalry between [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 2:26pm EST
  by oyster

• Why are women getting so hysterical over the passing of Stupak?

  Number of comments: 2
  Certainly Stupak was an ugly entity, seemingly from another era. But if you take the time to inspect Stupak's life, I think you can find a certain bizarre charm to the man. (For example, did you ever see the old curmudgeon get irritated on GSN's High Stakes Poker? Funny [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 11:31am EST
  by oyster

• I don't understand this thing at all

  Number of comments: 13
  Chris Johnston showed us these entertaining "You Suck at Photoshop" tutorials.
  
  I still say Michael at 2 Millionth Web Log does photoshop commentary like no one else. For instance, you might go to hell if you look at this photoshop graphic Michael put together, but [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 11:08pm EST
  by oyster

• Cao bucks GOP Whip!

  Number of comments: 32
  T-P reports how the LA delegation voted on the House's health care reform bill:
  
  In the end... Rep. Anh "Joseph'' Cao, R-New Orleans, voted "yes" late Saturday night, making him the only Republican in the House to vote for a bill that passed 220-215.
  
  Cao also was'" [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 12:35pm EST
  by oyster

• messin' with sasq, watch

  Number of comments: 1
  WallStreetJackass asks
  
  Is it wrong if this turns me on?
  
  Yes but only slightly.
  
  (Determining the exact amount of "wrongness" will require multiple viewings, so check back for a precise moral diagnosis at a later time.)
  
  
  ---
  * [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 6:59pm EST
  by oyster

• Brian Denzer contends "What gets measured gets done"

  Number of comments: 1
  A teaser quote from Denzer's excellent op-ed in the Times Picayune:
  
  Right now, what separates New Orleans from Baltimore is 1,000 miles-- and 10 years of government reform.
  That, and few other things. Like their preference for the "Hon" colloquialism, for instance.
  
  Seriously, go read Brian Denzer's [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 1:22pm EST
  by oyster

• Drone Jett and the Black Ops

  Number of comments: 1
  Is "Drone Jett and the Black Ops" the best name you've heard for a punk rawk band, or what? Anyone who wants to use this name for their own upstart punk band (a female lead voice works best), please feel free.
  
  A little snippet of local punk history inspired' [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 12:40pm EST
  by oyster

• Couhig: the duke of dithering

  Number of comments: 0
  How does Rob Couhig get away with attending forums for mayoral candidates when he won't yet declare whether he's actually going to run?
  
  Recall that in '06 Couhig blasted Mitch Landrieu for taking too long to decide whether to run for mayor. He criticized him on' [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 4:58am EST
  by oyster

• Yes Sir!

  Number of comments: 0
  Chef Who Dat was there to capture a magic moment in the Dome.
  
  Bless Dem Boys... and the Saints, too. [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 8:42pm EST
  by oyster

• In-effing-deed

  Number of comments: 18
  In an important post that you should read more than once, Jeffrey writes:
  
  something must explain why a supposedly free people allow themselves to be ruled and misused this way; why we arrive at a government that can't deliver water to stranded citizens but can build a mini-GITMO' [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 6:57pm EST
  by oyster

• "The game is up, brah."

  Number of comments: 3
  
  Surprised Muppets
  
  
  
  Greg Meffert may be surprised, but he shouldn't be. The Times-Pick-On-You reports:
  
  A federal grand jury this morning indicted former city technology chief Greg Meffert, his wife, Linda Meffert, and his former friend' [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 3:41pm EST
  by oyster

• An olympian-sized whopper

  Number of comments: 5
  A very talented and informed YRHT fan alerted me to mayoral candidate John Georges' interview on Eric Asher's radio show. Towards the end of the interview, when Asher asks Georges about his connections to Sherman Copelin, Georges states that he "didn't spend any money in the [New'" [...]
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  Posted: November 06, 2009, 1:51pm EST
  by oyster

• "Insensitive weirdo", indeed.

  Number of comments: 9
  Professor Sadow writes a masturblog titled "Between the Lines", and he caught my attention again. I call Sadow's web journal a "masturblog" because he links back to himself so often that it becomes a rather tedious display of online onanism.
  
  Anyway, this time he's defending Vitter [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 7:47pm EST
  by oyster

• Blogging 101

  Number of comments: 7
  

  
  What: Blogging 101 Class: An Introduction to Blogging for the Utter Novice
  When: Thursday, Nov. 12; 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
  Where: The Bridge Lounge, 1201 Magazine St
  Why: To Learn About Blogging and for Free Beer.
  Who: Rising Tide

  This class will be taught by [...]

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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 10:43am EST
  by oyster

• More Flaming Liberal commentary

  Number of comments: 2
  “What Jefferson Parish Gives in Contracts, Parish President Aaron Broussard’s Appointee Tim Whitmer Receives!”
  
  Dear Blogger:
  
  Re: “Jefferson Parish officials got cut in insurance deal,” By Richard Rainey, New Orleans Times-Picayune, November 1, 2009
  
  Many thanks to Richard Rainey and the Times-Picayune for lifting a [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 2:29pm EST
  by oyster

• Commentary from David C. Bellinger

  Number of comments: 3
  “Why There are Critics of the Federal Hate-Crimes Legislation, like Jindal and Vitter, Who are Hypocrites”
  
  Dear Blogger:
  
  A person capable of enacting a hate crime, perhaps, and just maybe, might be dissuaded from committing a violent act due to the enhanced resources to prosecute and punish [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 1:26pm EST
  by oyster

• "To remain dominant in the future, we need to dominate the central nervous system."

  Number of comments: 6
  That quote is from Merck's research director.
  
  If you missed it, Steve Silberman's Wired article titled "Placebos are getting more Effective. Drugmakers are desperate to know why" is well worth your 15 minutes to read.
  
  It chronicles Big Pharma's heroic battle against sugar pills.
  
  Half of' [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 10:15am EST
  by oyster

• James Perry's 5 actions in 5 days

  Number of comments: 7
  Here is a summary of the the policy initiative Mayoral candidate James Perry introduced today, interspersed with brief bits of praise.
  
  During mayoral transition, we will conduct a national search to hire a new Superintendent for the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD). I will appoint a diverse citizen’s [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 11:05pm EST
  by oyster

• The Saints are like nicely restored wood furniture

  Number of comments: 5
  You can smell the "great finish"*.
  
  Well, it might not have been a "great" finish over the Falcons, but, like the Miami game, the Saints found ways to overcome mistakes that would've proven tragically lethal for any other Saints team. And, given the history of this franchise, that's a [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 10:23am EST
  by oyster

• Announcement from James Perry for Mayor campaign

  Number of comments: 5
  ***Media Advisory for TUESDAY, November 3rd at 1:30 p.m. CST***
  
  James Perry to Make Major Campaign Announcement Outside City Hall, Will Unveil Major Policy Initiative and Challenge Candidates to Take These Immediate Steps to Turn New Orleans Around NOW
  ===
  
  I'll update this post after Perry's announcement. I [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 8:12pm EST
  by oyster