Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
10.27.09 Louis Armstrong in NY?
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
10. 22. 09 Gulf of Mexico and River Independent
NEW ORLEANS — The health of the Gulf of Mexico depends on, and is interdependent with, the health and management of the Mississippi River Delta and coastal Louisiana, speakers told the federal Ocean Policy Task Force on Monday.
Robert Twilley, professor with the department of oceanography and coastal sciences at LSU, said the aggressive loss of wetlands in Louisiana needs to be met with an equally aggressive adaptation of how the river is managed.
The sediment carried by the river is needed if a sustainable coastal landscape is going to be developed, he said.
Although the coast can’t be rebuilt to what it once was, “we can built a smarter coastal footprint,” Twilley said.
Paul Harrison, senior director for Mississippi River for Environmental Defense Fund, agreed and said it’s important for the task force to understand that the health of the Gulf of Mexico is tied to the health of the Mississippi River delta.
Improving the health of the coastal area in turn depends on reconnecting river resources with the coastal wetlands, Harrison said, and doing so will take a coordinated federal effort among many agencies.
If federal agencies don’t deal with the collapse of the delta ecological system, then the solutions of how the Gulf of Mexico will be managed will be much different, he said.
The task force was formed earlier this year by President Barack Obama to develop a national ocean, coastal and Great Lakes policy as well as come up with recommendations on ecosystem planning.
More than 300 people attended the task force’s fifth regional meeting where the panel heard from state officials, scientists and coastal nonprofit organization representatives.
Mark Davis, director of the Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy at Tulane University, urged the task force to remember that the upriver health contributes to coastal and ocean health.
“Oceans don’t begin and end with blue water,” Davis said.
The river is managed as a navigation portal and through a number of federal acts “but we don’t manage it as a river,” Davis said.
Denise Reed, professor with the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of New Orleans, said although there’s not as much sediment coming down the river as there was historically, there’s still a substantial amount — enough to fill the Louisiana Superdome 11 times every year.
Reed said that sediment is needed to help sustain and build marsh as it was once done before the levees were built.
“The future of coastal Louisiana is intimately related to how we decide to manage the lower Mississippi River,” Reed said. ......
from: 'Panel: Gulf, river interdependent' by Amy Wold, The Advocate
Robert Twilley, professor with the department of oceanography and coastal sciences at LSU, said the aggressive loss of wetlands in Louisiana needs to be met with an equally aggressive adaptation of how the river is managed.
The sediment carried by the river is needed if a sustainable coastal landscape is going to be developed, he said.
Although the coast can’t be rebuilt to what it once was, “we can built a smarter coastal footprint,” Twilley said.
Paul Harrison, senior director for Mississippi River for Environmental Defense Fund, agreed and said it’s important for the task force to understand that the health of the Gulf of Mexico is tied to the health of the Mississippi River delta.
Improving the health of the coastal area in turn depends on reconnecting river resources with the coastal wetlands, Harrison said, and doing so will take a coordinated federal effort among many agencies.
If federal agencies don’t deal with the collapse of the delta ecological system, then the solutions of how the Gulf of Mexico will be managed will be much different, he said.
The task force was formed earlier this year by President Barack Obama to develop a national ocean, coastal and Great Lakes policy as well as come up with recommendations on ecosystem planning.
More than 300 people attended the task force’s fifth regional meeting where the panel heard from state officials, scientists and coastal nonprofit organization representatives.
Mark Davis, director of the Institute on Water Resources Law and Policy at Tulane University, urged the task force to remember that the upriver health contributes to coastal and ocean health.
“Oceans don’t begin and end with blue water,” Davis said.
The river is managed as a navigation portal and through a number of federal acts “but we don’t manage it as a river,” Davis said.
Denise Reed, professor with the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of New Orleans, said although there’s not as much sediment coming down the river as there was historically, there’s still a substantial amount — enough to fill the Louisiana Superdome 11 times every year.
Reed said that sediment is needed to help sustain and build marsh as it was once done before the levees were built.
“The future of coastal Louisiana is intimately related to how we decide to manage the lower Mississippi River,” Reed said. ......
from: 'Panel: Gulf, river interdependent' by Amy Wold, The Advocate
Monday, October 19, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
10.18.09 READ more books, nola.....
READ, known as the Booker has spread from the Bywater down St. Claude and slowly making his way uptown. Although there seems to be a few opposed, I think it's pretty sick.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
10.10.09 Louisiana with most economic momentum....
Louisiana earns top ranking among states for "economic momentum"
ising personal incomes and a robust energy sector have combined to make Louisiana the top state for "economic momentum," according to a new report that tracks economic conditions in every state.The ranking by State Policy Reports, a Washington, D.C., newsletter affiliated with the National Governors Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures, marks the first time in at least a decade that Louisiana has topped the "index of state economic momentum."
It's also the latest indicator that Louisiana has thus far been less affected by the ongoing national recession that has left many states with double-digit unemployment rates and plummeting home values.
But Marcia Howard, the editor of the report, said the state's ranking could prove fleeting and be at least somewhat inflated by the influx of hurricane-recovery dollars into the state since the 2005 and 2008 hurricanes.
"It's not that Louisiana is going gangbusters. It's just that it's the least weak right now and that could easily change," Howard said.
But Louisiana's top economic development official said the ranking is at least partially due to aggressive efforts to retain existing companies and recruit new ones.
"Overall this ranking is in line with our perspective about Louisiana's economy since the beginning of the national recession: By any reasonable measure, Louisiana's economy has outperformed the South and the nation since the recession began," Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret wrote in response to e-mailed questions.
The index is determined by measuring personal income, employment and population growth in each state and comparing it to the previous year.
At a time when many states are experiencing aftershocks from the financial crisis and the housing bubble that helped cause it, the states with the most economic momentum are those that derive much of their wealth from natural resources such as coal, oil and natural gas.
West Virginia, which ranks highest for personal income growth (Louisiana ranks fifth), is largely dependent on coal, while North Dakota, which is ranked second overall, has an economy dominated by oil and agriculture. The other two states in the top five -- Oklahoma and Texas -- also have oil-dependent economies.
Many of the states at the bottom of the list, such as Nevada and Florida, have been hard hit by the housing bust that have seen real estate values drop sharply from their 2007 peaks.
Louisiana ranked 49th nationally as recently as December 2007, 25th last December and sixth in the previous ranking, which came out in March.
Moret said Louisiana's economy has benefited from not having a strong durable-goods and financial sector, since those have been particularly hard hit by the current recession. But he said the state's economy could take a hit in the coming months from a decline in industrial construction jobs, as several large projects are almost finished.
"And many of our manufacturing facilities are still struggling with relatively weak national demand for their products -- so even though the national economy appears to be hitting a floor and about to head back up, we're not out of the woods yet," Moret wrote.
'Louisiana earns top ranking.' Jan Moller, Times Picayune
Friday, October 9, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
10.8.09 Yes, this is green.
Papa Joe, 87
......and the best part, was right after we chatted for a good 20 minutes, thanked him then walked back to my Jeep, he yells out, "Oh wait, you forgot to give me your phone number!"
Haha, rascal.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
Thursday, October 1, 2009
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