Cancel Culture in the Big Easy

 So the New Orleans city council plans to re-name some 37 streets, parks and other civic monuments that had been named for Civil War figures. What I wonder is how Google Maps, Waze and other GPS aps are going to keep up with the name changes. Will the data base have both names or will people not be able to find the new street because the software only knows the old name? What is the cost of all these modifications? 

And as I said before, why do we still have things named after signers of the Southern Manifesto?

NOLa Gun Ban Possible

Latoya Cantrell, the Democrat Mayor of New Orleans, issued an emergency order that gives her the authority to ban sale of guns and alcohol. Evidently the city learned nothing about the 2nd Amendment after Katrina.

In fact, people who never thought they needed a gun are flocking to stores to pick one up. The thought of all these guns in the hands of inexperienced people makes me more nervous than COVID 19.

The Broken Window Theory - New Orleans Style

There has been a rash of car break ins in New Orleans in the past few weeks. The thieves are quite blatant breaking car windows while people are in church on Sunday. They have targeted certain areas of the city including students at UNO. So far, there has been little police or government response except for one councilcritter who called the crimes a "nuisance".

In other news, the city owes about $25 million to drivers who were ticketed by speed control cameras. Some cameras were ticketing drivers when schools were not in session and even in school zones where the school had been abandoned. This was exacerbated by the actions of Ray Nagin from 2 administrations ago. He turned over the collection of fines to a city department instead of the police. The court ruled against this and ordered all the fines repaid. Obviously, the city can't afford to pay them.

Finally, the current mayor has been found to owe about $95,000 to the IRS. Well, she's a democrat so why not?

More NOLa Fail

We learned today that the Sewerage and Water Board almost pumped raw sewage in the Mississippi River when a valve failed. They were able to avert this disaster but now the valve is held open with hydraulic jacks and wooden shims. How would that affect me? The water intake for my drinking water is downstream!

NOLa Fail

New Orleans, never a shining star city on a hill, has been having more than it's usual share of problems lately. The ferry from Canal Street to Algiers has been out of service for a year because they cannot get USCG inspections on the new ferries. It was so bad that the Coast Guard refused to provide a punch list, instead telling them to go read the regulations.

There have been almost weekly boil water advisories as water mains fail. A recent 30" water main failure flooded streets and cars.

There was a mass shooting over Thanksgiving weekend when 10 people were shot (nobody killed ,luckily) on Canal Street. I bet you didn't hear about it on the national news because that's Bayou Classic Weekend, the football game between two rival African American universities. (The shooters were later arrested over in St. Mary Parish)

To add to the Sewerage and Water Board problems, they blew up a turbine at their main water treating plant. The concussion rattled the neighborhood and injured two employees. Details have not been forthcoming so I'm not sure if it was a natural gas turbine or one of the old (circa 1930) steam turbines. (The SWB generates their own power as most of their pumps operate on a different frequency from the Entergy grid)

And finally, the city has had to shut down their computer system due to a cyber attack.

PS: This morning the news reported an explosion and car fire in the French Quarter about 1 block from Bourbon Street. Three manhole covers were blown off and the street around the manholes was buckled.The cause was not immediately understood but now they are saying that the cause was an accumulation of methane gas from human waste. This is troubling for a couple of reasons. First, it means that the sewer and the drainage system are connected which they are not supposed to be. Second, it means that the drainage system is blocked. UPDATE - Sewage got into an Entergy electrical vault and an arc ignited the methane. Source of sewage is not known.

Final Flight

If you've been to the World War II museum in New Orleans, you have seen the war birds on display in the Boeing Center. This is a time lapse video of how they were installed in their final positions.

I cannot imbed the video so the link to it is here.

Crane Demolition at the Hard Rock Collapse

Nothing is more fun than watching things blow up. You can imagine the excitement in New Orleans with people wanting to see the implosion of the two cranes at the Hard Rock hotel collapse. The left crane topped and actually imbedded itself in the street and is now standing like a spear in the ground. While the second crane didn't come completely down, it was planned to fall into the building but missed it's target by a few feet, everyone seems to be satisfied with the result. Some businesses in the area lost windows from the pressure wave. Enjoy.

New Orleans Hard Rock Hotel Collapse

This is a good drone video of the New Orleans Hard Rock Hotel Collapse.

The two tower cranes are both damaged and engineers do not know how to brace them as the building is not stable. There are concerns about the weather this weekend bringing wind and rain. An area around the building has been evacuated and traffic blocked.

Sweet Revenge

The ratings are in and Superbowl LIII was the least watch Superbowl of all time. In New Orleans, where we had a special animosity for that game, viewership was half of what it was last year.Instead, we had a party in the French Quarter.

I hope that Roger Goodell doesn't have to visit New Orleans in the future. If he does, he probably should not eat out in public.

The Curious Cat

A cat got into an Entergy New Orleans substation the other day, causing a power outage to some 7500 customers. Needless to say, it did not end well for the cat.

Curious Cat + High Voltage Equipment = Crispy Critter.

Mailer Daemon Movie

My nephew has written and directed a short film about the guy that returns your emails to you. It was filmed at his dad's house. They built the set in his garage and scrounged props from the family to set up the office. They used some of the crew from NCIS New Orleans while the show was on hiatus. This is a short about the behind the scenes action.

Dysfunctional City

Two days of 25 degree temperatures and New Orleans has gone to Hell in a Handbasket. Major highways (I-10, Miss River Bridge, Causeway) were shut down for black ice and there were no contingency plans except to wait for warmer weather. Besides water lines breaking to private residences, they lost some water mains. Water pressure got so low they had to issue a boil water advisory and high rise building (hotels and offices) were closed due to lack of water pressure. There wasn't enough water pressure at the airport to flush toilets. Several areas lost power. The local Homeland Security guys were caught totally flat footed. When Trump talked about S Holes, he should have included NOLa.

The 12 Yats of Christmas

This is a traditional New Orleans Christmas Song. A "Yat" is someone born in New Orleans. The etymology of the word comes from the traditional greeting, "Where y'at?"

Save the Date

Date changed.

On Wednesday, August 15, 2018 I will be giving a talk at the World War II Museums Lunch Box Lecture Series. These are a twice a month free lectures on various war related topics. The speakers range from history professors to amateur history buffs like me. I will be talking about U 853 which was the last German submarine sank off the east coast. If you are in New Orleans on that day, feel free to drop by.

PT 305

The PT 305 is afloat near Lakefront Airport (KNEW). She has been named "USS Sudden Jerk". This was the name given to her by her plank owner crew after she had a jolt during a docking maneuver. She is available for deck tours and for rides if you are a recent lottery winner. This is the only operational combat veteran PT boat. She is credited with sinking 2 German lighter barges in the Mediterranean. The deck tour lasts 45 minutes and gives a detailed description of her operation and weapons systems.

About 20% of her is original. She was rebuilt over a period 10 years to her original design specs and construction techniques. She survived because the Navy brought European Theater PT boats back to the US in preparation for sending them to the Pacific. After the war she was a tour boat and an oyster dragger.

The wheel is an original wheel. Andrew Higgins, who built these boats, gave it to a friend from his surplus stock after the war and he displayed it on his mantle for years. As soon as he died, his wife, who hated it, donated it to the museum

Points for anyone who can identify this instrument.

It was tight quarters for her crew of 11.

Torpedo launch was roll off, not from a launcher. Deck rails are a modern safety requirement and not part of the original kit.

Chargrilled Oysters

Louisiana goodness.

(This was a test post from my Android phone. Getting ready for an extended trip and posting will be done from the road)

PT 305 Underway Under her Own Power

A Mardi Gras Problem

More Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras

Something to get you in the mood.