Your Tax Dollars At Work

So Bobby Jindal thinks it’s a good idea to upgrade the Superdome rather than use the money to help  people who are still trying to rebuild their homes.

 

 

 

Recovery money redirected to Superdome upgrades

April 19, 2012, 5:06 p.m. CDT

AP

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Jindal administration has gotten permission to redirect federal hurricane recovery money from housing aid programs to Superdome upgrades.

Federal approval was discussed Thursday in the Senate Finance Committee and was confirmed by Christina Stephens, a spokeswoman for the governor’s Division of Administration.

Nearly $7 million is being moved from recovery programs, including fisheries assistance, small business loans and housing aid, to another program that will help pay for improvements to the Superdome, where the New Orleans Saints play.

The proposal needed approval from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees the spending of the billions of dollars in block grant aid allocated to Louisiana after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, a Democrat from New Orleans, had asked for the money shift to be scrapped, saying the plan was ill-advised because people still are struggling to rebuild more than six years after Katrina.

Gov. Bobby Jindal’s commissioner of administration, Paul Rainwater, said the Disaster Recovery Unit was shifting unused dollars returned after several parishes said they weren’t needed for the programs to which they had been divvied up.

The money is being sent to a local government infrastructure program, and from there, will be used for Superdome repairs and improvements that didn’t qualify for FEMA aid after Katrina. More than $40 million from the fund already has been used on the domed stadium.

WWWWHHHHHHAAAAATTTTTTTT??????!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Nice try Cedric but, those folks don’t give a damn about “the people”…it’s all about “the green”.

So America, don’t be bitchin’ and moaning to folks in this area saying ” y’all got all of that money to rebuild and what did you do with it”   cuz you see where it’s going right here.

Nobody thought to see who else needed help rebuilding so they could receive the funds huh?

I’m sure there are a LOT of folks still struggling.

I was just in the lower 9 a few days ago…how about putting some money there Jindal?!

This is some crazy shit…just crazy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun…Fun…Fun.

Well, the city provided a fun-filled weekend once again! NavySeal and I went to see The Lion King on Thursday.  My only regret is that, I waited until the end of its’ run to go.

I wanted to see it again…it was just that wonderful.

There is absolutely no way to describe the splendor of that musical. All I can say is, if it’s heading your way, go see it!!!

The auditorium was filled to capacity. I don’t think there was one empty seat.

I read somewhere that it broke the New Orleans box office record and grossed  6.5 million..wow.

Next time I go to a musical, I’m wearing pants…I looked cute but, I was cold.

The French Quarter Festival was this weekend. We went Friday and that was a great day to be out there.

The weather was beautiful!

The crowd was just right…not too heavy…not too light.

We started off in Jackson Square, found some shade (which was a hard thing to do) then,set out to find some tasty dishes.  All veteran festival goers know that, ya gotta have a plan. There’s just too much out there to be wandering around all willy-nilly.

 

 

Ya know ya gotta get some sort of drink while ya out there. NavySeal was drinking Abita cuz, he supports local beer…

and I had a daiquiri cuz, I’m a punk when it comes to drinking.

After listening to a few Jazz Bands play,we headed to Woldenberg Park.  I was thankful for the cool breeze blowing off of the Mississippi River.

It felt 10 degrees cooler over there.

NS found some chargilled oysters,

I had crab cakes with crawfish cream sauce,

A great time was had by all!

I heard that it was mad packed on Sunday. I’m glad I picked Friday to go.

I was happy to see a lot of tourists out there.

How do I know they were tourists?

The beads are a dead give away.

The Jazz Festival begins on the 27th…I haven’t decided what day I’ll be out there yet but, it’ll probably be Thursday.

I do love my city.

Oh, and since Tom Benson has purchased the New Orleans Hornets and everyone is trying to find a new name for the team…

a name that has a local vibe to it but, puts fear in folks at the same time…

I have the perfect name for the team.

The New Orleans FORMOSAN TERMITES!!   lol

Have a fabulous rest of the week y’all!

New Nursing Home Trend

Many moons ago, the only people  living in nursing homes were the elderly.  If your parents or grandparents needed 24 hour care, you could put them in a home where there would be nurses and aids there 24-7  to assist them.

But, there’s a new trend going on( here in Louisiana for sure).

Facilities that previously only had elderly people are now getting young folks,

folks in their 20’s-50’s…way too young to be in a facility with the elderly.

Not only that, a lot of these young people have mental health problems

or drugs and alcohol problems.

Some of the young people who end up in these facilities are helpful to the elderly.

But a lot of times, they intimidate the elderly to the point where the elderly are afraid to say anything against them.

Then, there’s the abuse

and the situation of having young, sexual men in a place

with females who are either elderly or

mentally challenged.

I received a phone call today informing me that an elderly female in one such facility was raped by a male living there.

That’s a hard pill for a family member to handle.

You think you’re doing the right thing by your loved one,

putting her somewhere medical care is available,

meals are being served,

she can no longer wander out of the home so, she’s supposedly safe.

Then, you get a call saying someone raped her there.

The nursing game has changed.

It’s sad but, it’s true.

I’ve heard horror stories over and over again.

I’ve witnessed horror stories too.

Since there aren’t any place for the mentally ill to go anymore, it seems the new trend is to put them into nursing facilities.

But what happens to the poor elderly people who have to be there…

with a paranoid schizophrenic,

who refuses to take his medication?

Who’s  really protecting them?

Folks call the state all the time and nothing ever changes.

If anyone is thinking about putting their loved one in a nursing care facility,

do your research first.

Don’t believe what they tell you.

Visit there at different hours of the day.

Walk every single hall in the facility.

Take note of the mental capacity and age of everyone you see,

employees included.

Let your senses be your guide.

What do you see, hear,smell?

Hang around for lunch and order a plate,

how does it taste?

Do you see residents wandering around aimlessly or

are they engaged in activities?

What is the work environment like?

Happy employees take better care of people.

Visit as many places as humanly possible before making a decision about where you’ll put your loved one  because,

the game has changed.

Healthcare has changed…

and the elderly are suffering because of it.