Happy Holidays!!!

I have a request of all you bloggers. I ask that for just one day, no one insults anyone or intentionally misconscrue facts in an attempt to assasinate someone's character.

When I read the postings, sometimes I want to hit DELETE for the entire blog. I am in total agreement with Horace. If you haven't jumped in to help out, then you have no say. Let's start 2008 intelligently.

Merry Christmas ... Happy Chanuka ... Merry Quanza ... Merry Hajh (??)

Redirect ... Redirect

The intention of this blog is to draw out an intelligent discussion of changing the changable, disposing of the disposible and to help redirect the cities of Central Louisiana in a positive direction for all of it's citizens. The discussion is not to find out who is sleeping with whom or for the use of personal attacks.

Try this for an assignment ... How can Chuck Wagner and Chris Roy change what is perceived as being wrong with their respective offices? Folks, it's like this ... put up or shut up!

You can now answer your phone ...

It's over. Althought I predict that it will still be very interesting to watch what changes, what stays the same, and what disappears in a shell game. The rumors never truly end do they?

After visiting multiple polling places today, I was not surprised at the low turnout. The perfect storm formed today; the LSU game, hunting season and voter apathy. When negative campaigning begins people don't know who to believe and the rumors fly. Very much an old politcal trick, I believe the military calls it "disinformation".

On another note, I have a few personal observations. Michele, yes I am still speaking to you, why would I not? Your report thought was a little Dan Ratherish, if you catch my drift. A big bird told me tonight that William Earl visited the Wagner celebration and was booed. I hope not, that is truly bad manners. I was tempted earlier today to the possibility of sending Laurel wreaths to the winner's of the various races. Then I had a thought, would they even know what the wreaths meant? That's the problem these days ... everyone is to literal, not enough allegorical thinkers or moderates for that matter ...

Amen!

Tomorrow marks the culmination of two local "hot" races. Maxwell vs. Roy and Slocum vs. Wagner, seem to be the only things being discussed media wide in Central Louisiana. Althought all concerned stated their preference for a "clean" campaign, Louisiana being Louisiana, multiple sources have of course, made that a promise unfilled.

Most of the campaign fodder is so pathetic that it borders on the absurd. The one thing we have not heard is that "my opponent's dog bit the Postman twice last year, and three times the year before!" Personally, I want to know why I should vote FOR you, not against your opponent. One of my biggest turnoffs to vote for an individual are the organization behind them. No I do not mean Democrat or Republican, I have voted for both parties. I vote for the candidate.

Investigate your choices, and take a long look at how the landscape will appear after the election. Many have walked into a beautiful field only to find it laden with landmines.

Until we as a voting public stand up and say enough is enough, we can only expect more of this stupidity. Whom ever is elected to either post, will at least by me, be held accountable to do their jobs. Do what is best for the city, parish and state and you will always have my vote. Do otherwise and I will vote (and campaign) against you the next election.

Conservatively yours ... as always

Twelve Days Left ...

The two hot races in Alexandria are the Sheriff's race and the House Dist. 25th race. I would guess that shortly things will get a little testy, after all this is Louisiana.

New Thread! New Thread!!!!

My humble apologies fellow blogians! I have been traveling out of state as of late, and am even now adding this thread from the great state of Texas. My cell phone was very active today with calls about Senator Vitter's visit to Alexandria today as well as Bobby Jindal's visit as well.

I am sure that our city councilmen are behaving a bit more conservatively these days... they may be next. The President of the New Orleans council resigned yesterday after being indicted by the feds after being caught accepting kick backs. His "take" was less than $15,000. He should have run for Congress where you are able to take $90,000 and allow it to go unreported!

Once again the trough goes empty

Why do we allow our elected officials to do this to us? Maybe because not enough of us pay attention. The legislature (notice I did not use "our legislature") spends and spends. It would be great if they did so sensibly. What we need is infrastructure; repair, maintain, replace or new. We need a skilled workforce. We need an educated populace. We need jobs. We don't need to catch up with other states, we need to bypass them.

We have a chance to try a new group this coming election, let's give them a chance. If they fail, well, throw them out next election. If not Louisiana is doomed to loose it's population, it's businesses, and itself (coastline!).

Sincere Apologies

I apologize to our bloggers. I am in the process of selling, buying and moving. So in short here is your new thread!

Congratulations AG Foti?

Hmm, do we thank AG Foti for doing his job or wonder if there was another reason for his decision? I have thought for awhile on this perplexity. One wonders with the Landreau - Foti ties, that the "decision" of the AG was geared more by politics than law. Mitch's slate was cleaned in the New Orleans Mayor's race, the traditional Landreau political base. Mary, it seems will be in a real political battle for her office, hence her recent attempted retreat into conservatism. Charlie's (Foti) recent identification by James Carville as unable to spell "law" even if "he was given the L and the A". Could this all add up to an all out attack on Louisiana old line politicians? Perhaps Foti's decision was based more on a "heads down" mentality rather than law. I think I will name this the Shhh affect -- political camoflage. Why ring the doorbell and let people know your at the door when you can just walk in without drawing attention to yourself? My opinion: AG Foti's decision was based on not stirring up the population for the upcoming election cycle rather than upholding the law. The question at this point is his office. Will Louisianians consider him non commital or ineffectual? Either way he loses.

Foti versus Alexander

Foti = Landrieu = New Orleans old school machine
Alexander = local boy, energetic NOT a member of the machine.

I know both of these gentleman. My family ties with Foti go back aways, my grandfather taught Charlie's mother how to drive. They lived across the street from one another.

I met Royal while he was Clyde Holloway's Chief of Staff. I've only known Royal for around 5 or 6 years now and would gladly cast my vote in his direction.

You can bet by the way that AG Foti will allow Mr. Breaux to run. You have no idea how entrenched the "New Orleans" crowd is ... or perhaps I should say south Louisiana.

Wake up people, before long we won't have a population much less a coast line.

Breaux for Governor?

I fail to see why he can even consider the possibility? I am not an attorney and ask for an insiteful discourse here folks.


Residency is the issue here. In order for Mr. Breaux to "qualify" he must be a citizen of the state of Louisiana. He has a Maryland drivers license and is registered to vote there. So his LEGAL residence is in Maryland. He has to spend a day more than half the year to qualify for this residency. Therefore he IS a citizen of Maryland, not Louisiana. If he wants to return to Louisiana to help in it's recovery he can move his office here and by office I mean private sector. He is not qualified to run for any office in Louisiana ... if he wants to be Governor he can run in Maryland. If he wants to be Governor of Louisiana, he can move back and run in 2012.

Nuff said ....

David Vitter endorses Giuliani

Senator Vitter has joined the Giuliani Presidential campaign as the Southern Regional Chair.

Rudy's qualifications for President, in my opinion, are credible. Althought his philosophical leanings are quite liberal for the Republican party, Rudy has to win over the conservatives in the south to have a winable campaign. If he promises to follow the parties philosophies and not his own he can win over the conservative religious south. This I believe, will be the only way to truly win the vote. His personal life may bring up a few points of interest but after the Clinton years, can one really introduce Rudy's rather tame lifestyle? After all what is the definition of "is"?

Having personally met Mr. Giuliani, I found him to be both personable and cordial. His energy is postive and focused. This is not to be consrewed as a personal endorsement, as I have not met (so far) any of the other possible or declared candidates. More to come ....

Are you up to it?

This year we start another round of statewide and local elections.

This year we will elect a new Governor. Current polls place 1st District Congressman Bobby Jindal at the top, polling above 60%. Governor Kathleen Blanco isn't mustering half of that percentage.

From what I have "web garnered", the voting public is unhappy with the entire current top tier of government, with the exception of State Treasurer John Kennedy.

On the local level, we will be electing/re-electing State Senators, State Representatives, Coroners, Tax Asssessors, Police Juryman, Clerks of Court and Sheriffs.

So far candidates announced are Glenn Beard for State Rep Dist. 25; Herbert Dixon, State Rep Dist. 26. The big race looks to be the Sheriff's race (Rapides Parish). William Earl's retirement leaves a field of three vying for the job: Mike Slocum, Bill Robinson and Chuck Wagner. Already my ears have heard the rumblings of what may turn out to be a rough race. The dumptrucks are being prepped.

Anyone care to guess who will take the elections?

A litte Q & R a/k/a Que'in and Riverfest

Having been involved in RiverFest before my venturing into the depths of Que'in on Red, I can state emphatically that one was not chosen over the other by the city nor were sponsorships ripped from the moorings of Riverfest.

The idea of Que'in came about while I was on the board of RiverFest. The thought came from Pineville's concern over the turnout on Pineville's side of the river. It came to me that as Louisiana at that time did not have a barbeque festival of significant notice, this would be a perfect venue for the Pineville side. I approached first fellow board members Rich Dupree and Mayor Fields with the idea. As it would have had beer tied to it, it was never fully pursued. I have envisioned this part of RiverFest (yes it was to be a part of RiverFest) to have taken place at Lake Buhlow, contained behind the fence. I knew that it would overshadow RiverFest at some point in time and having had the discussion with fellow board members and others not associated with RiverFest, decided that it would be better as a seperate entity.

In the formation of Que'in, a decision by the committee was made to associate the festival with Memphis in May. Mulitple dates for the festival were sent to Memphis for approval. Memphis in May picked the date for the festival, no one in Alexandria had a say in that decision. We are in the Memphis in may circuit of events. This is important as the orginal idea also included bringing people from outside the area to Alexandria. Last year several of our entrants were from outside the state. This year we expect even more.

As to the absurd statement that Que'in went after the same sponsors that RiverFest used and drained the coffers, I can state this: As a business owner here in Alexandria, once you are known for giving to the community you are unindated with requests from everywhere, asking that you support their endeavors. You do what you can, but there is only so much to give and the decision to give is on the giver not the taker.

Before I close I will state this fact: While on the board of RiverFest, we did not have full board participation during the festival and at most meetings. The Que'in committee was there in it's entirety during the operation of the festival and we were never at attendance less than a quorum.

It is with sincere sadness that I heard RiverFest will not happen this year, I personally worked 4 years with other dedicated individuals to make it a success. My board term expired last year, however, had I been asked to remain, I would have done so and worked equally as hard to ensure it's future. But the two festivals have nothing to do with one another except in the conception of the idea of Que'in.

If you wish verification of the following statement, check with Myron Lawson, Charles Frederick Smith, Chuck Fowler, Lisa Harris, Mayor Fields, Rich Dupree and former Alexandria Mayor Randolph.

One Nation Under God ...

When will our elected officials and their constituents agree? Most people react emotionally rather than intellectually on issues. In today's mass communication, there are many "spins" placed on issues. To me an issue is as simple as a word problem. Break it down to its various components and work the problem. Issues are slanted either way by the parties (not Republican , Democrat or Independant folks) wanting to push their point of view. It is up to us as the public, to intelligently make the "correct" decision. In stating "correct", I say for the greater good. To many work only one side ... theirs. There must be balance to everything.

Now to start a new battle royale. Iraq. In looking at the problem as a whole, what is diseminated is that this is a worldwide issue. I have had many "disopinions" on this statement. We are not at war in Iraq. We are at war across the globe. The radical Muslim movement is not solely against the U.S., the are against our society. Proof? Everywhere their is trouble in the world, the radical Muslim movement is the "opposing" side. It is not Iraq, nor is it Afghanistan. It is Spain, France, Enlgland, the African continent, Malaysia, Jakarta, everywhere their is a cell. Trust me cells are everywhere, most importantly and of some concern is here in the United States.

There are those that wish to turn a blind eye to this, pacifism and igorance have caused us great loss in the past. Address the issue now. A splinter pulled immediately will cause discomfort temporarily, left to become infected takes longer to recover. If left unattended ....

Cenla Antics

Ad Nauseum

I apologize again for being remiss in posting a new thread. Apparently it is do to my being a "bad businessman" a "racist" a "bigot" and "Adolf Hitler".

I wish to communicate the following to certain segments of this blog:

1) this blog was initially set up for the use of like minded individuals. Those being intelligent, pragmatists who wanted to better their community. It has been taken over by illiterate, ner-do-wells who spread their self hatred and inadequecies upon those who don't wish to hear it and are villified and otherwise disgusted.

2) The number one reason I have chosen to answer these assinine remarks: Lamar is a very insightful individual. He is entitled to his opinions as ufortunately are you. Lamar's physical condition does not belong any where on this blog. Neither does who is sleeping with whom. To those that have been injured by the phycologically stupid bloggers here, I apologize deeply as do the other intelligent individuals that read and post on Cenla Antics.

3) Mr. Gregg Aymond, Do not come onto this blog and attack everyone and not expect to be attacked yourself. Mr. Aymond has taken it upon himself to threaten a lawsuit against me, because someone has apparently accused him of misconduct. Is this not what he is accusing others of? Mr. Aymond, I am a private citizen and not subject to the constraints of an elected official. Challenge me sir, Please. Apparently you have done quite well in your profession and while sitting back in your luxurious office can spend as much of your time as you want enflaming everyone that you deem a threat to you. I do not have the time or money to fight you, but fight I will.

4) Mr. Geoffrey Clegg, I am not a racist, marxist, or a bigot. Nor do I teach this philosophy. Do you understand that statement.

5) I served as the Parish Chairperson for the Bush/Cheney Campaign. I did so because I believe in the political process. I did so because I was tired of seeing my country go to hell while others sat and bitched. Many people have thought that I was a Democrat due to my stance on certian issues. I served on two foundation boards while in New Orleans ... one was environmental the other served in a medical capacity to help the third worlds children. The point is I have served.

6) Mr. Aymond, perhaps I should let you sue me. That way when you suppoena the IP addresses we can all see, who the stupid, vile and repulsive are.

7) THIS BLOG IS HERE TO STAY...if you don't like it, don't read it ... it's not a hard concept to understand.

8) If you don't like the two party system we have and you only want your way ... LEAVE THE COUNTRY.

9) Get back to work and do something worthwhile ... for yourself, your family, your country, your state and YOUR COMMUNITY