To the Louisiana House of Representatives and Speaker Jim Tucker for removing Rep. John LaBruzzo from his position as vice chairman of the House health care committee. In my opinion he should have been removed from the committee entirely, but at least our lawmakers had the presence of mind to address in some way LaBruzzo's outrageous suggestion that we pay the poor citizens in this state $1000 to be sterilized.
It is precisely people like LaBruzzo and his constituents who give our state its reputation for racism and ignorance. Can you imagine young, educated professionals reading stories like this and deciding Louisiana would be a great place to settle and raise children? Is it no wonder that our best and brightest college graduates decide to move elsewhere after college?
Yes, it is true that Louisiana has an unacceptable number of families on welfare, but the blame lies with our substandard educational system and the lack of a coherent plan to prevent poverty. If we are serious about solving the problems afflicting the poor in this state, we need to stop laying blame on their reproductive choices and start giving everyone access to quality education and job training.
LaBruzzo is an idiot. If anyone should think twice about reproducing, it's him.
State Representative and Republican John LaBruzzo of Metairie, LA (the area that also elected David Duke in '89) made us all proud to be from Louisiana this week when he proposed offering $1,000 to poor people in exchange for having them sterilized. I don't even know where to start with this one. It's one of those stories you read and literally yell at no one in particular, "WTF?"
I'm posting his picture here so you can get a good, long look at him.
This is exactly the kind of idiot who gets the microphone all too often in Louisiana. We are perceived as backwards, racist bigots constantly in the press, and no wonder. The sad thing is, I know his type - the heir to generations of white Southerners who believe every derrogatory stereotype concerning anyone of color, and who think all our problems will be solved if we just 'get all the negroes off welfare'. They've never personally known anyone of a different race or lower socio-economic status, but feel comfortable making blanket statements about their lives and motivations. It makes me sick, frankly.
This, of course, is not even touching on the fact that the whole idea of state-mandated and funded Eugenics is frightening and evil. EVIL.
You know, I love Louisiana. I truly, truly do. I was born here, and have lived here all my life. I'll be honest, though - it's hard to stay. It's hard to raise my children here surrounded with all this ignorance and racism that bombards us on a daily basis. I tell myself that my family needs to stay, that for this state to ever get any better young, educated professionals need to stop running to places with better health care, better educational and job opportunities, and higher standards of common human decency. I'll tell ya, though - this shit? It makes me want to pack up and run.
*Cross-Posted at The Wild Wild Left*
So far so good here in Lafayette, LA. We are watching the eye of the storm on television move over Morgan City, up the Hwy. 90 corridor on its way here. Still safe, still have electricity. Winds are gusting to around 40mph now, so things are deteriorating outside, and I expect them to continue to do so as the eye gets closer. The various news outlets are reporting that the Industrial Canal in New Orleans (that was breached in Katrina and devestated the Ninth Ward) has overtopped its levees and is causing some flooding. No word on the severity.
I will try to keep posting as long as possible, but for now we are fine. Keep us in your thoughts.
Via The Daily Kingfish and The Baton Rouge Advocate, Governor PBJ let an executive order protecting gay and lesbians in the workplace die yesterday. Originally enacted under Edwin Edwards, allowed to lapse by Mike Foster, it was signed again by Kathleen Blanco in 2004. Jindal's justification was that "State and federal law already prohibits discrimination". Well, here's the thing - the law actually doesn't protect gay rights in the workplace as written - that was the whole point of the addition. "I don’t think it is necessary to create additional special categories or special rights," Jindal said. Of course he doesn't. That would affect the client base of Exorcists like himself who think homosexuality is a result of demon infestation. And we must be able to deal with those pesky demons, mustn't we?
Louisiana Family Forum is a group that seeks to “persuasively present biblical principles” in political and other issues. During the campaigns last year, the group’s leaders told Jindal and some legislators running for office, how disappointed they were in Blanco for signing the executive order, said Gene Mills of Baton Rouge, the group’s executive director.What is wrong with you people? Seriously. How can you possibly have the balls to stand up with a straight face and claim that homosexuality is a danger to your children? All these people want to do is live their lives in peace like the rest of us, without fear of being fired for no reason other than who they go home with at night. That is none of your business. NONE. OF. YOUR. BUSINESS.“Gov. Jindal comes from a different mindset, understanding the damage that this potentially poses to children and to the economy. He decided not to re-up that executive order but to simply let it sunset,” Mills said.
As for economic impact? You're damned right it will have economic impact, because well-educated, productive, highly-trained people who would ordinarily consider Louisiana as a place to move to will now stay away because they have no job protection under state civil rights laws. But hey, we don't need any more intellectuals around here, do we? What a mistake that would be.
Jindal said he feared Blanco’s executive order interfered with “faith-based” groups that partner with the state. For instance, the state Department of Health and Hospitals contracts with religious groups that provide biblically based treatment for drug and alcohol abuse.
Under the federal civil rights act, which forbids discrimination in many public and private agencies, religious groups are allowed to pick and choose their associations. Because of that ability, many faith-based groups feared the Blanco order could preclude them from being paid for the services provided to the state.
“I do worry about them and they have expressed concerns,” Jindal said.
Excuse me, I have to go throw up now.
*Crossposted at The Wild, Wild Left*
In Honor of Earth Day, a reminder not to buy cypress mulch for your home garden. Every year, 20,000 acres of these beautiful and majestic trees are cut down and ground up to be used for nothing more than spreading around in suburban flower beds. Most of it comes from the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest swamp in the United States, which is located less than 20 miles from where I live.
The Forestry Industry loves to claim that the cypress they cut is sustainable, but the facts reveal that 80% of what is cut down cannot be regrown, due mostly in part to the levee system we have, which prevents the ancient, annual spring floods that renew and build up the soil. They can plant all the cypress seedlings behind they want - salt water intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico kills them within weeks.
Sadly, and yet typically, greed and the poverty level in this state play a huge role in the loss of our cypress forests. Most of the land in the Basin is privately owned, mainly by people who have little more than their land to their names. When the logging companies come with offers of a few thousand dollars to take their timber, all the while promising to replant and replace, they have few decliners. The state is woe to regulate an industry that brings in billions of dollars of revenue every year. Thus, the rape continues unabated.
Ironically, our elected officials are begging the federal government for more money to shore up and build more levees, while simultaneously allowing the removal of one of the most important natural barriers we have to storm surge and coastal erosion. In the few places where the levees held secure during Katrina and Rita, the cypress forests which flanked them were responsible.
This is of course in addition to the fact that the Atchafalaya Basin is one of the most rich and diverse eco-systems in the world. Thousands of species of animals live there, as well as hundreds upon hundreds of species of migratory birds that call it home for at least part of every year. When the cypress is gone, the eco-system will go with it, along with a good part of our heritage of hunting, fishing, trapping, and recreation.
Since it is clear that our local and state governments aren't terribly interested in saving the cypress forests, it is up to consumers to persuade logging companies that their efforts aren't worth it. Lowe's and Wal-Mart (can you believe that?) have stopped buying cypress mulch harvested here, but it can sometimes be very hard to track exactly where the mulch companies get their timber, since many don't directly harvest, but instead buy from third party operations. So do my beloved home a favor - DON'T BUY cypress mulch. Use pine bark, or pine straw, which is much more sustainable and is manufactured as a byproduct of lumber production.
More information:
Mother Jones has a great article on this subject called Mulch Madness.
Again from Mother Jones, a guide to sustainable mulch.
Atchafalaya Basin Waterkeeper Campaign to Save the Cypress/Tupelo Forests
Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana
Louisiana Purchase Cypress Legacy
