MRGO Litigation

Five plaintiffs are suing the Corps of Engineers theorizing that Mississippi River Gulf Outlet exacerbated flooding in the New Orleans area by acting as a funnel for the storm surge and killing surrounding wetlands. The Corps is immune from suit in its capacity as flood protection builder, but these plaintiffs are trying to sue the Corps in its navigation maintenance capacity.

This suit is a big deal, as there are hundreds of thousands of plaintiffs in the area that could join. The trial will be going on in the coming weeks. You can follow it at Nola.com, or in even more detail at this blog:

slabbed. (Look for MRGO posts)

There was no Sunday Funday, because there was no Sunday Fun-- only law school finals preparation. :(

And what will we be getting for our money...

At a time when so much of the country is struggling financially, the East Baton Rouge parish public school system will go into next year with a 130 million dollar boost- 50 some odd from a surplus and more than 80 million from the federal stimulus package.

On it's face, an investment of money into education seems like a good thing. But such a large amount of money above the normal- seems to me like a great big opportunity for waste. (Without a system to figure out how to best spend that money, etc.) Anyways, I guess I'll just try and pay attention next year and keep some tabs...

2theadvocate.com | Education | Stimulus to aid EBR schools — Baton Rouge, LA

Where will we find the money?

Money to restore Louisiana coastline is cresting but won't last

This is very disconcerting. I had thought offshore revenues would have a greater impact sooner.

Woo hoo! Jindal makes plans to pump sediment!

Coastal loss solution as clear as mud « The CityBusiness Blog

Coming soon: a thoughtful review of the draft "NOLA master plan"

In the meantime, check it out for yourself.

New Orleans Master Plan and CZO | Home Page

Sunday Funday: Bread Pudding Poboy

First off, happy Easter!!

Yesterday the family and I had a long, exhausting trek around the metro area looking for wedding venues. After all of that, we deserved some good food. So we went to Ye Olde College Inn-- it's in a new building (next door to the old location). In case you haven't been, this is a great, inexpensive New Orleans establishment that is a wonderful idea for out-of-towners. Especially now, in the new building, which is charming and covered in paintings and other relics of New Orleans' past.

Anyways, I had the veal and brown gravy, which was delicious. But I split it with Mom because Dad told me that there was a dessert that I really needed to try.

And then... wow. The "Bread pudding poboy" at College Inn is not really a poboy but two lightly fried slices of bread pudding with rum sauce in the middle. The outer crust is reminicent of beignets and the inside is that perfect bread pudding texture. Amazing. Five stars.

And apparently it won "best in show" at the Po-boy festival last November.
Po-Boy festival winners announced - Judy Walker: New Orleans Times-Picayune Food - NOLA.com

Beautiful Post: My Love Letter to New Orleans

My Love Letter To New Orleans - The Causemopolitan

Reading: Ivor van Heerden, who pointed fingers in Hurricane Katrina levee failures, fired by LSU

Ivor van Heerden, who pointed fingers in Hurricane Katrina levee failures, fired by LSU - Breaking News from New Orleans - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com

I think the people of this state deserve an explanation.

More: I understand that some say he is a troublemaker- I only know what I have read about him in the papers. Young, new to the scene and semi-naive, I am not in the position to guess how much merit the university's decision has. That's why I would like an explanation!

The university said it does not involve his performance. If that's true, it's a shame he didn't have tenure. Even if everything he said didn't turn out in the end to be correct, it is still good to have people who can educate themselves and then speak what they believe is the truth. I have never believed that finger-pointing can solve problems in the coastal zone. On the other hand, if we don't recognize and learn from past mistakes, we repeat those mistakes. That's why we need at least a few brave souls who will tell us honestly what they think went wrong. Those are my two cents.

I know I'm happy. (And busy!!!)

Louisiana ranked fifth 'happiest' state in the nation - Money

Sunday Funday, Part 2: How professors really grade...

Many thanks to our good-hearted profs who participated in revealing the TRUTH. lol.



PS: The Tulane Summit was great!

Sunday Funday: Attorneys at LawN

I'm very proud to present this video, which was created by my extremely talented and hilarious classmates at LSU Law, for your Sunday Funday viewing enjoyment.

(this is what happens when you combine creativity, a great sense of humor, and acute senioritis)

Check it out: Chicago Toilets contribute to Gulf 'Dead Zone'

City Room™ - Science - How Chicago Toilets Lead to Gulf 'Dead Zone'

This piece from Chicago Public Radio is great!! Upriver pollution wreaks so much havoc on Louisiana's environment as the Mississippi River drains almost all of the central U.S.'s waste right into our precious ecology. One of the many negative effects is the Dead Zone in the Gulf- an area of water the size of New Jersey that is pretty much unable to sustain life. Serious national legislation is needed and overdue on this issue. It's wonderful to see that awareness may be rising up there!

Thanks to Frank Truesdale's Infotrawl at Louisiana Coast Post for this great catch!

The Three Main Goals of this Blog and an Invitation for You

1. This blog is borne out of my love for Louisiana and my passion to ensure its bright future- particularly when it comes to coastal restoration and hurricane protection. Every single morning I dive into a variety of Louisiana news and commentary sources, and then at work I spend hours pouring over coastal law and policy documents. The people who love me can tell you that my brain is an obsessive information-collecting-machine and random-idea-generator. That's why Think Big Easy's first main goal is to share this flow of information and ideas so that it might help someone to "Think Big"-- and gain a larger perspective on Louisiana issues that will hopefully spur informed decision-making and creativity.

2. In the same vein, I know that I do not have the full perspective on anything. This is why my second main goal for this blog is to generate discussion. Please if you have something to add, any kind of update, any helpful link, or can see that I'm missing something, jump in and spit it out! Comments are enabled and encouraged. Slap your blog or website down, and I'll visit it and comment.

Caveat: criticism is welcome but nasty attacks will be deleted. I'm especially referring to political comments that are more inflammatory than thoughtful. Blame it on me, because I personally can be very sensitive. I appreciate that some people think that stuff is funny- but I don't and it distracts me from the point the writer is making. A little example off the top of my head: ripping on Jindal or Obama's budgets as irresponsible (with reasoning) would be perfectly fine and welcomed. But referring to Governor Jindal as Piyush or President Obama as B. Hussein Obama would not be OK. Not trying to offend you, just pointing out that I want a polite and wimp-friendly blog.

3. Finally, this blog's last main purpose is to celebrate Louisiana's culture, successes, and people. This means posting about artists, food, successful businesses, good news, or any other thing that explains our love for Louisiana and our willingness to work for its future. I do not believe that Louisiana is the only worthwhile place in the world to live, but it certainly is one of my favorite places because of our wonderful people and rich culture.

My Invitation to You: Thanks for reading this far! In line with the above three goals, if you have any ideas, a voice to add to any issue, see any interesting articles that are skipped over here, know a business, person or organization doing great things here in LA, would like to write a guest post, know a way to improve ThinkBigEasy.com or just found a neat youtube video or source that relates to the purposes of this blog, please share! I read all of my comments and may also be contacted through email on my blogger profile. And please pass this blog to along to anyone who might be interested! I'm new to the serious blogger community, but I'm in this for the long haul.

Thanks again!
jo

Reading: Houma "metro area" has lowest unemployment at 3.5%.

Local jobless rate still lowest in U.S. | HoumaToday.com | The Courier | Houma, LA

It's an economy powered by the offshore oil and gas industry, among others.

Northern LA legislators say "the coast is toast!"

Northern legislators form “Yankee caucus,” will file “the coast is toast” amendment shifting coastline to BR! | lacoastpost.com

Don't miss my comment at the end of the article!!!

Reading: LA tech industry growing fast!

Baton Rouge Business Report

Nola.com