From Westley at da-parish.com Mon Oct 26 07:39:04 2009 From: Westley at da-parish.com (Westley Annis) Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:39:04 -0500 Subject: [StBernard] St. Bernard housing rules pit neighbor against neighbor Message-ID: <0c2201ca5630$ebd6eaf0$c384c0d0$@com> "In the near term, Taffaro said there are plans in the works to craft a rental licensing ordinance that would improve enforcement and verify that properties with permits are actually being rented." They also need to look into ways to revoke permits when property owners/renters don't keep the property up. Syl From Westley at da-parish.com Mon Oct 26 07:39:26 2009 From: Westley at da-parish.com (Westley Annis) Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:39:26 -0500 Subject: [StBernard] Quotes on dogs Message-ID: <0c2301ca5630$f9ee3f80$edcabe80$@com> "Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful." - Ann Landers "From the dog's point of view, his master is an elongated and abnormally cunning dog." - Mabel Louise Robinson "Dogs' lives are too short. Their only fault, really." - Agnes Sligh Turnbull "My little dog - a heartbeat at my feet." - Edith Wharton "In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him." - Dereke Bruce "One reason a dog can be such a comfort when you're feeling blue is that he doesn't try to find out why." - Author Unknown "The best way to get a puppy is to beg for a baby brother - and they'll settle for a puppy every time." - Winston Pendelton "If a dog will not come to you after having looked you in the face, you should go home and examine your conscience." - Woodrow Wilson "A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than you love yourself." - Josh Billings "I love a dog. He does nothing for political reasons." - Will Rogers "Properly trained, a man can be dog's best friend." - Corey Ford "If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then giving Fido only two of them." - Phil Pastoret "My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am." - Author Unknown "Dogs feel very strongly that they should always go with you in the car, in case the need should arise for them to bark violently at nothing right in your ear." - Dave Barry "The pug is living proof that God has a sense of humor." - Margo Kaufman "Dachshunds are ideal dogs for small children, as they are already stretched and pulled to such a length that the child cannot do much harm one way or the other." - Robert Benchley "I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult." - Rita Rudner "The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog." - Ambrose Bierce "Man is a dog's idea of what God should be." - Holbrook Jackson "I think we are drawn to dogs because they are the uninhibited creatures we might be if we weren't certain we knew better. They fight for honor at the first challenge, make love with no moral restraint, and they do not for all their marvelous instincts appear to know about death. Being such wonderfully uncomplicated beings, they need us to do their worrying." - George Bird Evans "I talk to him when I'm lonesome like; and I'm sure he understands. When he looks at me so attentively, and gently licks my hands; then he rubs his nose on my tailored clothes, but I never say naught thereat. For the good Lord knows I can buy more clothes, but never a friend like that." - W. Dayton Wedgefarth "If you get to thinking you're a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else's dog around." - Will Rogers "They never talk about themselves but listen to you while you talk about yourself, and keep up an appearance of being interested in the conversation." - Jerome K. Jerome "Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made." - Roger Caras "No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does." - Christopher Morley "If you are a dog and your owner suggests that you wear a sweater... suggest that he wear a tail." - Fran Lebowitz "Life is like a dog sled team. If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes." - Lewis Grizzard "You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us." - Robert Louis Stevenson "I named my dog Stay so I can say, "Come here, Stay. Come here, Stay." - Steven Wright "Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea." - Robert A. Heinlein From Westley at da-parish.com Mon Oct 26 07:39:58 2009 From: Westley at da-parish.com (Westley Annis) Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:39:58 -0500 Subject: [StBernard] Holiday breads. . . Message-ID: <0c2401ca5631$0bfac310$23f04930$@com> Just in time for the holiday baking season! Even if you have no particular interest, please pass on to the bakers in your life. Just click on the name of the bread and bam the recipe appears! American Pancakes Apple Bread Apple Bread Applesauce-Rasin Bread Banana Bread Banana Nut Bread Banana Raisin Nut Bread Bishop's Bread Blueberry Nut Bread Broccoli Corn Bread Brown Bread Caramel Pecan Rolls Carrot Tea Bread Chelsie's Famous Monkey Bread Chocolate Bombs Chocolate Chip Muffins Christmas Morning Cranberry Muffins Christmas Shortbread Christmas Shortbread Cinnamon Buns Cinnamon Rolls Cinnamon Strips Cinnamon Sugar Toast Cornbread Sausage Dressing with Apples and Pecans Cranberry Banana Loaf Cranberry Biscuits Cranberry Bread Cranberry Muffins Crescent Caramel Swirl Date & Nut Bread Date Nut Loaf Double Chocolate Chip Muffins Doubly Good Yeast Rolls Easy Breakfast Treat Easy Cinnamon Rolls Eggnog Bread Gingerbread Delight Glazed Poppyseed Bread Grandma Joe's Brown Bread Grandma's Cranberry Bread Grand's Brown Bread Haley's Special Strawberry Bread Hawaiian Holiday Bread Holiday Cranberry Bread Holiday Stollen Bread Irish Soda Bread Irish Soda Bread Italian Sausage Bread Lemon Bread Maple Walnut Sticky Buns MeeMa's Strawberry Bread Monkey Bread Peanut Butter Mini Chip Loaves Pecan Sticky Rolls Pineapple-Zucchini Bread Pistachio Bread Pizza Bread Popovers Poppy Seed Bread Povatica (Walnut Bread) Pumpkin Bread Red Lobster Biscuits Skyline Apple Muffins Southern Style Biscuits Spinach Loaf Stephen Lichti's Bruschetta Strawberry Walnut Bread The Best Pumpkin Bread Zucchini Bread Zucchini Bread From Westley at da-parish.com Mon Oct 26 09:22:07 2009 From: Westley at da-parish.com (Westley Annis) Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:22:07 -0500 Subject: [StBernard] Holiday breads. . . Message-ID: <0c7d01ca563f$511b4330$f351c990$@com> Thank you for this post does anyone have the recipe for the Holy Cross Brother's Pull-Apart Bread ?? It may have gone by another name. My grandfather used to visit the brother's at Holy Cross (in the 60's and 70's) and bring us this particular treat. SJK From Westley at da-parish.com Mon Oct 26 16:45:17 2009 From: Westley at da-parish.com (Westley Annis) Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:45:17 -0500 Subject: [StBernard] Holiday breads. . . Message-ID: <0e4301ca567d$3a190760$ae4b1620$@com> I'd like it, if anyone has it. # 120 ____________________________________________________________________________ _ Thank you for this post does anyone have the recipe for the Holy Cross Brother's Pull-Apart Bread ?? It may have gone by another name. My grandfather used to visit the brother's at Holy Cross (in the 60's and 70's) and bring us this particular treat. SJK From Westley at da-parish.com Mon Oct 26 16:46:12 2009 From: Westley at da-parish.com (Westley Annis) Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:46:12 -0500 Subject: [StBernard] Holiday breads. . . Message-ID: <0e4401ca567d$5aa82470$0ff86d50$@com> Thanks for these links ! I lost my recipe for Banana Nut Bread from Pillsbury & it wasn't on their web site and I couldn't find a similiar one. These work just great. Syl From Westley at da-parish.com Mon Oct 26 16:52:18 2009 From: Westley at da-parish.com (Westley Annis) Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:52:18 -0500 Subject: [StBernard] ACTUAL LETTER TO THE PASSPORT OFFICE-----HILARIOUS Message-ID: <0e4e01ca567e$34f044f0$9ed0ced0$@com> ACTUAL LETTER TO THE PASSPORT OFFICE-----HILARIOUS! This letter is a thing of beauty (even if the language is a bit rough). You definitely feel the guy's pain! An actual letter to the passport office. Dear sirs, I'm in the process of renewing my passport, and still cannot believe this. How is it that Radio Shack has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a cable t.v. from them back in 1987, and yet, the Federal Government is still asking me where I was born and on what date. For Christ sakes, do you guys do this by hand? My birth date you have on my social security card, and it is on all the income tax forms I've filed for the past 30 years. It is on my health insurance card, my driver's license, on the last eight damn passports I've had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I've had to fill out before being allowed off the plane over the last 30 years, and all those insufferable census forms that are done at election times. Would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother's name is Maryanne, my father's name is Robert and I'd be absolutely astounded if that ever changed between now and when I die!!!!!! I apologize, I'm really pissed off this morning. Between you an' me, I've had enough of this bullshit! You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my damn address. What is going on? You have a gang of Neanderthal assholes workin' there! Look at my picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? I don't want to dig up Yasser Arafat, I just want to go and park my ass on a sandy beach. And would someone please tell me, why would you give a damn whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days? If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, I'd sure as hell not want to tell anyone! Well, I have to go now, 'cause I have to go to the other end of the city and get another copy of my birth certificate, to the tune of $60. Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day?? Nooooo, that'd be too easy and maybe make sense. You'd rather have us running all over the place like chickens with our heads cut off, then find some asshole to confirm that it's really me on the damn picture - you know, the one where we're not allowed to smile?! (bureaucratic morons) Hey, you know why we can't smile? We're totally pissed off! Signed An Irate Citizen P.S. Remember what I said above about the picture and getting someone to confirm that it's me? Well, my family has been in this country since 1776, I have served in the military for something over 30 years and have had security clearances up the ying yang........However, I have to get someone 'important' to verify who I am - you know, someone like my doctor WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN INDIA ! Sincerely, You Sure In The Hell Should Know Who. ...And I want you to run our health care?!? From Westley at da-parish.com Mon Oct 26 16:55:33 2009 From: Westley at da-parish.com (Westley Annis) Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:55:33 -0500 Subject: [StBernard] RADIO TOWN HALL ON ST. BERNARD PROPOSED FEE IS WEDNESDAY, NOV. 4 ON 1680-AM Message-ID: <0e4f01ca567e$a968b4c0$fc3a1e40$@com> Proposed Fee for Services Still on Ballot in St. Bernard Parish President to Host Radio Town Hall Meeting November 4, 2009 As the St. Bernard Parish Council considers removing a ballot issue concerning apartment complexes greater than six units, two other important ballot issues remain scheduled for the November 14, 2009 election. In an effort to discuss one of the issues still on the ballot, the proposed $20 per month fee, St. Bernard Parish President Craig P. Taffaro, Jr. will host a Town Hall meeting on the parish's AM radio station, 1680 AM. The Town Hall meeting will be held Wednesday, November 4 from 7 p.m. until 8 p.m., and President Taffaro is planning to take calls from citizens to answer questions about the fee by calling in to 278-4227 during the broadcast. The two remaining items address a Home Rule Charter change that allows council members to serve on boards and commissions without compensation. This item will clarify language in the Home Rule Charter that did not address the membership of council members on boards and commissions that are separate political subdivisions of the state. At the time the Home Rule Charter was implemented in 1992, there were no such boards or commissions. Currently, the St. Bernard Parish Housing, Redevelopment, and Quality of Life Commission and the Hospital Service District are two boards that fall into the need for clarification in the Home Rule Charter. If the proposed change passes, council members would be allowed to serve on boards such as the HRQL and the HSD without compensation. Should the measure fail, the membership of council members on state authorized boards and commissions would be in jeopardy. The other issue scheduled on the November 14, 2009 ballot is the proposition of a $20 per month fee for six years. The proposed fee would be split with $10 per month being dedicated to fire protection and $10 per month being dedicated to sanitation services. The fee is being proposed as a means to assist in paying for services within St. Bernard Parish Government that are usually covered by sales tax revenues from the parish's general fund. The proposed fee will generate approximately $3.5 million a year. The costs of sanitation and fire protection are approximately $10.5 million a year. The parish already dedicates $1.7 million in property taxes to fire protection and $800,000 in property taxes to sanitation. That means the parish must use sales tax revenue to make up the majority of the shortfall for fire protection service and sanitation service. Should the fee pass, fees would be imposed on water bills for a period of six years and services to parish residents would continue. Should the fee fail, services in fire stations, sanitation, recreation, public works, resident services, and community development all will be impaired. Specific cuts to the 2010 budget will be discussed in detail should the proposed fee not pass but will likely include a decrease in garbage collection, a decrease in non-fee recreational services, employee cuts, a decrease in complaint call responses, a cut in non-emergency repairs and services like grass cutting and sidewalk and curb repair work. An example of how the proposed fee would impact the budget is similar to a household budget in which a resident who has to pay tuition each month. So a portion of the money the resident makes each month is dedicated to paying the tuition. If the tuition is $500 dollars each month and the resident earns $1,500 per month the resident is left with $1,000 each month to spend on other monthly household obligations. If the resident were to receive a scholarship of $250 each month, she would now have $1,250 dollars per month to spend on other household obligations instead of only $1,000 dollars. If the student didn't receive a scholarship and the tuition went up, there would be less money to spend on other household obligations. The same is true for parish government. If the proposed fee passes, then parish government has the opportunity to maintain services in all areas. If the fee does not pass, the parish government will have less money to spend on the services outside of fire and sanitation and even those are likely to be in jeopardy. Some basic facts to this proposed fee include: * The fee is $20 per month for six years only. * The fee cannot be extended by the council or the administration. * The fee is dedicated to fire protection and sanitation service. * The $20 per month fee is proposed to be waived for senior citizens. Without the fee, services like fire personnel, sanitation, grass cutting, complaint responses, demolition, code enforcement, and even recreation will likely be cut. Residents are encouraged to tune in to 1680 AM on Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 7 p.m. or to contact the parish administration for additional information about the proposed fee. For more information about the Growth and Recovery in St. Bernard Parish, visit our website at www.sbpg.net . ### From Westley at da-parish.com Mon Oct 26 16:56:37 2009 From: Westley at da-parish.com (Westley Annis) Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:56:37 -0500 Subject: [StBernard] Taffaro and Landry testified to the LRA Board -- LRA gave a commitment for funding Message-ID: <0e5001ca567e$cf97caa0$6ec75fe0$@com> Taffaro and Landry testified to the LRA Board LRA gave a commitment for funding Parish President Craig P. Taffaro, Jr. and Councilman-at-Large Wayne Landry along with Councilman George Cavignac appeared in front of the LRA Board in Baton Rouge last week and all three considered the trip a success. Taffaro offered an overall recovery update and discussed the challenges to cash flow as the pace of recovery projects has continued to stretch the state and FEMA personnel to cover the necessary paperwork for the approved projects. Taffaro reminded the board that although St. Bernard Parish continues to lead the Gulf Coast region in virtually every measurable category of recovery, there still exists a great deal of work to be done, especially in the final push for blight removal. More than $600 million have flowed through St. Bernard Parish since Taffaro's term began 22 months ago with some 250 projects having started and a third of them coming to completion. Taffaro reported that while projects like sewer lift stations, fire stations, recreational facilities, public buildings, and miles of roadways mark the recovering community, the need for more comprehensive medical services and a hospital still exists as a primary void. With support from board member Walter Leger, Taffaro explained to the board that St. Bernard, in its efforts to push forward in the recovery, has dedicated some of its long term recovery money to support the parish's Hospital Service District for the completion of the complex, but there still exists a shortfall. Landry, who also serves as the chairman of the Hospital Service District, described a hospital complex project that is moving forward but will soon hit a point that will cause delays if additional funding is not put in place. Leger weighed in to explain that the LRA Board bypassed allocating healthcare dollars to St. Bernard early on in the recovery due to the parish receiving commitments that private funds would be forthcoming to build a hospital to replace the former privately owned facility. The emphasis of Landry's presentation was to seek additional funding from the LRA for the completion of the hospital complex. The State Legislature placed $17 million in capital outlay of which approximately $3 million is accessible. The remaining $14 million makes up funding that is not cash ready and creates a challenge to actually bidding the hospital project. Additionally, Landry explained that funding shortfalls will keep the district from building a much needed medical office building to support the medical community and administrative services of the hospital. Councilman George Cavignac, also a member of the Hospital Service District, expressed the reality of the need for medical support and what a shortfall means to the overall success of the hospital project. The three-member delegation from St. Bernard put a $10 million request in front of the board and received support from the members. Discussion with the LRA Executive Director Paul Rainwater further laid the groundwork for the additional funding commitment to bridge the gap for the hospital project and allow the project to stay on a schedule for groundbreaking before the end of the year and a completion schedule that is projected to be the fall of 2011. For more information about the Growth and Recovery in St. Bernard Parish, visit our website at www.sbpg.net . ### From Westley at da-parish.com Mon Oct 26 17:01:50 2009 From: Westley at da-parish.com (Westley Annis) Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:01:50 -0500 Subject: [StBernard] A Successful Conservative Message-ID: <0e5401ca567f$89ca91f0$9d5fb5d0$@com> Dear Friends: I am writing to share with you my current opinion column that appears in The Washington Times. The column highlights the achievements of Indiana Governor Mitch Daniel. The reform-minded, conservative policies that Governor Daniels is implementing could be model for state governments across the country. Hope you enjoy this column. Frank Donatelli, Chairman The reform-minded conservative By Frank Donatelli October 26, 2009 Imagine a two-term Republican governor from a state carried by Barack Obama who turned an $800 million deficit into a $1.2 billion surplus by cutting overhead and bringing sound business principles to his state's government even as he provided new health benefits for poor citizens. Imagine no longer. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels accomplished this and more, and he did it all while enacting the biggest tax cut in state history. Despite a long career in public service, Mr. Daniels is not nearly as well-known as some of his colleagues. He worked for several years on Capitol Hill as chief aide to Sen. Richard G. Lugar and served former President Ronald Reagan as political director. After a 15-year stint in private business, Mr. Daniels became former President George W. Bush's director of the Office of Management and Budget and then won back-to-back gubernatorial races in 2004 and 2008 in Indiana. His second victory was won with the biggest vote total of any candidate for any office in state history. Despite his relatively low public profile, Mr. Daniels has been a successful, reform-minded, conservative governor. He took office in 2005 with a huge deficit and state spending growing at an unsustainable 6 percent rate. But Mr. Daniels is not one to kick the can down the road. He immediately went to work finding savings wherever he could. Cost-cutting and businesslike practices cured the state's operational deficit, but Indiana, like virtually every other state, also faced a huge shortfall in capital infrastructure funds. Mr. Daniels tackled that with the largest public-private partnership in U.S. history, a lease of the Indiana Toll Road, which brought the state nearly $4 billion for investment in transportation plus billions more to modernize the Toll Road itself. In an interview, Mr. Daniels explained the impediments to conservative reform. "One is the public-sector employee unions who benefit from higher government spending and oppose pro-taxpayer reforms such as contracting for basic services." There is also the need to convince employees and state legislators who are often "far more comfortable with preserving the way things have always been rather than seeing what we could do to make things better." To read the entire column, please visit The Chairman's Corner on the GOPAC website by clicking here. From Westley at da-parish.com Mon Oct 26 17:05:49 2009 From: Westley at da-parish.com (Westley Annis) Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:05:49 -0500 Subject: [StBernard] The UN is coming to our rescue Message-ID: <0e5801ca5680$1869ccf0$493d66d0$@com> Oh Lordy! Now our problems will be solved. JY