Memories

Rotten banana scam is rotten

Everybody is dismayed

Two years after a celebrated homecoming, the Chiquita company is considering moving its cargo business elsewhere, and New Orleans port officials were scrambling Thursday to try to keep the company from again leaving the city that was once the country’s top banana importer.

The departure of Chiquita Brands International, one of the world’s largest banana and fruit shippers, could cost upward of 350 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of projected economic activity that were expected to flow through the local port over the next decade.

Port leaders and state officials were working to get a better handle on whether Chiquita is indeed planning to leave and, if so, whether it could be talked into changing its mind.

Still, the rumor had circulated “around the docks” that the North Carolina-based company is on its way out, port President and CEO Gary LaGrange said. When he first heard the news, he said, he felt “dismayed.”

But, if we think back, we might remember the deal, like every other deal ever done by Bobby Jindal's Economic Development office, was  based on tax subsidies and direct payoffs. So it's hardly any wonder this result would be tentative.

Only in America!

Luke Russert is pretty smart.

As “establishment” incumbent Republican Thad Cochran is poised to defeat tea party challenger Chris McDaniel, purportedly with help from Democratic and African-American voters (Mississippi is an open primary), Russert had this hot take to share with America:

Only in #USA can a 76yr old white man from #Mississippi be the Republican who figured out how to turn out African-Americans for #GOP
— Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) June 25, 2014

So… only in America could something that could literally only happen in America happen. Unless some other country has a Republican Party, a state called Mississippi and — somehow — a significant population of African-Americans, Russert’s analysis makes zero percent sense. Or maybe it was a bizarre attempt at humor.

Maybe it was. Russert later explained he was making a "Don King reference." And I suppose if we remember Don King's famous catch phrase, "I meant to do that,"  then, yeah, OK.

But Russert, being the scion of one of our nation's most prestigious Punditry Earldoms, does know his manners.  He keeps his observations as light and accessible as possible so as not to confuse people. That only in the #USA could a thing happen in Mississippi is an inescapable fact.

Well, now it is anyway.  There was a time once when this might have been in doubt. In fact Mississippi Republican primary voters are sometimes known for their quirky loose grasp on whether or not that was actually settled all the way which can lead to some interesting situations. 

The victory for Cochran marks the end of a long, bloody, and often bizarre primary election that took center stage in the GOP Civil War and included two separate episodes, one, in which a McDaniel supporter and political blogger was arrested for photographing Cochran's wife to use in an anti-Cochran video and another where McDaniel supporters found themselves locked in the Hinds County, Mississippi courthouse (where election ballots are kept) after the building had been locked. McDaniel was also dogged in the race for appearing at at least one neo-Confederate event and having been slated to attend another tea party event that featured a vendor of Confederate merchandise.

So in order to ward off his Tea Party affiliated (possibly neo-Confederate) fire-breathing challenger, the patrician Senator reached out to Democratic crossover voters some of which, it turns out, are not white.

Cochran's pouring lots of money into GOTV efforts and he's made little secret post-primary that he's seeking Democratic and African-American votes. And there seems little question that he's got the McDaniel camp worried. It even gets a little more concrete. A pro-Cochran super PAC has hired a Democratic operative named James "Scooby Doo" Warren (yeah, who knows) to do GOTV work in the state's African-American community. The PAC is tied to a prominent African-American pastor named Ronnie Crudup Sr. And if that's not enough, Warren has made clear that he's going to be working to elect Democratic nominee Travis Childers.

Nevermind that last line about this Warren guy "working to elect" the Democrat.  I'm sure he'll take that money too, of course.  But the reason he went to work for Cochran was because this primary is the only race that matters.

Following a longstanding southern trend, Mississippi has arrived at something like the "one-party rule" scenario that once allowed Democrats to hold sway only a few generations ago. Only now the GOP is where all the meaningful action takes place. When we're back to a situation where the "second primary" is the de facto general election, you should expect to see candidates appeal to a broader constituency there.

McDaniel is suspicious, though 

Instead, McDaniel, in his election night speech to supporters on Tuesday, suggested that he would fight the election results. McDaniel said "there is something a bit strange, there is something a bit unusual about a Republican primary that's decided by liberal Democrats."

McDaniel's comments are a clear reference to the Cochran campaign seeking out the support of African-Americans and Democratic voters in the state to bringing him over the finish line in the runoff. Even though McDaniel won in the runoff it was by a slim margin. When the race was called late on Tuesday with 98 percent reporting Cochran led McDaniel 50.6 percent to 49.4 percent. 

"As you know there were literally dozens of irregularities reported across this state. And you know why. You read the stories. You're familiar, you're familiar with the problems that we had," McDaniel said.

Of Cochran's voters, McDaniel added, "Hell they ain't even old timey!" 

If he persists in challenging, I wouldn't expect McDaniel to overturn the result.  At the same time, though, I'd caution against putting much stock in the next round of "Now the Tea Party is surely dead" observations we're sure to see. (Perhaps Luke Russert will tweet one for us.)   On the contrary, nothing fires up the right wing base like a good long racially charged exercise in false victimhood. This one is bound to have legs enough to get us through the heart of the summer.

And suddenly it's time for midterms where whatever happens will be difficult to spin as anything other than a net Republican gain. And then we're on to a year and a half of Benghazi hearings before it's time for Stupid Season Staring Hillary Clinton to begin.  Can't imagine we'll be living in a world of only "sensible Republicans" by then.  But we will still be living in the #USA and only in the #USA. Or at least one hopes we will. Otherwise, Russert might be out of a job. 

"Spamalot Bill"

Between this and John Flemming thinking The Onion is real news, I'd say it's beyond time to get everyone's irony sensors recalibrated.

Mississippi State Rep. Steve Holland has had a busy afternoon. After we reported his introduction of H.B. 150 yesterday, a bill that aims to rename the Gulf of Mexico the very pro-'Merican, Onion-worthy title "Gulf of America," the Democrat's office has been flooded with press calls to respond to, essentially, "what the hell are you doing?"

Turns out Holland has a bit of a goof streak going on. He called Gambit to tell us the bill is his tongue-in-cheek single-finger salute to mock his Republican peers obsessed with illegal immigration.

"Gulf of America"

Presumably because there is plenty enough oil in it for cooking your Freedom Fries.

$76,000 or whatever is in this box?

Congratulations, Gulfport, the box is empty!

"They're taking a tough position," city council president Ricky Dombrowski said. "We're just going to continue to push them. How could (the claim) be worth zero when it was originally worth $76,000? I think they've just drawn a line in the sand."

BP initially offered the city $76,000 for tax losses, but the city previously rejected that offer.

BP has paid only two loss of revenue claims to local governments in Mississippi, BP spokesman Ray Melick said. BP records show the city of Moss Point was paid more than $57,000, while the city of Ocean Springs received almost $133,000. Melick said a total of 60 loss-of-revenue claims have been paid to governments along the Gulf of Mexico.

Admittedly Gulfport did ask for $11.8 million including $6.1 million in "community damages" which BP says can only be paid out via the NRDA process. I'd be interested in knowing if they're interpreting their liability through the Oil Pollution Act correctly, there. Unfortunately the article doesn't settle that question.

Hey look it's one of those things nobody could have predicted

The Lens: Parking lots? An aquarium? Enviro groups question state bids for spending BP bucks

The $1 billion fund set up by BP is supposed to pay for restoration of natural resources damaged by last year’s Deepwater Horizon blowout and oil spill, the worst environmental disaster in the nation’s history. But a coalition has come forward with a report concerned that without greater transparency and public input, the money will be misused.

Alabama’s wish list includes a beachside parking lot and a new police station. Mississippi wants a tourist-friendly aquarium and a storage facility for boats. Texas officials would use old oil platforms to build artificial reefs with its share of the $1 billion restitution fund BP has set up.

So no mention of new condos in Tuscaloosa here, but those of us who had seen this drill before kind of suspected something like this was coming.

Sympathy for the Devil

I've always kind of been pulling for Team Satan myself, anyway.

Mississippi voters head to the polls today to consider a radical anti-abortion measure that equates abortion with murder and would outlaw some forms of birth control, but Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant (R) warned yesterday that if the personhood amendment fails, “Satan wins.”

Bucking the trend

NYT: Stocks Close Down Sharply Over Anxiety on Economy

The latest data on Thursday showed initial jobless claims last week increased by 9,000, to a seasonably adjusted 408,000, and exceeding analysts expectations.

The National Association of Realtors said home sales fell 3.5 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.67 million homes. This year’s pace is lagging behind last year’s, which were the weakest in 13 years.

In another report, the Labor Department said consumer prices rose rose 0.5 percent in July, the fastest rate in four months, pushed up by gasoline prices. It followed a decline of 0.2 percent in June.

Luckily down here in the trend-bucking bubble of the Gulf South perpetual disaster zone, our "job creators" are helping us keep the gloom at bay. Case in point, this actual NOLA.com headline.

Pearl River spill cleanup gives laborers chance to help, make money

Armed with hard hats, life vests and rakes, more than 100 men and women braved baking temperatures and stomached nauseating odors on Thursday to start picking up thousands of fish killed in the Pearl River system late last week by a dumped chemical mixture that depleted much more oxygen in the water than usual.

Dead fish and paper mill waste. It's what opportunity smells like.

Defamation

Mississippi's AG Jim Hood is suing Ken Feinberg's Gulf Coast Claims Facility over what Hood believes is a lack of transparency in the claims process.

Jim Hood said Tuesday that he has tried to negotiate with the fund's administrator, Washington lawyer Kenneth Feinberg. He says he's seeking to make the process more transparent so people will know whether Feinberg is looking out for the best interests of oil spill victims or BP.

Hood filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Hinds County Chancery Court.

Feinberg said Tuesday in a phone interview with The Associated Press that, "Our lawyers will respond in the ordinary course." He had no other immediate comment.

Hood has previously said he believes Feinberg's operation is intentionally delaying and denying legitimate claims, an allegation Feinberg has denied. Others have also criticized the size and pace of payments and a perceived lack of transparency.

Feinberg has said Hood could undermine the claims process by urging a court to intervene and by making allegations that border on defamation.

"Defamtaion" is Feinberg's go-to complaint against anything approaching judicial oversight.

Attorneys general of four Gulf Coast states this month asked US District Judge Carl Barbier to conduct an inquiry into the claims process and the GCCF. They assert that Feinberg is using “economic duress to manipulate financially desperate claimants’’ into signing off on insufficient settlements in the GCCF’s Quick Pay option, which gives $5,000 to individuals and $25,000 to businesses in return for waiving the right to sue or seek further money from the claims facility.

Feinberg attacked the appeal to Barbier in emphatic language, saying that it verges on “defamation.” “The court does not have the power under the Oil Pollution Act to impose upon the GCCF the monitoring sought by the attorney general,’’ said Feinberg lawyer David Pitofsky in a court filing this week. Such a step would “chill the ability of GCCF personnel to work expeditiously without fear of running afoul of an independent auditor and a court-imposed evidentiary hearing.”

I don't yet know enough details to speak to Feinberg's claims regarding what the Oil Pollution Act might disallow. But "defamation" is a fairly dickish thing to scream back given the circumstances.

Mississippi Republicans, is this is or is this ain't your consititiency?

Nearly Half Of Mississippi Republicans Think Interracial Marriage Should Be Illegal

Americans nationwide are evenly divided over the issue of same sex marriage. But Republicans in Mississippi are divided over a wholly different wedlock issue: interracial marriage.

In a PPP poll released Thursday, a 46% plurality of registered Republican voters said they thought interracial marriage was not just wrong, but that it should be illegal. 40% said interracial marriage should be legal.

In other words 46% loudly declared, "That's not MY culture and heritage!" I'm hearing many added that interracial marriage, "ain't even old timey!" although the poll did not address that question specifically.

Toothpaste

It's the secret ingredient in peanut butter chocolate milk crab meat au gratin mole.

Barbour has also said the risk to wildlife from oiling is not as bad as some have been saying.

"Once it gets to this stage, it's not poisonous," Barbour said. "But if a small animal got coated enough with it, it could smother it. But if you got enough toothpaste on you, you couldn’t breathe."

"Mississippi Miracle"

The "Blame Louisiana First" crowd (which includes Louisiana Senator David Vitter for some reason) is often to be found holding up Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's success in funding and administering his state's recovery as further evidence of Louisiana's relative backwardness.

Salon takes a "harder look" at the Mississippi recovery and discovers some things we've been screaming about in New Orleans for quite some time now.

Consider the Gulf Coast housing crisis, one of the key issues that has kept nearly half the population of New Orleans from returning to the city since Katrina. More than 75 percent of the housing damage from the storm was in Louisiana, but Mississippi has received 70 percent of the funds through FEMA's Alternative Housing Pilot Program. Of the $388 million available, FEMA gave a Mississippi program offering upgraded trailers more than $275 million. Meanwhile, the agency awarded Louisiana's "Katrina Cottage" program, which features more permanent modular homes for storm victims, a mere $75 million.

It's not just housing. Mississippi is also slated to get 38 percent of federal hospital recovery funds, even though it lost just 79 beds compared to 2,600 lost in southern Louisiana, which will get 45 percent of the funds. Mississippi and Louisiana both received $95 million to offset losses in higher education, even though Louisiana was home to 75 percent of displaced students. The states also received $100 million each for K-12 students affected by the storms, despite the fact that 69 percent resided in Louisiana.

The disparity between the states' needs and the funding they received from Washington has been so glaring that even disgraced former FEMA director Michael Brown recently charged that politics played a role. "Unbeknownst to me, certain people in the White House were thinking we had to federalize Louisiana because she's a white, female Democratic governor and we have a chance to rub her nose in it," Brown told students at Metropolitan College of New York in January.

But even so, despite Barbour's superior connections to the G.O.P. and White House lobbying and management skill, the Salon piece goes on to find that even with these superior resources available to Mississippi officials, the recovery for folks in places like Waveland and Bay St Louis looks a lot like it does for folks in NOLA... worse in some respects.

For the residents of Hancock County, Barbour and Mississippi's ability to capture the lion's share of Katrina relief dollars makes the slow progress in their area all the more demoralizing. The county's 911 system still operates out of a trailer. Damaged wastewater and drainage systems frustrate hopes of a return to normalcy; earlier this month in Waveland, 16 miles east of Pearlington, a 9-and-a-half-foot alligator was found swimming in a drainage ditch next to a bus stop at 8 o'clock in the morning. Mayor Tommy Longo says the creatures freely roam throughout devastated residential areas.

Indeed, Hancock County was one of three Gulf Coast areas recently singled out as having "severe problems" by the Rockefeller Institute on Government and the Louisiana Public Affairs Council, with the towns of Waveland and Bay St. Louis flat-out "struggling to survive."

That is.. worse if you consider wild boars and rats on crack preferable to 9 foot alligators as urban pests.

Either way, the "Mississippi Miracle" lies in Barbour's ability to do.. about as well as we have (which is to say not well at all).. with disproportionately superior resources. I must say I am impressed.