Ray Nagin tags Lee P Brown to straighten out the NOLA PD mess.

(katc.com) New Orleans police get help with community policing program.

NEW ORLEANS — Brown Group International _ considered a pioneer in community policing programs _ will help the New Orleans Police Department establish the practice.

(snip)

“It recognizes that the police alone cannot do an adequate job of protecting the people,” said company CEO Lee P. Brown, a chief public safety and law enforcement official in Houston, Atlanta and New York. “It recognizes that the people alone can’t do it. But if you bring those two together you have one awesome force.”

The program will begin with an analysis of the police department, its mission, how it responds to crime, how it works with the community, and how it performs, Brown said. 

You know what to do next.  I’m going to throw up. 

Michael Landon is doing back flips in his grave right now.

(stuff.co.nz) TORONTO: The creators of a new Canadian sitcom, Little Mosque on the Prairie, are hoping the TV show will strike a chord beyond the country’s borders as it portrays Muslims in a new light: funny.

It concerns a community of devout Muslims and the inevitable misunderstandings that ensue when they interact with the locals in rural Saskatchewan.

“Laughter is a universal language,” said Zarqa Nawaz, the hijab-wearing creator of the show whose previous films include BBQ Muslims and Real Terrorists Don’t Belly Dance.

“It’s important to get over this assumption that Muslims are not funny or they can’t take a joke or that we don’t have the same sort of relationships that anyone else would have.”

The first airing of the show pulled in 2.1 million viewers.  For the politically correct folks out there that this show will make fun of Muslims only.  Let not your heart be troubled.

“Muslims were really worried because issues in the media surrounding Muslims tend to be so skewed towards violence,” said Nawaz, whose production company, FUNdamentalist Films, promises to put the “fun back into fundamentalism”.

Little Mosque on the Prairie is more a gentle romp than biting satire, and it pokes fun at Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Coming soon to a television set near you.

The creators say they have received calls from broadcasters in the United States, Europe and the Middle East interested in airing the show and, in some cases, buying the format rights.

I can’t wait.  What next?  Who loves Ramadan?  Sex in Sadr City.  The possibilities are endless. 

Who could have predicted this one?

“TEXAS LEGISLATURE LOOKS FOR WAY AROUND BUDGET CAP”

There is much in the Houston Chronicle article to be incensed about, but this particular passage gets my goat [Ed: And a damn fine goat it is, too!]:

Legislative leaders adopted a constitutionally required spending cap Thursday and immediately entertained a new idea for getting around it so they can provide local property tax relief without slashing key services.

The idea: Let the voters decide whether to exempt property tax relief from the spending cap through a constitutional amendment. Voter approval could take some heat off of GOP lawmakers who might be reluctant to directly vote to break the cap even for tax relief.

The idea of an amendment met with approval from Republican Gov. Rick Perry.

“I think that’s probably the way to do it,” he said.

In the magical world of government, the only option if taxpayers are provided with the relief they were promised is “slashing key services.”

Question–didn’t most of state government shut down less than two weeks ago so that “non-essential” state employees could “mourn” the death of President Gerald Ford?

By the way, I’ve tried looking and haven’t found a single instance of there being a memorial in honor of Gerald Ford anywhere in Texas on that day. I stand to be corrected–if anyone can find a report about a public service to honor the former President in Texas on January 2nd (the day all “non-essential” state employees were given off to mourn him) please bring it to my attention.

If not, are we supposed to believe that state employees gathered quietly in each others homes to mourn? Can they provide some documentation of this fact?

And if not, shouldn’t they have their pay docked for the day the took off? They weren’t given the day off to run errands or play Guitar Hero II; they didn’t have to go into work on January 2nd for the specific purpose of mourning Gerry Ford.

Maybe we should quiz non-essential state employees–”Do you know who Gerald Ford is?”, and if they can’t answer the question, then we dock their pay.

Anyway, back to my main point.

Let’s get a list of all the state employees who are so “un-essential” that the state of Texas is capable of limping along without them showing up at the office. THEN LET’S KEEP HALF OF THEM.

Heck, I’ll be reasonable and say we should keep 60%–MORE than half.

The rest get fired.

Let’s see if we’ve got enough money to provide property tax “relief” (without “slashing key services”!) then.

God, I love the smell of Libertarianism in the morning.

Just for fun, we’re going to try this one again.

There is a report. It was written by folks over at the American Enterprise Institute.

The report is clearly the intellectual foundation for President Bush’s planned troop “surge” into Baghdad.

Read the report and then please share your thoughts about the report.

Does the report answer your questions and address your concerns? After reading the report do you understand the mission better? Based on what you’ve read in the report, do you think this plan can work? Why or why not?

HINT: Read the report.

HINT II: The report says nothing at all about the U.S. border with Mexico.

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