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  <title>Gambit |  News &amp;amp; Views : Commentary</title>
  <link>http://bestofneworleans.com</link>
  <description>&amp;lt;meta name=&amp;quot;verify-v1&amp;quot; content=&amp;quot;F4ui5qH2N/F8F4+vzSlIGjV4rDiYgbE2WSzkzRxCaZI=&amp;quot; /&amp;gt;The best source for New Orleans news, politics, entertainment, music, dining and shopping provided by the Gambit newspaper..</description>
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  <copyright>Copyright 2009 Gambit. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Gambit readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Gambit.</copyright>
  <webMaster>jeannee@gambitweekly.com</webMaster>
  <pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:01 EDT</pubDate>
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    <link>http://bestofneworleans.com</link>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[The FDA's approach to VV and oysters is a glaring example of bureaucratic overkill | No Shucking Sense]]></title>
      <link>http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=64728</link>
      <description><![CDATA[With last Friday's announcement that the proposed ban on Gulf Coast
raw oysters during the summer months was being put on hold, it looks
like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has come to its senses. But
for how long? Following a feasibility study, the FDA could still return
with its faulty reas...]]></description>
      <category>News &amp;amp; Views/Commentary</category>
      <pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
      <source url="http://bestofneworleans.com">Gambit</source>
    </item>
  
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[The City of New Orleans Budget Shortfall | It's budgeting for Ray Nagin to skedaddle on May 3, 2010 &mdash; and dump this entire mess on the next mayor and council]]></title>
      <link>http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=64568</link>
      <description><![CDATA[It's time to crash the party. With less than a month remaining for
the New Orleans City Council to adopt a balanced budget (the
charter-mandated deadline is Dec. 1) and with the city facing a
projected $68 million shortfall, New Orleanians need to let their
elected officials know what their prioriti...]]></description>
      <category>News &amp;amp; Views/Commentary</category>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
      <source url="http://bestofneworleans.com">Gambit</source>
    </item>
  
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Bless You, Boys | New Orleans not only has a winning team, but also a team for which we don't have to apologize on any level]]></title>
      <link>http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=63984</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Deep breath. Exhale. Six-and-oh. Yes, six-and-oh. After the Oct. 25
match-up against the Miami Dolphins, the New Orleans Saints have begun
their season with six games undefeated &mdash; but not without nearly
giving us a heart attack first.

&ensp;&ensp;The first half against the Miami Dolphins left...]]></description>
      <category>News &amp;amp; Views/Commentary</category>
      <pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
      <source url="http://bestofneworleans.com">Gambit</source>
    </item>
  
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Haste and the city's Master Plan | Planners deserve a chance to finish the job without being shackled by a Nov. 10 deadline]]></title>
      <link>http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=63567</link>
      <description><![CDATA[One thing that cannot be disputed about the latest draft of the
city's proposed Master Plan is that it's a monster-sized document. The
plan comprises three volumes and hundreds of pages. As experts and
citizens consider the efficacy of the plan, a threshold issue is: How
long should the deliberative...]]></description>
      <category>News &amp;amp; Views/Commentary</category>
      <pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
      <source url="http://bestofneworleans.com">Gambit</source>
    </item>
  
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Fiscally Indefensible | After decades on the back burner, it's time to put higher ed consolidation front and center]]></title>
      <link>http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=63275</link>
      <description><![CDATA[These are tough times for Louisiana government. Everyone knew the
post-Katrina boom would end in a few years, but no one foresaw the
spigot closing at the onset of a worldwide recession. The result has
been a one-two punch that hit state coffers like a shot to the solar
plexus. The current fiscal ye...]]></description>
      <category>News &amp;amp; Views/Commentary</category>
      <pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
      <source url="http://bestofneworleans.com">Gambit</source>
    </item>
  
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[The Corps Mixed Signals | The state should never agree to cheap and fast. We've seen what that costs]]></title>
      <link>http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=62405</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Local, state and federal officials from Louisiana have stood their
ground against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' attempts to build
cheap and fast flood protection for the New Orleans area, but the Corps
seems to be much more efficient at lobbying Congress than it is at
building a flood protection...]]></description>
      <category>News &amp;amp; Views/Commentary</category>
      <pubDate>Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
      <source url="http://bestofneworleans.com">Gambit</source>
    </item>
  
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Chaos and Misrule in the Office of the Inspector General | Mayoral candidates will surely be asked their opinions of the OIG. The question is: Will anyone be listening?]]></title>
      <link>http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=61954</link>
      <description><![CDATA[What a difference eight months make. Last January, we published two
cover stories: one handicapping the possible candidates for mayor, and
the other a profile of then-New Orleans Inspector General Robert
Cerasoli. At the time, it seemed candidates by now would be champing at
the bit to succeed Ray N...]]></description>
      <category>News &amp;amp; Views/Commentary</category>
      <pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
      <source url="http://bestofneworleans.com">Gambit</source>
    </item>
  
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Acknowledging the debt that New Orleans owes undocumented workers ]]></title>
      <link>http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=61607</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Call it the recovery's dirty little secret. After the levee
failures, thousands of Hispanic immigrants responded immediately and
began helping to rebuild New Orleans. They moved fast, as evidenced by
the hundreds of new roofs that seemed to go up on a daily basis. Today,
they continue to be a major...]]></description>
      <category>News &amp;amp; Views/Commentary</category>
      <pubDate>Mon, 21 Sep 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
      <source url="http://bestofneworleans.com">Gambit</source>
    </item>
  
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Jumping in Lake Pontchartrain | The coast has always been southeast Louisiana's first line of defense against hurricanes]]></title>
      <link>http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=61337</link>
      <description><![CDATA[To anyone who still questions whether civic activism works, go jump
in the lake: Lake Pontchartrain, that is. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin
Foundation (LPBF) was formed in 1989, 17 years after the first swimming
ban there, and began the "Save Our Lake" campaign to restore the
630-square-mile body of...]]></description>
      <category>News &amp;amp; Views/Commentary</category>
      <pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
      <source url="http://bestofneworleans.com">Gambit</source>
    </item>
  
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Save NORD | The more time kids spend in NORD-sponsored activities, the less time they spend unsupervised on the streets, where they can get into trouble]]></title>
      <link>http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=60934</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Standing outside of the shuttered Rosenwald Center, a New Orleans
Recreation Department facility, the first thing you notice is the
quiet, the absence of children's voices. The outdoor pool is empty and
forbidding, the doors are locked, and except for a few cars in the side
parking lot, the center a...]]></description>
      <category>News &amp;amp; Views/Commentary</category>
      <pubDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
      <source url="http://bestofneworleans.com">Gambit</source>
    </item>
  
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[The swine flu vaccine will not protect against the seasonal flu. Plan to get a regular flu shot ]]></title>
      <link>http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=60473</link>
      <description><![CDATA[It's time to start thinking about flu season. With White House
advisors last week predicting that swine flu (also known as the H1N1
virus) could possibly infect 50 percent of the population and cause as
many as 90,000 deaths, this should be anything but a typical flu
season. People need to be ready...]]></description>
      <category>News &amp;amp; Views/Commentary</category>
      <pubDate>Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
      <source url="http://bestofneworleans.com">Gambit</source>
    </item>
  
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[The DA&#39;s Modest Proposal | First-time offenders should be given probation, not jail time.]]></title>
      <link>http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=59875</link>
      <description><![CDATA[At a recent New Orleans City Council meeting, District Attorney Leon
Cannizzaro made a modest proposal that would dramatically decrease the
overload of cases in Criminal District Court, free up the DA's office
to pursue violent criminals more effectively and reduce the local jail
population. Cannizz...]]></description>
      <category>News &amp;amp; Views/Commentary</category>
      <pubDate>Mon, 17 Aug 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
      <source url="http://bestofneworleans.com">Gambit</source>
    </item>
  
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Recession and Recovery | Recessions are cyclical, but New Orleans' recovery doesn't have to be]]></title>
      <link>http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=59625</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Recession and disaster recovery aren't a good mix. So it's no
surprise that the fourth anniversary edition of The New Orleans
Index, published by the Brookings Institution and the Greater New
Orleans Community Data Center, is less optimistic than last year's
report.

&ensp;&ensp;While the recession...]]></description>
      <category>News &amp;amp; Views/Commentary</category>
      <pubDate>Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
      <source url="http://bestofneworleans.com">Gambit</source>
    </item>
  
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Gratitude for the Lutheran teens who visited New Orleans | The Kindness of Strangers]]></title>
      <link>http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=59426</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The end of July brought the biggest convention to town since
Hurricane Katrina, but it wasn't doctors, lawyers or other
professionals. In fact, it wasn't even adults. It was 37,000 teenagers
and their chaperones from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA), who filled hotels all over town...]]></description>
      <category>News &amp;amp; Views/Commentary</category>
      <pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
      <source url="http://bestofneworleans.com">Gambit</source>
    </item>
  
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[The Digital Divide | More and more ambitious newcomers see social media as an entree to elected office.]]></title>
      <link>http://bestofneworleans.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=59043</link>
      <description><![CDATA[In all the recent hubbub over Mayor Ray Nagin's and the New Orleans
City Council's email accounts, one thing has been overlooked: Next
year, when the citywide and U.S. Senate elections are held, some voters
will have never known a world without email. It's a digital
divide that's largely generationa...]]></description>
      <category>News &amp;amp; Views/Commentary</category>
      <pubDate>Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:00:00 MST</pubDate> 
      <source url="http://bestofneworleans.com">Gambit</source>
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