If You Want It ...

Here it is, the truth.  Certainly WWL radio doesn't want it.  Nola.com has no use for it.  It is also evident the Gambit doesn't either.  And I am sure that the rest of the so-called mainstream media has no interest as well, although I haven't heard any reports from sources other than the ones mentioned.  But since I was there at the "Save Our Shipyard" rally in New Orleans today, here is the straight skinny.

There were 2,000 plus participants, not the "hundreds" reported by the above mentioned so-called news outlets, unless they intended to say 20-something hundred.  Of course, they didn't.  But you know that.  And it is also true that if Avondale closes as a ship building facility, it will mean the loss of 9,000 jobs, not the 6,500 reported by the liars. 

You might ask how I can be so certain of my numbers as compared to those of the liars.  A fair enough question.  So, here is why.  The same head counters who specialize in crowd estimation and control at such minor events like Mardi Gras produced the 2,000 plus estimate, and it was duly reported at the rally.  Also, a Tulane professor who spoke at the rally indicated that the multiplier estimate of direct jobs to total overall job production related to Avondale is 1.8, that there once were (the layoffs have already begun) 5,000 direct jobs at the yard, hence, there are a total of 9,000 jobs which would be lost with its closing.  Now you know why I call the liars liars.  Their reporters were there, too.  They saw and heard the same facts I saw and heard, but they reported something different.  What is even more unsettling and worrisome is they all report the same fabrication. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, though.  After all, WWL radio allows Garland Robinette to stay on the air, Clancy Dubos defends him, and the Times-Picayune failed to blow the whistle on him when he tried to peddle his tainted stories to them.

I am tempted to report that it was a good showing, as I do have a rooting interest here.  But even though the showing was not as lame as the mainstream liars would have you believe, I would be just as much a liar if I claimed the participation was what it should have been.  It wasn't.  In fact, it was disappointing as hell.  The weather was perfect.  It was a Saturday morning.  The event was publicized and pumped up for a good while.  The cause could hardly be more signifcant as a local employment issue.  And most of the people who have the most to lose in this battle took a dive, or a walk, or a longer sleep, or whatever.  But if you are one of them, shame.