http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/jalopnik.com.png http://jalopnik.com/tag/louisiana http://jalopnik.com/tag/louisiana

These photos purport to be from a Canadian National locomotive engine that literally threw a piston into a home near the track in Independence, Louisiana. The piston from a 212-ton V16 diesel-powered train's not small. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5745042&view=rss&microfeed=true

Watch it. Laugh at it. Marvel at how quickly things get out of hand. Oh, company formerly known as British Petroleum Upright Citizens Brigade, you be some silly, silly people. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5560756&view=rss&microfeed=true

BP's "top kill" plan for fixing the Gulf of Mexico oil spill involves enormous ships, a mile of undersea piping, and a 30,000-hp mud pump. How does it work? Let's find out. UPDATE: Live footage of the process! More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5548376&view=rss&microfeed=true

This map shows the distribution of oil rigs and pipelines as compared to the growth of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Red dots are drilling platforms, black lines are pipelines. Anyone else a little freaked out? [ESRI via Infrastructurist] More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5539080&view=rss&microfeed=true

This is what 20,000 barrels a day leaking into the Gulf of Mexico looks like. Video below. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5537274&view=rss&microfeed=true

The LeMons race season has entered a particularly crazy stretch, due to the break triggered by Chief Perp Lamm's wedding, and so we have races on back-to-back weekends. Here are the results from last weekend's New Orleans event. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5532273&view=rss&microfeed=true

New reports claim the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is five times worse than once thought. It's currently leaking around 5,000 barrels of oil into the ocean per day. Isn't environmental damage fun? [O&G via Infrastructurist] More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5530007&view=rss&microfeed=true

Falling squarely into the "Don't try this at home" department comes the latest ill-advised engineering breakthrough: LeMons Line-Lock! Say you're taking your LeMons RX-7 drag racing and want to show those 900-horsepower Novas some real burnout action. Here's how! More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5529031&view=rss&microfeed=true

Last week's rig explosion caused this 600-square-mile oil leak off the shore of Louisiana. Now the slick's a major threat to the rest of the Gulf of Mexico, forcing the Coast Guard to begin setting it on fire. Here's how. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5526501&view=rss&microfeed=true

This oil rig burning off the Louisiana coast sunk into the Gulf Of Mexico moments ago, hampering the search for 11 workers still missing. An explosion Tuesday night started the fire, sprouting a giant fireball and injuring 17 workers. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5522200&view=rss&microfeed=true

Working a 24 Hours Of LeMons race is exhausting, to put it mildly, so the LeMons HQ crew always seeks out the best pit party after a day's race session. The choice was easy last night! More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5389395&view=rss&microfeed=true

More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5297689&view=rss&microfeed=true

More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5297705&view=rss&microfeed=true

More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5297706&view=rss&microfeed=true

More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5297716&view=rss&microfeed=true

More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5297717&view=rss&microfeed=true

The 24 Hours Of LeMons Laissez Les Crapheaps Roulez event, which took place at Belle Rose's No Problem Raceway a couple of weekends back, provided some great photographic opportunities. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5297718&view=rss&microfeed=true

A new San Diego-based auto company named V-Vehicle, backed by billionaire investor T. Boone Pickens and staffed by former Mazda design chief Tom Matano, plans to build "environmentally friendly" vehicles in Louisiana. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5294154&view=rss&microfeed=true

The first-ever Laissez Les Crapheaps Roulez 24 Hours Of LeMons took place at No Problem Raceway in Louisiana last weekend, and we saw Toyota take the break the tie with Mazda for most races won. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5286764&view=rss&microfeed=true

The first day of racing is done, and the mechanical carnage has been horrific; LeMons Perpetrator Nick Pon was heard to utter "Dang, looks like a Taurus grenade done went off in the SHO pits! More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5281812&view=rss&microfeed=true

Now that we're done with all the BS Inspections, I can say without reservation that we've got the crappiest collection of genuinely terrible heaps we've ever seen in one LeMons race. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5281039&view=rss&microfeed=true

I've packed up my favorite Huey Long-influenced Novel and, by the time you read this, am gearing up to check for cheaters at the 24 Hours Of LeMons New Orleans. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5278283&view=rss&microfeed=true

You want swamps, huge bugs, voodoo, and drag racing with your LeMons madness? Head out to No Problem Raceway next weekend for the Laissez Les Crapheaps Roulez 24 Hours Of LeMons! More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5272422&view=rss&microfeed=true

Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and Shreveport mayor Cedric Glover will be visiting the Motor City August 15 in an effort to save jobs at a Shreveport GM plant. GM Shreveport builds mid-size pickup trucks including the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon, along with the Hummer H3 SUV, all three of which have seen sales steadily decline in the past six months. General Motors last week announced the loss of Shreveport's second shift, apparently prompting the local gub'ment to take what has to be the humiliating step of coming to Detroit to beg for jobs. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=400067&view=rss&microfeed=true

From the WTF? File comes this tale from Louisiana of a babysitter who dangled children, ages two and three, in front of oncoming traffic. Apparently, 25-year-old Michelle L. Tyler, charged with the care of the two girls, held the tykes out in front of passing cars; once she realized that no motorist wants a toddler-cake on his or her windshield, she attempted to ignite the kids' clothing with a cigarette lighter. Taken into custody, she then tried to kick the windows out of the police cruiser. She had recently gone off of some unspecified medication. Next time, Michelle, might we recommend that you dangle yourself in front of traffic instead of innocent children? Fackin' feck. We've got the jibblies big-time. – Davey G. Johnson More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=241716&view=rss&microfeed=true Although we're never ones to argue with vehicular customizations (of any kind) — wethinks maybe the Louisiana Drift Team may be taking the whole "Bourbon Street" thing a bit far with that shifter. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=200006&view=rss&microfeed=true

We remember, a few years back, talking to a guy in Austin who was originally from Louisiana, and he was going on and on about corruption amongst the officials and gangsters down in the Big Easy. Well, it seems like the connection between public and private interests hasn't ebbed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Four of twenty vehicles baked in a pie donated by DCX to the city after the natural disaster have been returned after an FBI investigation into their donations to two charities tied to former councilwoman Renee Gill Pratt; one of which she went to work for after her ouster. She admits no wrongdoing. Because really, that'd be a sellout in the world of N'awlins politicking, right? More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=185947&view=rss&microfeed=true

If one Sheriff R.P. Coltrane ever finally runs permanently afoul of a certain Jefferson Davis Hogg, it would behoove him to look for employment in one of the cities listed after the jump. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=184749&view=rss&microfeed=true

Due the total floodination of Southern Louisiana and surrounding areas' infrastructure, many cars sat in a toxic postmordial soup for up to four weeks before they could be pulled out, naturally to be declared total losses. Progressive, stuck with 5,000 of completely irreparable hulks, decided to send 'em off to the squasher rather than sell them to junkyards or attempt to repair and resell them with salvage titles. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=139696&view=rss&microfeed=true

A bill prohibiting the sale of flooded cars in Louisiana passed in the state's House by an overwhelming 87-8 margin and is now headed to the office of Governor Kathleen Blanco for her Jane Hancock. The legislation requires that any insurance company that's totaled a car due to flood damage to get a Certificate of Destruction from the LA Office of Motor Vehicles and then have the car crushed or dismantled, rather than resold to a buyer with a salvage title. What we wonder is, is this an example of a state wanting to protect the public from unscrupulous insurance companies, or is it a case of wanting to erase the horrific events of last summer as quickly as possible? More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=139184&view=rss&microfeed=true

While Grant Hart of H sker D famously stood in the rain, unable to get home because of a hurricane, two resourceful Midwestern families, unable to find a rental car in the midst of the panic surrounding Hurricane Katrina, hired a limo to take them back to Chicago. Marty Kogan was in the Big Easy to drop his son off at Tulane University when the storm began threatening the city. Teaming up with a couple from North Dakota, Kogan's posse dropped $3,700 on a ride out of N'Awlins. Kogan claims it's been slow going, having only made it 120 miles in six hours. Compared to the traffic on Highway 37 on a NASCAR Sunday at Sears Point, you're traveling through hyperspace, Marty. More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=122794&view=rss&microfeed=true