This blog is an offshoot of my previous blog, Spreading Our Wings... http://www.spreadingourwings.blogspot.com.
As before, this blog is personal and political... serious and sometimes silly...
My goal is to relay what I deem to be important information, express some of my viewpoints, engage in some online creativity - and find out (please comment appropriately) what others are thinking, as well!
Once again my sincere apologies regarding the party. I had a bunch of stuff that I asked someone to bring over - and that apparently didn't make it either : (
I have to bow out - due to medical advice - of my part in the Neighborhood Celebration. I wish this were different. But it is what it is. [Jen, I just sent you a more detailed email...] I hope it is a beautiful day and that all goes well.
For those that are perhaps wondering - I did attend the last City of Kingston Council Meeting - I did take a bunch of photos - I did speak during the open session - and I did take notes...
I simply haven't been up to writing a comprehensive report - like I sometimes do - and much has been covered anyhow, in other ways and other places.
I was glad to see a number of people turn out to voice thier support for a comprehensive plan (vote and grant dependent / vote passed...) for the City of Kingston.
I was happy to hear a number of people speak with significant respect about the works of the still relatively new Ward 9 Alderman, Hayes Clement.
I was happy to be able to speak favorably about Ward Five's still relatively new Ward 5
Alderman Jen Fuentes.
I was happy to read parts of - and pass on a letter from Jeanne Edwards (Ward 4) - that was written from the heart of Kingston to the heart of Kingston.
For, all in all, I appear to be a person that pretty much liked (past tense) --- and continues to like (present tense) --- most of our representatives on the Common Council.
Which I guess is somewhat (lol) unusual...
As this includes (I seem to be leaning towards the Working Families Party and the Democratic Party...) a couple of Republican Council representatives [Alderman Turco-Levin (also relatively new) and Alderman Ron Pollaco (sp?), in particular] --- as well.
Maybe a "comprehensive plan" (if the funding is secured) for the City of Kingson will help us get
stronger "at the broken places..." [the latter part is from the title of a book]
One can hope.
Thank you to those that showed up to speak.
Thank you, Jeanne, for permission to read and submit your letter.
Thank you, KNY Council Members for "hanging in there" and/or "jumping in there" during some very difficult socio-eonomic times...
I might be viewed as one of the "resident nuts" for all I know...
But hey - the world - minus a few "nuts" - would be pretty boring, wouldn't it?
I wasn't raised in a "box." I don't live in a "box." I couldn't breathe in a "box." I don't "think in a 'box.'"
Thank goodness!
[Oh yeah, a second Thank You to Alderman Clement for turning around to face the attendees! This has been requested (although I'm not sure this request was put forth formally?) - in the past - by a man with a hearing impairment - and it is sometimes difficult, even with reasonably good hearing, to make out all of what is being said at the podium or by (when they do speak) the Council members]
Updates [It keeps getting better and better...] Pending
(Click on Flyer to Enlarge)
I would like to thank Alderman Jen Fuentes for all of the work she is putting into her position on behalf of the people in Ward 5. She has been active in the Kingston Citizens online group. She has been involved with the Kingston Neighborhood Watch. She has held Ward 5 meetings on a regular basis at City Hall. She has been responsive to any issues I have brought to her, which seems to be the case with other folks in the ward, as well... And she even goes outside the Ward to participate in advocacy, activities and such. Alderman Fuentes has gained my respect across the board; and I hope folks in Ward 5 show up for the upcoming Neighborhood Party in recognition of (at least in part) Alderman Fuentes --- who has personally done the fundraising and organizing for this event] --- honorable [and I don't use that word lightly...] efforts!
I don't know how or why an NPR broadcast [ http://www.npr.org/ ] that I listened to a while back is coming on automatically when one logs in... [or how long this will last] but I'm going to leave it that way [at least until I can figure out how to correct it...] for right now. It is an interesting [The music can be turned off in the sidebar.] "touch."
I have stayed away - at least in regard to this blog - from the political scene for a while... but the world continues to turn... and there is (as per usual) a lot of good... and a lot of "not so..." going on.
I've made no secret of the fact that one of the big mistakes (in my opinion) that President Obama has made is the continuation of the Office of Faith Based Initiatives (renamed, at this point, I believe) - and the continued funding - via that office - of whatever religious initiatives [I haven't researched this, of late...] that office [which, at this point, if I understand it right, also oversees other forms of community initiatives] sees fit...
I personally consider this a violation of "Separation of Church and State" - and as another reason [other than rampant corporate corruption and such] that our nation is going "down the tubes..."
Be that what it may... there are other issues weighing BIG on my mind today... having to do with the following articles:
The Ordination of women as Catholic Priests would be as "bad" as pedophilia ????? [THINK ABOUT IT!]
Catholics Priests aren't "employed" [Are they slaves?] by the Vatican? [Who indoctrinates them into the faith? Who sends them to school? Who sends them on "missions"? Who sends them to different parishes? Who provides their food and shelter? Who provides their transportation? Who (ahem) has been known to cover up their crimes....?]
Is the Office of Children and Family Services [Do I have this right?] in the habit [Should other such places (i.e., this atrocity in Goshen...) be investigated accordingly?] of supplying teenage girls and women [whether hookers or no] to convicted felons, murderers, etc? [Just how far HAS our society degenerated?????]
With the Pat Robertsons, Glen Becks, Sharron Angles and similar evangelists (Appropriate word?) "out there" - and the Vatican equating the ordination of women priests with pedophilia --- it would seem that some basic human rights education --- and advocacy --- from the atheist, agnostic and more balanced spiritual and religious folks (irregardless of religious leanings) would be a breath of fresh air!
Check out the articles...
Do some research...
Check out the "Lady Blogga" [He or she provides a lot of information that I sometimes agree with and sometimes do not...] link in the sidebar...
I haven't been inspired to write much of late... Too much heat and humidity... Too many entanglements that are complex, depressing and sticky...
"Too much... [as the song goes] too little... too late?"
Aging isn't fun...
Mistakes tend to haunt one...
The future [aging parents / our own mortality] becomes daunting...
The day becomes a battleground of responsibility versus "hey, I might not be here tomorrow..."
It seems, sometimes, like there have been "traps" laid everywhere.
Even for butterflies.
Especially for butterflies?
The "World Wide Web" is aptly named - is it not?
From the "personal to the political" (a play off an old feminist saying) one could easily get lost in this alternative universe where it is sometimes as hard to sort out the good from the not so... as it is in real life.
Sincere "voices" park right beside the cynics, the comics and the master manipulators...
Whilst "Miss Muffett" hums her innocent timeless tune...
Has anyone noticed some of the aggressive vines growing around here? I'm relatively new to gardening, so maybe they have always been an issue, but yousa... There is a vine in the neighbor's back yard (bordering on our back yard) that is actually reaching up, up, up... and strangling a beautiful maple tree... And another one (it looks like a wild grape vine, but it is fuzzy) that keeps popping up as quick as I tear it down. Suggestions anyone?
Note: This movie has actually been out for a long time now - but may be hard to locate. If interested, my best guess is to try an internet search or a library.
This movie gets off to a very slow start - and it is entirely different than the majority of movies I have seen in my lifetime...
Still - traumatic as the movie is [and for me it was very...] I think every adult should see it and think about the implications.
This world will not - in my opinion - change for the better - until we hold perpetrators - at all levels - accountable [penal system wise; financially; etc.] for their actions.
I also believe every fine collected for an offense perpetrated against humanity, be it targeting one person or a nation - should be put into a victims [and their families] legal fund.
Why should low income perps get free legal counsel - and thier victims have to [this, if they even can...] pay full pop for legal representation?
This movie is a powerful thought-provoker. It is also heartrending enough that it made me physically sick.
I haven't checked all of these sites out in any depth yet, so if you find anything [other than my general leanings...] that is offensive, please let me know.
Please note that I do not endorse or oppose any advertizements or comments that might pop up on You Tube videos.
Heres an idea: Why not stop concerning yourselves [allegedly] about "my" health - and our children's health --- and do something [with all of that "concern"] about these creeps?????
Quote: "...the 5,200 [sex] offenders in the ["civil committment"] program are costing states hundreds of millions of dollars more than anyone envisioned. In California alone, the cost per offender averages $96,000 a year, about double what it would cost to send them to an Ivy League university..." ["TalkeRR - Sexual Predators - Road Runner": http://www.rr.com/news/talkerrpredator/ [info in brackets mine]
WHY CAN'T THEY WORK - ON SITE - AND PAY AT LEAST SOME OF THIS THEMSELVES? ARE THEY LIVING AT THE RITZ?
Yeah. Mark their license. Put em in ankle bracelets. Put trackers on their cars. Have someone actually MONITOR all of this 24/7 - AND dress them [the offenders...] in an easily identifyable uniform [no gold chains please] that they have to wear 24/7...
Then - use all of that money [being spent on the program noted - linked to - in the first entry] to send our children and grandchildren [tuition free] to community college - by making those who are apparently "staying at the 'Ritz'" (in a manner of speaking... $90,000 plus cost per containee per year....?!!!?) work off at least half of the program costs!
-------------------------------------------------------------- IMPORTANT INFORMATIVE LINKS:
As another uptown business makes its way towards closing its doors [ "'Taxes send Uptown cigar store south' - The Daily Freeman News Serving the Hudson Valley since 1871(DailyFreeman.com)": http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2010/06/08/news/doc4c0dcfef14ed6247508941.txt ] --- I can't help but wonder if the whole cigarette thing [increased price; increase taxes; increased regulations; increased stigma; restrictive laws; etc.] isn't part of what has taken this city downhill...
Seriously. [Yeah, I know I'm probably not too "popular" with this one...]
How many people [smokers] quit frequenting restaurants and other events?
How many businesses lost revenue?
How many people quit and switched over to another addiction [such as overeating] that is often associated with health problems?
How many lives have been saved?
Are we moving towards a prohibition on tobacco products?
Did prohibition [alcohol] - back in the day - work? [It is my understanding that the prohibition on alcohol backfired - and, along with gambling and such - led to the proliferation of "gangs" - blackmarket products - etc...]
My grandfather smoked and worked his "butt off" [pun intended] his whole life.
My mother [who is still working and paying taxes at age 77...] smoked for most of her adult life - and didn't develop asthma and breathing problems - blood pressure problems - until after [partly due to weight gain?] she stopped smoking. [Ditto for some other folks I know, with post-smoking issues popping up - such as weight gain, depression, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.]
My brother died - in part - from multiple issues associated with addictions [including smoking] - "BUT" --- do you know what? He was a CLASS ACT - and he paid for every chemical he put into his body.
YOU didn't! [Contrast this with the whole medical / Medicaid issue (socially approved drugs replacing socially dissapproved drugs?) that is going on around here...]
What got me cranked up again?
Seeing a lady - outside a church - "sneaking" into a corner by herself [after a funeral service] to have a cigarette.
Which reminded me of an elderly lady I saw smoking outside a hospital emergency room a while back - in the dead of winter - shaking [Did she catch pnemonia from the cold?] like a leaf.
Have we gotten too moralistic around here? Why target cigarettes and not [to the extent one might think is justified...] booze?
How many people have beat their partner after a drag on a cigarette?
How many people have beat their partner after a swig off the old bottle?
How many driving while cigging accidents are on the books?
How many DUIs and DWIs and driving / alcohol-related tragedies and fatalities?
I've never been in the uptown shop that is noted in the article cited... but I can sure say that I'm sad to see another small business in this city leave...
Iyi.
Should we do everything we can to encourage our youth not to smoke or drink or drug?
Absolutely.
Are smoking and non-smoking areas a realistic approach [versus what "has" gone down...] to the 2nd hand smoke [or "I'm better than you are...?"] issue?
Does it really serve us well when the "pot calls the kettle black" [from an addiction recovery (12 Step...) book]?
I actually wrote this one day last week - but had decided not to post it. However, after reading a bunch of related "stuff" on Facebook and elsewhere - I decided to give it a go.
I am not real familiar with Ron Paul - and the video is a bit outdated - so as I've heard bantered about (always the case, anyway...): "Take what you like and leave the rest..." [heard in a 12 Step Program].
"... Therefore, I, George Bush, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the decade beginning January 1, 1990, as the Decade of the Brain..." ["Decade of the Brain Presidential Proclamation 6158 (Library of Congress) II"; http://www.loc.gov/loc/brain/proclaim.html ]
Disclaimer: Please do not utilize this information to discontinue any medication based on what you have read or seen here!. Please check things out seriously - if you are so inclined - for yourself. Recommendations that I have come across in this department are to 1) Be an informed consumer... and 2) Get a second medical opinion.
"If You Want to Sell Me Something, Sell Me Hope..."
If only "Humpty Dumpty" Had been made of steel Dent proof, Rust proof, "Built to last..." Programmed to think and feel... And rotate on his axis If a twig snapped in the bush... Poor old egg, unseemingly.. Reduced to so much mush..
Dylan's "Watchtower" Could have used a guard That could rotate on a whim... To catch the view, not just in front, But from in back of him Where history teaches lessons... And science provides facts... That would either keep us on A saner path... Or stop us in our tracks.
Riders approaching from the front... Yeah, Dylan covered that. But looking at the world one way Does not protect one's back...
I have long suspected That both "Humpty" and Dylan Were pushed... Beyond the realm of reason By shadows in the bush...
Was the rescue squad A clean up squad? Sent forth to scew the clues...
Did the big cat cry at another lie?
Did the egg not pay his dues?
Bow at the temple of Mammon? Dedicate his life to greed?
Did Dylan weep? I wonder...
Did "Humpty Dumpty" bleed?
What happens when one wanders Too close to time and truth? Does the world say, "Wow man, thank you..." Or, does the world prepare a noose?
Hope is in your left hand... Terror is in your right... Armegeddon just a prophecy... That could use a little light.
Because WE create And WE destroy As we walk our paths in life...
Avoiding Scams and Bad Publishers
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Here’s an excellent article from former agent Nathan Bransford on the
various scams and nonsense authors are dealing with right now.
https://nathanb...
Liberty Metals Group Review
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Liberty Metals Group is a company that sells precious metals products. But
according to Yelp and their Better Business Bureau page, they've gone out
of b...
Ebook Download User Guide Manual For Windows 10
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Ebook Download User Guide Manual For Windows 10
When one is encountered to the issues, several choose to seek the
inspirations and amusement by reading. Ar...
Please find our events on Facebook
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For our current initiatives and events, check us out on Facebook or join
our mailing list. This site is outdated and currently under redevelopment.
Coming ...
The Voters Have a Right to Know
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The Ulster Town Board is holding a special meeting this Tuesday to decide
whether to grant FOIL requests to release a police dash cam video of a
traffic st...
Congratulations to Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler!
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It should surprise no one, and delight everyone, that Richard Thaler has
won this year’s Nobel in economics. Congratulations! Thaler is a big reason
I pe...
Adjust contrast of a pdf free
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Closer to the eye of the shooter, this is because Preview is quite
literally applying a filter to each individual page of the PDF you are
saving. the proce...
This is not good for Children
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The Texas Legislature has a bill in front of it that would allow not only
faith-based adoption agencies but all others to refuse to allow Jewish,
Muslim or...
Election 2015
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Is it me, or is this like the third year running that while trying to find
election results all we get from the UC Board of Elections page is this?
For hou...
BROADWAY TREES
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So, who is responsible for the maintenance of the trees along our Broadway
corridor?
Oh, thats right. We have a tree commission don't we?
...
Ulster County 2015 Tax Lien Foreclosure Report
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We are once again at that time of year when the County is faced with the
unenviable task of auctioning off properties to meet tax obligations. It is
not on...
Memorial Day 2013
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IMHO, the best way to remember and honor our fallen men & women in uniform
is to practice democracy. The concepts of "liberty and justice for all"
means fo...
Ellis Island - Baggage and Dormitory Building
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View of one of the many dorm areas which comprise the bulk of the Baggage
and Dormitory building; during its peak, this area would have held as many
beds...
Gov. Christie to Keynote GOP Convention
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Gov. Chris Christie will keynote this year's GOP convention. While I am
supporting Barack Obama and hope very much so he is reelected in November,
I en...
A Bit of a Twist
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Events in town recently have been much like the past winter's snowfalls,
'few & far between', but like politics, less is often more. In the case of
the Tow...
Proposed New York Senate and Assembly Districts
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Well folks the State as done it. I present to you links for both the New
York State Assembly Districts and New York State Senate Districts.
Ulster County ...
We're back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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*Are you tired of Blaber, MoJo, Cahill, Clark and the rest of the bloggers
of Ulster County? Well back by popular demand your Fishbowl is here again!*
*St...
Kevin Cahill Remembers Dietrich Werner
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Dietrich's wife, Gayle is asking that in lieu of flowers for Dietrich, that
donations be made in his name to the Century House.
Below is a link where donat...
Czars to oversee Czars
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*The problem with talking about things is that sometimes you give people
ideas that they may never have thought of. Like when you are talking to
kids abo...
Did You Know?
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Did You Know? Kingston Community Radio has an archive of past shows, which
can be found on the website here. The most recent show features county
executive...
Stop the smear of Schneer
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This was in the Kingston Times 9/30/09
Stop the smear of Schneer
Less than 24 hours after Judge Deborah Schneer won confirmation as our next
Ulster County ...
Top Ten Things Overhead at the Board of Elections
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10. Acceptance? I need to file what? Nobody told me about that.
9. I didn't know that petitions had to be filed by July 16.
8. I don't have enough signatu...