| News That Matters "All the President is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway." PlanPutnam's Annual Fund Drive: Day 11 <- Click Here Good Wednesday Morning, At the top of this morning's column there's (drumroll, please....) Patterson!
Over in Kent, a town whose governmental affairs have become boringly mundane, the CAC and Stormwater committees meet at 7:30 this evening. There are no scandals, no yelling and screaming, no backroom deals. Both meetings are open to the public and promise to be calm, collected and decidedly non-controversial. PlanPutnam's Annual Fund Drive: Day 11 <- Click Here
Just this past week Rush Limbaugh blamed America's economic woes directly on Barack Obama, he called it "Obama's Recession". Am I the only one who thinks NY should reinstate the death penalty but only for the crime of Extreme Stupidity in the First Degree? How about permanent exile to Utah instead? It looks like Alaska voters have done what the polls said they would do: they've ousted Senator Ted Stevens and are sending Democrat Mark Begich to Washington, D.C. in January. We're still waiting for the recount of votes in Minnesota where the divide between Norm Coleman and Al Franken rests this morning at a mere 215 votes - out of 2,900.000 cast. Never tell me your vote does not count! Coming this Saturday at Arts on the Lake is a Blue Horse Repertory reading of a new play, The Foot Shooters, by Paul Coleman.
And now, the News:
Haldane voters approve school repairs bondBarbara Livingston NackmanThe Journal News COLD SPRING - Voters in the Haldane school district yesterday overwhelmingly approved a referendum to authorize spending up to $2.3 million to replace the main building's roof and make related repairs, officials said. The vote was 482 to 230. Spending for the project comes at a time of national economic woes, which was one reason officials said they were concerned jittery voters might reject the referendum and seek to postpone the repairs. But the measure passed on a 2-to-1 margin. "The public has spoken," Superintendent Mark Villanti said. "It's better off for the health and safety of the children to do this now." Read More 420 acres protected in RocklandFriday, November 14, 2008Last updated: Friday November 14, 2008, EST 6:52 AM BY JAMES M. O'NEILL STAFF WRITER The town of Ramapo is finalizing the purchase of 420 acres of woodlands for $5.25 million as part of a push to protect the Ramapo River watershed, a key source of drinking water for North Jersey and Rockland County, N.Y. The New York town has spent more than $35 million in the past few years to purchase open space, including 262 acres on High Mountain near the New Jersey border. At the same time, the town is spending $125 million to replace up to 4,000 faulty residential septic systems in Hillburn and Sloatsburg with a sewer system and a $45 million wastewater treatment facility that will produce effluent clean enough to meet drinking water standards. The 420 acres, which abut the southern edge of Harriman State Park and provide habitat for timber rattlesnakes, had in recent years been the location for a proposed power plant and stone quarry. To prevent such use, Ramapo rezoned the land in 2004 from industrial to residential use. Read More Application for 999,999 gallons of water; DEC talks tougher regulationsBy SANDY LONG Water issues related to natural gas extraction continued to be discussed by William Janeway, Region 3 regional director for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), who cited four “commitments” that the agency has made in relation to drilling. Group asks for long-term open space fundsReps of the Keep it Green coalition yesterday called on Gov. Corzine to permanently fund open space preservation, saying it was their No. 1 goal this fall. WFP wants a millionaire’s taxNovember 12, 2008 at 12:27 pm by Irene Jay LiuThe Working Families Party, which helped deliver the Senate to the Democrats last week, is calling on Gov. David Paterson to raise taxes on the wealthy as part of the “real shared sacrifice” that goes along with cuts. “With New York facing a $2 billion deficit this year and another $12 billion next year, everyone - including New York’s wealthiest - will have to do their part to get our state through this crisis,” said WFP Executive Director Dan Cantor: “The Governor’s plan asks school children, local property tax payers, students at SUNY and CUNY, the elderly and New Yorkers with disabilities to sacrifice. The only people exempt from the pain are wealthy New Yorkers and the Wall Street barons who got us into this in the first place. That’s wrong,” he said. Read More Musical Numbers: BondsPosted at Slate Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 12:42pmIf this year’s credit crisis taught us anything, it’s that we all need to brush up on our economic vocabulary. But we’re not here to try to explain how terms like credit-default swaps, collateralized debt obligations, and mortgage-backed securities made it into the news for the thousandth time. Instead, we’re starting with the basics; and we’re doing it with the help of a little music. The Big Money presents a Schoolhouse Rock-style video on bonds and what, exactly, they do. Click “Play” below to see them all grow to maturity. Play! The sad, sad state of college EnglishBy Michael OleskerExaminer Columnist | 11/14/08 9:59 PM Some people collect sports memorabilia, or rare coins, or sea shells from the beach at Ocean City. Wilson Watson collects sentences. He taught local community college students for 35 years and has now slipped gently into retirement. But his students’ sentences trail behind him like ship’s anchors, evidence of the sinking of American writing skills. Or, as one of Watson’s scholars wrote so succinctly: “Some people use bad language and is not even aware of the fact.” Or, another: “It’s good I’m doing something with my self; Therefore, I can do better in the foochure.” Or, “People who murder a lot of people are called masked murderers.” Some of this feels like masked murder of the English language — such as the student who explained in a note, “I was absent on Monday because I was stopped on the Beltway for erotic driving.” Read More Gulf War Syndrome is real, science panel concludesBy Mary Engel and Thomas H. Maugh IILos Angeles Times Article Launched: 11/17/2008 09:28:34 PM PST A congressionally mandated scientific panel has concluded that Gulf War syndrome is real and afflicts nearly one-quarter of the 700,000 U.S. troops who served in the 1991 conflict, according to a report released Monday. The report broke with most earlier studies by concluding that two chemical exposures were direct causes of the disorder: the drug pyridostigmine bromide, given to troops to protect against nerve gas, and pesticides that were used — and often overused — to protect against sand flies and other pests. "The extensive body of scientific research now available consistently indicates that Gulf War illness is real, that it is a result of neurotoxic exposures during Gulf War deployment, and that few veterans have recovered or substantially improved with time," according to the 450-page report presented to U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake. The report bolstered the hopes of thousands of U.S. and allied veterans who have struggled to have their varied neurological symptoms, including memory loss, concentration problems, rashes and widespread pain, recognized by the government. "I've had vets go to "... (Veterans Affairs) and be turned away and told that this is something that doesn't exist," said John Schwertfager, vice president of the National Gulf War Resource Center, a veterans advocacy group. Read More Hiroshima: The Lost Photographs |
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Wednesday, November 19, 2008
News That Matters - November 19, 2008
In The Foot Shooters, a group of bright misfits band together to try to help one another finally become successful and happy. But a series of mishaps, miscues, and misapprehensions turns their aspirations into riotous desperation. The Foot Shooters is a poignant comedy and a calamitous love story involving a manic Broadway producer, two bakers, and oddball court reporter, a lovable but befuddled composer and...a ghost? Written by Paul Coleman, this play will warm you and tickle you, and reveals that what matters most in life can't be measured by anything other than love.
