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| Good Friday Morning, A hearty welcome to FG and other new readers this fine morning. Today marks the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan in which upwards of 80,000 civilians were killed outright and another 60,000 succumbed to injuries over the following few months. The County Executive Race Free-For-All: I've recently become aware that my name has been tossed around at the brewster10509 blog as a possible write-in or independent ballot line candidate for County Executive. I do appreciate the support but really, I have enough trouble paying the bills and cannot take time off from that struggle to go head-to-head against Senator Leibell or MaryEllen Odell nor would anyone in their right mind want to get involved with that mess. Besides, can you imagine me running this county? Sheesh. By the time I was done there'd be passive solar homes, windmills and mini-hydro plants everywhere, green roofs as code on commercial construction, bike lanes along Routes 301, 311, 312 and Peekskill Hollow Road, one quarter fewer county employees, sustainable manufacturing and a corporate office park or two along the Route 84 corridor in Kent employing hundreds of highly skilled workers and a hundred acres or more at Tilly Foster growing rapeseed or switchgrass to power the county truck fleet. No one would want anything like that.Note to licensed contractors in Putnam County: That bi-annual tax you pay to the county for permission to work here is, for some of you, about to go up. Forget that the recession has decimated many of us financially, and that those fees are paying for a department from which we contractors earn no benefit. The county has decided that in order to educate you about new laws concerning phosphorus reduction they're going to increase those fees to charge you for their as yet to be determined educational program. At least that's where the legislative committee is now... stay tuned! But if you feel you've been fee'd and taxed to death already and would like to start a coalition of contractors willing to stand up and fight back, please, contact me.  The Putnam County Land Trust is seeking candidates for its Board of Trustees. Individuals who support the concept of open space and the preservation of our natural resources are encouraged to apply. These candidates need to be able to contribute their special skills for a minimum of two hours each month in addition to regular attendance at monthly Board meetings. The current Board membership consists of a variety of men and women with a commitment to preserving open space within Putnam County. The mission of the land trust is threefold: land protection, stewardship of protected properties and public education on natural and environmental issues. While not called upon to be experts in the field of environmental studies, all contribute their own unique personal skills abilities and talents to get the job of land protection done. If you're interested - and you should be - visit their website for more information. If you live along Peekskill Hollow Road or know someone who does, there's a campaign underway to mark that as an Historical Road, Putnam County's first under a new county law. The effort is being led out of Kent by Vic Tiship and what's needed are the signatures on petitions of 50%+1 of the owners of road frontage along that scenic byway. If you've not yet gotten involved in this undertaking contact Vic here. In 2008, the last year hard numbers were available, New Yorkers were not the highest property taxed people in the land. That award goes to nearby New Jersey. Here's how it breaks down: Median Property Taxes Paid on Homes was $3622 ranking NY in 4th place. In New Jersey it was $6320 for a first place ranking.So this campaign season when you hear candidates saying that Putnam pays the highest taxes in the nation or the state you'll know you're being lied to. Pay attention because you're going to hear it! Court did not go well for either Senator Leibell or MaryEllen Odell as the judge sent them back to the "pigsty", as the Senator calls it, of the Putnam County Board of Elections to hash out their disagreement on the validity of MEOs petition signatures for ballot access to the September primary. If they find another 90 or so invalid signatures she's off the ballot and Leibell wins by default. The other day I reported that I had a received a "press release" from one "putnamcountywatchdog" that was, based on its wording, in support of Mary Ellen Odell's campaign for County Executive. I sent a note back to the sender asking for identification and received nothing. I then posted the same question to MEO's facebook page and Brittany Pritz, a volunteer, wrote to say that she didn't know who the sender was either. I generally do not forward or report the contents of emails and releases sent to me whose sources are not verifiable and if PCWD continues sending these anonymous posts he'll only do his candidate harm. There should be no shame in being public... unless you work for Vinnie Leibell. Just tell me and I promise to keep it under my hat. On FOXNews Sunday, future President Sarah Palin warned that the Obama administration was planning for the largest tax increase - ever - on the American people. I cannot tell you how often we've heard those words, "largest tax increase - ever." It's like saying, "Have a nice day!" or "How was your weekend?" In other words, virtually meaningless. And in this case, less than meaningless - an outright lie. And trust me, you're going to be hearing it as fact and gospel from every Republican, even if they have to dig up Dwight Eisenhower just to make the point.
The Gaza strip, according to some of my progressive friends, is the largest "concentration camp in the world". But it can't be all that bad a place as the markets are full, a new mall just opened, the beaches are studded with upscale restaurants and resorts and a new water park recently opened. Additionally, Gaza receives roughly $1.1 billion in free money from abroad including hundreds of millions of dollars from US taxpayers each year.
In January of 2009, Israel agreed to release 1000 Palestinians from their prisons to secure Mr. Shalit's release but Hamas refused. In June 2009, an Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem, no friend to the Israeli government, tried to publish an advertisement in the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds asking for his release but the paper's Gaza-based cousin, Palestine, refused to run it. And just this year ten-thousand Israeli's marched from Shalit's hometown to the Israeli Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem, a distance of more than 100 miles, in an attempt to pressure the government to secure a return for Gilad to his friends and family. Across Europe, churches and cathedrals and even the Coliseum in Rome dimmed their lights in support. To our regular list of CSA and organic farms, farmstands and markets, we're adding the Healthy Harvest CSA on Carpenter Road in Stormville. Their website is here. The rest of the list is at the PlanPutnam website here. I've been promised an update to that list so keep an eye out for that. Things To Do:
Today:Public Listening Session on the President’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative9:00 AM – 12:00 PM Please join senior representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and other federal agencies for a public listening session on conservation, recreation and reconnecting people to the outdoors. The session will be held Friday, August 6, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon in the Hudson River Valley. The public listening session and discussion are an opportunity for leaders of the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to hear from you and other voices in the Hudson Valley about solutions for building a 21st-century conservation and recreation agenda and for reconnecting people with the outdoors. This event is free and open to the public. Pre-register by Tuesday, August 3 by sending an email to joseph.heller@ny.usda.gov with your name, the name of the organization with which you are affiliated, if any, and your telephone number. Include in your email your primary area of interest by noting your 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice of the Concurrent Breakout Listening Sessions listed as follows: (1) Conservation of working farms, forests, and coastal areas. (2) Reconnecting people with the outdoors through recreation and education. (3) Creating a healthy river: Conserving and restoring important habitat and blueways. (4) General session for those who do not want to designate a specific topic. If you have questions, please contact Joseph Heller at (845) 883-7162, Extension 104 or joseph.heller@ny.usda.gov. Location: Marist College, Student Center. Poughkeepsie, NY.
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Friday, August 6, 2010
News That Matters - Friday, August 6, 2010 - Things To Do Edition
It's such a lie that Poltifact has given President Palin yet another "pants on fire" rating for this boner. Keep in mind that it was the Bush tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of the year, which so short-changed the government that it can be pointed to as one of the chief reasons the Federal deficit is so outstandingly high. That, and a trillion a year to defense and defense related expenditures... we cannot forget those...
Rather than deal with intentional inaccuracies, perhaps they might just say, the State of Gaza since it has its own government, runs its own affairs, has a standing army and, aside from thousands of Iranian trained guerrillas, there is only one foreign soldier on their soil, 
Vaneese Thomas at Arts on The Lake
8PM - 
