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| “Seriously they want me to wear purple because five queers killed themselves. The only way im wearin it for them is if they all commit suicide. I cant believe the people of this world have gotten this stupid. We are honoring the fact that they sinned and killed thereselves because of their sin. REALLY PEOPLE.” - Arkansas District School board member Clint McCance's Facebook post Good Friday Morning, This morning the NYJN endorsed Maryellen Odell for County Executive. I'm surprised since they have a hard time finding Putnam County at all unless it's in the police reports. For those of you who read the Gannett paper, is there a Putnam section? No, we're attached to Westchester as if we're the 'red haired step-child' of that larger, more populous county. Hold on to your hats! Over the next few days your mailbox will be stuffed with big shiny cards pushing one candidate or another. This week alone (as of yesterday) I've received, 31 pieces of mail. It's enough for an auto de fé! Where is Diego de Landa when you need him? I've also received numerous robo-calls including one inviting me to a 'bagger rally in Carmel tomorrow. Sorry, I'm having root canal without anesthesia and it sounds like more fun. Anyway, In the mail were:
 Just a reminder: If you cannot bring yourself to vote for either of the 'ells running for County Executive and you still want to vote in that race, write in "Jeff Green". It fits nicely in the box. Can we get 50 votes?It should not be difficult! Each day that passes the campaign for county executive, Congress and the State Senate (40th) just gets stranger and stranger. If the elections don't come soon the National Institute of Health is going to have come in and administer Thorazine to everyone in the county just to stop our heads from exploding! Here, let me make it even easier for you: Maryellen Odell does not support women's rights. Released the other day was a palm card put out by the "Westchester and Putnam Pro-Life PAC" and on it are the usual suspects, Ball, Katz, and Paladino. But also listed on the card is Mary Ellen Odell. There are judges too: Matthew Byrne and James Burke, both running for State Supreme Court. On the one hand we have a Senator who does not support civil rights (though he does surround himself with cute guys). On the other hand we have a county Legislator who wants the government to leave us alone but is willing to allow the government legislate women's rights? What planet are we living on? And how do we get off? Wabbit Season! Duck Season! Pick one but be careful in the woods. Here, briefly, are the hunting seasons (PDF) in our area: Deer:As you can see, pretty much anything that moves is legal to shoot at right now so please, BE CAREFUL when you're taking a walk in the forests. Here's a hint: carry a whistle with you and as you enter the woods blow on it twice. Then, from time to time (every 10 or 15 minutes or so) give it another couple of toots. Three toots, by the way, is a distress call so don't be doing that. (Unless you find your leg pierced with an arrow or your back riddled with buckshot.) What's Going On?
Friday, October 29The Dark Side of Chocolate7 PM- Documentary film about trafficking of children in the international chocolate industry. Fair-traded chocolate for the trick or treaters will be available. Sponsored by the Social Justice Committee, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 67 South Randolph Ave., Poughkeepsie. Contact Pat Lamanna, 845-452-4013. patla@hvc.rr.com . Saturday, October 30Fall Foliage Hike10:00AM. Fishkill Ridge, Fishkill. A 4-mile trek ascending 1,200 feet along Fishkill Ridge, stopping at Lambs Hill for lunch and a magnificent panoramic vista. Moderately strenuous, but fall's wonderful colors should make it worth the effort. Bring lunch and plenty of water. Contact Anthony Coneski, 845 473 4440 Ext. 273, www.scenichudson.org. Canvassing in Support of the Southeast Old Town Hall Project10AM - 4PM (And Sunday from 9AM-1PM). We are scheduled for A&P to hand out flyers on Saturday and Sunday. We need extra coverage from 12-2 on Saturday and 9-1 on Sunday. If anyone can help out, if only for an hour, please let me know. It would be best to have two people on at all times. Aurora: Reading of a new play by Tony Howarth8 PM at the Cultural Center on Lake Carmel/Arts on the Lake. Locked in a prison in his mind, a Vietnam Veteran is shaken by his encounter with an Illegal Immigrant trying to avoid a prison that is more literal. The cast for this reading: Lester: Sean Hopkins, Eduardo: Angel Morales, Olivia: Zulie Lozada, Poppy: Lora Lee Ecobelli, Hamilton: Paul Dommermuth, Pierce: Jeff Green, Stage Directions: Bart Cook. Tickets: $8.00 – $10.00 Visit Arts on the Lake for more information. Maggie Seligman8PM - Jitters Coffeehouse, 1273 Queen Street, Southington, CT. 860.747.1100 www.jittersclub.com or info@jittersclub.com. A stellar venue with delicious pie and a great vibe. Only original music here. And, a surprise guest will join me! Into the Future:Wednesday, November 3
Saturday, November 6
Sunday, November 7
Friday, November 12
A workshop for landowners in the Eastern Hudson Highlands. At the Clearpool Education Ctr, Carmel, NY. This workshop will provide landowners with info and tools to get the most out of their woodlands, and learn how to take care of it for future generations. For more information, contact Kristi Sullivan at kls20@cornell.edu or Laura Heady at lheady@gw.dec.state.ny.us Tuesday, November 16
Saturday, November 20
Monday, November 22
Monday, December 13
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Friday, October 29, 2010
News That Matters - Friday, October 29, 2010 - Things To Do Edition
7PM - 10PM - Sampling delicious local foods, bidding on exciting Hudson Valley products and services, and even getting a jump on holiday shopping will all be part of the festivities at the Common Ground Farm Harvest Auction. The second annual benefit event will be held Saturday, November 6 at 7 pm at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall at 850 Wolcott Avenue (Route 9D) in Beacon.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
News That Matters - Wednesday, October 27, 2010
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| Good Wednesday Morning, From the Town of Kent: It is with great sadness to inform everyone of the passing of former Putnam County Legislator and Town of Kent Supervisor Arne H. Nordstrom on Sunday, October 25, 2010. The arrangements are as follows: BALSAMO/CORDOVANO FUNERAL HOME, Church Street, Carmel, New York. The family will be receiving friends on Thursday, 10/28/2010 at the Funeral Home from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Diabetes Association.Last week I wrote the Putnam Times inquiring whether it was legal for unsigned political advertisements to be published in a newspaper. Here is the response from Marty Collins: While I do not handle the advertising arrangements for the newspaper, I do believe the ad was sent to us by Leibell campaign personnel. As for it having to have a campaign signature, I have been told that it is not a legal requirement.Can anyone shed any more light on that? Do you play Farmville, Mafia Wars or Texas Hold'em on Facebook? You do? Well your identifying personal data is like - everywhere - and the makers of the game are facing Federal lawsuit over it. And all you needed was just one more cow! Aurora: Reading of a new play by Patterson's Tony Howarth: This Saturday, October 30 at 8 PM at the Cultural Center on Lake Carmel/Arts on the Lake. Locked in a prison in his mind, a Vietnam Veteran is shaken by his encounter with an Illegal Immigrant trying to avoid a prison that is more literal. The cast for this reading: Lester: Sean Hopkins, Eduardo: Angel Morales, Olivia: Zulie Lozada, Poppy: Lora Lee Ecobelli, Hamilton: Paul Dommermuth, Pierce: Jeff Green, Stage Directions: Bart Cook. Tickets: $8.00 – $10.00 Visit Arts on the Lake for more information. Election Edition Roundup: "Awesome post today - Election Round Up Edition. Thanks for that!!!!" -SS "Another great Jeff Green column! " - MS "I enjoyed your commentaries on the upcoming contests. Thanks for the perspective." -GB The response from Monday's column has been intense and all-positive. People I don't even like have lauded it as an objective examination of the current political situation in this county. On the other hand, one writer suggested I might now need "protection" and we'll find out if that is true over the next few months. Mike Santos of Brewster had this to say: I like George's idea of "None of the Above", and prefer it to skipping the County Executive line altogether. Although "None of the Above" cannot be elected, a large enough percentage of such votes might give pause to the winner, whomever it may be, and endow them with some humility during their term, if they are capable of humility. It might arm the County Legislature with the political courage to stand up to the winner more often on more issues, and ensure that no one becomes a dictator, or anything close to it.So just in case I do win, here's my platform:
And now, The News:
Church unveils massive solar-panel systemBy Alman AliPLEASANTVILLE — The Rev. Paul Egensteiner joked that the Emanuel Lutheran Church should celebrate the installation of 134 solar panels on the congregation's rooftop. "Somebody suggested a bottle of champagne but, with electricity, I figure that wouldn't work well," he said with a chuckle. The church on Sunday dedicated the new panels, which will convert sunlight into electricity for the building. The initiative was led by Gerard Falco, chairman of the church's environmental stewardship committee. "Like a lot of churches, this is a statement about the environment," he said. "We consider the planet to be God's gift to us and this is our moral obligation to preserve it." Read More Incline Railway supporters want line up and running in two yearsMidhudsonnews.comBEACON – The Mount Beacon Incline Railway, out of commission for some 27 years, was a major tourist attraction for over 70 years. The incline railroad, which climbed the steep Mount Beacon to its crest from 1902 through 1978, would cost millions to rebuild. But, despite that lofty goal, members of the Mount Beacon Incline Railway Restoration Society have a timetable by which they would like to resume service, said Beacon City Mayor Steven Gold, a member of the effort. Read More Cops: Motorists shoot deer from car, crossbow shaft hits houseBy Dwight R. WorleySUFFERN — Two men were arrested Sunday after a crossbow fired from a car killed a deer, Ramapo police said. One of the men was accused of firing a crossbow into the woods near West Carlton and College roads about 7 p.m., police said. The shaft went through a deer and struck the front of a nearby home about 18 inches below a picture window, Sgt. Robert Lancia said. The home was occupied, but no one was hurt, he said. The deer ran about 75 yards before collapsing, Lancia said. Read More Ten Questions for Tea PartiersBy Ralph NaderHere are ten questions for Tea Partiers that they want or do not want to answer. I say it this way because people who call themselves Tea Partiers do not have the same view of politics, government, Big Business or the Constitution. Their opinions range from pure Libertarian to actively furthering the privileges of plutocracy. Their income and occupational background vary as well, though most seem to be middle-income and up. My guess is that most Tea Partiers come from the conservative wing of the Republican Party who are fed up with both the corporate Republicans like Bush and Cheney, as well as the Democrats like Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. With the above in mind, the following questions can serve to go beyond abstractions and generalizations of indignation and get to some more specific responses. 1. Can you be against Big Government and not press for reductions in the vast military budgets, fraught with bureaucratic and large contractors’ waste, fraud and abuse? Military spending now takes up half of the federal government’s operating budgets. The libertarian Cato Institute believes that to cut deficits, we have to also cut the defense budget. 2. Can you believe in the free market and not condemn hundreds of billions of dollars of corporate welfare-bailouts, subsidies, handouts, and giveaways? Read More Eight False Things the Public "Knows" Prior to Election Dayby: Dave JohnsonThere are a number of things the public "knows" as we head into the election that are just false. If people elect leaders based on false information, the things those leaders do in office will not be what the public expects or needs. Here are eight of the biggest myths that are out there: 1) President Obama tripled the deficit. Reality: Bush's last budget had a $1.416 trillion deficit. Obama's first budget reduced that to $1.29 trillion. 2) President Obama raised taxes, which hurt the economy. Reality: Obama cut taxes. 40% of the "stimulus" was wasted on tax cuts which only create debt, which is why it was so much less effective than it could have been. 3) President Obama bailed out the banks. Reality: While many people conflate the "stimulus" with the bank bailouts, the bank bailouts were requested by President Bush and his Treasury Secretary, former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson. (Paulson also wanted the bailouts to be "non-reviewable by any court or any agency.") The bailouts passed and began before the 2008 election of President Obama. Read More |
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Monday, October 25, 2010
News That Matters - Monday, October 25th, 2010 - The Election Roundup Edition
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| Good Monday Morning, As usual, I'm not going to be making any friends this morning as I dive into local political races - and that with our annual fund drive kicking off next Wednesday! But really, where else are you going to get information like this laid out in such an open and honest way? Like it or not, you've got to love it. Those who have been reading this column in its various incarnations for all these years know that I'm not one of those writers with delicate sensitivities. As (now, write-in) 19th district congressional candidate Neil DiCarlo told me a few months back, he cannot find fault with my facts but he does not like the way I lay them out. Fair enough. But I'm not in the business of selling you packets of survival seeds against the coming collapse of the nation like Glenn Beck, and I'm not in the business of building a media empire by pushing the buttons of the less-than-intelligent as Rush Limbaugh does. And I don't ignore poll results in order to push a candidate backed by the national Democrats as does Moveon.org. And as much as I wish I could be co-opted by corporations as easily as the staff at Fox News, I'm just in the business of trying to be as objective as possible about the things and issues that affect us. I decry the current political state of our towns, county, state and nation. For reasons best left to psychologists and sociologists, the American political system, which was once diverse and actually interesting, has become a two-sided coin with no edge side. You're either a conservative or a liberal. You're either a Democrat or a Republican. You are either a patriot or a traitor. You either win or lose and everything else, any other thought, any attempt whatsoever to engage citizens with objectivity is decried as divisive. Consider me divisive then, for there are a million shades of political opinion and those who have drunk the two-side cool-aid have placed themselves into a psychological prison they cannot escape from. Rather, they are comfortable there, neatly ensconced in an environment where everyone they know can be safely categorized into one of two camps - even if they must create it - and where alternate thought is heresy. Many will say otherwise, that they are objective thinkers and that they recognize the broad spectrum of actual political thought but when push comes to shove they will defend 'their side' as a hedge against the 'other' thus perpetuating the status quo and the mess we're in just gets worse. I'm not a man who votes defensively. I do not vote for one candidate to prevent another from getting elected. In fact, that kind of voting bears much of the responsibility for where we are today. Instead, I vote *for* candidates I feel best represent my positions and if there is no one on the ballot running for a particular seat I feel can meet that requirement I will write someone in instead. And, not being a member of a mainstream political party I am free to do so. As an example, my friends of a more progressive nature give me hell for voting this way, for voting my conscience. They blame my vote for Ralph Nader in 2000 as being directly responsible for the election of George Bush. But what they fail to understand and I believe intentionally so, is that their candidate that year offered me no reason to vote *for* him and thus I and millions of others voted for another. Had their candidate had something to offer he might have received my vote. Maybe not. But it wasn't my vote that got Mr. Bush elected, it was the failure of their candidate to give me a reason to vote for him. This year in Putnam County is no different. In fact it's a political nightmare of almost biblical proportions! Okay, there's a little hyperbole there for we will survive, somehow, regardless of the outcome next Tuesday but it's probably going to suck anyway. With that said, I could be wrong. It has happened! But not that often... So, here goes: NY State Senate, 40th District: Mike Kaplowitz vs Greg Ball.I have known Mr. Kaplowitz by reputation for years. My work with environmental and land-use organizations in Westchester county has provided that and he has never failed in his unwavering support for their efforts. His tenure on the county Legislature, a county with a billion dollar plus budget, has put him in a class worthy of being sent to deal with budgets of that size in Albany. Westchester is also a rather diverse county with cities and suburbs, with the wealthiest and poorest Americans living almost side-by-side, an almost virtual copy of the state as a whole. The move for Mr. K from White Plains to Albany would be almost effortless and his successful efforts at keeping Westchester's budgets under control have been laudatory.On the other hand I have known Greg Ball for almost as long and his failure to be of sound mind has also never failed to amuse and horrify. But it was his shifting of funds from his "Citizens United For Ethical Growth (CUEG), a faux smart-growth organization formed with the blessing of Senator Leibell (pre-feud), to his campaign for Assembly that was the most egregious act he ever could have engaged in as far as I was concerned. Way worse than his directed public insults against me in my fight for social justice as outlined in the Constitution a document he sees as only worth supporting when it supports him and his needs. I could write tens of thousands of words why Mr. Ball is unfit to represent me or anyone in any elected capacity but I'd just be repeating myself. The County Executive's RaceIn this particular race, the one for Putnam County Executive, we're faced with two balloted candidates with neither one inspiring confidence in the electorate. On the one hand we have retiring State Senator Vincent Leibell who uses his power like a sledge hammer, punishing anyone who doesn't follow in lock-step with his dictates and too many have felt those hammer blows whether they come with the force of overwhelming might or more subtly, but you know they come. Just ask outgoing party chair Anthony Scannapieco or county legislator Tony Fusco. Municipalities have seen state funds simply disappear when they step out of line and reappear when they beg forgiveness and persistent rumors of past State Police harassment of individuals will simply not go away.On the other hand we have county legislator Maryellen Odell who insists she is an independent voice yet refuses to kill the pernicious public belief that she is aligned with Greg Ball. And though Ms. Odell tells me I'm the only one who reports this connection, and thus have created a connection where it does not exist, I only report what I hear and am told, not what I may suspect without such evidence. Congress:At the Congressional level we have John Hall, a moderate Republican in Democrat clothing who reactionaries have inexplicably branded as a socialist! (I wish he was a socialist!) Yet his work on veteran's affairs has been so exemplary it should have earned him the nod from affected groups if they were of independent thought and mind and not working for the national Republican committee. He's running against right-wing Republican, Nan Hayworth, who has no original thought and parrots the NRCC message of the day and has proven through this campaign that she will do exactly what she accuses her opponent of doing: voting in strict lock-step with her party. That would be bad for each and every one of us - especially veterans - unless you happen to own stock in a health insurance company for which she is unabashedly shilling.But we do have to make a choice here and this, for me, is almost as difficult as the Odell/Leibell race. Not that I'd ever vote for Ms. Hayworth, it's finding reasons to vote for Mr. Hall that I have trouble with. Other Local Races:Other local races are more clearly defined and actually have candidates I would (or will) be happy to vote for.There are three county Legislative races up this year. In the 5th District I see no reason why voters should not cast their votes for Jerry Furey over Carl Albano and that means you Republicans too. Jerry's a cool dude, has run a few times before and would be a pretty effective and thoughtful Legislator. An educator, coming out of Lake Carmel he has been a stalwart defender of the lake against unnecessary development and knows the community and the district well. Governor:Howie Hawkins is the Green party candidate for governor. He's not a racist. He's not the son of a former governor who feels entitled to the office. He's just a common dude working for the best that the Empire State can provide its citizens and its citizens to each other.If elected, Mr. Hawkins would end the rebating of the stock transfer tax which would generate $16 billion in state income. He would enact a more progressive state income tax as opposed to the flat tax we have now that punishes the working classes for, well, working. That alone would bring in an additional $7.7 billion while reducing the income taxes for most New Yorkers.The complete list of candidates on the ballot next Tuesday is here. (PDF) |
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| Copyright © 2010 News That Matters | ||
For the record, the transfer tax was first enacted in 1907 and until 1981 the state kept those dollars. In an effort to keep Wall Street from moving to New Jersey the state decided to refund the tax each year to the companies that paid it. In essence, borrowing from Wall Street for the price of the interest income earned with the state losing altogether but the likes of Goldman Saks, making billions.
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