"I cannot call to mind a single instance where I have ever been irreverent, except toward the things which were sacred to other people." - Mark Twain
Good Monday Morning,
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A blog site from Yonkers called, "Rising Times" is reporting that Putnam County District Attorney Adam Levy gave a company called WPD Concepts, LLC., a significant amount of money during his 2007 election. The article hints that Mr. Levy spent $75,000 to ensure an uncontested race but I'll leave that up to the Feds to decipher.
What is interesting is that WPD Concepts has an address at 41 Bridle Ridge Road in Patterson, the residence of Ray McGuire.
Mr. McGuire must have been well paid as he owns two homes in Patterson, the one on Bridle Ridge (Assessed at $544,000) and another on Tammany Hall Rd ($409,000). Sweet.
A 5 minute Google search shows that WPD also must have been a well connected and profitable business! Registered in 2006, it was the darling of ONLY TWO NY Republican candidates since then. Guess which two? | Payee/Recipient | Amt | Expense Code | Date | Disburser | Filing | Sched | Office | Dist | County | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 19,000.00 | CONSL | 29-JAN-08 | HUDSON VALLEY VICTORY COMMITTEE | 2008 July Periodic | F | N/A | N/A | Putnam | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 10,000.00 | CONSL | 16-SEP-08 | HUDSON VALLEY VICTORY COMMITTEE | 2009 Jan Periodic | F | N/A | N/A | Putnam | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 7,500.00 | CONSL | 06-SEP-07 | HUDSON VALLEY VICTORY COMMITTEE | 2007 XX | F | N/A | N/A | Putnam | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 5,000.00 | CONSL | 02-APR-08 | HUDSON VALLEY VICTORY COMMITTEE | 2008 July Periodic | F | N/A | N/A | Putnam | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 2,500.00 | CONSL | 08-DEC-08 | HUDSON VALLEY VICTORY COMMITTEE | 2009 Jan Periodic | F | N/A | N/A | Putnam | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 20,000.00 | CONSL | 17-SEP-08 | LEIBELL SENATE COMMITTEE | 2008 32 Pre General | F | State Senator | 40 | N/A | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 18,000.00 | CONSL | 11-JUL-08 | LEIBELL SENATE COMMITTEE | 2008 July Periodic | F | State Senator | 40 | N/A | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 12,000.00 | CONSL | 13-JUL-08 | LEIBELL SENATE COMMITTEE | 2008 32 Pre General | F | State Senator | 40 | N/A | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 10,000.00 | CONSL | 29-AUG-06 | LEIBELL SENATE COMMITTEE | 2006 32 Pre General | F | State Senator | 40 | N/A | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 7,500.00 | CONSL | 13-JAN-09 | LEIBELL SENATE COMMITTEE | 2009 July Periodic | F | State Senator | 40 | N/A | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 5,000.00 | CONSL | 22-JAN-07 | LEIBELL SENATE COMMITTEE | 2007 July Periodic | F | State Senator | 40 | N/A | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 3,750.00 | CONSL | 14-JUL-10 | LEIBELL SENATE COMMITTEE | 2010 32 Pre Primary | F | State Senator | 40 | N/A | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 3,750.00 | CONSL | 15-MAR-09 | LEIBELL SENATE COMMITTEE | 2009 July Periodic | F | State Senator | 40 | N/A | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 3,750.00 | CONSL | 15-SEP-10 | LEIBELL SENATE COMMITTEE | 2010 Post Primary | F | State Senator | 40 | N/A | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 3,750.00 | CONSL | 19-JAN-10 | LEIBELL SENATE COMMITTEE | 2010 July Periodic | F | State Senator | 40 | N/A | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 3,750.00 | CONSL | 27-MAY-09 | LEIBELL SENATE COMMITTEE | 2009 July Periodic | F | State Senator | 40 | N/A | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 3,750.00 | CONSL | 09-APR-10 | LEIBELL SENATE COMMITTEE | 2010 July Periodic | F | State Senator | 40 | N/A | WPD CONCEPTS LLC
P.O. BOX 375
PAWLING, NY 12564 | 3,750.00 | CONSL | 12-AUG-09 | LEIBELL SENATE COMMITTEE | 2010 Jan Periodic | F | State Senator | 40 | N/A | WPD CONCEPTS
BREWSTER
BREWSTER, NY 10509 | 25,000.00 | CONSL | 05-FEB-07 | THE COMMITTEE TO ELECT ADAM LEVY | 2007 July Periodic | F | District Attorney | N/A | Putnam | WPD CONCEPTS
BREWSTER
BREWSTER, NY 10509 | 18,000.00 | CONSL | 23-OCT-07 | THE COMMITTEE TO ELECT ADAM LEVY | 2007 27 Post General | F | District Attorney | N/A | Putnam | WPD CONCEPTS
BREWSTER
BREWSTER, NY 10509 | 16,000.00 | CONSL | 15-AUG-07 | THE COMMITTEE TO ELECT ADAM LEVY | 2007 32 Pre General | F | District Attorney | N/A | Putnam | WPD CONCEPTS
BREWSTER
BREWSTER, NY 10509 | 16,000.00 | CONSL | 02-MAY-07 | THE COMMITTEE TO ELECT ADAM LEVY | 2007 July Periodic | F | District Attorney | N/A | Putnam | | Total Expenses | 217,750.00 | Source: NYS Board of Elections
The plot thickens! Has the NY Journal News or the Courier written about this yet?
Two weeks ago I wrote about how the middle east would erupt in a blaze of change and the events taking place in Egypt and Jordan represent the second step in sweeping changes that are taking place there.
What the outcome will be is hard to say. The US Administration is furiously racing to alter its long-held position of supporting the totalitarian regimes that are now falling one by one.
It's a little late for President Obama to be calling for "reform" in Egypt after the US has steadfastly backed Hosni Mubarak for the past 30 years and I would suspect that the next government formed may not be all that friendly to us. But what President Obama has not done is called for Hosni Mubarak to step down and that is a tactical and political mistake we will pay for in generations to come.
That we still back tyrants like Mubarak lies at the root of why the US traditionally backs totalitarian regimes even though we claim to "spread democracy" around the world:
When push comes to shove the US stands against democracy as right-wing, totalitarian governments are better for profits.
Anyway, if you'd like to watch the events live, point your browser here.
This is what people do in Putnam County and the percent of the workforce employed:
| Government | 251 | 2.80 | | Agricultural Services | 258 | 2.87 | | Restaurants | 261 | 2.91 | | Banks and Financial Institutions | 264 | 2.94 | | General Construction | 266 | 2.96 | | Real Estate | 285 | 3.18 | | Unclassified Establishments | 295 | 3.29 | | Other Business Services | 385 | 4.29 | | Specialty Stores | 403 | 4.49 | | Professional Services | 563 | 6.27 | | Heavy Construction | 579 | 6.45 | | Health and Medical Services | 747 | 8.32 |
82% of all Putnam County based businesses employ less than ten people accounting for more than 7300 jobs and these are the companies that need help, not Camarda*Marts, but the mom and pop business that are the backbone of our communities and our economy. Think about that the next time some rich developer comes, hat in hand, for a taxpayer handout and remember the names of the politicians who give it to them.
I've recently been asked again if I was running for Supervisor in Kent this year. At this point I'll only say that I'm keeping my options - and the campaign account - open.
It's going to be an ugly year in Kent as the Forces of Evil do battle against the Forces of Don't Change Anything with the outcome deciding the town's future for the next few years. A well financed independent candidate running on a non-D or R line might just be able to bring some sanity to things. With Leibell out of the picture and The Senator Who Shall Not Be Named busy in Albany, the Forces of Evil will have to make do on their own this time.
And now, The News:
- Bill Buck in Cape Horn
- Walkway Over the Hudson: Poughkeepsie footbridge spurs development and retail boom
- Yorktown to raze historic farmhouse
- In Symbolic Move, Philadelphia Calls for Gas Drilling Ban
- Nan Hayworth seeking to block standards to reduce toxic pollution
- More U.S. Soldiers Killed Themselves Than Died in Combat in 2010
- Drilling in ANWR back on the map
- We Can Do Better: The Overlooked Importance of Professional Journalism
- Men more likely to stick with girlfriends who sleep with other women than other men
Bill Buck in Cape Horn This article was first posted at Plant Talk by Plant Talk. Ed. note: NYBG scientist and Mary Flagler Cary Curator of Botany, Bill Buck is currently on expedition to the islands off Cape Horn, the southernmost point in South America, to study mosses and lichens. Follow his journeys on Plant Talk.  January 23, 2011, Isla Grande de la Tierra del Fuego, Puerto Consuelo, Seno Chasco, Chile, 54° 32′S, 71° 31′W
Although I am writing this blog daily, it is often impossible to send it. We were told that the modem that we rented would work anywhere, but in reality it needs a clear view to the north. Often times, though, our ship is anchored in a sheltered area with tall, snow-capped mountains on most sides of us. With the severe and changeable weather here, the saying “any port in a storm” takes on extra meaning! So, I continue to write and send them out whenever the modem decides it is in the mood. Early this morning (5 a.m.) the captain moved the ship from our previous site to the sound directly west. When I awoke to the engine starting, I knew it would be 3-4 hours before we reached our next site, and that we could sleep in for awhile. Maybe an hour later it became obvious that we had left the protected sound for more open waters. The ship started rocking violently. For most of us, it was like rocking a baby in a cradle and put us back to sleep. Only one person felt a little queasy and had to take something for seasickness. Fortunately, so far, no one has actually gotten sick. In my previous trip to the region, on our second day our, we hit a large storm which crashed 12 foot waves over the ship for hours on end. As our bunkroom was transformed into a vomitorium, I was the only non-crew member who didn’t get sick. Since our bunkroom on this trip has minimal ventilation at best, it is a true blessing that this time no one has gotten sick. It was immediately obvious when we entered the next sound, suddenly the waters were much calmer. At about 8:30 a.m., the ship stopped. I assumed that meant we were at our next site. Such was not the case. Rather, we were taking on fresh water. To do this, the ship will pull up to a waterfall and one of the crew scrambles up the cliff face with a plastic bucket that is outfitted with a hose coming out of the bottom of it. The bucket goes into the waterfall and the end of the hose is placed into the hatch of the water tank, on top of the ship. We are in a totally uninhabited place, one that gets around 12 feet of rain a year, much of which at higher elevations falls as snow. So even in mid-summer, given that there are no large mammals to pollute it, the snow-melt water is pure and cold, which is good because it is the only fresh water we have. After watching the crew member (José) go up the cliff face like a monkey, I told him now we just need to teach him to collect mosses! Not long after we replenished our fresh water supply, we arrived at the south end of the sound. Once again the landscape is spectacular. Southern beech forests come right down to the sea and are developed even on very steep slopes in only slightly sheltered places where a bit more soil accumulates. It is amazing to realize that what we are seeing has gone unchanged, except for climatic variation, for hundreds, if not thousands of years. There is virtually no man-made impact in the region, and we do our best to make sure we leave behind only divots where we have collected our specimens. Who knows how many decades it will take these small blemishes to regrow. All growth here is slow due to the cool temperatures.  Again today we split up, with Jim and Blanka choosing to go up the slope immediately next to where we were anchored. Juan and I chose to go around the end of the sound to an area where two waterfalls merge near the sea. After our ablutions (didn’t I mention our toilet malfunctioned on the first day?), Juan and I split up. Juan headed to higher elevations where snow not only persists, but is added to with each new storm, while I stayed at a lower elevation and worked along a small, raging stream coming down from a lake. Often I would stop along the stream, lay on the wet ground next to it (is it any wonder I get so wet in the field?!), and reach my hand down into the water, feeling along the bottom for submerged mosses. Some of my most interesting collections have come from doing this. Collecting in this fashion can be slow, but it is important to not get just numerous collections, but also interesting collections. And, with four pairs of eyes in different sites, we are hoping to get as much of the local bryodiversity as possible.
Much to our delight, the plant dryers that we built seem to be working. However, we’re collecting faster than the dryers can work, and so we have to rotate the collections regularly. At this stage we’re still finding species new for the flora as well as new for science. But most are known from the region. However, their distribution in the region is not at all known and so it is important to collect the common species as well as the rare ones. The weather today was the best we have seen so far. We actually saw the sun from time to time, as it alternated with light rain, sometimes repeating the pattern every couple of minutes. This is hardly what most people would think of as good weather, but we do! We are scheduled to stay in this sound for two days before starting back toward Punta Arenas. We will stop at Seno Agostini on the way back because this is the site of Mt. Buckland. This peak is just north of our flora region, but it is the site where a moss was collected in the 1940s (Bucklandia bartramii, named for the peak) but not found since. Since this species is in the genus that Juan is working on for his doctoral dissertation, and he would love fresh material for DNA studies, we are happy to oblige. We are heading back to Punta Arenas to pick up our colleague from The Field Museum in Chicago, Matt von Konrat, who was delayed and couldn’t arrive when the rest of us did. It will also give us a chance to bathe and get clothes washed before heading out again. Read Original
Walkway Over the Hudson:
Poughkeepsie footbridge spurs development and retail boom  Deborah DeGraffenreid or the NY Daily News
The 14-acre site on Poughkeepsie’s waterfront where Louis Kaufman’s company plans to build a large upscale condo complex is a former lumber-treatment plant abandoned for more than a decade – and looks it. The only color there is the graffiti that covers the old Dutton Lumber site’s beat-up industrial buildings, nestled by the frozen Hudson River. “It’s a pretty awesome site, but you have to have vision,” says Kaufman, project manager for the O’Neill Group in Hackensack, N.J. “It’s right by the train station, right on the river, right by the walkway – it’s as good as you can get under the circumstances of today’s economy.” The 1.3-mile former railroad bridge connecting Highland to Poughkeepsie, now called the Walkway Over the Hudson, looms over the site. The wildly popular pedestrian bridge − the longest in the world, according to the nonprofit behind it − has drawn more than 750,000 tourists, three times the expected number, since its debut in October 2009. Read More
Yorktown to raze historic farmhouse YORKTOWN — For 199 years, a farmhouse of one of the town's oldest families has overlooked Crompond Road. Last used as offices for school administrators, the white, two-story house will be gone by year's end. Former Landmarks Commission member Raymond Gunther called it a fine example of post-Colonial architecture. "As such we thought it was worth saving," he said. Gunther researched the farmhouse's storied history, penning a 2004 report for the now-defunct commission. John Hazzard Strang built it in 1812. His father, Daniel Strang, purchased the surrounding land from Col. Philip Verplanck in 1728.
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In Symbolic Move, Philadelphia Calls for Gas Drilling Ban This article was first posted at ProPublica: Articles and Investigations by ProPublica. by Nicholas Kusnetz As the federal government continues to study a controversial gas drilling technique and the states tinker with their own regulations, some cities and towns are trying to halt local drilling. Philadelphia became the latest to do that on Thursday, when city officials called for at least a temporary ban on new wells in the watershed that serves the city’s taps. The request was part of a set of recommendations in a report approved by the city council asking federal and state authorities to tighten drilling regulations. The report also urges the city-owned utility to avoid buying gas that comes from the Marcellus Shale, the layer of rock that stretches under much of Pennsylvania and is considered one of the world’s largest gas fields. But the vote was largely symbolic. The utility doesn’t buy any Marcellus Shale gas and has no plans to — and new drilling in the Delaware River Basin is already on hold. The idea was to send a message, said Michelle Wilson, a spokeswoman for Curtis Jones, Jr., the councilman who sponsored the report. “Philadelphia is a major city and we’re hoping that behind this push, that we can use it for leverage,” Wilson said. Read More
Nan Hayworth seeking to block standards to reduce toxic pollution WASHINGTON – A total of 123 House members from 35 states, including Congresswoman Nan Hayworth (NY-19) are co-sponsoring legislation that would block EPA standards to reduce toxic, smog and soot pollution from industrial plants and other sources, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Carbon Dioxide pollution increases the risk of heat stress, promotes the spread of infectious diseases and makes it more difficult to reduce smog pollution, which threatens the health of asthma sufferers and others with respiratory problems, the group said. The NRDC’s director of the Climate Control Center, Dan Lashoff, said four bills would attack implementation and enforcement of the Clean Air Act. “Our elected representatives should hold big polluters accountable, not help them block the strong safeguards that would protect our health and quality of life,” he said. “Unfortunately these bad air boosters, who have collectively taken over $27 million in campaign contributions from big polluters during their careers, are choosing to standing up for the polluters instead of public health.” Read More
More U.S. Soldiers Killed Themselves Than Died in Combat in 2010
 For the second year in a row, more American soldiers—both enlisted men and women and veterans—committed suicide than were killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Excluding accidents and illness, 462 soldiers died in combat, while 468 committed suicide. A difference of six isn't vast by any means, but the symbolism is significant and troubling. In 2009, there were 381 suicides by military personnel, a number that also exceeded the number of combat deaths.
Earlier this month , military authorities announced that suicides amongst active-duty soldiers had slowed in 2010, while suicides amongst reservists and people in the National Guard had increased. It was proof, they said, that the frequent psychological screenings active-duty personnel receive were working, and that reservists and guardsmen, who are more removed from the military's medical bureaucracy, simply need to begin undergoing more health checks. This new data, that American soldiers are now more dangerous to themselves than the insurgents, flies right in the face of any suggestion that things are "working." Even if something's working, the system is still very, very broken.
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Drilling in ANWR back on the map Lisa Murkowski is back in the Senate and once again she is backing opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil production. Murkowski, who serves as the ranking member of the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee, wasted no time during the committee’s first week back at work, pushing for speed on opening up ANWR. Murkowski spoke in tones of jobs and international competition to justify drilling in ANWR. “The United States is an Arctic nation because of Alaska. We cannot ignore the fact that Russia will drill in the Chukchi Sea in coming years and that Canada is already exploring the Beaufort Sea. Alaska cannot be forced to sit in the middle of this activity – bearing all the same risk but none of the reward – while our pipeline runs dry and our jobs disappear.” The Alaskan’s comments didn’t simply come out of left field. They were in response to Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill Commission’s report. Among the many recommendations coming out of the commission’s report, came the recommendation for much more study and research to be done on the subject of drilling in the Arctic. Murkowski says she is all on board, but doesn’t want study to be code for delay.
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We Can Do Better: The Overlooked Importance of Professional Journalism The Web is a galaxy of information that is rapidly expanding. Blogs and online magazines are helping shape the future of this Information Age that we live in. Those of us who read, write and design blogs and online magazines possess extraordinary power and potential. How will we choose to use it? If you use your website to publish news, events, opinions or interviews, you should familiarize yourself with the basics of journalism. These tools can help us develop and share information that is exciting, intelligent, and responsible. They can provide guidance and support as you pursue a career or hobby writing online. 
This article is accompanied by examples of photojournalism, which is the practice of communicating news through photographs. The above photo of a 1940′s newsstand in New York City was taken by photojournalist Ruth Orkin We, designers, go on all day about the usability of our WordPress layouts and the readability of our typography, but all of those things have been considered in vain if our writing is poorly spelled, riddled with inaccuracies, or based on second-hand assumptions that will leave our audience misled, confused, or worse. Even if you’re just casually writing about why you personally love/hate the iPad (for example), you can do so in a truthful way (truthful to your own opinions and truthful to the information you are discussing). Read More
Men more likely to stick with girlfriends who sleep with other women than other men ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2011) — Men are more than twice as likely to continue dating a girlfriend who has cheated on them with another woman than one who has cheated with another man, according to new research from a University of Texas at Austin psychologist. Women show the opposite pattern. They are more likely to continue dating a man who has had a heterosexual affair than one who has had a homosexual affair. The study, published last month in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, provides new insight into the psychological adaptations behind men's desire for a variety of partners and women's desire for a committed partner. These drives have played a key role in the evolution of human mating psychology. "A robust jealousy mechanism is activated in men and women by different types of cues -- those that threaten paternity in men and those that threaten abandonment in women," says Jaime C. Confer, the study's lead author and a doctoral candidate in evolutionary psychology. Confer conducted the study with her father, Mark D. Cloud, a psychology professor at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania. Read More
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