Those Terrorist Voters!

The Claire Perez-Theresa Budich wing at the Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center must be filling up rapidly.

The latest idiot to be heard from is one Nik Abbot of Chester who compares the winners in the M-W School Board election to the Palestinian terrorist group, Hamas, and calls it a coup d'etat because of the low voter turnout.

What do the Perez-Budich supporters expect to accomplish, aside from convincing the rest of us that the whole group of them should never have been allowed to carry scissors let alone run a school board?

Here's the latest idiocy - see for yourselves:


Withdrawing support
At first glance of the results, I was convinced the names had been switched in the voting machines in Monroe-Woodbury.

I could not believe that Perez had lost the school board election. I equate the recent vote in Monroe-Woodbury, where associates of the teachers' union won, to be like the Palestinians when Hamas was elected. In free elections, sometimes the results are just plain wrong. It's not exactly like the Hamas election though; remember the Palestinians had a 75 percent voter turnout. The election of Hamas was mostly attuned to the sentiment of Palestine.

That was not the case here in M-W, with voter turnout so low.

So what happened here appears to be more like a coup d'état — the disgruntled army trying to take over its civilian leadership. If they have the power to do this, then they have the power to pass any rules and budget they want. You can expect "no" votes from me now. The M-W School District no longer needs my support and after these results, I am no longer inclined to give it.

Nik Abbot

Chester

This Is Not My Cat

After all, if I published a picture of my cat, she'd be the target of paparazzi and autograph seekers.

But this is a damn fine looking cat.

My own cat woke me up about twenty minutes ago by kneading my head. She put her two front paws on the side of my face and pushed the left one into my temple, then the right, then left.

Now, you might think that being awakened from a truly fine dream (I was back in my Presidential Palace, before the sudden and ill advised regime change) might elicit negative feelings. But how can you get upset about having a beautiful animal, totally dependent upon your love (whether she admits it or not) come and gently knead your head?

It is rare that another person will gently knead your head, unless you have payed them money to gently knead your head, and that takes the spontaneity out of it.

Even one's beloved will do so only on the rarest of occasions.

But my cat does it rather often.

The point of all this is - if you have lived with an animal - and if your soul is not damaged beyond redemption - you know that animals are superior to people in almost all ways but balancing check books (and with some of us that comes in as a tie).

Animals lower our blood pressure, raise our life expectancy, and get hair all over the place. They love us, they comfort us, they even put up with us. They make vacations a hassle, get underfoot, and infinitely increase the amount of pleasure that we can find in our all too beset lives.

Go, now, or once you have put your pants on, to an animal shelter and make your life much better.

This one's my personal favorite, or you can find one of your own: Humane Society of Blooming Grove, 2741 ROUTE 94P.O. Box 226 WASHINGTONVILLE, NY. 10992 845-496-6199.

Well?

What are you waiting for?

Your Government At Work

US on mad cow: Don't test all cattle

By Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease.

The Agriculture Department tests less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease, which can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. But Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef wants to test all of its cows.

Larger meat companies feared that move because, if Creekstone tested its meat and advertised it as safe, they might have to perform the expensive test, too.

The Agriculture Department regulates the test and argued that widespread testing could lead to a false positive that would harm the meat industry.

A federal judge ruled in March that such tests must be allowed. U.S. District Judge James Robertson noted that Creekstone sought to use the same test the government relies on and said the government didn't have the authority to restrict it.

The ruling was to take effect June 1, but the Agriculture Department said Tuesday it would appeal - effectively delaying the testing until the court challenge plays out.

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is linked to more than 150 human deaths worldwide, mostly in Britain.

There have been three cases of mad cow disease in the U.S. The first, in December 2003 in Washington state, was in a cow that had been imported from Canada. The second, in 2005, was in a Texas-born cow. The third was confirmed last year in an Alabama cow.

High Flight

Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Junior (June 9, 1922 – December 11, 1941) was a British-American aviator and poet who died fighting in World War II while serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force, which he had joined before the United States had officially entered the war. He is perhaps most famous for his poem High Flight, written on 3 September 1941, shortly before his death

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, —and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor even eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

The Honorable and the Dis

The folks who put together the pamphlet for the Memorial Day Parade seem to have a somewhat jaundiced view of the Village Board.

It can be argued either way as to whether they are part of the list of DIGNITARIES or a separate group following.

Somewhat clearer is the fact that while folks ranging from Assembly- woman Calhoun to members of the Town Board are all "Hon"s (Honorable), the Mayor and the Village Trustees haven't merited such honorifics.

A second, even less momentous, anomaly is the placement of Republican and Democrat Committee Chairman Caruso and Mangual with the Village, even though those parties have nothing to do with village politics (perhaps the Community Party and Preservation Party Chairpeople should be marching).

Is any of this important?

Neh!

But it's a slow news day.

Perez Accuses Those Who Voted Against Her Of Wanting Her Out Of Office

Monroe-Woodbury loser Perez clings to notion union swayed election
By John Sullivan

May 25, 2007Times Herald-Record

Central Valley — Depending on your point of view, last week's victory by relatively unknown challengers over school board President Claire Perez and her running mates in the Monroe-Woodbury School District represents hope for less controversial leadership, or a Trojan horse that will disrupt the district's administration.

Perez contends that her opponents ran as proxies for teachers, who used their influence to rally votes against her.

Their goal, she alleged, is to oppose changes by new administrators, who have tightened accountability and oversight.

She particularly suspects Michael DiGeronimo, who received the most votes and led the opposition, as having an agenda that represents teachers' interests.

That DiGeronimo did not disclose in campaign statements that his wife, Sharon, is a school nurse and department head is evidence of his connection to this group, Perez said. As a board member, DiGeronimo is now in a position to work on behalf of those teachers as contract negotiations near, Perez said.

Interviews with DiGeronimo's supporters, however, show that he and his running mates tapped into dissatisfaction with Perez, who was viewed as having too much sway over policies and daily administrative decisions.

DiGeronimo and his running mates, Erich Tusch and Jim Galvin, have spoken only in generalities about their intentions as future board members. "There is a strong commitment on my part to not engage in an exchange which is based completely on conjecture by Mrs. Perez," DiGeronimo said in an e-mail.

The trio of newcomers, as well as the teachers union, denied any affiliation with each other.
About a dozen supporters interviewed by the Times Herald-Record were on a list of 164 who signed a nominating petition supporting DiGeronimo's candidacy. Most interviewed were teachers and support staff members.

All denied an organized effort by the teachers union to oust Perez, and described their dissatisfaction as a general sentiment shared by the community.

"As far as what they're saying in the paper, that the teachers union had influenced the election, they did not. That I'm certain of," Roberta Linton, an elementary school secretary, said.

Perez questioned DiGeronimo's intentions for being on the board, since he never before voted in a school election and has never met with any of the district's top administrators.

She described her critics' characterization of her as misinformation manufactured by enemies, as well as by the Times Herald-Record, which listed her as one of the area's most powerful people in 2005.

"There have been very, very few, if any, initiatives that people might be disgruntled with that were spearheaded by myself," she said.


Well, the last thing we want is for teachers to have any say in the matter - what the heck do they know about education?

Crappiest Reporting This Year (and It's Only May)!

Ousted Monroe-Woodbury school board chief blames administrative changes, influence of teacher’s union


By John Sullivan


May 17, 2007
Central Valley - Recent reviews of Monroe-Woodbury schools have been nothing but glowing.

Morale at the high school and middle schools has never been better under new Principals Aldo Fillipone and Elsie Rodriguez.

The school budget considered outrageous two years ago is the lowest it has been in years. And parents and students can’t say enough about all the good things happening in the classrooms.

So why then did a field of three relatively unknown challengers running on a platform of change, easily oust a 13-year-incumbent and her running mates? Answers to that question remain unclear in an election being described by some as an attempt by teachers and administrators to gain influence over decisions long controlled by powerful school board President Claire Perez. Her running mates were Elizabeth Levine, who was also an incumbent, and Joseph Ross.

“The perception in the community was that Claire was too powerful,” said board member John Huberth, whose seat was not up for re-election. “It was parents and residents, but I also think it was staff.

”Huberth disagreed with this perception of Perez, who he described as an effective leader, but it was clear that a contingent of people in the community did hold this opinion.

The winners of the election were evasive in their responses to questions about their campaign.

James Galvin, for example, declined to offer specifics when questioned about comments he made to the Times Herald-Record that staff and parents were being ignored by the current leadership. “To the degree that this was a contested election, that’s over, and now it’s a question of how are we going to go forward from here,” he said.

Galvin’s running mate Erich Tusch was equally brief. “We knew that there were rumbling in the community, where they were not happy with our incumbents,” he said.

Attempts to reach Michael DiGeronimo, who received the most votes, were unsuccessful.

The three ran against Perez, Levine and Ross.

Perez interpreted her opponents’ reluctance to talk as a sign of their deceptiveness. She claimed the candidates ran to gain power for teachers and administrators who feel disenfranchised by recent changes in the central administration. Some of those changes include greater financial accountability, more demands on teacher performance, and scrutiny of staff who take sick leave or go home early without explanations. “As a result, we have some very disgruntled and unhappy teachers and directors, and obviously they have taken over the teachers union,” said Theresa Budich, school board vice president and a Perez supporter.

Perez and Budich alleged that some union teachers and administrators opposed to Perez used their influence to mobilize their colleagues to show support for DiGeronimo and his running mates. The grass-roots effort proved pivotal in an election with the lowest turnout in five years, Perez said.

“This was a turnout orchestrated by the union,” Perez said, adding that she did not suspect all members of the union of supporting the opposition.

“Either it was controlled by the union, which is troubling, or the union has lost control of its members, which is also troubling,” she said.

Anne Pavek, the head of Monroe-Woodbury’s teachers union denied any adversarial relationship between teachers and the current district leadership. She also dismissed Perez’s claim that DiGeronimo’s wife, who is a union member, influenced his decision to run.

“Every school board member has a relationship with the district, whether it be through a child or as members of the community,” she said. “So, I would not try to pick apart why any one member is running for the board.”


Wowie Zowie! Fresh from his blunders in reporting on the imminent $215,000 payout by Woodbury that doesn't exist, cracked reporter John Sullivan screws up another story.

By finding exactly the wrong people to listen to (again) Sullivan comes up with this stinkeroo.

"The winners of the election were evasive in their responses to questions about their campaign."

OMIGOD, evasive? How so?

"James Galvin, for example, declined to offer specifics when questioned about comments he made to the Times Herald-Record that staff and parents were being ignored by the current leadership. 'To the degree that this was a contested election, that’s over, and now it’s a question of how are we going to go forward from here,' he said."

Ah, so AFTER the election is over, Galvin refuses to go on bashing the losers. Boy, that's evasive! How dare he!?!

But the winning candidates aren't the only villains of the piece. There's the EVIL UNION.

"Perez and Budich alleged that some union teachers and administrators opposed to Perez used their influence to mobilize their colleagues to show support for DiGeronimo and his running mates."

Holy Crud! You mean that certain people who liked one set of candidates encouraged others to vote for those candidates? How low can you get?

But there's more. "The grass-roots effort proved pivotal in an election with the lowest turnout in five years, Perez said.

“This was a turnout orchestrated by the union,” Perez said, adding that she did not suspect all members of the union of supporting the opposition."

In other words, those awful people who did vote ended up getting their way simply because other people didn't vote. Where will this manipulation of society end?

And the "turnout was orchestrated by the union." Somehow the EVIL UNION convinced its lackeys to show up at the polls despite the fact that others (supposedly folks who support Perez) couldn't be bothered. That EVIL UNION is soooooo manipulative.

And what's worse: “Either it was controlled by the union, which is troubling, or the union has lost control of its members, which is also troubling,”

SO, either the EVIL UNION got its supporters to vote (disgusting) or they didn't (also disgusting).

One question.

Since Galvin, Tusch and DiGeronimo were evasive because they didn't see the need to kick the losers once the election was over - how come it didn't occur to Sullivan to ask Perez and Budich to explain what the f**k they were talking about?

The Two Johns Get It Wrong (Again)

Woodburys want districts in town

By John Sullivan
May 16, 2007Time Herald-Record

Woodbury — Woodbury village officials have agreed with their town counterparts to seek special state legislation to allow water and sewer districts to return to town jurisdiction.

The move would avoid what Supervisor John Burke has said would be the unnecessary cost to taxpayers of $215,000 for the severance pay of about 12 unionized employees from the districts and the building department.

The severance costs are part of an agreement with the unions requiring the town to pay workers their accumulated vacation and sick time upon leaving town employment, Burke said.

State law requires the water and sewer districts to dissolve and re-form under the jurisdiction of the village, which encompasses all of the town, except for its portion of the Village of Harriman.

Mayor Stephanie Berean-Weeks said the union expressed a willingness to reach an agreement to avoid the added costs. Nonetheless, she said, the village is cooperating with trying to return the districts to the town.

The water and sewer districts will remain in the village until the special legislation passes, at which time, the village will hand back any collected fees to the town, Berean-Weeks said.

The agreement comes after the recent finalization of the village budget, which asks taxpayers to foot $811,070 of a $1.7 million general fund. Village officials reduced by $4,000 the salary of clerk Desiree Potvin, who initially expected to receive $24,000, and applied $3,500 toward a village Web site and $500 toward a deputy clerk for Potvin.

The budget's final tax rate, which is scheduled to go into effect June 1, is $1.39 per $1,000 of assessed value.

OK, so the article, using Burke as a source, seems to say that we need the special legislation to avoid the $215,000 payout to deal with accumulated sick time and vacation days.

Sullivan's last article on this subject, also quoting Burke, also said that the town was going to have to come up with the money for the payout.

And that's not the case.

Yes, we would need special legislation if we want to keep the Water/Sewer Department with the town. That's true.

But even if the Department moves to the Village, there is already an agreement in place for the Village to assume the contractural obligations to the workers so that they can hold onto their seniority and their accumulated sick time and vacation time.

Sullivan almost, sorta, kinda, nearly says this in the fifth paragraph, but he makes it clear as mud.

When Berean-Weeks told him that the agreement was in place he should have checked that out, found that that was correct and then dumped the whole lead-in suggesting that the $215,000 payout was hanging over Woodbury's head.

But what fun would that have been?

Hey, Sullivan, eventually you might figure out that John Burke is not the most reliable source of information.

Putting The Sue In Sewage

KJ prepares lawsuit to cover Moodna area

By Chris McKenna

May 15, 2007
Times Herald-Record

Goshen — Seven towns and villages could soon be drawn into a court fight over the use of new capacity at the expanded Orange County sewage treatment plant in Harriman.

Kiryas Joel brought the lawsuit this year to stop the county from selling capacity to the so-called Moodna communities — a handful of municipalities outside the county sewer district that pay to use the plant.

The suit revolves around a recent $26 million expansion of the sewer plant. Kiryas Joel contends the county had no right to sell new space to the Moodna communities and not offer space to Kiryas Joel; the county argues the municipalities' contract entitled them to a share.

Kiryas Joel sued only the county at first, but it filed papers that would bring the Towns of Monroe, Woodbury, Chester and Blooming Grove and the Village of Chester into the case. Also named are the new Villages of Woodbury and South Blooming Grove.

Kiryas Joel Administrator Gedalye Szegedin said last week that the village doesn't want to sue its neighbors, but might have to because the county has argued that the Moodna communities are "necessary parties."

"We don't believe that we should be in court with those communities," he said.

County Attorney David Darwin countered that the other towns have a "direct interest in the outcome of this litigation" and pointed out that several have filed court papers supporting the county.

The county has asked state Supreme Court Justice Joseph Owen to dismiss the suit for failing to name the Moodna communities as respondents.

Kiryas Joel's new papers would correct that problem — and propel the other towns and villages into court — if the judge agrees.

If Owen disagrees, Kiryas Joel will withdraw the new papers, Szegedin said.

skool bord elegshun

Time to vote on for school board members.

Don't know who they are?

Here's some information: http://www.strausnews.com/photo_news/

Still don't have a clue. Then go down to the Public School (Route 32, across from Woodbury Common, before 9 PM tonight). Sign in to vote. And then don't vote.

At least they'll know that you cared enough to show up.

Hollywouldn't

A momentary aside.

The MPAA, the folks who rate movies, have announced that they will now consider cigarette smoking in a movie as one factor in determining whether a film gets an "R" rating instead of a PG-13.

Why stop there?

How about portioln size? If a film character eats a meal with too many calories, or fats, or not not enough vegetables - shouldn't that be a factor also.

And what about Characters who leave the toilet seat up? Or jay walk? Or go to bed without brushing their teeth? Or leave a light on when they leave a room? Or undertip?

The movies have a powerful influence on our children, so shouldn't every bad act, every anti-social deed, every step away from the ideal path be noted and weighed?