Tom Richards is the next Mayor. I want to hear your thoughts on this!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
We're Waiting for the Lectures on Civility
Shots Fired at Washington D.C. GOP Office
A nice little article tucked away in the WaPo's local section. Appropriate counterpart to the formerly Mainstream Media's complete suppression of news of actual death threats against Wisconsin Republican lawmakers, their spouses and children.
Who cares about death threats, anyway? As long as they're against the evil Republicans. Nothing to see there. Just move along.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Rebuttal to the Jim Lawrence piece 3/14/11
If ever there were a prize to be given on “condescending nattering”, Jim Lawrence would be the Nobel Prize winner of the category. Today Jim Lawrence unleashed yet another piece in the Editorial Blog slamming the GOP for not putting up a candidate for the “special election”. An election, mind you, that most have voiced the opinion reduces voter influence within the city limits. Considering that a majority of Rochester’s population within the city limits are “people of color”, in the words of Jim Lawrence, I would think that he of all people would commend the GOP for taking a stand against it.
I am a City Republican, as most of you know, and am one of the many voices that have been against this “special election” from the beginning. I have also speculated that if the GOP were in control of the city and were pulling the same stunt that Morelle and crew are, there would be outrage in the streets. I will also speculate that people like Jim Lawrence would accuse the GOP of reducing the voice of “people of color” and keeping them out of the process. If the GOP were in charge it would be a much different story line than we are hearing now. Apparently if the Democrat Party is reducing voter influence it is ok with Jim and many other media outlets in this city.
So Jim, you ought to be thanking the GOP for standing up against a process that has been manipulated by a small group of party insiders in your beloved Democrat Party. I know that in your mind, any and all things that the GOP does is wrong. In your effort to paint us as being terrible, you are looking like a fool. A fool with an axe to grind and even one willing to sell out the very same people that you claim to advocate for.
I am proud that the GOP is not sending a candidate into this “special election” and I look forward to November. This year there are four district seats up on city council, the very council that allowed for this “special election” to ever take place.
I hope the voters remember.
Jim Lawrence piece: http://blogs.democratandchronicle.com/editorial/2011/03/14/the-gop-and-the-mayoral-race/
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Last Nail in Coffin of the "Civility" Farce
Unless we hear the usual suspects in the Democratic-Media Complex complain every bit as loudly against these death threats made yesterday against Wisconsin Republican legislators as they did about Sarah Palin's crosshair map, then anything -- but anything -- they have to say about "civility" can be laughed off with contempt from now on.
"Civility" means nothing other than this: "Conservatives, shut up."
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Taxpayers Defeat Unions In Wisconsin
Wisconsin State Senate Democrats who fled state fail to thwart result of November election.
Power to the People!
Back to Reality
I would like to say “hello” as I am back from what ended up being a few week long celebration for my wedding. I was married here on Feb 12th in the City of Rochester at Chapel Hill on Prince Street with a reception at the Convention Center. Both locations I would recommend to anyone looking to keep their festivities local which was a goal of my wife and me. Actually, we hoped for and were able to have a wonderful wedding all within the city limits!
My wife and I along with my Father, Mother and Stepfather left Feb 15th for Thailand to celebrate in a traditional ceremony on Feb 20th. Completely different but equally amazing was the celebration there. I was excited and proud to have taken part in the traditional Thai ceremony and was thankful to my new father and mother in law for walking me through what I needed to do. In true Thai fashion the “rehearsal” took place moments before the event began.
Thailand is full of amazing food, culture, people, food, animals, food, weather, and did I mention food. It blows me away how much I ate and gained not a pound! Yay for that! We took in much of what Bangkok has to offer in the lines of shopping, temples, dining, and more shopping. My wife and I also took a three night trip to Chiang Mai in the Northern part of Thailand. Chiang Mai is a much smaller city than Bangkok but equally as exciting. We visited temples, watched a snake show, monkey show, cuddled with tigers, explored the highest point in Thailand, and visited with the Karen Tribe in the mountains and drank some of the home grown coffee. We also took and elephant ride, river raft journey, ate more food and stopped by one of the King’s projects turning what was once a large opium growing district into now fruits, vegetables, and flowers. The King has over 3,000 projects that he has helped to create all of which are making Thailand a better place than when he took the throne decades ago.
We then returned to Bangkok to spend some more quality time with her family which never lasts long enough before returning to Rochester this past Sunday.
Needless to say we could almost stand for taking a few days off after all of this. I was bummed to return to reality but happy to get back home. Any and every time I leave the country I am always surprised what it feels like to return. There is part of me that wants to stay where it is warm and sunny all day, exotic flowers are growing all year, shorts and flip flops are ok anywhere you go, you get the drift.
But here I am, a married man, new job, fresh off of some wonderful time spent cultivating relationships with my new family members, and excited about what this year has to offer. I am happy to be back!
Nose for No News
For a Front-Page Hatchet Job, "Reporting" Mimics Art
at the Democrat and Chronicle
(With Apologies to Monty Python)
[CUE OMINOUS MUSIC]
March 8, 2011 was much like any other winter's day in Rochester and John Auberger, Supervisor of the Town of Greece, was on his way to work as usual when . . . nothing happened!
Scarcely able to believe his eyes, Auberger looked down, but one glance confirmed his suspicions: behind a bush, on the side of the road, there was no severed arm, no dismembered trunk of a man in his late fifties, no head in a bag –- nothing, not a thing!
For John Auberger, this was not to be the start of any trail of events which would not, in no time at all, involve him in neither a tangled knot of suspicion nor any web of lies, which would -- had he been not uninvolved -- surely have led him to no other place than the Central Criminal Court! But it was not to be.
John Auberger reached his office on Long Pond Road, Greece, at 9.05 a.m. -- exactly the same time he usually got in.
ENID: Morning, Supervisor Auberger.Enid, a sharp-eyed, clever young woman, who had been with the office for only four weeks, couldn't help noticing the complete absence of tiny, but telltale blood stains on Mr. Auberger's clothing. Nor did she notice anything strange in Auberger’s behavior that whole morning, nor the next morning, nor at any time before or since the entire period she worked for the Town.
AUBERGER: Morning, Enid.
AUBERGER: Have the new paper clips arrived, Enid?But for the lack of any untoward circumstances for this young secretary to notice and the total non-involvement of Supervisor Auberger in anything illegal, the full weight of the law would have ensured that John Auberger would have ended up like all who challenge the fundamental laws of our society: in an iron coffin with spikes on the inside!
ENID: Yes, they're over there, Mr. Auberger.
AUBERGER: Oh.
Audio of the original Python sketch.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
How NPR Insiders Talk Among Themselves
Same thing you'd hear at a Democrat and Chronicle staff meeting:
Senior National Public Radio executive calls Republicans "not just Islamaphobic, but really xenophobic, I mean basically they are, they believe in sort of white, middle-America gun-toting. I mean, it’s scary. They’re seriously racist, racist people.”
By the way, he's also "very proud" of NPR's firing of its former analyst Juan Williams.
And he reassures two men posing as members of a Muslim Brotherhood front group that you won’t find “Zionist or pro-Israel” ideas inside NPR.
Like we didn't know that already.
Whole story and video here.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Happy Birthday to Us!
We almost forgot! Mustard Street first appeared four years ago today.
We do this blog to consider political matters, mostly those specific to Rochester, New York and the region around it.
To provide information the mainstream media suppresses.
To present original analysis of the matters we report, or about which we comment.
We strive for good writing. We assume a literate readership.
Our interest is in ideas. Our satisfaction is in expressing them clearly and, we hope, with a sense of humor.
We criticize intellectual dishonesty in public policies and public figures. We seek to expose corrupt journalism trying to pass as straight news. We condemn political cowardice in those whose constituents count on them to address the issues of the day forthrightly.
On behalf of my colleagues Lucy, Rich Tyson, Steve Zodiac, Joshua, Mycroft, Fat Tony and His Grace The Archbishop of Yentaberry, we thank you for visiting Mustard Street, and for considering what we have to say.
Media Whitewash of Union Protests, Part II
Do you remember the claims that tea party activists intentionally spit on Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver (a charge he backed away from) and that tea partyers yelled the N-word at black congressmen (which no one could produce on video)? The mere accusation, the mere suggestion was enough for blanket network coverage. But physical assaults by union protesters against videographers somehow aren't considered newsworthy.
More on the incident here.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Media Whitewashing Union Protesters
When Democrats had to walk past tea party protesters around the time they were cramming Obamacare through Congress the media went nuts, reporting endlessly about how the protesters were trying to intimidate the lawmakers, etc.As when union protesters in Wisconsin mob and block a GOP senator from the state capitol:
So where’s the outrage about the union protesters blocking this legislator from getting into the capitol? Don’t expect it to happen, because there’s a double standard.
Let the Games Begin
With the last, or at least most recent, of the lawsuits against the process dismissed, the race for Mayor of Rochester between former Mayor Bill Johnson and former Corporation Counsel Tom Richards has begun in earnest.
Richards begins with formidable advantages, including the full weight of the Democratic machine behind him and the party's line on the ballot.
Johnson has come out strongly, repaying the favor of over-the-top Johnson-bashing by Democratic Chairman Joe Morelle with some pointed questioning of Richards' role in the sell-off of RG&E when Richards was CEO. The sale left Richards with a $10 million payout and hundreds of local residents jobless. Johnson is right in saying this reflects on Richards' experience in a chief executive role.
In all respects, especially because of the short time-frame of a special election, this will be an unusual campaign.
