Today Maggie Brooks came out to endorse Lovely Warren for Mayor. I find it odd that the top Republican Executive in Monroe County is quick to endorse a Mayoral candidate from another party when she wouldn't even endorse the Republican candidates for City Council during her last run for County Executive, to include Andy Rau and myself. Further proof that Republican leadership in this County could care less about the City of Rochester.
Friday, November 1, 2013
Friday, September 13, 2013
Odd Mentality in the City of Rochester since Primary
All we learned this week is that registered Dems voted for a certain slate of candidates to represent them in the November election.
What we don't know is how the WFP's, I's, R's, G's and Blanks are going to vote. Anyone suggesting that candidates should drop out, who lost the Democrat primary and appear on another party line, only shows that they are worried their candidate can't pull it off in the BIG election this fall. Any Democrat with another party line who drops out only shows they were never concerned with representing city voters; they were only willing to run on the path of least resistance. If these candidates drop out, they're essentially telling their supporters: You wasted your time.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Upset Night
In Rochester, Lovely Warren beats Mayor Tom Richards for Democratic nomination, 58% - 41%. Warren focused on campaign fundamentals, bringing her campaign to the door. Turned out her base. Richards didn't; relied on TV instead. Also, Warren offered vision and a new approach to education in the City. Those trapped in the Rochester City School District had to find it appealing. More power to her for that.
Result makes Democratic Party Chairman Joe Morelle look politically hapless.
Smugtown Beacon's Aaron Wicks foresaw this, in his excellent analysis on Sunday, which helps explain tonight's result.
In Henrietta, Jack Moore beats Supervisor Mike Yudelson for Republican nomination, 66% - 34%. Moore's people saw this coming; no one else did.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Teacher Knows Best
Some local journalists expressed surprise tonight that New York State Education Commissioner John King sends his kids to private school.
What do they expect? That the commissioner would treat his kids differently than Bill and Hillary Clinton, who sent Chelsea to the exclusive Sidwell Friends School in Washington?
Any differently than President and Mrs. Obama? At about the time the President, an old preppie himself, killed a voucher program allowing poor minority students in Washington to escape the DC school system, he was enrolling Malia and Sasha in private school.
Differently than liberal actor Matt Damon, who vocally protests reform of failing public schools while sending his own kids to private school?
Any differently than 38% of public school teachers in the Rochester Central School District?
You read it right.
What group, by occupation, sends its children to private schools at levels disproportionately higher than the population as a whole? Answer: Teachers in public schools.
A 2004 study tells the story. For the U.S. population as a whole, 12.2 percent of all families send their children to private schools. Nationwide, public school teachers are almost twice as likely as other parents to choose private schools for their own children. In some cities, nearly half of the children of public school teachers have abandoned public schools.
In Philadelphia, 44 percent of the teachers put their children in private schools; in Cincinnati, 41 percent; Chicago, 39 percent; Rochester, 38 percent; Baltimore, 35 percent; San Francisco-Oakland, 34 percent; New York City and New Jersey suburbs, 33 percent; Milwaukee and New Orleans, 29 percent; Washington, D.C, 28 percent.
So don't be shocked that New York State's Education Commissioner does the same.
Friday, August 23, 2013
D&C Fires White Woman Reporter
On the morning of President Obama's visit to Rochester, the Democrat and Chronicle fired political reporter Jessica Alaimo, while she was working on the presidential visit.
The D&C's racial obsession prompts us to mention its victim's ethnicity.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
What the Zimmerman trial taught us
1- There are people who keep an eye on their communities where high crime is an issue. 2- Being approached on the sidewalk doesn't give someone the right to smash the persons head into the pavement. 3- The media now calls latinos "white" when they do something they disagree with. Let's face it folks, The reason the defense was able to defend is because they proved that Zimmerman was being assaulted by Martin at the time of the shooting. Zimmerman didn't chase him down and shoot him in cold blood. 18 year old men are old enough to go to war for our country, and often do, so stop calling Martin a child. Had Martin not been shot there may have been a different trial (the assault of Zimmerman). That one, in my opinion, would not be getting national attention though. If people are really worried about young black men being shot, focus on the fact that they are shooting each other in cities across this country at an unacceptable rate. Many of those shootings are not in self defense either.
Friday, July 12, 2013
D&C stoops to new low "Uniting" Rochester
In Jim Lawrence and Karen Magnuson's continuing quest to exploit racial differences in our community for "clicks" that generate revenue, they have published an op-ed accusing the entire Honeoye-Falls Lima school district of RACISM because some students tossed a blow up doll out during graduation. Bruce, the author, is apparently the Executive Director at Friends of Educational Excellence. A NFP that provide volunteer support, enrichment activities, and school resources to help students succeed in school. And we wonder why RCSD is failing? With "help" like this it is no wonder.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
D&C showing bias against diverse voices in Unite Rochester Initiative Part 2
So it is official, I have been banned from contributing to the "Unite Rochester" discussion in their Facebook group. Not only will opposing points of view not be tolerated, they will hear nothing about limiting opposing points of view. In a sad display today, Karen Magnusen accuses me of personally attacking D&C management and hurling mean spirited comments. Care to know the definition of personal attacks and mean spirited comments (according to the D&C)? See below for the conversation, you will only see it here as Karen erased my comments, yet again.
Friday, April 26, 2013
D&C Says: No Diversity Allowed!
A few months ago, to my surprise, I received an email from Jane Sutter, Editor of Community Partnerships & Niche Content at the Democrat and Chronicle. She invited me to join a forum to discuss their coming “Unite Rochester” initiative, ostensibly intended to serve as a catalyst to bring this community together on the topic of race. I was more than happy to offer my opinion as someone who is married to a Thai immigrant, expectant father (at the time) of a multi-racial child and one who is passionate about our community. (My daughter was born on Thursday April 5th. Mom and baby are doing great)
At the time I offered to bring my wife, as I believe her opinion and thoughts would be valuable to the conversation. To my surprise, the forum I had been invited to was to consist of whites only. They had been breaking out small groups of blacks, latinos, asians, and whites to get their thoughts on how to best approach this initiative. My wife and I had a good laugh at the thought of me going to a “whites only” breakfast. At that first meeting I offered the idea of not focusing on race but rather topics of interest to the community which would provide an avenue of people from various backgrounds, races, religions, etc to come together and “unite”. That idea was quickly shot down.
I was asked to return to another breakfast a few weeks ago that consisted of the various groups from before, where the D&C could bring us all up to speed on what was going on with “Unite Rochester”. Among many items brought up that day was the paper's disappointment that more people were not engaging on the topic, especially whites from the suburbs. I again offered my thoughts of focusing on topics of interest and allow for diversity and uniting to happen organically. Many participants, of all colors, in the room agreed but not Karen Magnuson, the paper's Editor, Jim Lawrence, its editorial page Editor, or publisher Michael Kane.
After the meeting I reached out to Jane Sutter to offer my willingness to be a blogger once again for the D&C, this time for “Unite Rochester”. At first, they seemed to be interested. I was the person they wanted to be involved, right? A white guy originally from the suburbs, although now a city resident. Plus, in a multi-racial/multi-cultural marriage and father to a multi-racial/multi-cultural child. Jackpot!, you'd think. But apparently not to the D&C.
I received a call from Jane, essentially saying that they were concerned about what I would choose to write about. She also referred to a "personality conflict" between Jim Lawrence and me. I replied, “When Jim starts accusing you of being a liar and actually takes the time to call you on the phone to complain when you publicly disagree with him, you too would have a personality conflict.” (See my previous posts for examples)
Here was the offer from Jane, on behalf of the D&C: I could try writing a few blogs and she would review them. I guess if she approved I could then post them. After a good laugh, I pointed out that I can comment on any post, as long as I abide by the D&C terms and conditions, and don’t need her permission to participate in the dialogue.
I find it humorous, disappointing, and totally unsurprising that this is how “Unite Rochester” is going. The D&C isn’t at all concerned about uniting anyone or anything. They are rebranding the same ideology that they have been pushing for the last few decades. They are looking for blacks and latinos to author blogs that softly point the finger at whites in the suburbs for causing the issues that exist in the city and for guilty whites to author blogs that agree with those viewpoints. They are not interested in diversity, but rather in their own rigid orthodoxy.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Boy, When Things Go Wrong ...
A bad week for the Left/mainstream Media.
First, months of propagandizing for a "gun control" law couldn't get it through even the Democratic-controlled Senate. Especially painful because the gun measure amounted to a back-door means of national gun registration, the prerequisite to the cherished leftist goal of national gun confiscation.
Then, while some left-wing crackpots in the media fervently hoped the Boston Marathon bombers would turn out to be a "white Americans", others just told us outright that the bombers were "right-wing extremists," "white supremacists" (whatever that means) or crazed evangelicals. All were crestfallen when the bombers turned out to be not only foreign immigrants, but adherents of the Religion of Peace who demonstrated radical jihadist sentiments.
Doesn't the media know that if you want to find a white American terrorist killer, like Bill Ayers or Bernadine Dohrn, or Kathy Boudin, you have to look in faculty rooms of prestigious colleges?
Hats off to the Boston Police and associated law enforcement members who tracked down the surviving bomber last night. Now on to the next step ...
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Take It from the Indigent Burial Fund
Governor Cuomo has told County Clerk Cheryl DiNolfo that the cost of complying with his new gun law is the counties' problem, not his. "The burden is on local governments to find a way to address the issue."
Monday, April 1, 2013
Legal Experts: Suit Against Cuomo Gun Law "Significant"
“This is a very significant case,” said James B. Jacobs, a constitutional law professor and director of the Center for Research in Crime and Justice at the New York University School of Law. “It may go all the way to the Supreme Court.”So this is not just a frivolous lawsuit by sore losers, but raises genuinely significant issues. The full story is worth reading. You won't find it in the Rochester D&C, of course, but in The Buffalo News, where the important stuff gets printed. (The pattern becomes clearer and clearer).
Sunday, March 31, 2013
You've Got to Be Kidding
I usually try to be pretty terse with my comments on Democrat and Chronicle editorials, but this morning's silliness demands some more.
First, if you don’t graduate from high school, don’t have command of the English language, dress like you are in a gang (or are in a gang), or don’t go out actively pursuing employment, chances are you aren’t going to be hired. This same concept can also be applied to the D&C's “Making justice more just” editorializing, where it complained about lack of diversity in the Monroe County Court/Law Enforcement system. If you are not prepared for the job, you will not get it.
To suggest without any proof or example that the reason there is higher unemployment amongst minorities is because of racism on the part of employers is ridiculous. If you have no proof or example, use some journalistic integrity and ethics and leave it out of the story.
It would do the editorialists some good to watch their newspaper's own video of the young man who tells us he is working to achieve things in life for himself. I didn’t hear anything from him suggesting that business owners are leaving him behind. He also acknowledges that there are many people in the city who are not willing or interested in finding better for themselves. My guess is that many of those add into the high unemployment rate.
Lastly, my last name is Tyson. Tyson sounds plenty "afrocentric" to many people. Believe me, I have surprised many people over the years when they finally meet me and say, “Oh, you’re white”. I have been interviewed for many jobs over the years and worked for many people that were black, latino, and white. As the Editorial Board doesn't consist of business owners, its members most likely won't get this, but business owners are looking for good people. They care less about the name at the top of the resume ("afrocentric," "eurocentric" or otherwise) and more about the experience and ability of the person behind the name.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
New York the Least Free State
Driving to western Massachusetts today revealed the rapacious Vampire State in all its glory. It's the end of the month, so state cops are staked out in their hiding spots everywhere along the Thruway, desperately trying to hit their ticket quota for the month, extracting cash to feed the monster.
So today's news seemed especially appropriate: New York ranks as the least free state in the country.
George Mason University's Mercatus Center spells out the reasons in its study. Oppressive taxes and regulation, of course, but also much more, including the most regulated and monitored motorists. Worth reading, even if it tells us what we already know.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Family Feud
After a truce of sorts, the gloves are off between Assemblymen David Gantt and Joe Morelle.
Still smarting from Morelle's elevation to Assembly Majority Leader, Gantt wasted no time in whacking Morelle for supporting Rochester Mayor Tom Richards for re-election. Gantt favorite Lovely Warren just announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Mayor last week.
The Mayor, says Gantt, "was only supposed to fill in" for a few years as Mayor, and Warren would have the nomination this year. That was the word on the street at the time. Morelle countered quickly with a carefully-worded statement that translates in plain English as: "Gantt's lying, as usual."
So grab your popcorn and a cool drink, sit back and enjoy the show between now and the September primary.
The Monroe County Democratic Committee is concerned about the looming fight. Its house newsletter this morning deployed a bit of diversionary persiflage, with an editorial demanding that the County Republican Committee must "change its policies."
But the real show is the clash betwen Gantt and Morelle, who have been going at it in Albany since Morelle's elevation in January to Shelly Silver's official Number One Sychophant.
Anyone who wants to share information on the shaping mayoral contest is invited to do so, to our e-mail eaddress at the bottom of this page.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Stand Up
The media's urging the national Republican Party to abandon core principles. The better to make it a party that consistently loses. Because right now it doesn't.
In the spirit of that thought, consider this, from Michael Walsh at National Review:
Advice to the RNC: Don’t “re-brand.” Fight.Complete article hereThat’s it. Fight. Fight them on every front, fight them in every state, fight them on television and in print and on the airwaves. Confront them at every opportunity, seek out and embrace conflict, and fear not bullies like Chuck Schumer (the living embodiment of the Lefty Sneer), Dick Durbin, and passive-aggressive corruptocrats like Harry Reid. Don’t make nice with them, don’t play fair with them, don’t reach across the aisle and above all, treat them and their ideas with exactly the same amount of respect with which they treat yours: none. Contempt is the only language they understand. Remember that, thanks to Hillary Clinton and the rest of the Alinsky Left, the personal is now political, so get personal; all’s fair in love and war, and politics isn’t love. As Pat Caddell just reminded the GOP, his team plays to win, and doesn’t really much care how it does it — “by any means necessary” is their motto. If you’re not using their own rules against them, you’re not playing the game.
• • • Finally, stop cringing. As Vito Corleone exclaims as he slaps Johnny Fontane around: “You can act like a man!” Stop caring what your opponents say about you. Stop the counter-factual whining (“if this were Bush . . .”). Of course, they’re going to be opposed to you — that’s the nature of opposition. Politics ain’t beanbag, and smart gangsters and politicians alike understand that. Get in their face, harass them, worry them, give them not a moment’s peace or respite. Come at them constantly, in shifts and in waves. Never back down. But act like it’s fun while you’re doing it — that’s what being a “happy warrior” means.
You may lose, you may win. But at least fight.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Police State
Cops stick together, but can't Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn find a better inspiration than the East German Secret Police, the dreaded Stasi?
Oppressive even by Stalinist standards, the Stasi became notorious in particular for its use of informers. With one informer for every 6.5 citizens, the Stasi maintained greater surveillance over the subjects of its state than any secret police force in history, including the rest of the Soviet bloc.
Now Monroe County's own Sheriff asks citizens to spy on and report each other. Specifically, on fellow citizens they observe driving while "distracted." People reported won't be charged. They'll get a "warning letter," but won't learn who reported them.
The gimmick of a "warning letter" is itself a cowardly and sleazy way around the right of an accused person to confront his accuser. If there's no formal charge, the constitutional right doesn't apply. Yet the Sheriff gets to leverage all the coercive force of police power, not to arrest, but to intimidate. Pure sleaze.
Part of the psychological technique of the oppressive state: isolate and intimidate by not letting people trust anyone else. Who knows who might report you? Or for what?
Never mind that the Sheriff provides no safeguard against his informants filing false or malicious reports solely to harass.
Never mind that just writing down the information required for the report will distract anyone a lot more than a simple phone call. Informants must note their victim's license plate and sex, describe the vehicle, the alleged offense and note the date and time. A lot to write down behind the wheel.
But that just illustrates the real purpose, so grimly familiar here in the Vampire State. The Sheriff's not going after eating or drinking in the car, rummaging through your purse or briefcase, reading the paper, consulting a map, putting on makeup, inserting a CD, or the thousand and one other things people do in cars. Informers submit a "Mobile Device Violation Report."
It's all about your cellphone. What O'Flynn's informants are most likely to notice isn't the indisputably reckless texting while driving. Much easier to spot other people just talking -- an act far less distracting than any of the commonplace in-car activities noted above. The Sheriff's plan adds further insult to the injury of a bad law designed only to rip off and harass ordinary citizens going about their day. Typical New York: find things everyone does, criminalize them, collect the fines.
We've thought of our Sheriff more in the tradition of the gentle Irish romantic than the jackbooted Stalinist oppressor. But his latest initiative reminds us that there's but a thin line between Officer Friendly and Kommissar Kissoff. By inviting citizens to turn informant, Sheriff O'Flynn has crossed it.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Defending Civil Rights
Dr. Paul Maurer of the University of Rochester Medical School spoke Tuesday night before the Monroe County Legislature. A leading expert on gunshot wounds, who helped save the life of Officer Anthony DiPonzio, Dr. Maurer supported the Legislature's resolution requesting repeal of Cuomo's assault on the civil right to bear arms.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Unite Rochester
Could there have been a moment more moving, or more full of substance, in showing people of diverse backgrounds coming together in common support of public progress, than occurred at the most recent meeting of the County Legislature? An audience of minority students from the City of Rochester gave a standing, cheering ovation to the mostly suburban Republican legislators who had just approved a new urban campus for Monroe Community College at the Kodak site downtown. There in the moment, and in the life of this project going forward, the concept of "Unite Rochester" lives in tangible substance, not mere talk.
You'd think this would rate a front page photo in the Democrat and Chronicle, which launched the "Unite Rochester" initiative, ostensibly to bridge gaps between urban and suburban, between black and white. But nothing. Silence. No image. Instead, just a sour editorial a few days later, demanding that politicians like Joe Morelle and State agencies interfere in the decision of the MCC President and Board of Trustees to proceed with their new urban campus.
Just a few years ago, wasn't it the same newspaper that declared autonomous operation of Monroe Community College to be sacrosanct? That was when the College Board of Trustees was considering some candidates for the college presidency who -- horrors! -- were reported to be on good terms with the Republican county government that funds the college. "Hands off" was the message. "No political interference."
Today, however, the D&C and others demand political interference in the operation of the college.
Democratic stakeholders, including not only the newspaper, have been sensitive about the College moving out of the Sibley building. Originally because it could create problems for a major Democratic contributor. Now they oppose it for reasons less clear, although we think Mayor Richards, at least, has principled considerations behind his position on the matter.
The college wants to move. Sibley needs a tenant.
We suggest a modest compromise.
You know who who else needs new office space? And has committed to finding it downtown (which it defines as "inside the loop")? The Democrat and Chronicle! A month ago or more its publisher announced the paper was selling its building at Broad and Exchange in search of new digs. Let the Democrat and Chronicle fulfill its dual goals of securing new space and demonstrating its unshakable commitment to the city core by relocating to the Sibley Building!
Last time the D&C moved operations it was to move all of its printing ... to Greece. Hey, business is business. But the paper can now expiate its Greece move and champion inside-the-loop Downtown by attaching to its masthead the swank address of the Sibley Building.
And if the space is too big for the future no-paper, all-digital newspaper, no problem. The Monroe County Democratic Committee can relocate from University Avenue to take up the extra space at Sibley. Think of the efficiency of having all the Democratic Party infrastructure, both administration and communications, under a single roof.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Rally for Civil Rights
Assemblyman Bill Nojay has announced a rally in Albany to show support for Second Amendment constitutional rights.
The rally will occur on Thursday, February 28 from 10:30am to 12:30pm at the Legislative Office Building and Capital Park in Albany, near the corner of State and South Swan Streets.
You can RSVP to the Assemblyman at nojayw@assembly.state.ny.us
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Attention Pistol Permit Holders
Sign up with County Clerk Cheryl Dinolfo to protect your privacy. You can obtain an "Opt-Out" form, under the state's new gun law, from the County Clerk's website. Completing the form and filing it means the Clerk's office must keep information about you, including your name and address, confidential. Go to: http://www.monroecounty.gov/clerk-opt-out-form
A Gannett newspaper in White Plains published names and addresses of permit holders in Westchester County, trying to marginalize innocent people by publicizing them like registered sex offenders. A handy directory for criminals wanting to steal guns, the map published by The Journal News led to several home robberies before the newspaper finally pulled it.
The incident led to the privacy-protection in the new law. The Journal News' sister publication, the Democrat and Chronicle, now complains, as in today's editorial, about the privacy provisions. Too bad. Let them whine to their sister newspaper.
How would D&C editors like it if someone published their home addresses and private information? Bet they'd be less interested in transparency all of a sudden.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Give It to Me Local
Thursday's Democrat and Chronicle story about the coming snowstorm used a graphic from channel 2 in Buffalo, and linked to a video from the Buffalo station.
The same day's news that an Indian tribe wants to put a casino in Rochester broke in The Buffalo News -- nearly 12 hours before the D&C got around to it.
Recently the D&C changed its Section A, where it prints the world and national stories we all read on the internet the day before. It consists now of a generic USA Today insert, with a D&C wraparound page or two.
They still seem to produce locally Section B. That's where they print the Rochester and state news we all read on Rachel Barnhart's twitter feed the day before.
The slogan for the D&C's marketing effort to migrate readers to its website, in anticipation of ending print, is "Give It To Me Local." Owned by a company in Virginia, trending as illustrated by the examples above, the only thing local about the D&C is the damage it inflicts on this community through its corruption and its lies, documented over the years in this site and in the perception of discerning readers. "Give It To You Anal" is a more fitting slogan and a more truthful one.
