Monthly archives: October 2008

 

 

U.S. Ranked 36th

  • By: Cindy

I know most people, including myself, were a little more than surprised at this bit of news. Here is the story from the Huffington Post.

Click here for Press Freedom story

It seems ANOTHER Republican woman is putting her foot in her mouth. This time, it is this Michele Bachmann. The Huffington Post has a good story and video on her “speeches” which are becoming more infamous day by day. She is starting to take the spotlight away from Sarah Palin, believe it or not. I think Gov. Palin really wants to cut loose from the Republican “pack” and run on her own four years from now.

Click here for Michele Bachmann story

I hope you will navigate around the Huff Post. It has some really interesting stories, especially the one about the alleged “attack” on a McCain campaign worker. Things are heating up in the National Election and the local election. Our house, as I am sure yours did also, received yet another flyer from the Republican Incumbant Al Adinolfi of the 103rd District and his opponent, Democrat Elizabeth Esty.

Adinolfi is using his influence on helping Cheshire to get the Senior Tax Freeze, while it seems Esty is focusing on the economy and highlighting her endorsement by the Sierra Club.

Frankly, I am sick and tired of all this campaign talk, the flyers, the signs the whole thing. I just want it to be over. I am studying my Italian, but I really don’t think I will need it!!

This way here, I can stay in Cheshire and TORMENT YOU!!!

Just in case-here is the link to “Italy From the Inside”

Click here

 

Too Bad

  • By: Cindy

I received this from a reader. It is really funny. Just move your cursor (that arrow thingy) over various parts of the picture and click. If you click with the “hand” cursor over the same parts of the photo several times, different “things” happen. Have fun.

Palin as President

I also wanted to run this analytical “paper” if you will, outlining the pros and cons of installing synthetic turf. This is and probably will be an ongoing discussion in Cheshire for quite some time, so it is good to see other points of view on this subject.

This  synthetic turf analysis is from the City of San Francisco.

If any of you read the local papers, the big story is about that house in Roaring Brook Falls Park in Cheshire that has fallen into disrepair and has to be torn down at a cost of the town of $20,000.

I want to be honest, I did not even know there was a park in Cheshire that has the states LARGEST drop (80 feet) waterfall until 10 years ago when my daughter did a report for school!!

P.S. Some of you are going to say that Kent Falls State Park is the largest waterfall. WRONG!! Kent Falls is a SERIES of waterfalls culminating in a 250 ft drop. Roaring Brook is the largest single drop waterfall in the state of Connecticut.

How many people, even now, know about this? This town does not do a good job at ALL of promoting its natural and even man made resources, i.e. this park, the pool, for starters.

I am still convinced this town is run by ex employees of Area 51!!

I contacted the Town Managers Office and the mood I got was like it is “too late why are you calling now.”

Fair enough, but I did not know about this house or I would have made a call to friends of mine in the Bridgeport area that restore abandoned homes. It would have been worth a try.

‘I know a Police Officer lived in that home nearly 20 years ago. Well, it is too bad he did not stay there.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t object to town officials occupying homes on Town property. I did do a post several months ago on the Town employees that do “rent” the home at the Lock Park and Boulder Knoll Farm. Despite what chatter may occur on this issue, these people do provide a service. They keep the property up. They keep vandals out!!

Now a home from 1925 with a beautiful stone foundation and probably beautiful woodworking on the inside and outside of the house, which has been destroyed by a bunch of punk kids, whose parents did a great job teaching them respect for other peoples property, will have to be torn down at a cost to US taxpayers of $20,000.

You know, I ran into someone late Thursday afternoon from the Town and this person told me that the reason the house had been abandoned for so many years was that the driveway went up a big hill and no one wanted to or couldn’t drive up it.

I am going to New Hampshire this weekend for the last time until Spring. (My driveway is NOT paved and goes up 160 feet and I mean UP. I am across from Gunstock Ski area OK?? And I CAN DRIVE UP THAT DRIVEWAY which is mostly dirt and large rocks, (New Hampshires “gravel”) with my OLD 97 Corolla for God’s sake.

Then take into consideration that because I don’t drive up and down the driveway all the time, it is like washboarded at the bottom.  I actually leave it that way because I know most people will not chance it. That driveway is NOT for the faint of heart.

But still, the $20,000 the town is going to spend tearing down this house, probably could have been spent paving the driveway and having someone live there uninterrupted over the past several years!! HELLO!!

The property, which the town owns, is worth at least $300,000!! It is too bad that the town did not attempt to keep someone living in  there. I really wished I had known about this home years ago. I would have pushed to keep it going. It is a part of the towns character and history that is now sadly gone, Someone who was facing foreclosure maybe from illness or job loss in town, could have lived there for a while. Did the town think of that?

And I really want to congratulate that person who wrote the letter to the editor in the Herald asking how the Town of Cheshire could let our food pantry go “dry” but at the same time, spend inordinate amounts of money at the pool.

In the words of Connecticuts Famous Forensic Scientist “SOMETING WRONG”!!!

ONTO OTHER NEWS:

I am posting a daily update on the Electoral College count on the Presidential Election. Of course, when I mentioned I would be moving to Italy if McCain and Palin win, my fan club just had to put in their two cents.

Then people in Town Government want to know why “more people don’t come to the Town Council meetings” THAT IS WHY and THAT WAS A NICE COMMENT!!

As far as I am concerned, the Town should save money and not even bother televising these Council meetings or any of these Town Government meetings. It is a waste of time. You don’t hear any real discussion, I mean real hard discussions about any issue. The Republicans try. But, how can you get real, when the “official timekeeper” tells you to “wrap it up” or “that question should be in writing” or “go to the committee and discuss it.”

The bottom line: this town wants everything orderly and rehearsed. I don’t care who likes it–it is true!! They are getting a little bit better about listening to what they consider “out of bounds” issues, i.e.  the police department, municipal gas usage. But some questions, like how fast the officer who pulled over my husband was driving, will not get answered. They will just ignore it and hope it goes away.

IT WON’T!!

The other night, I happened to turn on the television which is rare for me because I usually work, I saw the Cheshire Republican Town Committee show: Cheshire Central, and the guest was former Town Council member Dave Schrumm.

Of course, a good part of the discussion centered around Democratic Town Council member Elizabeth Esty, who is running against Incumbent State Rep. Al Adinolfi 103rd district which includes PARTS of Cheshire, Wallingford and Hamden.

This senior tax freeze issue makes me laugh. “Oh, I led the way for the tax freeze” “Oh, I did this and that”

The ONLY person, and this is a fact, not an endorsement, who ran with this idea right from the beginning was AL ADINOLFI.

The Town Manager did not want it, and neither did the Democratic Town Council.

FYI: If the Republicans were in control of the Cheshire Town Council at that time, THEY would not have wanted it either, in my opinion!!

Then the  McCain Republicans have a nerve talking about Obama and Socialism. ISN’T THE TAX FREEZE SOCIALISM??

What do you call the Republican bailout of their CEO pals, i.e. AIG, Lehmann Brothers,, Goldman-Sachs, etc–SOCIALISM-Yep!! Again different strokes for different folks. Actually, if you read my last post, it is CAPITALISM at its worst, not SOCIALISM.

Well, halfway through the show,  Mr. Schrumm spoke about Connecticut not having enough of a tax base. That is true Mr. Schrumm. But the REAL PROBLEM in Connecticut is simple, but complicated.

THERE ARE TOO MANY TOWNS!! This state needs to “combine” many of these small municipalities. That would alleviate many economic problems.

A state that is 5,009 square miles, the third smallest in the United States, has 169 TOWNS?? Think about it.

The Hartford Courant wrote an editorial today believe it or not on this very subject.

Click to Read

Another idea I like is this “Unified School District.” This is implemented in the midwest and west. Kansas had the Unified Schools, which incorporates several towns into one school district. It might be cheaper in the long run, instead of every town in Connecticut believing they have to have their own schools.

We do have Regional School districts to our credit, and when I lived in Easton, they were a member of Region 9 which meant that Easton and Redding shared the same high school, Joel Barlow. But, Easton and Redding fight like cats and dogs. It is like the North and the South for God’s sake.

I don’t know if they do it anymore, but I know when I covered Easton and Redding for the Bpt Post years ago, EVERY YEAR an Easton resident would force a referendum on the Region 9 budget–EVERY SINGLE YEAR!! Easton would always shoot down the budget but Redding and the Georgetown section would pass it!!

I am providing a link to the Unified School Districts of Kansas. There are 308 of them, but keep in mind,  Kansas covers 82,282 square miles,

Click here for USD in Kansas

 

Explanations

  • By: Cindy

Click Here for latest Political Election Dashboard

Now as most of you know, I WILL BE MOVING TO ITALY if Dinky and Winky, McCain and Palin, get elected as President and Vice-President of the United States–STRAIGHT UP!!

As I have explained in previous posts, I am 100 percent Italiano. In fact, (now I know a few of you in Town will start laughing) but when I did my research into my ancestry, I did find out I came from ROYALTY!! I don’t know what royalty I exactly came from, but it doesn’t matter. I AM AN ITALIAN QUEEN!! So you all had better bow when you see me or else!!

I did live in Rome for a few years, so I figure it won’t be too difficult to make the changeover. I am going over my Italian and  in that spirit, I am featuring a video entitled “Italian Hand Gestures”

Yes, they do use these gestures, especially in Rome.  I know some of you who are Italian, NOT SICILIAN!!  will wonder why the gentleman is saying “Matto” instead of “Pazzo” for the word crazy. Both are acceptable.

I am sorry about the vulgar words, but let’s face it, swearing just sounds better in a Romance language!!

P.S. Do NOT use some of these “gestures”  or phrases, especially “vaffanculo” if you get stopped by the Italian police. They will beat the crap out of you!!

Now getting back to McCain and Palin, (God, I can’t believe I let my husband put that awful sign on my lawn, of course I put my Obama sign right next to it), we keep hearing McCain calling some of Obama’s ideas “socialism.”

Does Senator McCain really know what Socialism is? Italy is sort of Socialist. And, believe it or not, Bridgeport, Connecticut where I am from, actually had a Socialist Mayor in the 1930′s. His name was Jasper McLevy, and McLevy Hall in Bridgeport, for those of you familiar with the city, is named in his honor.

I remember my grandmother was a Socialist. She would always vote for a Socialist if one ran on the ballot in local elections in Bridgeport, and for many years there were candidates under that party affiliation.

I remember my pal Al Perocco. He ran for various elected offices in Bridgeport in the 1960′s with the Socialist Party. He also was the Bandleader of the Fairfield Colonnades Drum Corp of which I was a member in the 1970′s. I played baritone horn (not very well I might add).

So the Socialist Party enjoyed some success in Bridgeport up until the death of McLevy in the early 60′s, then it fizzled out.

So WHAT EXACTLY IS Socialism?

Click here to find out

Here is a “Wikipedia” explanation of the Socialist movement in America. I know Matt Hall doesn’t like Wikipedia, but I can’t please everyone!!

Socialism in America

And, here is a little bio on Jasper McLevy, Bridgeports only and probably last, Socialist Mayor. P.S. He was very well liked!! In fact, he was still Mayor when I was born!!!

Click here for Jasper McLevy

FYI: I DID ALLOW an anonymous comment, which will be a rarity.

 

Opinions

  • By: Cindy

I WANT TO THANK A FRIEND FOR TAPING THE OCTOBER 14th Cheshire Town Council meeting and uploading myself and my spouses comments about the traffic ticket he received this past August.  THANKS A BUNCH.

You will notice my husband is told to “wrap it up.” Why? Because the powers that be don’t like this subject. They don’t like it when certain names are mentioned. But  it is OK when your name is plastered all over the papers!!

Update: I did run into someone that is affiliated with the Town of Cheshire. I explained to this person, as I have explained in this blog beforehand, it is not the ticket, it was the misrepresentation of facts.

I will be honest now as I have been on this issue in the past. If my spouse had gotten a ticket for “unsafe” turn, I more than likely would have believed it. My husband is NOT a good judge of distances. But when the “complaint” was for not obeying this stop sign on Carriage Drive going onto Academy Road, which is IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO OBEY–NOT TO STOP, that became the issue. When he told me he got the ticket, several days after he had received it, I asked him IF he had in fact, pulled out too close to the police cruiser. I did ask him this. But when he told me he received the ticket for failing to stop at the stop sign, I knew something was amiss.

It was the same thing with L.N. supposedly going 52  miles per hour on Academy Road nearing the intersection of Rt. 10. It is pretty impossible to obtain that high speed day or night given the traffic and the layout of the road. This boils down to an inordinate amount of pressure being put on these police officers and other officers in other areas for that matter to PRODUCE-TO BE PRODUCTIVE. This is counterproductive and puts an unfair burden on these officers, the judicial system which is already strapped and the person receiving the ticket.

I have a lot of readers from outside Cheshire and outside Connecticut, so when I came across a couple of interesting memoranda that I happened to read from the Meriden Record Journal newspaper a few days ago, I decided to provide a link.

Now if you are from the Cheshire Connecticut area, you know all about the issues the Town of Southington is having with this proposed “Shoppes at Cheshire” which is a planned retail/housing development proposed by W/S Development of Massachusetts to be situated in Cheshire’s Interchange Zone. This Zone is located in land across from the entrance to I-691 and abuts the Southington line.

Besides public safety–the nearest firehouse is located in Southington, there is also a question of traffic and this “overpass” that would be constructed at the intersection of Rt. 10 and Rt.322. This is scheduled for construction in 2010.

Now Southington sent a list of concerns (questions) recently to W/S Development. The following is their response to the Town of Southington Engineering Department (for all of you who do not read the Record Journal or are readers from other parts of Connecticut and the country for that matter.

Note that Southington requests Cheshire NOT GRANT certificate of occupancy to W/S Development until road improvements to Rt. 10 and Rt/322 are made!!

INTERESTING READING!!

Click here for W/S response letter

I am running a video produced by  Progressive Options Television (POTV), about the proposed Shoppes at Cheshire. I really love it when Sheldon Dill says “this might increase awareness of Cheshire.”

That is fine. But then we had better DECREASE THE POLICE MOTOR VEHICLE STOPS IN THIS TOWN BECAUSE THAT IS NOT A POSITIVE AWARENESS!!

So based on the revenue figures in the video, a ranch house in Cheshire that pays approximately $4,000 in property taxes would see a tax reduction of POSSIBLY $30!! But, would see increased traffic ALL YEAR LONG!!

Also, remember, the projected real estate taxes on the mall was based on figures BEFORE the real estate market collapsed!! So the value of the property is probably less right now (as of Oct. 2008). And that is based on 100 percent occupancy.

Also, while browsing the Record Journal, I came across a letter addressed to Cheshire Town Manager Michael Milone addressing mail service (or lack of it) in Cheshire.

Even though this concerns businesses, I know in my neighborhood, the mail service is not consistent.  The mail is delivered sometimes early in the morning and sometimes 4 or 5 p.m. I have had to call the Post Office several times because of concern that mail may have been stolen, the deliveries have been so late.

We have had some problems in our neighborhood over the past few years, so when it gets to be 4 or 5  in the evening, you get worried. Let me put it this way, I could not set my watch on the mail delivery times in this town!!

Click here for Mail letter

On a different subject, I actually received a few phone calls from people who were upset over the “Featured Video” featuring Bill Ayers speaking.  For those of you not familiar, Bill Ayers, who is a nightly person of interest now with Fox News who are attempting to link him with Barack Obama because their candidate is LOSING so they are getting desparate, was a leading member of the Weathermen (Weather Underground) of the sixties and seventies. The Weathermen bombed the Pentagon, banks, and various other corporate and governmental status symbols as a way of protesting U.S. Government policies.

FIrst of all, I DON’t CONDONE VIOLENCE. I DON’T CONDONE BOMBINGS. If you feel Bill Ayers should be in jail, that is perfectly fine. That is your right to expression.

I don’t totally agree with Bill Ayers, but I believe he makes valid points. I try to run all sides of issues on my website. Some people don’t agree but that is a democracy.

The 13 original colonies were ruled and controlled by England. A few of its subjects did not like the Government of England. These subjects believed they were being misrepresentated or not represented at all. These subjects did not agree with Englands domestic or foreign policies. What did THEY DO???  THEY WAGED A WAR, THEY KILLED PEOPLE. THEY OVERTHREW AND BROKE AWAY FROM THEIR GOVERNING BODY. DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR HISTORY??

 

Fed Up

  • By: Cindy

As I stated in earlier posts, I am still in the process of going through the many comments I received about the ticket my friend received in New Hampshire and the idea that all motor vehicle ticket “complaints” are illegal in  a court of law unless the plaintiff can prove “standing” (damages).

Well, another issue has really ruffled my feathers–comments I have received AND AM NOT RUNNING-about Elizabeth Esty.  For those of you who have been in a hole for the past several months, or are new to my blog, Elizabeth Esty, Democratic Cheshire Town Council member, is running as the Democratic candidate for the State of Connecticut 103rd District against Republican incumbant Al Adinolfi.

Look, I have nothing against Al Adinolfi. He is a nice guy, he has helped me out a few times when I called his office, he is responsive to his constituents and did help get the senior tax freeze. Al is a straight up classy guy.

BUT, I am sick and tired of these sexist, old hag men whose goldmember has probably seen better days, rake this woman over the coals JUST BECAUSE SHE IS A WOMAN!!

Now from time to time, I do log into Tim White’s Blog to read the “anonymous” comments. There was a post about the Three Strikes Conference and some “anonymous” person commented that they did not see Ms. Esty at the conference because she is too liberal and she thinks society is too harsh on the criminals or some nonsense.

Fortunately. someone made a comment and told them that their WASP days of dominance were coming to an end or something to that matter, and that the Republicans ruined this country with their corporate giveaways.

Yeah see, here is how it is Mr. Ultra WASP conservative that had everything handed to him his entire life. Were YOU at the press conference? Were YOU at the anti-violence rally a few months ago in Hartford that I attended along with hundreds of other people from all over the state? Did you cry out over the Peeler incident in Bridgeport or the nine people killed in a Prospect home invasion years ago? Did we hear about three strikes when Bridgeport had over 100 murders each year?? NOPE!! And you know why!!

It was only when hoity toity Cheshire was affected that this person was outraged!!

Yes, I believe we should have three strikes, but we need to realize that building prisons is VERY EXPENSIVE. If we have three strikes, it should be for hardened criminals, people that are a real threat and danger to society–not someone who sells a dime bag of grass!! HARDENED RAPISTS BURGLARS AND MURDERERS!!

These are the same people who want three strikes, but they bitch and moan about the prison in Cheshire. You know they are a bunch of NIMBYS (NOT IN MY BACKYARD).

They sit home and rank on women and minorities anonymously and then accuse myself and my husband of sending out anonymous letters!! I DON’T SEND OUT ANYTHING ANONYMOUS I PUT MY NAME ON EVERYTHING WHAT UP!!

Your attitude is what got this country into the mess it is in!! Grow up and start realizing that your man dominance is coming to an end!!

And then you don’t think I don’t know who is making these comments on the other blog about me and Ms. Esty? Who is educated enough to speak in Latin? I know!! Give it up. YOU ASK ANYONE-INCLUDING THE COPS–IF I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY-I SAY IT RIGHT TO YOUR FACE-COPS INCLUDED!!

Well, I was stewing over this for several days and had discussed it with my spouse and just chalked it up to life experiences.

However, the other night, things came to a head and it turned ugly. My spouse and I were at an eating establishment in another town when a person of high visibility in Cheshire saw us eating and came over to us.

That is when things got nasty. First of all, this person (who was male), did not even acknowledge God’s gift (me).  He just started talking to my husband and actually said a racial slur about Obama.

I don’t know if he did not think I heard him because I  started speaking to a friend  that had accompanied us to the restaurant at about the same time this person made the comment.

When I heard the Obama comment, I called him a “racist bitch.” Well, then HE started talking about Hillary Clinton and how glad he was that she was not nominated. “We don’t need HER screwing things up even more,” he said.

Then he started talking about how dumb Sarah Palin was. Now this person IS a Republican, so that comment surprised me, but then again, it didn’t because Sarah Palin IS A WOMAN.

I could feel my blood boiling, so I just started making third person comments about him to my friend.

Well, one thing led to the other and he looked me in the face and told me to shut up. Well, that did it. I got up and starting calling him a racist and a sexist and told him that I didn’t appreciate the comments about Ms. Esty, Hillary Clinton Sarah Palin and all women whose success seems to bother him.

I told him to get away from our table because we did not want to hear his racist/sexist bitch talk anymore. I went to get up to move closer to him to tell him off when out of the blue, he grabbed me by the shirt collar and pushed me and I fell back and hit my head on the table on the side of me. (Luckily it was a booth table near the wall or it would have been worse)!!

The next thing I knew was that I was on the floor and this person started crying!! He was sobbing!! He said “I’m sorry Cindy, I’m sorry!! I didn’t mean it, my hand just went forward.”

I really felt dizzy so the ambulance was called. I went to a local hospital. I am not getting specific because I know this person did not mean to cause harm, and I don’t want 500 Snoop Dogg on the case!!

I know the cops came and conducted their investigation. Of course, there were a roomful of witnesses. They asked me if I wanted to press charges.  I said no. My mouth does get a little sassy, so sometimes I have to take it on the chin. I know he was put in handcuffs, but my spouse told me later that the police brought him outside and said they were citing him for disorderly conduct.

Anyway, I have a big beaner on the back of my head. I never did get to finish my meal. And to top it off, this person keeps calling my house all the time to see if I am ok.

I AM OK!! All is fair in love and war. I can dish it out and I can take it!!

This person actually came over to see me this morning. I had a few “friends” visiting so I felt relaxed. But I am just sorry this whole thing got out of hand.  It could have been worse, but I am not going to carry on about it anymore.

End of story.