While I am sifting through the comments I received regarding the police in-car cameras and a few other town related issues, I thought you all might like to peruse this very interesting article entitled: “Connecticut Roads”

The “Ghost Towns of Connecticut” post was VERY popular-so I hope you will get enjoyment from this as well.

The article includes:”Notorious Connecticut Highways” “Alternate Routes” and “CANCELLED HIGHWAYS”-this is a real good read-interesting to how many highways in Connecticut that were technically approved for construction-but never made it.

Besides, you might learn on to get from one end of the state to the other WITHOUT getting on I-95, the Merritt or Wilbur Cross Parkways, or I-91. It IS POSSIBLE-I do it all the time!!

Click here for Connecticut Roads

I am going to try to go through the hundreds of comments I received on UTH FMO regarding these police in car cameras and post a few of them over the weekend, maybe next week.

I am  also going to try to speak to a local resident who has alerted me to a problem involving a large major facility in town. I will try to contact this person over the next few days.

In the meantime, I know some of you may be getting tired of me speaking on the in car police dash cameras but as I have stated previously, it can be a serious invasion of privacy issue-not only for the general public, but for the police officers themselves. No one who gets up and goes to work everyday, wants to be treated like a first grader-watched all the time, and that is exactly what COULD happen if these cameras are misused-especially now that I know they can be manually turned on and off without a persons knowledge.

The police are very powerful, and to be able to have that option, is concerning. Our Town Council needs to make sure proper protocol is followed-yeah right, and tomorrow I will become Town Manager-NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!

I must have been on an acid trip now that I think about it-I actually wanted these cameras in the police cars-but I did not think they would be used in this way-I should have known better from Big Brother!!

And while we are on the big brother topic-if you are wondering why the header to my post is called what it is-that will soon be my new legal name-”UNKNOWN EARTH INHABITANT” Yes, I am NOT KIDDING!!

With all this invasion of privacy going on-with the latest being this asinine idea by the Government to require people to have GPS chips installed in the cars they drive so the states and Government can literally send you a bill charging you for “miles driven” is so out there-it sounds like the script to a new Twilight Zone movie.

This “idea” if you are really naive and want to call it that, would replace gas taxes that a motorist now pays when they fill their vehicles at a gas station.

Click here for info

Fortunately for us, President Obama has nixed this idea completely.

Click here for story

Can you believe the state of Oregon, which I really really love-what a beautiful state-must have had a lapse in judgment recently when they actually ADOPTED THIS GPS MONITORING SYSTEM. They enlisted volunteers and they claimed it was SUCCESSFUL!!

How in hell can anyone with an ounce of brains call the constant monitoring of your whereabouts “successful”?? What is so SUCCESSFUL about it? NOW WE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE 24/7?? WE TREAT YOU LIKE AN IMBICILE?? OH COME ON!!

All this program would do is ENCOURAGE more people to register their cars in states that would not adopt this program, like probably New Hampshire!! Most states are financially strapped as it is-this would make it WORSE!! And let’s not forget the people who don’t BOTHER REGISTERING THEIR CARS AT ALL OR LET THE REGISTRATION LAPSE.

So what would happen is Mr. and Ms. Law Abiding Citizen would  receive the mark of the beast, and all the rest of the cheaters would be driving tax free if you will.

And in one of these articles, someone brought up the point of the police getting their hands on this info-oh just like a bee to honey-yep chomping at the bit!!

This really sounds f’d up and I am glad Obama nixed it.

So back to Oregon, the state actually wrote a detailed report on there Mileage Fee Program and Road User Concept

Click here for that report

I REFUSE to be marked or tracked or GPS’D or whatever you call it-so from now on when you see me, you will address me as “Unknown Earth Inhabitant” I also am sewing up a long gown type garment that covers my entire body. I will be able to see out, but you will not be able to see me.

That is all for now.

If you live in Cheshire, Ct. I know you have seen this sign in just about every neighborhood. I believe the Public Safety Commission is in charge of having these signs put up-usually under the speed limit signs. This idea, as I have stated many times before, was brought about by the late Police Chief Gary Walberg.
Back in 2005, I had read an article in a magazine that spotlighted a mid western towns concern with speeders and the effect they had on children who would be playing on sidewalks or in and around the street.
These people got together and put together a sign telling drivers to slow down because of children playing in the area. I brought the article to the attention of Chief Walberg who researched it and informed me that the sign featured in the magazine could not be used anywhere else because the wording was copyrighted.
So, the Chief told me he came up with another idea-and viola, the sign you all have seen around town was born.
What a great idea!! And I am so happy that I see more and more of these signs being put up around Cheshire.
So, why are there two of the same signs??? I will tell you why. You are NOT seeing double-the sign on the top is located on George Avenue in Cheshire–the sign on the bottom is located on Langdon Ct in KENSINGTON!!

On Thursday, I was driving on New Britain Rd when something familiar caught my eye!! I slowed down, looked to my left and behold-I saw nearly an exact replica of the “Please Slow Down We HEART Our Children”

I couldn’t believe it. Now I did not have time to call the Berlin Town Hall to get some specifics like when was this sign put up-and did they get the idea from Cheshire or did Cheshire get the idea from Kensington. I just don’t know.

Now I have been doing business around the Kensington area for the past year, and I will be honest, this is the first time I have seen this sign anywhere in the area.  I hope to contact the Berlin Town Hall to find out if they put the sign there or some residents traveled to Cheshire, saw the signs and decided to put one up in their neighborhood OR VICE VERSA.

Anyway, it is a great sign and a great way of getting a very important message across-no matter who thought of it first.

FYI: If you look closely at the two signs, you will see a slight difference in the one from Kensington-the heart is a little bigger-otherwise, the signs are identical!! AMAZING.

Now, onto other issues:

I am STILL getting feedback on UTH FMO about these police in-car cameras and some of the feedback has not just been from civilians either!! Many of you feel these cameras are a double-edged sword. On one hand, the cameras can protect the lives of the officers and civilians alike. On the other hand, they could be viewed as another invasion of our privacy, especially knowing these cameras in theCPD patrol cars can be manually turned on and off.

Well, to keep on that subject, I received an article from a local resident that showcases just how many of our rights have been taken away from us over the past 20 years under the guise of “taxes.”

It is entitled: “How Dumb ARE We?:

JUST IN TIME FOR APRIL 15th!!

It is a LONG read, but is worth it:

Earlier in the week, representatives of the proposed affordable housing development which would be developed in front of Beachport which is Elderly Housing,  on Rumberg Rd in Cheshire, Ct., met with the residents to discuss their concerns-namely traffic, which to me in my opinion IS a problem especially during the 5  p.m. rush hour.

If any of you watched my Beachport video that I posted on Youtube and accidentally deleted, you would have seen traffic building on West Main Street, which is the main road off Rumberg Rd, EVEN ON A SATURDAY.

The development would consist of 14 units. Click here for MRJ story

What is interesting is that every town, according to State Statute, has to have AT LEAST 10 percent of its housing designated as affordable.

Well guess what Cheshirites? WE DO NOT!!

So, I don’t believe this proposed affordable housing development CAN BE DENIED by the Planning and Zoning. The most that can be hoped for, because I know there is a high density concern with many of the residents at Beachport which is understandable, is that the proposed development IS SCALED BACK!!

As I have stated before, the house my husband and I live in now in Cheshire was financed by Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) and we are not derelicts. Well, I AM a little loud, but what I can say!!

There is a very dense housing development near where I live and because it was not “AFFORDABLE HOUSING” which many people get mixed up with Section 8, no one said a word and no-one cared.

I believe a lot of people think affordable housing is akin to a tenement or housing project like you see in New York City or Chicago or any big city. NO IT IS NOT.  Affordable housing would allow people like my son graduating from college and just starting out finanically, to be able to live in Cheshire where he grew up!!

Whether you like it or not-there are only SO MANY PLACES TO build affordable housing in Cheshire-so you are going to have to live with it.  But, the town and this developer needs to keep the residents of Beachport in mind IF and WHEN they start construction.

I am linking you now to a website that lists the 31cities and towns in Connecticut that are EXEMPT from constructing affordable housing because they have met the 10 percent requirement

IS CHESHIRE ON THIS LIST?

If not-then guess what? Your hands are literally tied!! It is interesting to note that I saw one town, and it is a small town-where nearly 30 percent of its housing is AFFORDABLE!!

Click here for affordable housing article

Click here for exempted and non exempted cities and towns

HINT: you have to scroll down almost to the end of the page to see the non-exempt towns. This means towns that have not met their burden of having at least 10 percent of their housing affordable. CHECK OUT CHESHIRE!!

Finally, I know times are tough and jobs are at a premium-but this ad (which is real) takes the cake.

This comes from Boing Boing:

Click here for best “Looking for Work Ad Ever”

DON’T GO DOWN MARION ROAD IN CHESHIRE AT 9 a.m. and again at 5.p.m. WEEKDAYS.

With the state of economic affairs being what they are, most municipalities are going over their operating budgets with a fine tooth comb.

There has been a lot of talk about abolishing unions-privatizing to save money. Many say the unions have outlived their original purpose-to protect workers rights-to make sure the workplace was safe and a living wage could be had.

Have unions outlived their usefulness in the United States? Are we now less competitive globally-what is the impact down the road for our nation? I am linking you to a good article on Unions that addresses these questions.

This comes at a time as I said above, where most municipalities are looking at possible municipal employee layoffs and just plain old job elimination. Some cities and towns have already had to  resort to these measures to get by economically. Cheshire is no different. As most of you know, the union contracts of several departments will expire this June 30th. Most don’t understand “steps” or “defined benefits” but just about everyone understands what type of problems this town will be facing if our union employees are forced to walk the picket line. We can never take for granted their services. Now I must admit, some of these union salaries MAY BE A BIT OUT OF LINE with the private sector, and this may have be addressed. But I am sure most union employees would rather take a slight pay cut than lose their jobs. It is up to their union representatives to take this into consideration and not engage in hard nosed counterproductive negotiating tactics.

One union taking a hit in Cheshire and I am sure many other towns is the teachers union. Many say the teachers are overpaid and under worked. OH BULLCRAP!!

“Oh you know, these teachers don’t work all  year, why should they be paid like they are”!!

I have heard many many people gripe about this very issue.

My answer: give it up you JEALOUS MAN!! That is right. You are jealous because most teachers are women, and they make more money than YOU!!

Umm, how come I don’t hear YOU say: “Oh, these baseball, football, hockey players don’t work all year, why should they be paid like they are”!!

WHY?? BECAUSE THEY ARE MEN!! THAT IS WHY!!

Even that isn’t a fair comparison to teachers, because most teachers do not make millions in three or four months. I remember a friend of mine, and I think I mentioned this before, who got into a NYC taxicab one night and found a paystub of a then New York Giants football player-now mind you, this was about 15 years ago. The check was for $150,000. And THAT WAS FOR ONE WEEK!!!

NOW THAT IS OVERPAID even by today’s standards.

GET OFF THE SOAPBOX AND FOCUS YOUR ATTENTION ON REAL MONEY WASTERS: LIKE THE POOL. This town has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into an energy wasting monolith and gotten very little in return for it.

Click here for: Rod Paige Confronts the Teachers Unions

I will say one thing though, I do think Cheshire High School has TOO MANY ADMINISTRATORS!! When I went to Central High in Bridgeport YEARS AGO, we had the Principal, the Vice-Principal and TWO other administrators-one for “East Administration (the east half of the high school) and one for “West Administration”

That was IT for a school of 3,200 students!!!

BUT, I do want to caution people-eliminating programs, cutting back on educational items for the students, trimming afterschool programs-DOES and WILL have a negative impact on education and the quality of life here,

When I was living in Bridgeport in the 50′s and 60′s Bridgeport was like CHESHIRE!! YES!! Plenty of jobs, safe streets (for the most part), A GREAT SCHOOL SYSTEM!! When I graduated high school in the mid-seventies, Central High had 23, YES 23 state of Connecticut scholars!! OK!! My education rivaled anything that Cheshire High can give, believe me.

But then, in the early seventies, I saw a change starting to happen. The city was becoming financially strapped-educators were being asked to cut programs, cut back on classes, books, everything. I had many classes with 50 kids in them. We got through it. I remember the parents packing Central High School auditorium begging the Board of Education not to cut programs, not to cut teachers.

Even the teachers got into the act and back then they WERE NOT MAKING THE MONEY THEY MAKE NOW!! They hit the picket lines with the students. And then, I saw a real change. People started to leave Bridgeport for the suburbs.  Businesses started relocating, and the downward slide began and really has not reversed itself.

And in my opinion-this was brought about by the perception amongst many middle class residents of Bridgeport back then, that education was sliding. Bridgeport has really not been able to recover from this. Bridgeport is trying, they really are-and will continue to try-but let’s face it-when I say Bridgeport to you-what comes to mind? YEP!!

You don’t think education uplifts a community? Want to see what happens when people leave a community to seek a better quality of life and education? Then go look at those old Pleasure Beach photos I have run from time to time. WHAT A DISGRACE!! LOOK AT IT NOW!!

Look at Bridgeport-the way it was when I was growing up-look at it now!! This could be anytown, big or small. It breaks my heart to hear people talk bad about Bridgeport-this is where I was born. Would you like people to talk about CHESHIRE this way?? It is beyond heartbreak-knowing how grand Bridgeport was!! It HAD EVERYTHING!! IT MAKES ME CRY!!

I have a link to a blog where this very subject is being discussed. This blog is a little “rough” around the edges, but this person, who is obviously very young-hits the nail on the head.

Livejournal: Bridgeport

Sure some of it was economics, the downturn in the industrial age, the factories moving down south or overseas, but I believe the downturn in education, accentuated this decline. NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN EDUCATION-BUT SPEND IT ON THE STUDENTS NOT THE ADULTS!!

I believe most if not all teachers care about their students and care deeply about teaching. I believe some would even take a slight pay decrease to keep their positions. As I stated above with the town employee unions, there has to be some give and take with the teachers union also. They have to be realistic and I am sorry to say-4.4 percent raise over the next few years is not realistic!!

Now we have opened up Pandora’s Box-what do you expect the other union negotiators to ask for? LESS?? Probably not!!

Now onto another hot topic: TAKE HOME VEHICLES!!

For many months, myself and Councilor Tim White, whom I have been backing up on this issue, have spoken about accountablility with these municipal taKe home vehicles in Cheshire. Most of our questions have been falling on deaf ears from the Town Government whose familiar tactic is to let people talk about an issue they don’t want to discuss-and not answer-or half ass answer it-hoping it will all “JUST GO AWAY”

Well, I know I will keep talking about this issue and I am CERTAIN Councilor White will also.

I guess Gov. Rell has gotten the “message” about state cars because she is eliminating 100 vehicles and will be auctioning them off to raise money!! A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION GOV. RELL!!

My spouse, who has been a Field Auditor with the Labor Dept for 32 years HAS NEVER HAD A TAKE HOME VEHICLE-and he has been more than able to perform his job. If he can do it-yes, everyone else can.

Click here for the story

ALSO: UPDATE ON STAMFORD CHIMP ATTACK

Rampaging Chimp Lived High on the Hog