Be Right Back...I Hope!

Folks I am sorry to say that because of circumstances beyond my control, I will be off the net until sometime Monday afternoon. I will also be changing my Comcast IP address. I will endeavor to get back online ASAP! I'm sure you'll survive until then!
 Take care Y'all!

New City Motto : What, Me Worry?

(Click on City Seal to see enlarged size)

Fall River Votes New KING

 and New City Motto

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By S.O. Facile

Herald News Staff

Nov, 5, 2015

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After a long and hard fought campaign, the forces of sloth, illiteracy and ignominious defeat overcame a late rally by newcomer Ivana Gamble and elected to change the City Charter and elevate long time Fall Riverite Alfred E. Neuman to the post of the City's first King.

After holding court at his post election victory rally at City Councilor Leo Pelletier's locally famous basement kitchen area, King Alfred announced that as his first official act he was changing the official City Seal to include the new city motto, "What, Me Worry?" in order to inspire his "subjects" to roll with the punches and just accept their fate, which he claimed during the election was his greatest managerial talent.

"Let's face it" said the King, "We're not good at very much! The state gives us almost 80% of our entire budget, our unemployment rate is still 14.5% even though the state's has sunk to 3.8% due to the new economic boom, almost 60% of our kids haven't graduated with their high school class or at all, and we now have the highest rates of murder, drug addiciton and gang activity in the entire state, and #2 in New England. We just can't suck enough!" At that point the crowd of largely political hack relatives who worked on the campaign roared with approval, breaking into the well known campaign slogan "Loser, Loser, Loser, Loser!".

His Majesty Alfred E Neuman

King Neuman was a surprise candidate when ex-Mayor Will Flanagan moved on to a  tenured teaching position at the new Bristol Community College Law School after the obligatory disasterous three terms as the City's Mayor. The upswell in support of the newcomer Neuman came when he beat senseless a well known man who had acosted him with a beer mug at Club Flaunt (pronounced "fluan-eh") , a man who deleriously claimed over and over that he made the City the best on the planet and that one day he would be the owner of a semi-pro basketball team. The person in question had just been let go by a local radio station for a station record 12th time , a station that could be heard as far north as Westport and as far south as the Swansea Motel, his oft time residence.

Riding that wave of dubious accomoplishment into the primary and being seen as a common sense and desireable candidate by the mass of Fall River voters, Alfred E. Neuman easily finished first and headed into the final election against the Casino backed candidate, Ivana Gamble.

Ivana Gamble

Fall River voters came to love the common sense approach to issues that were spoken with a dull, but stupid syntax, and opened up the City to the "can't argue with that" simple honesty in what he had to say. He thrilled enthusiastic crowds with comments like:

"In retrospect it becomes clear that hindsight is definitely overrated!"

"Most people are so lazy, they don't even exercise good judgement!"


"If opera is entertainment, then falling off a roof is transportation!"


"A college jock is someone who minds his build instead of vice versa!"

"The only advantage to living in the past is that the rents are much cheaper!"


"Getting old is when a narrow waist and a broad mind change places!"

"Medical insurance is what allows people to be ill at ease!"


"Prison inmates are treated to cable TV, hot meals and a college education, while on the outside some people can only afford these things through a life of crime!"

Over time the voters of Fall River came to rely on this less hectic view of the world and started to live according to the example shown by the soon-to-be King Neuman.
"Why worry about things you don't want to control", he would say. "If I wanted to make things better, I'd do something, but that takes time and effort, so why worry, the state's gonna pay for us anyways, like it already does. Why expect more than we deserve, right?"

 It was at moments like that he would then say "You can be on the right track and still get hit by a train!" Who in Fall River wanted to argue with flawless
logic like that, logic that spoke loudly to the lowest common denominator of voters in Fall River?  When asked if that was part of his campaign strategy he answered, "I've always stated that we want to appeal to the lowest person possible. In Fall River, it was easy to do because there were so many of them! What, Me Worry?"

Ivana Gamble nearly came from behind to capture the crown. She was fronting for the Gaming Industry to open a new mega casino and resort complex all along the Fall River Waterfront area. She cited a gaurentee of union waged jobs for every man, woman and teenager in the City regardless of level of education,  court record or ability to speak english. This would be assurred by a contract between the City and International Gaming Giant "BUCKS R US", with the first years salaries to be paid upfront!

Alfred E. Neuman's response was as you would expect. "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, it might bite your nose off". A majority of voters reacted to this simple statement by giving back to Gamble's campaign workers the crisp $100 bills they had received to vote in support of Gamble. Neuman convinced Fall River voters that the no effort way was the way to go, you could accept the state's money, make the same mistakes you had made before, not be involved in any activity what-so-ever, "so why go to work and ruin a perfectly acceptable way of life?"

In the final weeks of the campaign King Neuman's speeches were electrically bland, the way they were when he was at his simple best. Some of the real crowd pleasers towards the end were:

"How come stealing from one book is plagiarism, but stealing from many is research?"

"It takes one to know one -- and vice versa!"


"Nowadays, a balanced diet is when every McNugget weighs the same!"


"Teenagers are people who act like babies if they're not treated like adults!"


"A teacher is someone who talks in our sleep!"

"How  come we choose from just two people for President, and fifty for Miss America?"


"Who says nothing is impossible? Some people do it every day!"

"Blood is thicker than water... but it makes lousy lemonade!"

"What, Me Worry?" Campaign poster

From such simple, sleepy,  yet stupid sentiment did this unassumming McDonald's french fry bag filler win the hearts and minds of the voters of Fall River, the downtrodden and clueless thousands he knew he could relate to.

And so it was, this day, a King was elected.

(Editor's Note: During the preparation of this news article much "'research" was completed)

HEY THERE...Our City Is A Classic CLUSTER F*&K

Flanagan taps Cadime to
take over as city administrator

Shawn Cadime will take over

 as the city administrator.

***************
By Michael Holtzman
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Apr 28, 2010 @ 09:55 PM
***************
FALL RIVER — Mayor Will Flanagan has hired School Committee Vice Chairman Shawn Cadime to be the next city administrator.

Cadime, 29, has been a program financial analyst with General Dynamics in Taunton for the past seven years.

“I am looking forward to working with Shawn. He is energetic and dynamic. … He will be an asset to the sixth floor,” Flanagan said.


“He brings with him skills in finance, in collective bargaining and qualities of intergovernmental relations. He has a good working relationship with City Council, the School Committee and other elected officials at the county and state levels,” he said.


Cadime begins May 17.

He’s expected to sign today a two-year contract at a salary of $95,000. His pay will be adjusted to $87,400 after he accepted the 8 percent pay reduction consistent with cutbacks by other administrators, Flanagan said Wednesday.

He replaces Adam Chapdelaine, who held the job the past 1½ years until mid-April. His salary was $91,800 before the 8 percent cut.


Cadime’s hiring does not require City Council ratification. It requires resigning from the School Committee.

He plans to resign that seat after signing his contract.


Flanagan, who by city ordinance serves as School Committee chairman, said he will support Mark Costa as vice chairman. Costa lost that post this year in a split election, with Flanagan casting the decisive vote for Cadime.


Cadime, like Chapdelaine, is a lifelong city resident with a business background.


He graduated Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and concentration in finance and marketing. He’s enrolled for an MBA at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

For the past four years, Cadime has served as School Committee vice chairman and chaired its finance committee.


Thanking Flanagan and his administration for their support, Cadime said, “This is a tremendous opportunity for me to fully utilize my skills and my financial experience to better serve the community... I consider it a great opportunity and honor to work for the city that I was born, raised and continue to live in,” Cadime said.


He also thanked those that gave him the opportunity to serve on the School Committee.
Flanagan began the city administrator search a month ago, and stressed that his choice bring strong administrative and business experience/education to the post.


The job entails managing the daily operations of the municipality, oversight of city departments and implementing the mayor’s policies.

Flanagan declined to name the other three administrator finalists, culled from 58 applicants and 15 whom he and his top administrators interviewed the past 2½ weeks.


“It’s because they currently have full-time positions or are seeking other positions,” Human Resources Director Madeline Coelho said.

She and Flanagan gave limited background about the three other finalists.


They included a SouthCoast lawyer with experience in fiscal and legislative affairs; a Connecticut man who’d been a selectman and town manager, working in business sales; and a 20-year municipal manager from the southern part of the state.


Of the latter candidate, Flanagan said, “He has the experience in government being a manager and administrator. However, he did not have the experience in Fall River with knowledge of inner workings in Fall River.”


Flanagan said it was important to him the person hired “followed the budget of the last several years, and knew about the prior decisions affecting today’s budget process to see what past mistakes had been made … to ensure not making the same mistakes in the future.”


He emphasized wanting an administrator that “would hit the ground running.”


“I look forward to working with the mayor, City Council, School Committee and all of the citizens of Fall River to weather this financial storm, and I look forward to better days in the future,” Cadime said in his brief prepared statement.


Working at General Dynamics, a Fortune 100 company, Cadime said he managed financial programs of about $150 million. He also “interacts with presidents and directors of the company as well as various government agencies,” he wrote in a letter applying for the job.


Flanagan added that Cadime “has earned respect of people of Fall River. He has earned their confidence and trust, and he is leaving a secure job to join the city at its most difficult financial time in its history.”

He called Cadime a “no-nonsense person. … He will hold people accountable.”


Until beginning the job May 17 he will work nights meeting with department heads and helping form the next budget with the financial team, Flanagan said.


He must submit the mayor’s fiscal 2011 budget to the City Council by June 1.


Prior to his current work, Cadime held one-year jobs as a corporate action specialist for State Street in Quincy and as a technical administrator for Putham Investments in Norwood. He held short-term paid internships at Government Center as a college student, in the treasurer’s office and mayor’s office, the latter while Edward Lambert Jr. was mayor in 2000.
E-mail Michael Holtzman at mholtzman@heraldnews.com.


Ladies and gentlemen there is an old colloquial Army term that describes what this City's politics and administrative governance has become. If you are squeemish at all, please look away. The term is:

Fall River Today!

(I'm not telling you anything you didn't already know!)

Yes it is!

This annoucement is nothing but a sad joke. I just finished watching the last School Committee Meeting on cable TV and was  amazed how relatively silent this new "financial genus" was when questions related to budget line items and grants were being discussed by two other Committee members, Pavao and Martins. An amazing performance with not one utterance of helpful explanation.

And where was this beacon of good management, financial acumen and all around accountability last year when he, like everyone on the Committee except Joe Martins,  layed down for The Great Destroyer Correia on vote after vote after vote. That was especially true for the budget. Should we even bring up the sad state of past grant accounts and why they haven't been audited? Would not the oversight of this issue be his primary Committee responsibility to see solved? I think the loud answer to that question is a resounding YES!

This is a man who has worked as a financial analyst for a Fortune 100 company. You know what the equivalent position is in municipal management? It's called a "budget analyst", the workhorse you hire right out of grad school to enter financial data  on spreadsheets and have perform perfunctory analysis of basic figures. That's how they learn about the municipal financial management business, by learning the timing and volume of the flow of funds over time. Basically, it boils down to how much gets spent, when, why and by who. But it's not "management" of actual operations. And in the private sector, especially at a "Fortune 100" company, which means mega money, $150 million is relative peanuts. Folks don't take my word for it, do some research and check it yourselves. I'd call the comments made by the Mayor and included by Cadime in his letter of application a serious case of resume inflation. But hey, he's the City's savior. This budget turns out to be no damn good, Mayor Flanagan has TWO scapegoats now; the Finance Director and little Shawny Cadime, the MBA student.

By the way, doing interships while Mayor Lambert was in office doesn't count as REAL experience. It might seem so to unemployed folk without a high school diploma. Yes, they would be impressed enough after reading this pile of crud doled out by Mayor Flanagan and his people, but this one smells like walking into Seabra's when that grotesque salted cod hits your olfactory system like a ball peen hammer.

Why do I suspect this was more of the same old same old, politics as usual in Fall River? Mr. Cadime obviously knows Mr. Lambert. Mr. Cadime served on the School Committee while Mr. Lambert was Mayor. Mr. Lambert moved heaven and earth to see Mayor Flanagan elected. Hence, this is a decision of hiring someone with their own political base (VOTES!) to support the plans of Mayor Flanagan for the price of a new job, all under the watchful eyes of Ed Lambert. And I'll bet you dollars to donuts Mr. Cadime is making a good sized pay raise. Most "budget analysts" in MA municipalities with a budget the size of Fall River make a salary around $70 - $75 K per year after a few years of service. Just saying!

This person may be a great guy, might be a really bright guy, and might be a dedicated public servant. Even if all those things are true, he still isn't qualified to run a City the size of Fall River. Neither was Mr. Chapdelaine but he's head and shoulders beyond Mr. Cadime, and I never thought I'd be saying that, but it's true. And now Mr. Chadelaine finds employment for a well run community as an assistant Town Manager at a higher salary than what he was paid here. The selection committee for that job was made up of two professional MA municipal managers FROM OTHER COMMUNITIES, plus a professional talent evaluator with vast municipal job rating and preformance experience. What does that tell you? At least Mr. Chapdelaine already had his MBA. And he's still not qualified to run a well run community! But he ran Fall River. Oh yeah, it was run by the Mayor. HA!

More of the same old same old. It wasn't who I thought it would be, but I'm sorry now, because either one of those men would have made far better candidates.

Best City Councilor (so far this year)

File this one under giving credit where credit is due department.

I am sure that those who claim to know my mind better than I might be taken aback somewhat by who I think has done the best job overall on the City Council so far in 2010. I tell you folks out there that I have my own opinions and don't drink anyone's Kool-Aid. So get a grip of your hats because here it comes:

To date this year, the best City Council performance has been turned in by........

Council Vice President Linda Pereira

I have always said that Councilor  Linda Pereira has been a consistent defender of her constituents and has provided great service to those individuals having  issues with government and problems getting responses. She returns phone calls. She researches solutions. Yes, she has strong opinions, but isn't that what each of the Councilors are suppossed to do on every issue that comes before the Council? Sure, they need to be able to compromise whenever their beliefs allow them to do so, and I think she's done that.

Frankly, no one in the City works harder than she does to tackle pertinent issues facing Fall River. You know where she stands. She's not a "B.S. er", she's as direct as the rays of the sun  in the middle of a July day. She's a leader on the Council where in many years since I've been here there was only lip service paid to the term, or was only evident on devisive issues where blatant political sides were being taken. She's willing to take unpopular positions when she thinks it's the right thing to do, but you know her reasons, and you have to respect that. She speaks clearly and plainly and you know where she stands. You cannot say that about any other Councilor currently serving. Thank God there is at least one independant voice on the City Council unafraid to represent her constituents or fight for the positions on issues she thinks are critical to the welfare of the citizens of Fall River. In short, whether you like her or do not, you have to respect who she is and what she does. That's just being fair.

Sometimes in politics, fair is a thoroughly acceptable concept. It is in this case.

Thank you Councilor  Linda Pereira for your strong constituent service and leadership on issues of importance to the citizens of Fall River. Like your positions or not, you lead, which among this City's politicians is as rare as hen's teeth. It is by taking real stands on issues that policy compromise is possible, not by laying in the weeds waiting for an opportunity to LOOK like a statesman. You never stay in the weeds. You stand in the clear light of day.

Thank you!

This is disgusting!

City administrator finalists presented
 with worst-case scenario

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By Michael Holtzman
Posted Apr 26, 2010 @ 08:07 PM
Last update Apr 26, 2010 @ 08:08 PM
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FALL RIVER — Mayor Will Flanagan said Monday he planned to hold interviews early this week with several finalists for city administrator to replace Adam Chapdelaine, who left April 16.

An announcement of the choice could be made by the end of this week, he said.


After reviewing 58 applications and scheduling 15 initial interviews, Flanagan and Human Resources Director Madeline Coelho said they are narrowing the field.

Flanagan said the finalists are being asked to give a 30-minute presentation for mitigating what preliminary estimates show could be a $10 million deficit in next year’s budget.

“It’s a worst-case scenario,” Flanagan said of initial state cuts proposed by the House Ways and Means Committee in Chapter 70 and local aid, coupled with higher local expenses for health care, pensions and net school spending increases.

“Present to the group what potential revenue mitigation or cost reductions you would recommend if you were hired as city administrator,” reads the letter Coelho said she’s sending to the finalists.


Along with Flanagan and Coelho, the interviewing committee includes Director of Financial Services David Grab, Auditor Kevin Almeida and Corporation Counsel Steven Torres, who’s also serving as acting city administrator.

Flanagan said he does not expect to make the finalist field public because of applicants’ current jobs and need for confidentiality. He said one is from Fall River and another from Somerset.


His goal remains hiring the replacement by early May.

He stressed wanting to hire an experienced person ready to handle the administrative and financial tasks of the upcoming budget and as his liaison to departments and the City Council.
“We don’t have time for a dress rehearsal,” Flanagan said.


The salary is listed as “commensurate with experience,” although there’s a job history.


Chapdelaine’s salary was $91,800, although an 8 percent voluntary pay cut accepted by most administrators and other municipal workers lowered it to $83,000. Two prior administrators were paid at least $100,000.

Chapdelaine, a lifelong city resident, held the job for 1½ years and worked previously for state Sen. Joan Menard, started Thursday as deputy town manager in Arlington.
E-mail Michael Holtzman at mholtzman@heraldnews.com.

You want to know what the worst case scenario is with this entire situation?

" He said one is from Fall River and another from Somerset. "

What an absolute crock of dog puss this is going to be. Which friend of the Flanagan's campaign will it be...I wonder if it might be a certain ex-Mayor of this City, or maybe an ex City Treasurer. I have no clue who it's going to be, all I know is that there is NOT one solitary soul in this City capable of solving this City's problems. Not  one. You know it and I know it.

You want to know what my first reaction was when I read this article?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

So much for world wide searches.....And I bet they will not have any experience in public finance, or only one aspect...this is going to be a "Fix is In" hackarama fest from beginning to end. So sad and so, so predictable.

The people of Fall River deserve better.

Requiem for a Slice of Pizza.

My few regular readers have inquired why I have not written anything in a few days. NO , aside from this hay fever the Spring brings with it at the beginning of the season I feel very well indeed. NO, I have NOT been caught getting frisky in the meadow grass and have not acquired a case of poison ivy on my rear end....besides, who in God's earth would I find to apply the anti-itch lotion to THIS hairy backside. (I agree...EEEUUUUUUEEEEE) Hey...I'm honest, what can I say and if Spring sees you getting sprung, DON"T CALL ME, because your festering bummy is entirely YOUR business.

I have been busily ensconced in my favorite yearly activity. It all ended yesterday. Yes, I am one of those football geeks who lives and dies for the NFL Draft. And I am now undergoing some serious decompression. Maybe I'm finally growing up, but the last straw for me was Friday night.

I ordered my usual Draft Day Pizza to munch on as I tired to do the following (I'm not kidding, I was actually doing this- and BTW, I used to order up a Marcucci's sub, but pizza is, after all, the perfect food containing all the basic food groups if ordered intelligently, and all those carbs are needed over a three day period...it's no longer just fun, it's damn near a crucible now! Marcucci's is recalssified for hallowed occassions only!):

- Watching the NFL Network and clicking back and forth to the ESPN coverage during commercials, or during "BS-ing" moments.....(it was sort of like watching the QB's eyes and reacting)
- Having the computer breathing and clicking on any number of newspaper, NFL and Mock draft sites looking for any and all information about trades or information about potential picks....

- Listening, with only one ear of the headphones, to a live web cast by the writing staff for the Pro Football Weekly, a largely in-house site for the NE Patriots......

I had gotten away from my numerous pages of information of NFL combine results or draft site lists of "best ranked" players, by position, usually with about 500 names in total. Why waste the equivalent of a small forest and all that printer ink  when you can see all that information on line? Now we're talking! The marvels of technical advancements in the modern world!

So there I was, dutifully watching all the goings on, trying to calculate who the home town Patrots might have left available to select after each team's choice like an MIT math major trying to count cards in Vegas. We're in the first round and and the early action is hot and heavy . But the first ten picks roll by very fast. So I open the pizza and choose my first piece. Pacing is critical here. But I'm a veteran of the NFL Draft wars and I know what I'm doing - or so I told myself. Soon another half hour goes by...and another slice is down the gullet. I'm so busy I find it hard to take a bathroom break, surpressing the urge to let go of that 2 liter bottle of Coke Zero that long ago was rented. But somehow the recent spate of flooding in the City goes through my mind and I know I won't be eligible for the Mayor's flood relief program so I man up and head off to....you get the general idea.

Ok...back in business and feeling renewed. Time is flying by...another slice bites the esophageal dust. Then it's time for the Patriot's 1st round choice...and I'm just about to eat another slice while holding this huge smile on my face when..... "New England Patriots have traded their pick to the......." NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!, not again!

I am in momentary crisis! I start to talk myself down. "It's ok, Belichick knows what he's doing better than you do, he has more information that you do, he's the original man with the master plan, that's why you refer to him as "Master Hoodie""

OK...OK...I'm all right now....I'm ok now....back to the draft........I fight the urge to call my buddy so we can swear out loud at the hellspawn fiend Belichick, but I have to FOCUS, there's work to do, soda to drink, pizza to munch....man, it really stinks to grow up, I think to myself.

Now, it's time AGAIN! There's the Commissioner heading to the podium, he has a slip of paper in his hand, and as everything gets quiet and the talking heads shut up, the Commissioner says......"New England Patriots have traded their pick to the......." NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!, not again!

 I hate you Master Hoodie, I hate you!....this is so wrong, so wrong....I come back to complete consciousness finding myself screaming at the TV screen "Belichick YOU SUUUUCCCKKKKKKKKKK, YOU CAN"T SUCKKKK ENOUGHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Now worried what the neighbors are thinking, I throw the piece of pizza that had been close to my mouth when the INFAMNIA occurred back into the box and SHUT the box, all flaps INSIDE the box. Just disgusted, appalled, mortified, horrified, stupified, terrified we've screwed up royally. Shaking my head in disgust, my jumping up and down like a six year old has awoken the sea gods once again, and being a person who has great respect for the story of the Noah and the Ark I choose this as a convenient moment to.......you get the general idea.

Once again refreshed and with a clear mind, I'm committed to only bottled water and once again open the pizza box which I now think was prepared by someone named Pandora, such a curse it's brought to me and the Sons of Belichick this night. We've traded down twice and passed on players who I think are very good. I know, I know, we've picked up selection spots in later rounds as a result that we otherwise would not have, but the Sons of  Belichick demand satisfaction. All over the state, ney, all over the  world, when you consider servicemen and ex-patriots (US citizens in other countries, not rich ex- Patriot players - let's not get silly now!) are choking on buffalo wings, pizza and microwave popcorn with every machination contrived by the Hooded One!

With a new slice dancing on my taste buds, the Commissioner now approaches the podium once again, holding a piece of paper. I stop chewing, pizza sauce trickling out of the corner of  my not quite closed mouth as I sit transfixed to hear the words,  " And with the pick the Patriots have selected Devin McCourty, Defensive Back, Rutgers......."

I am petrified in place, much like Lot's wife from the bible. I'm sure anyone seeing me this way would have thought it's ugly and diabolicly cruel to feed pizza to catatonics, the pizza sauce now hitting my floor!  SPLAT, SPLAT!  I cannot move. If Master Hoodie were before me right now his life would be in serious danger. It would not matter if the entire offensive line of the Patriots were here protecting him. They'd be dispatched easily, their necks snapped like so many broken twigs before me. Especially the German offensive tackle nic-named "Sea Bass".... I would strangle the beast until his tuetonic eyes popped out of their sockets like a kids joke toy, or like one of those hand squeeze "tension" relievers. It's a mental picture that goes by slowly like a gun battle in a  Sam Peckinpah movie. All I can hear are the hoots from the NY Jets fans, laughing at Patriot Nation while in the background you can hear the NFL Commissioner saying slowly, "DEEEEVVINNNNNNNN McCOURRRRRTTEEEEEEEEE". Oh, the pain, the humiliation. The PIZZA!

Still silent and now completely depleted of life itself,  I place the half eaten piece of pizza back in the box slowly, gently, with respect, like the body of a deceased comrade who gave his life on a mission that ultimately failed. I close the pizza box, all flaps inside the box, and slowly make my way to the refrigerator, as the evenings festivities are closed for this particular Son of Belichick.

 Suddenly I find myself thinking of the SS Poseidon, the ship turned upside down by an unexpected giant wave at sea, and think it's a perfect end to my evening and Master Hoodies' efforts this night, as I hear the refrain "There's got to be a morning after..."...... you get the general idea.

I don't think I can do this anymore. Good pizza should never be treated this way!

PLACE YOUR BETS; LET"S BUILD AN ILLEGAL WALL DOWN BY THE SEA; HERE COMES THE SONS OF WINN

City Council votes to refer
 casino talks to committee

***************
By Deborah Allard
Herald News Staff Reporter
Posted Apr 20, 2010 @ 11:47 PM
***************

FALL RIVER — The City Council at its Tuesday meeting voted to refer talks with the Aquinnah Indian tribe about locating a gaming casino in the city to the Economic Development and Tourism Committee.

The Aquinnah tribe of Gayhead has expressed interest in the city, but councilors agreed that all tribes, as well as private developers, be given the chance to take part in the casino talks.

The decision was also based on a letter received from the Pocasset Tribe voicing its concerns about a gaming casino.

The Pocassets moved to the North Watuppa area in 1709 and were deeded 97 acres in Fall River and 227 acres in Freetown. The Pocassets do not want to see a casino on the reservation and would like the land to remain as pristine as possible for future generations.

City Council Vice President Linda Pereira and Councilor Brad. Kilby initially proposed the talks in light of the Aquinnah tribe’s interest and the recent vote by the state House of Representatives to approve expanded gaming in the state.

“This is a major thing for our city whether you agree or disagree,” said Councilor Brian Bigelow, who also is chairman of the Economic Development and Tourism Committee.

The City Council was also set to vote on a Community Development Agency five-year plan and One-Year Annual Action Plan, but tabled that vote until the May 10 City Council meeting.


Michael Dion, newly appointed executive director/CFO of the Community Development Agency, presented the plans, which came under fire.

Some council members had concerns about the amount of new low-income housing that may receive funding.

Councilor Michael Lund said the city has been a “dumping ground” for this type of housing for years. He said residents “don’t want more. They want less. There’s too much here.


“A vote supports this concept,” Lund continued.


He said the 500-page book that outlines the Community Development Agency funding plans for Housing and Urban Development, Community Development Block grants, Emergency Shelter Grants and Home Investment Partnership Programs, was just received by the Council on Friday.

“I’m supposed to vote this tonight?” Lund asked.


All of the councilors commended Dion on his work with the Community Development Agency for the last 13 years and welcomed him to his position. They said tabling the vote was not a reflection on his hard work.

Dion said he was simply following past practices of giving the plans to the City Council the week before the meeting. The plans have been at the public library for viewing. Public hearings about the plan were held in January and March.


The action plan details activities for the year starting July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. The plan must be submitted by Mayor Will Flanagan by May 15 to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.


Dion said if the plans are not submitted in time, funding could be lost
E-mail Deborah Allard at dallard@heraldnews.com.

Ah, one City Council meeting and so many thoughts about what is happening in Fall River, replacing NYC as "the City that never sleeps", at least not without one eye open.
 
 - PLACE YOUR BETS; The Casino (gimme , gimme, gimme)
If this isn't a no brainer there is no such thing. Karam Donkey-Boy Rep. Rodrigues will keep his mouth shut about how many jobs there WILL NOT be for the mostly under and uneducated work force in Fall River that will be hired at the new Peddeling Death Emporium known as the Bio-Park. Notice how silent he's been up to now about WHAT kind of research facilities they have planned up there? It's deafening, that's for sure. Or maybe he's too busy going constantly from one Bio-Tech Industry fundraiser to the NH border to avoid the sales tax on booze he voted for the rest of Massachusetts to pay. But I digress.
 
If a Casino is developed anywhere near Fall River, but especially IN Fall River, the unemployment rate, which even though it  improved very slightly in the last month, but now ranks as the worst in the state, will plummet downwards. An ever improving economy will also mean ever growing revenues, which in turn will mean more money for Fall River , either through direct casino licence fees, or through a dedicated stream of revenue for Local Aid and Education and Public Safety monies. Like I said, it's a no brainer.
 

No, I do not want to hear about the vice and social costs these places also bring with them. That stuff is already here, and truth be told, we have more than other places per capita than most municipalities in Massachusetts without the benefit of municipal revenues a Casino would bring. Ladies and gentlemen, we are on life support, and only the blind and willingly stupid thinks otherwise. Heck, maybe we'd finally be able to re-open those lovely old time theaters the "Back in the Glory Days" crew loves to wax on about and present  real incentive to make Fall River a music and cultural performance center as well as a gamming jewel on the East Coast of the US.

 Restaurants , shopping, day trips to the cape, ferry to NYC for a night, ferry to Nantucket and the Vinyard, who knows?! But none of it is likely without an industry to pull the others along. And that is most effeiciently done by a new, vibrant casino and entertainment complex. It might also bring with it communter rail and finally force the state's hand. Many kudos to Councilor's Linda Pereira and Brad Kilby for working together to bring this vital issue to the Council table! 

LOL, then the Karams can convert the land set aside for a Bio-Tech park and make another small airport that will stay very busy with a new casino complex. Take that Donkey-Boy!
 
The only down side I see is the head of the City Council Committee looking into this issue, Brian "Sportcoat the Lesser" Bigelow, Master Accountant (HA!) Just don't screw this up Brian, and don't jump into the back pocket of your bosses biggest supporters, the Brothers Karam. WE"LL ALL BE WATCHING YOU THIEVES CLOSELY. This might be one where the Karams take one for the team and stand aside. Besides, if this happens, and it might because of the Indian Tribes involvement, they'll be plenty enough money to be made by those out there who own about 1/5 of Fall River.  Greedy boys become needy boys, don't forget that!
 

Hi, I'm Bill the Cat, and I constantly choke on Hair-Balls like

Brian "Sportcoat the Lesser" Bigelow and

Mike "llegal Sea Wall with that Beer"Lund

 
- Hey LUND,  LET"S BUILD AN ILLEGAL WALL DOWN BY THE SEA
Mike Lund should keep his illegal trap shut, at least until the entire issue of his illegally building that illegal sea wall near his bar room is entirely and  legally settled. That whole affair pretty much tells you loudly and clearly just how much concern he has for anything in Fall River other than his own welfare. Hey, I didn't vote for the fool!
 
Now, in terms of his stance against low income housing in Fall River, I agree....the Housing Authority should be moving as fast as possible to close aaaaaaaaall their state properties down and relocate these folks out of Fall River. If Collins doesn't work to do this with every ounce of energy he has, then can his behind. But many communities use CD money to assist low income elderly and handicapped FEDERAL housing, it's quite a common and allowable use for the money. The entire YMCA fiasco, and that's exactly what it was, should be reversed and the Mayor needs to revisit this issue now, before we get any closer to the deadline and we lose the fed cash. The YMCA does not rent their property to human maggotry you find all over Housing Authority properties. That's just a fact.

-HERE COMES THE SONS OF WINN
What is most troubling is not hearing all these voices against more public housing in Fall River speak out against the proposed development of Wampanoag Millls by Arthur Winn. That's because he's better connected than the mayor, the entire legislative delegation at the State House and any one federal representative. He's got billions to give contruibutions to REAL kingmakers nationally, and the piddling pols in Fall River can do nothing to stop him. Check out who he's been donating campaign money to by going online....Tim Murray gets a healthy share!
 
He buys them off with , what are for him, mere peanuts. That's why you'll hear them go after the YMCA, but not Arthur Winn. Just bend over Fall River, you're going to be WINNED, and you will learn to love it, because the pols here will become instantly and permanently silent to any complaints otherwise. It's not fair, but it is what will happen. Even the head of CD program knows some of their funding will go into that development...the Mayor said so, and so it WILL be done. That's what Mr. Winn desires.
 
 Profiles in Courage? Not when it comes to a real powerbroker. To Winn, the Karams are late comer punks, and the Karams know it! Winn leaves chunks of guys like the Karams in his stool! None of the great in Fall River have the bad sense to run with this big dog. Just stay under the porch then, you gutless wonders! Movers and shakers, HA!

Arthur Winn (HUGE DOG) and

Fall River Movers and Shakers (teeny-weeny dog) - woof-woof!

 
Keep the faith Fall River...and just disregard most of what comes out of YOUR City Council!
 

 PS: NOT SO GENTLE BEN 

Oh, Ben, you are so se...drunk! Watch the hands, bub!

Last year I told you folks Ben Roethlisberger , the QB of the Pittsburg Steelers, was a troubled young man with both  alcohol and violence against women issues after being accussed of rape of a Reno, NV hotel employee. The civil suit filed against him by that victim was very detailed and quite believable. After his FOURTH such documented incident since June of last year, all of which local DA's felt were criminal cases they could not win so no criminal charges were filed, but where they voiced concern that something bad had occurred against the women in question, the NFL finally has seen enough. Today the troubled QB was suspended without pay for a minimum or 4 games , and if he refuses to comply with mandatory counseling and "other" medical treatment, the suspension could be expanded to 8 games.

People have to understand that the NFL secuirty office if filled with ex-FBI agents, so they have done extensive interviews with those around the Steelers QB, those who have dealt with him, and I am sure, the documented evidence from each of the 4 incidents (Reno, Las Vegas, and two in Georgia in a very short period of time), as well as speaking with the victims. Note that law enforcement calls these women victims, with all that the term infers.

Surely the NFL stressed it made the suspension on the basis of it's own investigation, particularly the review of 532 pages of research the Georgia DA put together on the latest incident, and in  "no way is a statement of Roethislberger guilt". That is obvious boilerplate language to keep the NFL from being sued. It's also obvious exactly what they think has been happening with this troubled person. hence the serious suspension.

Would you want YOUR daughter next to this

 potential VIOLENT SEXUAL OFFENDER???

If he is in any way connected to another incident he will no doubt be suspended indefintiely. If he is convicted of a crime for any of these past incidents, or for some repeat of past behaviors, he will most likely be barred from the NFL for life. Currently, the Steelers are talking to other teams to see if they can trade this guy. He's bad news, and the league and the Steelers know this.

It must be stated that crimes of a sexual nature, when they include force, is most often violent sexual predation and behavior of a type that cannot be cured. This man needs lots of help. He shows signs of being an alcoholic and a sexual preditor, being clever enough to make sure he does this activity without direct witnesses, only he and the victims present. He plans this stuff and knows how far he can push it. That makes him a dangerous man in my eyes. Dangerous, and very stupid.

Troubling and Disturbing Winds About......The Jabberwocky of Hate!

Gun lovers gather in Virginia park

***************
By Kathleen Hennessey
Tribune Washington Bureau
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - Updated 1h ago
***************
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Several dozen Second Amendment advocates — many with loaded handguns on their hips and rifles dangling from their shoulders — gathered in a park within view of the U.S. Capitol building on Monday, marking a day of protest against what activists called dangerous breeches of the U.S. Constitution.

"It’s paid for in blood and, if necessary, we’ll defend it in blood!" said Bob Wright, one of the speakers at the "Restore the Constitution" protest at Gravelly Point, a national park just across the Potomac River from Washington. Organizers said they chose the spot to highlight what they see as unconstitutional gun laws.

A recent law allows gun owners to carry firearms in some national parks, while openly carrying guns is prohibited under the District of Columbia’s strict gun laws. Organizers said it’s the first armed rally in a national park since the law passed.

"We want to get the message across to the other side of the Potomac that we’re tired of the Constitution not being followed," said organizer Daniel Almond, as he held a paperback copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Almond, a 31-year-old former Marine, carried an unloaded AR15 rifle, a bandoleer of loaded rifle magazines and a holstered pistol. He and others wore yellow ribbons across their forearms to indicate their weapons had been checked by volunteers and were in line with laws on ammunition and gun locks.

Other, unarmed, advocates rallied on the National Mall. The crowd of hundreds that gathered near the Washington Monument was dotted with orange stickers that read "Guns saves lives."

Almond said he chose the date for the event to coincide with the anniversary of the "firing of the first shot in the Revolutionary War." It is also the 15th anniversary of the bombing of the courthouse in Oklahoma City.

He was joined on the grassy lawn in Virginia by prominent figures in the militia movement, including Wright, who is affiliated with the 1st Brigade New Mexico Militia, and Mike Vanderboegh, a founder of the pro-gun Three Percenters, the group recently criticized by former President Bill Clinton for stoking extremism.


"We are coming to a fundamental break where people, real people — the guilty and innocent alike — where people are going to be dying for their failure to understand," he told the group, whose numbers were nearly matched by members of the media. "They start wars, these wannabe tyrants."

WE seem to be living in a world that of late is fueled by the syntax of JABBERWOCKY. What is spoken may be translated to mean the opposite of what the words actually are suppossed to mean. Or it may be a mad combination of words that means both things.  Or so it seems. Confused? I think that's the general intent!

Here we have a collection of "gun enthusiasts", to be polite, absolutely convinced that somehow there is a communist/socailist/facist  (even thought the philosophies represented by each of these words means something entirely different from the other) plot to deny them a "Constitutional right to bear arms" under Article 2 of the Constitution. No proof of this conspiracy is EVER given by the spokespeople of these aggrieved individuals, but this group far exceeds the regular members of the NRA in their blind devotion to a non-specific feeling of concern that borders on hate after a brief stop at paranoid delusion. Oh those damn gun laws, like weapons registration and not carrying a concealed weapon. " It's just a crime what Washington and each of the state houses are doing to God fearin' "AMERIKANNS" " OYE! We've heard all this before on Fox News for years.

Oh no, these people are some of the completely uninformed millions of disaffected Americans striking out in frustration at the rest of their fellow Americans by being allied with the TEA Party movement. (Why do I feel like I'm sitting in my doctors office as a child with my mom when I was 6 years old and he kept asking her if I was having regular "movements"? I think it fits aptly here!)

In fact it is becoming quite clear that this Tea Party Movement is not some fringe group but really a collection of white, middle class, educated and well heeled racists, the majority of whom are found in the Southern and Western states. Quelle surprise! It is a turn smack dab into UGLY our country is being dragged through right now by this cadre of no-nothing knuckle draggers.

We've gone through periods of this madness before. But this latest one seems to have a dangerous edge to it. The real  leaders of the movement , and by that I mean financial backers of all the advertising and organizing, are all allied to the Republican Party. This has been proven beyond any doubt. It's most public faces, those of Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, and Dick Armey couldn't be more republican.  These folks are in no way simply independent voters upset with the direction of Washington, THEY ARE WASHINGTON! And they are manipulaing the fears of a  racist group of haters the way they have for two decades now, turning words into weapons by painting them with new meanings. It is the Jabberwocky of hate. President Obama's election has simply exposed them for who and what they are.

These gun owners, and all those who claim there is an attack on the true intent of he Constitution, do not realize that the parts of the constitution they wish to "protect" are , in fact, protected by the Constitution itself, with law making ability granted to the Congress and , in some cases, the President himself. The Constitution itself is law. It's one of the reasons our soldiers and elected officials take an OATH to defend it.

We are a country of laws made possible by the Constitution. The very right for these gun owners to strut their substitute penises in public and gather to protest gun laws and Constituional issues is gaurenteed them by that same document. In fact, unless you are a stilted, very conservative member of the "Federalist" Society, and believe that the Constitution must be interpreted only in a manner which the founding fathers intended (which we also are interpreting from their writings on other issues because they are long dead and buried - how ironic, paradoxical and somewhat hypocritical is that!) denies the reality that the founding fathers planned for future situations and needs of an ever changing society by building in a mechanism to create new sections, or AMENDMENTS, to the Constitution. The world doesn't stand still and neither does the Constitution. They were visionaries who recognized this fact. It is, in fact, a document that lives as we live, changes and all.

So these serious haters want fewer laws and less government regulation of everything, except, of course, those laws THEY want on the books and the behaviors in fellow Americans THEY want stopped. How scary is that?! Now that sounds like Nazi Germany to me. And given their "business first"  love of the republican party, it is dangerously close to being pure FACIST thought. (Facism is defined as the one party CORPORATE state.) Now throw an African-American President into the mix, and all their true colors come to the fore. "Give us back our country" is the cry. Only a fool cannot see what that really means.

Now these cretins, not smart enough to realize they are being manipulated by those above them whose greatest talent has always been speaking the BIG LIE to middle America, revile the laws that protect them as well as those people they hate. Nice.

But just because we don't like what they do and what they represent, we must still tollerate this hate because of the rights granted all of us by the Constitution. Laws for all that protect us all.

It reminds me of a caution of which we must always be mindful. It  is no better described than by this brief discussion of the need for the law wthin the play "A Man For All Seasons".

From "A MAN For All SEASONS":

 A discussion between Sir Thomas More, Chacellor of England under Henry the VIII, who wanted a divorce from his first wife which More would not agree to,  and William Roper, suitor to More's daughter, newly appointed to the Bar, concerning the need of maintaining the law in all circumstances, even when it concerned the demands of the King to do otherwise.

"  William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!

Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?

William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!

Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!  "

 So, even before we endured 20+ years of NBC's LAW and ORDER, the issue of defending everyone's rights under the Constitution, if for no other reason than to maintain our own rights thereunder, has been central to any discussion related to confusing, changing and challenging times we live through and the laws that govern how we live.

To protect ourselves and our fellow man, regardless of whether we disagree with them, or even hate them, if that's the sad place we find ourselves, is an ideal we must live up to under any and every circumstance. And it requires constant vigilance. It is the very essence of what keeps us all free. In the end, it might be the only thing that protects us all from the Jabberwocky of hate that we are sure to see again.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

                              JABBERWOCKY, a poem by Lewis Carroll

 

"Jabberwocky" is a poem of nonsense verse written by Lewis Carroll, originally featured as a part of his novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1872). It is considered by many to be one of the greatest nonsense poems written in the English language.[1] The poem is sometimes used in primary schools to teach students about the use of portmanteau and nonsense words in poetry, as well as use of nouns and verbs.

 

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

The frumious Bandersnatch!”

He took his vorpal sword in hand:

Long time the manxome foe he sought—

So rested he by the Tumtum tree,

And stood awhile in thought.

And as in uffish thought he stood,

The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,

And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! and through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.


“And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
He chortled in his joy.

’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.