Fuzzy Math

http://www.springfieldpolice.net/police/fileadmin/Police_Dept_files/acrobat_files/forms/acrobat_forms/arrestlog-60.pdf

http://www.springfieldpolice.net/police/fileadmin/Police_Dept_files/acrobat_files/forms/acrobat_forms/arrestlog-03.pdf

56 arrests in 72 hours, 3 days.

900 arrests in 720 hours, 30 days.

In June we were 15% "safer", according to "Crime Statistics" (Although rape was up 61%, at the time, and domestic violence had also risen.)

October 2008, no 2nd or 3rd quarter "Crime Statistics" released.

Walker Bush couldn't add this math up.

FFA: Act 3, Scene III

FFA = Flip-Flop Administration (more readily known as the Sarno Administration)

Mayor Sarno and Police Commissioner Fitchet are the heads of the FFA but a new, not necessarily fresh, class is rising, manifested by James Ferrera III. Last week, Ferrera suggested a "spending freeze".

http://urbancompass.net/?p=1501 (Masslive.com refuses to report on the issue; moderating the 'Forum" section is more important probably). You can read it and "formulate" your own thought.

In my opinion: Ferrera's probably not qualified to be City Clerk, let alone City Council Vice President. Instead of not spending money, how about coming up with an IDEA to MAKE money. Seems simple, right? Not quite. A company who actually wants to build something here, is being met with opposition in regards to traffic, access and parking. ( http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/report_on_proposed_shopping_ce.html?category=Springfield ). Issues that were solved when they invented roads, cars and paking lots.

It gets better Springfield. "Man dies after seizure while in Springfield police custody" ( http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/man_dies_after_seizure_while_i.html?category=Springfield ). Who has been reporting on this "new" phenomenon? I can't wait to see if this man has a history of seizures or if it was convenient for police to say this was a seizure to cover their tracks now.

Tammany Hall 2008

I can only relate the "fair" greed and thievery of Wall St. to a political machine of the late 19th and 20th century, Tammany Hall. I don't know NYC very well but these two places can't physically be too far from each other because mentally they are on the same page: accumulate wealth and power by any means necessary.

The last picture indicates the exact phenomenon that is happening today. Capitalists and politicians, alike, are pointing the finger at one another for problems they created, neglected, or were ignorant of. There are conservatives and liberals on Wall St. There are Democrats, Republicans and Independents on Wall St. What they all have in common though, is that while your money vanishes in the system they created, they still get paid.

Makes you wonder.

For at least a week now, the top news story in the area has been a window at Mercy Hospital. People are claiming that the "Virgin" Mary has appeared to them. Well, I hope Mary, Jesus and Joseph can help you if you "own" stocks or have a variable, adjustable, sub prime, we-can-do-whatever-we-want-because-we-are-the-bank mortgage loan.

At the end of last week, America took the wrong step toward socialism. The government bailed out private enterprises, so we have at least some socialist precedents in our government now.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081006/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street;_ylt=AuZFIhF4ijyCzFHGHxEgDRmyBhIF

So with those 2 events, on 10/06/08 the Dow Jones is down 10,000 pts. This is the second time former National Guard officer George W. Bush has seen the Dow dip to this point in his tenure as president. Oddly, about a week or so after the Dow dipped in October of 2004, he was elected president again. The Federal Reserve's only plan is to pay off interest of commercial banks and keep loaning banks more money. Loaning more money to failing institutions is always the plan because in the end tax-payers pay for it.

The Straw that broke the Misanthrope's Back

"According to The Book of Revelations:

The Anti-Christ will be a man, in his 40s, of MUSLIM descent, who will deceive the nations with persuasive language..."

How is this allowed, MASSLIVE.COM? This passage is not only FALSE, it's insulting to those who have ever read the Book of Revelation (which makes no mention of this passage) and those Muslims who practice Islam. Why can people post anything they want, especially racist, bigoted and sexist comments? The person who posted this is a joke and the MASSLIVE.COM staff who let it be posted are jokes.

FACTS:

1. Islam was created in the 7th century (600 A.D). The prophet Muhammad (PBUH) recieved the Qur'an from the archangel Gabriel. He is, supposedly, the restorer of the faith of Abraham, Moses and Jesus (PBUT).

2. The Bible, as you know it today, was compiled in or around the 2nd century (100 A.D). So how can a Muslim be in a book created 500 years before Islam was created? More specifically, the King James Version of the Bible, was created in 1611. This is the version of the Bible that America knows and it is nothing more than a translation of Latin, Greek and Hebrew text.

3. The Book of Revelation (K.J.V) mentions no specific "Anti-Christ"; actually the word or two words, "Anti-Christ" do not appear in the Bible at all. As mentioned above, there is no mention of a Muslim man either. But here is a direct quote from the Book of Revelation:

Revelation 13:1 (K.J.V)

"And I (the apostle John) stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having SEVEN HEADS and TEN HORNS, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of BLASPHEMY."

In the second verse of the 13th chapter it goes on to say this "beast" John "saw" was a mix of leopard, bear and lion. Also, the dragon (a.k.a the Devil or Satan) "gives" this "beast" his "power".

Read everything for yourself.

The train is never late.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/27/AR2007052700978.html

Property values down, gas prices up, the Wall St. catastrophe, stuck in the mire of Iraq; where do you turn to next? Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has decided to go back to the land of the first and "fair" exploitation. Africa.

In Feb. 2007, National Guard officer George Walker Bush, created Africom (The U.S Africa "Command"). This is supposedly the "Pentagon's first effort to unite counterterroism, training and humanitarian operations..." Africom will begin "operations" on October 1, 2008 out of Stuttgart, Germany. Nonetheless, there are "deep suspicions in Africa about it's intentions."

So, let's take a step back. Why would Africans be worried about white people coming to their continent? Its not like the Western "civilization" crusaders raped every resource, including the humans, of the continent. Or that tens of 1,000's of years before European nations came to Africa, Asians and Semitic tribes laid the foundation of what the Europeans built on, namely rape, pillage and plunder.

"Africom will support, not shape, U.S Foreign policy on the continent." Now that statement is absolutely true but lets put it into context. As uncovered by the recent Sarah Palin interviews, there is some sort of Bush "Doctrine" which supposedly spells out our current foreign policy. Our current foreign policy is kill first, pardon yourself and your friends after and leave the effects for another person to inherit. So its no coincidence that 17% of our oil comes from Africa. T. Boone and Big Oil must have gotten in Bush's ear again. I don't think it's a stretch to think that America has another war on its hands. Let's see how this visit from the misanthrope of the West is received by the incipient inhabitants of the land.

Hopefully, you will read the article yourself and draw your own conclusions. If you don't read it though, by the end of the article, the U.S has already; this is a military mission to "counter" terrorism (the act of being black or doing anything that is not white) and to "train", better yet brainwash, people to believe the U.S is doing something positive.

Now, back to Western Mass.

I had to skip the whole primary election campaign "fodder". The three candidates had all summer to get their name and message to the people but only one public forum was set up; the day before the primary. Of course, Swan won; no one knows who Chelan Brown is and no one knows Lorenzo Gaines (both in a political aspect). The other races were comical at best especially O'Reilly taking on Yale grad' John Kerry.

As soon as the primary is over, here comes more "controversy". "State Rep. Benjamin Swan comes to defense of Springfield Towing Alliance" (Masslive.com). All Ben Swan is asking for is an "independent" auditor (even though the auditor is probably from the state which doesn't make it all that independent). Is it a crime to ask a favor? Or is it because 5 "people of color" are making their claims known and not just taking the City "Auditor's" word that they owe this money? Would I be going out on a limb by saying that the city and its staff could be wrong or at least not 100% correct?

The Flip-Flop Administration doesn't stop (see http://therealwesternmass.blogspot.com/2008/09/change-for-springfield.html). This audit of the Springfield Towing Alliance started in March. It took the city 6 months or 180 days to come up with this report. One of the early figures was that the STA owed $81,000 but, of course, after "further investigation" the fees total up to about a quarter of a million dollars. This flip-flop didn't take as long as the others, so progress is being made in this administration. Sarno, head of the FFA, has not answered any questions about his flip-flops. It's OK to flip-flop, everyone does, but at least get out in front of the issue and say, "this is why I changed my opinion and here is what I'm changing it to and for these reasons."

To add insult to flip-flop, a letter was sent by Mayor Sarno, Police Commissioner Fitchet and Stephen P. Lisauskas from the Finance Control Board to note the violations. The Springfield Towing Alliance has had the contract for 18 months. If all these charges were so egregious and atrocious, why wasn't a word spoken until March? When tows and money started to come up missing in the first 12 months, where was the city? I know where Sarno was; making appearances and publicity stunts.

He had a pep talk with the High School of Commerce football team before their game last Friday. The team lost.

In other News...

Despite all the "other" problems in the U.S, Washington D.C has "decided" to loan Wall Street $50,000,000,000.00.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080916/ap_on_bi_ge/fed_credit_crisis

But, who wants to talk about the economy, right? Let's all keep talking about November 4, 2008 or in Western Mass, the primary elections today, Sept 16. Or we could always talk about Obama or McCain or pigs or any other piece of gossip that's probably false.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Patrick continues to sign various "bond" bills. Bonds are loans. Not only do these bills have to be paid back, taxpayers have to "help" pay the state's debt.

http://therealwesternmass.blogspot.com/2008/08/2nd-entry-081408.html

The economy is terrible but all people seem to talk about is gossip, condos or towing fees.

Real News: Not about Condos.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has thrown the United States Ambassador out of Venezuela. If you only read "news" about old buildings, you should stop here.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080912/ts_nm/venezuela_chavez_dc

So, T. Boone Pickens and other "Big Oil" associates buy a large amount of oil from Venezuela via THEIR oil reserves in the Middle East.

T. Boone doesn't want to pay for oil anymore. So what do we get? The Pickens "Plan".

I'll save my opinion on this issue; I just wanted to see some news other than condominiums, Democrat v. Republican, pictures and videos. If you drive, you pay for gas. It's nice to know the relationship we have with the country who sells us the oil.

Barack Obama chances November 4, 2008.

This is a view of the number of electoral college votes each state has for the 2008 presidential election. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to become president. 16 Southern states (the "old" Southern slave states: SE USA) and Washington D.C (a city-state) hold 200 votes, which equals 200 Republican electoral votes. All, the Republican presidential nominee needs to do is get 70 more votes. The map shows you that there are many states the Republicans can get, subtracting California and New York because they almost always vote Democratic. Obama desperately needs to get Virginia to break up that "old South" Republican voting chain. No electoral college member below Virgina is going to vote for Obama. If you are going to make any change, please make the right one and vote for Barack Hussein Obama.

A CHANGE For Springfield.

This change is not ambiguous like the change of Barack Obama and John McCain.

This change fits the current administration perfectly.

The Sarno Administration is now the Flip-Flop Administration.

After about a month "Kristen" has decided to have a conversation with Mayor Sarno again (http://blog.masslive.com/springfieldmayor/). He talked about schools and new business "deals" with East Longmeadow; the two most interesting topics were recycling and the search for a home for the Mason Square Library.

We last saw Mayor Sarno on his city tour to try and rectify the already crumbling Flip-Flop Administration. He was standing in front of a lot trash the other day, talking about how recycling will help the city.

"Kristen" threw Sarno a softball question about his thoughts on the "heat" he was taking for flip-flopping on the trash fee issue (a central campaign issue that got him elected). His response, "Nobody like nay-sayers...[they] bring nothing to the table." Really Mayor Sarno? That's great analysis. So aside from the fact that he got elected by lying (I know, he is a politician), lets look at his "plan" for this recycling program. First, according to the FFA, Springfield "is taking the lead" on this issue. What is taking the lead? The FFA says its giving you another blue trash barrel. And guess what you can do with this big blue trash barrel? You can put ALL of your recyclables in it. I mean that is leading from the front; the FFA is "giving" you another plastic receptacle (which is not good for the environment and which they will charge you for eventually) and they are going to let you put ALL of your trash in it instead just some of it. Also, the FFA "can't tolerate" a city who is only "recycling" 9% of its trash. A wise man once said, "Another man's trash, is another man's trash." Where was all this recyclable trash going before and why was there no uproar then? Mayor Sarno asked himself a question, "What can we do here?" It seems like his answer was, lets give the residents more space to put all of their trash so they forget all my flip-flop's, all my "appearances", my do nothing Police Commissioner and my staff who got a 2% raise even thought it took 8 months to set up the lame duck Citizens Complaint Review Board. Lastly, there is no foresight for this recycling program. The FFA is going to give their new blue barrels to East Forest Park residents first and then "moderate and observe" the program's progress. I guess thats "taking the lead".

I mean look at the picture above. Both the containers say "RECYCLABLES ONLY". They couldn't even get it right at the press conference, where they are suppose to look good.

In the discussion about the Mason Sq. Library, the host of this convo brought up the fact that the property, Muhammad's Mosque #13, may only be worth $400,000. I guess our Muslim brothers are going to be "doubling up" with this sale.

And the FFA has another 3 years. It should be interesting.

"The SAT's are 'culturally biased' " - Neon Bodeaux (Blue Chips, 1994)

Shaquille O'Neal played Neon Bodeaux in the film, Blue Chips. The character said the quote in the title of this piece to his coach Petey Bell, played by Nick Nolte. He was asked by Coach Bell why he had only gotten a 400 on the test and why he never took it again. I see how this line made to the movie.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080826/ap_on_re_us/sat_scores

"Minority students accounted for 40 percent of test-takers,"
"You only had the best of the best taking the test,"..."The SAT has become far more inclusive."

The second half of the quote is by James Hull, a policy analyst for the Center of Public Education. He was referring to the 1970's as the time period in which the "best of the best" were taking the test. So, who are these people Hull refers to as the best? I'm going to go out on a limb and say he wasn't referring to minorities. Isn't the point of public education and the "standardized college entrance exam" to be all inclusive so all of us have the chance to get a higher education, if we choose?

I took the SAT's 5 years ago. The total score you could get was 1600. Presently, the scoring is up to 2400 and there is now a written portion to the test. How can Hull or anyone complain about inclusiveness, when you add 800 total points to the test and give these young adults another section of the test to show their intelligence? If they think too many people are taking the test, simply put, why offer it anymore? The SAT has never been a good gage of what young adults learn throughout their education because everyone child in America doesn't have the same "standard" education. Kids in Massachusetts are having trouble passing the MCAS, how are they going to have a shot at the SAT's which is much broader in scope? They and other kids across the nation, no matter race, color or class, who have not had access to private, parochial or charter schools are at a severe disadvantage.

If you haven't clicked on the link above, there is a graph on the page on the left side that shows the mean or average scores among 3 ethnic groups: Asian, Black and white. Asian students excelled in math and were even in reading and writing. Black students average score didn't crack 450 for either 3 parts of the test. White students tested slightly above average in all three test categories.

So, 54 years after Brown v. The Board of Education (Kansas) and 8 years after George W. Bush "promised" to Leave No Child Behind, how far has this society really come?

If you'd like to contact the College Board, the COMPANY that OWNS the SAT, click http://www.collegeboard.com/html/communications000.html#prof ... they have dozens of email address, phone numbers and address that will get you caught up in the "customer service" web.

RNC speeches - 9/3/08

One of the overall themes I got from last night's Republican National Convention speeches, is that the Republicans don't think very highly of "community organizers". So once again, to all the community organizers, you have no place on the Republican platform. The three keynote speakers: elitist, billionaire, Mormon and former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney, the gender "confused" former Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani and Canadian, errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, Alaskan governor Sarah Palin, all attacked the "community organizer". I mean, who could have time to organize in the community, especially if it involves working with low income or poor people? I forgot, Republicans don't believe or acknowledge that the poor exist, which may be the reason there was no mention of that "bottom 20%".

It's obvious that John McCain picked this woman because she is a woman and he thought some of the women who were upset at the Hilary Clinton vice presidential "snub" would just jump on the bandwagon. Or maybe he thought independents and democrats who don't like "community organizers" would jump on the bandwagon. The other reason, and George W. would be proud, is for the oil in Alaska. Gov. Palin always seems like she can't wait to mention how she "took on the old boy network" and how she "shook things up in Alaska". She also loves to mention the oil and natural gas pipeline that was built in the state. I guess the Rockefeller monopoly of the oil business is getting to old and some new "blood" needs to fill his shoes.

Also, I've never been to Alaska and I don't know much about Alaska but couldn't Palin and her husband have named their kids with slightly more normal names. Track, Piper, Willow, Bristol and Trig are, to say the least, interesting names.

On another note, if Geraldo Rivera can be kicked out of Iraq for questionable leakage of coordinates, how can the governor of Alaska repeatedly say the exact date that her son is being "deployed" to Iraq (which happens to be 9/11/2008) and the branch of the Armed Services he is participating in? If it isn't "illegal", it might the dumbest thing for a governor to say. Why not tell the "insurgents" or "Islamic terrorists" the exact plane he is flying in on?

Lastly, what was up with that post-9/11, sans-Twin Towers background that Rudy Giuliani spoke in front of? We get it Rudy. You happened to be the Mayor of the city where a "terrorist attack" took place. You did a great job coordinating that day in the community.

Another Noose?

On August 11, 2008, a noose was found in the electrical room at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (The city of "Brotherly Love").

http://www.blackchristiannews.com/news/2008/08/noose-hung-at-childrens-hospital-in-phil.html

1. If the case of the "Jena 6" (Jena, Louisiana) was too Southern for people in this area, here is another example of the racism that still exists , even in the North.

2. I saw this story in the middle of August and I was sure some major news medium would have at least mentioned it by now. Not only has that not happened, the FBI is "investigating" but no reports of progress has been presented.

3. If lynching is still on people's minds in 2008, has the "lynching" ever stopped?

Metacomet's War

"It's hard to ignore history and memory; and when you do, you are not empowered as you should be." - Cornel West

You might be looking at this title and saying, "Who is Metacomet and what war did he fight?" Well since the "victor" of the war gets to name the war, you might know the Wampanoag chief Metacomet as "King Philip" and the war as "King Philip's" War. First, their is no such title "king" in Indian/Native American culture. The highest position is sachem. Second, Philip is not an Indian name. Why did WASP's in this day always give their names to indigenous people who, I am 100% sure, had their own names?

Metacomet was the son of Massasoit. Massasoit and Squanto helped the first illegal English immigrants in Plymouth and surrounding Massachusetts Bay colonies because Indians are generally nice people. What do the Indians of that area get in return? Death by disease or warfare waged on them by the very same people they helped or they were relocated and scattered, as would be the tradition the WASP's would use against Native Americans (see the Trail of Tears and the fact that America has broken every treaty ever with the Native Americans).

So if you are an Indian tribe who doesn't want to face death or relocation, what do you do? Well, the Mohegan tribe and the Pequot tribe (both of whom have casinos today in Connecticut) cut deals with English. These two Connecticut Indian tribes were already rivals and enemies of the Wampanoag and Metacomet, so when the English came along and gave them an offer they couldn't refuse -basically, help us defeat any Indian tribe and by help they meant tell us everything you know so we can destroy other tribes - and of course the Mohegan and the Pequots did not refuse.

Metacomet's War only lasted a year but it was on the bloodiest Indian/Colonist wars. Battles were fought across MA, CT and RI. In 1675/1676, there were only about 100 towns in all of present day New England and remember that Maine was a part of Massachusetts until 1820. Many of these scattered New England towns were attacked by Metacomet and his army. Longmeadow and Springfield were two very important towns in Metacomet's War. The land in present day Longmeadow named " 'King Philip's' Stockade" could have been the site where Metacomet's army defeated the colonist and held them prisoner (see definition of 'stockade'). While the Spingfield militia was away fighting, Metacomet's army burned some of the small town. After that, all the towns along the Connecticut River were made in to fortified defense posts. The colonists finally realized that they were up against people who had superior knowledge of the land and the type of war the Indians wanted to fight was not the war colonists wanted to fight. Colonist "victories" at Turners Falls, MA (named after Capt. Williams Turner), Hadley and Marlborough, MA, tipped the scales of the war to the colonists.

Another very important part of Metacomet's War are the two "praying Indians" who started and ended the war. The term "praying Indian" means an Indian who, by some force whether it be nature or a WASP's musket to your temple, converted to Christianity. The first "praying Indian" was John Sassamon. He was an adviser to Metacomet but probably more of a translator. Sassamon told the WASP's of what seems to be an early plan of Metacomet's War. Sassamon was found dead in a pond and his alleged murderers were all hanged. By the end of the war, Metacomet took refuge in Rhode Island. He had no Indian allies and his supplies were almost non-existent. Metacomet was shot in the head by "praying Indian" John Alderman, who was under the control of Capt. Benjamin Church and Capt. Josiah Standish. Metacomet's corpse was decapitated and then hanged. Metacomet's head and one of his hands was given to John Alderman. He later sold the head for 30 shillings - the going rate for an Indian head at that time.














These two pictures are by colonist Paul Revere. Notice the short stature in both the pictures and how much of a resemblance to Revere or some colonist the second picture holds. Also notice the 5 point star in both of the pictures.

I think it's past the time that we should all be learning the REAL history that Western Mass. has to offer or we that live here will never be empowered.

Journalistic Integrity

I have always heard about "journalistic integrity" but I've never truly seen a "breech" of that integrity. That was until 20 people got arrested in Ware.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/ware_arrests_20_people_in_unde.html?category=Crime&category=Ware

"The identities of those arrested will be released late tonight or early tomorrow,.."

Its about 4:30 p.m Saturday and no names...

I hate to beat a dead horse but I will anyway. If these crimes happened in Springfield or Holyoke, not only would these alleged criminals have their names posted, but there would be mugshots and already up to date information on prior criminal history if applicable. So, once again The Republican/Masslive has lived up to their "above-par standards" (Look up the word "par" in relation to golf).

Ironic or part of the plan?

"...the 'Hollywood' section of that poor neighborhood" (located in the South End of Springfield)- Springfield Intruder

Hollywood (Dictionary.com)
–noun
1. the NW part of Los Angeles, Calif.: center of the American motion-picture industry.

2. A district of Los Angeles, California. Consolidated with Los Angeles in 1910, it has long been a film and entertainment center.

3. The U.S. film industry.

4. A flashy, vulgar atmosphere or tone, held to be associated with the U.S. film industry.

5. region near Los Angeles, once a quiet farming community, by 1910 barns were being converted into movie studios. The name used generically for "American movies" from 1926, three years after the giant sign was set up, originally "Hollywoodland", a real estate developer's promotion.

If you are familiar with Springfield or not, do any of these definitions match the condition of that section of the South End?

DO NOT LET YOUR INTELLIGENCE BE INSULTED.

Is it just me or is every blog dedicated to Western Mass filled with pictures and videos? In one particular Western Mass blog, who I won't name but you can do the research yourself if you please, two days of entries included 20 pictures and 2 videos with few words. I can tell you that most of my posts will not have pictures. I try to keep them as short as possible so it doesn't get too lengthy but "If a picture is worth 1,000 words", why not cash in at least 250 of those words and describe the picture yourself? Of course, there are many occasions where only the picture will do but I'm the kind of "blogger" who is going to use 95% words. Words are the medium.

Masslive.com - Part Dos

Masslive.com has once again terminated/banned my account. After tomorrow, I will no longer be posting a link in any of the forums on Masslive.com. A new entry will be posted daily by at least 2 p.m Eastern Time. This may hurt my readership but Masslive doesnt appreciate freedom of speech from some people. They took down every post i made today. So once again, I will grant the unasked wishes of Masslive.com and i will not post on their forums after tomorrow, August 28 2008.

-T.H.H (True Hip-Hop Head)

P.S. Does anyone think this is a coincidence?

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhcA15bfos2Nm43y89 ( a snapshot of my culture)

The War on Poverty

http://www.masslive.com/springfield/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1219821357196710.xml&coll=1


I read the article above this morning. Look at the comments so far (from the forum):

"Lots of these people get cash money in the underground economy. Only ONE big screen plasma. I feels so sorry. Food stamps, free housing. Free education.
What a crock, so that the service providers can feed their own jobs. Gotta look for all the allegedly poor that they can."

"We need to spend more U.S. taxpayers' money on Iraqis and Iraq! Now, that is a welfare program I can get behind."

"The socialists take the bottom 20% and call them poor. Problem is there will always be a bottom 20%."

and its still pretty early in the morning. In those 3 comments, we can see blasts about welfare, the poor, the homeless, the Iraq War and socialism. The first two comments are usual for the website. Any racist, sexist or ignorant comment will be posted on Masslive and I get it; appeal to your base. However, the last comment is very interesting and i want to talk about it for a few lines.

In the 1960's, the president of the United States of Socialism, eerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, America, Lyndon B. Johnson passed legislation to start the War on Poverty. Who would ever think the president would care about the "bottom 20%"? I mean, they are poor and of course its the poor person's fault that s/he is poor. All W.A.S.P'S (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) have pulled themselves up from their bootstraps and made their way own in this country. Its funny though, all non-white people in this country weren't originally from here. Some were actual involuntarily transported here and others chose to come here. And lo and behold, some of these same non-white people are still poor. It has to be a coincidence though.

Another point about that third comment is capitalism will always have that "bottom 20%". You don't have to be a socialist or communist to realize this. All that is needed is some knowledge of what capitalism is/was (I use "was" because some theorists and economists believe that we are in a post-capitalist state). The "free" markets and other capitalistic principles make it easy to decipher that only certain people can succeed in a capitalistic society. You don't have to be a student of Karl Marx or even like him to understand that there is a genuine and expanding gap between the bourgeoisie and the proletarians. For example, EXXON MOBIL CEO's make millions and Mobil gas station workers across the country make minimum wage, which varies from state to state. It's capitalism at its best and worst.

Now, its been 44 years since the War on Poverty began and 7 white presidents have sat in the Master's, eerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, White House and the same people are still poor. Coincidence?

Rock, Paper, Scissors: An Olympic SPORT?

"In the land of the blind, the man with one eye is the King."

Ending the CBS Sports section of last nights CBS3 Springfield news, was a man who went to the Olympics to "compete" for a GOLD MEDAL in rock, paper, scissors. First of all what makes this a sport? Why not have golf at the Olympics? Or NASCAR or bowling, MMA? I remember playing this game when i was a kid. Can a 9 year old who is really good at rock, paper, scissors go to the Olympics or is s/he going to be at a disadvantage because they are going up against a 23 year old systems analyst? I guess you have to get 8 gold medals because if you just get one, well so did the guy who won rock, paper, scissors.

Also, to all the local news stations, we (or maybe just me) don't need the weather 6 to 7 times a show. I know they are "meteorologist" but the weather should only be shown about 3, maybe 4 times. Is there no other news to report than events we can't control?

22News 6:00 p.m headline (8/25/08)

"Despite a $1 billion budget deficit, Massachusetts adds about 1,900 new workers. 22News questions how that could happen." (http://www.wwlp.com/ 8-25-08)

"What about the people who actually are doing the construction. They get still get paid but the funds are from borrowed money. So we have to pay people from borrowed money but the taxes taken out of our checks go directly back to the state. The Globe says 80% of the workers involved with The Big Dig are paid with money that has to be paid back at some point" - T.H.H

You will see that quote if you read "2nd Entry - 08/14/08", opinions and fact about The Big Dig.

Shays Rebellion

Shays Rebellion was an uprising in central Western Massachusetts but all the fighting and bloodshed was in southern Western Massachusetts, specifically the city of Springfield. The revolt was led by Daniel Shays who was an obscure man for most of his life other than his military service and this particular rebellion.

At the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, Shays was a captain in the 5th Massachusetts Regiment and saw action in the battles of Bunker Hill, Ticonderoga, Saratoga and Stony Point.

In 1780 he resigned from the army (I guess you had a choice about service, unlike today). He moved to Pelham, Mass. which is located in Hampshire County. He served in various offices within the local government. After his resignation from the army, the war dragged on for another 7 years and by this time the economic conditions had changed drastically. America had won the war but there was a massive war debt.

The main reason behind Shays Rebellion is taxes and debt. At this point in American history, all the power was in the hands of the states. There was no federal government as we know it today. Each state regulated their own taxes and even had their own money. If a citizen of Massachusetts got in to too much debt or didn't pay taxes, this citizens was sent to a prison that was for debtors specifically. The state could also take back your property.

Shays and fellow rebels didn't agree with these policies and took justice into their own hands. There were two major incidents in Shays Rebellion and both happened in Springfield. The first was on September 26, 1786. Close to 1,500 men went to battle that day for both sides. 4 men were killed and many others were injured in this battle. The rest of the fall and winter of 1786 saw minor scuffles and battles. The second battle that took place in Springfield was on February 3, 1787. On this date, Shays and his Shaysites set their eyes on the Springfield Armory, which was federal property. When Shays and his army arrived, they weren't alone. A militia from Boston and a militia from Springfield led by General William Shepard, was also there to greet Shays. The story goes that Shepard commanded for one warning shot to be fired. This one shot killed 2 or 3 people and the rest fled north. The next day some of the rebels who fled were caught in Petersham, Mass and this was the end of Shays Rebellion.

Shays Rebellion is one of the more amazing feats, I'd say, in Western Massachusetts history. This was in 1786. If we can think of that time - no Interstate highways, no motor vehicles - the 20 mile round trip journey Shays and army had to make twice was nothing to laugh at. They either marched here, rode horseback or came by the Connecticut River; and that was just to get to Springfield. Lets say they came by the Connecticut River, they would still have to march up the steep incline from the riverfront to the Armory.

Shays Rebellion was also important politically. It was a catalyst for the revision of the Articles of Confederation, which was deemed very weak. The first Constitutional Convention was also conceived and planned from the uprising in Western Massachusetts. The history of America is right under our nose.....

John McCain was "fundamentally" right.

"Fortune: Do you believe the U.S. economy today is fundamentally sound?"

"McCain: I think the fundamentals of the U.S. economy are very strong."
(http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/29/news/economy/mccain_transcript.fortune/index.htm)

First, lets get a few things straight. I am not a Conservative/Republican. I am not going to vote for John McCain. Finally, I think he has run an awful campaign ( i.e smear ads, not knowing how many houses he owns, and having a staff that doesn't know how many houses he owns, after he asks the question in the middle of the interview.)

1. The fundamentals of the U.S economy are overwhelmingly capitalistic principles. Most conservative/Republicans believe that capitalism is great so they would think the fundamentals of the economy are the strong; capitalism, the free market, etc. Now, the men in leadership, led by George W. Bush, are inept, incompetent, inarticulate, indifferent about certain people and in the pockets of oil companies. John McCain owns a piece of the Arizona Diamondbacks. This is an organization in the MLB, Major League Baseball. The MLB is one example of capitalism at its best; the commodification of sports.

So, if you don't agree with capitalism or all its principles, you will certainly disagree with John McCain's statement. However, if you do believe in capitalism (most people do, it has lasted this long) his statement was fundamentally right; if you believe in capitalism and its principles. Everyone disagrees politically but everyone wants to make money and capitalism isn't a bad route.

I don't like McCain and I'm not going to vote for McCain.

MASSLIVE.COM

Most people who have read the blog, have got to it courtesy of Masslive.com. Everytime I use something from their website, I cite who wrote and where it came from. Yesterday, I decided to submit a queston to the "Ask the Mayor" section. I had a simple one sentence question, "Why has the mayor flip-flopped on the trash fee issue?" To my surprise, I went to log in today and my account has been banned. Now if this man is really the "People's Mayor", he won't just field softball questions from "Kristen". He should take questions from the people who elected him to run our city. Or maybe the problem lies within the Masslive.com staff. They seem to post every racist, sexist, and ignorant comment but a legitimate question to the mayor gets my free account terminated. If someone from Masslive.com reads this, please email me back at the address I provided for you or the email address at the top of the page.

Also any suggestion about topics readers want to read and comment about are always welcome. I'm flexible....

Wild and Crazy Kids (W. MA. version)

"Wild and Crazy Kids" was a show on Nickelodeon in the mid 1990's but the title to this piece is referring to kids in Ludlow, Palmer and Ware.

Lets first go to Ludlow. Patrick Taylor, who is 17 and from Ludlow, was charged "with assault on a police officer, assault and battery with dangerous weapon, rocks and malicious damage to a police car..."(Suzanne McLaughlin, The Republican via Masslive.com). He was arrested after police arrived at Highland Avenue, where they observed 15 teens in the street arguing about "betting". A juvenile teen was also arrested for throwing rocks at a police car. If in fact all the teens were "betting", then everyone should have been arrested for gambling; it is illegal in Massachusetts and none of these kids were over 21. However, the "betting" story doesn't seem to be plausible. Whatever started the incident is minor when compared to what happened. When the police showed up, at least 2 kids decided it would be a good idea to throw rocks at the police cars. So, to complement the "betting" or whatever other illegal activities were going on before the police came to the scene, these kids allegedly throw rocks at an officer and vandalize the cruiser. The only thing I can think of is a scene in the Middle East, where Palestinians are throwing rocks or whatever they can grab at Israeli tanks rolling through their villages. There is a major difference though between these two situations. White kids assaulting police officers, allegedly, is much different than a religious, philosophical, territorial strife between two ethnicities. The difference is these kids in Ludlow are idiots. The "riot" on Sherman St. in Springfield didn't have people throwing rocks at the police.

A neighboring town to Ludlow, Palmer is also a place where the kids have gone crazy. One of the top stories of yesterday's news was of the 16 year old boy who started 2 fires that left two house severely damaged. He admitted to committing the crime and for his honesty, so it seems, he wasn't put in 'cuffs and stuffed in a cell somewhere. How does a teen commit two counts of arson and get out of jail the same day? I don't know whether this boy was even arrested or not. If he was arrested he should have been in jail until at least this morning. The police probably shouldn't let criminals go immediately after they have just committed a serious crime or it could send a mixed message. Also, 16 year old kids shouldn't be trying to go Human Torch on people's property. Hypothetically, if this had happened in California, there could have been a massive wildfire that ensued. I'm sure some of the wildfires in California started from something smaller than lighting 2 family dwellings on fire.

Finally, lets move to Ware. Where? Ware. The biggest news story out of Ware this summer has been the death of Vanessa L. Kotowski. She was a passenger in the vehicle of Amanda L. King, of Hardwick. Ms. King was allegedly drunk driving when she hit a utility pole. As a result of the crash, an insulator was broken and electric currents were running from the pole to the ground. When Ms. Kotowski stepped out of the vehicle, she was electrocuted to death. For the purposes of this piece, Ms. King is not a kid or even a teen but she is still younger than me and her behavior cannot and should not be excused. First, Ms. King was illegally drinking alcohol; she is not 21. Second, she got behind the wheel of a motor vehicle which was another crime. Third, she had an accident and because of the 3 acts of negligence she perpetrated beforehand, her friend and passenger died. The accident happened on June 23, 2008. She was officially charged on July 2nd, more than 1 week later. Ms. King's first court date was on July 11, 2008, almost 3 weeks later. As of July 2nd, she was only charged with DUI. It wasn't until the court date on July 1th where she was charged with vehicular homicide. How does someone, even inadvertently or involuntarily, kill someone and not have to be locked up even for a few hours? Having an open container of alcohol in Springfield will get you a trip to Pearl Street. Vehicular homicide, drunk driving and arson in Ware and Palmer gets you nothing but time to get your story straight or summons to voluntarily come to court; there are some people we certainly can't have in jail.

Uncle Sam's Neighborhood

"More than 70 downtown residents were introduced on Monday to their new State Street neighbor, the $70 million federal courthouse..." (Patrick Johnson, The Republican via Masslive.com).

So, Uncle Sam's new courthouse is scheduled to "open for business" next week. Seems like he got tired of his old place on Main St; too many "undesirables" down there possibly. It's an interesting place where he moved though. If you are standing in front of the new courthouse and walk up towards Spring St., that brick buliding is the state welfare office. If you walked the other way towards Elliot St., you will run into St. Michael's Cathedral. However, Uncle Sam doesn't care who or what is on or around the land he wants, he's going to move in anyway. Of course, we, the taxpayers, had to make our co-payments to help Uncle Sam move to his new place. It wouldn't be right any other way. One of his employees, United States Representative Richard Neal, D-Springfield, has a new office in the courthouse. I guess he doesn't see a conflict of interest in having federal legislature officals in the same building as federal judicial staff. Since Uncle Sam will be open for business next week, let's see some of the coming attractions:

• Michael Armitage - federally indicted on seven charges of bank fraud and money laundering.
• Murder trial of "Big" Al Bruno

I know Uncle Sam has some tricks up his sleeve. He wouldn't have moved if he didn't.

How Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet have failed Springfield so far

http://www.springfieldpolice.net/police/fileadmin/Police_Dept_files/acrobat_files/forms/acrobat_forms/arrestlog-60.pdf

"Sarno pledged his support of William Fitchet immediately...", "THE PEOPLE'S MAYOR" (http://www.springfield-ma.gov/COS/first-100-days.0.html)

Its early, very early in the Sarno administration but he hasn't even attempted to climb some of the platforms he built during his campaign. Some of these platforms, he has out and out lied about and someone needs to bring these inconsistencies to the light.

First, the whole trash fee/barrels fiasco. "There was a virtual revolt against the proposed charge, with an outcry from residents and political opposition from elected officials - most notably Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, who campaigned against the fee last year as a first-time mayoral candidate" (Masslive.com). The article goes on to say, "Sarno has since flip-flopped on the issue." So, not only has he not done what he said he was going to do, he completely abandoned his previous stance and moved to another position. Now, Mayor Sarno wants to go around the city and recollect the trash barrels. How can you want to eliminate the old trash fee and less than a year later enforce a policy which would still be categorized under the old trash fee? Also, this proposed trash fee which was just another way to tax people, was a fee on top of the taxes Springfield residents already pay for trash removal since the Department of Public Works is also co-sponsored by our tax money. I hope some of the people whose barrels are collected go and dump their trash at the steps of City Hall.

Second, crime has flourished under the Sarno administration. The first link at the top of the page shows this. In 60 days, there are 1,101 "open cases" with none of them closed. Stopping crime was another platform Mayor Sarno propagated. As the crime rates and new stories about crime rise, Mayor Sarno is no where to be found. All you will get from Sarno probably is his stump speech about crime and how it effects the community. People are getting killed on our streets in broad daylight, i.e the fatal stabbing on Dickinson St. in the Forest Park section of Springfield. Also a young man is shot by the police and the current inept and incompetent District Attorney Bill Bennett decided not to investigate nor charge the officer involved. Where is Mayor Sarno's voice on these issues? No where. He is to worried about his next appearance or the next trip he has to take to Boston or making sure he shows Governor Deval Patrick every inch of downtown Springfield.

To combat crime, you "need" the police. So Mayor Sarno decided to hire William J. Fitchet as police commissioner. He is a 35 year veteran of the police force and he was in the narcotics task force and reportedly was the first one in when doing a drug raid. The Sarno/Fitchet alliance stated that crime was down 15% in Springfield. Then, no less than a week later, 1 person was killed and 9 other people were shot or stabbed. These incidents took place in late June. When asked about the recent rash in violence in the city, Police Commissioner Fitchet said, "It is what it is." I expect that quote from a professional athlete or a musician but for an "elected" official (the 5 member Finance Control Board actually hires the police commissioner; guess who is a member of that board, Mayor Sarno) that's more than non-chalant that's almost crossing the line of indifference. Whether the Mayor or Police Commissioner likes it or not, they have to at least make it seem like they care about people who are non-white. I know that may not be "politically correct" especially since those in power would say "Race is no longer an issue," but I'd say those people are dead wrong. And its not like this violent weekend has been the only blip on the radar. Every day someone is arrested for some kind of crime, mostly drug related. The crime statistics released early this year also claimed rapes were up 61%. Despite all the crime that is going on, Sarno/Fitchet would have you believe that the city is safer and headed the right way but its not. These two are worried about numbers only, even if the numbers are skewed, incorrect or just plain made-up.

Finally, I will mention the review board that was set-up under Mayor Charles Ryan that was built to review complaints made by citizens about police brutality or misconduct. The board has no power and all investigations are meaningless. All the power regarding discipline for police is wielded by the police commissioner. The Sarno Administration, since winning the election in 2007, has promised to set-up the citizens complaint review board. Since then, there has been a lot of crime, police shooting innocent people, the mayor's staff received a 2% raise for doing absolutely nothing and the city or our metropolitan area has been deemed dead. The review board finally had their first meeting on August 14, 2008. Over 8 months had passed and this administration couldn't even set up a lame-duck citizens review board. What are they going to do when really tough decisions need to be made. Mayor Sarno and staff (including P.C Fitchet) haven't done anything for Springfield. All they have done is collect a pay check. Our city officials need to start working with us, the citizens of Springfield.

"Texas school district to let teachers carry guns" - Yahoo

"When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that's when all of these shootings started. Why would you put it out there that a group of people can't defend themselves? That's like saying 'sic 'em' to a dog,"(ABCNews.com)

That is a statement from the Superintendent of the Harrold Independent School District, David Thweatt. This school district is located Harrold, Texas.

1. The statement, "When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones," would be enough of a cause for me to take my child out of that school district. What was school like before the government did this? What did schools as "gun-zones" look like?

2. Why do you have to defend yourself when you are suppose to be learning? Of course, there are the random shootings that happen all across this nation but most are isolated incidents. For the most part, kids can go to school, if they choose to, and get a decent education without feeling threatened.

3. I think its a stretch to relate school shootings with saying "sic' em" to a dog. Relating kids to dogs probably isn't a good idea for a superintendent.


What happens when a teacher has a rough night, comes into school and some kid pisses him off in some way. More than likely nothing but what if this teacher shoots a young man or woman in school? How do you explain that to parents?

But since most people in the older generation think that kids these days are inherently evil and/or stupid, what if a kid found out his teacher had a gun? And one day he tried to take the gun from teacher. You can eliminate all these situations by not allowing teachers to carry gunsto school. It is not smart and it is not safe, ever.

2nd Entry - 08/14/08

What is a three word, nine letter phrase that has sucked the life out of Massachusetts?

THE BIG DIG.

To date, this monstrosity has cost the people and state of Massachusetts over $15 billion and with the $7 billion in interest state officials "forgot" to take into account, this project is going to cost at least $22 billion. The Boston Globe wrote that 73% of this was paid by drivers and taxpayers and it goes on to say that the annual payments will be around $600 million or $50 million/month. This is just the surface of the problem.

What effects does The Big Dig have on Western MA, even though all the construction, accidents and bureaucracy go on in the Eastern part of the state? First, all the money that goes to transportation, maintenance and/or repair is already gone. Every day construction continues, the taxpayers and the state are losing money. The manager of The Big Dig, the Mass. Turnpike Authority, doesn't know what to do. And how could he? It would have been silly for them to have a disaster plan or have a risk management team because nothing ever goes wrong with construction, right?

"The debt is a big part of why Massachusetts had the highest tax-supported debt per capita in the United States last year." The highest tax-supported debt. That would imply that taxpayers actually made a decision that they would support this debt. In reality, we are forced to support this debt. When your check comes on pay-day, three federal agencies and one state agency have already taken money from you. In MA, the most of the money being taken from our checks is going to The Big Dig.

What about the people who actually are doing the construction. They get still get paid but the funds are from borrowed money. So we have to pay people from borrowed money but the taxes taken out of the check go directly back to the state. The Globe says 80% of the workers involved with The Big Dig are paid with money that has to be paid back at some point.

In the 1980's, MA residents were told that the federal and state government would be paying for 90% of the cost. In 2008, the people have paid 73%. George Walker Bush would call this "fuzzy math" or it could be good Reaganomics. One day though, the Feds said they were only going to pay so muc and it was going to be up to the state. Who does the state turn to? You probably guessed it again because it's always the same group, taxpayers.

Back to Western MA. Taxpayers have paid over $15 billion for The Big Dig. That's is about $3.5 billion for the 4 counties in Western MA. There is no doubt that that money could have been used for a gamut of different institutions, programs and maybe just general savings but it wasn't. A small group of people "decided" that we would be taxed for a "project" that has yet to be completed, cost people their lives, caused injury and cost us billions. This "project" does not effect us in any direct way other than the money that is taken from our side of the state. For the people who do have to go out to Boston, I know they can see the traffic jams, the confusion and the eyesore that this project has become and really has always been. Where are our state representatives voices when they go out to Boston? They are probably just looking for earmarks and other policies that will benefit them.

"The Big Dig saddled us with costs we can't afford,". Great analysis from the secretary of transportation, Bernard Cohen. It's a surprise an effort like The Big Dig failed when you have all of this incompetency to go around. The economy on this side of the state may need an "obituary", as the Republican reports, but the killer is the state.

1st Entry: 08-12-08

Where or what is "The Real Western Massachusetts"? A subjective question to say the least, that doesn't need an answer. Every person residing in the four counties that make up Western Massachusetts is an integral component of the real Western Massachusetts. The people who make up this area are not the same and this is true for almost any other location in the country. If this is true, why is it that in 2008 people are still being discriminated against because of their race, gender, class, religious denomination, sexual orientation or even political party affiliation? Every demographic across the United States has a complaint as to why their certain group is marginalized. Conversely, there are some who will tell you that everything in America is perfect and the one's complaining should look at their own situations and help themselves. It is easy to look and see all the "effects" discrimination and other forms of injustice have on society but no one ever examines or scrutinizes the "causes" . If an apple tree produces all bad apples, the apples cannot be blamed. We all must examine the tree and the roots.

"The Real Western Massachusetts" will explore the social, economic and political landscape of Western Mass. Of course, there will be some posts dedicated to larger national news and national history but for the most part I will be giving my opinion and the truth, as i see it, on the affairs within the 413 area code. I welcome people to comment and even suggest topics they feel are important in our state, cities and communities, if I have not mentioned them.