Bloomberg Comes To Howard Beach

It is so true that politics make for strange bedfellows and whoever was your enemy yesterday could very well be your friend tomorrow. However, it doesn’t mean that we can’t have fun dissecting the interesting burgeoning liaisons, laugh at the hypocrisy and be tickled pink by the political theater.

Attending Eric Ulbitch’s inauguration, it is obvious that Mayor Bloomberg does not feel threatened by golf pro Tom Ognibene and has forgotten that it was Tom’s hand up Ulrich’s anal cavity in the 32nd Council Special Election. In the upcoming general election, the mayor needs friends in the outer boroughs and looks like he is willing to walk in the gutter and rub elbows with the slobs to curry favor.

At the end of the day, Iron Mike Bloomberg will be Mayor (thankfully) for a third term and the Queens Republican Party will still be in shambles.
As Reported by the Daily Politics…

Standing "O" For Bloomberg In Queens, Ragusa Unmoved

March 15, 2009
Mayor Bloomberg continued his courtship of the Republican party with his appearance this afternoon at the Howard Beach swearing-in ceremony of one of the city’s newest - and youngest ever - councilmembers, 24 year-old Eric Ulrich, the DN's Erin Einhorn reports.

Though Ulrich was elected in a non-partisan special election, his swearing-in drew Republican players like Queens GOP Chairman Phil Ragusa (one of the more strident of the holdouts in giving Bloomberg Row B) and Sen. Marty Golden (a big Bloomberg booster whose chairman, Brooklyn's Craig Eaton, abandoned his fellow chairs and backed the mayor).

Bloomberg doesn’t often attend swearing-in ceremonies held in outer boroughs, but these are different times for the Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent mayor who is trying to land the GOP line for his re-election bid.

Not to put too fine a point on it: “He’s here to score points,” Ragusa said.

Ragusa said the Queens GOP has not yet decided who to back in the mayor's race.
“We’re going through the process,” he said. “We have to screen some more candidates. We had a good screenings on Friday. We screened Tom Ognibene and a few for controller and public advocate and they presented themselves very well, and we’ve got to screen John Catsimatidis.”
(In the interest of full disclosure: Ragusa's executive director of the Queens GOP, Vince Tabone, works for Catsimatidis' Red Apple Group).

Bloomberg might be having trouble convincing Ragusa, but there was no lack of love for the mayor among the several hundred people who came out to Ulrich’s ceremony in the auditorium of a local public school.

Tom Lynch, president of the Rockaway Republicans, came with three large signs supporting Bloomberg that he propped on chairs at the back of the room.

Bloomberg was greeted with cheers when he walked into the auditorium and with an unanimous standing ovation when he was introduced on the stage by former schools chancellor and current St. Francis College Chancellor Frank Macchiarola (who taught Ulrich at St. Francis).
Bloomberg used his platform to suggest that party matters little in government.

"We are going to work together in this city," he said. "While sometimes you read about all of the difference between one party and another, at a city level, everybody works together."

"There are Republicans, Conservatives, Democrats, Liberals, Working Family Parties, Communist Party for all I know. From every party in the world. They live in this city. They work in this city. Some of them work for this city but one thing is for sure: They do work together. And that's what makes this city the greatest place in the world."

Drinking With Bob Rants About Pelosi and Obama

What's next? I'll tell you what's next... The stimulus package! The stimulus package!! I'm sick of turning on the t.v. everyday and listening to people talk about the stimulus package. 50, 60, 70 people analyzing this thing. Let me break it down to you in simplest terms. NOBODY is against the stimulus package! No Republican. No Democrat. No freaking person in this country is against the stimulus package. We may not agree with it. We may not think it's a great idea to give tax rebates to people who don't pay taxes. We may not think it is a great idea to spend taxpayers money on infrastructure projects that won't even start for one or two years in the future. But, that doesn't mean we don't agree with the right that Barack Obama has to at least try, if he thinks that is going to work. What people object to is the PORK! The pork that has been pushed into this freaking project. The freaking swimming pools and freaking golf courses. The freaking money for doorbells in Mississippi and new schools in Milwaukee, where they have too many schools already. The 192 billion dollars being spent on Phillipino World War II Veterans. That's what everybody has a problem with! If the pork was taken out of this bill. It would have passed yesterday. It would have passed two weeks ago. Why is the pork in this bill? I'll tell you why, change! Change! Change has a new definition in this country. What does it stand for now? It means the President, Barack Obama is no longer in charge. The new leader of the country is, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. She's in charge. And her and her democratic cronies have stuffed this stimulus bill so full of pork it's busting at the seams! This woman came on t.v. the other day and said that every month that goes by and we don't pass this stimulus bill. 500 million Americans will lose their jobs. 500 million Americans?! Hello!! We don't have 500 million people working in this country! At best we have 140, 150 million people working in this country. The woman is an idiot and she's in charge! You want this bill to freaking pass? Then Barack Obama has to get some balls! He has to be a man! He has to step up and tell Nancy Pelosi and her democratic cronies, who stuck all this freaking pork into his stimulus bill. To get every ounce of pork out of it! Put the bill back on the table. Let everybody sign it. And LET'S MOVE ON!!! That's freaking change Barack! That's freaking change! Wake up! Stand up! and get some freaking balls!!! What's next?! What's next?!! What's next?!!!

This Day In History

March 14, 1879

Albert Einstein born

On March 14, 1879, Albert Einstein is born, the son of a Jewish electrical engineer in Ulm, Germany. Einstein's theories of special and general relativity drastically altered man's view of the universe, and his work in particle and energy theory helped make possible quantum mechanics and, ultimately, the atomic bomb.

After a childhood in Germany and Italy, Einstein studied physics and mathematics at the Federal Polytechnic Academy in Zurich, Switzerland. He became a Swiss citizen and in 1905 was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Zýrich while working at the Swiss patent office in Bern.

That year, which historians of Einstein's career call the annus mirabilis--the "miracle year"--he published five theoretical papers that were to have a profound effect on the development of modern physics.

In the first of these, titled "On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light," Einstein theorized that light is made up of individual quanta (photons) that demonstrate particle-like properties while collectively behaving like a wave. The hypothesis, an important step in the development of quantum theory, was arrived at through Einstein's examination of the photoelectric effect, a phenomenon in which some solids emit electrically charged particles when struck by light. This work would later earn him the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics.

In the second paper, he devised a new method of counting and determining the size of the atoms and molecules in a given space, and in the third he offered a mathematical explanation for the constant erratic movement of particles suspended in a fluid, known as Brownian motion. These two papers provided indisputable evidence of the existence of atoms, which at the time was still disputed by a few scientists.

Einstein's fourth groundbreaking scientific work of 1905 addressed what he termed his special theory of relativity. In special relativity, time and space are not absolute, but relative to the motion of the observer. Thus, two observers traveling at great speeds in regard to each other would not necessarily observe simultaneous events in time at the same moment, nor necessarily agree in their measurements of space. In Einstein's theory, the speed of light, which is the limiting speed of any body having mass, is constant in all frames of reference. In the fifth paper that year, an exploration of the mathematics of special relativity, Einstein announced that mass and energy were equivalent and could be calculated with an equation, E=mc2.

Although the public was not quick to embrace his revolutionary science, Einstein was welcomed into the circle of Europe's most eminent physicists and given professorships in Zýrich, Prague, and Berlin. In 1916, he published "The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity," which proposed that gravity, as well as motion, can affect the intervals of time and of space. According to Einstein, gravitation is not a force, as Isaac Newton had argued, but a curved field in the space-time continuum, created by the presence of mass. An object of very large gravitational mass, such as the sun, would therefore appear to warp space and time around it, which could be demonstrated by observing starlight as it skirted the sun on its way to earth. In 1919, astronomers studying a solar eclipse verified predictions Einstein made in the general theory of relativity, and he became an overnight celebrity. Later, other predictions of general relativity, such as a shift in the orbit of the planet Mercury and the probable existence of black holes, were confirmed by scientists.

During the next decade, Einstein made continued contributions to quantum theory and began work on a unified field theory, which he hoped would encompass quantum mechanics and his own relativity theory as a grand explanation of the workings of the universe. As a world-renowned public figure, he became increasingly political, taking up the cause of Zionism and speaking out against militarism and rearmament. In his native Germany, this made him an unpopular figure, and after Nazi leader Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany in 1933 Einstein renounced his German citizenship and left the country.

He later settled in the United States, where he accepted a post at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He would remain there for the rest of his life, working on his unified field theory and relaxing by sailing on a local lake or playing his violin. He became an American citizen in 1940.

In 1939, despite his lifelong pacifist beliefs, he agreed to write to President Franklin D. Roosevelt on behalf of a group of scientists who were concerned with American inaction in the field of atomic-weapons research. Like the other scientists, he feared sole German possession of such a weapon. He played no role, however, in the subsequent Manhattan Project and later deplored the use of atomic bombs against Japan. After the war, he called for the establishment of a world government that would control nuclear technology and prevent future armed conflict.

In 1950, he published his unified field theory, which was quietly criticized as a failure. A unified explanation of gravitation, subatomic phenomena, and electromagnetism remains elusive today. Albert Einstein, one of the most creative minds in human history, died in Princeton in 1955.

Quote of the Day

Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character.

- Norman Schwarzkopf

Word of The Day

Word of the Day for Saturday, March 14, 2009

esoteric \es-uh-TER-ik\,

adjective:

1. understood by or meant for only the select few who have special knowledge or interest; recondite

2. belonging to the select few

3. private; secret; confidential

4. (of a philosophical doctrine or the like) intended to be revealed only to the initiates of a group

Even in closed meetings held by Robert Holden and tthe JPCA, I didn't realize it would be as unpopular as it proved. After I read it again, I said: 'Our narrow-minded agenda is stupid and quite esoteric.'

Nicholas Hytnerc. 1645-55, Greek esōterikos, from esōterō, comparative of esō, within

Obama Slippin and Sliddin Away

Obama's Poll Numbers Are Falling to Earth
By DOUGLAS E. SCHOEN and SCOTT RASMUSSEN

It is simply wrong for commentators to continue to focus on President Barack Obama's high levels of popularity, and to conclude that these are indicative of high levels of public confidence in the work of his administration. Indeed, a detailed look at recent survey data shows that the opposite is most likely true. The American people are coming to express increasingly significant doubts about his initiatives, and most likely support a different agenda and different policies from those that the Obama administration has advanced.

Polling data show that Mr. Obama's approval rating is dropping and is below where George W. Bush was in an analogous period in 2001. Rasmussen Reports data shows that Mr. Obama's net presidential approval rating -- which is calculated by subtracting the number who strongly disapprove from the number who strongly approve -- is just six, his lowest rating to date.

Overall, Rasmussen Reports shows a 56%-43% approval, with a third strongly disapproving of the president's performance. This is a substantial degree of polarization so early in the administration. Mr. Obama has lost virtually all of his Republican support and a good part of his Independent support, and the trend is decidedly negative.

A detailed examination of presidential popularity after 50 days on the job similarly demonstrates a substantial drop in presidential approval relative to other elected presidents in the 20th and 21st centuries. The reason for this decline most likely has to do with doubts about the administration's policies and their impact on peoples' lives.

There is also a clear sense in the polling that taxes will increase for all Americans because of the stimulus, notwithstanding what the president has said about taxes going down for 95% of Americans. Close to three-quarters expect that government spending will grow under this administration.

Recent Gallup data echo these concerns. That polling shows that there are deep-seated, underlying economic concerns. Eighty-three percent say they are worried that the steps Mr. Obama is taking to fix the economy may not work and the economy will get worse. Eighty-two percent say they are worried about the amount of money being added to the deficit. Seventy-eight percent are worried about inflation growing, and 69% say they are worried about the increasing role of the government in the U.S. economy.

When Gallup asked whether we should be spending more or less in the economic stimulus, by close to 3-to-1 margin voters said it is better to have spent less than to have spent more. When asked whether we are adding too much to the deficit or spending too little to improve the economy, by close to a 3-to-2 margin voters said that we are adding too much to the deficit.

Support for the stimulus package is dropping from narrow majority support to below that. There is no sense that the stimulus package itself will work quickly, and according to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, close to 60% said it would make only a marginal difference in the next two to four years. Rasmussen data shows that people now actually oppose Mr. Obama's budget, 46% to 41%. Three-quarters take this position because it will lead to too much spending. And by 2-to-1, voters reject House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's call for a second stimulus package.
While over two-thirds support the plan to help homeowners refinance their mortgage, a 48%-36% plurality said that it will unfairly benefit those who have been irresponsible, echoing Rick Santelli's call to arms on CNBC.

And although a narrow majority remains confident in Mr. Obama's goals and overall direction, 45% say they do not have confidence, a number that has been growing since the inauguration less than two months ago. With three-quarters saying that they expect the economy to get worse, it is hard to see these numbers improving substantially.

There is no real appetite for increasing taxes to pay for an expanded health-insurance program. Less than half would support such an idea, which is 17% less than the percentage that supported government health insurance when Bill Clinton first considered it in March of 1993.
While voters blame Republicans for the lack of bipartisanship in Washington, the fact is that they do not believe Mr. Obama has made any progress in improving the impulse towards cooperation between the two parties. Further, nearly half of voters say that politics in Washington will be more partisan over the next year.

Fifty-six percent of Americans oppose giving bankers any additional government money or any guarantees backed by the government. Two-thirds say Wall Street will benefit more than the average taxpayer from the new bank bailout plan. This represents a jump in opposition to the first plan passed last October. At that time, 45% opposed the bailout and 30% supported it. Now a solid majority opposes the bank bailout, and 20% think it was a good idea. A majority believes that Mr. Obama will not be able to cut the deficit in half by the end of his term.
Only less than a quarter of Americans believe that the federal government truly reflects the will of the people. Almost half disagree with the idea that no one can earn a living or live "an American life" without protection and empowerment by the government, while only one-third agree.

Despite the economic stimulus that Congress just passed and the budget and financial and mortgage bailouts that Congress is now debating, just 19% of voters believe that Congress has passed any significant legislation to improve their lives. While Congress's approval has increased, it still stands at only 18%. Over two-thirds of voters believe members of Congress are more interested in helping their own careers than in helping the American people. When it comes to the nation's economic issues, two-thirds of voters have more confidence in their own judgment than they do in the average member of Congress.

Finally, what probably accounts for a good measure of the confidence and support the Obama administration has enjoyed is the fact that they are not Republicans. Virtually all Americans, more than eight in 10, blame Republicans for the current economic woes, and the only two leaders with lower approval ratings than Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are Republican leaders Mitch McConnell and John Boehner.

All of this is not just a subject for pollsters and analysts to debate. It shows fundamentally that public confidence in government remains low and is slipping. We face the possibility of substantial gridlock along with an absolute absence of public confidence that could come to mirror the lack of confidence in the American economy that the Dow and the S&P are currently showing.

Mr. Schoen, formerly a pollster for President Bill Clinton, is the author of "Declaring Independence: The Beginning of the End of the Two Party System" (Random House, 2008). Mr. Rasmussen is president of Rasmussen Reports, an independent national polling company.
Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A11

Quote of the Day

When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion.

-Abraham Lincoln

Obama Appointee Headed To the Slama

2 Arrested in FBI Raid at Obama Appointee's Office March 12, 2009 - 12:41pm

WASHINGTON - A D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer employee and a private contractor have been arrested in a federal bribery sting, sources tell WTOP.

D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer employee Yusuf Acar and Advanced Integrated Technologies Corporation (AITC) President and CEO Sushil Bansal have been arrested, sources tell WTOP.

Acar, 40, was taken into custody Thursday morning by FBI agents at his home in Northwest D.C.
In 2008, Bansal's firm received .Net Development Support and Peoplesoft Consulting Support contracts from the D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Office totaling $350,000.

AITC has also received contracts from the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles. In 2008, Bansal received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Association of Indians in America, according to AITC's Web site.

The FBI is now serving a search warrant at the office of D.C.'s Chief Technology Officer, WTOP has learned.

"We are there as part of a continuing ongoing criminal investigation," FBI Washington Field Office spokesperson Katherine Schweit tells WTOP.

Schweit would not comment on the details of the investigation.

More than a dozen FBI agents - including evidence technicians - are at the office, located at 1 Judiciary Square on 4th Street in Northwest, WTOP's Mark Segraves reports.
Most of the employees have been told to go home. Other employees have been segregated into a waiting room.

Segraves reports the FBI's search has expanded from 9th floor offices to 10th floor offices.

A spokesman for D.C.'s U.S. Attorney tells WTOP he cannot discuss the investigation, as it is currently sealed.

On March 5, President Barack Obama named D.C. Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra as the federal government's chief information officer.
Kundra's last day was March 4.

Kundra, who was in charge of technology in the District since 2007, has been a consultant to Obama since he won the election.

Kundra has not been linked to Thursday's raid.
(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.) WASHINGTON - A D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer employee and a private contractor have been arrested in a federal bribery sting, sources tell WTOP.

D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer employee Yusuf Acar and Advanced Integrated Technologies Corporation (AITC) President and CEO Sushil Bansal have been arrested, sources tell WTOP.

Acar, 40, was taken into custody Thursday morning by FBI agents at his home in Northwest D.C.

In 2008, Bansal's firm received .Net Development Support and Peoplesoft Consulting Support contracts from the D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Office totaling $350,000.
AITC has also received contracts from the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles. In 2008, Bansal received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Association of Indians in America, according to AITC's Web site.

The FBI is now serving a search warrant at the office of D.C.'s Chief Technology Officer, WTOP has learned.

"We are there as part of a continuing ongoing criminal investigation," FBI Washington Field Office spokesperson Katherine Schweit tells WTOP.

Schweit would not comment on the details of the investigation.

More than a dozen FBI agents - including evidence technicians - are at the office, located at 1 Judiciary Square on 4th Street in Northwest, WTOP's Mark Segraves reports.

Most of the employees have been told to go home. Other employees have been segregated into a waiting room.

Segraves reports the FBI's search has expanded from 9th floor offices to 10th floor offices.
A spokesman for D.C.'s U.S. Attorney tells WTOP he cannot discuss the investigation, as it is currently sealed.

On March 5, President Barack Obama named D.C. Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra as the federal government's chief information officer.
Kundra's last day was March 4.

Kundra, who was in charge of technology in the District since 2007, has been a consultant to Obama since he won the election.

Kundra has not been linked to Thursday's raid.
(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

What's next? I'll tell you what's next...The mortgage "crisis". The housing "crisis". First of all, it's NOT a crisis. it's a scam! By the liberal mainstream media and the government in order to try and get responsible people, to pay, for irresponsible peoples mistakes. I'm going to solve the problem for you right now. Okay? They keep saying how the freaking prices of houses are going down. The prices of house are going down! The prices of houses are going down! We have to bailout the freaking mortgage industry. The prices of houses are NOT going down! If you have a house that is worth 200,000 dollars. it was ALWAYS worth 200,000 dollars. You thought it was worth 400,000 dollars over the last couple of years. Why? Because the government artificially inflated the housing market. They went to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and other mortgage companies and FORCED them to give loans and mortgages to people who couldn't afford to pay them back. People who never should have had them to begin with. So now you have all these people in the freaking housing market that never should have been there. In turn, builders started building more houses to accommodate these people. it was an illusion! It was a facade! The buyers didn't exist and the houses didn't need to be built!Let's say this. Let's say you sell oranges. You stand on the corner and sell oranges for a dollar an orange. Then, all of a sudden, the government comes in and they starts giving people money to buy oranges. You have all these people. With all this money and all they can spend it on is oranges. The price of oranges are going to go through the roof. People are going to be spending 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 dollars for a freaking orange! Then all of a sudden the government comes out and says, listen, we can't give you any more money to buy oranges. The price of oranges is going to drop dramatically. Probably down to a dollar an orange. Is the media going to come on t.v. and say, oh my god! We have a crisis in the orange industry! We have to bailout the orange industry. No!! Oranges are still going to be worth a dollar. Like they should have been all along if the government didn't come in and artificially inflate the market.So here's the solution... Here's the solution to the mortgage "crisis"...First of all, if you own a house and you can't pay the mortgage. You have to leave the house. You have to go out and rent, like you should have been doing from the freaking beginning! If you're a builder and you built all of these houses in anticipation of all these people buying them and now you're screwed cause they're not. TOUGH! You're out of luck. You took a chance and you lost. If you're a bank and you lent money to somebody and now they can't pay back they're freaking mortgage. You have to foreclose on the house. You have to resell it, at fair market value. You know who wins under my plan? YOU DO!! The responsible citizen. The person who lived within his means. The person who put a couple of dollars away each week. Now, you can take your savings. Go into the housing market and get a house at a reasonable price!Would you people WAKE UP! The solution is simple. It's staring you in the freaking face! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!!What's next! What's next!! What's next!!!

Wikipedia Liberals Love Obama

OBAMA WATCH CENTRAL
Wikipedia scrubs Obama eligibility
Mention of citizenship issues deleted in minutes, 'offending' users banned

________________________________________
Posted: March 08, 2009
6:54 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

From Wikipedia's Barack Obama page
Wikipedia, the online "free encyclopedia" mega-site written and edited entirely by its users, has been deleting within minutes any mention of eligibility issues surrounding Barack Obama's presidency, with administrators kicking off anyone who writes about the subject, WND has learned.
A perusal through Obama's current Wikipedia entry finds a heavily guarded, mostly glowing biography about the U.S. president. Some of Obama's most controversial past affiliations, including with Rev. Jeremiah Wright and former Weathermen terrorist Bill Ayers, are not once mentioned, even though those associations received much news media attention and served as dominant themes during the presidential elections last year.


Also completely lacking is any mention of the well-publicized concerns surrounding Obama's eligibility to serve as commander-in-chief.
Where's the proof Barack Obama was born in the U.S. or that he fulfills the "natural-born American" clause in the Constitution? If you still want to see it, join more than 300,000 others and sign up now!
Indeed, multiple times, Wikipedia users who wrote about the eligibility issues had their entries deleted almost immediately and were banned from re-posting any material on the website for three days.

In one example, one Wikipedia user added the following to Obama's page:
"There have been some doubts about whether Obama was born in the U.S. after the politician refused to release to the public a carbon copy of his birth certificate and amid claims from his relatives he may have been born in Kenya. Numerous lawsuits have been filed petitioning Obama to release his birth certificate, but most suits have been thrown out by the courts."

As is required on the online encyclopedia, that entry was backed up by third-party media articles, citing the Chicago Tribune and WorldNetDaily.com
The entry was posted on Feb. 24, at 6:16 p.m. EST. Just three minutes later, the entry was removed by a Wikipedia administrator, claiming the posting violated the websites rules against "fringe" material.

According to Wikipedia rules, however, a "fringe theory can be considered notable if it has been referenced extensively, and in a serious manner, in at least one major publication, or by a notable group or individual that is independent of the theory."
The Obama eligibility issue has indeed been reported extensively by multiple news media outlets. WorldNetDaily has led the coverage. Other news outlets, such as Britain's Daily Mail and the Chicago Tribune have released articles critical of claims Obama may not be eligible. The Los Angeles Times quoted statements by former presidential candidate Alan Keys doubting Obama is eligible to serve as president.
Just last week, the Internet giant America Online featured a top news article about the eligibility subject, referencing WND's coverage.

When the user tried to repost the entry about Obama's eligibility a second time, another administrator removed the material within two minutes and then banned the Wikipedia user from posting anything on the website for three days.
Wikipedia administrators have the ability to kick off users if the administrator believes the user violated the website's rules.

Over the last month, WND has monitored several other attempts to add eligibility issues to Obama's Wikipedia page. In every attempt monitored, the information was deleted within minutes and the user who posted the material was barred from the website for three days.

Angela Beesley Starling, a spokeswoman for Wikipedia, explained to WND that all the website's encyclopedia content is monitored by users. She said the administrators who deleted the entries are volunteers.

"Administrators," Starling said, "are simply people who are trusted by the other community members to have access to some extra tools that allow them to delete pages and perform other tasks that help the encyclopedia."
According to Alexa.com, Wikipedia is the seventh most trafficked website on the Internet. A Google search for the words "Barack Obama" brings up the president's Wikipedia page in the top four choices, following two links to Obama's official websites.

Ayers, Wright also missing in Obama's bio

The entire Wikipedia entry on Obama seems to be heavily promotional toward the U.S. president. It contains nearly no criticism or controversy, including appropriate mention of important issues where relevant.
For example, the current paragraph on Obama's religion contains no mention of Wright, even though Obama's association with the controversial pastor was one of the most talked about issues during the presidential campaign.

That paragraph states: "Obama explained how, through working with black churches as a community organizer while in his twenties, he came to understand 'the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change.' He was baptized at the Trinity United Church of Christ in 1988 and was an active member there for two decades."

Ayers is also not mentioned, even where relevant. WND monitored as a Wikipedia user attempted to add Ayers' name to an appropriate paragraph. One of those additions, backed up with news articles, read as follows:

"He served alongside former Weathermen leader William Ayers from 1994 to 2002 on the board of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago, which in 1985 had been the first foundation to fund the Developing Communities Project, and also from 1994 to 2002 on the board of directors of the Joyce Foundation. Obama served on the board of directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge from 1995 to 2002, as founding president and chairman of the board of directors from 1995 to 1991. Ayers was the founder and director of the Challenge."

Within two minutes that Wikipedia entry was deleted and the user banned from posting on the website for three days, purportedly for adding "Point of View junk edits," even though the addition was well-established fact.

The Wikipedia entry about former President George W. Bush, by contrast, is highly critical. One typical entry reads, "Prior to his marriage, Bush had multiple accounts of alcohol abuse. ... After his re-election, Bush received increasingly heated criticism. In 2005, the Bush administration dealt with widespread criticism over its handling of Hurricane Katrina. In December 2007, the United States entered the second-longest post-World War II recession."

The entry on Bush also cites claims that he was "favorably treated due to his father's political standing" during his National Guard service." It says Bush served on the board of directors for Harken and that questions of possible insider trading involving Harken arose even though a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation concluded the information Bush had at the time of his stock sale was not sufficient to constitute insider trading.

Looks like the damn liberals even control Wikipedia!

Word of the Day: Pasquinade

Blogs have become the modern day pasquinade of choice

Word of the Day

Pasquinade (noun)

Pronunciation: [pæs-kwên-'neyd]

Definition: A piece of writing that ridicules a specific person and is posted in a public place; a public lampoon of a particular person.
Usage: Like the pasquinade, a lampoon is a composition that uses literary devices such as metaphor, simile, and irony to attack someone. The difference between a pasquinade and a lampoon is that the pasquinade publically ridicules a person named, while the lampoon may be directed toward a group or otherwise protect individuals.

Today, the Web is a fertile field for the pasquinade because of its structure: no peer editing or review and no corporate sponsorship and party line, means that individuals can anonymously and publicly ridicule other people. (Stay tuned for the difference between lampoon and satire.) A pasquinader is one who writes pasquinades; the act of doing so is pasquinading.

Suggested Usage: The workplace brings out the pasquinade-drafting impulse in some people: "When Sheila announced the bonuses, Reginald had to make a quick dash to the water cooler to remove his colorful pasquinade about the members of the corporate hierarchy." It’s a practice not limited to adults; in fact, many of the most talented pasquinaders are youngsters. In junior high school many of us pasquinaded our teachers at length—and accompanying caricatures only raised our compositions’ entertainment value.

Etymology: French, from Italian "pasquinata," from "Pasquino." A statue representing Menelaus with the body of Patroclus stands in the Piazza di Pasquino, a small square near the Piazza Navona in Rome. Legend holds that Pasquino, a tailor in the Piazza, had a sharp wit and a reputation for lampooning, and sometimes he hung his most pointed observations from the statue in the square. The statue took on his name when others joined in Pasquino’s pastime, pinning their lampoons on the statue until, finally, the practice of publically lampooning others itself took on his name.


–Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

A Letter From A Reader

A Letter From A Reader


Now let's get this straight:

1. Bob Holden and the JPCA own all of Middle Village and control the park.

2. They hate dogs and dog owners.. hence their fight against off leash, refusal to permit or endorse a dog park (paid by Parks) in Juniper Valley Park. Of course they lost.

3. Lorraine - the Wicked Witch - and other JPCA board members think children are "monsters" http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20274673&BRD=2731&PAG=461&dept_id=574901&rfi=6

4. One of the reasons cited by JPCA in opposing a dog park is that it would bring in "outsiders."

5. The JPCA (most likely Christina) secretly reports to an anti dog website run by a racist misanthrope in Brooklyn. She sends him video of dogs made to look like dogs owners are violating the law, and now this: http://credo-ny.blogspot.com/2009/03/si-loose-dogs-geese-and-dogs-for-show.html

Why do we think it's Christina? Well she is a birder as is the owner of Credo and they correspond through birder groups.

So here is the JPCA telling someone in Staten Island what to do and then posting it on a Brooklyn website.


The bottom line is that the JPCA demands control of Middle Village / Maspeth.

They oppose change.

The oppose anything that might allow young families to move into the community because that equals change.

They oppose "outsiders" whether they are school monsters or dog owners.

Yet, they involve themselves everywhere else in NYC using the claim that as city taxpayers they have the right to do so (while this is true, don't they see the hypocrisy of their own actions?).

Lorraine finally revealed who or what she really is. She oozes hate and intolerance.

Other JPCA board members supported her hate speech.

Sadly, until the members of the civic association are willing to stand up and demand new, responsible leadership, Middle Village will be treated with contempt by city officials.

Instead of rightly being seen as a neighborhood of hard working families, seniors, and a few singles, the area is seen as Archie Bunkerville.

But having heard Lorraine's latest Screed, it's more like Oz... hopefully a hose will land on her and rid us of this scourge.

Sureal947

Drinking With Bob Rants About The Plight Of Honest Americans

What's next? I'll tell you what's next... You're all a bunch of morons! We're all a bunch of freaking morons! The freaking government has coned us. They freaking coned us! For 50 years the government has run around saying, buy! buy! buy! spend! spend! spend! Buy! Buy! Buy! Spend! Spend! Spend! If you want something and you can't afford it. Don't worry about it. Go get a credit card. Go get a mortgage. Go get a car loan. If you want 10 kids. But, you can only afford 2 kids. Have the 10 kids, the government will take care of it. Now the chickens have come home to roost. It's time for the government to take care of it. How are they going to take care of it? I'll tell you how. From YOU! The responsible person. The person who has worked all his freaking life. The person who has taken a couple of dollars out of his check every freaking week and put it in the bank for a 'rainy day". I don't know if you heard. It's pouring outside! But, when you go to get YOUR money. It's not going to be there. Why? Because the government has already taken it and given it to your neighbor to buy a freaking umbrella. But your okay with it. Why? Because the government comes on t.v. everyday and says, if we don't do this. If we don't pay off the debt of the irresponsible person, the economy is going to collapse. The country is going to collapse. And you're a responsible person. You don't want the economy to collapse. You don't want the country to collapse. So you go along with this and pretty soon, Barack Obama is going to pay off the debt of all the irresponsible people. He's going to come out on t.v. He's gonna cinch up his tie and he's gonna say, "America! We've gotten through the economic crisis. Everybody can go back to work now." And you. The responsible guy. You're gonna pick up your freaking lunch bucket and you're gonna go back to work. And you're gonna work! work! work! and you're gonna, save! save! save! and you're gonna work! work! work! and you're gonna save! save! save! And the irresponsible person. The person who didn't learn a lesson from all of this. he's gonna go out and he's gonna spend! spend! spend! buy! buy! buy! spend! spend! spend! buy! buy! buy! make baby! baby! baby! make baby! baby! baby! and in 50 years we're gonna be back in the same mess. So what's the lesson? What's the lesson of "CHANGE"? What's the lesson of Barack Obama? I'll tell you what the lesson is... BE A DEGENERATE!! Why should you go to work everyday? Why should you save your money? Why should you sit in the freaking corner like a wallflower while everyone else is out there freaking partying? and when the party's over... Why should YOU pay the freaking bill?! YOU shouldn't!! Would you people get it. This economy is gonna collapse. it's either gonna collapse now. Or it's gonna collapse in 50 years and your kids are going to have to deal with it. I don't even have kids and I'd rather it collapse NOW!!! Would you wake up! You've been had! You've been had!! what's next! what's next!! what's next!!!

Wicked Witch Sciulli Attacks Children

The Wicked Witch of the Juniper Park Civic Association Calls Local Kids Monsters!

Here is just another the JPCA, Robert Holden, Tony Nunziato, Christina Wilkinson and the Wicked Witch Lorraine Sciulli is so out of touch with the community. According to the Queens Chronicle, a public hearing on a high school proposed for Maspeth quickly devolved into a shouting match on Feb. 26, with local seniors and civic members pitted against teachers and parents.

This is not a surprised because any meeting that the JPCA, Robert Holden, Tony Nunziato, Christina Wilkinson and the Wicked Witch Lorraine Sciulli attend immediately turns into a shouting match and little is ever accomplished to benefit the community. The nasty Wicked Witch Sciulli even called all our children little monsters,

Lorraine Sciulli, past president of the Juniper Park Civic Association and a member of C.B. 5, echoed Pennachio’s statement about the students. “You have to see them when you’re not around,” Sciulli told the parents and teachers. “They are monsters.”

Robert Holden the idiot had the audacity to assert that the majority of households in Maspeth and Middle Village do not have children. Thus, a new school isn’t needed for the area. Remember this is the same Holden that locks the Juniper ball fields so local kids have no where to play baseball.

Our children deserve quality schools, including high schools located in their communities. The children that attend these schools are neither animals nor monsters and the JPCA, Robert Holden, Tony Nunziato, Christina Wilkinson and the Wicked Witch Lorraine Sciulli should be ashamed of themselves for making such vile statements. It is time for community groups to come together (not the JPCA) and find a compromise that will satisfy the needs of parents and children and address the concerns of seniors.

We cannot allow the JPCA, Robert Holden, Tony Nunziato, Christina Wilkinson and the Wicked Witch Lorraine Sciulli destroys our neighborhood, divide our neighbors and hurt our children.

‘Monsters’ coming to Maspeth?
by Ben Hogwood, Assistant Editor
03/05/2009
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20274571&BRD=2731&PAG=461&dept_id=574907&rfi=6'

Drinking With Bob Rants About Obama

Just in case you don't have sound om your computer...this guy is great!



What's next? I'll tell you what's next... Listen! Listen! Can you hear it? it's the sound of Barack Obama bumper stickers being torn off of cars all over this freaking country. Are you kidding me?! This guy is a disaster. Change? Change? Nobody knew what change was then. And Nobody knows what change is now. But, nobody voted for "change". They voted for Barack Obama. They voted for this mythical creature that was created by the liberal mainstream media. By the propaganda machine that runs this country. If people really voted for "change" they would have been just as excited if Hillary Clinton or if Joe Biden were running for President. Are you telling me that if Joe Biden would have been running against John McCain for president, people would have been just as enthusiastic? People who never voted before. People who never cared about politics. Would have come out of their houses in droves to vote for Joe Biden? No! They voted for Barack Obama. Not "change". And they're finally starting to realize, Barack Obama is an empty suit. Barack Obama is the worst reality show ever created in this country. And the biggest problem with the Barack Obama reality show is, we can't cancel it, for at least four years! We have to watch this thing, day after day. Night after night. Week after week. Month after month. Year after year... Episode #1 -- On the Road to Socialism. Episode #2 -- 9 Trillion dollars of taxpayers money spent on nonsense. Episode #3 -- Let's take money from the responsible people and give it to the irresponsible people. Episode #4 -- Barack goes to Iran. Tells them to get rid of their nuclear weapons, they spit in his face. Episode #5 -- Barack Obama asks Russia for help. Russia? Are you freaking kidding me?! Barack Obama goes to Russia and asks them for help with Iran. 'If you help us with Iran, we'll get rid of our missiles in Poland." Are you freaking kidding me?! We're the UNITED STATES of AMERICA. We're the strongest country in the freaking world and you're asking freaking Russia for help?!! Are you kidding me? When are you people who voted for this freaking guy gonna finally stand up and admit you made a HUGE mistake? And if your a freaking kid and your parents are still riding around with a Barack Obama bumper sticker on their freaking car. I'd be embarrassed! I'd WALK everywhere I had to go. The only thing Barack Obama and his supporters are going to accomplish is to get rid of childhood obesity at this freaking rate. Would you people wake up! Land of the free? Home of the brave? We used to be the land of the free. We used to be the home of the brave. Now we're the land of the stupid. Home of the freaking SCREWED! Change?! Change?! I keep hearing about it. When is it coming?! When is the "Anointed One" gonna wave his magic wand and bring all this freaking change? Cause so far I've seen NOTHING! Absolutely freaking NOTHING!! What's next! What's next!! What's next!!!

GETTING TO KNOW ERIC ULRICH

Getting to know Eric Ulbitch
03/05/2009

He sits down with the Queens Chronicle for a Q&A (modified)

Q: What are your immediate plans upon being sworn in as a Councilman?

A: First I need to take down that big intrusive sign that is pasted on the A Train El Station, and then I think I may go to Disney because I love Mickey Mouse.

Q: Where will you open your district office?

A: I will open two district offices, one in Astoria and the other in the Bahamas.

Q: How will you staff your district offices?

A: I’m trying to hire all the people that I owe political favors obviously, people know that I am a seat warmer and I need to start my campaign and use city resources for my personal political expediency like I have done do many times in the past. I also plan to hire bilingual staffers because there are many illegal immigrants living in the district who voted for me in the past election even though they are not “technically” American citizens.

Q: Which are the top three council committees on which you would like to sit?

A: Transportation, transportation, transportation. Transportation is going to play a very key role because I am not old enough to drive yet and my grandmother uses her car to go to bingo. It’s not finance because I have no idea what the finance committee does, it’s not land use because I don’t know what they do either except for using land for things, it’s not the big three or the big two or even the big one ... that most councilmen (I used the word councilmen and not councilperson because I am a misogynist pig) would go for, but for me it’s absolutely a gold metro card. Because whether it’s Ozone Park or whether it’s Rockaway, is Howard beach part of my district? transportation is the number-one issue. Whereas transportation five or 10 years ago, you know, what just a nominal committee in the council, (I was only three ten years ago but I read somewhere that it was nominal) I think it’s going to merge as one of the premier committees. Secondary ones — parks is very important to my constituents and to me, and then education is very important. I really like to feed the pigeons and play ring around the rosy with my peers.

Q: The mayor will attend your swearing-in ceremony to be held later this month in Howard Beach. What is the benefit of having him there?

A: Bringing the mayor to the community shows a number of things. It shows that the Mayor doesn’t know yet that Tom Ognibene is my BFF (best friend forever) and is plotting to overthrow the Mayor. Number one: it shows that I can kiss ass with the big boys, c’mon just look at my mentors. Number two: it shows that I’m a two-faced ignorant political hack and afraid I am just a seat warmer and need to bring in the big guns and extremely desperate to established relationship with the most powerful person in the City of New York.

Q: What are your priorities for the months you’ll serve on the Council?

A: Open an office with a cotton candy machine and one of those neat round tables so I can be like King Arthur, address the peasants’ ( I mean residents) concerns, constituent complaints when I figure out how to. Right now there is no city councilman (person). When we had the snowstorm [on Monday] they had nobody to call up and say, “My street hasn’t been plowed yet.” ... So my office gave them Lew Simon’s number. There are immediate needs that my community has that aren’t being met by me or my staff. There are local issues that need to be addressed but I really don’t have the time right now because we are looking at paint swatches. People have nowhere to turn to and I have to be that nowhere or do nothing person. Surprisingly, they’ve put that trust in me and in for a rude awakening.

Q: What are some projects you hope to start working on once in office?

A: I need to get a handle on my unibrow, so a complete waxing. I am going to use all my Lego’s to build a greenhouse in Forest Park, I want some new streets, particularly on Sesame Street so Elmo can have a bike path to get to work, getting new artificial trees in the district, staffing the beaches in Rockaway with the cast of Baywatch, repairing the Rockaway boardwalk with recycled toilet seats, extending the beach hours. We need to repair the infrastructure in my community. One of the things I’d like to spearhead is the fight against graffiti vandalism by promoting finger painting. We could take away that impression of lawlessness, of a ghetto not that I’m prejudice or anything but all the ghettos I have been to have no law.. We could also increase people’s property values by keeping the ghettos in the ghetto and it would be reinvesting taxpayer money back into the community for the common good.

Q: Are you confident you can accomplish your goals? Will your achievements help you win the November election?

A: I have no personal life and resemblance to a personal life is purely fictional. I’m not even from Earth, I’m a visitor from outer space. Monday through Tuesday I’m out there everyday, two days a week three hours a day! But if you have the zeal and a passion to serve your self interests and blind political obsessions and this is what you’re called to do ... then you’ll do it well. My re-election is dependent on how much taxpayer resources I can steal and pray that Frank Gulluscio is appointed Secretary of the Interior by Obama. If I don’t deliver favors to my Republican colleagues, I’m out of a job. And I think that’s a good thing ... the voters have put me to warm Gulluscio’s chair until November, they’ve challenged me to keep it real warm. ... Now they’re saying, “How many days until the November Election?.” [Accomplishing the above-mentioned goals is a way] to show people that I’m incapable to be an effective ombudweiserman for them and that I’m not able to deliver anything. That I’m not worth re-electing. Honestly, I don’t deserve to be re-elected. I understand that and the voters understand that. It’s a temporary toleration of my loathsome existence.

(this questionaire and its answers have been modified. Any resemblance to answers given by real or fictional political characters is purley cooincidental)

DRINKING WITH BOB

A friend of mine told me about this comic from Queens named Bob Thompson who does amazing rants about politics, pop culture and current events. I visited his site at http://drinkingwithbob.com/ and became an instant fan. Drinking with Bob rants are insightful, thought provoking, hilarious and epitomizes blue collar Queens’ philosophy. We wrote Mr. Thompson an e-mail and he graciously granted us permission to post his Rants and videos. We want to express our thanks to Bob Thompson and encourage everyone to visit his site and support this hometown comic.

A brief bio, Bob Thompson a.k.a. Drinking With Bob is a comic and TV personality from New York City. Based in Queens, Bob performs his comedy routines, rants and original music in clubs and bars throughout much of the Metropolitan area. He also produces, writes and stars in his own TV show called ‘Drinking With Bob’ on Queens Public Access. The show has been airing for 7 years and has gained a legion of loyal and devoted cult fans who tune in each week to experience the RANTS , see the comic sketches and hear music.

Click on the links in the right hand column for Drinking With Bob sites

MIDDLE VILLAGE DYNAMIC DUO

You really have to love this story, especially when a hometown guy takes down two dirtbags. Everyone should go to Kelly's for drinks and say thanks.

Bartender and his boss foil two convenience store burglars

BY Nicholas Hirshon DAILY NEWS WRITER
Thursday, March 5th 2009, 1:34 AM

A Middle Village bartender and his boss - a retired city cop - foiled two burglars escaping a convenience store Monday with stolen cash, cigars and DVDs, law enforcement sources said.
Christopher Jump, 38, and ex-NYPD Officer Michael Kelly, 37, pinned down the suspects until cops came to arrest them at 4:40a.m., according to Meris Campbell, a spokeswoman for Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

The suspects, Jose Gonzalez and Raymond Manning, both 43, were charged with burglary, trespassing, criminal mischief and possessing stolen property and an unlawful radio device, Campbell said.

Sources identified the device as a police scanner, which the crooks were likely using to keep an ear out for cops in the neighborhood. The duo's plot began to unravel when Kelly, owner of Kelly's Pub on Eliot Ave. near Caldwell Ave., called Jump at 4 a.m. to remind him to lock the back door before closing for the night.

After they hung up, Jump heard two voices and - believing the men were on the pub's roof - quickly dialed Kelly, who lives nearby. Kelly dressed, grabbed his 9-mm. handgun and rushed to the pub just in time to spot the crooks exiting a back window a few doors down at D&P Stationery.

"They looked like deer in headlights," said Kelly, a cop for five years in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, until he retired in 2005. "They were scared, and they just took off running."

Kelly chased the burglars to an alley behind the pub, where he and Jump forced them to the ground at gunpoint.

Moments later, Manning feigned back pain - hoping Kelly would let his guard down - and dashed off with the ex-cop in pursuit.

"It kinda just instinctively took over - reverting back to when I was a police officer," said Kelly, who found Manning hiding beneath a car a few blocks away on 81st St.

Meanwhile, Jump noticed Gonzalez was fidgeting.

"He looked like he was contemplating running himself because his buddy just got away," Jump recalled. "I picked up a shovel and said, 'Look, buddy, you're not going anywhere.'"

Cops later discovered a garbage can full of stolen merchandise on a hand truck near the convenience store.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

I know of no safe repository of the ultimate power of society but the people. And if we think them not enlightened enough, the remedy is not to take power from them, but to inform them by education.- Thomas Jefferson

Too bad Obama and Pelosi think they are more enlightened than the people.

NYPD RANT RANTS ABOUT LIZ CROWLEY

Looks like our friends over at the NYPD Rant are equally disappointed with Elizabeth Crowley.

http://theerant.yuku.com/topic/17546

Here are just a few comments:

A NYC politician's new office gets a stop work order. The reason she never applied for permits to do the work. Just had someone go in and redo the location, until hit with a STOP work order. This might sound familiar because the person she beat in the last election also was doing work on his house with out proper permits. So basically the same old same old. And to top it all the person who was backed by some NYC unions had NON-UNION workers doing the work. Who is this Council person you ask????

The winner is................. Elizabeth Crowley New York City Council - Council Member - District: 30. The office address on the above link is the address of the old member and is now vacant. Her office is going to open on Dry Harbor Road & 80th Street. Once she gets the correct paper work.

Obama is a con-man and he pulled of this biggest con ever...Elizabeth Crowley
I forgot to ask this question... Do you think this is going to make at least the local papers in her district since it probably won't make the NY daily papers (ie..won't be in these Daily News, NY Post or The Times). But one of the local News stations hounded the council member that lost the last election for at least a few days at his office and then his home seeking a comment on not getting proper permits on work at his home. Well Mrs. Crowley what's your comment on this??? That's a rhetorical question because I doubt she reads the RANT. haha!