Ever travel with a 3 or 4 year old kid who seems never to run out of questions? Well, since Eva evidently feels we are of that age in our time of second childhood - and why we cannot deal with any more debates and candidates at the pools - I, too, have lots of questions and thoughts and it is my blog.....so......
Am I truly so dangerous? Evidently so to David Israel since he is now resorting to changing our by laws once more and getting his attorney on a leash, Tennyson, to declare another of them null and void. No more appointing of people to fill in vacant seats, even in the first term. But that would also mean that John Hoess has to be unappointed. That also means that all those people who were appointed all along are or were null and void and had no right to vote on the Executive Board. That also means that their votes were null and void. Now that means that the vote taken not to allow the amendments to go to the DA as they are supposed to is also NULL and VOID - and therefore - we can and must vote on them. This Friday. Interesting thought, is it not.
But in any case, whereof and wherefore, Mr. David Israel, am I worthy of being so dangerous? You guys have threatened me - along the same lines of the Palestinian rioters who throw those very same firecrackers that you threatened me with. So again, who is the dangerous one here??? What was that? Silence? No answer? There goes that lack of courage and honesty again.
Why is Joy Vestal such a cougar? Oops, that was not meant to be in there. The actual question is how do we allow such a has been hack run our honorable paper into the ground and earn the well deserved name of The RAG. Take a look at the latest issue. Let us count the ways.
First there is the nasty letter from Milton Cohen who has decided that his patriotism needs to have a scapegoat and has done me the honor of being said target. Additionally, there is yet another diatribe from Israel about accounting and showing his ignorance once more. You know, he favors the system where no savings are set aside , designated for anything and we should just have a merry old mish mash of funds so no one can tell what is going on and what we really have. Just think what would happen if we ran our own finances that way. But what is non journalistic here is the fact that in either case is there any kind of opportunity to present another side of the issue - a practice of which they boast about yet never follow. And there is more of this garbage to follow in the same issue.
Did you know that of the 64 pages of the paper there are approximately the equivalent of close to 32 pages of ads? Fully half of this garbage issue is ads. A Pennysaver indeed!. Of the rest of the paper, no fewer than FIVE articles are written by Don Foster, an assistant or associate editor. Where are the reporters, the plentiful amount, that used to be there? Where? Gone like the wind as they displeased all the holy ones - Joy, Myron and of course, David Israel. Why, to take on an intern at the paper, they had to go to David Israel and Ed Black and Joy was allowed to sit in???!!!! Whose paper is it? Um, what was that about independence and impartiality? It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it is our rights flying away.
And what should we do about these rights? Well, according to Irv Rikon, we are ripe for a new revolution. While he may be talking about the USA as a whole, and there is certainly much that is wrong within our country, particularly what with the fat cats ruling the roost again, but I think we are talking about the need for a revolution here and please, do not send me two reps from PBSO. I am clearly sane, not harmful to myself or to others and have no plans in the foreseeable future to shoot up the joint unless it is my shooting range where I try so desperately to actually hit the damn target!!
So. Irv says, we must return to the moral ideals upon which it was founded, you know, "With liberty and justice for all. With equal opportunities for all American citizens." He also states that there should be a revolution "by the ballot box so no entity over a period of time would build up such power that it could not be peacefully dislodged." Ooh, ooh, could someone read that again - and again - and again.....
One more question? Don Foster falls back upon the usual default of the dictator in training. He tries to shift blame of a rotten situation onto the protesters, those trying to raise consciousness about it, do something about it. So yes, somewhat ugly questions have been asked and NOT answered. Don't like these questions? Then fix the problem. Stop boasting of the media stories you say you have gotten and then curse out the other media stories and attention that we have gotten and please, this is not a competition except in your furry little brains. We are aiming at one goal - the return of right, the return of justice, the return of a wonderful Village. What is yours other than to maintain power.
Don Foster blames oh dear, oh dear, the renters. If renters are such a bad idea then please, Mr. DonHoHo, please explain to me why you are the landlord of so many units and RENT them out? As far as renters doing anything for the Village, seems to me that Anitra is a renter and had her hot little hands in almost everything going on here in the Village - committees, Wi Fi, IT, paper, and the list goes on. Put your money where your mouth is for once!
Finally, you complain of the CV Messenger and that it is all written by Neil the renter. Well, first of all, so what if it were even true. He is a talented person, writes very well and has a brain. Guess that scares you guys. In any case, in this most recent edition I count at least eight other writers in there so please, tutoring lessons again? You know, 1+1+1+1......
Readership has risen. Protestors have grown. Anger is growing and basically, people have had enough. Being the Crown Prince does not make you the underboss of us all any more than David Israel. How much more power will you concentrate in your hands. The inspection committee and you guys are doing such a great job. The election chair - ah, the virtues of impartiality. Associate editor. Finance committee. And now - the CAM! Yes, a resident is going to be the CAM. Very professional. And by the way, once you are CAM you cannot vote on your committees and I do not see how you can be chair of elections if you are CAM. Just think about all this and realize that we are watching, so yes, be paranoid. It comes naturally to you guys doesn't it. As does the nastiness.
And by the way, if we so desperately needed an outside person to manage the ads because we were so hopelessly old and lacked any knowledge of how to work it properly, then how in the name of all that's holy can we be brainy and capable enough to handle a 7 million dollar plus budget. Again, growing more and more to like the idea of a professional manager.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Sunday, September 27, 2015
OH, THE MESS YOU LEAVE BEHIND!
"Everybody, soon or late, sits down to a banquet of consequences." Robert Louis Stevenson
We all do this. At some point during a day or the week, either while lying in bed or daydreaming at the pool or even taking a solo walk, we all do it. What? We all think about what will happen when we shuffle off the mortal coil. What will happen to our "stuff"? What will happen to the things that are around us? What will we actually leave behind that we take pride in and what will embarrass us?
Another way of saying this is we wonder about our legacy. We wonder what our kids will think when they have to pack up our items and what they will find. So periodically we stop and wonder and ask our kids what they would like from our items, ask if they understand the beauty and importance of what we have collected and most of the time we get an answer that does not please us.
Evidently what we deem important and part of our life's work does not come across that way to them.
So that is a mess we leave behind, but if we think a little harder, we will find that we do indeed leave behind a legacy, consequences, good ones, of things we have taught them, a philosophy that has been passed on to them, beliefs that follow ours, good people who will carry our name on down into the next few generations. So these consequences are good, important and the true value of life.
But what about those consequences that we wish to hide, the ones that cause us great discomfort when we think about them. So what are they? They are the messes we leave behind. We see these messes in the large world around us. We see the disasters that all the leaders of the world cannot put to right, the Humpty Dumpty syndromes that they have so often fallen into. So we have 30,000 deluded people flocking into Syria to fight with ISIS while four million are fleeing the country. We have thousands, 250,000, killed and the number is rising but we are so busy trying to please Iran that we do not see the other facts around us till it is too late. And all the while China and Russia in the form of Putin are running circles around us.
So the mess? Europe trying to absorb the people of a large part of two continents and there appears to be no end in sight and do not think we are exempt here in our country. We have Boehner quitting and leaving behind a true mess. We have insane Republicans who are more interested in causing trouble, proving a point, than in actually working to make the country sound and whole. Huh, sounds familiar here what with those people in power refusing to work well, if at all, with others. And what a mess they are leaving behind.
The mess here is a Village, an official entity that will be left financially broken, physically destroyed, and weird exceptions as we will have fancy pools but no roads, repairs that will not be made but there will be decorative plantings around and on and on. We will have a legacy of repression and oppression and the mess, its causes, rest squarely on the shoulders of the current UCO and the ones they are grooming for the next,
Proof in point, we are now going to have another multi job person - as our CAM. We already tried this once before with Rodger Carver and what a mess that left, what a disaster and he had his portion of the blame for the roads. WE now have an ever shrinking circle of "holy" people who will be allowed to function in UCO and other Village positions and consequently will have an ever growing circle of disasters happening and waiting to happen. We already have a VP who never has anything to say, a VP who ran the paper into the ground and now has her little protégé learning at her knees and just count how many articles he wrote for the October issue of The Rag. This is a paper? This is journalism? I think not. No, I know it is not. And now we find that if we criticize our so called officials we are violating all sorts of no-nos, unpatriotic, disrespectful - worse than if we criticize the president of the country! Just who do these people think they are?
We have a mess with Sheffield O that still remains problematic. What will happen as he suffers financial loss? Who will he sell to? What will happen to the homeless so inappropriately placed here? What will happen here in the Village as we see more children and younger people living here on a permanent basis. Quite frankly, I bought here into a 55+ community and am not interested in changing that and neither are other people. Why does UCO not give classes or discussions or help groups about what to do to avoid ruining the associations and Village? Why? Because they care not and perhaps there are other reasons. Who knows as we are never told anything here.
What are the messes left behind when the administration is opaque and run with secret meetings, puts the cart ahead of the horse such as the new security contract. We are told at a meeting that the contract is going back and forth between lawyers and then we are told in The Rag that it is a fait accompli. Are these people schizoid? Can they not keep things straight? Oh, the messes they leave behind - for us to clean up as they will eventually go their merry old way. Oh, the messes they leave behind as they act without thought of the Village and its needs. Oh the messes they leave behind when all they think of is their own needs and their ridiculous grasping at what they perceive to be "power".
Oh the messes they leave behind as they throw no term limits at us, a perversion of the philosophy of the village. Oh, the messes they leave behind as we get even closer to the end of the Millennium and we have done zero, squat, about it - no meetings, no REAL lawyer, no money to pay the attorneys we will need and so the mess that awaits us will be a twin match of those left behind.
The only way we get out of this is to get rid of them ASAP and install newer, fresher people with the needs of the Village at heart and at this point I am even ready to at least look into a hired manager for us as the budgets and the needs are ever growing, the world is ever changing and it seems that many of those in positions cannot get a grip on anything in a positive and long term manner.
Oh the messes that we all leave behind. We cannot solve the problems of the world and can only possibly exert some say so on our elected officials to state and Federal bodies but we certainly can take responsibility for cleaning up and avoiding the messes here. As for our personal lives - that is up to the individuals! Good luck on that.
We all do this. At some point during a day or the week, either while lying in bed or daydreaming at the pool or even taking a solo walk, we all do it. What? We all think about what will happen when we shuffle off the mortal coil. What will happen to our "stuff"? What will happen to the things that are around us? What will we actually leave behind that we take pride in and what will embarrass us?
Another way of saying this is we wonder about our legacy. We wonder what our kids will think when they have to pack up our items and what they will find. So periodically we stop and wonder and ask our kids what they would like from our items, ask if they understand the beauty and importance of what we have collected and most of the time we get an answer that does not please us.
Evidently what we deem important and part of our life's work does not come across that way to them.
So that is a mess we leave behind, but if we think a little harder, we will find that we do indeed leave behind a legacy, consequences, good ones, of things we have taught them, a philosophy that has been passed on to them, beliefs that follow ours, good people who will carry our name on down into the next few generations. So these consequences are good, important and the true value of life.
But what about those consequences that we wish to hide, the ones that cause us great discomfort when we think about them. So what are they? They are the messes we leave behind. We see these messes in the large world around us. We see the disasters that all the leaders of the world cannot put to right, the Humpty Dumpty syndromes that they have so often fallen into. So we have 30,000 deluded people flocking into Syria to fight with ISIS while four million are fleeing the country. We have thousands, 250,000, killed and the number is rising but we are so busy trying to please Iran that we do not see the other facts around us till it is too late. And all the while China and Russia in the form of Putin are running circles around us.
So the mess? Europe trying to absorb the people of a large part of two continents and there appears to be no end in sight and do not think we are exempt here in our country. We have Boehner quitting and leaving behind a true mess. We have insane Republicans who are more interested in causing trouble, proving a point, than in actually working to make the country sound and whole. Huh, sounds familiar here what with those people in power refusing to work well, if at all, with others. And what a mess they are leaving behind.
The mess here is a Village, an official entity that will be left financially broken, physically destroyed, and weird exceptions as we will have fancy pools but no roads, repairs that will not be made but there will be decorative plantings around and on and on. We will have a legacy of repression and oppression and the mess, its causes, rest squarely on the shoulders of the current UCO and the ones they are grooming for the next,
Proof in point, we are now going to have another multi job person - as our CAM. We already tried this once before with Rodger Carver and what a mess that left, what a disaster and he had his portion of the blame for the roads. WE now have an ever shrinking circle of "holy" people who will be allowed to function in UCO and other Village positions and consequently will have an ever growing circle of disasters happening and waiting to happen. We already have a VP who never has anything to say, a VP who ran the paper into the ground and now has her little protégé learning at her knees and just count how many articles he wrote for the October issue of The Rag. This is a paper? This is journalism? I think not. No, I know it is not. And now we find that if we criticize our so called officials we are violating all sorts of no-nos, unpatriotic, disrespectful - worse than if we criticize the president of the country! Just who do these people think they are?
We have a mess with Sheffield O that still remains problematic. What will happen as he suffers financial loss? Who will he sell to? What will happen to the homeless so inappropriately placed here? What will happen here in the Village as we see more children and younger people living here on a permanent basis. Quite frankly, I bought here into a 55+ community and am not interested in changing that and neither are other people. Why does UCO not give classes or discussions or help groups about what to do to avoid ruining the associations and Village? Why? Because they care not and perhaps there are other reasons. Who knows as we are never told anything here.
What are the messes left behind when the administration is opaque and run with secret meetings, puts the cart ahead of the horse such as the new security contract. We are told at a meeting that the contract is going back and forth between lawyers and then we are told in The Rag that it is a fait accompli. Are these people schizoid? Can they not keep things straight? Oh, the messes they leave behind - for us to clean up as they will eventually go their merry old way. Oh, the messes they leave behind as they act without thought of the Village and its needs. Oh the messes they leave behind when all they think of is their own needs and their ridiculous grasping at what they perceive to be "power".
Oh the messes they leave behind as they throw no term limits at us, a perversion of the philosophy of the village. Oh, the messes they leave behind as we get even closer to the end of the Millennium and we have done zero, squat, about it - no meetings, no REAL lawyer, no money to pay the attorneys we will need and so the mess that awaits us will be a twin match of those left behind.
The only way we get out of this is to get rid of them ASAP and install newer, fresher people with the needs of the Village at heart and at this point I am even ready to at least look into a hired manager for us as the budgets and the needs are ever growing, the world is ever changing and it seems that many of those in positions cannot get a grip on anything in a positive and long term manner.
Oh the messes that we all leave behind. We cannot solve the problems of the world and can only possibly exert some say so on our elected officials to state and Federal bodies but we certainly can take responsibility for cleaning up and avoiding the messes here. As for our personal lives - that is up to the individuals! Good luck on that.
I will not be posting again until Tuesday nite or Wednesday morning but please use this time to scroll back and read postings that you have not read before.
OUR OWN SHAKESPEARIAN ROLE MODEL
(A little introductory note - this posting was written in response to a nasty letter posted by Joy Vestal in the paper, along with her co-editor Myron Silverman and her asst. editor Don Foster and written by Milton Cohen)
Milton Cohen, thou art an ass. One with the gall of a demented frog. Don't like hearing the truth? Well, then you need to heal from your brain -mouth connectus interruptus and watch what you write.
Here is some information worthy of your perusal. After you read that, read on and see how things can escalate because of one's thoughtless actions and statements.
"Any intentional false communication, either written or spoken, that harms a person's reputation; decreases the respect, regard, or confidence in which a person is held; or induces disparaging, hostile, or disagreeable opinions or feelings against a person."
That is the definition of defamation.
To recover damages in a lawsuit, a person must show:
"evidence of four elements: that the defendant conveyed a defamatory message; that the material was published, meaning that it was conveyed to someone other than the plaintiff; that the plaintiff could be identified as the person referred to in the defamatory material; and that the plaintiff suffered some injury to his or her reputation as a result of the communication."
Oh dear, oh dear. Would you like to publish a retraction of your comments on my patriotism or is accusing me of being a traitor satisfactory to you? Your choice. In the meanwhile, while you try to re-engage your brain, let's take a look at your letter to the prejudiced editor who, by the way, should have contacted me to present my response to such a defamatory letter or should never have printed it at all. Oh, well, she will be part and parcel of the suit unless an apology is received - in public - where I and many others are witness to it - hey, like the DA. What an idea! Anyway, to your printed garbage.
First up, your "so called educator" comment. As I do not recall you or a child of yours or any one related or connected to you as one of my many wonderful educational kids, and certainly not one of the many who write to me, I would like to know where you get your information from and how you intend to prove this statement. Bad idea as you will have lost this from the getgo. But even if I were the worst educator in the world what does who I was in my professional life have to do with that DA? Perhaps you were a lousy student? Just saying.
Since when is protest an un-American act. Walking out of an assembly of some type, particularly when it is basically rigged, is a time honored American tradition. I am truly sorry if your reading and thinking ability might preclude you from reading about this but perhaps TV might help you with that. And doing so with dignity, after I spoke quietly and with respect to the president of UCO, and getting the answer I fully expected, yes, I asked people to walk out and yes, several people knew that I would ask this of them if it came to that but did I ask all of them? NO! Did I force anyone to take this action? NO!!! These people walked out because they were disgusted at the UCO pattern of behavior. And pray, tell me what my husband speaking has to do with the man in the moon. I know he spoke at some point but so what? Maybe you were bullied by your wife or you bullied her, but in my marriage, independent thinking is allowed and by the way, Gerry is considered to be one of the best guys in town so watch yourself here, Shakespeare's ass.
In any case, you accuse me of depriving people of the right to hear what else was to be said at the DA. Are you truly an idiot? Never mind, asked and answered. How, may I ask, was I to know what was to come and who cares anyway. People have the right to choose their own behaviorisms and are not held prisoner. In fact, walking out on the DA seems to have become an honored tradition here in the Village. Just watch the tapes and see how many are left at the end. And by the way, this action was towards the end of the DA anyway, so please, go see if it is raining around the corner. Hopefully that will not strain your brain too much.
The next bit is just really over the top. Here I am accused of misbehavior towards our soldiers of the Korean and Vietnam war. Well, considering that I was 3 - 4 years old when the Korean War ended in a truce, I believe that fear of being "potched" should I spit at anyone, would have kept me from doing so and certainly my parents did not raise me that way and they would have been appalled at such behavior. At that age I certainly did not disobey my parents.
As far as Vietnam, how dare you. While I at first believed the lies that our government told us about the Bay of Tonkin, I eventually saw the truth and the horror of it, the need to get the hell out and bring our boys and girls home, safely. Never, not then and not now, would I ever disrespect a serviceman of our nation. I am still my parents' child, dear Oberon. Thank you for your service if you fought over there, but I am indeed sorry that it was a wasted war, as are most wars, as war truly does not leave any victors. And by the way, just a question of conjecture - how did you behave when you walked into a Vietnamese village? My Lai ring any bells?
Now if you can explain why you bring in religion to the next topic I would be ever so grateful and here is something that is going to bite you in your rear.
"....the patriotism of people like Ms. Sutofsky, who seek to destroy our monthly meetings, is suspect."
Really? Now that takes balls to accuse me of being unpatriotic. I have no need to prove to you or anyone else in your demented and deluded world of my patriotism. We have no more Gene McCarthy, no more HUAC, though some of today's politicians are just as nuts in their own ways. How dare you say - print - such a statement. You will not have a great deal of fun in court trying to prove that statement while on the contrary I will laugh at your struggles and stupidity in the first place!
Now, fair is fair so let me ask you a few questions. Remember, these are general questions, asking about alleged possibilities in your past life as a NYC policeman. So....were you an officer serving at any of the precincts involved in corruption? If so, please delineate your actions so that you can try to keep your name clear and clean. If you were involved, did these alleged actions stop? When? Were you ever disciplined for alleged misdoings and deeds? If so, how , when and why? Just asking? Just raising a few possibilities.
Did you behave with the mindset of the police at the time, meaning did you ever beat any person brought in for questioning? How free were you with your nightstick? Did you respect the rights of the accused to immediately retain a lawyer and refuse to speak to any personnel? Did you keep any suspects from sleeping, a designated and known torture technique? Did you stop people because of racial or ethnic appearance? Did these alleged possible behaviors ever attach themselves to your portfolio of police techniques. Were you a cop from Public Morals or from SVU?
Remember, these questions are all concerned with alleged possible behavior and action. I am not accusing you, only asking, only conjecturing whilst you, my dear ass of Shakespearian proportion, actually accused me and hence left yourself WIDE open. Oh, dear. Tsk, tsk.
An apology will help, will go a long way, and tell your disgraced and disgraceful journalist who allowed this to be printed in her RAG, that an apology had better be forthcoming - both orally and in print. In public and in the next issue and even on the blog as this is also where it is found. Oh the messes one can get oneself into. Dearie, dearie, me - and you!
Think about it, drain your gall, recharge your brain and close your nasty little mouth unless it is to apologize. Unpatriotic indeed! Just who exactly is it, by the way, that violated the Constitution every day here with closure of media to people, with abrogation of the right to freely assemble and speak to others and to those Shakespearian critters who blindly follow on his trail? Brain/mouth connectus interruptus, a serious malady indeed.
Milton Cohen, thou art an ass. One with the gall of a demented frog. Don't like hearing the truth? Well, then you need to heal from your brain -mouth connectus interruptus and watch what you write.
Here is some information worthy of your perusal. After you read that, read on and see how things can escalate because of one's thoughtless actions and statements.
"Any intentional false communication, either written or spoken, that harms a person's reputation; decreases the respect, regard, or confidence in which a person is held; or induces disparaging, hostile, or disagreeable opinions or feelings against a person."
That is the definition of defamation.
To recover damages in a lawsuit, a person must show:
"evidence of four elements: that the defendant conveyed a defamatory message; that the material was published, meaning that it was conveyed to someone other than the plaintiff; that the plaintiff could be identified as the person referred to in the defamatory material; and that the plaintiff suffered some injury to his or her reputation as a result of the communication."
Oh dear, oh dear. Would you like to publish a retraction of your comments on my patriotism or is accusing me of being a traitor satisfactory to you? Your choice. In the meanwhile, while you try to re-engage your brain, let's take a look at your letter to the prejudiced editor who, by the way, should have contacted me to present my response to such a defamatory letter or should never have printed it at all. Oh, well, she will be part and parcel of the suit unless an apology is received - in public - where I and many others are witness to it - hey, like the DA. What an idea! Anyway, to your printed garbage.
First up, your "so called educator" comment. As I do not recall you or a child of yours or any one related or connected to you as one of my many wonderful educational kids, and certainly not one of the many who write to me, I would like to know where you get your information from and how you intend to prove this statement. Bad idea as you will have lost this from the getgo. But even if I were the worst educator in the world what does who I was in my professional life have to do with that DA? Perhaps you were a lousy student? Just saying.
Since when is protest an un-American act. Walking out of an assembly of some type, particularly when it is basically rigged, is a time honored American tradition. I am truly sorry if your reading and thinking ability might preclude you from reading about this but perhaps TV might help you with that. And doing so with dignity, after I spoke quietly and with respect to the president of UCO, and getting the answer I fully expected, yes, I asked people to walk out and yes, several people knew that I would ask this of them if it came to that but did I ask all of them? NO! Did I force anyone to take this action? NO!!! These people walked out because they were disgusted at the UCO pattern of behavior. And pray, tell me what my husband speaking has to do with the man in the moon. I know he spoke at some point but so what? Maybe you were bullied by your wife or you bullied her, but in my marriage, independent thinking is allowed and by the way, Gerry is considered to be one of the best guys in town so watch yourself here, Shakespeare's ass.
In any case, you accuse me of depriving people of the right to hear what else was to be said at the DA. Are you truly an idiot? Never mind, asked and answered. How, may I ask, was I to know what was to come and who cares anyway. People have the right to choose their own behaviorisms and are not held prisoner. In fact, walking out on the DA seems to have become an honored tradition here in the Village. Just watch the tapes and see how many are left at the end. And by the way, this action was towards the end of the DA anyway, so please, go see if it is raining around the corner. Hopefully that will not strain your brain too much.
The next bit is just really over the top. Here I am accused of misbehavior towards our soldiers of the Korean and Vietnam war. Well, considering that I was 3 - 4 years old when the Korean War ended in a truce, I believe that fear of being "potched" should I spit at anyone, would have kept me from doing so and certainly my parents did not raise me that way and they would have been appalled at such behavior. At that age I certainly did not disobey my parents.
As far as Vietnam, how dare you. While I at first believed the lies that our government told us about the Bay of Tonkin, I eventually saw the truth and the horror of it, the need to get the hell out and bring our boys and girls home, safely. Never, not then and not now, would I ever disrespect a serviceman of our nation. I am still my parents' child, dear Oberon. Thank you for your service if you fought over there, but I am indeed sorry that it was a wasted war, as are most wars, as war truly does not leave any victors. And by the way, just a question of conjecture - how did you behave when you walked into a Vietnamese village? My Lai ring any bells?
Now if you can explain why you bring in religion to the next topic I would be ever so grateful and here is something that is going to bite you in your rear.
"....the patriotism of people like Ms. Sutofsky, who seek to destroy our monthly meetings, is suspect."
Really? Now that takes balls to accuse me of being unpatriotic. I have no need to prove to you or anyone else in your demented and deluded world of my patriotism. We have no more Gene McCarthy, no more HUAC, though some of today's politicians are just as nuts in their own ways. How dare you say - print - such a statement. You will not have a great deal of fun in court trying to prove that statement while on the contrary I will laugh at your struggles and stupidity in the first place!
Now, fair is fair so let me ask you a few questions. Remember, these are general questions, asking about alleged possibilities in your past life as a NYC policeman. So....were you an officer serving at any of the precincts involved in corruption? If so, please delineate your actions so that you can try to keep your name clear and clean. If you were involved, did these alleged actions stop? When? Were you ever disciplined for alleged misdoings and deeds? If so, how , when and why? Just asking? Just raising a few possibilities.
Did you behave with the mindset of the police at the time, meaning did you ever beat any person brought in for questioning? How free were you with your nightstick? Did you respect the rights of the accused to immediately retain a lawyer and refuse to speak to any personnel? Did you keep any suspects from sleeping, a designated and known torture technique? Did you stop people because of racial or ethnic appearance? Did these alleged possible behaviors ever attach themselves to your portfolio of police techniques. Were you a cop from Public Morals or from SVU?
Remember, these questions are all concerned with alleged possible behavior and action. I am not accusing you, only asking, only conjecturing whilst you, my dear ass of Shakespearian proportion, actually accused me and hence left yourself WIDE open. Oh, dear. Tsk, tsk.
An apology will help, will go a long way, and tell your disgraced and disgraceful journalist who allowed this to be printed in her RAG, that an apology had better be forthcoming - both orally and in print. In public and in the next issue and even on the blog as this is also where it is found. Oh the messes one can get oneself into. Dearie, dearie, me - and you!
Think about it, drain your gall, recharge your brain and close your nasty little mouth unless it is to apologize. Unpatriotic indeed! Just who exactly is it, by the way, that violated the Constitution every day here with closure of media to people, with abrogation of the right to freely assemble and speak to others and to those Shakespearian critters who blindly follow on his trail? Brain/mouth connectus interruptus, a serious malady indeed.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
NO! NO! NO! NO!
Stew Richland
Can you remember way back when you were a child and asked your parent(s) for permission to do something? Do you remember their response? Very often the parent would say NO!. A parents prerogative based on: desire to protect the child, adult experience, lack of interest, frustration. A precious child would then retort: “Why, How Come! “John’s father lets him go!” What would you say? Because “Y” is a crooked letter!.” “You are too young to understand.” “I will explain all this to you when you get a bit older.” Some parents would just dismiss the request with a “I said no! End of discussion. you are dismissed.
What is wrong with this scenario? Every child needs an explanation for a parents decision. Depending on the child’s age and ability to comprehend, To avoid providing a child with some logical reason for a decision made is unfair, unreasonable and some what dictatorial. It is only fair to provide the child with some sort of comfort for a parents unfavorable response even if they don’t agree with the adult response. Many parents have to learn to say no without feeling guilty. Setting boundaries is healthy and is part of good parenting. Its in the manner we say “yes” or “no” that is significantly critical to conveying the correct message.
We are grown up now. We conduct ourselves as an adult would do.(I hope) We have learned from the past and we do not want to imitate our parents behavior because it is not “good form.”
Lessons learned does not mean lessons applied. In virtually every UCO meeting I have attended where a vote was taken, I waited for some member (very often (officers ) to explain their vote. When they don'tt, they conveyed a message to those who attend the meeting that a response for the way they have voted.was not necessary. This is not “good form” Sometimes It’s OK to vote "No", or "Yes", without providing a detailed reason—even if you feel like you should offer one. However, as a UCO elected official a NO or YES response without articulating your reasons is unfair to those in attendance. . It takes a great deal of courage to swim against the majority opinion, but going along for the sake of being part of the club is no justification for doing so. In a book that provides guide lines for leadership this type of behavior would lead to, “Your Fired!”
Our president refers to “cigar box” accounting and use of panic mongering when Century Village residents demand answers to questions that they feel are important to them. It is outrageous that a UCO official use such condescending language to residents who just want clarification to questions.
Elected officials should take more time to stop, reflect and access their own thinking. UCO must take pause and reflect on their course of action and embrace the views of others. Taking juvenile pop shots at those who disagree serve no useful purpose.
What we have here is a moralistic view of all proposals. UCO is right and all those who question are wrong. How can we assimilate what they think when they will not tells us. We in the Village deserve substantive answers to issues that impact Century Villagers. We as residents deserve nothing less
Friday, September 25, 2015
WHERE IS THE PROCESS? WHERE IS THE PROCEDURE?
Went to a meeting of the Operations committee today and left a bit before it was over as it ran a long time. Numbers were thrown about left and right and some I agreed with and others not. For example, I saw that there was $8000 allotted for the mural in the indoor pool. Other funds were approved that I believe should not have been but that is the way of the world, sometimes agree and other times not but what bothered me is that a large money action was taken without any prior knowledge of UCO or the residents and I am not sure if it was according to our agreements with WPRF or not.
Perhaps the motivation was proper, for safety of the residents, but still, there is a process to be followed, a procedure and we cannot pick and choose what we will follow or will not as that leads to chaos or dictatorship or a combination of both. It does not matter if Eva has a great insurance reputation. That may be and I am prepared to accept it but there is still the process to be followed. And if we are worried about safety of our residents then I am wondering where is the fixing of the bench at the bus stop near my building which is wobbly, too low for people to sit down safely and separated by a big drop from the roadway and in the midst of rocks which are not exactly proper for balance for aged ankles.
When we are quibbling about a dollar or two in the coupon for UCO I would like to know why we approve thousands of dollars for WPRF items without investigation. One example is the approval of over $11,000 for fours mics. Must be made of gold and while David Israel did not appear to be happy about the cost, he and his buddies approved it without asking for documentation of pricing and need.
This is what happens in an administration that is too sure of itself and its power and this is what happens to the residents - they get screwed and all the pretty foliage will not help when we cannot make headway on the roadway because we have no funding for it, by quadrant or whatever.
Our priorities are wrong. Our procedures are ignored. Our residents are ignored and we watch Joy Vestal turn into a sour old lady who never has anything pleasant to say unless it is about her little pet or her Rag. Time to go rest a bit for her. Get a little juice of human kindness back in her makeup.
Time for us, here in the Village, to turf out the useless, the worn out, the tried and need a rest now characters and get in some fresh people who truly care about the Village and not about their own position or influence. Think about that tonite.
Perhaps the motivation was proper, for safety of the residents, but still, there is a process to be followed, a procedure and we cannot pick and choose what we will follow or will not as that leads to chaos or dictatorship or a combination of both. It does not matter if Eva has a great insurance reputation. That may be and I am prepared to accept it but there is still the process to be followed. And if we are worried about safety of our residents then I am wondering where is the fixing of the bench at the bus stop near my building which is wobbly, too low for people to sit down safely and separated by a big drop from the roadway and in the midst of rocks which are not exactly proper for balance for aged ankles.
When we are quibbling about a dollar or two in the coupon for UCO I would like to know why we approve thousands of dollars for WPRF items without investigation. One example is the approval of over $11,000 for fours mics. Must be made of gold and while David Israel did not appear to be happy about the cost, he and his buddies approved it without asking for documentation of pricing and need.
This is what happens in an administration that is too sure of itself and its power and this is what happens to the residents - they get screwed and all the pretty foliage will not help when we cannot make headway on the roadway because we have no funding for it, by quadrant or whatever.
Our priorities are wrong. Our procedures are ignored. Our residents are ignored and we watch Joy Vestal turn into a sour old lady who never has anything pleasant to say unless it is about her little pet or her Rag. Time to go rest a bit for her. Get a little juice of human kindness back in her makeup.
Time for us, here in the Village, to turf out the useless, the worn out, the tried and need a rest now characters and get in some fresh people who truly care about the Village and not about their own position or influence. Think about that tonite.
THERE'S AN ECHO, ECHO, ECHO, ECHO..........
Sitting in at yesterday's meeting of the officers of UCO was like sitting in an echo chamber, a selective one wherein some echoes were seemingly not heard by people and thus they voted in direct opposition to all that people said there.
One big topic was the budget and here Howie O'Brien found his own voice and when David Israel gave forth with his usual huh! kind of talk, O'Brien said not a good idea.
First echo: the roads need to be drilled down, all the way to bedrock and then redone with new asphalt. No more overlays. I still hear the echoes of all of us opposition members saying this, shouting this to the Heavens, but being ignored except to heap threats and insults upon us. And thus six million dollars went down the toilet.
Second echo: The job really should be done in quadrants, four of them. Echo, Echo, Echo..... We also maintained that the job was better off being done in a partial manner, with designated areas getting done in an order until all was done and finished. For what we go - see above.
Echo: See above. For all that we said is now being spouted by David Israel et al as if it were a new set of guidelines direct from Sinai!
Fourth echo: The usual what the hell is the matter with his brain kind of talk that he has always maintained and that is that we do not need to raise the money now as it is being done in quadrants. What difference does that make. I can buy four pieces of candy separately or four together, but in the end, they have to be paid for and if I do not have the money - as we most assuredly do not - then I must save for it. Starting yesterday! Many yesterdays ago in fact. But David says oh no and wants the budget to be flat due to an anticipated increase on the part of WPRF.
We need to start raising money NOW and run an austerity budget elsewhere, especially with WPRF whose Eva is having a high old time spending our money without end. In fact, who gave her permission to take away all the trees around the bridge area by the Clubhouse, irrigate that area and who knows what will be forthcoming - perhaps an outdoor mural????
Increasing coupon fees is a difficult and not optimal action, but if there is a need we must and watch our pennies elsewhere to cut the impact and perhaps even get some funding cut down so as to lessen the impact on us. Now Joy Vestal does not like anything I say and has intimated blackmailing me with a statement that I said if we need to pay $10 a month more for the roads, then do it. But it seems that that fee was cut down by other financial juggling and the fee would have been about $4 so sorry, Joy. Please hate me a bit later. Go lean on Don Foster's shoulder!
And speaking of Don Foster, here is where an echo comes in and is ignored. We are missing a CAM who is required by law. David Israel has decided that a CAM is not so necessary but will grudgingly get one and here is his brainstorm. Because years ago Don Foster worked at Lefrack Queens he "obviously" knows how to be a CAM. Perhaps his work with Vestal on the paper helps him - NOT! In any case, we are going to pay his school fees and when he is done and presumably licensed, he will become our volunteer CAM.
Guest after guest spoke about how wrong this idea is. He lives here. He already has umpteen other jobs in UCO and Village wide positions. But the officers all lined up obediently behind David and Joy and voted yes. Never do they hear or listen to the wordsds of the electorate. Never!! This is part and parcel of tightening the circle of people in UCO and the Village who wield any influence and power or decision making power. Echo after echo of the same thing. We make a big fuss about people who live here making a few bucks by being a guard, a thankless job, but now are going to get a CAM who lives here? Who has also gotten appointed chair of the election committee? Who is also appointed on the finance committee? Who is also asst. editor of the RAG? C'mon! Does David and claque think we are all dead from the neck up? That is Bob Marshall's job as yesterday for a while he could not remember whether he was to vote and on what and how but he finally did and of course voted as his lord and master wants. Bad, bad idea and one that will bite us in the ass soon enough.
Here is a quote from the leading risk assessor and problem solver over at NSA. Right up your alley, David.
"People tell me that I am good in solving problems, breaking into pieces and getting a bunch of people to work together on really tough problems. I can take a big problem, break it into pieces and assemble people, assign them to the pieces and keep the big picture that we can get there."
More brains from more people, more division of labor and the answer will be reached - not your way of holding it in your hot little hands and assigning pieces of it to a smaller and smaller group of people.
I have maintained ad infinitum that the truth will out. Today the government and the army are in hot water for telling lies and exaggerations about the situation in the supposed war on terror. It ain't going so great, is it and they thought they could lie and fool the public. Well, echoes of Vietnam and the body count. Lies will trap you and trip you up and the truth will appear. Same with you, David, same with you. Do the right thing and stop these echoes - for your sake and certainly for ours.
A little tidbit for you out there to chew on. Rumor has it that David Israel will not run again - too much static ... so he is grooming guess who......initials DF..... the same one who used to send me nasty comments but who stopped when I guess his new future as Crown Prince was decided by his mentor, David Israel and his adoptive mother, Joy Vestal. So his references need not be checked with an excuse that it was oh so long ago - well, maybe his methods are also old but whatever - this is not how to run the place. But by then he will already have been assigned to who knows how many more jobs so might as well just give him the only one remaining.
And that is how a dream is killed - for all of us.
One big topic was the budget and here Howie O'Brien found his own voice and when David Israel gave forth with his usual huh! kind of talk, O'Brien said not a good idea.
First echo: the roads need to be drilled down, all the way to bedrock and then redone with new asphalt. No more overlays. I still hear the echoes of all of us opposition members saying this, shouting this to the Heavens, but being ignored except to heap threats and insults upon us. And thus six million dollars went down the toilet.
Second echo: The job really should be done in quadrants, four of them. Echo, Echo, Echo..... We also maintained that the job was better off being done in a partial manner, with designated areas getting done in an order until all was done and finished. For what we go - see above.
Echo: See above. For all that we said is now being spouted by David Israel et al as if it were a new set of guidelines direct from Sinai!
Fourth echo: The usual what the hell is the matter with his brain kind of talk that he has always maintained and that is that we do not need to raise the money now as it is being done in quadrants. What difference does that make. I can buy four pieces of candy separately or four together, but in the end, they have to be paid for and if I do not have the money - as we most assuredly do not - then I must save for it. Starting yesterday! Many yesterdays ago in fact. But David says oh no and wants the budget to be flat due to an anticipated increase on the part of WPRF.
We need to start raising money NOW and run an austerity budget elsewhere, especially with WPRF whose Eva is having a high old time spending our money without end. In fact, who gave her permission to take away all the trees around the bridge area by the Clubhouse, irrigate that area and who knows what will be forthcoming - perhaps an outdoor mural????
Increasing coupon fees is a difficult and not optimal action, but if there is a need we must and watch our pennies elsewhere to cut the impact and perhaps even get some funding cut down so as to lessen the impact on us. Now Joy Vestal does not like anything I say and has intimated blackmailing me with a statement that I said if we need to pay $10 a month more for the roads, then do it. But it seems that that fee was cut down by other financial juggling and the fee would have been about $4 so sorry, Joy. Please hate me a bit later. Go lean on Don Foster's shoulder!
And speaking of Don Foster, here is where an echo comes in and is ignored. We are missing a CAM who is required by law. David Israel has decided that a CAM is not so necessary but will grudgingly get one and here is his brainstorm. Because years ago Don Foster worked at Lefrack Queens he "obviously" knows how to be a CAM. Perhaps his work with Vestal on the paper helps him - NOT! In any case, we are going to pay his school fees and when he is done and presumably licensed, he will become our volunteer CAM.
Guest after guest spoke about how wrong this idea is. He lives here. He already has umpteen other jobs in UCO and Village wide positions. But the officers all lined up obediently behind David and Joy and voted yes. Never do they hear or listen to the wordsds of the electorate. Never!! This is part and parcel of tightening the circle of people in UCO and the Village who wield any influence and power or decision making power. Echo after echo of the same thing. We make a big fuss about people who live here making a few bucks by being a guard, a thankless job, but now are going to get a CAM who lives here? Who has also gotten appointed chair of the election committee? Who is also appointed on the finance committee? Who is also asst. editor of the RAG? C'mon! Does David and claque think we are all dead from the neck up? That is Bob Marshall's job as yesterday for a while he could not remember whether he was to vote and on what and how but he finally did and of course voted as his lord and master wants. Bad, bad idea and one that will bite us in the ass soon enough.
Here is a quote from the leading risk assessor and problem solver over at NSA. Right up your alley, David.
"People tell me that I am good in solving problems, breaking into pieces and getting a bunch of people to work together on really tough problems. I can take a big problem, break it into pieces and assemble people, assign them to the pieces and keep the big picture that we can get there."
More brains from more people, more division of labor and the answer will be reached - not your way of holding it in your hot little hands and assigning pieces of it to a smaller and smaller group of people.
I have maintained ad infinitum that the truth will out. Today the government and the army are in hot water for telling lies and exaggerations about the situation in the supposed war on terror. It ain't going so great, is it and they thought they could lie and fool the public. Well, echoes of Vietnam and the body count. Lies will trap you and trip you up and the truth will appear. Same with you, David, same with you. Do the right thing and stop these echoes - for your sake and certainly for ours.
A little tidbit for you out there to chew on. Rumor has it that David Israel will not run again - too much static ... so he is grooming guess who......initials DF..... the same one who used to send me nasty comments but who stopped when I guess his new future as Crown Prince was decided by his mentor, David Israel and his adoptive mother, Joy Vestal. So his references need not be checked with an excuse that it was oh so long ago - well, maybe his methods are also old but whatever - this is not how to run the place. But by then he will already have been assigned to who knows how many more jobs so might as well just give him the only one remaining.
And that is how a dream is killed - for all of us.
Thursday, September 24, 2015
WHAT'S THAT AGAIN?
Lanny, I would love to believe that what you posted is what you truly believe and what could be possible, but there are several issues.
First of all, what you wrote is vague, very vague indeed. Compromise how and on what, with whom and when. One must have a partner in a relationship and I am sorry to say that though I have reached out often enough with offers of compromise and co-operative work, when that arm was extended, it came back as a stump!
Compromise demands willing people on both sides of an issue and I am truly sorry to say that there is a missing side here, that of the David Israel camp. Whenever anyone presents a differing opinion, one gets a nasty name, an insult or ridicule or even firing from a "job" in UCO. This does not bode well for compromise. Even when advised to try to behave and control himself, he only manages to do so for approximately a week or two and then it is back to same old same old.
Let's take a simple idea that even has its own time aged adage. "Waste not, want not." Simple in its concept, is it not? Well, apparently not so for David Israel. We contend that wasting money as UCO has done so many times has brought us to a financial crisis and we now need to keep to an austerity budget.
Where was that money wasted? Well, over 6 million dollars was tarred over on the roads! If we had done the job right then we would not be in the mess we are in today, knowing that we have to come up with at least $15 million in a few years time to repave. So instead of saving for that, we are told that the money, as it comes in, can be spent on whatever UCO deems worthy. Not really! Waste not, want not. We do not want to be found wanting at the time of need. Or perhaps we do not need to hire armed guards to threaten and control our oh so scary electorate!
Sudden emergencies, a plethora of them, seem to be the current fad, a wasteful manner in which to administer the Village and its finances. Emergencies are not emergencies if one plans for possibilities, has a contingency fund, or deals with something in its incipient stages, rather than waiting till it gets to crisis proportion. Certainly something that has been known since the road debacle took place, several years ago, does not mean it is a sudden emergency! Those lane lines began to sink into the roadway and fade away from day one, due to the poorly planned and carried out timing. The fact that they got to this point merely illustrates that the present UCO administration does not know how to rate matters or priorities.
Waste not, want not. That applies to the wishes of WPRF and Eva as well. It is nice to play around with someone else's money but not too healthy for the person or people whose money you are using. We need to put a hold on projects that are not necessary, on projects that are way over the top. We need to do what we must, such as upkeep on pools and the Clubhouse, but really, did we need a mural for $3,000 on top of an overhang in the Clubhouse that can only be seen by one standing on the stairs? Truly, we did not. Nor do we need a multi thousand dollar mural in the indoor pool. We are not a five star hotel. We are a community of people living here in Florida in Act III of our lives, who want a smoothly running, financially sound and stable place to do just that. We are interested in amenities, but not extravagance. There is no multi national corporation paying our expenses, so please, care and thought, before daydreams and whims.
What we must do is make sure that we get the best in contractors and have the best supervision over them as they work, have airtight contracts with time and penalty clauses, with performance bonds, with anything and everything that will insure us getting the biggest bang for our bucks - and for keeping the rest of the bucks safe.
One way to insure that safety and to keep sticky fingers away from these funds is to go back to the safe and sound method of delineating the funds, designated funds and their use, NO COMINGLING of funds, no shifting of funds or usage of funds over $1000 without DA approval and strict limitation and definition of emergency. I would like someone to truly explain in logical terms just why a president would have to spend more than $1000 on anything without asking for approval. What would be bought? Put it all into line item budgets and it will be very clear and easy to move ahead during the year.
But apparently there is something that is sneaky and underhanded here, in progress and/or being planned, for open finances and open financial planning seem to be anathema to this present UCO administration. No budget in the world is down to the last penny but is always a guestimate and a realistic one at that. Unless true emergencies arise, that budget is upheld and used and lived with and by. That is the way of life, the safe way, the proper way, the one that will insure us a future here in the Village.
So, Lanny, with whom shall we compromise? Is there a name to be published? And remember, compromise means a give and take on all sides, not a unilateral capitulation of one side to the other. It means that there must be talks, not threats. It means there must be a goal of consensus, a use of democracy in action and not the threats of a petty dictator. It means that there must be free and open access to media for all sides of an issue.
What I suggest you do, Lanny, is go back thru the months and years and count up how many times I have offered this compromise, this talking with each other, and how many times ignored. Then go to your lord and master and ask him why this is so. Then come back and publish a true posting, a realistic posting, on what the situation truly is and what you think can be done about it - but please, no more vague and useless statements that are considerably difficult to understand in their vagueness, useless in this same vague wording, with no concrete suggestions or proof of possibility. Then, we can do as Joan Rivers wanted to do. "Can we talk?" Yes, we can, if there is a willing partner.
By the way, it is our 48th today. Hard to believe. Lots of hard work but that is what it takes to make a working partnership. Of course, there needs to be a managing partner........Seriously, we are one made from two and pray that the good Lord allows us to continue and we thank Him for our family and friends.
First of all, what you wrote is vague, very vague indeed. Compromise how and on what, with whom and when. One must have a partner in a relationship and I am sorry to say that though I have reached out often enough with offers of compromise and co-operative work, when that arm was extended, it came back as a stump!
Compromise demands willing people on both sides of an issue and I am truly sorry to say that there is a missing side here, that of the David Israel camp. Whenever anyone presents a differing opinion, one gets a nasty name, an insult or ridicule or even firing from a "job" in UCO. This does not bode well for compromise. Even when advised to try to behave and control himself, he only manages to do so for approximately a week or two and then it is back to same old same old.
Let's take a simple idea that even has its own time aged adage. "Waste not, want not." Simple in its concept, is it not? Well, apparently not so for David Israel. We contend that wasting money as UCO has done so many times has brought us to a financial crisis and we now need to keep to an austerity budget.
Where was that money wasted? Well, over 6 million dollars was tarred over on the roads! If we had done the job right then we would not be in the mess we are in today, knowing that we have to come up with at least $15 million in a few years time to repave. So instead of saving for that, we are told that the money, as it comes in, can be spent on whatever UCO deems worthy. Not really! Waste not, want not. We do not want to be found wanting at the time of need. Or perhaps we do not need to hire armed guards to threaten and control our oh so scary electorate!
Sudden emergencies, a plethora of them, seem to be the current fad, a wasteful manner in which to administer the Village and its finances. Emergencies are not emergencies if one plans for possibilities, has a contingency fund, or deals with something in its incipient stages, rather than waiting till it gets to crisis proportion. Certainly something that has been known since the road debacle took place, several years ago, does not mean it is a sudden emergency! Those lane lines began to sink into the roadway and fade away from day one, due to the poorly planned and carried out timing. The fact that they got to this point merely illustrates that the present UCO administration does not know how to rate matters or priorities.
Waste not, want not. That applies to the wishes of WPRF and Eva as well. It is nice to play around with someone else's money but not too healthy for the person or people whose money you are using. We need to put a hold on projects that are not necessary, on projects that are way over the top. We need to do what we must, such as upkeep on pools and the Clubhouse, but really, did we need a mural for $3,000 on top of an overhang in the Clubhouse that can only be seen by one standing on the stairs? Truly, we did not. Nor do we need a multi thousand dollar mural in the indoor pool. We are not a five star hotel. We are a community of people living here in Florida in Act III of our lives, who want a smoothly running, financially sound and stable place to do just that. We are interested in amenities, but not extravagance. There is no multi national corporation paying our expenses, so please, care and thought, before daydreams and whims.
What we must do is make sure that we get the best in contractors and have the best supervision over them as they work, have airtight contracts with time and penalty clauses, with performance bonds, with anything and everything that will insure us getting the biggest bang for our bucks - and for keeping the rest of the bucks safe.
One way to insure that safety and to keep sticky fingers away from these funds is to go back to the safe and sound method of delineating the funds, designated funds and their use, NO COMINGLING of funds, no shifting of funds or usage of funds over $1000 without DA approval and strict limitation and definition of emergency. I would like someone to truly explain in logical terms just why a president would have to spend more than $1000 on anything without asking for approval. What would be bought? Put it all into line item budgets and it will be very clear and easy to move ahead during the year.
But apparently there is something that is sneaky and underhanded here, in progress and/or being planned, for open finances and open financial planning seem to be anathema to this present UCO administration. No budget in the world is down to the last penny but is always a guestimate and a realistic one at that. Unless true emergencies arise, that budget is upheld and used and lived with and by. That is the way of life, the safe way, the proper way, the one that will insure us a future here in the Village.
So, Lanny, with whom shall we compromise? Is there a name to be published? And remember, compromise means a give and take on all sides, not a unilateral capitulation of one side to the other. It means that there must be talks, not threats. It means there must be a goal of consensus, a use of democracy in action and not the threats of a petty dictator. It means that there must be free and open access to media for all sides of an issue.
What I suggest you do, Lanny, is go back thru the months and years and count up how many times I have offered this compromise, this talking with each other, and how many times ignored. Then go to your lord and master and ask him why this is so. Then come back and publish a true posting, a realistic posting, on what the situation truly is and what you think can be done about it - but please, no more vague and useless statements that are considerably difficult to understand in their vagueness, useless in this same vague wording, with no concrete suggestions or proof of possibility. Then, we can do as Joan Rivers wanted to do. "Can we talk?" Yes, we can, if there is a willing partner.
By the way, it is our 48th today. Hard to believe. Lots of hard work but that is what it takes to make a working partnership. Of course, there needs to be a managing partner........Seriously, we are one made from two and pray that the good Lord allows us to continue and we thank Him for our family and friends.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
IN THE INTEREST OF FULL DISCLOSURE
David Israel is once again engaging in lies, half truths and insults. I knew his sudden change of behavior would not last long. He is incapable of doing anything else. So let us examine what he put forth on his blog.
The "malcontents pressured" the Finance committee. Interesting. What we did was ask questions. Questions such as:
1. How were we to pay for the road redo in the future?
2. How much money we would need to add to the coupon and for how long, as a best guestimate.
3. How could we insure that this money would be set aside for the roads and not be used for other items, thus leaving us in the hole - again - when the time came.
4. We reminded the committee members how David Israel, Ed Black and Bob Marshall raped all the accounts at the time of the road job, leaving us, the Village, with $11,000 total in our accounts and how we needed to avoid that again.
5. O'Brien was asked to answer how he arrived at his figures - from keeping a shortfall in our budget (bad news to do that), or adding a few more dollars to get a reserve of approximately $350,000 or a bit more and then get $700,000 in the reserve. What was really needed was $1,450,000 or so which would have meant an increase of $6 per coupon and then we would eventually have enough money for the roads.
6.Dorothy suggested another way of figuring out costs which would have ameliorated the situation. Of course, D.I. refused, as usual.
7. We then heard from David Israel that we had better not increase anything because WPRF had asked for an increase of $8 for them alone, for such important things as mural for the indoor pool, lighting for Duck Island, more decorative plants which seems to be recurring quite often and other such "important necessities".
8. Our response is austerity - spend only what must and save the rest for the future necessities that we know are coming down the road, the sooner than later road.
9. David Israel seems to have an allergy to saving and putting aside money and insulted those of us who think that saving and budgeting is the way to go. Evidently he must have grown up with money and never having had a family, never had to budget or plan for the future. Too bad for him.Well, the rest of us did and do and know the truth.
10. Once again, the only one who engaged in insulting talk was,......tada!..... David Israel. Nauseating, to tell the truth.
11. The committee voted for an increase that was a compromise, one that can be lived with, though it will make the future harder as more money will have to be collected at that point. There was no zero increase unless we left a shortfall. That is the be all and end all of their financial planning.
12. Once again they tried to put over the mish mash accounting despite most of the people there explaining how that is NOT a good idea to say the least.
13. Actually they refuse to relinquish that system because they continue to wish to spend money however and on whatever they want without DA knowledge or approval.
14. We maintain that this is part and parcel of the ongoing plan they have put into action to cut the DA out from all administrative capacity. That is the reason why we had a walkout last DA and perhaps a few more demonstrations, in whatever form, are needed. Perhaps the TV and papers would again be interested. Could be interesting.
This man and his henchmen are dangerous. Read the posting directly below and all the others of recent days and understand what he has in mind for our future - no future! Time to go. Farewell, adieu, we love to see you go!
The "malcontents pressured" the Finance committee. Interesting. What we did was ask questions. Questions such as:
1. How were we to pay for the road redo in the future?
2. How much money we would need to add to the coupon and for how long, as a best guestimate.
3. How could we insure that this money would be set aside for the roads and not be used for other items, thus leaving us in the hole - again - when the time came.
4. We reminded the committee members how David Israel, Ed Black and Bob Marshall raped all the accounts at the time of the road job, leaving us, the Village, with $11,000 total in our accounts and how we needed to avoid that again.
5. O'Brien was asked to answer how he arrived at his figures - from keeping a shortfall in our budget (bad news to do that), or adding a few more dollars to get a reserve of approximately $350,000 or a bit more and then get $700,000 in the reserve. What was really needed was $1,450,000 or so which would have meant an increase of $6 per coupon and then we would eventually have enough money for the roads.
6.Dorothy suggested another way of figuring out costs which would have ameliorated the situation. Of course, D.I. refused, as usual.
7. We then heard from David Israel that we had better not increase anything because WPRF had asked for an increase of $8 for them alone, for such important things as mural for the indoor pool, lighting for Duck Island, more decorative plants which seems to be recurring quite often and other such "important necessities".
8. Our response is austerity - spend only what must and save the rest for the future necessities that we know are coming down the road, the sooner than later road.
9. David Israel seems to have an allergy to saving and putting aside money and insulted those of us who think that saving and budgeting is the way to go. Evidently he must have grown up with money and never having had a family, never had to budget or plan for the future. Too bad for him.Well, the rest of us did and do and know the truth.
10. Once again, the only one who engaged in insulting talk was,......tada!..... David Israel. Nauseating, to tell the truth.
11. The committee voted for an increase that was a compromise, one that can be lived with, though it will make the future harder as more money will have to be collected at that point. There was no zero increase unless we left a shortfall. That is the be all and end all of their financial planning.
12. Once again they tried to put over the mish mash accounting despite most of the people there explaining how that is NOT a good idea to say the least.
13. Actually they refuse to relinquish that system because they continue to wish to spend money however and on whatever they want without DA knowledge or approval.
14. We maintain that this is part and parcel of the ongoing plan they have put into action to cut the DA out from all administrative capacity. That is the reason why we had a walkout last DA and perhaps a few more demonstrations, in whatever form, are needed. Perhaps the TV and papers would again be interested. Could be interesting.
This man and his henchmen are dangerous. Read the posting directly below and all the others of recent days and understand what he has in mind for our future - no future! Time to go. Farewell, adieu, we love to see you go!
SEPARATION? DIVORCE?
After yesterday's Finance meeting separation or divorce is sounding better and better. We have a problem here in CV. After years of denial, David Israel et al admitted that the road job was a disaster. Of course they do not shoulder the blame which sits squarely on their shoulders, but now suddenly are calling all repairs to the roads as emergencies and spending money like water. And, in addition, have suddenly refloated a "demand" that the president be allowed to basically spend whatever the hell he wants without any limit! I don't think so!!! In any case, this road disaster greatly affects our budget.
We have no money for a redo and it appears no one wants to face the ugly music and realize that we MUST save up for this redo coming upon us sooner than later. We need a designated untouchable reserve line for a new paving job but O'Brien and Israel in their infinite stupidity? Stubborness? Determination to ruin us yet again? are refusing to do this, saying all should be kept in a pool and admit that they will use this money basically as THEY deem necessary. All other sensible ideas put forth by others at the meeting were ignored or poo-pooed.
So, if we agree to a raise, in the hopes of getting new roads, it seems that instead we might get....oh, let's see.....new chairs and table for UCO? New parking lot décor for UCO? Emergency fixing of cameras that spy on us? Reintroduction of software for the gates that doesn't work? And the list can go on and on.
David Israel thought to insult all of us who were opposed to handing him carte blanche that would lead to our definite destruction. We who want strict and austerity budgeting, designated reserve lines, clear and distinct accounts - WHICH WE HAD BEFORE O'BRIEN CAME IN - were called "cigar box people". That was to demean us as backwards and limited people who do not know how to run anything financial. Curious and curiouser, as they say, since we all ran our homes, our businesses, our jobs, quite well and all involved budgeting and careful delineation and designation of funds. So yes, when many of us got married and did not have the proverbial pot .....we budgeted and strictly so. We used the "complicated" system of envelopes and when we had enough money and better jobs, or finished school and got jobs, we opened accounts and to this day Gerry and I have several accounts which are designated for certain things, be it vacation, emergencies, saving, checking or whatever and sorry to say, Mr. David Israel, it works!!! Nor was it necessary to introduce nastiness, personal insults or clumsily attempted ones, into the mix. YOU were the one who did this but your nastiness just cannot stand being unnoticed so there you went. No wonder no one likes you. Perhaps your sudden removal of jacket and pants and donning of a logo t-shirt and shorts will make a difference? Might as well try it since nothing else works for you other than nastiness.
In any case, when discussing the road the idea or necessity of doing a core sample job arose. First time we are hearing of this and it seems they already have A bid on this. I guess this is like the security contract which I am hearing is near a fait accompli, but as usual, no one hears a thing here unless one is in bed with David (oh, be still my stomach!) While this is a good idea and should have been done before we blew the what I am now told was 6 million plus dollars - lovely news! - this needs to be brought in front of the delegates and reasons given. In the meanwhile, David mouthed silently to a gentleman who had asked a question about it that they were going to do it. Really? What if the DA said no, foolishly or not. Hey, our own Congress has done it often enough.
People, this cannot stand and nor can we be told that we cannot raise and save this money because WPRF wants an increase of $8 per month and why? Oh, for night lighting on Duck Island, all the better for the mosquitoes to see you and bite you. And of course, the $20,000 mural for the indoor pool! Yes, I guess that will make it better for one to float on one's back and contemplate something other than one's navel. The members proudly proclaim that they got it down to $10,000. Really? How about ZERO!!! Bread before cake and icing , please. Austerity until our needs are fully and SAFELY funded.
Divorce? Trial separation? All I know is that this marriage is shot to hell and David Israel needs to go and ASAP at that and he needs to take along his little crew of yesmen and lackeys. Folks, this is our future, our money, our lives. Do not cede it to one who is a megalomaniac and cares naught for anything other than his own desires and twisted needs. Cigar box people indeed!
We have no money for a redo and it appears no one wants to face the ugly music and realize that we MUST save up for this redo coming upon us sooner than later. We need a designated untouchable reserve line for a new paving job but O'Brien and Israel in their infinite stupidity? Stubborness? Determination to ruin us yet again? are refusing to do this, saying all should be kept in a pool and admit that they will use this money basically as THEY deem necessary. All other sensible ideas put forth by others at the meeting were ignored or poo-pooed.
So, if we agree to a raise, in the hopes of getting new roads, it seems that instead we might get....oh, let's see.....new chairs and table for UCO? New parking lot décor for UCO? Emergency fixing of cameras that spy on us? Reintroduction of software for the gates that doesn't work? And the list can go on and on.
David Israel thought to insult all of us who were opposed to handing him carte blanche that would lead to our definite destruction. We who want strict and austerity budgeting, designated reserve lines, clear and distinct accounts - WHICH WE HAD BEFORE O'BRIEN CAME IN - were called "cigar box people". That was to demean us as backwards and limited people who do not know how to run anything financial. Curious and curiouser, as they say, since we all ran our homes, our businesses, our jobs, quite well and all involved budgeting and careful delineation and designation of funds. So yes, when many of us got married and did not have the proverbial pot .....we budgeted and strictly so. We used the "complicated" system of envelopes and when we had enough money and better jobs, or finished school and got jobs, we opened accounts and to this day Gerry and I have several accounts which are designated for certain things, be it vacation, emergencies, saving, checking or whatever and sorry to say, Mr. David Israel, it works!!! Nor was it necessary to introduce nastiness, personal insults or clumsily attempted ones, into the mix. YOU were the one who did this but your nastiness just cannot stand being unnoticed so there you went. No wonder no one likes you. Perhaps your sudden removal of jacket and pants and donning of a logo t-shirt and shorts will make a difference? Might as well try it since nothing else works for you other than nastiness.
In any case, when discussing the road the idea or necessity of doing a core sample job arose. First time we are hearing of this and it seems they already have A bid on this. I guess this is like the security contract which I am hearing is near a fait accompli, but as usual, no one hears a thing here unless one is in bed with David (oh, be still my stomach!) While this is a good idea and should have been done before we blew the what I am now told was 6 million plus dollars - lovely news! - this needs to be brought in front of the delegates and reasons given. In the meanwhile, David mouthed silently to a gentleman who had asked a question about it that they were going to do it. Really? What if the DA said no, foolishly or not. Hey, our own Congress has done it often enough.
People, this cannot stand and nor can we be told that we cannot raise and save this money because WPRF wants an increase of $8 per month and why? Oh, for night lighting on Duck Island, all the better for the mosquitoes to see you and bite you. And of course, the $20,000 mural for the indoor pool! Yes, I guess that will make it better for one to float on one's back and contemplate something other than one's navel. The members proudly proclaim that they got it down to $10,000. Really? How about ZERO!!! Bread before cake and icing , please. Austerity until our needs are fully and SAFELY funded.
Divorce? Trial separation? All I know is that this marriage is shot to hell and David Israel needs to go and ASAP at that and he needs to take along his little crew of yesmen and lackeys. Folks, this is our future, our money, our lives. Do not cede it to one who is a megalomaniac and cares naught for anything other than his own desires and twisted needs. Cigar box people indeed!
Monday, September 21, 2015
WE ARE MARRIED!
Yes, we are married - we, the residents of CV and UCO are partners in a marriage, or at least we would hope so. Together we must work to improve the Village, to keep WPRF and its wish list in the realm of reality, and should, by some miracle, a contract come in under what was allotted then that surplus must be rolled over for the next year so that we might, by some miracle, have to pay a tad less in our fees.
We must work together in trust and therein is the problem. We, the residents of CV DO NOT trust our partner in marriage, a partner who violates our trust with selfish whims and careless, if not worse, handling of our funds. Now we find that they wish to be able to spend our money without even asking us!!!! This marriage is in deep trouble and must be fixed.
The problem is that the current UCO refuses to go to marriage counseling. And why? Because too many of their faults which threaten this union would be exposed. This is not always the case as there have been some good times with UCO but NOT with THIS administration, not with David Israel and Ed Black that non elected buttinsky, not with the shills they parades out to put forth their garbage ideas, who take the heat for them so they can try to remain Teflon. Well, not working so well anymore, is it?
In a good and trusting relationship, a solid marriage, the partners would trust the other with or to making wise decisions up to a certain financial point. After that, larger outlays would necessitate a conference, a discussion and a decision made by BOTH parties. That is how a good and solid and trustworthy marriage and union works, with one side never disrespecting the other and always maintaining contact and transparency.
Well, folks, this marriage here in CV is in trouble. UCO, in the person of David Israel and Ed Black, in the persona of Lanny Howe as spokesman for them, are trying once again to get ahold of more of our funds, more opaqueness, more disrespect and bad, really bad, financial maneuverings. Just what do they plan to do with freer access to our funds? Why do they need it? Does Ed need more cameras? Does David need some new system to keep him company in the weekends he so eerily spends in UCO office, tap, tap, tapping away on his computer?
This cannot be allowed. Our financial foundation is on shaky grounds, no matter the Pollyanna review Howie O'Brien gives out. Suddenly we are not going to pay more in fees for next year but also suddenly, what happened to the necessity of amassing funds to redo the massive and awful paving job, you know, the one for which we were told we had to save one million dollars a year in order to cover it? Yes, that one. Uh huh. Maybe we suddenly found a benefactor or perhaps M&M Paving is going to return the money or maybe pigs will fly!! And by the way, just what exactly is going on with security and new contracts and its cost? More financial hanky panky.
Marriage indeed! Well, we need to get out of this one, fast, for our own preservation. And no, Eva, we are not looking to destroy UCO, only to revive it, to restructure it and quite frankly that is our decision, not yours. Your job is to work with whomever the Villagers send to you as their representative IF that representative is honest and transparent. And by the way, you know all the pool work we are needing, the bad workmanship that you say was not under your supervision or time here at CV, well Dan Cruz was and still is and this type of contracting needs to have his supervision so WHERE WAS IT during those jobs and how can we be sure that a proper job will be done this time? How can you reassure us and show us as this work is going along that we will not have to redo it in three years, again, as is happening again and again. We are tired of having our pools shut down, particularly during season when they are needed for our population. That is YOUR responsibility.
So people, let us force the present UCO administration into marriage counseling for if not.....Well, it speaks for itself. "Oh, how we danced....." Please, let us be able to dance again.
We must work together in trust and therein is the problem. We, the residents of CV DO NOT trust our partner in marriage, a partner who violates our trust with selfish whims and careless, if not worse, handling of our funds. Now we find that they wish to be able to spend our money without even asking us!!!! This marriage is in deep trouble and must be fixed.
The problem is that the current UCO refuses to go to marriage counseling. And why? Because too many of their faults which threaten this union would be exposed. This is not always the case as there have been some good times with UCO but NOT with THIS administration, not with David Israel and Ed Black that non elected buttinsky, not with the shills they parades out to put forth their garbage ideas, who take the heat for them so they can try to remain Teflon. Well, not working so well anymore, is it?
In a good and trusting relationship, a solid marriage, the partners would trust the other with or to making wise decisions up to a certain financial point. After that, larger outlays would necessitate a conference, a discussion and a decision made by BOTH parties. That is how a good and solid and trustworthy marriage and union works, with one side never disrespecting the other and always maintaining contact and transparency.
Well, folks, this marriage here in CV is in trouble. UCO, in the person of David Israel and Ed Black, in the persona of Lanny Howe as spokesman for them, are trying once again to get ahold of more of our funds, more opaqueness, more disrespect and bad, really bad, financial maneuverings. Just what do they plan to do with freer access to our funds? Why do they need it? Does Ed need more cameras? Does David need some new system to keep him company in the weekends he so eerily spends in UCO office, tap, tap, tapping away on his computer?
This cannot be allowed. Our financial foundation is on shaky grounds, no matter the Pollyanna review Howie O'Brien gives out. Suddenly we are not going to pay more in fees for next year but also suddenly, what happened to the necessity of amassing funds to redo the massive and awful paving job, you know, the one for which we were told we had to save one million dollars a year in order to cover it? Yes, that one. Uh huh. Maybe we suddenly found a benefactor or perhaps M&M Paving is going to return the money or maybe pigs will fly!! And by the way, just what exactly is going on with security and new contracts and its cost? More financial hanky panky.
Marriage indeed! Well, we need to get out of this one, fast, for our own preservation. And no, Eva, we are not looking to destroy UCO, only to revive it, to restructure it and quite frankly that is our decision, not yours. Your job is to work with whomever the Villagers send to you as their representative IF that representative is honest and transparent. And by the way, you know all the pool work we are needing, the bad workmanship that you say was not under your supervision or time here at CV, well Dan Cruz was and still is and this type of contracting needs to have his supervision so WHERE WAS IT during those jobs and how can we be sure that a proper job will be done this time? How can you reassure us and show us as this work is going along that we will not have to redo it in three years, again, as is happening again and again. We are tired of having our pools shut down, particularly during season when they are needed for our population. That is YOUR responsibility.
So people, let us force the present UCO administration into marriage counseling for if not.....Well, it speaks for itself. "Oh, how we danced....." Please, let us be able to dance again.
Sunday, September 20, 2015
JUST ASKING....
This is a posting by Phyllis Richland, one of the most respected former VPs of UCO and a true citizen of CV. Read what she has to say and think hard. Real hard.
If we could get our hands on past minutes we would see that originally the president had only $500.00 to use at his discretion.Fast forward to this president's first term when the motion was made to increase the funds to $1000.00. At the time this was being discussed, there were many amounts bandied about, even the sum of $25000.00.
UCO has been in existence since 1982 and all the presidents were content with what they had to work with. Now, all of a sudden, there is a request for more money?One has to ask, "WHY?"
Isn't it enough that he spends behind our backs at closed meetings? Just asking.
Isn't it enough that he has bamboozled the delegates to vote for whatever he wants? Just asking.
Why does he need more money to spend without our knowing about it? Just asking.
What do we have to do to knock sense into the heads of our residents to make them see what is happening here ? Just asking.
Phyllis Richland
If we could get our hands on past minutes we would see that originally the president had only $500.00 to use at his discretion.Fast forward to this president's first term when the motion was made to increase the funds to $1000.00. At the time this was being discussed, there were many amounts bandied about, even the sum of $25000.00.
UCO has been in existence since 1982 and all the presidents were content with what they had to work with. Now, all of a sudden, there is a request for more money?One has to ask, "WHY?"
Isn't it enough that he spends behind our backs at closed meetings? Just asking.
Isn't it enough that he has bamboozled the delegates to vote for whatever he wants? Just asking.
Why does he need more money to spend without our knowing about it? Just asking.
What do we have to do to knock sense into the heads of our residents to make them see what is happening here ? Just asking.
Phyllis Richland
INSTRUCTIONS: OPEN MOUTH, INSERT FOOT. THEN REPEAT.
I had to read the posting by Lanny Howe three times to convince myself that it was actually there! It is that stupid and worse, that dangerous.
Evidently, Lanny has missed posting one of his inane comments for some time and David and Ed obviously needed a shill to put forth this ridiculous proposal as they have railed against money restrictions for quite some time. Right now we have a control over UCO spending to some degree in that expenditures under $1000 are allowed to the president but over that needs the approval of the delegates. This is to be sure that our funds are safe from willful waste and other forms of chicanery. Well, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but to allow larger amounts including quite sizeable amounts according to the "wisdom" of Lanny, is to just throw in the towel on any control over our funds and just tell those two to just have at it. Already our control has been weakened as there are really no more truly detailed reserve lines anymore. Almost everything is just clumped together and we are left in the dark as to details.
These controls are set in place for safety but Lanny feels it is a great encumbrance. So let's see what would happen if it were changed. Now these two spendthrifts would be able to spend thousands upon thousands on whatever they want. More spy cameras. More food supplies for UCO. Hey, even two fancy hired armed guards to stand at attention at the UCO building on a daily basis, more money on software programs for safety at the gates that do not work. But what the hey, it's only money, right!? And Lanny does not like that the delegates have a say in it? Why not ask the delegates and as far as the number of 300, good luck in getting that amount as they rarely show up, unless David and Ed dig them up for a particularly important vote, give them instructions and then drive them back and forth to the polls, returning them to their zombie stations after they have completed their task.
Make no mistake about it. These two and their buddies have misspent our funds before without approval. Case in point - over $2 million without delegate approval before continuing to waste the rest of the $5+ million on the roads. Is that a figure that you agree with, Lanny? Should they have had the right to spend that money, to shift that money as they did, without delegate approval? Just where is your line drawn? How do we safeguard against frivolous spending, against dangerous waste of our funds? How? There is no how, just the insane giggling of those two as they realize that they would have put another one over on the residents.
You complain of having to pay out something in several checks. Well guess what, Lanny, that is the safest way to pay something, particularly a large sum. It is the one third, one third, one third rule but in this Village that seems to be honored more in the breach than in the usage. Much to our detriment.
Spell out your details, Lanny. Tell us exactly where your boundaries, if any, would be drawn. Tell us how you would safeguard against nefarious designs on our funds. Tell us, please, Lanny, so that we might all admire your wisdom!And by the way, this would be the third time this would be brought up and the first two times it received a resounding no!!!So think again!
And by the way, while I am writing, I may as well mention Howie Silver's posting on Gary's blog, about the breakdown in the quality of Channel 63, particularly so after the departure for principle of the Greggs. Howie, you are so right about the quality of the Channel. However, it was not David Israel who told them to take a less than five minute chat piece about a book club off. That was ED BLACK who obviously could not have my face seen in public. Like other toddlers and those of toddler mentality, he and his buddy feel that if one cannot see someone's face, then they are gone Well, go play peek a boo with a baby - I am here and will remain so as long as the good Lord wishes it so. Tough bugs if that bothers you, but then again, perhaps you might follow through on that threat to blow me up. Hmmm....is that the echoes of the Baker Act backfiring on you? Maybe I will consult with Olga. But I must also comment on the hit it on the nail that Howie has with his analysis of Joy Vestal. Power hungry and poor performance. Such a treat for us all!
One more comment and this has nothing to do with the previous comments made. Just finished a book called G-d, Faith & Identity from the Ashes". This asks hard questions and has some amazing thoughts and will certainly provoke others in your own mind. While this involves children and grandchildren of survivors, it is not confined to meaning only in that context. Believe me on that. It is well worth a trip to the library or on line and read it in small, manageable pieces that allow you the time to think and reflect. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
We are finally supposed to have a nice day, so go out and enjoy - but do not forget to think about life here in the Village.
.,
Evidently, Lanny has missed posting one of his inane comments for some time and David and Ed obviously needed a shill to put forth this ridiculous proposal as they have railed against money restrictions for quite some time. Right now we have a control over UCO spending to some degree in that expenditures under $1000 are allowed to the president but over that needs the approval of the delegates. This is to be sure that our funds are safe from willful waste and other forms of chicanery. Well, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but to allow larger amounts including quite sizeable amounts according to the "wisdom" of Lanny, is to just throw in the towel on any control over our funds and just tell those two to just have at it. Already our control has been weakened as there are really no more truly detailed reserve lines anymore. Almost everything is just clumped together and we are left in the dark as to details.
These controls are set in place for safety but Lanny feels it is a great encumbrance. So let's see what would happen if it were changed. Now these two spendthrifts would be able to spend thousands upon thousands on whatever they want. More spy cameras. More food supplies for UCO. Hey, even two fancy hired armed guards to stand at attention at the UCO building on a daily basis, more money on software programs for safety at the gates that do not work. But what the hey, it's only money, right!? And Lanny does not like that the delegates have a say in it? Why not ask the delegates and as far as the number of 300, good luck in getting that amount as they rarely show up, unless David and Ed dig them up for a particularly important vote, give them instructions and then drive them back and forth to the polls, returning them to their zombie stations after they have completed their task.
Make no mistake about it. These two and their buddies have misspent our funds before without approval. Case in point - over $2 million without delegate approval before continuing to waste the rest of the $5+ million on the roads. Is that a figure that you agree with, Lanny? Should they have had the right to spend that money, to shift that money as they did, without delegate approval? Just where is your line drawn? How do we safeguard against frivolous spending, against dangerous waste of our funds? How? There is no how, just the insane giggling of those two as they realize that they would have put another one over on the residents.
You complain of having to pay out something in several checks. Well guess what, Lanny, that is the safest way to pay something, particularly a large sum. It is the one third, one third, one third rule but in this Village that seems to be honored more in the breach than in the usage. Much to our detriment.
Spell out your details, Lanny. Tell us exactly where your boundaries, if any, would be drawn. Tell us how you would safeguard against nefarious designs on our funds. Tell us, please, Lanny, so that we might all admire your wisdom!And by the way, this would be the third time this would be brought up and the first two times it received a resounding no!!!So think again!
And by the way, while I am writing, I may as well mention Howie Silver's posting on Gary's blog, about the breakdown in the quality of Channel 63, particularly so after the departure for principle of the Greggs. Howie, you are so right about the quality of the Channel. However, it was not David Israel who told them to take a less than five minute chat piece about a book club off. That was ED BLACK who obviously could not have my face seen in public. Like other toddlers and those of toddler mentality, he and his buddy feel that if one cannot see someone's face, then they are gone Well, go play peek a boo with a baby - I am here and will remain so as long as the good Lord wishes it so. Tough bugs if that bothers you, but then again, perhaps you might follow through on that threat to blow me up. Hmmm....is that the echoes of the Baker Act backfiring on you? Maybe I will consult with Olga. But I must also comment on the hit it on the nail that Howie has with his analysis of Joy Vestal. Power hungry and poor performance. Such a treat for us all!
One more comment and this has nothing to do with the previous comments made. Just finished a book called G-d, Faith & Identity from the Ashes". This asks hard questions and has some amazing thoughts and will certainly provoke others in your own mind. While this involves children and grandchildren of survivors, it is not confined to meaning only in that context. Believe me on that. It is well worth a trip to the library or on line and read it in small, manageable pieces that allow you the time to think and reflect. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
We are finally supposed to have a nice day, so go out and enjoy - but do not forget to think about life here in the Village.
.,
Friday, September 18, 2015
"PEOPLE EVERYWHERE JUST GOTTA' BE FREE"
Remember the Rascals back in 1968? Remember their song "People Just Gotta be Free"? It is almost as if they were prescient of our situation so many years later.
Here is a reminder of the lyrics:
"People everywhere just wanna be, gotta be free''
.......what a lovely, lovely world this would be....(if) everyone lived together........
natural situation for men to be free"
Here is a reminder of the lyrics:
"People everywhere just wanna be, gotta be free''
.......what a lovely, lovely world this would be....(if) everyone lived together........
natural situation for men to be free"
I took out the main ideas from here and perhaps the officials of UCO and the people of the Village will remember back when we all thought we could change the world and the idea that all men deserved to be free was a great principle to live by. Well, that is what we want here - to be free to practice the rights that are granted to us under the Constitution of the United States of America under the First Amendment - free speech, criticism of a government or administration without fear, freedom of assembly and freedom of the press.
Evidently David Israel, Ed Black and others of their ilk believe that this is not so. Perhaps they have their own plans, perhaps to overthrow the government and toss the Constitution in the garbage!! I could not tell you what they are thinking, only that they are so wrong that it is beyond the Pale. It is truly unAmerican.
Why can we not publish our articles and thoughts and ideas in OUR Village paper, the one we subsidize with OUR funds? Why are we blocked from it? Why can we not distribute our new CV Messenger paper freely in the Village, in the Clubhouse, at the pools? Why are we blocked from WPRF facilities and Heaven forbid we speak a word against David Israel in these facilities or bring in a piece of paper regarding these issues and no sooner than that we are threatened with a legal letter threatening dire legal consequences. Whoo! Really? Is that the hammer and sickle I see on the flag here? Is that the sign of North Korea I see in a window of WPRF offices? Is this a dictatorship or part of the USA with all incumbent rights to all citizens? Why are we not allowed on Channel 63? Why are all paths of media access blocked? "People everywhere just wanna be free!" And ain't that the truth!
So all of you delegates out there, all of you David groupies, really think about your acquiescence in this matter. Think how you would feel if all of a sudden one political party came out in force and banned the other party from all media access. It is the same thing here, only in our micro world rather than the outside macro world. If you agree with the tactics used by David, then understand what you are and be honest with yourself - you are believers in dictatorship, in non equal rights for people and all the evil that flows with that. Not a pretty insight or belief is it? Your Choice, but do not blame us if we continue to fight for our rights and in doing so fight for yours as well.
PEOPLE EVERYWHERE JUST GOTTA BE FREE.
By the way, just go to you tube and type in the Rascals and the song will come up. Listen to it and remember.
PROGRESS?
Attended a bid committee meeting yesterday and came out with some interesting observations. First of all, know that the discussion revolved around the repairs to the guest pool at the Clubhouse, the most used pool in the Village. And also keep in mind that this is only half of what is needed and we can look forward to not only a major delay in the use of the pool this year - at best somewhere around end of October to Thanksgiving time or beyond as weather and material delays have to be factored in, but also the same for next year.
What seems to be beyond all acceptance is that most of the WPRF pools have had some major repair in recent years and it seems that we are now redoing or fixing the mess of that repair. The question is why? If, as Eva claims, these companies were inept and she would never use them again under her aegis, then why did Anita and why can we not hold the Levys and WPRF responsible, financially, for this carelessness in choosing vendors. And Anita received a promotion after leaving us?
In addition, if we knew that there were going to be repairs, major work, then why did we not solicit bids way before this and not end up on September 17th discussing these bids and having work start so close to the return of the season? It seems to me that there is a lag time in thought and preparation, and we, the residents, are the ones suffering thru it - as our money is used again and again to repair again and again. Would that these new companies do a better and more permanent job this time around. In any case, looks like the indoor pool and the guest pool could conceivably be out of use at the same time. Lovely!
On the bright side, the chair ran a good meeting, no yelling, no name calling and an attentiveness to all hands raised to speak. However, that fact is almost negated by noting that the majority of the committee and the voters were, yup, you got it, the officers of UCO, the same people who vote on everything and it does not matter even if the committee members disagree - if the officers want it - then we got it! This is part and parcel of the system that must be fixed and one of the major reasons why a petition was submitted to stop this multiple voting by the same people. Also yet another reason for term limits.
Interestingly enough, the three quietest members present were the following: David Israel, Fausto, and Bob Marshall. Veerrry interesting, as they say. David could not dominate and Fausto who is supposed to be the present know it all about the infrastructure had very little to say, and Bob Marshall....well, what is there to say? This man is long past his sell by date as far as UCO is concerned.
So, are we making progress? Have we begun to see the results of our banging on their heads? Possibly yes. There was a discussion of the three bids received - and there were three, a proper number. Questions were asked again about the RFP and at least two members were not happy with it and are asking for better ones, but at least this was an improvement over the ones that have come before. In addition, there was discussion and voting over the inclusion of a penalty clause in the contract. Would that we would have had that in the paving contract!! Our words and demands are obviously being heard and like it or not, we will keep demanding more and more, all for the betterment of our Village and will be there watching, watching very closely. And by the way, I came as a guest as I still have not received any answer from my committee requests. Are you surprised? I am not.
What I truly did not like at all was the careless by the way remark that the budget of WPRF was going to be discussed today in an Operations meeting at 10 in UCO. Really? Where was this publicized? Anywhere? Nowhere? This is part and parcel of the opaque administration being run and headed by David Israel and buddies. It seems for every step forward we still have the two steps backwards. This needs to stop. WE will be trying our best to do so - are you as well? Join us. Speak up. Run for office. Become a delegate from your association. Listen carefully. Demand answers. Ask the questions for those answers. Vote for fresh minds and thoughts. It is my home, your home, our home. Think about that.
What seems to be beyond all acceptance is that most of the WPRF pools have had some major repair in recent years and it seems that we are now redoing or fixing the mess of that repair. The question is why? If, as Eva claims, these companies were inept and she would never use them again under her aegis, then why did Anita and why can we not hold the Levys and WPRF responsible, financially, for this carelessness in choosing vendors. And Anita received a promotion after leaving us?
In addition, if we knew that there were going to be repairs, major work, then why did we not solicit bids way before this and not end up on September 17th discussing these bids and having work start so close to the return of the season? It seems to me that there is a lag time in thought and preparation, and we, the residents, are the ones suffering thru it - as our money is used again and again to repair again and again. Would that these new companies do a better and more permanent job this time around. In any case, looks like the indoor pool and the guest pool could conceivably be out of use at the same time. Lovely!
On the bright side, the chair ran a good meeting, no yelling, no name calling and an attentiveness to all hands raised to speak. However, that fact is almost negated by noting that the majority of the committee and the voters were, yup, you got it, the officers of UCO, the same people who vote on everything and it does not matter even if the committee members disagree - if the officers want it - then we got it! This is part and parcel of the system that must be fixed and one of the major reasons why a petition was submitted to stop this multiple voting by the same people. Also yet another reason for term limits.
Interestingly enough, the three quietest members present were the following: David Israel, Fausto, and Bob Marshall. Veerrry interesting, as they say. David could not dominate and Fausto who is supposed to be the present know it all about the infrastructure had very little to say, and Bob Marshall....well, what is there to say? This man is long past his sell by date as far as UCO is concerned.
So, are we making progress? Have we begun to see the results of our banging on their heads? Possibly yes. There was a discussion of the three bids received - and there were three, a proper number. Questions were asked again about the RFP and at least two members were not happy with it and are asking for better ones, but at least this was an improvement over the ones that have come before. In addition, there was discussion and voting over the inclusion of a penalty clause in the contract. Would that we would have had that in the paving contract!! Our words and demands are obviously being heard and like it or not, we will keep demanding more and more, all for the betterment of our Village and will be there watching, watching very closely. And by the way, I came as a guest as I still have not received any answer from my committee requests. Are you surprised? I am not.
What I truly did not like at all was the careless by the way remark that the budget of WPRF was going to be discussed today in an Operations meeting at 10 in UCO. Really? Where was this publicized? Anywhere? Nowhere? This is part and parcel of the opaque administration being run and headed by David Israel and buddies. It seems for every step forward we still have the two steps backwards. This needs to stop. WE will be trying our best to do so - are you as well? Join us. Speak up. Run for office. Become a delegate from your association. Listen carefully. Demand answers. Ask the questions for those answers. Vote for fresh minds and thoughts. It is my home, your home, our home. Think about that.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
DO WE KNOW WHAT WE ARE DOING - LOCAL VERSION
Well, after listening to the debate - or at least a goodly chunk of it - and reading the analysis of it this morning, gotta' say - the answer to the question is NO, and a resounding one at that. Really and truly, are these the present and future leaders of America? The guy who says he just gave up on his job in the Senate, not showing up for votes because he does not like his fellow politicians? Really? That gives him permission to phone it home, to renege on the job given him by the voters? And the fool Trump? Shudder, shudder. And all the rest of them. Carson tries to come across as an elder and wise statesman by keeping quiet, but the question is - does he really have anything to add? Anything valid? I doubt it so his best tactic is to remain oh so wise and quiet.
We could go thru all of them but what a crew! And these are our choices for President of the United States? Can we not do any better? The only moderate in the bunch is Pataki and he is nowhere at the moment. Dear Lord in Heaven, but we really do need some help here and we really do NOT know what we are doing. I can just picture the people all around the world wondering about the fall of quality of American leadership. The kid in Syria. The tired and ragged soldier in the Ukraine. The woman running from the Shabab attacking her Village. The Greek pensioner wondering how she is to survive. The Israeli Holocaust survivor wondering if they have been relegated to destruction once again via appeasement and lack of moral strength. And all of us here in America, waiting, waiting, for a leader. Waiting for hope for the future. Blows the mind, does it not?
And what about here in good old CVWPB? Situation standard - SNAFU. Just yesterday I read a term that describes how many of our so called leaders here are thinking, their posture in life. It is called rectal cranial inversion. Figure it out for yourself. And this is what we have to deal with here.
We, too, have so called leaders who are phoning it in, who have ceded all rights, all interests, all challenging thinking - all for a lollipop of their choosing. Well, we all know now that lollipops are bad for us so perhaps it is high time we stop this practice here but not with those presently in office. I truly believe that for the vast majority of them there is a lack of moral strength, lack of a will to do something, to fix the situation for it is just oh so comfortable for them. Do THEY know what they are doing? Unhappily, yes, for they know exactly what they are getting for their desertion of the residents, for ignoring the needs of the Village, for not seeing the truth even as David Israel tantrums away his life and ours, nothing is related to the delegates and residents and life just oh so sweetly goes on.
Why have so many meetings been cancelled lately? What is happening in those areas? Just what are David Israel and Ed Black up to when they cancel a Broadband meeting? Are they signing contracts, making agreements and planning to present this as a fait accompli? The transparency here is noticeable in its glaring absence and it is replicated in the rest of the areas of UCO. What is happening with the security contract? Has David Israel lost yet another bid, not knowing where it went? How many more cameras are they planning? Why are we not getting details? What about the striping? Was it complete? Was it satisfactory? And I guess all the striping in the other areas of the Village are not an emergency so they can go undone. What is going in inside UCO? That is the question. Actually, that is the corollary to the original question - Do we know what we are doing? Do we know what UCO is doing? Do we know we MUST get rid of them , as many as possible, come March?
Will we be content to sit by and watch our dreams go down the tubes, along with the rest of the world, or will we actually do something about it? Will we actually stand up and say something, work for a better future, change the status quo, take an active role in our own lives?
The answer to all those questions resides in you and you and you. Do not leave it to others. Have an active say, an active part so that when the question is asked, you can say yes, proudly so - YES, at least I know what we are doing here.
We could go thru all of them but what a crew! And these are our choices for President of the United States? Can we not do any better? The only moderate in the bunch is Pataki and he is nowhere at the moment. Dear Lord in Heaven, but we really do need some help here and we really do NOT know what we are doing. I can just picture the people all around the world wondering about the fall of quality of American leadership. The kid in Syria. The tired and ragged soldier in the Ukraine. The woman running from the Shabab attacking her Village. The Greek pensioner wondering how she is to survive. The Israeli Holocaust survivor wondering if they have been relegated to destruction once again via appeasement and lack of moral strength. And all of us here in America, waiting, waiting, for a leader. Waiting for hope for the future. Blows the mind, does it not?
And what about here in good old CVWPB? Situation standard - SNAFU. Just yesterday I read a term that describes how many of our so called leaders here are thinking, their posture in life. It is called rectal cranial inversion. Figure it out for yourself. And this is what we have to deal with here.
We, too, have so called leaders who are phoning it in, who have ceded all rights, all interests, all challenging thinking - all for a lollipop of their choosing. Well, we all know now that lollipops are bad for us so perhaps it is high time we stop this practice here but not with those presently in office. I truly believe that for the vast majority of them there is a lack of moral strength, lack of a will to do something, to fix the situation for it is just oh so comfortable for them. Do THEY know what they are doing? Unhappily, yes, for they know exactly what they are getting for their desertion of the residents, for ignoring the needs of the Village, for not seeing the truth even as David Israel tantrums away his life and ours, nothing is related to the delegates and residents and life just oh so sweetly goes on.
Why have so many meetings been cancelled lately? What is happening in those areas? Just what are David Israel and Ed Black up to when they cancel a Broadband meeting? Are they signing contracts, making agreements and planning to present this as a fait accompli? The transparency here is noticeable in its glaring absence and it is replicated in the rest of the areas of UCO. What is happening with the security contract? Has David Israel lost yet another bid, not knowing where it went? How many more cameras are they planning? Why are we not getting details? What about the striping? Was it complete? Was it satisfactory? And I guess all the striping in the other areas of the Village are not an emergency so they can go undone. What is going in inside UCO? That is the question. Actually, that is the corollary to the original question - Do we know what we are doing? Do we know what UCO is doing? Do we know we MUST get rid of them , as many as possible, come March?
Will we be content to sit by and watch our dreams go down the tubes, along with the rest of the world, or will we actually do something about it? Will we actually stand up and say something, work for a better future, change the status quo, take an active role in our own lives?
The answer to all those questions resides in you and you and you. Do not leave it to others. Have an active say, an active part so that when the question is asked, you can say yes, proudly so - YES, at least I know what we are doing here.
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
WHAT ARE WE DOING?
New year? Yes, but what is new about it? For the individual, we hope it will be a year of peace, good health, happiness, but can the individuals get that if the world itself has gone off the tracks? I highly doubt that. Just take a look around and try to answer the question in the title. My answer? No. Plain and simple.
We obviously have not learned from the past. Russia poked its nose into the Ukraine and made its land grab and well, there she remains. Not content with that, Putin seems to have expansionist thoughts as now he has gone openly into Syria with arms and ammunition and boots on the ground, not even playing the game of disguising his soldiers. So what are we to expect now? A growing new Iron Curtain a la Putin from Syria to the Ukraine? And why not? The world sees and stands by and does nothing. Apparently Russia is surviving the sanctions as it seems to have the money and the gall to continue on this path as the world does not even say, "Tsk,tsk".
The population influx into Europe, be it Eastern, Central or Western, is overwhelming the continent, the individual countries and there appears to be no end in sight. These "refugees" are not necessarily so. Are they migrants? Yes. Are most of them coming from countries that are enveloped in war or fighting on some scale? Yes. But that does not mean that the world can absorb their populations into countries that are already dealing with economic issues, home grown populations who are hungry, homeless, unemployed, and restless. They have given refuge to many but are now concerned that there is no end and what will happen to their country if this is to go on.
Who are these migrants? Most come from war torn countries and most of these war torn countries involve various sects of Islam fighting either against each other or against other religions. There is the new industry of kidnapping. There is the horrendous growth of sanctioned rape of women and abuse of children as they are used as sexual objects and slaves. The men claim that religion allows this. Really? Then this is not a religion but a horror, the distortion of a religion, and the world should be screaming about this. But it is not.
Many of these migrants have already been living OUTSIDE of their countries in other countries - Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, etc. Many are refugees from fallen governments or fallen sects which have lost their overrule of others. Many of these people have engaged in horrific acts against their "enemies" and now they are fleeing from revenge. Yes, there are some innocents here, but they are caught up and overwhelmed by the others and how to distinguish, how to recognize and separate? I don't know, yet if we do not we could be importing troubles of major proportion into our countries. How many more will be going off in a few years to rejoin the fighting in their home countries or other countries which leaders push? How many will become those who turn on their new homes, thinking they are serving a higher purpose by doing so? How do we recognize this? And how do we prepare for such large numbers as are coming and their illogical expectations of homes and jobs and lots of money just waiting for them? Again, I do not know and am just asking questions that I wish someone would answer - and answer honestly and soon.
Yes, the pictures are horrendous. The sight of little ones caught in this, the sight of anguished parents - but what about the sight of all those young and single men, alone, no families? What about them? And there are many. Are we supposed to provide for runaway economic migrants as well? Where will there be room and funding then for the seriously and truly in danger and will those in danger be worthy of rescue or are they running from the consequences of their own behavior? Are many of the Syrians coming now the die hard supporters of Assad and his regime? If so, they are now losing power and hope for their future but does that become our problem? And where are the wealthy Arab and Moslem countries? Where is their famed charity, their funds? Why are they not helping their own people?
I believe that the answer is to solve the problem where it begins - in their respective countries and if the world would actually do it together, with all contributing and working together, then perhaps we could make a start. But will they? First they shout about how terrible it is and then they turn to the USA to do something, to fund it all. Well, we cannot do that any longer. We too have a weaker economy. We too have hungry children. We too must make a distinction between the true refugee and those who are not. And we have a disengaged president who has disengaged from Americans and the world alike.
The countries who had thrown open their borders are now shutting them. Where will these people go? Are we to now to throw them on ships and send them back? That reeks of the St. Louis. It reeks of those "stateless" Jews who were thrown into no man's land by Germany and left there to starve and freeze as they rejected them and Poland refused them.
In the meanwhile, we sign treaties with countries that hate us, that threaten our very existence. We have to choose between Nusra, an Islamic extremist group or ISIS, another one. Is one better than the other because they are less extremist or they do not behead captives at the same rate? Are we to fight alongside Iran as they battle their enemies which have become ours? And what will happen later on? And what about North Korea, led by a young megalomaniac who now threatens to blow us up in a nuclear inferno?
Do we know what we are doing? Do we understand what the consequences are of our actions or lack thereof? I highly doubt it. I think our leaders are just as confused as we are, have led us into this multi crisis situation and we are left with the news of these disasters and the ability to turn away from them so we can read all about global warming, rising seawaters and horrific wildfires on our West Coast. Or we can all stick our heads back into the sand and hope for the best. Hasn't worked before, but who knows. Perhaps during this time of prayer G-d will hear and send us an answer that will work for us, and will not turn away from His children. We can only hope.
Maybe this all makes our problems here in CV look a bit less urgent, but again, we all have to start somewhere and this is a good place to do just that. Perhaps tomorrow we can discuss the same question but in terms of our own little home here in West Palm Beach. Do we know what we are doing here?
We obviously have not learned from the past. Russia poked its nose into the Ukraine and made its land grab and well, there she remains. Not content with that, Putin seems to have expansionist thoughts as now he has gone openly into Syria with arms and ammunition and boots on the ground, not even playing the game of disguising his soldiers. So what are we to expect now? A growing new Iron Curtain a la Putin from Syria to the Ukraine? And why not? The world sees and stands by and does nothing. Apparently Russia is surviving the sanctions as it seems to have the money and the gall to continue on this path as the world does not even say, "Tsk,tsk".
The population influx into Europe, be it Eastern, Central or Western, is overwhelming the continent, the individual countries and there appears to be no end in sight. These "refugees" are not necessarily so. Are they migrants? Yes. Are most of them coming from countries that are enveloped in war or fighting on some scale? Yes. But that does not mean that the world can absorb their populations into countries that are already dealing with economic issues, home grown populations who are hungry, homeless, unemployed, and restless. They have given refuge to many but are now concerned that there is no end and what will happen to their country if this is to go on.
Who are these migrants? Most come from war torn countries and most of these war torn countries involve various sects of Islam fighting either against each other or against other religions. There is the new industry of kidnapping. There is the horrendous growth of sanctioned rape of women and abuse of children as they are used as sexual objects and slaves. The men claim that religion allows this. Really? Then this is not a religion but a horror, the distortion of a religion, and the world should be screaming about this. But it is not.
Many of these migrants have already been living OUTSIDE of their countries in other countries - Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, etc. Many are refugees from fallen governments or fallen sects which have lost their overrule of others. Many of these people have engaged in horrific acts against their "enemies" and now they are fleeing from revenge. Yes, there are some innocents here, but they are caught up and overwhelmed by the others and how to distinguish, how to recognize and separate? I don't know, yet if we do not we could be importing troubles of major proportion into our countries. How many more will be going off in a few years to rejoin the fighting in their home countries or other countries which leaders push? How many will become those who turn on their new homes, thinking they are serving a higher purpose by doing so? How do we recognize this? And how do we prepare for such large numbers as are coming and their illogical expectations of homes and jobs and lots of money just waiting for them? Again, I do not know and am just asking questions that I wish someone would answer - and answer honestly and soon.
Yes, the pictures are horrendous. The sight of little ones caught in this, the sight of anguished parents - but what about the sight of all those young and single men, alone, no families? What about them? And there are many. Are we supposed to provide for runaway economic migrants as well? Where will there be room and funding then for the seriously and truly in danger and will those in danger be worthy of rescue or are they running from the consequences of their own behavior? Are many of the Syrians coming now the die hard supporters of Assad and his regime? If so, they are now losing power and hope for their future but does that become our problem? And where are the wealthy Arab and Moslem countries? Where is their famed charity, their funds? Why are they not helping their own people?
I believe that the answer is to solve the problem where it begins - in their respective countries and if the world would actually do it together, with all contributing and working together, then perhaps we could make a start. But will they? First they shout about how terrible it is and then they turn to the USA to do something, to fund it all. Well, we cannot do that any longer. We too have a weaker economy. We too have hungry children. We too must make a distinction between the true refugee and those who are not. And we have a disengaged president who has disengaged from Americans and the world alike.
The countries who had thrown open their borders are now shutting them. Where will these people go? Are we to now to throw them on ships and send them back? That reeks of the St. Louis. It reeks of those "stateless" Jews who were thrown into no man's land by Germany and left there to starve and freeze as they rejected them and Poland refused them.
In the meanwhile, we sign treaties with countries that hate us, that threaten our very existence. We have to choose between Nusra, an Islamic extremist group or ISIS, another one. Is one better than the other because they are less extremist or they do not behead captives at the same rate? Are we to fight alongside Iran as they battle their enemies which have become ours? And what will happen later on? And what about North Korea, led by a young megalomaniac who now threatens to blow us up in a nuclear inferno?
Do we know what we are doing? Do we understand what the consequences are of our actions or lack thereof? I highly doubt it. I think our leaders are just as confused as we are, have led us into this multi crisis situation and we are left with the news of these disasters and the ability to turn away from them so we can read all about global warming, rising seawaters and horrific wildfires on our West Coast. Or we can all stick our heads back into the sand and hope for the best. Hasn't worked before, but who knows. Perhaps during this time of prayer G-d will hear and send us an answer that will work for us, and will not turn away from His children. We can only hope.
Maybe this all makes our problems here in CV look a bit less urgent, but again, we all have to start somewhere and this is a good place to do just that. Perhaps tomorrow we can discuss the same question but in terms of our own little home here in West Palm Beach. Do we know what we are doing here?
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