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Kudos to the Albany Times Union for this long overdue exposure of “Rabbi” Bernard “Berish” Freilich, a pompous bag of wind operating a reign of self-absorption and abuse of power under the color of law. The only thing they missed is that, during his witness tampering trial a few years ago, “Rabbi” Freilich admitted, under oath, that he is NOT an ordained Rabbi.
Lady Gaga has been outing opponents of gay rights in and out of New York State for a while now most recently putting marriage equality pressure on a Buffalo area senator during a concert in that city with the New York Times speculating more of the same at a future Long Island concert.
Some elected officials are recklessly tossing out the idea of a “no fly zone” over Libya without thought to the consequences of U.S. involvement. The most notable proponent of this is a man who thinks we should still be fighting the Vietnam War.
Our involvement in Libya could change the dynamic of the battle tipping people in that country towards Qaddafi out of distrust for the West leading to a defeat of the rebel forces.
Suddenly newly elected Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, someone few Americans had heard of two months ago, is the most controversial politician in the United States. The reason is that Governor Walker, in addition to demanding public employee givebacks to help solve a budget crisis, has also proposed limiting collective bargaining with unions to wages (New York State eliminated collective bargaining on pensions in the 1970s after soaring pension costs wrecked New York City), giving state residents the right to a referendum on wage increases if they exceed the inflation rate (a referendum is already required for any pension changes in San Francisco), no longer forcing public employees to pay union dues, and giving public employees the ability to de-unionize in an annual vote. The resulting controversy has been nationalized by the national press and politicians from both parties. Outside Wisconsin, the proposals are seen as an attempt to destroy public employee unions, and thus the Democratic Party those unions fund, leaving the wealthy the only remaining source of campaign funding in the country. So who is this right wing maniac, and why did Wisconsin vote for him?
Until the recent controversy, I hadn’t really heard of Scott Walker either. But in my job, I have written a quarterly report on economic, demographic and real estate trends in the Milwaukee Metropolitan Area, the state’s largest at 27.8% of total state population and its economic engine, for the past six years. And since Milwaukee County accounts for 60.3% of the Milwaukee MSA, I had heard of the Milwaukee County pension scandal – the scandal that made Scott Walker’s career and probably shaped his attitudes. Here is the backstory the mainstream media has failed to deliver.
Yesterday, a member of the NY State Senate suddenly realized I was a blogger and which blogger I was.
"You're the guy who's always right," he exclaimed, "I don't always like what you say, but you always get it right."
The developments in this winter of discontent in the Arab world leaves Western observers wondering if this is either an Arab renaissance or reformation.
Well it cannot be called a reformation because the protesters are targeting autocrats seeming to hopscotch over religious leaders reaching instead for their own independent place in the sun.
As for a renaissance it is too early to tell but one thing is for certain if this rising sticks to its current trajectory you will have the birth of democracies that will lead to an Arab renaissance for certain.
It is rare that one finds a candidate for elected office who is too modest about his accomplishments, but at long last we have found an example.
Though he never mentions it, Brooklyn Assembly candidate Farouk Samaroo is an elected officer of the Democratic Party and has been office since his election on September 1, 2010 in a stunning two to one victory.
Can anyone think of any possible reason why he fails to mention this accomplishment documented below?
Statement and Return Report for Certification
Primary Election 2010 – 09/14/2010
There have been times over the past six years of engaging these blogs, when I have wondered if it's even worth it. I had hoped that local races -hardly covered by mainstream media- would be dealt with on the blogs, by local electeds, staffers, community activists, and the sort. I had hoped valuable info would be disseminated to the voters in time to further inform the choices being made. Alas, I have come to the conclusion that this hardly ever happens: too many people come to the blogs to ridicule rather than inform.
The huge interest has left me baffled?
