Maurice Gumbs is like an older brother to me, and I don’t say this only because we were both born in Trinidad (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago). I say it because he has given me so much good advice over the years that if I had only listened to him half the time, I would be much better off than I am today in so many ways; thus I have come to really appreciate his wisdom, love, concern and support. I have also come to accept that I listen to a drumbeat far different to many/lol. 

I have known Maurice for over 35 years now. We both won academic scholarships to the prestigious Queens Royal College -in the island’s capital (Port of Spain) – and later we both migrated to the USA, where we completed our formal and post graduate educations at different universities, before eventually settling into New York City’s routines. 

Mayor Bloomberg is calling on Governor Paterson to quickly pick a new Senator, even though Hillary Clinton has not resigned and the Senate is not in session.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/12/22/2008-12-22_bloomberg_defends_caroline_kennedy_as_re-2.html

"The governor should make a decision reasonably quickly because this is just getting out of control,"

http://www.nypost.com/seven/12012008/news/regionalnews/plax_turns_himself_in_141719.htm

Mayor Bloomberg speaking about a football player who allegedly injured himself.

I think they are serious. As far as I can tell, the American City Business Journals organization doesn't have a sense of humor. "A new report by the U.S. Army War College talks about the possibility of Pentagon resources and troops being used should the economic crisis lead to civil unrest, such as protests against businesses and government or runs on beleaguered banks. 'Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security,' said the War College report.

Anyone who knows even a little about public finance, and cares even a little about public services, particularly future public services, is sick of this bullshit. But if you feel the need to hear it from someone other than me, read this.

http://www.observer.com/2008/politics/sheinkopf-makes-pete-king-argument-about-kennedy

Like more than one local blogger (Michael Bouldin and Dan Millstone come to mind) I recently discovered that post-election malaise is not restricted to the bad years. To top it off, I recently encountered Facebook and found the ability to connect with 30 years of my history in one night more addicting than heroin. The last time a site (Jdate) had such an impact, I ended up a husband and father in less than a year and a half.

This time, by the time I came to, my brilliant idea that Abner Mikva should be made caretaker Senator from Illinois had already been used by Michael Tomasky (we won’t even talk about the consequences of my failure to advise Malcolm Smith). It seems a good time to get back to work.

The AARP-eligible people who control out institutions can never do enough for their contemporaries. In Albany, they have joyfully handed out pension enrichments that public employees have neither worked nor bargained for, over and over, for a decade. And when there isn’t enough money to go around, do they ever tell those of their own generations they will have to give something back? Never. They decide that those in younger generations will have to be worse off, without saying so. So Governor Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg have decided that future hires should have much less generous pensions, and thus much lower total pay overall, a few years after Bloomberg agreed to cut the retirement age for teachers from 62 to 55 and Paterson voted for all those pension enhancements as a member of the state legislature (they generally pass the legislature unanimously). Do they truthfully say “shared sacrifice” means that because those of their generation have shared, future generations will be sacrificed? No, they do not. Thus, they are frauds, as are the news organizations (with their aging readers and viewers) which don’t point that out either. The New York State legislature, of course, is far worse.

At the start of every election season in New York, there is much talk among pols and the press about which major Party candidates the minor Parties (Independence, Conservative, Working Families) will cross-endorse in the few tightly contested races for Congress and State Legislature.

Gatemouth has declared his candidacy for the US Senate and has retained Gary Tilzer to lobby on his behalf.