Local Blog

  It has been over a month since I “blogged”. Health issues and computer problems have been in part responsible for the absence of this blog.

  Today however I feel that I must comment on local issues although what is happening in DC is enough for multiple blogs. Today the combination of the Mayor’s hogwash letter and the Council’s get together overwhelmed.

  The Mayor wrote and my comments:” I am angry with lawmakers who can prohibit the easy access to assault weapons and refuse to do so. I am angry with our leader in the white house who continues to feed the basest instincts of white supremacists. I am angry that this country, we call home, is the hunting ground for people seeking to commit mass murders. I am angry that after the civil rights movement of the '60s, and the sacrifice of life given in that struggle to realize some modicum of equality, that we are back here as a nation, once more fighting for the marginalized and oppressed.”

  Yes, Mayor every citizen should be angry with the lawmakers and leaders who place their own agendas and party politics above their public charges and duties. It would be more appropriate for a Mayor to focus his public communications on local issues.

. Likewise, every citizen should be angry at a local government that ignores transparency in favor secrets and political nepotism.

  Will the Mayor ever explain who authorized the 8-person junket to Hawaii. That should have been a Council function, but I do not remember seeing it on any agenda.

  On tonight’s “agenda” there are no CVs of any of the appointees. What other positions have they held in the Mayor’s expanded political circle? What are their experiences and qualifications?

  Nor is there any refence to open bidding on any of the big expenditure items.  Is there any relationship between approved state vendors and political contributions?

Monday Night's Council Meeting

  July 8^th is again the date for a people friendly Council combined meeting. The fact that it starts at 7pm instead of 7:30 is inconsequential since the Council members will now have time after their snorer as Dan Damon called it in his Sunday blog (Clips) to be home by 8:30. It matters not that by combining the “Agenda Setting Session” and the business meeting this “YES Council” will be able to approve without any discussion all of the Administration’s sponsored resolutions and ordinances in record time.

  Would it not be wonderful that in  light of transparency some one on the Council (unlikely) or one of the few citizens attending the session during the public speaking period would  ask Administration who attended the Hawaiian conference, who paid their  expenses, how much did it cost the city, and who authorized the monies for this farce?

  I would hope that if anyone in Administration replies his/hers words would be verbatim recorded for all to read.

WEEK OF THE FOURTH

On this Fourth we all should pay heed to the above quote of Walter Niemöller: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

What doe the Fourth signify? But first I must make this statement. Of all of our twentieth century wars there were only two, WW1  and WW2,  that were the only ones fought to preserve civil liberties from the onslaught of autocratic dictatorial governments. The Korean conflict could have been the third until McArthur turned it into a war of aggression against North Korea. All the others have been aggressive actions especially those in the Mid-East.

I do not regret serving in the army in WW2 in the “Bulge” (where there was snow up to your knees and frostbite was a big casualty risk) and making a glider landing under AA fire with the first troops on mainland German soil. Nor do I regret, except for the fact that I had two daughters, one whom I had never seen, at home in Plainfield, as being with some of the first troops to occupy Berlin.

For all of that I do have a purple heart. However ,I knew that it was for a cause; freedom from dictatorship and loss of personal liberties.

My problem is that today Americans seem to have forgotten what the Fourth means and have succumbed to  bigotry in race and religion, and ignorance of Democracy in favor of  a Constitutional ignoring Autocracy. After WW2 only under the Nixon Administration  has there been such a threat to our civil liberties.

With that said here are some facts about the Fourth It is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence of the United States on July 4, 1776. The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies were no longer subject (and subordinate) to the monarch of Britain and were now united, free, and independent states on July2, not the 4^th but it was not signed by a majority of members until Aug 2,1776.
Of the original signers John Adams who wrote the following to his wife Abigail, “The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more”,and Thomas Jefferson both died on the same day. July 4, 1826.
The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union was the first constitution of the United States. It was drafted by the Second Continental Congress from mid-1776 through late 1777, and ratification by all 13 states was completed by early 1781. The Articles of Confederation gave little power to the central government. The Confederation Congress could make decisions, but lacked enforcement powers. Implementation of most decisions, including modifications to the Articles, required unanimous approval of all thirteen state legislatures