Waiting for justice

I said a long time ago while following this story: The mother of Amanda Wienckowski is not going to let her daughter's death be forgotten. The girl might have made some poor choices in her life, but that is no excuse for the way she died. Her body was found upside down in a garbage tote and her death was ruled an accidental drug overdose. The obvious question is how did her body end up there? Thankfully, local businessman/troublemaker Carl Paladino has taken up the cause for justice in this case. Here is a letter from Paladino to the Erie County Health Commissioner. The person who was last seen with Amanda was arrested twice for violently assaulting women (once before and once after Amanda's death.) The letter is a little long but worth reading...

Re: Amanda Wienckowski

Dear Dr. Billittier and Dr. Vertes:

The horror suffered by Amanda and her family demands justice. The autopsy of independent pathologist Dr. Sylvia O. Comparini, M.D. and the events since January 9, 2009 clearly illustrate that two crimes have been committed.

The first was the murder of Amanda, the investigation of which was suspended by BPD Homicide immediately after her death because Dr. Vertes incredibly declared the death "accidental."

The second crime is the arrogant, unjustified and despicable attempt by the Erie County Health Department and the Medical Examiner’s Offices to cover up an obviously incompetent, careless and unprofessional, if not fraudulent, autopsy by Dr. Vertes.

The death certificate was signed by four medical examiners. Someone will tell a Grand Jury why. The City of Buffalo assigned two attorneys to fight the release of any information and in concert with the County Attorney vehemently denied the family's FOIL request for information. Would David Rodriquez, Esq. so obstruct without the instruction of his mayor? Why did our public servants waste taxpayer funds obstructing instead of doing the right thing? These are some of the questions everyone is asking.

By copies of this letter, I request that:

1. The Erie County District Attorney convene a Grand Jury to investigate both the homicide and the subsequent activities of you and your offices.
2. The Hon. Gerald Whalen, JSC. immediately compel you and your offices to recuse yourselves from deliberations on the request to change the cause of death from "accidental" to "homicide." All records and evidence in the matter should be turned over to a competent and objective medical examiner appointed by the court to expeditiously determine whether or not to change the cause of death to "homicide."
3. The New York State Office of Professional Medical Conduct investigate your actions in this matter and properly discipline you.
4. The US Attorney investigate the blatant denial of Amanda's civil rights.

After spending months denying Dr. Comparini evidence critical to her work, Dr. Vertes is now seeking "additional information" from Dr. Comparini in what appears to be a further effort to obstruct the homicide investigation and make the cold evidence colder.

Dr. Vertes is seriously conflicted and should not be allowed to rule on the competency of her own autopsy. Dr. Billittier appears to sanction the obstruction of justice and has not shown any disposition to be fair and objective. Both should be fired by the County Executive for gross negligence, if not criminality.

Enclosed is a copy of the Forensic Summary and Dr. Comparini’s cover memorandum. She states ". . .as you know much of what we demanded has still not been produced. Nevertheless, the evidence was more than sufficient--in fact, it was overwhelming--to support my conclusions to a high degree of scientific certainty."

For no apparent reason your offices have attempted to delay, obstruct and frustrate Dr. Comparini's effort. It took almost two years to cajole, pry and grovel a sufficient amount of evidence to get an independent opinion. You fought it all the way. Why?

We do not pay you to deny justice to a challenged family. You are not gods. You are public servants charged with the responsibility to serve all the people and never let what occurred in Amanda's case happen. You failed miserably. Amanda could have been the child of any of us. Would attitudes have been different had she been the child of a BPD Homicide detective?

Over the objection of the County Attorney, who was acting on your behalf, the family was compelled to get a Court order to obtain evidence necessary for the pathologist to professionally execute her forensic autopsy. You obstructed the Court order to furnish specific slides. Body parts and the presence of foreign DNA were "withheld."

You demanded restrictions on the pathologist creating an "extraordinary inconvenience" on her to complete her work.

One would think that public servants, upon discovery of the frozen, naked body of a 20- year-old female upside-down in a garbage tote, would go the extra mile to determine with absolute certainty the cause of death. You violated Pathology 101 by announcing the cause of death before the body even thawed. Was it all about covering up a botched and incompetent autopsy?

Amanda's case is not the first instance of irrational conclusions by the Medical Examiner’s office. The Girard, Aszkler and Kirshner autopsies all bordered on the absurd. Aszkler had two stab and ten puncture wounds, two of which were defined as deadly and nevertheless the Medical Examiner declared the death to be suicide. How does one stab and puncture himself twelve times?

Shame on you Dr. Billittier for protecting incompetence or criminality.

Very truly yours,

Carl P. Paladino

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Stevie Wonder could have caught that pass

Not a big fan of a guy doing a choreographed routine after a five yard touchdown. However, one thing we've learned about Bills' Receiver Stevie Johnson is that emotion is a big part of his game. The mimicking of a self inflicted gunshot wound was obviously in poor taste. Everyone knows that Jets' Receiver Plexico Burress spent a year in the Big House after accidentally shooting himself in a crowded bar. But the comments from Jets' Defensive Tackle Sione Pouha were even more ridiculous than Johnson's antics, if you ask me...

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) - New York Jets defensive tackle Sione Pouha says the touchdown celebration by Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson was insensitive to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Pouha says Monday that Johnson putting his arms out and acting like a plane - something Santonio Holmes does after scoring - but then crashing into the turf in the Jets' 28-24 win Sunday was "kind of a dagger" because of the attacks that occurred 10 years ago in Manhattan, a few miles from MetLife Stadium.

Pouha says it was an "unprofessional" gesture by Johnson, whom he says didn't take into account that 9/11 is a "sacred moment."

Get over yourself, Pouha. Talk about a stretch. The name of your team is the New York Jets! The last thing on anyone's mind when Johnson scored was the September 11th terrorist attacks. We've become so sensitive about everything these days. I can see if Johnson pretended to crash his imaginary plane a month after the attacks, but come on. It's been ten years! It reminds me of the time Dolphins' coach Jimmy Johnson stomped on the box of Flutie Flakes after a Dolphins' victory and Flutie remarked that "it was like he was stomping on his autistic son." No. It was like he was glad that he finally beat you.

Johnson is a young guy who hopefully will learn from this moment of stupidity. As I said before, Jerry Rice and Marvin Harrison never spent any time planning their end-zone celebrations, because they were there too often. Chad Ochowhatever figured out the best way to solve his celebratory nonsense was to stop catching touchdowns (or passes) altogether. Johnson does play with a great deal of passion and I hope he continues to improve. I like the way he plays, except for the pre-planned celebrations. On the positive side, channel 7 has asked him to co-host this years' New Years Eve Ball Drop with former Bill Ronnie Harmon. Clip Smith is laughing about that one, somewhere.

Jet Critical of Johnson | wgrz.com
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Happy St. Patrick's Day

I was talking to my good friend Leroy Weinstein today. He said he was at the end of the bar at Doc Sullivans the other night and overheard a conversation involving some good friends of mine. He says PJ McParlane was out with some city workers having a few beers. Something different I see.

One of the guys was a big loudmouth, according to Leroy. Friend: You're in a bar with twenty other men. You don't have to yell across the bar. Your intended listener will hear you. It's not going to make you sound smarter or tougher. Trust me.

I would love to respond to this person, but I honestly have no idea who he is. (Rez or Roz?). I'm flattered that you're in a bar (filled with twenty other guys) and my blog is a topic for your conversation. Some people get fat from drinking and mistake their flab for toughness. They get a couple of beers in them and all of a sudden, their sports statistics increase. If you were a backup point guard in high school, please don't talk about how you scored 1,000 points. And how you would have played at Syracuse if it wasn't for your "bad knee". I have to tell you. When this type of person walks around like they are carrying two suitcases, other people (including their own friends) make fun of them behind their back. I'm not saying you're this type of person, as I don't know you. But, feel free to comment underneath this post with your name (so I can figure out if I even do know you.)

As I've said many times, you can say anything you want about me. You really don't know squat about me, anyway. Nothing bothers me. "Un-embarrassable."I'll be the first to tell you I'm not perfect, but I answer only to myself. I've made some mistakes in life, but I can tell you nobody owes me anything. We're all accountable for our own actions. To me, Thanksgiving is just another day. I wake up everyday thankful for the friends and family that have been good to me. When I die, I could care less what anyone says about me.

Expand your horizons, gents. No need to be so insecure. It is ok to change your playbook once in awhile. There's more to life than talking about pensions at Doc Sullivans or Hoppers. And nobody cares what number you are on a civil service list. Congratulations on Danny Gare saying hello to you in 1983 when you were filling in for the Zamboni driver or skating on the ice at the Aud with your shovel. We're all very impressed and you know what you can do with that shovel.

If you're going to talk racist at a bar, that's your prerogative. But when your neighbors see you fawning all over Mayor Three Dollar Bill at public events, it makes you look like a hypocrite and a racist. So, please feel free to sign your name and let me know where I know you from. I love all the comments I get from anonymous tough guys who are so tough they "forget" to sign their names. Just remember, one of us puts their name attached to everything they say. What are you afraid of? And thanks for reading the blog. It and I are not perfect, but I'll do my best to continue educating you the best that I can. For your penance, go to a bar next week that actually allows women through the front door.

Sit down, take a look at yourself
Don't you want to be somebody?
Someday somebody's gonna see inside
You have to face up, you can't run and hide...



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Ex CFLers in their 70's get into live brawl

Maybe it's the three downs or the extra ten yards on the field making them crazy. Two ex Canadian football players in their 70s trade punches at a reunion event. Apparently, the feud started over something that happened in a Grey Cup game five decades ago. Take off, hoser...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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International update: Peruvian mayor Pat Robertson

More proof that the rest of the world is not as enlightened as some might think.The mayor of a Peruvian town said this week that contamination in the drinking water is making people in his town gay...

The mayor of a coastal Peruvian town says he’s discovered the reason there are a growing number of gays in his area: the presence of the metal strontium in the local water supply.

“Unfortunately Strontium reduces male hormones and suddenly we’ll be as Tabalosos, as other towns, where the percentages are increasing of homosexuality,” Mayor José Benítez warned the citizens of Huarmey during an opening ceremony for a local water project.

We tried to reach the Peruvian mayor's spokesman for comment, but were told he was attending a Wham! concert. By the way, I'm not one to gossip, but what's Byron Brown drinking these days? We hear he likes to spend a lot of his free time down at Club Marcella. Lots of canaries flying around by the docks (and sending the Blogger emails). Not that there's anything wrong with it...

Peruvian mayor says contaminated water is making his town gay | Breaking News | Wisconsin Gazette -.

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Black Friday

When did shopping become a full contact sport? This whole Black Friday thing makes the United States look like a 3rd world country. People knocking each other over and pepper spraying each other in an effort to get the latest video game system or television. Looting. Fights in the middle of the aisle. (And this all happened last Monday at Tops on S. Park and Bailey.)If I lived in a foreign land, I'd think all Americans were crazy. I notice these people aren't knocking each other over to get great deals on treadmills or stair climbers.

As if it weren't ridiculous enough, now people are camping out in parking lots before the stores open. The only word to describe this type of behavior is bizarre. One columnist even proposes a special sales tax in an effort to stop the Thanksgiving craziness...

In a New York Times column this week, economist Robert Frank proposed slapping a 6 percent sales tax on purchases between 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving and 6 a.m. on Friday in an attempt to stop the "arms race" of earlier and earlier sales.

I don't understand why these electronic items are so popular. I used to be very good at video games, but would much rather walk in the woods or socialize with actual people these days. My television set is from the early 90's. Who needs a flat movie screen in their living room anyway? Everyone feels they need to have the latest electronic gadgets. It's like keeping up with the virtual Joneses.

There should be a federal law: Anyone caught doing something ridiculous on Black Friday will get a minimum of 10 years in a maximum security prison. (Easy, it's just a joke.)That includes the use of pepper spray, beating up children or pregnant customers,stabbing handicapped shoppers, engaging in a WalMart stampede, etc.

Whatever happened to the harmless Blue Light Special?...
Has this Black Friday thing gotten out of hand?




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Greatest nerd ever

Okay smartie, go to a party
Girls are scantily clad and showin' body
A chick walks by, you wish you could sex her
But you're standin' on the wall like you was Poindexter...

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White squirrel

I saw this interesting picture on WGRZ's website. It's a white squirrel on Baker Road in Orchard Park. Because the eyes are not pink, we know it is not an albino. (Photo sent in by Don Daly.)


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Hollywood Clergy

I saw in a recent TV interview that the Reverend Kenyatta Kobb was called by God to leave the "battlefields" of Buffalo for Orlando, Florida. How come God never "calls" these guys to go to Fargo, North Dakota or Cleveland, Ohio? Why not just admit you're moving to Florida?

A benefit is planned for the outgoing Reverend next Saturday at Mount Olive Baptist Church. In the famous sarcastic words of Buddy "the Book", "I'll take 10 tickets!"...
Warrior for nonviolence answers a new call

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Thanksgiving at ECMC

I saw this in today's Buffalo News. I'm glad nobody was killed, but thought this was an interesting way to spend the Thanksgiving holiday...

Two East Side men were shot early Thursday while engaged in a dice game in the Genesee-Moselle neighborhood, according to Buffalo police.

The men, both 20, were shot by a man armed with a handgun and dressed in dark clothing on Kilhoffer Street, police said. One man was shot in the left leg and the other in the buttocks.

Two playing dice shot by man with a handgun

Now Friday 'bout a week ago
Leroy shootin' dice
And at the edge of the bar
Sat a girl named Doris
And oo that girl looked nice
Well he cast his eyes upon her
And the trouble soon began...

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Billy Squier narrowly misses killing school bus driver

Not funny: A hunter's stray bullet struck a school bus in Randolph, narrowly missing the driver and the schoolchildren.

Funny: The hunter's name was William Squire.

I can't believe the bullet traveled 500 yards. I think I'll be staying away from the Southern Tier until hunting season is over...



You got me runnin' baby
You give me somethin' way beyond revenue
You put the magic in me
I feel the magic when we, do what we do
And oh

I can't do without you for too long, you're my situation
You're my kinda lover
My kinda lover
My kinda lover

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Well fed bear

Check out the size of this 746 pound black bear killed in Potter, County Pennsylvania. The bear was killed by an 18 year old Amish hunter. Can you imagine being in the woods and this thing comes out towards you? And Potter County isn't that far from Buffalo...

Young hunter nabs enormous black bear: wivb.com

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The strange sacrament of confession

"When's the last time you've been to confession?"
"That's between me and my confessor." Rico Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy

The most bizarre sacrament of them all is Confession. Who was the sick pervert that came up with this idea? We'll have people get inside a little booth and tell us all the bad things they do. Then, we'll give them a "penance" to say and everything will be forgiven. Seems like just another example of Catholic guilt to me. Seriously, who goes to confession after age 12?

I went to a Catholic high school for three years. One of the creepiest things I remember was everyone going down to the gymnasium to confess their sins. Even the priests would confess their sins to other priests. Talk about strange. The only person I would ever confess anything to is a bartender, and I don't even like to drink. Now, you can even "confess" virtually. There is an app for the iPhone called Confession: A Roman Catholic App.

It would be funny to sneak into a confessional, impersonate the priest, and give people all sorts of crazy penances. "For your penance, say two Hail Mary's, walk down to Tops, go to register three, and apologize to the cashier for all of your sins."

The sacrament of penance has been used in movies for years to illicit fear and suspense to the moviegoer. I vaguely remember someone confessing their sins, only to find out that the person they were confessing to was, in fact, Freddy Krueger. Not exactly the type of guy known for forgiveness.

I was looking for some clips on the practice and stumbled upon this clip from Rome. It might be a good time to allow priests to get married...


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Questions surround WGRZ story

Some people were very upset about WGRZ reporter Scott Brown's story on the alleged buying and selling of overtime in the Buffalo Fire Department. I wrote about the story yesterday and will continue to cover any future developments involving it.

Both sides (the Mayor and the BFD) have raised questions and I hope the media continues to look for answers. According to Scott Brown's story on WGRZ, "a number of firefighters admitted to buying and selling overtime" during the recent arbitration hearings. Will the mayor or the local media be willing to publicly name those people?

As one of the anonymous commentators under my story says, if the city is going to make allegations on scamming, they should be open about who is doing the scamming. They need to stop making vague statements. Otherwise, their allegations carry no weight. For example, according to the story, in 2008 the city claims that a substantial amount of overtime fell into the hands of a few members. They should identify who those members were and compare the amount of overtime they were given to that of everyone else. Were the people receiving the overtime close to retirement?

Conversely, union President Dan Cunningham points to lack of manpower for all the overtime. But he doesn't explain why so much of it went to a few individuals. Also, during the arbitration hearings, some firefighters said some of their coworkers called in when they were not sick in an effort to manufacture overtime. Which is it? Are they short staffed or are people "gaming the system?"

Personally, I will continue to write things as I see them. If there are other questions people think need to be asked, please let me know. I'm no fan of Byron Brown. He's a terrible liar, not to mention an empty suit. Scott Brown left a career in politics (he was Dennis Gorski's former spokesperson) and could be trying to fall into favor with the mayor. But I do find "pension padding" to be a disgusting practice. I look forward to more facts coming out.

Anonymous people can also feel free to write whatever they want about me with their comments. It doesn't bother me in the least, and I won't be dragged into this discussion. I don't represent or work for the mayor, WGRZ, or the Buffalo Fire Department. I'm just an independent taxpayer with a column.





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My name is Earl

Thank God for DNA testing. If it wasn't for it, this scum would probably have gotten away with the rape of a Buffalo woman. His arrest in another terrifying robbery got his DNA tested, where it matched that of a rape suspect in another case. Add 17 more years to his sentence and please build more prisons for guys like this and his associates. That's a nice suit, though. I wouldn't mind buying it from him, as he won't be needing it for the next 32 years or so...

DNA convicts jailed robber of rape: wivb.com

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Selling of overtime?

This story from WGRZ should make all New York State taxpayers angry. Deputy Mayor Byron Brown reports on an alleged overtime scam involving some members of the Buffalo Fire Department. It goes something like this: Person A calls in sick (despite not being sick). Person B picks up their overtime and sells it to Person C (who happens to be near retirement.) Because person C is in their last three years on the job, this extra income will be added directly to their ridiculously inflated state pensions.

If there's another side to this story, Union President Dan Cunningham didn't present it very well to the viewers/taxpayers. If Deputy Mayor Brown is lying or making false claims, we'd love to see the firefighters expose his lies.

Watch the news report and decide for yourself. On the surface,this appears to be a blatant scam on the taxpayers. One would hope people would have more pride in themselves than to engage in this type of nonsense. All it does is heighten awareness for the need for pension reform. The practice of "pension padding" is an insult to all New York state taxpayers. Tim "Hortons" Kennedy, Andrew Cuomo, and Patrick Gallivan all campaigned on changing the way New York state operates. So far, we've seen very little in terms of results. Kennedy talks about mundane issues like texting while driving. Just a lot of talk to get elected, with no serious effort at reform. Meanwhile, young college graduates continue to leave for better opportunities elsewhere...

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‘Doctor’ accused of injecting woman’s butt with cement - Miami-Dade - MiamiHerald.com

If you're dumb enough to want a backside implant, at least be smart enough not to go to a transgender woman without a physician's license. The victim says the incident is in the past and that she would just like to move on and leave it behind her...

Morris, a self-proclaimed doctor, injected a concoction of “fix-a-flat’’ — cement, mineral oil and Super Glue — into the woman’s buttocks, police said.

On Friday, Miami Gardens police finally caught up with the elusive “doctor,’’ a transgender woman whose own butt is the size of a truck tire. Investigators suspect she is part of an underground network of scam artists who have been offering “pumping parties” and home buttocks augmentations across South Florida for years.

‘Doctor’ accused of injecting woman’s butt with cement - Miami-Dade - MiamiHerald.com

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Wack pack's NFL picks: week eleven

Buddy "the Book" from Amherst

Buddy the Book did not have much to be thankful for last week, going 1-4-0. This week, he decided to pick all the places he'd rather be than in Buffalo. He's going with Tampa Bay, Kansas City, Baltimore, Arizona, and Carolina. Well, maybe not Baltimore or Kansas City. At least he didn't pick Detroit.

Last week 1-4-0
Ouch


The Rooster (with help from MacGavis)...


The famous City Hall Rooster reports that his Hen finally got the charge card over $20,000. He considers this a sign and says take the Chargers(+4) over the Bears. He and MacGavis also like the Ravens (-6.5) and Tampa Bay (+14.5). In what he calls "a moment of stupidity", they are taking the hometown Bills (+2) over Miami. Remember thirty years ago, when the Dolphins were actually our rivals? Not anymore. Tomorrow, is just another game to most fans. The Rooster says we will all be in bed by halftime Monday night, as the Patriots (-14.5) will be beating the Chiefs by 28 points. He tells his boss to be happy, as he will be into work early on Tuesday.

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School #17

It's hard to believe the students can be so disruptive and demanding in class when their parents demonstrate such great respect for authority. If you sit home and watch Jerry Springer all day, I guess you find different ways to resolve differences...

Two women were arrested Friday after they threatened the assistant principal of School 17 and refused to leave the Newburgh Street school’s cafeteria, Buffalo police said..

Vanessa N. Pomales, 28, of Forest Avenue, and Erica Arroyo, 30, of Lisbon Avenue, were each charged with harassment, criminal trespass and child endangerment.

Police said the disturbance occurred shortly before 1:30 p. m., when the two entered the cafeteria and threatened Assistant Principal Carrie Meyers, who ordered them to leave the school. Several second-graders witnessed the confrontation, police said.

Two accused of threat to assistant principal




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What happens when one buys leadership...

Very good article by Andrew "Woodward" Blake on New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's attempts to intimate the press for covering the Occupy Wall Street protests. Here is a quote from one of Bloomberg's sycophants...

“Not being familiar with many of the media outlets for which The Awl says these reporters work, I had the list of ‘26 arrested reporters’ checked against the roster of reporters who hold valid NYPD press passes,” Loeser adds. “You can imagine my surprise when we found that only five of the 26 arrested reporters actually have valid NYPD-issued press credentials.”

With that sentence alone, Loeser manages to shoot himself in the foot. Twice.

Given his statement, Bloomberg’s office has indeed confirmed that at least five members of the media that were accredited by the City’s own police force were arrested while doing their job, a job that the Police Department has acknowledged and authorized. Secondly, Loeser attempts to discredit the media while at the same time exposing that he didn’t do his homework himself.

As usual, Bloomberg comes off as a deer caught in headlights when it comes to governing. It's no wonder his mayoral run is being compared to that of the perennially underachieving David Dinkins. Our sources tell us that Bloomberg also drinks "1%" milk. Coincidence?...

For the full article, go to http://on.rt.com/ytvf9y

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Accident in Hamburg

Crews removed heavy rocks today from the roundabout on South Park Avenue and Big Tree Road in Hamburg. A few weeks ago, a man lost his life when he crashed into one of the boulders and his truck caught on fire. You can't help but feel sorry for the victim's sister in this WIVB story. Roundabouts and circles look nice, but seem to result in a lot of accidents. People approach them too fast and they always seem too chaotic for me. I avoid them whenever possible, although some are much worse than others. The one downtown by city hall is the worst. It's a roundabout combined with unsynchronized red lights...

Boulders removed from roundabout after crash: wivb.com

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Penn State scandal

The scandal at Penn State continues to grow. What was Jerry Sandusky doing trying to defend himself on national television? First of all, grown men know enough not to shower with 10 year old boys. Not only do most people recognize this is inappropriate conduct, most adults would be repulsed at this. His explanation that he was just "horsing around" will end up incriminating Sandusky. It reminds me of when Congressman Eric Messa said he liked to have tickle parties with his male staffers, as if this could somehow be interpreted as everyday normal behavior. His explanation was similarly met with awkward silence by most. Also, what was up with the long pause when Sandusky was asked if he was attracted to young boys? If I was Bob Costas, during the pause, I would have said, "that's a yes."

If it's proven that McQueary did in fact go to the police, they are going to have an awful lot of explaining to do, as well. One question I do have is, what took these parents so long to complain to authorities? They are coming out of the woodwork now. Why didn't any of them go to the police right away? If your son was molested, wouldn't you file a police report? Sad, but this probably explains why they were targeted by Sandusky in the first place.

It's interesting how perspective changes everything. If you looked at Sandusky's picture two months ago, he looked like a typical older football coach. Look at it now and he might as well have horns coming out of his head.




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Race Card Rod meets Race Card Rad

Buffalo News columnist Rod Watson and parent/advocate Samuel Radford held a forum recently at the Tapestry Charter School to discuss ways to increase high school graduation rates among African American boys in Buffalo. They agreed that education must become more of a priority in African American homes and that there is a need for the students to become more disciplined in class and respectful towards their teachers. Parenting classes were also discussed.

Just kidding. Actually,they blamed the schools and the teachers, made excuses, and said the characters in the books needed to be more racially diverse...

Many on the panel expressed concern that the current way of doing things in the Buffalo Public Schools is not meeting the needs of many African-American male students

"When [students] start asking, 'Why are we reading this book? Where are the black kids in this book? Where are the brown kids in this book?' I think for the teachers who are conscious of what's going on, they appreciate that. That's a challenge. 'Let me find a different set of books to help engage these students.' I don't think that happens," said Hunter.

I was in a classroom today at the Seneca Prep School on Hertel Avenue. I observed students from Haiti, Liberia, and Somalia attempting to complete their assignments, while students born in this country threw papers, swore at each other, grabbed each other, walked around the room, etc. (In fairness, there were some African American students working hard, also. But they were in the minority, compared to their peers.)

The foreign students (who were mostly black) appeared very serious about completing their Algebra worksheets and were not the least bit concerned with the colors of the characters in the text books. Samuel Radford is all about promoting Samuel Radford and Rod Watson needs to stop making excuses for an entire community. These two circus clowns should sub for a week in Buffalo. End of story...
Forum focus is ways to improve students
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Professional thieves

Thanks to rising public anger, it appears as though Congress will finally move to have insider trading scam made illegal. Unbelievable, that it took a 60 Minute's news story to illicit change. Not only were Congressmen exempt from this law, but so were their staff members. PIGS. Every last one of them. They call this public service. 95% of them should be in jail. Don't worry. I'm sure these lowlifes will find another loophole to abuse their power....


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Rewarding incompetence

Karla Thomas promises to bring the same level of incompetence to county government that she brought to city government.


It didn't take long for disgraced city administrator Karla Thomas to latch on to another do-nothing government job. Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant, who has a 3rd grader's command of the English language, has hired the incompetent Thomas as her new Legislative Assistant...

Under Thomas' watch, the city paid out more than $800,000 in health premiums for former city employees who had died.

After a lengthy hearing, an independent arbitrator ruled that Thomas' firing was justified because she had "failed to comply with a mayoral directive requiring immediate action."

More proof that the entire Erie County Legislature should be abolished. As I've said many times before, they do nothing that the all-volunteer Board of Managers once accomplished for free. Just another example of an unnecessary layer of government.
Top City Employee Fired By Mayor Has A New Government Job | wgrz.com
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"Honest" graft

60 Minutes wondered how Congressmen were disproportionally adept at playing the stock market and investing. It seems many of them leave Congress with significantly more money than when they enter. The way they do this is unbelievable.

It seems they can "legally" obtain inside information on what stocks to buy by obtaining information unknown to the public. In fact, some used this information to profit from the Stock Market collapse of 2010.What an honest person would call criminal activity, they simply refer to as "honest graft".

It's like getting a call from a bookie saying, "the Bills are winning by 28 points at halftime. Would you like to place a bet on the game? It must be nice to make yourself exempt from the laws that the rest of us have to follow. If you get a chance, please check out this short, eye opening story here...

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Bloomberg makes fool of himself-again

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg should keep his mouth shut and stick to the one thing he's good at-writing checks. Bloomberg traveled to Washington last week and lectured the federal leaders on living within their means. The only problem? New York City's capital debt has almost doubled under Bloomberg since 2000. From the Associated Press...

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has urged the federal government to live within its means. But at the same time, the city's capital debt has nearly doubled since 2000.

The debt has risen from $39.2 billion in 2000 to $73.5 billion in 2011, the New York Post reported Sunday (http://nyp.st/vMmH34 ). That's $8,763 per New Yorker.

Last week, Bloomberg gave a speech in Washington urging the federal government to move quickly to reduce its deficit.

Born with a silver foot in his mouth, Bloomberg should worry about his city's ability to fight three inch snow "storms". This man is so out of touch with the common citizen, it's ridiculous. The only borough Bloomberg can relate to is Manhattan. Leadership positions in America can now officially be bought. As Bloomberg proves on a daily basis, competence is not a requirement.

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Hold on to your wallets

It will be interesting to see what Governor Cuomo does to close the budget. This page warned you two years ago to hold onto your wallets with both hands with a Cuomo in the Governor's mansion...

The current fiscal year has a budget deficit projected at $350 million, and the 2012-13 budget gap is expected to be between $3 billion and $3.5 billion, up from a projected $2.4 billion, the budget office said in releasing its mid-year financial report.

All the money collected through taxes, the tolls, and speeding tickets and we're still this far behind? Look for a whole bunch of new taxes disguised as "fees". Tim "Hortons" Kennedy campaigned on a "change Albany" platform. So far, he hasn't delivered a thing...
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo May Call Special Session As Finances Worsen | wgrz.com

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The always polarizing Phil Rumore

The Buffalo News today painted an unflattering image of Buffalo Teacher's Federation President Phil Rumore...

And more and more, the finger of blame seems to be pointing squarely at Rumore, who has been president of the BTF for 30 years. Superintendents have come and gone. School Board members have come and gone.

Through it all, Rumore, 69, has been the constant. And many question whether he is the reason the city's schools have not made more progress.

Does Rumore make the teachers in Buffalo look bad, as the article asserts? I don't think so. Rumore isn't elected by parents or the Buffalo News, or even by me. He is elected by the teachers to represent the teachers. The School Board should represent the students and their families, but most are beholden to Rumore, not to mention afraid of him.

Several politicians and political insiders interviewed acknowledged Rumore's influence, but most did not want their name used in the story.

"For any aspiring Democratic official -- a judge, anybody running for local office or for state office -- if you want another line, you've got to go kiss Phil's ring," said one who has squared off with him more than once. "When they run, they want the line, they want the phone bank, the get-out-the-vote effort that comes with the BTF and the Working Families Party. That becomes a pretty formidable force to reckon with."

Phil Rumore is the reason your kids' teachers are all walking around with big, fake boobs. That should change. However, I don't blame Rumore for the failure of the city schools. The teachers and principals I've seen, are mostly good. In the poor performing schools, it's the students' home environments causing most of the problems. The teachers and schools do the best that they can under tough circumstances. Rumore's just a little dictator, very good at working the system. It's the voters who keep electing spineless school board members intent on prostituting themselves to Rumore.

Why do you think the school board election is held in May? The board members (and Rumore) want to keep turnout as low as possible and slanted towards board of education employees. They don't want parents to vote. They don't want Bloggers to vote! I'm challenging Park Board member Lou Petrucci to suggest at a school board meeting that the next election (after this one) be held in November. Come on, Lou. Here's your chance. Show some guts.

A growing divide


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