We're one step closer to becoming the new Detroit. Councilmember Damone Smith proposed a law banning public and private employers in the city of Buffalo from asking prospective employees whether they've ever been convicted of a crime. Buffalo would become the only city in the entire state to have such a rule.
I'm sure Jeff Conrad is just doing what he has been told, because that's what Jeff Conrad does. Can you imagine running a business and not being able to screen out applicants with troubled backgrounds? And don't think these people won't steal from their employers or do much worse. It is this type of behavior that got them behind bars in the first place. Does this mean the city will now be hiring applicants with criminal backgrounds to work with young people in the recreation centers? It sure does, and don't be fooled by the liberal spin they will try to put on it.
Here's a crazy idea: If you want a good job, then don't get arrested. Is it really that hard to grow up in the city and not get arrested? I'm not surprised they are doing this. It will be interesting to see how the privileged Chris Scanlon will vote on this issue. We will be watching, and the word will spread around the neighborhood fast.
Oh, wait... It's Byron Brown on the phone, Chris. He wants to talk to you about the conversation he had with you and your father where you agreed to blindly support everything he does...
I know the neighborhood politicians will never do anything about it, so I thought I'd take a minute to talk about St. Ambrose School. Not sure if it's true, but I heard recently that only six students had registered for next Fall's Kindergarten class. It makes you wonder whether the neighborhood can support five Catholic grammar schools. Currently, we have St. Ambrose, Notre Dame, Trinity Catholic, OLV, and Our Lady of Discovery. I include the Discovery School because it is essentially a Catholic School minus the daily prayer rituals and Murphy's Oil Soap. When the politicians are all sending their kids there, you know it is not your typical public school. I don't see any of these snake oil salesmen sending their kids to Southside or School #27.
Let's face it, times are tough around here. Parents able to get a free education equivalent to a private education, jump at the chance. Then, you have the South Buffalo Charter School, which also takes students away from private schools like St. Ambrose, due to price (free) and proximity. There are also so many families who have fled the city due to better job opportunities out of state or for quality of life. My mother sits in her backyard and watches people walking by, smoking marijuana in public, littering on her property, and uttering obscenities. Then, the cars speed by going 85MPH with their speakers blaring. Not to sound like a prude, but it's no wonder so many people choose to move to the suburbs.
St. Ambrose is a very good school. I've met several students from there over the years and they are great, intelligent kids. I have to ask whether there is more at play here than just increased competition from other schools? Schools like St. Ambrose are going to have to be ahead of the curve in order to remain open. What can they offer prospective students that the other schools cannot? The simple answer is a Catholic education. However, people are fickle, and will jump ship if they think the grass is greener on the other side (of McKinley Parkway).
They have a great group of dedicated parents over at St. Ambrose. I see it in their sports programs. Unfortunately, their numbers are so low, it makes it difficult for them to compete against bigger schools like Notre Dame. I would be interested to hear from parents from St. Ambrose and elsewhere to understand what has really been taking place. I know the parents from the school have been trying to drum up support and hopefully, it will pay off with an increase in future enrollment. This post is not meant to deride any of the other schools in South Buffalo. I just hope St. Ambrose doesn't suffer the same fate as St. Agatha's, St. Thomas', and Holy Family. I think it can be saved if people work together and come up with innovative ideas.
Did you see this? An Iowa man was in his backyard and discovered something emerging from a creek. At first, he thought it was an old bowling ball, but then realized it was the head of the femur from a mammoth. Scientists believe mammoths roamed Iowa 12,000 years ago. The fat bastards weighed three tons and ate three hundred pounds of vegetation each day.
The appointed County Comptroller could be saving Erie County taxpayers $1 million dollars annually by borrowing from the Control Board. Instead, he borrowed from the County.
Challenger Stefan Mychajliw stepped over the lifeless body of Joel Giambra, near the alley at the foot of the Rath Building and made this announcement. Phone calls to David Shank, the current Comptroller, from WIVB were not returned. His spokesperson said he was watching reruns of the Golden Girls and could not be bothered..
"Erie County right now has an A rating, according to Fitch, to borrow,"
Mychajliw said. "The Control Board has an AA+ rating so it really makes
no sense whatsoever for our unelected, appointed comptroller to let the
county borrow at an additional cost of $1 million."
Imagine you walk downstairs in the middle of the night to take a leak and a complete stranger is sleeping on your couch...
NEWSTEAD — State police said they arrested a Grand Island man early Sunday after he accidentally walked into the wrong house and flopped onto the couch for a snooze.
Lee A. Schuster, 20, was charged with criminal trespass after troopers were called to a home on North Millgrove Road at 4:30 a.m.
The homeowners said they called police after finding Schuster, whom they did not know, asleep on their couch and were unable to wake him, police said.
According to troopers, Schuster was "highly intoxicated" and told police he somehow thought he had walked into a friend's home on Grand Island, which is more than 25 miles from Newstead.
With everyone and their brother in Newstead owning a gun, this guy's lucky he didn't end up as somebody's farm fertilizer. Drunken man falls asleep in wrong house
It's four o'clock in the morning Damn it, listen to me good I'm sleeping with myself tonight Saved in time, thank God my music's still alive...
This is probably my favorite piece of vandalism. It is one of many messages painted on the Caz slants by would be artists, poets, and philosophers. A simple message which has been there since 1983. I thought I'd take a picture of it should the city ever get around to covering it up.
I wonder what the story is behind this message. Not sure, but I'll bet you alcohol played a role in it. I know it's from 1983 because next to it, is the author's signature with 83' written next to it. Never really hung out on the slants. They weren't slanted enough for my liking and I feared falling into the disgusting waters of Cazenovia Creek.
1983 was a pretty uneventful year, unless you are a fan of top NFL Quarterbacks. Crack cocaine was invented in the Bahamas (thanks, guys). Vanessa Williams became the first black Miss America... Mt. T. was named one of People Magazine's most intriguing people of that year and the final episode of MASH aired. People were beating each other up in stores to buy Cabbage Patch dolls. I'm not sure who Dexy was, or why he had "midnight runners", but we didn't hear much from him after 1983...
Saturday, June 9, 2012
My favorite moment from George Bush' presidency was when he mixed an ancient Chinese proverb with a song from the Who...
You never know what the hell you're going to find on here...
Johnny your rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard
'Cause hell's broke loose in Georgia and the Devil deals the cards
And if you win you get this shiny fiddle made of gold
But if you lose the Devil gets your soul...
It's always funny when you get a new cell phone and the new number formerly belonged to the most controversial man in America. Some unlucky sap received George Zimmerman's old number the other day. Everything was going great until anonymous callers began referring to him as a murderer...
The moment Junior Alexander Guy activated his very first cell phone, calls started rolling in. He was threatened, harassed and accused of murder at all hours of the day and night, according to the Orlando Sun-Sentinel.
"You deserve to die," the callers would say. "You murderer!" Turns out that T-Mobile had given Guy the cell phone number formerly
used by George Zimmerman -- the man who in February shot and killed Trayvon Martin in Florida.
Shredd and Reagan interviewed the South Buffalo resident with the outspoken views on race today. He said neighbors were coming up to him and thanking him for his comments to channel IV. He also said he has received some death threats.
I'm not afraid to touch on controversial topics. We've all heard people talk about the increased number of black people who have moved onto the side streets off of South Park Avenue and Seneca Streets. It has dominated many conversations on porches and at dinner tables. To pretend that it hasn't, is an outright fabrication. Although very politically incorrect, this man was just saying publicly what others have said privately.
I'm not an advocate of any kind of racism. We've all heard the stories about our Irish ancestors being greeted with signs that read "Irish need not apply" when they arrived in this country. It's something every Catholic school teacher in South Buffalo discussed at one point or another.
While this man's opinion might be ugly, it was how he felt. To me, hypocrites are worse than anyone. There are three hypocritical groups/people which need to be pointed out here...
1.)The white resident from the outer lying suburb who is "shocked" by the man's comments: Could you remind us all again why you fled to an all white area?
2.) Reverend Darius Pridgen: Ironically, the racist, blue collar South Buffalo man in question has more in common with the average black person than Pridgen does. He drives fancy cars and lives in an expensive condo on the waterfront. The only time Pridgen is black is when he's preaching from the alter or speaking in front of a TV camera.
3.)The South Buffalo/ 1st Ward racists who turned around and whored themselves to Byron Brown when he ran against a South Buffalo resident: We all know who they are. If you're going to be a racist, it's on you, but don't just do it when it's convenient for you. Practice what you preach. I don't dislike Brown because he's, well... brown. I dislike him because he's an empty suit. These people, who talk out of both sides of their mouths, are an embarrassment to the true racist, idiots everywhere.At least they're not hypocritical.
Attached is the full interview from Shredd and Reagan. No word yet on whether the man plans on tossing his white hood into the ring for City Council. You can listen to him on Shredd and Ragan here.
