"Book claims media showed anti-U.S. bias over Iraq
PARIS, France - Reporter Alain Hertoghe’s book accused the French press of not being objective in its coverage of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. His newspaper fired him."
"Doctors say DEA policy criminalizes legitimate practice"
As I read this I wondered why they were going after doctors and their staffs when the drug problem in America is cocaine and other dangerous drugs that are dealt on the street. And then I realized why. They have lost the war on drugs on the street so they go after doctors because there is a paper trail. It is easier to go after doctors and they can show a success rate that offsets their failure against the real drug problem. As the last sentence of the story reads, "it's just not very safe for doctors to treat pain." And isn't this just a wonderful thing for the DEA to do.
Is it fair for farmers to spread liquid manure, sludge, on the fields around Preble? Farmers have the right to farm but to what extent and who decides how far that right goes. Does it extend to the point where the land, air and water is polluted? Is it fair for the farmers, who are just businessmen after all, to practice their business to the extent that it adversely affects everyone else who lives in the town? Would we allow any other business to do what farmers have done to the water supply? Is the fact that Preble was once a totally farm community make it OK for modern day farmers to do what their predecessors NEVER did? Liquid manure is a recent process. It wasn't used a hundred years ago. Many-hundred-cow farms are new and have little in common with old time farms. In point of fact what some so called farmers are doing today, is not farming in the original sense of the term. They are huge businesses that pollute the air and water. They are a distant relative to farming with the phony name of 'Factory Farming'. They are not farmers, they are businessmen and they should not be treated or thought of the same as traditional farmers. Let's face it, we would not have a nitrate problem, we would not have a air stink problem, if there were only traditional farming going on in Preble. It is the NEW big business factory farming that is causing the problem. With that in mind perhaps it is time to revisit the rights of farmers and divide those rights between traditional farming and big business factory farming. They are different and they should not be treated the same way. We should allow the traditional farmers full rights as they have had forever but we need to look at and restrict the big business factory farms so our air and water are kept pure. That is not too much to ask. Everyone has the right to do whatever they want as long as it does not interfere with everyone else's right to do the same. The factory farms are polluting our air and water and they do NOT have the right to do that.
Therefore I call on the new town board to hold an open discussion on all aspects of sludge spreading - not just the science and economics but how it affects people and whether it's FAIR in the common sense meaning of the word - I think this would be in the true sense of democracy and how could the board refuse to do this on the issue, which is the biggest true issue in town?
I remember that Christmas many years ago. As kids we lived in a rented house in Scranton PA. A nice house with a fenced in backyard that had an inverted U-shaped bar for a clothes line, only one, the other broken and removed long before we moved in. There were trees on the right and an old flower covered fence on the left. The part of the backyard near the house was covered in flagstone. We used to swing on that bar like monkeys. My older brother Tom, by two years, and I were very close, or so I thought. One day we set up a chair near the bar and jumped from the chair to the bar to swing. Tom kept moving the chair further and further away and being older, had no trouble jumping to the bar. Egged on by Tom I made a valiant effort, missed the bar, and landed flat on my face on the flagstone patio. I sat up, somewhat dazed and brushed what I thought were small leaves from my face. When I saw the blood on my hand I started screaming for my mother. I was just a little kid after all. She scolded Tom and cleaned me up and soothed me as only a mother can.
But with the experience of that backyard fall and other similar experiences it was no surprise, or should not have been, about what Tom did on that Christmas morning so many years ago. We had a big tree set up in the corner of the dinning room covered with all the lights and decorations my mother saved from year to year. I especially liked the bubbling candle lights. Back then we saved everything from year to year. Big light bulbs on heavy wire were the rule of the day. No small 100 light strings with tiny bulbs for $5 back then. You saved everything, couldn't afford not too. It must have been a good year for my father because there were lots of presents for Tom and I under the tree. Because we were so close in age, almost twins, each of us had the same gifts, wrapped in the same wrapping paper. Under normal circumstances we would rush down in the morning, gulp down breakfast, and then everyone would gather by the tree and open presents.
But Tom got up very early that Christmas morning and snuck down to the dining room and opened all of his presents. Then he opened all of mine too. Then he played with all of the toys and broke some of them. Later he insisted that the broken toys were mine and that his were all OK. My parents didn't buy that story and Tom was stuck with the broken toys. I remember being upset by it for awhile but the thrill of having the new toys soon took away the sting of not opening my own presents.
Christmas is a time for children and the time for the family to get together. And it is the time to remember the past.
Merry Christmas everyone.
From: Allison Nicole Ashley alley_cat5183@yahoo.com
Subject: The only stink in preble is you!
Date: December 24, 2003 6:38:46 PM EST
To: frank@prebleny.com
In case you haven't realized Preble is a farming community, and has been for many years. The farmers in the Town of Preble have done more for the community than people like you. If you are so concerned about the Town of Preble, why don't you get involved in the community, instead of whining about everything. What do you do for the Town of Preble other than complain about everything that goes on? Are you in the fire department? Are you on the recreation committee? Maybe you should move back to wherever you came from because this town has survived for many years without people like you.
Also if you haven't ever heard, if you have something bad to say about a farmer then don't talk with your mouth full.
Let's see if you put this on your web page!
A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:
alley_cat5183@yahoo.com
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host mx1.mail.yahoo.com [64.157.4.78]: 554 delivery error:
dd Sorry, your message to alley_cat5183@yahoo.com cannot be delivered. This account is over quota. - mta118.mail.sc5.yahoo.com
Here is the problem as it was explained to me. Manure sits in the snow over the winter, the ground freezes. In the spring the snow melts but the ground is still frozen. The manure is carried off with the melting snow and pollutes the water. The moral of the story is... What moral can their be? The farmers, who used to be the guardians of the land and water, are now the polluters of both. And while they have a right to make a living and to farm, they do NOT have a right to pollute our water AND they should be ashamed for doing so. Sadly, those who are in charge of protecting our soil and water, (Amanda Barber are you listening?) are farmers themselves and will do nothing to stop it. Instead they protect their own to the detriment of everybody else. I think that what surprises me the most is the callousness of the GOBs in Preble who claim that it is we who are against the farmer while at the same time they shield and protect those farmers who pollute and destroy the land and water. Where are their principles? Where are their morals? Where are their brains? It is we who work to protect the land and water and it is we who are chastised for doing so. So it is now up to you, it is now your duty to do something. Sure, you can sit there and just read this and think something is being done. That's easy to do. Just sit there, sip your beer, belch a bit and turn on the TV. Some day soon you will not be able to drink from your well and you'll have to keep your windows closed because of the stench. But hey, it's so much easier to just do nothing and let them crap all over you. By then you'll be so used to the stink and you won't even notice.
PREBLE STINKS! And here is the reason why. I guess some farmers wanted to give all of us a Christmas present by stinking up the town dumping manure on the snow. Now I could be wrong but I thought they were NOT supposed to dump manure on the snow. I could be wrong but I thought they were supposed to till the manure into the soil within three days of dumping it. I think it was Amanda Barber who told me that but I could be wrong. You can't till frozen ground as far as I know but I'm not a farmer so I could be wrong.
Today I was driving down Rt 11 when I spotted a huge manure tanker coming out of the Currie farm. I turned around and went down 11 about 1/2 mile past Preble Road and there on the left were two guys from the Currie farm dumping manure on the field. Those are the pictures labeled "CurrieDumpRt11" 1 through 7. Then I drove over Preble road to 281 south. Just a bit past town there was more evidence of manure dumping on the right hand side of the road. Those pictures are labeled "281lookingeast" 1 through 5. I named the pictures wrong, they should say west not east. I drove further down 281 and took a sharp right onto Steger Road and came back towards town. I took the pictures of the same field from Steger road and those are labeled "StegerRdLookingEast" 1 through 5. I don't know who dumped manure in this field.
If you wanted to know why the town stinks and perhaps why the nitrates are high this could be the reason. But, I'm no expert so I could be wrong. And as these fields are south of Preble they probably aren't the reason for nitrate problems in the town proper. But I could be wrong.
See the pictures here.
"The 2003 Person of the Year package, which hits newsstands Monday, focuses on a 12-person artillery survey unit stationed in Iraq to tell the story of the American soldier. Two Time journalists embedded with the platoon were injured in a grenade attack this month.
Three soldiers with the unit - Marquette Whiteside, Billie Grimes and Ronald Buxton - are shown on the cover. "
Don Armstrong, Town Lawyer, advised a nice innocent young couple with one child, to buy a one acre lot in a two acre zone and now they are stuck with a useless vacant lot. Think that's bad? It gets worse. Armstrong had to know he was advising them to buy that illegal lot when he did so two years ago. Less than a year ago he sent a letter to another fellow telling him he could NOT sell HIS undersized lots! So what's the difference. Well, now it gets interesting... The fellow he told he couldn't sell his lots was NOT a friend of the town board while the woman whose illegal lot he helped sell IS a friend of the town board. And it gets worser, or worse yet or whatever... wait till you hear this. The bestest childhood friend of the woman whose illegal lot he helped sell is his client! Can you smell the fish yet? Last March Armstrong sends a letter to the ZBA telling them that, in his opinion, it is just fine and dandy for this undersized lot and they should grant a variance... BUT just TWO months before that, in January, he cited chapter and verse and the law that proved without a doubt that it was illegal to do what he just told the ZBA it was OK to do. (I'm getting a headache)
Let's see what we have here.
Conflict of interest? Yep!I know I have your curiosity at a fever pitch but I just don't have time right now to do the full blown, chapter and verse, treatment this story deserves. But you can bet I will, and soon. The saddest part is the poor young family that have been cheated out of their money because of Don Armstrong. And he is our town lawyer, and doesn't that make you just feel so special and warm all over? No? It should make you mad as hell at Armstrong and at our town board for hiring him.
Favoritism? You Bet!
Unethical? Without a doubt!
Illegal? In all likelihood!
Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, accused the United Nations Security Council today of having failed to help rescue his country from Saddam Hussein, and he chided member states for bickering over his beleaguered country's future.
'Settling scores with the United States-led coalition should not be at the cost of helping to bring stability to the Iraqi people,' Mr. Zebari said in language unusually scolding for an occupant of the guest seat at the end of the curving Security Council table.
'Squabbling over political differences takes a back seat to the daily struggle for security, jobs, basic freedoms and all the rights the U.N. is chartered to uphold,' he said.
Taking a harsh view of the inability of quarreling members of the Security Council to endorse military action in Iraq, Mr. Zebari said, 'One year ago, the Security Council was divided between those who wanted to appease Saddam Hussein and those who wanted to hold him accountable.
'The United Nations as an organization failed to help rescue the Iraqi people from a murderous tyranny that lasted over 35 years, and today we are unearthing thousands of victims in horrifying testament to that failure.'
He declared, 'The U.N. must not fail the Iraqi people again.'
Secretary General Kofi Annan, the first to emerge from the hall, appeared taken aback.
"In the same northern Iraqi town yesterday, about 700 people rallied, chanting: 'Saddam is in our hearts, Saddam is in our blood.' US soldiers and Iraqi policemen shouted back: 'Saddam is in our jail.'"
But one of Saddam's arresting officers said yesterday that the dishevelled former dictator had immediately offered to negotiate when captured on Saturday night.
"He said: 'I'm Saddam Hussein, I'm the president of Iraq and I'm willing to negotiate'," recalled Major Brian Reed, operations officer for the first brigade of the Fourth Infantry Division.
Major Reed said he responded to Saddam: "President Bush sends his regards."
Now that's cool.
More...
"Before the news conference, soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division set up pictures of the house where Saddam Hussein was found. The $750,000 that was seized during the arrest appears below."
"Remarks by the President on the Capture of Saddam Hussein
The Cabinet Room
12:15 P.M. EST"
 | SADDAM CAPTURED |
|
 |  |
 | |
"What a relief to hear the president forthrightly defend his decision to bar Germany, France and Russia from competing on Iraq reconstruction contracts. There is a difference between being magnanimous and being a patsy. Germany, France and Russia are completely free to donate money and troops to help Iraq's transition away from a dictatorship they defended and bankrolled. (They have, of course, delivered nothing.) But, after doing everything they could to undermine the U.S. at the U.N. and elsewhere in order to protect their own favored dictator, they have absolutely no claim on the tax-payers of the United States. The idea that we should reward them for their obstructionism out of our own coffers on the same terms that we are rewarding countries that gave money and lives to help the liberation is a preposterous one. It's tantamount to inviting exactly the same kind of intransigence and betrayal in the future. France in particular went much further earlier this year and last than simply opposing the U.S. on Iraq. The French government did all it could to rally world opinion, lobby foreign governments, and delay the war to Saddam's benefit in order to isolate and humiliate the U.S. They didn't just object; they opposed, plotted and lied to our faces. Forgetting this is absurd. Rewarding it is obscene. The president is right. Let the real allies of the U.S. benefit from the alliance. Let France, Germany and Russia live with the consequences of their own moral bankruptcy and strategic error. The alliance is indeed not what it was. Nor can it be. And the responsibility lies squarely in Paris, Berlin and Moscow."
Well said.
"Snowmaking crews work 24 - 7 to blast Song Mt with 2000 gallons of water per minute."
Update to last Monday's Town Board Meeting.
Betty Pitman mentioned that she received $5,000 from Brian Kolb for signs in Preble. This prompted me to ask who Brian Kolb was. With a certain amount of glee, Betty said he was our assemblyman, and she was surprised that I, of all people, would not know that. Everybody had a good laugh, including me, about my ignorance of the man. Truth is, I don't pay much attention to politics at the state level and only recently paid any attention to county politics. In either case, I was glad to be the comic relief for the board. After all, I would, and have, made fun of them for similar infractions in the past.
Kolb, Brian M.
Assemblyman - Republican
Assembly District: 129
District Office: 481 Hamilton Street, Geneva 14456
315-781-2030
Albany Office: LOB 720, Albany 12248
518-455-5772 (voice)
518-455-4650 (fax)
Email: kolbb@assembly.state.ny.us
"December 2003
Barden and Robeson Vice President Kevin Tomko joined Senator James L. Seward, Empire State Development Vice President Thomas Gillson and Town of Preble Supervisor Elizabeth Pitman at a press conference on November 14 at the Cortland County Country Club to announce a major expansion by the company in Cortland County.
Barden and Robeson, the Northeast's leading manufacturer of custom designed pre-engineered homes, will be investing approximately $4.5 million to acquire land and construct a new 100,000 sq. ft. manufacturing, storage and office facility, as well as purchase related machinery and equipment for a move to the Town of Preble. The company, which ships throughout New England, the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest, considered other options both in and out of New York State before selecting Cortland County for this project.
"The buildings in which we hope to occupy by June 2004 will give us the advantages of state of the art equipment, improved product flow and a technically advanced communication environment," according to Tomko. "We will instantly be able to double our production capability thus creating opportunities for further employment gains.""
More...
It was a brief meeting and this is a brief report and I'm writing it in my briefs. Just kidding, I'm naked.
The meeting started with the normal stuff, pledge to the flag and accept the minutes from the last meeting etc. Don Armstrong talked about the need for businesses that get building permits to prove that they have workman's comp and disability insurance. I guess the law has been on the books for awhile but nobody knew about it. You will be able to get the details from Doug Staley and Betty Pitman when the need arises. Then a brief note about the nitrate test wells which are still not in and the hope now is by Christmas. Brenda Brooks was appointed to fill the vacancy on the board of assessment. Doug Staley's contract came up and Betty wanted to insist that Doug be at the Town Hall for a specific time of one to two hours each week. They will talk to Doug about that. Otherwise they seemed happy with his contract. Bob Rittenhouse had his lawyer Mike Schafer send a letter to the town asking that Rittenhouse Square be turned over to the town. The discussion was brief because there were things that Rittenhouse has to do before they could start the process. Survey, stake out the area etc. Then it will be turned over to someone at County to review. Betty said that the town board had a problem last time with Bob's proposal because the road did not meet up with the right of way and that would have to be fixed before they could do anything. I guess Don is going to contact Bob's lawyer about it. Doug Staley wants the town to hire a structural engineer to review the plans for Barden Homes because Doug is not able to provide that service.
I had a discussion with the board about Song Mountain and their building permits, or lack thereof and the road. I have some more research to look into before I go into that further.
Joyce Snavlin asked the board a zoning question that no one could answer so I did. Then she asked another and Armstrong deferred to me and I again answered her question which annoyed Peter and prompted him to ask if she was asking the board or me, to which I replied that Don deferred to me and that I answered as the presumed resident expert. Peter dropped it at that. I don't know about you but I got a chuckle out of that.
ZBA Public Hearing 12/17/03 7:30PM (Someone wants to build on a half size lot in the R1L district on the north end of Song Lake Road) , Planning Board 12/18/03 at 7PM, Year end meeting 12/29/03 at 1PM, all at the Town Hall.
Less than an hour after it started, the town board adjourned for another month. Oh Joy.
"GENEVA - The United States, backed by the European Union, Japan and Canada, has turned back a bid by developing nations to place the Internet under the control of the United Nations or its member governments." "The draft declaration to be issued at the end of the conference Friday also includes strong references to freedom of the press and freedom of information online, despite protests by Vietnam and China, which pushed for more restrictions."
In other words, the commies wanted to limit freedom, how novel.
1) nothing to do
2) a sharp knife
3) a large lime
4) a patient cat
5) and too much tequila
From an email I received. This is NOT my cat.
'Americans demand top-quality service from the private sector. They should get the same top-quality service from their government.' -- President George W. Bush
"If you or a family member receive a Dell PC as a gift this Christmas, you may be in for a surprise, if it becomes infected with spyware. Dell has instituted what has to be the most misguided tech support policy I have ever seen. Not only will Dell refuse to tell you how to remove the spyware, they won't even refer you to web sites that can help."
"On the motion of Mr. Dwyer and seconded by Mr. Ross, Agenda No. 02 (Amend Rules Of Order, Cortland County Legislature) was introduced. Mr. O'Mara questioned why the rules were being amended when there had been a unanimous vote to accept them. Mrs. Breed said she had received calls from indignant constituents suggesting the 'yes' vote was illegal or unconstitutional. Mr. VanDonsel questioned why a 'no' vote was any less illegal or unconstitutional. The discussion centered on reasons for the change and acceptable alternatives. Agenda No. 02 was defeated on a two-thirds roll call vote with all members present voting aye, except Mrs. Brown, Mr. Dwyer, Mr. Mudge, Mr. O'Mara, Mrs. Richards, Mr. Steger, Mr. Teeter, Mr. VanDee, Mr. VanDonsel and Mr. Harrington voting nay. Mr. Allen said he would introduce a friendly amendment, but Mr. VanDonsel said he would take the resolution back to the Personnel Committee for further consideration."
Am I missing something here. The paper inferred that VanDonsel said he was against the automatic yes vote. Why then, did he vote to keep it?
Cortland County Democrat Legislator Ric Van Donsel is trying to change the rules to take away power from the in coming Republicans before his term expires at the end of this month!
Sandy Price, Democrat who lost her seat in the election with only 43% of the vote said the reason for doing it was under the guise of "helping the new legislature". The paper has her saying that they (the democrats formally in charge) talked about this for a long time! Now, after they suffered huge election loses they finally decide it's time for change? All of these powers were just fine when they were in control. Now that they got booted out on their butts they want to change the rules. This is the kind of stuff that got them kicked out in the first place. Maybe they should just go out in their gardens and eat worms!
You know it's stuff like this that is the reason they lost power. They bitched about the Republicans writing bad things about them. The truth is that what was written was true and they didn't like you finding out about it. This attempt to screw up the new legislature and weaken their power will not be forgotten. Do these fools really think we are that stupid? Apparently so, because they still do it. Perhaps it is they who are the stupid ones to think that we would fall for this charade. Maybe they think no one will remember this two years hence? Maybe they don't know about the Internet, maybe they don't know about a lot of things. Maybe they are the stupid ones after all.
A quote from The December 1, Consumer News pg 6:
"I respect Mr. Van Donsel as a legislator," (Scott) Steve said. "But I think it's amusing that he waited until the last minute to propose these changes. It would be a shame for the outgoing Legislature to tie anyone's hands."
The Preble NY web site. News, information and opinion from and about Preble, a small town of 1500 souls halfway between Syracuse and Cortland New York.
Since June 2, 2000
by Frank Hogg
Now in our FIFTH year!
I'm in a constant state of not losing weight.
