Dino's Forum

I HATE CHRISTINE O'DONNELL!!!

2010-09-17T19:39:00.003-04:00

In his review of what Roger Ebert considered the worst movie of 1994, "North", on Siskel and Eberts' annual "Worst of show", he said that when he wrote his newspaper review of this film for the Chicago Sun Times, his fingers took over as if they had a mind of their own. I will now paraphrase that review to describe how I feel about Delaware GOP Senate candidate, Christine O'Donnell:

I HATE CHRISTINE O'DONNELL! HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE CHRISTINE O'DONNELL! I ABSOLUTELY HATE HER. HATE EVERYTHING ABOUT HER!

Why so much hate? Not only does she have the track record of a deadbeat who doesn't pay her bills, she allegedly has a reputation of using her campaign donations for her own personal expenses while not paying her staff according to her former campaign manager, Kristin Murray. Therefore, it apprears as though Christine O'Donnells' campaign is nothing more than a money grab.

But hey, don't just take my word for it, take a look at her campaign website Is there anything substantive about O'Donnell on her site as far as a bio or her stance on the issues? No, her sorry excuse for a campaign site is nothing more than a money grab. Yeah, that's it. That's all the site does, ask for money.

In my opinion, Christine O'Donnell is an absolute disgrace who sabotaged a primary for money. O'Donnell and her campaign need to be investigated. Hopefully, this could result in her being thrown off the ballot.

If there's any justice, this will happen.

Christopher Hitchens on Battling Cancer and Prayer

2010-08-10T21:51:00.003-04:00

One of my favorite people, Christopher Hitchens, is currently undergoing treatment for Esophageal Cancer. The odds of surviving this form of cancer are very slim. Hitch however, seems to be taking it all in stride. He also fields questions about people praying for him and in some cases, against him. It's a great interview.

Hang in there, Hitch!

Part 1

Part 2

LOOK WHO'S BACK!!

2010-08-01T12:03:00.005-04:00

Well folks, turns out you can't keep a good crooner down! It may be almost two years later and everybody knows who I am now, but the spirit of Dino not only lives on, but is alive and well. Therefore, I felt it appropriate to let the phoenix rise from the ashes and by restoring my old blog. While I've tried creating different blogs, both political and non-political over the last couple of years, I suppose that once you break in a old pair of shoes, you don't really feel like putting on another.

One person I really have to thank is Matt Rooney for helping me keep my writing alive at Save Jersey. He gave me a home to where I can openly give my opinions, even if we didn't always see eye to eye. I am not only glad, but proud to be a contributor to Save Jersey and will continue to remain one as long as Matt wishes to have me.

I anticipate tackling the issues here on true Dino fashion as I did for two years here and I look forward to your input while doing so. Thank you to all of you who made Dino's Forum a success before (whether you loved or hated him) and I look forward to reconnecting with everybody.

On that note, LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!:-)

Paterson Public Schools: A Lawsuit in the Making?

2008-08-25T14:05:00.005-04:00

If there's one thing Paterson's educators are good at, it's working with the cards they're dealt. If it's not working in buildings that would be considered uninhabitable by any normal standard, it's their valiant effort to try and educate the children of Paterson despite the inferior cirriculum that they are given to work with as a result of a corrupt administration and is not only tolerated, but exacerbated by the NJEA and its lawyers.

It is now getting to the point where there is talk of a class action lawsuit being filed as a result of the children being issued diplomas without an adequate education. It's no wonder seeing as though the powers that be in Paterson, whose credentials are questionable at best, apparently like to falsify progress while lining their own pockets as the NJEA seems content to sit back and allow it.

For all of the television ads the NJEA likes to run touting how wonderfully Paterson public schools perform, you can't help but wonder how honest they're numbers are as a result of what has been taking place there. Meanwhile, educators who go against the grain and are true student advocates, are being represented by attorneys from the NJEA, the same organization that praises the corrupt district. Will the children and educators who want to provide them with a thorough and efficient education ever catch a break?

District and state officials will fail to tell you how court ordered Abbott funding does not go to help inner city teachers educate kids, but rather, to give politically connected friends high paying and often times, do nothing jobs.

Mayor Steve Lonegan, who has been working extremely hard touring the state touting tax reform and going so far as to file lawsuits against the government for spending money without checks and balances, would be wise to investigate this further and see what he could do in order to get involved. Corruption within New Jersey's public education system is costing taxpayers more than corruption on any other level. It's time to start taking the NJEA, big shot lawyers and all, to task for allowing school districts like Paterson to operate in such disarray.

Needless to say, I think the first few weeks of school in Paterson will be more exciting than usual.

Cartoon of the Week

2008-08-22T07:53:00.003-04:00

Dino to Sen. McCain: Joe's the Man!

2008-08-15T08:36:00.002-04:00

If you're John McCain and your objective is to defeat a hardline leftist in Barack Obama, the handpicked messiah of the George Soros/Move On marxist left, who do you think would be the best choice to make that happen? The answer is the man who successfully beat them back in resounding fashion two years ago, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman.

As we all remember quite well, Sen. Lieberman came under attack by the well funded Move On mafia in his bid for re-election in '06 when they decided to put up marxist Ned Lamont in the Democratic primary in which Lieberman was narrowly defeated. This defeat was short lived however when the state of Connecticut spoke as a whole and handed Sen. Lieberman a landslide victory. Even hardline conservatives had lined up behind Joe Lieberman for his independent candidacy in the general election over Republican candidate Alan Schlesinger whom they deemed a lost cause and saw backing Lieberman as the best chance they had at defeating a hardline leftist.

While some if not many conservatives voice their disgust over this possibility, they also have a lot of explaining to do as the overwhelming majority of these conservatives were among the aforementioned who supported Lieberman in '06. For all of their sabre rattling and empty threats of revolt, would they rather see Barack Obama become President? I have absolutely no reason to believe that the conservative base of the party won't fall in line and support a McCain/Lieberman ticket for the greater good.

There is no doubt that Joe Lieberman is more than capable of defeating the hard left as he has done so in the past. If we ever needed somebody like that in our corner, it's now. Let's do what we have to do and make our voices heard. Let's do all we can to see to it that Sen. McCain selects the right man for VP.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman

Greatest Campaign Ad EVER!!!!

2008-08-01T14:46:00.001-04:00

Kudos to David Paterson

2008-07-31T08:08:00.003-04:00

It's not often, that I get to commend a Democrat for a job well done. Having said that, I have never been above giving credit where credit is due in the rare instance that a Democrat actually gets something right every once in a while.

On that note, I would like to commend New York Acting Governor David Paterson for his opposition to raising taxes and taking on his one of his own party lawmakers, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver in the process.

On raising taxes to help balance New York's budget, Paterson said the following:

"The reason I'm avoiding taxes is because I think taxes are addictive.
What happens is, when you start taxing, people start thinking of ways to spend money . . . I would only use that as a last resort and don't want it to be the first option right out of the barrel."

Are you listening, Trenton???

Gov. Paterson also said he doesn't want to even hear talk about possible tax hikes "because it just reignites the hopes of those who [think they] can escape the situation by taxing wealthy people, businesses, anybody they can find.

Paging Trenton!!!

On the other hand, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, perhaps best known nationwide as the man solely resposible for preventing Jessica's Law from being voted on in New York, believes in the typical Democrat "solution" to solving fiscal woes, raising taxes on "the rich".

Gov. Paterson has not only decided against raising taxes, he has also ordered state agencies to cut seven percent from current-year spending and has ordered a hard freeze on the hiring of new state employees. So, not only is he opposing tax hikes, he is also looking to reduce the size of government.

Needless to say, David Paterson has shown a tremendous amount of courage on this issue. He is well aware of the fact that a tax increase will start a slippery slope of bloated government, wasteful spending and corruption.

Too bad New Jersey isn't as fortunate to have a Governor with such resolve. Perhaps Gov. Corzine should take the advice of my friend George Ajjan and "Grow some gonads, dude!"

Much Ado About Blog Fatigue

2008-07-29T11:48:00.002-04:00

I came across this aritcle from last summer on Blog Herald and I thought is was fantastic. It basically outlines what is known as 'blog fatigue'.

Blog fatigue is something that hits each and every one of us to one degree or another. It hits particularly hard when you are a one man operation. The article starts off by outlining Kent Newsome's five stages of blogging from creation to abandonment

1. Excitement: While setting up a new blog, the blogger is full of great ideas, is inspired, and expectations are high.

2. Expectation: When starting from zero, little things mean a lot and progress seems exponential.

3. Frustration: Blogging meet diminishing returns, turns into inefficient work, and the blogger finds it harder and harder to get attention amid the multitude of other blogs.

4. Alienation: Rejection of the blogosphere.

5. Abandonment: A dead blog.

The article also has some great links so if you get an opportunity, especially if you are in the midst of a case of blog fatigue yourself, this piece is for you!

Two Whole Years of Yours Truly!

2008-07-28T17:30:00.002-04:00

I can't believe that I've been at this for two years now! To be perfectly honest, it really wasn't my intention either.

For those readers and commentors who have never managed a blog, it can be very difficult at times for a litany of reasons. The primary reason being time. When you're a busy individual, it is extremely difficult to devote time to something that you don't get paid to do. There are plenty of instances when managing your blog, namely having to work for a living and pay bills, ends up on the bottom of the totem pole.

Furthermore, it is not an easy task to find issues to talk about, especially in such an enormous New Jersey blogosphere, or at least one that everybody else isn't already discussing. One of the things that has really kept me going is my coverage of the Paterson Public School System and all of the great people there who have given me more to write about. I thank each and every one of you for keeping me in the loop and I can only hope that somebody finally figures out how to run things out there who isn't just there to carry out their own personal and/or political agenda.

I've put a lot of hard work and devotion into Dino's Forum over the last two years. Over that time, I've been called a neocon, a liberal and a 'RINO' by everybody who disagrees with me which you can imagine, amuses me to no end. I suppose that's another reason why I've kept at it for this long. I've attracted all different walks of life.

At the same time, it saddened me a great deal that I had to start filtering comments earlier this year. I initially started this blog because I was censored from commenting on the old Politics NJ and I wanted to create a forum where people could feel free to leave a comment, whether they agree with me or not. Unfortunately, I was getting heavy traffic from Ron Paul trolls who monopolized and took advantage of that courtesy. It bothered me so bad that I almost folded up shop. In hindsight, I decided against that because I was not about to let a handful of kooks discourage me from doing what I like to do which is discuss politics, whether it be on a municipal, state or national level.

So, to cut a long story short, I thank all of you who have kept me going and have given me a reason to keep on going. It may not be easy, but you guys definitley make it worth the time!

Obama Love

2008-07-24T08:21:00.003-04:00

A fitting tribute to the psychosis known as "Obamamania" that has taken the American mass media by storm.

You Better Don't Mention Obama!

2008-07-17T16:41:00.001-04:00

Bobby Murcer: 1946-2008

2008-07-12T23:48:00.002-04:00

Remembering Tony Snow

2008-07-12T10:59:00.003-04:00

After a long and hard fought battle with colon cancer, former White House Press Secretary and conservative TV/Radio personality Tony Snow passed away early this morning. He was 53 years old.

Snow was a regular fixture on Fox News Channel since its inception in 1996, was a regular guest host on the Rush Limbaugh show and also had stints in acting and music before becoming White House Press Secretary, succeeding the now disgraced Scott McClellan.

Snow is survived by his wife Jill, son Robbie and daughters Kendall and Kristi.

Jackie Mason: Obama Flip Flops

2008-07-10T12:25:00.002-04:00

Is the Left Playing Opossum?

2008-07-10T08:06:00.003-04:00

If you believe what you've been seeing or reading lately, the left has a bone to pick with Barack Obama as he attempts to distance himself from his hard left stances in the primary season and voting record in the Senate and tries to make a giant leap to the center for the general election. He has irritated left wing blogs, Move On and Jesse Jackson alike and they are making their voices heard whether they mean to or not. Or don't they?

With all of the money and effort that went into getting Barack Obama the nomination over Hillary Clinton, you can't help but wonder the same thing I'm wondering. Is this anger and disdain for Obama's new found centerism on the part of the left genuine, or is it a "Rope a Dope?"

For all of the money and power they wield among their consitiuency, I'm pretty sure that people like Jesse Jackson as well as left wing groups like Move On and various influential left wing blogs are well aware that they can't afford to beat people over the head with or outright push forward with their agenda and/or ideology with Obama because it will mean certain doom as the majority of the country does not think like them. They fully grasp that they are at best, polarizing.

The bottom line is that they have invested far too much financially and emotionally to come this far and lose. This means that they will resort to any tactic they can to help Barack Obama get elected President. That includes playing opossum and putting on a contrived show of self righteous indignation to show their "disgust" with Obama's newfound mainstream facade. The more anger and "accidental disgust" Jesse Jackson and the left shows toward Obama, the more independent and moderate undecideds warm up to the idea of voting for him and in the end, they will ultimately get what they want.

The far left on a worldwide scale has a notorious history of pulling the wool over the eyes of the ignorant and hiding their true agenda in order to get their way and this latest farce is no exception.

Do not be fooled.

Obama Outlines His Agenda

2008-07-09T09:05:00.002-04:00

After doing nothing but spewing empty shallow rhetoric and contradicting himself, Barack Obama has finally outlined his agenda for America.

Then again, can you outline what you NEVER HAD to begin with???

An Independence Day Message

2008-07-04T08:48:00.002-04:00

The following is a speech given by President Theodore Roosevelt on January 26, 1883 on the duties of American Citizenship.

Of course, in one sense, the first essential for a man's being a good citizen is his possession of the home virtues of which we think when we call a man by the emphatic adjective of manly. No man can be a good citizen who is not a good husband and a good father, who is not honest in his dealings with other men and women, faithful to his friends and fearless in the presence of his foes, who has not got a sound heart, a sound mind, and a sound body; exactly as no amount of attention to civil duties will save a nation if the domestic life is undermined, or there is lack of the rude military virtues which alone can assure a country's position in the world. In a free republic the ideal citizen must be one willing and able to take arms for the defense of the flag, exactly as the ideal citizen must be the father of many healthy children. A race must be strong and vigorous; it must be a race of good fighters and good breeders, else its wisdom will come to naught and its virtue be ineffective; and no sweetness and delicacy, no love for and appreciation of beauty in art or literature, no capacity for building up material prosperity can possibly atone for the lack of the great virile virtues.
But this is aside from my subject, for what I wish to talk of is the attitude of the American citizen in civic life. It ought to be axiomatic in this country that every man must devote a reasonable share of his time to doing his duty in the Political life of the community. No man has a right to shirk his political duties under whatever plea of pleasure or business; and while such shirking may be pardoned in those of small cleans it is entirely unpardonable in those among whom it is most common--in the people whose circumstances give them freedom in the struggle for life. In so far as the community grows to think rightly, it will likewise grow to regard the young man of means who shirks his duty to the State in time of peace as being only one degree worse than the man who thus shirks it in time of war. A great many of our men in business, or of our young men who are bent on enjoying life (as they have a perfect right to do if only they do not sacrifice other things to enjoyment), rather plume themselves upon being good citizens if they even vote; yet voting is the very least of their duties, Nothing worth gaining is ever gained without effort. You can no more have freedom without striving and suffering for it than you can win success as a banker or a lawyer without labor and effort, without self-denial in youth and the display of a ready and alert intelligence in middle age. The people who say that they have not time to attend to politics are simply saying that they are unfit to live in a free community. Their place is under a despotism; or if they are content to do nothing but vote, you can take despotism tempered by an occasional plebiscite, like that of the second Napoleon. In one of Lowell's magnificent stanzas about the Civil War he speaks of the fact which his countrymen were then learning, that freedom is not a gift that tarries long in the hands of cowards: nor yet does it tarry long in the hands of the sluggard and the idler, in the hands of the man so much absorbed in the pursuit of pleasure or in the pursuit of gain, or so much wrapped up in his own easy home life as to be unable to take his part in the rough struggle with his fellow men for political supremacy. If freedom is worth having, if the right of self-government is a valuable right, then the one and the other must be retained exactly as our forefathers acquired them, by labor, and especially by labor in organization, that is in combination with our fellows who have the same interests and the same principles. We should not accept the excuse of the business man who attributed his failure to the fact that his social duties were so pleasant and engrossing that he had no time left for work in his office; nor would we pay much heed to his further statement that he did not like business anyhow because he thought the morals of the business community by no means what they should be, and saw that the great successes were most often won by men of the Jay Gould stamp. It is just the same way with politics. It makes one feel half angry and half amused, and wholly contemptuous, to find men of high business or social standing in the community saying that they really have not got time to go to ward meetings, to organize political clubs, and to take a personal share in all the important details of practical politics; men who further urge against their going the fact that they think the condition of political morality low, and are afraid that they may be required to do what is not right if they go into politics.

The first duty of an American citizen, then, is that he shall work in politics; his second duty is that he shall do that work in a practical manner; and his third is that it shall be done in accord with the highest principles of honor and justice. Of course, it is not possible to define rigidly just the way in which the work shall be made practical. Each man's individual temper and convictions must be taken into account. To a certain extent his work must be done in accordance with his individual beliefs and theories of right and wrong. To a yet greater extent it must be done in combination with others, he yielding or modifying certain of his own theories and beliefs so as to enable him to stand on a common ground with his fellows, who have likewise yielded or modified certain of their theories and beliefs. There is no need of dogmatizing about independence on the one hand or party allegiance on the other. There are occasions when it may be the highest duty of any man to act outside of parties and against the one with which he has himself been hitherto identified; and there may be many more occasions when his highest duty is to sacrifice some of his own cherished opinions for the sake of the success of the party which he on the whole believes to be right. I do not think that the average citizen, at least in one of our great cities, can very well manage to support his own party all the time on every issue, local and otherwise; at any rate if he can do so he has been more fortunately placed than I have been. On the other hand, I am fully convinced that to do the best work people must be organized; and of course an organization is really a party, whether it be a great organization covering the whole nation and numbering its millions of adherents, or an association of citizens in a particular locality, banded together to win a certain specific victory, as, for instance, that of municipal reform. Somebody has said that a racing-yacht, like a good rifle, is a bundle of incompatibilities; that you must get the utmost possible sail power without sacrificing some other quality if you really do get the utmost sail power, that, in short you have got to make more or less of a compromise on each in order to acquire the dozen things needful; but, of course, in making this compromise you must be very careful for the sake of something unimportant not to sacrifice any of the great principles of successful naval architecture. Well, it is about so with a man's political work. He has got to preserve his independence on the one hand; and on the other, unless he wishes to be a wholly ineffective crank, he has got to have some sense of party allegiance and party responsibility, and he has got to realize that in any given exigency it may be a matter of duty to sacrifice one quality, or it may be a matter of duty to sacrifice the other.

If it is difficult to lay down any fixed rules for party action in the abstract; it would, of course, be wholly impossible to lay them down for party action in the concrete, with reference to the organizations of the present day. I think that we ought to be broad-minded enough to recognize the fact that a good citizen, striving with fearlessness, honesty, and common sense to do his best for the nation, can render service to it in many different ways, and by connection with many different organizations. It is well for a man if he is able conscientiously to feel that his views on the great questions of the day, on such questions as the tariff, finance, immigration, the regulation of the liquor traffic, and others like them, are such as to put him in accord with the bulk of those of his fellow citizens who compose one of the greatest parties: but it is perfectly supposable that he may feel so strongly for or against certain principles held by one party, or certain principles held by the other, that he is unable to give his full adherence to either. In such a case I feel that he has no right to plead this lack of agreement with either party as an excuse for refraining from active political work prior to election. It will, of course, bar him from the primaries of the two leading parties, and preclude him from doing his share in organizing their management; but, unless he is very unfortunate, he can surely find a number of men who are in the same position as himself and who agree with him on some specific piece of political work, and they can turn in practically and effectively long before election to try to do this new piece of work in a practical manner.

One seemingly very necessary caution to utter is, that a man who goes into politics should not expect to reform everything right off, with a jump. I know many excellent young men who, when awakened to the fact that they have neglected their political duties, feel an immediate impulse to form themselves into an organization which shall forthwith purify politics everywhere, national, State, and city alike; and I know of a man who having gone round once to a primary, and having, of course, been unable to accomplish anything in a place where he knew no one and could not combine with anyone, returned saying it was quite useless for a good citizen to try to accomplish anything in such a manner. To these too hopeful or too easily discouraged people I always feel like reading Artemus Ward's article upon the people of his town who came together in a meeting to resolve that the town should support the Union and the Civil War, but were unwilling to take any part in putting down the rebellion unless they could go as brigadier-generals. After the battle of Bull Run there were a good many hundreds of thousands of young men in the North who felt it to be their duty to enter the Northern armies; but no one of them who possessed much intelligence expected to take high place at the outset, or anticipated that individual action would be of decisive importance in any given campaign. He went in as private or sergeant, lieutenant or captain, as the case might be, and did his duty in his company, in his regiment, after a while in his brigade. When Ball's Bluff and Bull Run succeeded the utter failure of the Peninsular campaign, when the terrible defeat of Fredericksburg was followed by the scarcely less disastrous day at Chancellorsville he did not announce (if he had any pluck or manliness about him) that he considered it quite useless for any self-respecting citizen to enter the Army of the Potomac, because he really was not of much weight in its councils, and did not approve of its management; he simply gritted his teeth and went doggedly on with his duty, grieving over, but not disheartened at the innumerable shortcomings and follies committed by those who helped to guide the destinies of the army, recognizing also the bravery, the patience, intelligence, and resolution with which other men in high places offset the follies and shortcomings and persevering with equal mind through triumph and defeat until finally he saw the tide of failure turn at Gettysburg and the full flood of victory come with Appomattox.

I do wish that more of our good citizens would go into politics, and would do it in the same spirit with which their fathers went into the Federal armies. Begin with the little thing, and do not expect to accomplish anything without an effort. Of course, if you go to a primary just once, never having taken the trouble to know any of the other people who go there you will find yourself wholly out of place; but if you keep on attending and try to form associations with other men whom you meet at the political gatherings, or whom you can persuade to attend them, you will very soon find yourself a weight. In the same way, if a man feels that the politics of his city, for instance, are very corrupt and wants to reform them, it would be an excellent idea for him to begin with his district. If he Joins with other people, who think as he does, to form a club where abstract political virtue will be discussed he may do a great deal of good. We need such clubs; but he must also get to know his own ward or his own district, put himself in communication with the decent people in that district, of whom we may rest assured there will be many, willing and able to do something practical for the procurance of better government Let him set to work to procure a better assemblyman or better alderman before he tries his hand at making a mayor, a governor, or a president. If he begins at the top he may make a brilliant temporary success, but the chances are a thousand to one that he will only be defeated eventually; and in no event will the good he does stand on the same broad and permanent foundation as if he had begun at the bottom. Of course, one or two of his efforts may be failures; but if he has the right stuff in him he will go ahead and do his duty irrespective of whether he meets with success or defeat. It is perfectly right to consider the question of failure while shaping one's efforts to succeed in the struggle for the right; but there should be no consideration of it whatsoever when the question is as to whether one should or should not make a struggle for the right. When once a band of one hundred and fifty or two hundred honest, intelligent men, who mean business and know their business, is found in any district, whether in one of the regular organizations or outside, you can guarantee that the local politicians of that district will begin to treat it with a combination of fear, hatred, and respect, and that its influence will be felt; and that while sometimes men will be elected to office in direct defiance of its wishes, more often the successful candidates will feel that they have to pay some regard to its demands for public decency and honesty.

But in advising you to be practical and to work hard, I must not for one moment be understood as advising you to abandon one iota of your self-respect and devotion to principle. It is a bad sign for the country to see one class of our citizens sneer at practical politicians, and another at Sunday-school politics. No man can do both effective and decent work in public life unless he is a practical politician on the one hand, and a sturdy believer in Sunday-school politics on the other. He must always strive manfully for the best, and yet, like Abraham Lincoln, must often resign himself to accept the best possible. Of course when a man verges on to the higher ground of statesmanship, when he becomes a leader, he must very often consult with others and defer to their opinion, and must be continually settling in his mind how far he can go in just deference to the wishes and prejudices of others while yet adhering to his own moral standards: but I speak not so much of men of this stamp as I do of the ordinary citizen, who wants to do his duty as a member of the commonwealth in its civic life; and for this man I feel that the one quality which he ought always to hold most essential is that of disinterestedness. If he once begins to feel that he wants office himself, with a willingness to get it at the cost of his convictions, or to keep it when gotten, at the cost of his convictions, his usefulness is gone. Let him make up his mind to do his duty in politics without regard to holding office at all, and let him know that often the men in this country who have done the best work for our public life have not been the men in office. If, on the other hand, he attains public position, let him not strive to plan out for himself a career. I do not think that any man should let himself regard his political career as a means of livelihood, or as his sole occupation in life; for if he does he immediately becomes most seriously handicapped. The moment that he begins to think how such and such an act will affect the voters in his district, or will affect some great political leader who will have an influence over his destiny, he is hampered and his hands are bound. Not only may it be his duty often to disregard the wishes of politicians, but it may be his clear duty at times to disregard the wishes of the people. The voice of the people is not always the voice of God; and when it happens to be the voice of the devil, then it is a man's clear duty to defy its behests. Different political conditions breed different dangers. The demagogue is as unlovely a creature as the courtier, though one is fostered under republican and the other under monarchical institutions. There is every reason why a man should have an honorable ambition to enter public life, and an honorable ambition to stay there when he is in; but he ought to make up his mind that he cares for it only as long as he can stay in it on his own terms, without sacrifice of his own principles; and if he does thus make up his mind he can really accomplish twice as much for the nation, and can reflect a hundredfold greater honor upon himself, in a short term of service, than can the man who grows gray in the public employment at the cost of sacrificing what he believes to be true and honest. And moreover, when a public servant has definitely made up his mind that he will pay no heed to his own future, but will do what he honestly deems best for the community, without regard to how his actions may affect his prospects, not only does he become infinitely more useful as a public servant, but he has a far better time. He is freed from the harassing care which is inevitably the portion of him who is trying to shape his sails to catch every gust of the wind of political favor.

But let me reiterate, that in being virtuous he must not become ineffective, and that he must not excuse himself for shirking his duties by any false plea that he cannot do his duties and retain his self-respect. This is nonsense, he can; and when he urges such a plea it is a mark of mere laziness and self-indulgence. And again, he should beware how he becomes a critic of the actions of others, rather than a doer of deeds himself; and in so far as he does act as a critic (and of course the critic has a great and necessary function) he must beware of indiscriminate censure even more than of indiscriminate praise. The screaming vulgarity of the foolish spread-eagle orator who is continually yelling defiance at Europe, praising everything American, good and bad, and resenting the introduction of any reform because it has previously been tried successfully abroad, is offensive and contemptible to the last degree; but after all it is scarcely as harmful as the peevish, fretful, sneering, and continual faultfinding of the refined, well-educated man, who is always attacking good and bad alike, who genuinely distrusts America, and in the true spirit of servile colonialism considers us inferior to the people across the water. It may be taken for granted that the man who is always sneering at our public life and our public men is a thoroughly bad citizen, and that what little influence he wields in the community is wielded for evil. The public speaker or the editorial writer who teaches men of education that their proper attitude toward American politics should be one of dislike or indifference is doing all he can to perpetuate and aggravate the very evils of which he is ostensibly complaining. Exactly as it is generally the case that when a man bewails the decadence of our civilization he is himself physically, mentally, and morally a first-class type of the decadent, so it is usually the case that when a man is perpetually sneering at American politicians, whether worthy or unworthy, he himself is a poor citizen and a friend of the very forces of evil against which he professes to contend. Too often these men seem to care less for attacking bad men, than for ruining the characters of good men with whom they disagree on some pubic question; and while their influence against the bad is almost nil, they are sometimes able to weaken the hands of the good by withdrawing from them support to which they are entitled, and they thus count in the sum total of forces that work for evil. They answer to the political prohibitionist, who, in a close contest between a temperance man and a liquor seller diverts enough votes from the former to elect the liquor seller Occasionally it is necessary to beat a pretty good man, who is not quite good enough, even at the cost of electing a bad one- but it should be thoroughly recognized that this can be necessary only occasionally and indeed, I may say, only in very exceptional cases, and that as a rule where it is done the effect is thoroughly unwholesome in every way, and those taking part in it deserve the severest censure from all honest men.

Moreover, the very need of denouncing evil makes it all the more wicked to weaken the effect of such denunciations by denouncing also the good. It is the duty of all citizens, irrespective of party, to denounce, and, so far as may be, to punish crimes against the public on the part of politicians or officials. But exactly as the public man who commits a crime against the public is one of the worst of criminals, so, close on his heels in the race for iniquitous distinction, comes the man who falsely charges the public servant with outrageous wrongdoing; whether it is done with foul-mouthed and foolish directness in the vulgar and violent party organ, or with sarcasm, innuendo, and the half-truths that are worse than lies, in some professed organ of independence. Not only should criticism be honest, but it should be intelligent, in order to be effective. I recently read in a religious paper an article railing at the corruption of our public life, in which it stated incidentally that the lobby was recognized as all-powerful in Washington. This is untrue. There was a day when the lobby was very important at Washington, but its influence in Congress is now very small indeed; and from a pretty intimate acquaintance with several Congresses I am entirely satisfied that there is among the members a very small proportion indeed who are corruptible, in the sense that they will let their action be influenced by money or its equivalent. Congressmen are very often demagogues; they are very often blind partisans; they are often exceedingly short-sighted, narrow-minded, and bigoted; but they are not usually corrupt; and to accuse a narrow-minded demagogue of corruption when he is perfectly honest, is merely to set him more firmly in his evil course and to help him with his constituents, who recognize that the charge is entirely unjust, and in repelling it lose sight of the man's real shortcomings. I have known more than one State legislature, more than one board of aldermen against which the charge of corruption could perfectly legitimately be brought, but it cannot be brought against Congress. Moreover these sweeping charges really do very little good. When I was in the New York legislature, one of the things that I used to mind most was the fact that at the close of every session the papers that affect morality invariably said that particular legislature was the worst legislature since the days of Tweed. The statement was not true as a rule; and, in any event, to lump all the members, good and bad, in sweeping condemnation simply hurt the good and helped the bad. Criticism should be fearless, but I again reiterate that it should be honest and should be discriminating. When it is sweeping and unintelligent, and directed against good and bad alike, or against the good and bad qualities of any man alike, it is very harmful. It tends steadily to deteriorate the character of our public men; and it tends to produce a very unwholesome spirit among young men of education, and especially among the young men in our colleges.

Against nothing is fearless and specific criticism more urgently needed than against the "spoils system," which is the degradation of American politics. And nothing is more effective in thwarting the purposes of the spoilsmen than the civil service reform. To be sure, practical politicians sneer at it. One of them even went so far as to say that civil-service reform is asking a man irrelevant questions. What more irrelevant question could there be than that of the practical politician who asks the aspirant for his political favor - "Whom did you vote for in the last election?" There is certainly nothing more interesting, from a humorous point of view, than the heads of departments urging changes to be made in their underlings, "on the score of increased efficiency" they say; when as the result of such a change the old incumbent often spends six months teaching the new incumbent how to do the work almost as well as he did himself! Occasionally the civil-service reform has been abused, but not often. Certainly the reform is needed when you contemplate the spectacle of a New York City treasurer who acknowledges his annual fees to be eighty-five thousand dollars, and who pays a deputy one thousand five hundred dollars to do his work-when you note the corruptions in the New York legislature, where one man says he has a horror of the Constitution because it prevents active benevolence, and another says that you should never allow the Constitution to come between friends! All these corruptions and vices are what every good American citizen must fight against.

Finally, the man who wishes to do his duty as a citizen in our country must be imbued through and through with the spirit of Americanism. I am not saying this as a matter of spread-eagle rhetoric: I am saying it quite soberly as a piece of matter-of-fact, common-sense advice, derived from my own experience of others. Of course, the question of Americanism has several sides. If a man is an educated man, he must show his Americanism by not getting misled into following out and trying to apply all the theories of the political thinkers of other countries, such as Germany and France, to our own entirely different conditions. He must not get a fad, for instance, about responsible government; and above all things he must not, merely because he is intelligent, or a college professor well read in political literature, try to discuss our institutions when he has had no practical knowledge of how they are worked. Again, if he is a wealthy man, a man of means and standing, he must really feel, not merely affect to feel, that no social differences obtain save such as a man can in some way himself make by his own actions. People sometimes ask me if there is not a prejudice against a man of wealth and education in ward politics. I do not think that there is, unless the man in turn shows that he regards the facts of his having wealth and education as giving him a claim to superiority aside from the merit he is able to prove himself to have in actual service. Of course, if he feels that he ought to have a little better treatment than a carpenter, a plumber, or a butcher, who happens to stand beside him, he is going to be thrown out of the race very quickly, and probably quite roughly; and if he starts in to patronize and elaborately condescend to these men he will find that they resent this attitude even more. Do not let him think about the matter at all. Let him go into the political contest with no more thought of such matters than a college boy gives to the social standing of the members of his own and rival teams in a hotly contested football match. As soon as he begins to take an interest in politics (and he will speedily not only get interested for the sake of politics, but also take a good healthy interest in playing the game itself - an interest which is perfectly normal and praise-worthy, and to which only a prig would object), he will begin to work up the organization in the way that will be most effective, and he won't care a rap about who is put to work with him, save in so far as he is a good fellow and an efficient worker. There was one time that a number of men who think as we do here to-night (one of the number being myself) got hold of one of the assembly districts of New York, and ran it in really an ideal way, better than any other assembly district has ever been run before or since by either party. We did it by hard work and good organization; by working practically, and yet by being honest and square in motive and method: especially did we do it by all turning in as straight-out Americans without any regard to distinctions of race origin. Among the many men who did a great deal in organizing our victories was the son of a Presbyterian clergyman, the nephew of a Hebrew rabbi, and two well-known Catholic gentlemen. We also had a Columbia College professor (the stroke-oar of a university crew), a noted retail butcher, and the editor of a local German paper, various brokers, bankers, lawyers, bricklayers and a stone-mason who was particularly useful to us, although on questions of theoretic rather than applied politics he had a decidedly socialistic turn of mind.

Again, questions of race origin, like questions of creed, must not be considered: we wish to do good work, and we are all Americans, pure and simple. In the New York legislature, when it fell to my lot to choose a committee - which I always esteemed my most important duty at Albany - no less than three out of the four men I chose were of Irish birth or parentage; and three abler and more fearless and disinterested men never sat in a legislative body; while among my especial political and personal friends in that body was a gentleman from the southern tier of counties, who was, I incidentally found out, a German by birth, but who was just as straight United States as if his ancestors had come over here in the Mayflower or in Henry Hudson's yacht. Of course, none of these men of Irish or German birth would have been worth their salt had they continued to act after coming here as Irishmen or Germans, or as anything but plain straight-out Americans. We have not any room here for a divided allegiance. A man has got to be an American and nothing else; and he has no business to be mixing us up with questions of foreign politics, British or Irish, German or French, and no business to try to perpetuate their language and customs in the land of complete religious toleration and equality. If, however, he does become honestly and in good faith an American, then he is entitled to stand precisely as all other Americans stand, and it is the height of un-Americanism to discriminate against him in any way because of creed or birthplace. No spirit can be more thoroughly alien to American institutions, than the spirit of the Know-Nothings.

In facing the future and in striving, each according to the measure of his individual capacity, to work out the salvation of our land, we should be neither timid pessimists nor foolish optimists. We should recognize the dangers that exist and that threaten us: we should neither overestimate them nor shrink from them, but steadily fronting them should set to work to overcome and beat them down. Grave perils are yet to be encountered in the stormy course of the Republic - perils from political corruption, perils from individual laziness, indolence and timidity, perils springing from the greed of the unscrupulous rich, and from the anarchic violence of the thriftless and turbulent poor. There is every reason why we should recognize them, but there is no reason why we should fear them or doubt our capacity to overcome them, if only each will, according to the measure of his ability, do his full duty, and endeavor so to live as to deserve the high praise of being called a good American citizen.

How Much Do Glascoe and Rush Make?

2008-07-01T09:10:00.002-04:00

The following link was sent to be by one of my anonymous posters who I thank a tremendous deal.

Paterson Public School Salaries

If you're interested in finding out just how much money Glascoe and Rush among others are raking in, look no further.

Another Stupid Comment from an Obama Supporter

2008-06-30T09:04:00.003-04:00

I recently received yet another ridiculous comment from an Obama supporter.

"Dino... There's nothing wrong with the new logo... stop living in the past... Mr. Obama will hopefully be the next President of the United States and yes he's black and He's open minded to all religions... get used it !!... we are living in 2008 buddy ... stop believing in what they tell you at the KKK meetings :)"

Barack Obama's black? Really??? I totally didn't notice!

I was also completely unaware that it was 2008 and that I was a card carrying member of the KKK. Then again, I was always wondered how I got on Robert Byrd's Christmas card list.:-P

The irrationality and overall psychosis of the rabid members of Barack Obama's mass cult would be comical if it wasn't so disturbing.

Apparently Obama wants to run the same type of campaign against John McCain that he ran against Hillary Clinton which is; "If you're white and you don't vote for me, you're a racist who hates black people."

Is this the litmus test by which we should choose our Commander in Chief?

Just How Arrogant is Barack Obama?

2008-06-25T14:07:00.005-04:00

As this year's Presidential campaign remains in its formative stages, I can only keep asking my self the same question over and over again. Just how arrogant is Barack Obama? I even ponder the possibility from time to time that he could be doing it to see just how much he can get away with.

This new display of sheer arrogance however takes the cake. I have never seen anything like this. It seems as though Barack Obama has seen fit to "modify" the Official Seal of the President of the United States.

My biggest question amid all of this is this, How much longer is the media going to give this man a free pass every time he does something stupid? When are they going to stop aiding and abedding their chosen messiah? The reason I ask this is because while it has been mentioned here and there, it really hasn't gotten as much attention as it should. You would think after all, that the desecration of Presidential Seal would be a newsworthy story.

What's next? An giant American Flag with the Obama logo in the middle in the background during one of his speeches? After all, we are all well aware how fond Obama supporters are of Che Guevara's role in bringing the Castro regime to power during the Cuban Revolution.

No matter how much his campaign staff and the overwhelming majority of mass media try to hide it, there is no denying that both Barack Obama and his supporters are arrogant Marxists who promote an extremely dangerous agenda for the United States.

It's going to be up to us to send this empty suit packing for the good of the country.

Ronald Reagan Impeaches Obamacare

2008-06-24T10:09:00.003-04:00

I've posted this video clip in a previous thread here but I'm doing it again for a an extremely important reason. To show that Barack Obama is a pure, unadulterated Marxist and that his agenda for the United States will prove to be extremely harmful to our way of life as we know it.

Don't take my word for it, take it from The Great Comunicator himself who started exposing this agenda and its beginnings decades ago.

George Carlin: 1937-2008

2008-06-23T08:36:00.002-04:00

We use up words like "spiritual" so fast in this culture. Twenty years ago "spiritual" had a distinct meaning. But now there's a lot of jack-off thinkers who just love to talk about the spiritual. And there is a lot of bogus -- is "bogosity" a word? It should be -- a lot of bogosity in these spiritual seekers. So you have to find another way to express it. I just call it "how I fit."- George Carlin

Quote of the Weekend

2008-06-20T14:34:00.001-04:00

"You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality."- Ayn Rand

Breaking News

2008-06-19T14:06:00.002-04:00

Multiple sources out of Paterson are telling me that Paterson School District Superintendent Michael Glascoe and Deputy Superintendent Michael Rush have been federally indicted. I will have more on this development once it is confirmed.

Yet MORE hypocrisy from Barack Obama

2008-06-19T10:00:00.003-04:00

As if Barack Obama couldn't be any more of a hypocrite, he has once again shown glimpses of his true colors.

Politico.com is reporting that two muslim women were prohibited by the Obama campaign from sitting behind the podium at a rally in Detroit in an attempt to keep them off camera as Obama addressed the crowd.

“I was coming to support him, and I felt like I was discriminated against by the very person who was supposed to be bringing this change, who I could really relate to,” said Hebba Aref, a 25-year-old lawyer who lives in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills. “The message that I thought was delivered to us was that they do not want him associated with Muslims or Muslim supporters.”

This blunder also happened to take place in the state of Michigan which has a very large Arab population and in an attempt to save face, Campaign Spokesman Bill Burton released the following statement:

“This is of course not the policy of the campaign. It is offensive and counter to Obama’s commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. “We sincerely apologize for the behavior of these volunteers.”

So where have we heard this all before? To say that Barack Obama is inconsistent, whether it's in reference to the influence his pastor, Jeremiah Wright had in his life, his desire to meet the world's worst dictators without preconditions or now his message of uniting the country is a complete understatement! As Jackie Mason said of him, the only thing Obama ever seems to change is his story.

Barack Obama is clearly one who likes to change his story whenever it's convenient for him in his attempts to promote his own self-serving, marxist agnenda. The problem with this is that this nonsense may work with the Daley/Cook County Machine Kool-Aid Drinkers in Illinois but it will not work on a national level.

The majority of Americans are too smart to fall for it.

Sirius/XM Merger is a Go...FINALLY!!!

2008-06-16T10:53:00.003-04:00

After over a year of red tape and unneccesary government interference, FCC chairman Kevin Martin has finally decided to do the right thing by the combined 17.3 million satellite radio subscribers by giving his approval to the Sirius/XM merger in which Sirius will purchase its rival. It appears as though this could be the final hurdle to this long overdue deal finally getting done. The merger had been announced in February '07 and was approved by the Justice Department back in March of this year.

Both Sirius, which is headquartered in New York City with smaller operations in Los Angeles and Memphis, Tennessee and XM, which operates out of Washington D.C. have spent billions of dollars on advertising and attracting high profile personalities but have failed to turn a net profit since launching their respective satellites. Neither company has been able to significantly attract subscribers and in the age of iPods and various MP3 devices, it is believed that this merger will help satellite radio compete better by allowing them to lower subscription costs and offer a better quality product.

The merger will also make sports fans happier as well. Sirius owns the excusive rights for the NFL, NBA and NCAA Football and Basketball and NASCAR while XM owns the rights to MLB, NHL and Indy Car racing. NHL coverage was split between the two until XM bought the exclusive rights last year.

It will also probably help move the stock price for Sirius which has long been stagnant and did not receive the boost that was expected when they signed Howard Stern in 2006. As of now, the stock price which opened this morning at $2.54 a share is already up $.14 in early morning trading.

Sirius currently operates 135 channels of music, news, talk, sports and weather while XM currently operates 156.

HEY ABBOTT!!! Is the Public Education System in New Jersey Corrupt?

2008-06-13T08:34:00.004-04:00

As New Jersey's Abbott school districts continue to be investigated and are found to be misusing funds, there is one question that just begs to be asked. Is the public education system in New Jersey as a whole corrupt and if so, just how deep does this corruption run?

The following excerpt on New Jersey Abbott Districts was taken from Wikipedia (emphasis mine):

Abbott Districts are school districts covered by a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that found that the education provided to urban school children was inadequate and unconstitutional. The Court in Abbott II and in subsequent rulings, ordered the State to assure that these children receive an adequate - and constitutional - education through implementation of a comprehensive set of programs and reforms, including standards-based education supported by parity funding; supplemental programs; preschool education; and school facilities improvements.

While this may have been a noble concept on the part of the state supreme court, it was utterly flawed from the start. To begin with, it is not the responsibility of a court to create legislation and law. Their sole purpose is to interpret already existing law.

So just how "constitutional" did Abbott funding make public school education in New Jersey? I have received various comments and e-mails from New Jersey teachers over the past year about stories of corruption, most of which tell of misuse of funding. Funding that was meant to be for making inner city public education more "Constitutional".

What makes no sense about Abbott funding is the fact that the New Jersey Supreme Court violated the constitution by overstepping their bounds in an attempt to make urban public education more constitutional.

Who suffers the most from this misuse of funding? Naturally, the children. Just how much Abbott money was used to improve the conditions of crumbling public school facilities in cities like Paterson that, as I have documented here in the past, should have been deemed uninhabitable and twenty-six of which were shut down by the Mayor as the 2007-08 school year was supposed to start?

How much have test scores really improved and just how accurate are the NJEA's statistics on this matter?

If you are a public educator that wants to come forward and express your concerns on this issue as many have before, feel free to e-mail me at dinopcrocetti1995@gmail.com and let me know your stance on this issue. As always, also feel free to comment here anonymously and without fear of repercussions.

Make your voice heard.

Are You Blind?

2008-06-09T11:25:00.002-04:00

If so, it still won't prevent you from renewing your driver's license in the state of New Jersey. Reason being that New Jersey is one of the only states in the nation that does not require licensed drivers to undergo a vision test upon renewal.

New Jersey, which is the most densely populated state in the nation, also has the highest insurance rates in the nation year after year. With so many drivers on the road (many of whom drive as if they really are blind), how does something as simple as mandatory vision screening slip through the cracks for this long?

On top of this, there is also no age limit for New Jersey motorists. Basically what that means is that while it is highly unlikely, you can be 107 years old and still be able to get behind the wheel of a car and you won't be required to take a vision test when you renew your license.

For one reason or another, Trenton and common sense seem to get along like water and oil. At a time when everything neccesary should be done to bring insurance rates down as they've been going down over the past couple of years, such simple rules as mandatory vision screening upon license renewal and a cut off limit of 80 to be licensed to drive not only need to be put in place, but shouldn't even be a question!

Then again, this is New Jersey we're talking about. The HOME of the blind leading the blind!

A New Special Friend

2008-06-05T08:32:00.002-04:00

Since starting this blog almost two years ago, yours truly has received some pretty funny F.U.'s but this one easily takes the cake as the funniest one I have ever received. Listen to what this angry (and possibly drunk) Obama supporter had to say.

You must be THRILLED about the Obama nod, standing next to your "way" second choice, Mc Same!! (No self-respecting "Repub" likes McCain, but you don't have the balls to admit it)

Now not even Rudy can save your party...but keep on drinkin' the kool aid. But points for thinking Rudy, with his comb over and cousin/first wife/gay lisp could ever be elected....keep hope alive!

I guess he and/or she supports Obama because he wants to ban "gay lisps".:-D

Kate Whitman for Congress

2008-06-02T14:36:00.002-04:00

In what is easily the most competitive congressional race statewide, I ask all of the great Republicans in New Jersey's 7th congressional district to elect the only candidate strong enough to defeat Stender the Spender in November, Kate Whitman, in tomorrow's GOP primary.

Let's do all we can to keep the 7th District a red district!

New Jersey: Dick Zimmer for United States Senate

2008-06-02T14:30:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow, June 3rd, yours truly is urging all of his fellow New Jersey Republicans to vote for Rep. Dick Zimmer for US Senate in the GOP Primary.

Harriet Christian is Mad as Hell!

2008-06-02T10:10:00.003-04:00

How angry is Hillary Clinton volunteer Harriet Christian that the Democratic Party has seemingly thrown her candidate under the bus? She's downright pissed!

Christian, a New York City Resident, is furious over what she felt was unfair treatment in favor of Barack Obama, calling him "an inadequate black man." She further went on to claim that she was a second class citizen and that Hillary was being discriminated against in favor of Obama. Finally, she boldly predicted that John McCain will be the next President of the United States.

Just how polarizing is Barack Obama? Only time will tell.

The Great One Puts Michelle Obama In Her Place

2008-05-30T12:42:00.002-04:00

The Great One, Mark Levin, took Michelle Obama to task over the fact that despite her and her husband have reaped all of the financial benefits this country has to offer, only now, since Barack has been running for President is she "Proud of her Country".

More Hate From an Obama Mentor

2008-05-30T11:24:00.002-04:00

Here is yet another dose of venom and hate from another Barack Obama mentor, "Father" Michael Pfleger. While I am by no means whatsoever, a fan of Hillary Clinton and have thoroughly enjoyed watching her crash and burn in a delicious tale of poetic justice, I find this to be utterly disgraceful, tasteless and downright vile.

Barack Obama can denounce this and criticize his one time mentors all he wants but the bottom line is that you are ultimately held accountable for the company you keep and there is no denying that Obama has ties to demagogues like Michael Pfleger and Jeremiah Wright that will ultimately expose the real Obama and just how polarizing and utterly unelectable he is.

ALL HAIL BARACK OBAMA!!!!

Jackie Mason on Barack Obama

2008-05-30T07:46:00.003-04:00

The Ultimate Jew, Jackie Mason, discusses his opinion on Barack Obama.

Happy Memorial Day

2008-05-26T08:46:00.002-04:00

To all of the brave men who spilled their blood in order to build our country, to all of the men who died reunifying our country, to all of the men who made the ultimate sacrifice in World Wars I, II and Korea to defend our country, to the men like Sen. John McCain and many countless others who suffered at the hands of their captors and to those who died in Vietnam, to our men and women who served in Dessert Storm and to those who are currently putting their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq amid the national media and Washington's political demagogues attempting to sabotage and minimize their accomplishments in the Middle East, I have one simple message.

Thank you.

Liz for Mayor!

2008-05-19T12:08:00.002-04:00

Once the meaningless appointment for mayor is said and done and the special election takes place, there is only one right choice for the town of Guttenberg and that choice is Elizabeth Padron-Geron.

Ms. Geron has lived in Guttenberg for almost forty years and has a tremendous track record of serving her community and its children as head of the P.T.O as well as a coordinator for various recreational programs for the town.

She works tirelessly for her own family, as a public educator in Paterson and will work just as tirelessly to fix Guttenberg's problems as well as its damaged reputation.

If Guttenberg, which is a town that can be easily dissolved into North Bergen as I've stated in the past, is going to remain sustainable, it is going to take strong, credible leadership. Leadership that actually addresses problems rather than just telling the people of Guttenberg what's wrong.

Liz Geron is that choice, hands down.

How to Silence a Yellow Journalist

2008-05-13T14:40:00.004-04:00

As you can see, Mayor Michael Bloomberg makes quick work of a Newsday reporter who implied that he lied in a question about dialogue in reference to the Sean Bell shooting.

I may not always agree with him, but this is absolutely masterful!

Solution to Guttenberg's Problems: Cease to Exist

2008-05-07T14:16:00.006-04:00

Amid yet another one of its high profile public officials in Mayor David Delle Donna going down on political corruption charges and with most likely, more to come as he starts to squeal on everybody around him that brought him down in the first place, the politics of Guttenberg really haven't changed very much if at all over the past few decades. It has always been a breeding ground for corruption.

The insignificant 0.2 square mile town which has a population of about 10,700 and was formerly a part of North Bergen where the town currently sends its high school students and shares a zip code with its other big neighbor, West New York, was founded in 1859. It only has one elementary school and for some bizare reason, an elected school board to oversee the running of this one school. Why a town with ONE school needs a school board is totally beyond me.

Guttenberg also shares its Municipal Utilities Authority with North Bergen and shares the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue Department with the surrounding towns of the region.

The mayoral and five at large council seats which used to be up for re-election every two years were extended by state law to four years in 2005. The municipal ticket is always on the Hudson County Democtratic Organization line in the June Primary which basically means that all people have to do is vote the line straight down which is how Delle Donna and his administration have been re-elected three consecutive times(the extortion and illegal campaign contributions probably helped a little as well).

The town also rakes in over one million dollars in state aid and will continue to do so until next year as Enlighten-New Jersey reported back in February.

Knowing all of this, there is one question that begs to be asked. Why on Earth does this town exist? Quite honestly, there is no practical or legitimate reason for Guttenberg to continue being a town. At a point in time in New Jersey when we're on the verge of complete economic ruin, towns like Guttenberg are nothing more than a complete waste of state resources.

The right thing to do rather than hold elections for a new mayor and start yet another vicious cycle of corruption would be to do away with Guttenberg altogether and integrate it back into North Bergen as it never should've seceded in the first place.

While Hudson County may be a politically corrupt place altogether, eliminating insignificant and uneccesary towns like Guttenberg where it's easier to steal is a step in the right direction in rectifying the problem.

Kudos to Sal Vega

2008-05-02T11:49:00.002-04:00

I would like to take the time to acknowledge West New York Mayor, Silverio "Sal" Vega. Reason being that unlike his self serving predecessor, Albio Sires, Mayor Vega has done a very noble and selfless deed.

Rather than plaster his name all over every single Bergenline Ave. lamp post as Sires used to do in his never ending bid for re-election, Vega has recently had American flags placed on them.

This is an extremely refreshing breath of fresh air in a town where prior to this, it seemed every other country's flag got flown and the only American flag flown was the one at town hall.

I may disagree with Mayor Vega on a whole slew of issues but I'm not above acknowledging him or anybody else I disagree with when they do a good deed.

Thank you, Mayor Vega.

Canada Gets a New "Black" School

2008-05-02T11:26:00.003-04:00

Yes, you read the title of the thread right. The Toronto School Board has approved public funding for a school exclusively geared towards black children. I am NOT making this up!

Perhaps this would be the ideal job for "Mr. NAACP" Michael Glascoe if nobody in the United States hires him since he seems to be, through his actions during his tenure as Paterson District Superintendent, an ardent proponent of self segregation.

The more forward thinking "progressives" claim to be, the more they expose how utterly backwards they truly are.

Score Yet Another One for Chris Christie

2008-04-29T15:00:00.005-04:00

Attorney General Chris Christie's record continues to remain flawless as Guttenberg Mayor David Delle Donna and wife Anna were convicted on charges of extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion and tax evasion.

They were found guilty on three of the five charges against them excluding mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, whose office has brought corruption charges against more than 100 public officials, said prosecutors were "gratified" by the verdict.

"Days like this are never easy. We take no joy in the job that we have to do," said Christie, who was in court when the verdict was announced. "But if people are going to hold public office and violate the law, they are going to be held accountable."

Delle Donna, who was ironically convicted on his 50th birthday will step down and both he and his wife face between 51 to 78 months in federal prison.

Latest Paterson Rumor

2008-04-25T10:02:00.002-04:00

My sources have been unable to confirm this and hopefully, one of my friends out in Paterson can shed some light on this for me.

From what I understand, a former Paterson Public School employee is looking to start some sort of civil rights group to ensure fair and equal treatment for black, white and hispanic alike.

It wouldn't happen to be Anthony Campisi, would it?

Sean Bell Verdict: NOT GUILTY

2008-04-25T09:47:00.003-04:00

NYPD Detectives Gescard Isnora, Michael Oliver and Marc Cooper have been acquitted of all charges in the Sean Bell murder trial in Queens this morning.

Both Oliver and Isnora faced up to 25 years in prison amid charges of manslaughter for the shooting that took place on November 25, 2006 while Cooper faced a lesser charge of reckless endangerment.

Time will tell as to what the overall reaction to this verdict will be but there is no doubt that tensions and emotions are running very high.

A civil trial is still pending.

What IS Andre Sayegh?

2008-04-16T11:43:00.005-04:00

As we all know, Paterson School Board President and sixth ward city council candidate Andre Sayegh is "everything to everybody" with the exception to his own supposed constituency, Paterson's Arab-American community.

So the question begs to be asked, Just what is Andre Sayegh?

Judging not only from his shamefully opportunistic political style but also from the resemblance, I would say that he's 100% puppet.

What say you?

Dino's Million Dollar Question to the Paterson Public School District

2008-04-11T14:29:00.002-04:00

I really have absolutely no details on this whatsoever and as much as yours truly hates to speculate, I know there are those of you out there who read this site who could probably shed some light on this for me.

Word has it that an administrator has recently been let go amid allegations of a conflict of interest. I believe he was working as a vendor of some kind while simultameously working as an administrator. I really don't know.

The reason I ask this is because if this is the case, isn't a conflict of interest that Michael Rush works as a minority recruiter for NOVA, promising his recruits jobs while he's simultaneously working as Paterson's Deputy Superintendent?

Not for nothing, but if he get's paid to be a recruiter for NOVA, isn't that the ultimate example of patronage and nepotism there is?

If so, doesn't that mean that Michael Rush needs to be let go as well???

Just asking.

An Open Letter to the NRCC: Do NOT Ignore Vince Micco

2008-04-10T14:18:00.003-04:00

In 2006, Sgt. Vince Micco, a nine year US Army Veteran who fought in Iraq ran an unsuccessful campaign for Congress against Democrat incumbent Steve Rothman in New Jersey's 9th Congressional District. I was extremely upset by this because the NRCC did absolutely nothing to to help him raise funds or wage a competitive campaign.

I'm writing this letter because this upstanding American and loyal, devoted family man who fought and risked his life for his country is currently running for this congressional seat again and I do not want to see a candidate with as much potential and vision as him get overlooked by the party again.

I firmly believe that Sgt. Micco deserves a much greater amount of respect and assistance from his own party as a Congressional candidate than he received two years ago.

It is my hope that the NRCC will do all they can to help Sgt. Micco defeat Steve Rothman in November.

Update: Any and all Ron Paul spammers who leave idiotic, asinine, off topic comments here wil have them DELETED. This is not the place for that kind of garbage and I will not tolerate it on my blog.

Charlton Heston 1924-2008

2008-04-07T08:33:00.001-04:00

"Political correctness is tyranny with manners." - Charlton Heston

Of Hypocrisy and the School Budget

2008-04-04T08:15:00.002-04:00

Paterson School Board President and sixth ward city council candidate Andre Sayegh apparently has some explaining to do as far as his questionable judgement is concerned as I have well documented here already. It seems as though however that I am not the only one who has picked up on this theme as evidenced by this letter to the editor that ran in the April 2nd edition of the Herald News written by one, "R. Marrero".

In response to the March 21 front-page story regarding the Paterson schools budget, all I can say is shame on School Board President Andre Sayegh for being a hypocrite and a political phony. Before the school district budget meeting, he patronized the crowd, proclaiming he supports the children, yet he still supports the failed policies for his political ally, Michael E. Glascoe, the schools superintendent.

How can Sayegh blindly support Glascoe when the schools superintendent presented a budget that would eliminate the after-school recreation program, summer school, the Arabic language and cultural program, and would abolish support teaching positions?

I notice that there was no mention of any central office positions being cut from the budget.

How can you justify a deputy superintendent, eight assistant superintendents and a public relations department with six full-time employees?

How can you justify these misplaced educational priorities in an administration that refuses to supply adequate paper and supplies for our children?

For Sayegh to play these political games by voting "no" on the budget and not condemning Glascoe for butchering programs clearly demonstrates that Sayegh is a political coward and rubberstamp.

So much for their motto, "Children First!"

The cutting of the Arabic language program I find particularly baffling seeing as though Sayegh himself is allegedly half Arabic (and half whatever else you want him to be in order for him to get your vote) and is counting on support from the Arab community to help put him over the top in the upcoming election.

If you are an Arab voter in Paterson's sixth ward and you are not pleased with his decision making on this issue, feel free to contact him at; andresayegh@tanweernj.org as he is a board member of the Arab American Family Center of New Jersey.

How can he possibly take care of Paterson's sixth ward if he apparently can't even do right by the children of his own constituency?

Paterson: Student Arrested for Murder

2008-04-04T07:35:00.002-04:00

According to Alexander MacInnes of the Herald News this morning, an arresst has been made in connection with the early Saturday morning slaying of 19 year old Kevin Brown that occured in Paterson last week.

Kashif Eleby, an 18 year old high school senior at the Sports Business Academy on State Street was taken in on charges that he fatally shot Brown in an altercation.

"Brown and some friends were walking home from a party at St. Joseph's Community Center on Chamberlain Avenue at around 1:30 a.m. Saturday. Three men, one with a gun, approached Brown. It is unclear if that confrontation was a result of an incident at the dance or a chance encounter, but there was a scuffle and Brown was shot in the upper body."

"He was pronounced dead at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center."

Unfortunately, cases like these are not uncommon among Paterson's youth and while outgoing District Superintendent Michael Glascoe likes to blame the district's teachers for practically everything under the sun, the fact remains that Glascoe has failed the youth in his district by not providing adequate counselling and social services for students who are constantly acting in a disruptive and/or violent manner.

Paterson's youth are at risk and now, two lives have been destroyed. They deserve better leadership than an outsider who had no clue as to how to help and guide them.

Why Most Men Are Republicans

2008-04-02T12:47:00.001-04:00

Need I say more???

Paterson Public School District's Top Ten Reasons for Michael Glascoe Leaving Paterson

2008-04-02T09:36:00.002-04:00

The following list was left as a comment to my; "Does Glascoe Even Care Anymore?" thread that I posted back in February.

1. GLASCOE GOT TIRED OF SENDING RUSH TO BARNES AND NOBLE TO KEEP BUYING UPDATED EDITIONS OF “SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION FOR IDIOTS.”

2. GLASCOE TOOK NEW JOB AS SHARK REPELLANT TESTER (HE SAID IT WAS SAFER THAN WORKING ON CHURCH STREET.)

3. GLASCOE REFUSED TO CONTINUE DRIVING STAFF CAR WITH LICENSE PLATE #; "MG666" (CHECK IT OUT---THE SIGN OF THE BEAST.)

4. GLASCOE GOT TIRED OF GRACE AYALA ALWAYS REFERRING TO EILEEN SHAFER AS HER SUGAR MAMMA.

5. GLASCOE GOT TIRED OF MIKE KARANEK ALWAYS CALLING HIM ON HIS DISTRICT BLACKBERRY WITH THE PHRASE “TESTING… 1-2-3” AND ALWAYS HAVING THE WRONG DATA.

6. GLASCOE LOST A TESTOSTERONE LEVEL CONTEST TO LAUREEN MALONEY.

7. GLASCOE GOT TIRED OF LEADERSHIP THEME SONG, “SEND IN THE CLOWNS, ---DON’T BOTHER THEY’RE HERE.”

8. GLASCOE GOT TIRED OF READING BEDTIME STORIES TO ANDRE SAYEGH IN HIS METS PAJAMAS WITH THE LITTLE FEET.

9. GLASCOE GOT TIRED OF SINGING BROADWAY SHOWTUNES IN THE SHOWER WHILE JONATHAN DID HIGH KICKS LIKE A ROCKETTE.

10. GLASCOE GOT TIRED OF WATCHING KENNEDY HIGH SCHOOL RUN OUT OF CONTROL --- WHILE EASTSIDE HIGH SCHOOL REMAINED A “SEA OF TRANQUILITY.”

(BONUS REASONS)

11. GLASCOE GOT JEALOUS OF RUSH’S EXCLUSIVE DENTAL PLAN THAT INCLUDES HIS GOLD TOOTH. THAT’S WHY THEY CALL RUSH “MONTY HALL.”

12. GLASCOE GOT TIRED OF CATCHING MADELINE AND COUNCILMAN JIMMY J.J. WALKER (JEFFREY JONES) DOING THE WILD THING AT 133 ELLISON STREET AFTER 5:00 P.M. MADELINE GOT CAUGHT SHOWING HER NEW BOOB JOB TO THE BOOB ON THE CITY COUNCIL WHO SCREAMED OUT “DYN-O-MITE.”

Many many thanks to the Paterson Public School staff for taking the time to help contribute material to this site and for all of your support that has made Dino's Forum one of the most read blogs in the state.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words!

2008-03-27T11:28:00.003-04:00

How did they screw this up so bad???

Quote of the Day

2008-03-25T12:19:00.002-04:00

Who the hell are you?- Bill Pascoe in reference to my friendship invitation on Facebook

That's okay Bill, I'm still a big fan of yours!:-)

Political Non Issues

2008-03-24T15:35:00.002-04:00

I just thought that it would be appropriate to post this today in light of the way Andy Unanue has been shamelessly attacked after announcing his US Senate bid.

Just laugh and enjoy!

Andy Unanue: It's the Urban Centers!

2008-03-24T10:41:00.003-04:00

While he may not be Al Leiter, yours truly is extremely pleased at the entrance of former Goya Foods COO Andy Unanue into the GOP Senate primary and firmly believe that this is the next best thing.

While the usual self righteous, conservative, ideological purists who have no idea what it takes to win an election are already dismissing his candidacy and labelling him as the second coming of Doug Forrester (I guess they were getting really bored now that Anne Estabrook is out of the race), in their support of hopeless candidates like "Jersey Joke" Pennacchio and Murray "Ron Paul Missionary" Sabrin before they bother to learn anything about Unanue, he has already given me not only a choice I don't have to hold my nose to vote for but has also given me a sense of hope and optimism as a New Jersey Republican.

I firmly believe that Andy Unanue has a grasp on what needs to be done in order to win New Jersey's Urban Centers being that he once ran a company that thrives in those centers and he therefore, knows how to market to that demographic, something the NJGOP has not done in decades. It is my sincere hope that we finally have a Republican candidate that realizes that Hoboken is not all of Hudson County.

If there's any kind of advice I can give to Mr. Unanue, it's this. Do not under any circumstance, give Hudson County GOP Chairman Jose Arango any money. Not so much as a dime. He is not an ally. In order to campaign successfully in Hudson, you must bypass him. He is a tool for the Hudson County Democrats and he will only sabotage any and all crucial efforts you make there.

Andy Unanue just may be what we need to win a US Senate Seat in New Jersey once and for all.

Dino's Forum is now on Facebook

2008-03-21T12:16:00.002-04:00

Yours truly has started a group on Facebook. Feel free to join up and discuss and debate the topics and issues that tickle Dino's fancy! Enter Here

Javier Inclan: Immunity from Prosecution?

2008-03-21T10:48:00.003-04:00

Former Guttenberg Councilman, Hudson County Clerk and current Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Jon Corzine, Javier Inclan, has been called to testify in the federal corruption trial of Guttenberg Mayor David Delle Donna and his wife Anna who is a member of the town's planning board.

The Delle Donnas are currently standing trial on an array of charges that include, the misuse of campaign contributions, accepting cash and gift bribes from tavern owner Luisa Medrano who was arrested for harboring Honduran illegals in a human trafficking ring and mail fraud.

Reportedly, Inclan will be questioned about undocumented campaign contributions he passed to the three term Mayor from the town's code enforcement officer, and former local bowling alley proprietor Robert "Yogi" Rogers.

One would have to be cusious as to why Inclan would be willing to put himself into this kind of position. Could it be that Inclan cut a deal with the feds and received immunity from prosecution as Bob Menendez did in 1983 in order to testify against former Union City party boss and political mentor Bill Musto?

How else does Inclan prevent himself from being the next Zulima Farber?

How to be a Cult Leader like Ron Paul

2008-03-20T10:29:00.002-04:00

While Ron Paul's Presidential bid is mercifully dead and buried, it has still spawned a loyal, devoted, well financed cult.

As with all cults, whether they be religious, political, or scientific in nature, they are highly conspiratorial, believing that everything and everybody is against them. New Jersey US Senate candidate and Libertarian turned Republican Murray Sabrin is no exception, issuing a press release, stating that General Atlantic deliberately shut down his website after Ron Paul asked his cult to donate money to Sabrin's campaign. The basis for his claim is that General Atlantic is managed by major Democratic donors and officials.

This is actually pretty funny considering how on foreign policy matters, Murray Sabrin, like Ron Paul, is a cut and run pacifist liberal. Why would Democrat operatives want to shut him down? Do any of these people even know who Murray Sabrin is? I and some of my Red Jersey friends doubt this.

The fact of the matter is that Murray Sabrin, while being a nice guy and all, has no political savvy and has absolutely no concept whatsoever of how to win in the political arena and to cover up his ineptitude, he accuses everybody around him of conspiring against him and his hackneyed campaign. The saddest part about cults like this however, is that genuinely good people who want to make a positive difference in this country and the world in general get swept up in it.

For those who wish to be a cult leader like Ron Paul and make a lot of money by creating a loyal, devoted following of sheep, you can learn all you need to know here.

Run Bret Run!!

2008-03-18T09:32:00.002-04:00

As David Chen of the New York Times reported over the weekend, former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler is seriously considering an attempt to regain his old seat which he held from 1992 to 2001.

Continue reading

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-17T10:40:00.004-04:00

Amid all of the political hoopla that has dominated the front pages of the papers lately and the fact that it has fallen on a Monday this year, it's quite easy to forget that today is St. Patrick's Day which is a shame.

The Irish have contributed a great deal to the fabric of American culture and as we enjoy ourselves and gather with good friends and sing great Irish songs today, let's also remember the struggles of the Irish and how, like those who gave their lives in the American Revolution to be free from British rule, that the Irish too have faught this struggle. The strength, determination and warmth of the noble Irish people must never be forgotten.

Well, yours truly, Dino O'Crocetti, has not forgotten his Irish brothers as I and everyone else today is a little bit Irish.

A very Happy St. Patrick's Day to all and may you be in Heaven a full half hour before the devil knows you're dead!

John McCain: Journey to Freedom

2008-03-14T14:24:00.002-04:00

A phenomial video about John McCain's survival as a POW in Vietnam.

A Patty's Day Farewell for Eliot Spitzer

2008-03-12T11:59:00.006-04:00

Disgraced Democrat and soon to be former Governor Eliot Spitzer has announced that he will resign effective Monday, St. Patrick's Day, March 17th.

On that note, I would like to give Gov. Spitzer's political career the just and appropriate tribute.

Let us all join in mournful song as we bit farewell the deceased political star of Eliot Laurence Spitzer.

The Hillary/Obama Saga Continues

2008-03-10T15:16:00.002-04:00

The more Hillary and Obama slug it out like two prizefighters throwing haymakers trying to deliver the knockout blow, it is my sincere hope that the saga continues to drag on.

Not only because it will help John McCain win by a larger vote than he already would've, but because it also makes me laugh hysterically!

Texas's 14th Congressional District: Don't Forget to Defeat Ron Paul Today!

2008-03-04T13:58:00.003-05:00

Amid all of the talk of how crucial Texas is to Hillary and Obama, there is one side note that Texans in the 14th Congressional District need to remember. Today is your opportunity to send Ron Paul packing by electing Chris Peden as your Congressional nominee.

Ron Paul, in no way, shape or form, represents our party's values. He is a Libertarian in Republican's clothing because his own party is too sad, pathetic and out of touch with reality to get its foot in the door.

I urge Texas's 14th Congressional District to elect the man that truly represents your conservative values, Chris Peden.

William F. Buckley: 1925-2008

2008-02-28T10:38:00.001-05:00

"Back in the thirties we were told we must collectivize the nation because the people were so poor. Now we are told we must collectivize the nation because the people are so rich."

Hillary Comes Undone

2008-02-26T12:44:00.002-05:00

Okay, I'm just posting this because it made me laugh.

Enjoy!

Welcome to North Korea

2008-02-26T10:20:00.003-05:00

To say that North Korea is shrowded in mystery is an understatement. Not much is known and it's very rare that we get a glimpse of what it looks like from the inside.

In lieu of The New York Philharmonic performing in Pyongyang as a goodwill gesture this week, I thought it would be a good idea to take a closer look of what life is like there.

It's not going to be a happy stroll.

Does Glascoe Even Care Anymore?

2008-02-21T12:11:00.002-05:00

Soon to be former Paterson Superintendent of Schools Michael Glascoe is being criticized by teachers at John F. Kennedy High School for failing to provide them a safe working environment according to Danielle Shapiro of the Herald News.

Teacher's union representative Sasha Wolf stated the following:

"We feel that the conditions have gotten so bad that the association needs to do something beyond just talking to the district."

While Glascoe alleges that he had only found out about the complaint on Tuesday, Wolf states that union officials had addressed safety issues to district administratiors back in October and November and about twenty incidents of violence against teachers have been reported since the school year started in September.

While Glascoe claims that he will do something about it, one has to wonder where he's been all this time.

Teachers and students alike at Kennedy are complaining that there is a total lack of discipline and law and order that has been getting steadily worse.

The question is, how was Glascoe completely oblivious to it this whole time? Then again, how was he oblivious to the fact that twenty six of the schools in his district that were shut down were unsafe and not up to code before the beginning of the school year? Is there any wonder why Michael Glascoe is being shown the door?

For the sake of the teachers, students and the entire staff of Kennedy High School, perhaps Commisioner Lucille Davy should show him the door sooner rather than later.

Hail Barack Obama!!

2008-02-21T10:10:00.002-05:00

This is another great monologue from The Great One, Mark Levin.

Folks, this man is downright scary. To all of you stalwart conservative McCain haters out there, you had better wake up and take a good long look at what the alternative is and what you are considering dooming this country to.

Let's get real people.

Who's Plagiarizing Who???

2008-02-19T07:41:00.007-05:00

Hillary Clinton, the one who was supposed to be "heir to the throne", has been left unexpectedly grasping at straws to save her sinking ship.

As a result, Hillary is now accusing Barack Obama of plagarizing a Deval Patrick campaign speech in what comes across as a last ditch desperation tactic.

Did Barack Obama "plagiarize" Deval Patrick? I for one believe that the Governor was more than happy to let Obama use his speech. After all, Patrick himself borrowed a famous quote originated by President John F. Kennedy.... or was it???

We all know the quote:

"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

It made JFK an instant legend. Little do most people know, this quote didn't originate with Kennedy.

Just ask Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., a Supreme Court Justice from 1902 to 1932 from Boston, Massachusetts who had this to say in his 1884 Memorial Day address to a group of veterans in Keene, New Hampshire:

"...it is now the moment when by common consent we pause to become conscious of our national life and to rejoice in it, to recall what our country has done for each of us, and to ask ourselves what we can do for the country in return."

I am curious as to whether Hillary or anybody within her camp will be contacting the Kennedy family to call JFK a plagiarist.

The old saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. If there is one thing Hillary Clinton is right now, it's desperate.

How did the wheels comes off for a woman who was supposed to have a "clear path" to the presidency?

Then again, what do I care???

Happy Valentine's Day, Sen. Beck!

2008-02-14T11:35:00.003-05:00

Since it's Valentine's Day, yours truly feels even fuzzier and more sentimental than usual. On that note, I'm a lover today, not a fighter.

That being said, I would just like to take the time to wish my very favorite State Senator, Jennifer Beck, a Happy Valentine's Day.

Trenton has never looked better thanks to you.;-)

Ron Paul Supporter: Chris Peden, You'd BETTER drop out...OR ELSE!

2008-02-12T14:09:00.000-05:00

For those who aren't aware, Ron Paul's congressional seat in Texas's 14th CD is up and he is facing a challenger (a REAL Republican) by the name of Chris Peden, Mayor of Friendswood, Texas. Naturally, this doesn't make the Ron Paul nuts happy. Have a gander at the letter one of them wanted to circulate in October of last year taken from the Ron Paul forum.

This Congressional campaign IS a distraction. But right now it is a necessary one. I propose that we step it up a notch, and make it VERY clear to this guy to back off NOW. He has some compelling reasons to do so. I propose that we spread this, or something similar, to all 1600 meetup groups, and have them individually send it to him. When he sees the numbers behind us, he'll roll over, for the reasons I have outlined to him below. I've very deliberately made it tough, and a bit non-violently threatening. We can't pussyfoot about here:

*********************

Contact form:
http://www.campaignsitebuilder.com/t...34&Trial=false

Chris Peden for Congress
714 W. House
Alvin, TX 77511

info@chrispeden.org
Phone: 281-756-8215

Dear Mr Peden,

We write to strongly suggest that you drop your campaign for Congressman, in Texas Congressional District 14. You promised that you would not oppose Dr Paul while he was still wanting to remain in the seat, yet you have dishonorably broken your word. If you carry on any further, you must be prepared to pay the consequences.

If you persist, and happen to knock Dr Paul off as the Republican nominee, we - the hundreds of thousands of ACTIVE grassroots supporters of Dr Paul, from across the entire nation, the very same ones that raised $6M in one day, and $20M in 3 months - will fully fund and support an Independent (likely, Dr Paul himself! You didn't think he would just let you have it unopposed, did you?), or some other appropriate candidate, to run against you. We have many within our own ranks that would be suitable. And we won't skimp with the funding. We'll do it in a day, and think nothing of you being left to deal with the loss forever thereafter. Note also that if Dr Paul were to lose the Tx-CD14 GOP nomination, and become free of the GOP party alliance on the Congressional level, it would likely free him up from his inclination/obligation to remain with the GOP at the federal level. You may well be the cause of a third-party presidential run, during which the GOP will surely lose. Do you really want to be known forever within GOP ranks as the person whose extreme selfishness and vanity caused that loss? What would that do to your reputation, and career prospects within the GOP?

And when you do lose, and try to scuttle back to your Mayoral position, expect us to haunt you throughout any political career you may attempt at any time into the future. We will fund and support opposition to any designated enemy of Liberty such as yourself, for ANY position, at ANY time. You won't be able to run for ANY public office without us there working against you.

What Ron Paul has sparked is beyond him now. It is not just a campaign, but a fully autonomous movement for LIBERTY. And we shall not waiver in our resolve to attain such, regardless of the cost. As well as working towards Dr Paul's Presidential bid, we have been busy establishing the infrastructure required to be around as a political force - forever - in order to put a lot more "Ron Paul Republicans" into public office - and to get rid of the ones opposing us. If you proceed as you are, you will have the dubious honor of being our first political scalp, and with many more to come. We have the capability to deliver extreme political force, and are prepared to do so. We are wilfully taking on the full might of the MSM and the Establishment, so we won't think twice about squashing your measly political dreams along the way.

Hell hath no fury like a r3V0Lution scorned! And that we certainly have been, by the MSM and GOP thus far. You DON'T want to add to that.

It seems that you have two choices. Either:
(a) cut your losses, and walk away now, before the state GOP primary, disappearing off our political radar forever, or
(b) carry on, and blow a heck of a lot more of your children's inheritance than you have blown thus far on this spiteful, deceitful, quixotic folly of yours.

Consider yourself warned: For the sake of (1) your reputation, (2) your future career prospects, and (3) your children's inheritance, you need to walk away immediately. The longer you leave pulling out, the more intense our ire. Only an immediate, honorable withdrawal, will placate us. That is, abiding by your word not to compete. Do not even delay your withdrawal until the preselection contest. The r3V0Lution has not been fully mobilized on this matter yet, but can and will be at short notice, should you fail to withdraw from your selfish quest.

We are legion. And we are watching.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, these people are genuinely disturbing.

Cigar Mike Pancier: Note to all of the Conservative McCain Bashers

2008-02-06T15:33:00.000-05:00

The following is a comment left to a thread on Cuban American blog Babalu by one of the blog's authors, Cigar Mike Pancier in response to those conservatives who would see fit to doom our nation to four years of Hillary or Obama rather than support Sen. John McCain in November:

As I've said before and I dare anyone to prove me wrong: Reagan was an idealist not an ideologue.

You are so tied to your purist ideology that you would rather have the country go to hell; but hey, you're ideologically pure. That's why Judge Scalia finds little support from the left or right and why Judge Roberts and Judge Rehnquist were and are much better jurists.

Even a better analogy, Ghandi was ideologically pure on his non violence and when he was asked about what the Jews should do re: the Nazis; he stated they should not resist and should be slaughtered; that's ideological purity. Einstein a pacifist went against his ideology because of the greater evil on the horizon -- the nazis. So would his decision to go against his belief make him morally bankrupt?

What good is ideological purity when the dems appoint ACLU judges to the court which will set for the next 40 years; and what good is ideological purity when we cut and run and surrender; and what good is ideological purity when we taxed up the ying yang and have socialized medicine and other tripe shoved down out throats by the dems?

so please don't be so self righteous.

As (George)Moneo indicated a few weeks ago, and I'm with him, I'd rather vote for a chimp than for the current crop of dems. It's not being morally bankrupt my friend, it's being safer and more prosperous and having the court with conservative jurists rather than the ACLU types that keep flooding the courts with BS cases.

you want to be pure? go hang out with Pat Buchanan and all the radio and TV hosts and that won't buy you a shoe shine.

If you honestly think you'll be worse off with the GOP in office than the Dems, then all that says is you're a masochist as well as an ideologue. This is not a philosophy class or a political science class. It's the real world. It's politics and sometimes we have to make strange bed fellows if it is for the better good.

Here get used to this if you'd rather see the Dems in office because you must remain "pure" to your ideology:

Excerpt of O'Bama Speech:

"And if I am your nominee, my opponent will not be able to say that I voted for the war in Iraq, because I didn’t, or that I gave George Bush the benefit of the doubt on Iran, because I haven’t, or that I support the Bush-Cheney doctrine of not talking to leaders we don’t like, because I profoundly disagree with that approach.

And he will not be able to say that I wavered on something as fundamental as whether or not it’s OK for America to use torture, because it’s never OK.

That is the choice in this election.

The Republicans running for president have already tied themselves to the past. The speak of 100-year war in Iraq. They talk about billions more in tax breaks for the wealthiest few, who don’t need them and didn’t even ask them, tax breaks that mortgage our children’s future on a mountain of debt, at a time when there are families who can’t pay their medical bills and students who can’t pay their tuition.

Those Republicans are running on the politics of yesterday and that is why our party must be the party of tomorrow, and that is the party that I intend to lead as president of the United States of America.

I’ll be the president who ends the tax breaks to companies that ship our jobs overseas and start putting them in the pockets of hardworking Americans who deserve them and struggling homeowners who deserve them and seniors who should retire with dignity and respect and deserve them."

That my friend are the words of a true liberal. If that's what you want, then God Bless you and don't come crying to me or anyone else from the screwing the dems will give the country.

Very well said.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Endorses McCain

2008-01-31T14:43:00.000-05:00

Sen. John McCain has received another big endorsement today, this time from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in Los Angeles. Accompanied by Rudy Giuliani who endorsed McCain yesterday, The Governator was asked why he changed his mind after initially stating that he would remain neutral.

"It's all Rudy's fault", the Governor stated as he explained that the reason for his remaining neutral was because he did not want to choose between his to close friends, McCain and Giuliani.

Sen. McCain is comfprtably ahead in the polls in California and is also currently on pace to win landslide victories in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut where he has received the endorsement of Independent Senator, Joseph Lieberman on Super Tuesday.

John Pinette

2008-01-30T04:37:00.001-05:00

Okay, as most of you are probably aware, yours truly a cushed, defeated, miserable shell of a man right now and am in absolutely no mood to discuss politics right now.

Therefore, I've decided in the meantime to just post some extremely funny video clips of John Pinette. For those of you who have never heard of him before, he is an extremely talented stand up comedian who has also done some acting. He recently played Edna Turnblad in "Hairspray" on Broadway. He is also played the carjack victim from the final episode of Seinfeld.

Once I'm finished sulking, I will peel myself off of my tear stained carpet and be back to my old self again. Until then, laugh and enjoy.

Steve Lonegan's Rising Star

2008-01-24T14:52:00.000-05:00

Let me first apologize for the long gap in between posts. Your truly has been hit with a nasty flu bug (despite getting a flu shot this year) and outside of leaving comments on other blogs here and there, I really haven't bee touring the blogosphere very frequently. Once I'm up to it, I will post normally.

While I'm late in addressing this issue I felt the need to do so as an avid supporter of Mayor Steve Lonegan. I am elated beyond belief that Mayor Lonegan had the courage and determination to stand up to Jon Corzine and his band of socialist thugs in their attempt to silence his first amendment rights. As you know, Corzine's Castroesque dictatorship went so far as to have him arrested.

What did Corzine think he was going to accomplish by having Mayor Lonegan arrested? The only thing Corzine did was put Lonegan in the driver seat as his main competition for his job.

Hey Governor, thanks for the late Christmas gift!

YOUR NAME HERE...

2008-01-07T14:31:00.000-05:00

Larry McShane of the New York Daily News reports that State Senator Ray Lesniak has put forth a proposal to sell the naming rights of twelve New Jersey Turnpike rest stops, including the Thomas Edison rest stop, to the highest bidder.

"I must have driven by the Molly Pitcher rest stop 10,000 times ... before I realized it was the Molly Pitcher rest stop," the Democrat said. "I don't think the rest stops are of great significance to anybody."

Whether or this asset monitization proposal will see the light of day in Gov. Corzine's State of the State Address tomorrow remains to be seen.

What say you?

Who Supports Ron Paul?

2008-01-06T02:25:00.000-05:00

Alright folks, I swear that this is the last time I am going to waste my breath on this loser.

Take a good look at who's supporting Ron Paul. His name is John Conner aka Mark Dice who heads a 9/11 conspiracy group called "The Resistance Manifesto". He proudly displays a Ron Paul for President banner on his website TheResistanceManifesto.com which I refuse to link so if you want to check the site out yourself, feel free to do so.

Okay Ron Paul spammers, do your worst.

Rudy Giuliani Watch: The World Does NOT Revolve Around Iowa - The Strategy Memo

2008-01-01T15:00:00.000-05:00

Cross Posted From Giuliani Blog

TO:
TEAM RUDY

FROM:
BRENT SEABORN, STRATEGY DIRECTOR

RE:
Looking Good

DATE:
December 31, 2007

http://www.joinrudy2008.com/article/pr/1110

As voting nears in the Republican nomination process, our campaign remains convinced that our strategy we have long had in place is right - bold, innovative and designed to deal with the radically different election calendar. While many of the beltway insiders seem to remain committed to the old “Carter/Clinton” approach and have questioned the adjustments we have made to our strategic thinking based on the new calendar, we clearly have a winning plan to secure the nomination in an election cycle unlike any other. History will prove us right.

As we enter the final stages of the campaign we have seen a tightening in the national polling and the emergence of a real 5-way race for the Republican nomination. Mayor Giuliani has led virtually every national major media poll conducted in 2007. We are now at a point in the campaign where we are seeing increasing polling volatility as public attention turns to the horse races in individual states.

Important to our long term strategy, Mayor Giuliani has enjoyed a commanding lead in nearly every public poll conducted in the delegate rich states of Florida, California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey.

2007 November - December Public Polling Averages Mayor Giuliani and Closest Opponent in state polling

State: Florida
Mayor Giuliani Average:30%
Closest Opponent Average: 17%

California
29%
15%

New Jersey
38%
12%

New York
40%
12%

The Primary Calendar

2008 will be unlike any recent Republican nomination process. What typically has been a primary process that stretched into March or April has been accelerated and compacted into a 33 day sprint.

Our rivals seemingly have built campaigns based on the old calendars’ strategies — a couple of very early state wins to propel them deeper in to the nomination process. To the contrary, our plan allocates time and resources to the many states which vote a bit later — on January 29 (Florida) and February 5.

For the record, only 78 delegates will be picked prior to Florida whereas 1,039 delegates will be picked on January 29 and February 5. Additionally, it is important to note that voting HAS ALREADY STARTED in Florida, Missouri, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey and New York - tens of thousands of people will have already cast their ballot by the time you are reading this note. And more February 5th states, including California will begin early and absentee voting soon. All of this points to the folly of over-estimating the impact of the results of Iowa and New Hampshire and the wisdom of our strategy.

Putting a high priority on spending our time and money in a proportional basis in Florida and the large delegate states voting on February 5th is clearly the right thing to do.

The Early States

The pre-February 5th states are Iowa, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Michigan, Nevada, South Carolina, Florida and Maine. Delegates are at stake in just five states before February 5. Wyoming will select a portion of its delegates at their caucus in January, but will not allocate all of their delegates until later in the year. Iowa, Nevada and Maine award NO delegates at this time. Florida is the big prize on January 29, with 57 winner-take-all delegates - the only winner-take-all state before February 5th.

Pre February 5th Contests

Date: 1/3
State: Iowa
Estimated Delegates after RNC Penalty: 0*

1/5
Wyoming
12

1/8
New Hampshire
12

1/15
Michigan
30

1/19
Nevada
0*

1/19
South Carolina
24

1/29
Florida
57

2/1
Maine
0*

Because states selecting delegates before February 5th are in violation of Republican National Committee rules, those states have been penalized half of their normal delegates; Iowa, Nevada, and Maine do not select any delegates at their caucuses, but rather at state party conventions in late spring. The states before February 5th will allocate delegates to multiple candidates under varying state election laws and state party rules. Thus, it is highly unlikely that any single candidate will win all of any one state’s delegates except Florida’s, which will be winner-take-all.

Florida accounts for more than 40% of all delegates allocated before February 5th and has almost twice as many delegates as the next largest state. It is therefore easy and correct to conclude that in a multiple candidate race, whichever candidate wins Florida, with their winner-take-all delegates, will very likely have a delegate lead going into February 5th.

February 5th
On February 5th, 982 delegates will be in play. Most importantly, a bloc of 201 winner-take-all delegates will be at stake in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware, all states in which Mayor Giuliani has double digit leads. Aside from the huge northeast delegate prize, Missouri will award 58 winner-take-all delegates, and Senator Kit Bond’s endorsement gives our organization a great statewide network there. Also on February 5th, large states such as California, Georgia and Illinois will award most of their delegates by Congressional District vote. It is for this reason that Mayor Giuliani has spent a great deal of time in each of those states and has always polled well in them.

Path to Victory

If Mayor Giuliani wins even a minority share of the 78 delegates from pre Florida states, wins Florida’s 57 delegates, wins the 201 available in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware, and wins only a plurality of delegates from large February 5th states like California, Georgia and Illinois, he will have a commanding lead in delegates for the nomination with more than half of the delegates selected.

State Polling and Outlooks

As noted above, polling has been and will continue to be dynamic and incredibly volatile. In Iowa for instance -just in December- we have seen polls placing the Mayor’s support from as high as 3rd to as low as 6th place. Senator McCain caucus support has ranged from a high of 20% to a low of 5%. And polling over the Christmas and New Year holidays will not be any less fickle.

In Iowa, one could anticipate that Mayor Giuliani might finish outside of the top 3. Governors Huckabee and Romney are battling it out for first, Senator Thompson is spending a lot of time in the state over the closing days of the campaign and Senator McCain received a recent boost from the endorsement of the Des Moines Register. While placement in Iowa will be a focus of the media, it should be remembered that Senator McCain came in 5th place in Iowa (behind Bauer and Keyes) before winning New Hampshire.

The most covered story out of Iowa will likely be the Democratic race, but on the Republican side, the Huckabee/Romney race will be very interesting. The Romney campaign has invested millions of dollars and assembled a massive paid staff; some now question whether Mitt Romney’s Iowa investment and organization will prevail over Mike Huckabee. While Governor Huckabee was climbing rapidly in polls before Christmas, he now seems to have plateaued. Governor Romney’s strategy has long been based on winning the first few races to build momentum. Many believe the Romney organization (and a few million more dollars of get-out-the-vote money) will pull this one out for their campaign.

New Hampshire is only a few days after Iowa and voters there are notoriously late deciders on their presidential primary vote. New Hampshire will be very much in flux after Iowa. Governor Romney was governor of neighboring Massachusetts and Senator McCain won New Hampshire in 2000. In addition to Senator McCain’s base of support, he has recently put together a series of high profile endorsements in the area to further reinvigorate his campaign. The unprecedented personal spending by Governor Romney should not be underestimated. It is apparent that he has put more than $40 million of his own money into this race.

Accurate polling in New Hampshire will be nearly impossible, with the holidays complicating it logistically and the Iowa news cycle dominating press and potentially disrupting the order of the race.

Although we should expect to see more polling from South Carolina, Michigan and the other early states, one should remember that because of the furious pace of the election calendar and the never ending news cycle, polling will be very difficult to conduct, have a very short shelf life and become even more unstable and unreliable. The polling picture will be further blurred with the range of new polling methodologies that are being tested, ranging from robotic calling to internet polling.

Thus, we should all be ready for a barrage of state and national polls in January with seemingly contradictory results — some of it good news, much of it related to early January states as bad news. We should all have confidence in the strong organizations and also in the strong bases of support in Florida and other February 5th states which will endure the ups and downs of January.

Also, by the time we get to Florida, the field of candidates and the race will look remarkably different than it does right now. Florida will be the important battleground not only for our campaign but for the race itself.

Polling in Florida has been stable all year. For most of the second half of 2007, the support for Mayor Giuliani has averaged 33 or 34%. Virtually every other candidate in the race has polled in second place to us at one point or another over the year. We have remained on top in Florida. As in all races, expect to see signs of tightening in Florida as Election Day approaches, but also expect us to consolidate more support as candidates drop out of the race. We are very proud of our Florida organization, which, like all of our state organizations, is prepared for the long, hard fight to win.

One should conclude, as voting nears, that our campaign is focused on the right prize - winning enough delegates to secure the Republican nomination. Our national campaign is the right strategy for getting it done.

Floridians for Rudy

2008-01-01T14:18:00.001-05:00

While Mitt Romney Mike Huckabee spend all of their time and money throwing haymakers in their attempts to land a knockout punch in meaningless Iowa, Rudy Giuliani is wisely investing his time and money staying on message in Florida where the GOP Presidential nomination is really going to be decided.

Looks like his strategy is working to me!

Benazir Bhutto: 1953 - 2007

2007-12-27T12:44:00.000-05:00

"Success is not final; failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts."- Winston Churchill

Merry Christmas to our Troops

2007-12-25T10:10:00.000-05:00

On a serious note, I would also like to wish all of our troops overseas who can't be with their families a safe and as Merry a Christmas as humanly possible.

You are not forgotten.

Ron Paul Criticizes President Lincoln for Civil War

2007-12-24T07:51:00.000-05:00

As much as I try to ignore this idiot, He just simply refuses to give me and the blogosphere in general ridiculous material that simply can't be ignored.

In case you didn't see it yesterday, Texas Congressman Ron Paul was on Meet the Press. In this particular segment, he defends his flip flop on his immigration stance and proclaims his well known desire to legalize hard drugs. None of this however, was the most noteable nonsense he spouted.

Paul had the outright nerve to attack the greatest President in our nation's history and Father of the Republican Party Abraham Lincoln, blaming him for the death of 600,000 Americans in the "senseless Civil War" to end slavery and believed that Lincoln should've simply waited for slavery to "phase itself out" like it had in every other country (I guess that also means that Moses should've waited for slavery to phase itself out in Egypt rather than senselessly risking the lives of 20,000 Hebrews by having them cross the Red Sea).

I knew this man was a total jackass but this takes the cake!

Paterson Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Eileen Shafer: Using New Jersey Tax Dollars to Pass Love Notes.

2007-12-20T22:11:00.000-05:00

In October of last year, Paterson Public School Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Eileen Shafer engaged in inappropriate conduct using state issued Blackberry devices to exchange sexually provocative messages with Director of No Child Left Behind Grace Ayala.

Since your tax dollars funded this garbage, yours truly feels that it is his duty to show you, people of New Jersey, what their tax dollars are being redistributed to the Paterson school district for.

Click on each page to enlarge.

Michael Glascoe and Paterson: A Look Back

2007-12-16T02:38:00.000-05:00

Some big goings on have been taking place in Paterson of late with the resignation of Deputy Superintendent J. Michael Rush along with two others. It is very obvious that the Glascoe ship is sinking.

That is why I have decided to chronicle all of my Paterson material. One, so you remember where you heard this all first and two to provide easier access to posts that are now buried pretty deep.

Sen. Kean, Help Stop the Abuse
Paterson School District: Revisited
An Open Challenge to the Paterson Board of Education
Paterson Online Survey: The Results Are In
An Open Letter to Governor Corzine
Paterson Needs Another Joe Clark
Is There a Bagman in Paterson
Paterson School District Center Raided
More Drama in Paterson
Twenty-six Paterson public schools shut down: Can you trust Andre Sayegh?
More Trouble Brewing in Paterson
Glascoe Gets the Axe
Two Paterson High Schools are labeled "Dropout Factories"
Girgenti Shows Sayegh the Door
Paterson: Dr. Joseph Atallo Suspended
Paterson: Legislature Must Step In
Glascoe and Rush: The Nail in the Coffin
Glascoe and Rush Misuse E-Z Pass Privliges
Breaking News: Paterson Students Stage Walkout
Paterson Public Schools: Here We Go Again
It's the Department of Education, Stupid!
Glascoe Supporter Condones Seperate but Equal Hiring Policies
New York Times is Wrong About Glascoe
Assemblyman Merkt on Paterson and Codey
New York Times is Wrong about Glascoe: Update

Protect and Defend your Flag

2007-12-11T09:08:00.000-05:00

For those who are unaware, it is illegal to fly another country's flag on top of the American Flag.

For anybody who sees this taking place, do exactly what Army Veteran Jim Brossard did and liberate your flag. Take it down and take it away from them. They do not deserve the right to fly it.

Will New Jersey come into play for Obama?

2007-12-10T11:01:00.000-05:00

Okay, it's time for yours truly to get back into the swing of things. Let's begin, shall we?

Amid all of the hoopla over the weekend over Barack Obama as he and Oprah Winfrey took Iowa and South Carolina by storm, one can only wonder if this surge will extend into New Jersey.

While Hillary Clinton still holds a comfortable lead in the Garden State, Obama has a lot of strong, grassroots urban support and even has support from powerful politicos such as Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Jersey City Mayor/HCDO Chairman Jerremiah Healy and ninth district Congressman Steve Rothman.

Then of course, there is the aforementioned Oprah Winfrey. Let's not pull any punches here folks, Oprah's open endorsement and support of Obama hits Hillary with both of her biggest bases, women and minorities. It was a devastating blow.

In my opinion, it will come down to whose supporters are more motivated and energetic about their candidate when it comes time to vote. I give that advantage to Obama running away.

When you factor all of this in, Barack Obama might very well cause the uprising among Democrats in New Jersey that Ron Paul supporters can only dream about on the Republican side.

Only time will tell if Obama can work his magic.

New York Times is Wrong About Glascoe: Update

2007-12-06T16:02:00.000-05:00

Aparrently, somebody at The New York Times reads yours truly as evidenced by this December 2nd article. After my piece entitled "New York Times is Wrong About Glascoe", this piece, which continues here, tells how Paterson District Superintendent Michael Glascoe uses a program called SchoolStat, a program that mimicks Compstat.

It is the latest evolution of Compstat, a widely copied management program pioneered by the New York Police Department in 1994. Paterson is one of a half-dozen school districts around the country that have embraced this confrontational approach, known here as SchoolStat, in an effort to improve school performance and overhaul bureaucracies long seen as bloated, wasteful and unresponsive to the public.

SchoolStat borrows the tactics of the Compstat program — regular, intense meetings in which police officials famously pick apart crime data and, just as often, their subordinates — to analyze police performance and crime trends, and to deploy resources to trouble spots. The school version taps into an ever-expanding universe of data about standardized testing and school operations to establish a system of accountability.

While I'm all for a a tough stance on improving education as I have praised Joe Clark here in the past, using a program that is primarily used in police departments and correctional facilities and is only used in five other schools is pushing it.

While some people seem to believe that Paterson's teachers are failing children because "they don't care", it appears as though that Glascoe has so little disregard for his staff that he sees fit to experiment on them with a program that has zero evidence of being successful.

Off to Santo Domingo...Again!

2007-11-28T15:05:00.000-05:00

Yes, yours truly is taking another trip to the Dominican Republic and I'm already counting down the hours!

I should be back and posting sometime after Tuesday.

Adios amigos!

Dino

Antisemites and Conspiracy Nuts Love Ron Paul

2007-11-27T10:05:00.000-05:00

Okay, now I know what many of you are thinking. If you think that Ron Paul is a nobody that stands no chance of winning the GOP Presidential nomination, why do you keep brining his name up? The reason is because it needs to be well documented as to what kind of support this lunatic gets. He is a disgrace and an embarassment to the Republican Party as Pat Buchanan and David Duke before him and his crazy and even at times, potentially militant supporters are a testament to this.

Let's start with some comments that were made by supporters on Ron Paul's forum in reference to conservative talk show host Mark Levin.

Be it far from me to sound racist but Mark Levin sounds like a real whiny Jew… My apologies to any Jewish people. But Levin is a real piece of s#%t.

Hey let me tell you something. My of my best friends who *IS* Jewish calls Mark Levin a whiny Jew too. So, its not indicative that I or he hate ‘Jews’.

I never heard of him i saw him once on that moron Hannity and combs crying about his doggie that had to be put to sleep the greedy Jew wrote a book to make money on it and Hannity was consoling him like a B!$CH . He probly don’t even have 5 million the IRS should look into him while there still around

The reason why it seems like so many neo-cons are Jews is that many of the neo-cons, before they moved to the Right, were originally trotskyites. Leon Trotsky, and many of his followers, were Jews. There also have been Jews who’ve opposed both bolshevism, as well as neo-conservatism. Murray Rothbard, for example.

More evidence of this behavior is available in this piece by Andrew Walden of American Thinker. Not only does Ron Paul get support from white supremacists, he's staunchly supported by conspiracy theorists and they are downright nasty as evidenced on the the campaign trail:

"According to one eyewitness, Giuliani was beset by dozens of Paul enthusiasts as he was leaving the island, some of whom shouted taunts about 9/11, including: ‘9/11 was an inside job' and ‘Rudy, Rudy, what did you do with the gold?' -- an apparent reference to rumors about $200 million in gold alleged to have disappeared in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers. Ed Wyszynski, a longtime party activist from Eagle, (MI) said the Paul supporters threatened to throw Giuliani overboard and harassed him as he took shelter in the ferry's pilothouse for the 15-minute journey back to Mackinaw City."

There's more:

Paul campaign spokesman Jesse Benton told the Detroit Free Press "Ron Paul does not think that 9/11 was an inside job." But the "truthers" aren't fooled. Paul's committee paid 9-11 conspiracy nut and talk-show host Alex Jones $1300. Jones claims the payment is a partial refund after he over paid August 27 when giving Paul a $2300 contribution. Aaron Dykes of Alex Jones' company Magnolia Management and Alex Jones' Infowars website gave Ron Paul $1600.

Folks, consider this a Public Service Announcement for those who are potentially intrigued by Ron Paul's candidacy. Read Andrew Walden's piece from top to bottom and see this man and his supporters for what they are.

Ron Paul does NOT speak for the Republican Party and he certainly does not speak for America.

Glascoe Supporter Condones Seperate But Equal Hiring Policies

2007-11-26T11:53:00.000-05:00

The following is an excerpt from a comment left by an anonymous blogger last week to my thread entitled, "New York Times is Wrong About Glascoe". I strongly encourage everybody to read the entire comment and the entire comment exchange.

It is interesting that with less than 5% of the children in the district being White, you embarrass us all by suggesting that Whites are somehow "entitled" to employment. Still, I do not believe he has excluded people, but has sought the BEST people to promote his agenda.

I can only assume what he and/or she means by "BEST" people. I guess this is meant to insinuate that whites are somehow "unfit" to be administrators in a minority school district where white students only make up a fraction of the overall student body.

Alright, I'll play this game. Let's suppose for a minute that somebody in a predominantly while town like Alpine or Franklin Lakes made a case that there aren't enough African-American or Hispanic administrators in the school district and the argument was made by the Distrct Superintendent that the overwhelming majority of students in the district are white and a minority is not the "BEST" candidate to "support the administration's agenda" regardless of how qualified that candidate is for that job and hired a white man or woman who was less qualified in their place? Needless to say, you would have Al sharpton down there staging a protest rally before you could count to ten and as much as I can't stand Al Sharpton for being a vulture and political grandstander, he would be absolutely justified in doing so.

Why does this individual, who apparently denies that there's a racial agenda within the Paterson School District admit that in a roundabout way, there is? Not only that, but that it's good for the district?

As much as the few Glascoe supporters out there want to accuse me of injecting a racial agenda into this issue, I infact have not. I actually predicted that Glascoe and his people would do it themselves and they are doing so as we speak as a last ditch effort to save Glascoe's job. Case in point, the Department of Education recently sent monitor by the name of Mark Kramer into the district and Glascoe's people immediately attempted to label Kramer a racist who "wants to tell blacks what to do". Who's playing racial politics here?

Only time will tell if Jon Corzine and Lucille Davy buckle under the pressure. If they do, it guarantees that self-segregation will thrive and that true equal rights mean nothing in Paterson.

Brothel Owners Love Ron Paul

2007-11-26T10:52:00.000-05:00

Texas Congressman/Pseudo-Republican Ron Paul has picked up an endorsement....from a pimp.

Nevada brothel owner Dennis Hof was so impressed with Ron Paul he even decided to raise money for him. I guess that means his girls are going to have to turn more tricks than usual for the next couple of months.

While Ron Paul doesn't personally believe in Prostitution, he opposes federal restrictions against it just as he does with illegal drugs which is well documented.

While Ron Paul's merry band of crybaby, lunatic supporters make lots of noise in their attempts to champion his efforts, it becomes abundantly clear with such support along with that of 9/11 "truthers" and former KKK member and rabid antisemite David Duke that as he peddles himself to the masses as a champion for democracy, he's actually a champion for something else.

Pure, unadulterated, anarchy.

Dino's New Address and Facelift

2007-11-23T20:08:00.000-05:00

As you can see, yours truly has made some major changes to the site. The biggest change is that I have a new web address. I have personally customized my domain name. The Dino's Forum name is now 100% mine. Therefore, that dreadful "blogspot" is gone form the address. I have also completely made over the site's template and the "Dino's Lounge" widget is now at the bottom of the page and fully visible so you can control the volume.

While I have made significant changes to the site's name and look, one thing will never change. The way Dino tells it like it is.

I hope everybody likes the changes I've made.

George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

2007-11-22T10:45:00.000-05:00

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

Dino's Lounge

2007-11-17T21:05:00.000-05:00

Yours truly has launched what I like to call "Dino's Lounge" which I actually seriously contemplated calling the blog when I first created it. It's a music playlist that will automatically play when you log on to Dino's Forum. It features of course, some of Dino's Greatest Hits (except Everybody Loves Somebody since I couldn't find a decent sounding track).

I will also add some Sinatra and others to the list as time goes on. If anybody has a song that they would like added to the list, please feel free to let me know.

Now sit back, light up your favorite smoke, pour yourself a glass of your favorite wine, whether it be red or white (I'm a red guy myself), and let Dino take you away!

New York Times is Wrong About Glascoe

2007-11-15T14:28:00.000-05:00

The New York Times has been wrong on a plethora of issues over the years and continues to lose more and more of its credibility as a legitimate news source. When it comes to the Paterson School District and District Superinrendent/NAACP lapdog, Michael Glascoe, they are hardly no execption.

In an article that ran in the opinion section of the September 23rd edition of the New York Times, someone saw fit to write Glascoe a loveletter, making him out to be some sort of "courageous reformer" fighting an uphill battle against the "Big Bad Teachers" who's fighting a turf war with Paterson Mayor Joey Torres. Quite frankly, being that the article has no name to it, I wouldn't be entirely surprised if Glascoe wrote it himself.

Is Michael Glascoe some sort of Paterson folk hero like the New York Times wants to paints him out to be? Once again, the hapless, clueless New York Times gets it all wrong.

The truth is that in the two years that Michael Glascoe has brought his NAACP agenda into Paterson's Public Schools, they continue to be the same breeding ground for corruption and nepotism they've always been. The only difference is that his corruption and nepotism are imported from the Delmarva Peninsula. He also has his corrupt friends locally as well, being a loyal ally of Indicted Assemblyman Alfred Steele church and giving a Principal job the daughter in-law of Indicted Orange Mayor/Assemblyman Mims Hackett.

Natalie Heard-Hackett however, isn't the only African-American female to get a high ranking position in the district. It seems as though everybody Glascoe hires to a high administrative position these days is an African-American female. Infact, not one single white male has been made a principal in Paterson over the last three years.

Not to mention the various monetary abuses that have taken place by Glascoe and Deputy Superintendent Michael Rush that have been well documented here by myself and anonymous commentors who cannot give their names in fear of being a target of Glascoe. He not only has a home and personal vehicle paid for with taxpayer dollars but has also come under fire recently come under fire for abusing E-Z Pass privliges.

Now, while whoever wrote this article is entitled to their opinion, it is abundantly clear that they really have no real grasp of the situation in Paterson. Then again, when was the last time anybody over at the New York Times have grasped any situation?

How Do We Beat the Bitch?

2007-11-15T10:53:00.001-05:00

While I'm not a John McCain supporter, I got a great laugh out of this. Reason being, it's funny because it's true.

A McCain supporter (a woman mind you) asked the Senator the question at a South Carolina event and naturally, politicians and media outlets alike ran away with it in an attempt to demonize and discredit him, I suppose in some attempt to champion political correctness.

I thought it was great. It's about time somebody called a spade a spade.

Rudy Giuliani Television Ad: Tested

2007-11-15T09:47:00.000-05:00