IMAGE vs SUBSTANCE

In our world today it is fashionable to spend more energy and time on creating an "IMAGE" than being concerned and concentrating on what is really important. I guess that is the legacy of "Ronnie The Rat" and his Trickle Down Theory and the current nit-wit republicans in office. By that I am saying that when the boys in the White House find it expedient for their purposes to concentrate on perception more than substance, because they have no substance, the sheep will surely follow. I am not saying that image isn't important but it is liken to respect...IT HAS TO BE EARNED! You can't just spin into existence, by changing a name...( North Adams State Normal Teachers College to MCLA) and wham!!! now you are a player in the big league. You get a reputation, and it is usually earned. In their stampede to disasociate themselves with North Adams and grab onto the brass ring of higher learning and wanting to be in the forefront of political correctness they have lost more than they have gained, but then what do they really care, after the damage has been done they just move on! And another thing.....What's wrong with being called "THE MOHAWKS"? It certainty speaks to the heritage of the area and lends itself to respecting a people by wanting to remember them. So what do you think?.....Is IMAGE more important than Substance?........ IT's YOUR DIME

"THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING"

How quickly our world spins! One minute we are a sleepy backwater old mill hick town situated in a remote, can't get there from here, region of the North East, then the next minute we are on every map in bold letters listed as a "Must Go" destination. Why?....The INTERNET and WiFi. Finely all those anti North Adams, anti technology, naysayers have been overshadowed by those with real vision. I have to laugh at how quickly the BAND WAGON fills up when the wheels start to turn. Seems all those old tired excuses against progress just seem to blow off the back of the wagon like so much loose hay. Maybe there will even be a real since of pride in our City. Maybe MCLA will even bring back their real name, "North Adams State Teachers College", instead of trying to distance themselves from the City and hide behind a phony, sounds good, name..... MCLA WHO?...............................What do you think..... IT's YOUR DIME

"AS SURE AS THERE IS A SANTA, Wifi IS COMING:

Good Morning People! Sure can get crazy at this time of year! I have been a "Shadow Person" on other blogs just listing to what others have to say. Though it is hard to keep my mouth shut :~) I did have to add my penny's worth. Anyway..........There seems to be more people than was thought that want to see technology brought to the for front here in our City. It is probably only a matter of getting the facts and cost out in the open so everyone is on the same page. "Hard tellin not knowin!" It was very refreshing to find that Dan Bosley is in favor of the technology and the benefits that can be gained for the City and MassMoCa. Playing the scare card, as our mayor likes to do, is not going to help the City grow. As sure as there is a Santa Clause, the technology will come to the City. I am of the reasoning that government is an enety of the people, not of those in control at the moment. I can't think of anything in City Hall that shouldn't be open to the preview of the public. Even the "SNOOPERS", as the mayor called them, should have access to anything in City Hall. What is there that is so secret that the public shouldn't be privy to? I say digitize the whole shabang and give assess through a webpage. Hell, that will certainly create a couple of jobs! From what I have researched, a Webpage can cost from FREE to about $30 a month. The expense you may incur is having a person maintaining the page and some of the equipment, but I'm sure their are grant monies out there to cover this. The price of technology is coming down daily so there is no excuse not to have it.
What do you think?

"I'm BACK!"

Boy, this is a hectic time of the year! By now you all have your shoppin done, I'm talkin to the ladies here, I know you gentlemen out there are just gettin your lists organized. Hell why rush it, it's only the 20th ! I know "MY" system worked really great for many years and a lot of you guys had the same system.....I use to see you. On the 24th, usually we would abandon the employer at around the dinner hour, sometimes during coffee break, about nineish or so, if the opportunity presented it's self. We would all meet at the closest tavern so we could compare our shoppin lists and partake of lots of holiday libation. Hell it is only nine in the mornin, their is still plenty of time left to shop! Then after having snacked on hop and barley sandwitches all day and a few shots of some twelve year old gentlemen, we were ready to go mallin, besides it now was around three or so in the afternoon and the crowds were all gone, perfect time to shop and besides that's when everything started to go on sale. I would have to say that it only took us gentlemen about one hour to do the same shoppin that it takes you ladies two months to do, and we got a better price! That nice piece of jewelry you wanted? Half price! ..........Merry Christmas to All and to, hic, All Good, hic, Nigzzzzzzzzzzz!

"CHRISTMAS"

Yup, it's almost here again! I know why Santa's whiskers are white!.......... He saw the bill Mrs. Clause ran up at the mall buying gifts! He,He Ho,Ho,Ho! Now when I was a youngin,...here we go again, North Adams was a whole different animal. At this time of the year the main street was packed with shoppers. Back then we actually had a main street with two sides, the Sunny Side and I guess you would have to call it the Dark side...and to be realistic it probably was because that's where Bank Street was and we all know what that was famous for! Anyway lets not get off the track here. Besides being packed with shoppers there were lots of colored lights strung over the streets and the big Christmas tree with lots of colored lights. The shops were all spiffied up with ribbons and bows, with Christmas Songs emanating from within, with their show windows chocked full of wondrous toys and gadgets. And yes, Santa himself was here to update his list personally. Oh and the aroma of freshly popped popcorn and fresh roasting peanuts wifting in the air from J.J. Newberrys, mixing with the smell of freshly baked cookies and breads and pies from the bakeries on Main Street. It truly was a Wonderland. You would actually hear people wishing each other a Merry Christmas! There wasn't much you couldn't purchase right here in town. There were clothing stores, music stores, hardware stores, sporting goods stores, specialty shops, and general merchandise stores. But alas... never to be evermore! Thanks to progress....Urban Renewal? I think we are still waiting for the renewal part! So when you are all scurrying around the mall, spending next years income, just take the time to reflect on the season and the true meaning of Christmas...and don't forget to wish each other a "Merry Christmas"

"DEMOCRACY AT WORK"

Are we keeping warm this cold morning?..... Good!..... Did you happen to watch the City Council Meeting last evening? Of course you did. It was the event of the month. The mayor vs Mr. Deep! I have to say that I was very impressed with every member of that council last night. They conducted themselves like professional representatives of the citizens of this city. They should be proud this morning of their work last night. It was real "DEMOCRACY AT WORK" I believe the days of the "bobbleheads" are gone forever. I would like to talk about two things this morning, so you can take your pick. The first and most important is the sewer line issue. Their seems to be a lot more here than just trying to "Help the people" as the mayor stated. The second is the issue of access to city hall.....(the web page) Not to drag this out but I, as well as many others, feel that it is very important, although the mayor seems to think otherwise. He seems to believe that the citizens should not have access to their city hall and the different departments, through the net. He talked about E-Mail as some sort of monster to be avoided at all cost. Hell, In today's world your E-Mail address is about the same as your telephone number. Not a boogie man. Eighter he is real ignorant of the computer technology or he fears it for some reason. OK.....those are the questions for this morning. Go for it... It's YOUR DIME!

"THE CITY HOME PAGE"

And a frosty Good Mornin to all. Just since we are on the subject of this computer net thing, does anyone know the why and where for we don't have a home page anymore? I am curious as to the particulars. I don't remember it being discussed at a council meeting, though I may have missed it. It seems to me a presents on the NET is a sound investment for any municipality in today's world. Lets talk about it.....IT's YOUR DIME

"TO CONTINUE INTO THE 21st CENTURY"

Technology - A wonder to behold! The availability of knowledge by all finally drags some kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Their are those that would rather we were still living in the dark ages of three channels on our TV's. Lets expand further on into the future. Wifi in the City (town) Hall,... in the Schools,...in local business,...and yes even in your home! Now in this future world laptops now are the size of a paperback book, can be carried in the back pocket or your purse. Need to look up something in the Town records, no problem, just park in the parking lot and access. No need to walk in the rain or the snow...need a form of some sort? Again no problem just access and download. Need to look up a bylaw?... you got it ...no problem...Oh that would make City (town) hall sooooo user friendly! How about our future students...Oh such a great tool to teaching., The students can study to pass the State Mandated Tests without ever having to attend a formal class. Could graduate in just a couple of months. Think of the savings to the school budget! After all it doesn't seem to matter how much knowledge a student has acquired, but how good they are at passing The State Smart Tests! And we would not need those pesky teachers, that the State has certified but seems to think that they aren't qualified to teach, ( I have problems with that logic? ) Seems it is all their fault that our students are so stupid! Hmmmm.... Maybe less administration and more Education would help?....Nah...I forgot our State Certified Teachers aren't smart enough to do it on their own, they need administering, that's where all the smarts are! Business could take advantage of this too. They wouldn't have all those people sliding in and out of their store all day, never know what they may have swiped? Sit on a BENCH outside their establishment and look and see if they have the item you are looking for. Were talking accessibility here folks. Or you could just access the Chamber of Republicans and they could tell you where you could find the item you are looking for is, that is if the business pays their dues to the Chamber, otherwise good luck! See.... I told you you would like living in the 21st century! What do you think? IT's YOUR DIME!

"ADELPHIA NO SPEED INTERNET"

A frosty "Good Morning" to you all! Well I guess Old Man Winter is here to stay for another season! Isn't that just wonderful?.......... This morning I want to discuss one of my favorite subjects, as of late, Adelphia No Speed internet. What you say? Let me explain why I call them that. In the beginning he created the intranet, and behold he found it good so he created 28K dialup, this was good so he continued until behold he created high speed cable, and it was good. That was in the beginning!... Now we are in the modern ages, into book two, if you like! Those of the corporate cloth are still preaching the same old sermon......DOWNLOAD SPEED! Well let me open your eyes, let the blind see!.....it isn't about download speed any more it is also about UPLOAD SPEED. An item that they don't want to talk about. With Christmas almost here a lot of you will be out there buying your youngins that new computer game that is all the rage. The one they must have! Well a word to the wise...be in for a surprise! The new and expanding technology in computer gaming today depends heavily on two way communication.....DOWNLOAD SPEED as well as UPLOAD SPEED! But unfortunately Adelphia no speed internet doesn't seem to think UPLOAD SPEED is important enough to invest monies into, to keep up with the times. Well at least here in backwater U.S.A. When I talked to one of their reps he basically told me to sit on a rusty nail and rotate, they had no intention of taking any money away from their CEO to invest in infrastructure. Where does our $59 go to? Back to speeds...On my computer the best I can get for UPLOAD SPEED is only 13 % of the DOWNLOAD SPEED, which makes for real shitty gaming. That is the max that Adelphia No Speed allows, or is capable of. I suggest that the next time they come before the people of North Adams looking to renew their license that the Mayor does what he does best...Demand they upgrade their upload server to modern standards or go away. We are not a golden cow just here for the milking! What do you think........It's YOUR DIME!

COMING TOMORROW - ADELPHIA NO SPEED INTERNET"

I have been wrangling with Adelphia No Net for a month now. Tomorrow we will expose their true colors!.......... stay tuned!

"TIS THE SEASON"

I'm b-a-c-k!........I think I finely have my problems with Adelphia fixed, at least for the moment. Seems that it was a bad cable. If you would like to test your download speed here is a link, ( http://www.testmy.net ) , There are several links that you can test your speed at, but I having been using this one as a bench mark for a while. Any of you old techno puterites remember the "TANDY COLOR COMPUTER"? That was my first adventure into computing. There was an evil reason I was interested in the world of computing though, making a big killing at the track! I reasoned that if I could put all the statistics of the horse and the jockey along with other variables, and the "K-factor", into a program on the machine, I could walk away a winner! Ya RIGHT!..........Anyway, it was a great exercise in learning the computer. Hell back then you had to write a program just to draw a line. Boy have we come a long way. Remember the Slide Rule? That's not a baseball term! :~) ..........This is a sort of an open thread today till I can get back into the swing of things. The Holiday Season is a good time to reflect and curb our bitching, which is not a bad thing! ............It's YOUR DIME!

"THE POOL, SINK OR SWIM?"

Good morning people! I surely thought that yesterdays topic would have generated a lot of talk? It is such an important subject, not only in our personal lives, but in the life of the city (town). I attributed the almost nil conversation yesterday to people still napping from the holiday......well you had better wake up! As this POOL affects the city (town) government as well as the businesses that are here and their employees. Look at how the budget monies are divided up......the biggest portion going to education, and that is on the rise. The prediction from the state is that within a few short years INSURANCE will cost the same if not more and be as big an item on the budget. Then we have real problems! The fix is real simple, PRICE CONTROL, but you will never see that with Republicans running the show. You have to control cost, but not at the expense of the workers, you have to control what can be charged for Insurance premiums (all insurances - liability, medical, and auto), for a doctors visit, for an operation, for the price of drugs, for a hospital stay... "THE POOL" doesn't address any of the underlying factors that effect the rising cost. It only puts off the problem for someone in the future to deal with. Our city (town) people are doing a good job right now but soon it will be beyond their means to control...what will suffer....we all will! ..........What Do You Think? It's YOUR DIME!

SHOULD WE DIVE INTO THE INSURANCE POOL?

A very interesting Council meeting with our State Senator. His report on the Health Care situation in the City (town) was some what rosy, as compared to other cities, but still a dire warning as what is to come. When government gets involved with health care I get a little skeptical, when government gets involved with MANAGING health care, I get frightened! Any type of managed health care IS NOT in the best interest of the patients, it is strictly an insurance ploy to sustain their bottom line. We will discuss the Insurance Industry at a later Blog!....... OK, What I see happening here is again our elected officials trying to bandaid and avoid a real problem.....HEALTH CARE FOR EVERYONE! He said "It is a complicated situation", Well ain't that the truth! Here is how I see it..........Our government officials have a big problem. On the one hand medical cost have gone through the roof and are going to go higher, leaving the people that are working, shouldering more of the burden. The number of people without insurance or very little is on the rise. On the other hand, the Insurance INDUSTRY is big business and government needs big business. So how to appease the people without pissing off the Insurance people??? By doing what politions do best.....NOTHING!!..... All they seem to be doing with this NEW POOL PLAN is making sure that the MEDICAL INDUSTRY gets paid! It is still going to be a cluster flock with some office worker telling you what is best for your medical needs, except now you will have to call a government office instead of an insurance office. (that's real scary!) As far as an employer is concerned, the private sector and our City (town), I don't see any savings, if anything is to be learned from history their cost will go up! As food for though...who is going to pay for another layer of government bureaucracy....higher taxes!..... Ain't nuttin free, ya gots ta pay da fiddler!.......... So what do you think? Should we test the waters first (ask lots and lots and lots of questions) or jump right in?.......... It's YOUR INSURANCE DIME!

"HAVE A HAPPY THANKSIVING"

"ADELPHIA PROBLEMS STILL"

Sorry folks.....Still ongoing problems with ADELPHIA NO SPEED INTERNET SERVICE! They are going to send out a Technico to fix the problem on the 29th? So till then it is a hit or miss proposition for me. They don't seem to want to fix the real problem.....their system..... insted they will come and play with my equipment, find their is nothing wrong, try to sell me a faster connection, then when I say NO... they will say "Hmmm don't know? Must be the internet! This is getting very old in a hurry!

It's Your Dime!

Being that this is the holiday week I thought I would try something different, at least for this blog. I have been spewing out my thoughts and trying to get all of you involved in the conversation, with only a small few choosing to join in. The rest of you, "the shadow people", preferring to not to participate. So...for the purpose of engagement I would like to know what YOU would like to talk about? What is in your thoughts? No one can trace you, without an act of congress, so you can still stay in the shadows. I guess they call this an open thread, so open up!....Remember "It's Your Dime", the best buy you'll get this holiday season! :~)

"SIGNS":

I was hesitant to climb on this horse, for obvious reasons, but it is a part of our City (town) government that, unless you have to go through the process, we know almost nothing about. Any business needs to advertise their presents and how do you do that?.....with a sign! Each business has their own special logo and wording, that they need to have, so as to be unique and attract customers. But at the same time you have the esthetics of the neighborhood to consider and even more important the distraction safety factor. It would be pretty boring if every sign was the same size, same background color, same letter size, same letter color, you get the idea. Being that each business is unique, lends itself to a plethora of shapes and sizes and colors. So.....we want to hang a sign out.....what's the process? Is there a pamphlet we can get at City (town) hall, giving us guidelines, criteria that the city would like us to follow in designing our sign? Or do we have to go to the sign commission and get it from them? Or do we just submit our design to the sign commission and cross our fingers, relying on their whim of the moment? Those of you in the know.....Learn us!.................................. IT's YOUR DIME!

"HOW MUCH IS THAT DOGGIE IN THE WINDOW"

Our city (town) is presently considering more regulations on dogs. The so called "KILLER" dogs. Those nasty canines that have been bred from antiquities to the present to be just that...killer dogs. I find it hard to fathom why anyone would want this sort of animal as a pet, they are not pets. They are what is known as "WORKING DOGS" (not to be confused with those that are beneficial to the impaired or the farmer. ) Then again you have your other nasty breeds.....like those high strung little Mexican tamale dogs, ever try to pet one? Point here being there are a lot of dogs that are nasty but are kept as pets. Should it be Breed specific or Temperament specific, or Both? How far should we go to regulate that "Doggie In The Window"?

THE "NAKED" TRUTH

Anyone watch the Clarksburg Town Meeting last night? Of course you did, everyone did! The ongoing saga of..... "NOT IN MY BACKYARD"..... As I was watching I realized that this was nothing more than a rerun!..... What you say?..... Let me share my observations with you..... Not long ago we were involved with a citizen uprising over some trees at the end of the airport. Williamstown has had similar instances of citizens not wanting this or that in their back yard, as well as Adams also. I would venture that every community has faced the same sorry story.......So here is the first question that I would ask the complaining residents....."You knew that the (bar, airport,etc,etc) was there already, why did you buy a house there in the first place, knowing the situation already existed, stupid!" ..... Of course we know that all the complaints over noise and traffic, and other nonsense items are just that, nonsense. The real issue is "naked ladies". People get real...no one is going to make you get up and dance!
Just an after thought....I would bet the farm that some of the ladies complaining were in the front row on ladies night out, when they had the male strippers!

"DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER"

Good Morning......This blog was started because of my complete ignorance of the workings of our City (town) government and an interest in what was going on in the City (town). All I had to go by was what I would read in the local media and see on the TV. So what better way to get the real and inside information, than to ask questions in the hope that those in the know would respond. I have tried not to be confrontational, although some of the questions could be considered as that. I don't make the news nor do I have an agenda to sell newspapers. I suppose, just by asking a question can be considered being negative and anti -whatever. Anyway...... What better way to see how others feel, than to ask questions! SOoooooo.....DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER! ..... IT's YOUR TEN CENTS!