Tuesday, September 17, 2013

A House is Not A Home, If A Voter Is Not There

Out in the 5th Ward, Sam Coleman, The Redeemed, complained about an affidavit ballot filed by a woman who claimed to live in AN ABANDONED BUILDING.  Yo, I'm from Brooklyn, that's possible.

From the Times Union:  Watcha Talkin' About BOE?

Apparently, this "voter" was given an affidavit ballot because her name was not on the books as a registered voter.  It happens.

With such a ballot one has to swear they are qualified to vote and that they live where they say.  Hey, everyone is honest, right?

However, this ding dong used 10 Lexington Ave, an abandoned building OWNED BY THE BROTHER OF THE OTHER CANDIDATE RUNNING FOR OFFICE, MARK ROBINSON!

Yes, Mr. Weed Enterprise himself.

But that's not enough.  The "residence" is in front of the offices of Mr. Robinson.

So, someone is gonna get charged, indicted, and prosecuted, right Soares?

Robinson BTW was supported by our couch surfer Corey Ellis.

According to the BOE, Coleman is less than 20 votes away from taking the race away from criminal entrepreneur Mark Robinson.

Why would anyone think that president and CEO of Weed Enterprises was not going to employ his "corporate" skills to steal an election?  Because he said so?  Because he revitalizes properties in bad hoods?

Pay attention idiots, they are stealing your democracy.


Miss You Luther!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Progressive Tsunami!!!! NOT!!!

First I want to congratulate Kathy Sheehan for winning this primary.  Her election has brought hope to those of us who want mature, educated, and professional people in office.  I am tired of 40 year old virgins aiming for offices they think they are entitled to because they have the right skin color or sex or whatever.

Now the media wants to spin this primary into some sort of a progressive bum rush in the city.  HA HA HA HA!!!  SLOOOOWWWW Down!

Kathy got 7,000 votes!  Corey got 3100.  Out of 38,000. I am assuming after the absentees are counted, they will reach those numbers so as of right now, they got less.  In other words, garbage!  (Corey, that's refuse the noun, not the verb)

Let me break it down for ya.


  • In 2009, Corey running in the general just under the Working Families line received 4800 votes.  That's 55% more votes than he received on tuesday.
  • In the 2009 primaries, Corey got 6300 votes, 103% more votes.  And he lost.
  • In 2005, Alice Green running a nothing campaign as a Green Party candidate got 5200 votes.
  • In 2005, Archie Goodbie lost to Jennings in the primary and got 4500 votes.
  • In fact I had to dig in the TU archives to see what Theresa Portelli got (the Green Party candidate): yeap, she got over 9,000 votes back in the 90s.  FOR FUCKING SCHOOLBOARD!!!


The true progressive win in this city was David Soares back in 2004.  I remember those progressives screaming at the Big House (now some Brazilian meat spot):

YOU ARE NEXT, YOU ARE NEXT, YOU ARE NEXT!!!

9 years later its like:
yea!

In Soares' election the chant was about taking Jennings out.  Jennings takes himself out this year and now we get slightly better results than a school budget.

Kathy has a ton of work to do.  And she should jump on it ASAP.  But please, stop with all the revolution talk.  It is not.  It is apathy.


"I was faced more with apathy than opposition."
Adrian Cronauer 

Monday, September 9, 2013

Endorsement Time: Sheehan

Four years ago I endorsed Ellis to beat Jennings in the democratic primary.  I did not have a blog then but Democracy In Albany did and there is a post to prove it.  BTW, DIA was a shill for Ellis even though he claimed to be "impartial".

My argument then was simple, he is not ready to run a grocery store BUT maybe the people pulling his strings were capable.  It was the George W. Bush argument, remember?  "Duh he is an idiot but the people he'll appoint will be smart"

Well, Ellis lost.

Now we have Kathy Sheehan, a corporate lawyer who has the professional maturity to run something larger than a grocery store.

As a VP for Intermagnetics, a truly local success story, she oversaw a company that brought in $100s of millions in revenues.  And she did it as a woman which, even in this day and age, is impressive as hell.

What puzzles me is why isn't she the republican candidate?  She has the right profile, corporate, rich, white.  What puzzles me more is why the hell are progressives backing her?  You know, since she is corporate, rich, white.

I have often referred to progressives as hypogressives.  Why?  Because they do stuff like this.  They bash people who come from corporate America but then back others.  It's amazing the crap they are willing to compromise for the sake of some demographic accolade "First woman blah blah blah"  or "first African-American blah blah blah"

But I don't hold her being corporate, rich, white against her.  She has to run a city which Jennings has left in fiscal disarray and I'm sorry my brotha, a community organizer ain't doing it.

The TU and Metroland have also "endorsed" her.  Both fish wraps have actually stated that she not only is intentionally not being specific about how to close the $20M hole the Tanfather has left us, but she is also not being forthcoming with real ideas.  With friends like these who needs enemies?

If they felt that way they should have passed on endorsing anyone but to give up a historical opportunity to endorse the first female mayor..........Hell no!

In her defense she cannot be specific.  People are not gonna want to hear how the financial sausage is going to get made.  People don't want to hear that cuts are inevitable, that another loan from the state is necessary and that unions are gonna have a hell of a time when it is time to renew their contracts.

People are not gonna want to hear that taxes may need to be raised and that services may need to be scaled back.

People are not gonna want to see her take all the bits and pieces of low quality meat as she throws it in the fiscal grinder and pushes it into the the casing of municipal directives and policies.  That's not the kind of sausage the people want.  (Cardona's on Delaware has great sausages BTW)

She's smart.

Corey knows this too.  Maybe not as well as Sheehan but I don't think he knows where to locate the meat grinder.

Ellis had a great opportunity to lead the rage of urban complacency in this city.  Instead, he chose to suck his thumb.  That pisses me off.

He disappears for four years, comes back expecting the fight to be where he left it in 2009.  Well, the fight is still there but the lower wards want a different general.  Sorry Ellis, the hood don't roll like that.

Ellis does seem to be better this time around.  Better presentation, better articulation of his positions, a better debater.  All jokes aside, he is politically young and should run for something.  Assembly, state senate, county legislator, something.  But don't disappear and for the love of God grow up and stop couch surfing from ward to ward.

Sheehan is not from this area.  And that's great!  She has no generational roots here.  She has actually seen places outside of Albany and like me, looks at things differently.  I'm from Brooklyn and I think Albany is great.  She's from Ohio and probably sees a future Columbus or Cincinnati.  I've been to those cities and they are great places to visit and live.  Well, don't get yourself profiled while being African American in Cincy but you get what I mean.

Being born and raised in the same place shows that you have no outside perspective more than it shows unique local ties.  And this city could use a lot of outside perspective to show us where it can go.

"A lot of people in our industry haven't had very diverse experiences. So they don't have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one's understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have."
Steve Jobs 

Friday, September 6, 2013

Zurlo vs Gildersleeve vs Talk1300 vs Calhoun

I try to stick to Albany topics because that's where I live and quite frankly, that's where all the action is in this part of the state.  But, just when I try to stay out, these a-holes pull me back in.

If you have been snoring under a rock, the Saratoga County race for sheriff, correction, the Republican race for sheriff, has been a hot one.  The two candidates, Zurlo and Gildersleeve, have been going at it pretty harsh.  As a resident of Albany I have no idea what is like to have a republican anybody do anything but tank races so it has grabbed my attention.

I then receive an email from a good friend about the race and whether I have been following it.  Not really but I see what's going on in cyberspace.  He tells me that my favorite canard Paul Vandenblurb had on his show two guys who were talking about the race, The Gun Guy and some Tom King guy.

First I checked to see if I lived in West Virginia because it sounds like something a radio station out there would have, "Welcome to the King and the Gun Guy Morning Zoo!"

The Gun Guy is a proprietor of B&J Shooting Supply in Colonie, a gun seller.  Tom King is the Mack Daddy of the NYS Rifle and Pistol Association.  OK, they are not characters and by the smell of things 2nd Amendment guys.  Also, they are HUGE supporters of Gildersleeve.

While on an appearance, (that Vandenblurb conveniently does not have on podcast) these two characters actually said that there were no republicans running for mayor in the city of Albany.  And Paul didn't know enough not to correct them.

I was flabbergasted!  Well not really, it is after all Albany and these are not Mensa members.

But I was shocked that the owner of a gun shop and the NYS leader of gun rights didn't know that the city of Albany had a republican candidate for mayor since HE HAS BEEN AT 2ND AMENDMENT RALLIES!  Tom, Gun Guy, and Paul, pay attention:



Yes, GOP candidate Jesse Calhoun has been a huge supporter of liberty and gun rights.  How do these imbeciles get away with not knowing who he is and on their side?

To my peeps in Saratoga, support anyone you like.  They both have crazy nice resumes and apparently only differ on their stance of the NY Safe Act, Zurlo wants to follow the law even though he does not like it and Gildersleeve does not want to enforce a law he deems unconstitutional.  But go to their sites and make your own decision and do not listen to disconnected and disengaged idiots who have no idea who is on their side.

Gildersleeve: Gildersleeve For Sheriff
Zurlo:  Zurlo For Sheriff

"An audience is never wrong. An individual member of it may be an imbecile, but a thousand imbeciles together in the dark - that is critical genius."
Billy Wilder