Puff the Magic Dragon

The New York Times clearly believes it can perform miracles.  This week, in it's Sunday Magazine section, it has featured "The private life of a former power couple," Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin.  If you have not just eaten a meal, you might skim this bit of puffery here: NY Times Puff Piece. And, as you would see, if you could stomach the entire article, it does spend some time to summarize Weinergate (Anthony Weiner's 2011 sexcapades on social media) but also talks at great length about Huma's and Anthony's sympathetic courting and married life ... their child together ... and their close relationships to Hillary and Bill Clinton.

Why is the Times doing this?  It appears to this reader that this article's author, Jonathan Van Meter, is shoveling as many words as he can on top of what was and is a very sordid Anthony Weiner story ... all in the hope that he might effectively bury it.  And why bury it?  It's all politics and money.  Weiner has a $4.3 million war chest with which to run this year for Mayor of New York City.  And, if he enters this race, the taxpayers will supplement this considerable amount with another $1.5 million of matching funds.  (You need to be patient ... these salient facts are not revealed until almost the end of this article.)  With $5.8 million, I believe some good political operatives (of which the Clinton's have a surfeit) could get David Berkowitz (that 1970's serial killer, "Son of Sam") elected to replace Mayor Bloomberg.

So, does the New York Times "live by the sea ... and frolic ... in a land called Honah Lee?"  We shall see. We shall see.

The Three Rs

New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg has a lot on his mind these days … transfats, too much dietary salt, 16 ounce + soft drinks, open access to homeless shelters (see: Weekly Standard Story), etc.  But what he doesn’t seem to be too concerned about is that 80% of this City’s high-school children are graduated as being functionally illiterate … see: CBS Local Story … and this is just for the ones who graduate.  35% of high-school students there don’t even graduate (see: Gotham Schools Story).  This means that only 13% (20% of 65%) of students who enter high school in NYC (how many even even get this far?) can really read a fast-food menu. How can this be?  New York spends almost $19,000 per student (see: CBC NY Story ) to “educate” their students but with clearly catastrophic results (and they say we need to spend more money on education) … yet Gotham’s mayor seems distracted with all these other "vital" matters.

Supposedly the “rubber rooms” that were once used to warehouse incompetent teachers have been closed down … but this seems another teacher-union fiction (see: Huffington Post Story).  What has clearly happened is that past generations of uneducated students have been promoted to union-dues-paying teachers and the vicious cycle is ever continuing and worsening.  In my opinion, pretty nearly all the teachers in Gotham should be fired as a result of the above damaging statistics (or at least sent back to real schools to be truly educated).  I would also sh..tcan that billionaire Mayor who doesn’t understand where his priorities should be.

So, unfortunately, in New York City, the three Rs apparently stand for “Recess and Rubber Rooms.”

Subway Mayhem

To: Mayor Michael Bloomberg,

Yesterday, New York City had the second subway pushing death in so many weeks ... see: Earthlink Article.  We are singularly appalled that the authorities in this great city keep allowing such mayhem to continue to occur.  When will they remove these mechanized creatures-of-violence from roaming under the streets of the Big Apple?  Particularly those BMT behemoths ... the INDs and the IRTs, not so bad.  We also know that if the NYC Transportation Authority were to revert to the once popular horse-drawn carriages that this carnage would never have happened.

So what say you Mayor Bloomberg?  You have outlawed transfats, salt, and 16 oz.+ soft drinks.  Certainly you can rid your city of these killer subway trains.  With a stroke of your Mount Blanc pen, you can stop this carnage.  Pay no attention to that hate group, the Niggling Ridership Association (NRA), they just put their freedoms and convenience ahead of the lives of your citizenry.  Take back your city from those evil subterranean killing machines ... or, as we call them, "assault transports."  If you do, I think you can keep getting re-elected no matter what the City Charter says.  You will again be our super-hero!

Signed,
Citizens Against Riders Protesting Every Recent Statute (CARPERS)