TWO EXCELLENT CITIZEN COMPLAINTS

Linda Bunch, curator at our local museum decried the amount of paperwork and fees necessary to sponsor a local charitable event on city property. “It is a shame that the city of Suffolk wants a larger and larger share, before the event even takes place.” Right on, she is. “And if that’s not bad enough, you have to go to several different City offices to acquire your folder full of forms and receipts. It is a shame that the city of Suffolk wants a larger and larger share, before the event even takes place.” But Linda, that’s the way bureaucrats fujnction.

And Carol Lynne Shotton wrote, “ The Suffolk City Council continues to show its disdain for our city’s historical landmarks and heritage by slamming the door in the faces of a group of concerned and well-intentioned citizens attempting to save the Obici House.” A Well-written comment but the city second in command insists otherwise. So who’s right?

Discovered in the SNH

I'M THANKFUL THIS THANKSGIVING

I am thankful I am not a progressive liberal, did not vote for Obama, have had twenty-three years of retirement, and if one must get old I’m glad I lived through nearly 85 years without socialism hanging around my neck. Younger folks will have it tough unless they can summon the majority of the population to oust those radicals who adopt change without contemplating the damage they are inflicting on our subsequent generations. It is frightening that enough high government officials may foist upon us a health reform plan that will break us. Many will come to regret their actions.

Our kids and grandkids in military uniforms have little power to organize and attack the bureaucrats in DC…it appears non-combatant civilians will again decide how they fight and where, as in Vietnam. I’m thankful we have soldiers duty bound to do the job and joyful I don’t have to join them. I did my time and I pray for them. I remember being eighteen in California on Thanksgiving Day when a limousine pulled to the curb and a lady in the backseat asked my buddy and I if we would join her for Thanksgiving dinner. Two lonely privates said, “Yes Mam.“ I hope your day turned out as well as ours.

Happy Thanksgiving

CRIMINAL ACTIVITY

Our country Doctors, Obama, Reid, and Pelosi, are operating where no operation is needed. They are systematically severing this country's arteries. They are about to remove the very core of this nation's being, the heart of our Republic, they are about to remove the Constitution of the United States. If any of these Health Care Bills should be passed, if the Cap and Trade Bill should be passed, if the Environmental Treaty should be signed in Copenhagen, this Constitutional Republic will in fact lose consciousness, slip off into a deep coma, and expire right before our eyes. In essence, the Obama operation will be a success, but the United States (patient) will fail. It is imperative that we stop this administration from succeeding in this operational endeavor. Pray as hard and as often as you can that our Lord will open the eyes of our legislator's before it is too late. Obama is overloading the system, and We The People can just barely keep up with the amount of trash the White House is dumping on every citizen's front yard. Even skeptics must see that there is an agenda to this. No one, and I mean no one can make this many errors in judgement. This is a matter of life and death for our nation. Call your representatives, email them, and write them. These massive Bills put before congress and the senate must be stopped, our future, and the health of our country depends on it. Make no mistake, Obama and the progressives are operating on the heart of our nation, they, if successful, will rebuild and fundamentally change our country. Obama promised he would, and he is doing it, one illegal unconstitutional law at a time. Written by We The People

THIS COMMENT WORTH BEING A POST - YOU DECIDE

I was born here and Im tired of the attacks on the downtown area.I prefer to support my "neighbors" in the east, west and south. I only hear the complaint that all of the growth is being pushed,steered, directed and offered tax breaks by the council and mayor to the north portions of the of the city. Downtown has been ignored like the Obici properties and its time for ALL Suffolkinas to see that the ignoring stops.The northern tax payers have reaped the benefits of the downtown being ignored including the south, east and west Its time to stop complaining about the cultural arts center, the fairground projects,crime or any other project that is presented from within or from outside sources. Why wasnt there a pitch for Centerpoint to be built up north or out to the east. It would have been closer to the Port of Hampton Roads. The condition of downtown is no different than the Obici estate, its been ignored by choice and politics.Zoning is changed to appease someone else's interest not the city's.We were a city of 12,000 and now we are 80,000 + and will be growing as we should. Its time to support the city as a whole.Im sorry but the financial institutions run by some good folks are not inclined to provide funds for any small business owner in the downtown area. I know first hand, there have been some discussions with an attorney hired to speak and inquire on ones behalf.The spokesperson employed was not from Suffolk which could have been good but also bad. (Something about maybe the network) The question was why not consider up north. The reply was why? The city leaders are they so embarrassed that they can't admit they have neglected downtown or the Obici property. They cant admit nor can the previous leaders that the old city is a plight that they created. The real estate moguls cant admit they are as guilty. When was the ciy as a whole offered to any business who was considering Suffolk. The conflicts of interest there are none? None have been created? I am not against growth. It is known that the northern folks only want it for their part and want the real hub of the city to as they say "wish for it to die"
It is clear that city adminstratos over the last 15 years have the same thinking.Why not just hire someone to come in and have a controlled burn or just implode every structure. It would be much faster to kill it off.
Bigots? Look no further than Market Street and North Suffolk they are bigoted towards downtown and its residents.If I had a bussiness downtown it and others are already being boycotted. So there is nothing new other than you are promoting it. So who is the bigot now? And you question who the adult with a small mind is? Blood boiling? I will leave you and your own bigot mentality and the entire debate the following thought. "Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt".

From a citizen

THREE TIMES AS MANY DOLLARS ??

In a column that appeared in Thursday’s News-Herald, the Retail Alliance reported, “For every $100 spent at an independent business, $45 is returned directly to the area economy — more than three times the return gained from dollars spent at a national chain.” It is the local economy that supports local schools, hires local people and offers benefits to local families. If this is true would someone out there please explain how this magic works? Maybe the person who wrote the column. It might affect the way we shop.

CITY BRAINSTORMS WAYS TO FUND ROADS

The City Council on Wednesday discussed new ways to pay for local road projects as state funding becomes increasingly scarce. One idea was to build a reserve fund using only the extra tax revenue the city rapes, I mean reaps, each year from “new” home and business construction. This from the fertile mind of Anne Seward, the city's budget director. I found this info in a local paper. The description, “brainstorm,” was determined by the reporter, not city officials who rarely have one. What is so unique about using tax dollars to improve roads even if you narrow it down to “new taxes on new construction only?" I think the concept was to obtain and label a piggy bank. Other thoughts were on a Parr with that one with little chance of creating serious money. But Joe Barlow’s made sense, don’t improve the roads because slow traffic can mean less accidents. I don’t see any real money there unless Joe meant less law suits. Assuming citizens can contribute ideas, why not just send an email to Obama?

A TOAST TO MY FRIEND WHO WENT THROUGH HELL

He was pressed into service June, 1941 and left behind a close family, a growing marine construction business with his dad, and a special girl friend. After many months of training as an engineer they were issued winter clothes and then discovered they were headed for the tropics. Luckily, just before he left for Angel Island, Ft. McDowell and the Philippines, his mother and girl friend visited him. During the war in the Pacific he was declared missing. The next time they saw Bub was four years later in 1945 and it was at Mayo Army Hospital, Galesburg, Illinois where he was being debriefed, certified sane, and treated for stomach ulcers and malnutrition. His girl friend had waited for him, just knowing he was alive somewhere, and they were happily married for sixty-seven years, she died recently. His father had kept the business going, so Bub had a job when he was finally healed. He and Trig raised five children who turned out to be fine adults. In turn, to Bub’s delight, they produced many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Now Bub considers himself 'ancient' at 94. All those kids spoil him in every way. Life finally was good; but his hard road in the Bataan Death March to Mukden is never forgotten. May he live to be a hundred.

IT'S HAPPENING, YOU WILL BE POWERLESS

WASHINGTON—In an effort to cut condiment expenses and address the gluttony, waste, and utter lack of self-restraint exhibited by Americans, officials from the fast food industry announced Monday a new policy prohibiting all customers from dispensing their own ketchup.

"We thought our patrons were responsible enough to handle a self-service ketchup pump," said McDonald's CEO James A. Skinner, who claimed that fast food industry leaders were partially to blame for overestimating the maturity of the American public. "However, after watching the way you disgusting people behave when entrusted with a little independence, it's clear that we made a terrible mistake."

"Unlimited access to ketchup is a privilege," Skinner continued, "not a right."

NORTH SUFFOLK GETS ANOTHER ONE

The distance between north and south in our 430 square miles isn’t that great, maybe ten miles, but for some magic reason all new businesses plop down in the vicinity of Harbor View. It’s almost as if there’s a wall running across the city. Downtown gets bedrooms and south of that farms. This week another part of the nation’s defense system pops up in Harbor View. Cobham, producer of various sophisticated military and civil systems, will open doors in 2010 and may add 200 hundred employees over time.
It makes one wonder what would happen if zoning allowed one big defense business to build out in the farmland of our south. Would we see similar growth down there, stores, theatres, gas stations, another hub of defense works?
Cobham will produce advanced composite products for the aerospace and defense industry, with a focus on high-volume production of advanced aircraft engine components, aircraft and rotorcraft structural products, unmanned aerial vehicle components and missile and munitions products for the U.S. defense industry. With all that military stuff up north you’d think we were getting ready for another war. If true, North Suffolk may already be in someone’s bombsite.

SO WHY DON'T YOU ALL JUST RESIGN

The U.S. Post Service was established in 1775. You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure.

You have FAILED in every "government service" you shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM??

ITS BEEN THREE YEARS, TIME TO CLASS IT UP

In an attempt to upgrade comments to our Posts we offer the following. Misspelled words indicate our Public School education system is lacking, just as does poor grammar and words out of context. Former teachers expect more…some of the comments we receive are an embarrassment to them. It appears we have finally eliminated such words as “hacks,” and “crap,” course words at best, both unnecessary. Our objective is to stimulate intelligent discussion and in most cases that is what we see. One-liners are out…they are usually too cute or sarcastic and seldom offer a solution to a problem nor add much of significance…although there might be exceptions. We would like to be a class act. Over 43,000 computers have logged on and we want them to stay with us if only for a different slant on the news..