Category: Uncategorized

May 29, 2012 Veterans of our recent corporate wars make their stand in Chicago and The Wife doesn’t get tased Because I used so many of The Wife’s pictures, this report is in two parts. Click here to read Part One This is Part Two The cops had moved in and tightened their threatening cordon,…

May 8, 2012 The regional transit authorities are pushed into doing the right thing, and a local hero goes national A month or so back my neighborhood made national news, this time for something worth talking about. This outstanding development merited a National Public Radio (NPR) segment that was picked up by local corporate media…

April 26, 2012 The Albany City government shamefacedly tries to hide the looting of our forcibly abandoned treasure. Okay, I’m really angry, pissed off, about ready to do something bug ugly. I’m almost mad enough to set myself on fire and go hug the mayor. And it looks like I’m not the only one burning…

March 31, 2012 After decades of deliberate neglect the authorities confront gun violence and the entire South End is rocked *Second Update* Apparently Denial of Service by the Albany Police has not ended.

February 20, 2012 Mayor Jerry Jennings is ripe for an electoral takedown and there is one woman who can do the job *Update* An Albanyweblog exclusive: Common Council President Carolyn McLaughlin makes a statement about running Whether you want to think about it or not, the 2013 campaign for the next mayor of the City…

January 26, 2012 Our politicians betray us big time, and Brighter Choice marches a vision of the corporate future to my neighborhood *Update* From Salon: "Once the President accuses you of being a Terrorist, a decision made in secret and with no checks or due process, we can do anything we want to you, including…

December 23, 2011 The blogger deconstructs the jolly fat god of Christmas and takes great joy in the desecration of bogus tradition *Update* Black Pete, the racist caricature, is still with us because he is a symbol of patriotic nationalism in Holland This year I feel a little bit different about Christmas. No, I haven’t…

November 28, 2011 The big local politicians are forced by the public to restore funding for a successful effort to stop random shootings in Albany’s neighborhoods The other day I was doing some repair work to a house at the bottom of Third Avenue in the South End. It seems that the problem tenant on…

October 28, 2011 The Occupy Wall Street encampments in New York City and in Albany are terrifying the corporate parasites and their politicians *Update* Noam Chomsky gets it right when he addresses the Boston encampment by human megaphone. *Update* The Hearst-owned Times Union is trying to set up a local attorney as the media face…

October 3, 2011 Albany’s walled-off waterfront offers a boat launch, some casual tourism and raw sewage The City of Albany was once the inland terminus for intercontinental water travel north into Canada or west into the heart of North America. But not anymore. The water highways that cross our City are still in place, neglected…

September 15, 2011 How the late summer floods in the Hudson Valley were greatly exacerbated by mismanagement, and how the blogger found religion in the middle of Great Lake Sacandaga You might recall that before we got all these recent hurricanes and floods we had Summer. The sun was shining, the air was warm and…

August 6, 2011 The President and the Republicans continue to compromise the economy, but our Congressional representative stands firm The other week I received a form letter from my Congressman, Paul Tonko, thanking me for contacting his staff over the phone “with my concerns.” I get these impersonal mailings from politicians fairly often. Usually I…

July 28, 2011 Dear Mr. Van Riper, Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about Social Security and Medicare. I appreciate hearing from you on these important matters. Medicare and Social Security are two of the most successful government programs in U.S. history, and I am committed to ensuring their success well into the…

June 30, 2011 The City is sending signals that it wants to shut down Lincoln Park Pool, so go swimming right now this summer while you can Lincoln Park Pool has opened for the summer. This unique City of Albany treasure is one of the largest outdoor public swimming pools in the world, so big…

May 22, 2011 Don’t worry folks, no conspiracy theories here, just questions. Besides, our politicians never lie. Who knows if he’s hiding in some cave or not. We haven’t heard from him in a long time. The idea of focusing on one person really indicates to me people don’t understand the scope of the mission.…

May 8, 2011 The whole world is being sent to hell but finally it’s Spring and the flowers are out Saturday morning I checked out the tulips in Washington Park on the day of the Albany Tulip Festival. My goodness gracious they were the best I’ve ever seen them. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera…

April 24, 2011 Other than money, there’s exactly one very horrible reason why we may end up with a nuke power plant on the outskirts of Albany *UPDATE* A NY Times article confirms that leading nuke corporations like Exelon are following a strict policy of milking profit out of dying nuke plants near meltdown. Like…

March 31, 2011 The blogger explains why he has developed such a bad attitude toward City of Albany officials, why his attitude is very much justified, and why he may soon have to change his opinion Several weeks ago, in the middle of a day in the middle of week, a couple of jerks tried…

February 26, 2011 The fastest growing established church in Albany gives The Wife an award, and she neglects to mention her infirmities What does it take to drag a heathen apostate like myself into a church, any church? On a Sunday morning no less, when the very last thing I want to do is dress…

January 10, 2011 A sit-in protest at Bath #2 reveals that Mayor Jennings is becoming politically isolated For the November article on Bath #2 go here. City of Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings finally managed to shut down our South End swimming pool. Bath House #2. But we didn’t let Him deprive us of our pool…

July 31, 2010 Construction begins in earnest on and near the bottom of Morton Avenue in the South End Groundbreaking ceremonies tend to be silly, forgettable affairs. A bunch of elected officials and a smattering of obscure bureaucrats take turns congratulating each other in front of the corporate media. The leaders of society then line…

June 22, 2010 Congratulations to Albany’s new Chief of Police Steven Krokoff, let’s see if he can keep the promises that got him the job The room was packed, corporate TV camera crews lined the walls getting in everybody’s way. It was an extraordinary, jaw-dropping event and we sat there stunned and amazed, wondering if…

June 2, 2010 A routine backroom tax hike becomes controversial and reveals some of the forces at work inside the new Common Council For the first time in living memory, a City of Albany Common Council has openly defied a sitting mayor on a matter of substance. It began when Jerry Jennings demanded money from…

May 12, 2010 Why Brighter Choice is so hot to impose even more unwanted charter school buildings on the City of Albany and soak the taxpayers Last week a major story about corruption in the City of Albany broke nationally, but the story has been completely suppressed here in the Capital District. As of the…

May 3, 2010 Checking out the very new and very old Walkway Over The Hudson State Historic Park The Wife and I finally made it down to check out the Walkway Over The Hudson State Park, which opened this past October 2009 for the first time. It’s about an hour and twenty minutes driving south…

April 17, 2010 Albany’s new Common Council leads the nation by once again asking that the US Constitution be respected It all started with The Wife’s involvement with the obviously bogus entrapment and convictions of Albany residents Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI.) Soon she found herself writing to…

April 4, 2010 Howe Library becomes the new cultural and community center of the South End, inside is near perfect but outside problems remain * * UPDATE * * See the old Howe Library desk in action on a Friday night! Inside The Building: The “Grand Opening Celebration” of the John A. Howe branch library…

March 25, 2010 In the name of profit the CEO of the Capital District YMCA is waging war against the City of Albany * * UPDATE * *: Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings has announced that He wants to take over the Washington Avenue building from David Brown, who appears to be going along with Jerry’s…

March 11, 2010 David Paterson stands firm against the corporate media and the public approves I have a friend who manages a hair salon. She’s a busy woman with three kids and little time to spare, so she doesn’t follow the news and figure out what’s really going on as much as she’d like to.…

February 28, 2010 The flood control system for the Hudson River is being badly mismanaged, bringing threats of damage, disease and higher taxes to Albany Talk about an unpleasant surprise, a lightning bolt from a clear blue sky or a meteorite through the roof of your car. An obscure State regulatory agency located somewhere up…

February 9, 2010 The blogger begs for money for the South End and partially solves the State budget crisis Believe it or not, for the past few years I’ve belonged to the board of directors of a corporation. I’m quite pleased about this, I never thought a working class man like myself would ever be…

January 24, 2010 Lots of citizens but few politicians at this year’s Martin Luther King event in Lincoln Park This year the annual march from the State Plaza to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King statue started late, getting going around noontime. As usual there was no public notice of the march, so I came…

January 10, 2010 Our elected officials get sworn into office, and the next day the blogger meets the Governor Welcome to Jerryville. Everything in Albany has changed but everything is the same. Jerry Jennings is now officially into His fifth term, and people are talking about Him as Mayor For Life. Some of the bodies…

December 20, 2009 Now we know why Albany’s Yassin Aref And Mohhamed Hossain have been perjured into prison The Wife knows why the President of the United States recently made the biggest and most fatal political error of his presidency, one so big it will not only destroy his career but may eventually destroy the…

November 30, 2009 A warm weather Sunday visit to remind everybody that our nation is built upon Liberal values and that winter will not last forever Now that the weather is finally getting cold, I want to tell you about a trip The Wife and I made this past September to Fort Ticonderoga.  This was…

November 15, 2009 The US Postal Corporation wants to shut down our urban post office stations . . . because they aren’t located in the suburbs What a rude, arrogant bunch of clowns. I’m talking about the collection of Albany Postal Service officials and bureaucrats who conducted a required public hearing at 4 PM on…

November 3, 2009 Mayor Jennings finally takes responsibility for the South End, and slugs The Wife in the jaw I went deep into the heart of the South End to attend one of those ceremonies at the start of a public project, this one at 19 Odell Street alongside Krank Park. Nothing big and exciting,…

October 27, 2009 A fleeting moment on a warm sunny day in the South End at the end of October I was driving through Lincoln Park in the middle of the day when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Martin Luther King was on fire. I glanced again and this time…

September 27, 2009 A proven method by which preferred suburban “developers” get around laws designed to protect our urban heritage in Albany * * * UPDATE * * * Once again I’m wrong about something. It seems that the houses have indeed been occupied on and off for the past 20 years, some as late…

August 24, 2009 A review of Corey Ellis’ battle to bring Albany into the 21st century, part 2 will be about the ward races and other Citywide races * * * UPDATE * * * Current mayor Jennings is getting financial assistance from billionaire Republican mayor of NYC Bloomberg * * * Guest Editorial *…

August 5, 2009 The only independent daily newspaper in the region voluntarily disappears from the internet… and the blogger takes a short break from Albany politics to write an obituary * * * UPDATE * * * The New York Times makes a similar argument about web access to print newspapers. They even mention the…

June 28, 2009 Or, how to get things done in a City with a corrupt government The other day while cleaning up in the house I found a stack of photographs of abandoned wrecked cars parked on Catherine Street. I snapped these photos around ten years ago – before digital cameras had become common. The…

April 30, 2009 Checking out a hotly litigated corner of Albany’s Pine Bush on a hot day Check out this first photo. Take a guess where it was taken: Some Strange Land? If you said North Africa or Mongolia you’d be mighty wrong. This photograph was taken the other day within the borders of the…

April 18, 2009 Is Albany Med flushing raw sewage and medical waste into the Hudson River . . . via my neighborhood? UPDATE – this is a difficult issue that I’ve been trying to wrap my head around for some time. Joe Cunniff has graciously provided some corrections to the article, hopefully everyone will come…

March 31, 2009 Congressional representative John Conyers and HR 676 pack the Westminster sanctuary on a Sunday afternoon Anyone with a lick of sense is painfully aware that health care is one of the most critical problems facing America today. The stupid privatized insurance scheme that is currently in place is steadily dragging the middle…

March 10, 2009 Finally! But now we have a split race as two viable and competent candidates take on the current mayor of Albany . . . and each other For the past four months the potential candidates for mayor have been talking and maneuvering through the political circles in the City, bouncing off each…

February 28, 2009 Against all odds, the South End is being rebuilt from the inside out Oh boy, am I happy with what I saw this last Thusday. Sure, I was delighted by the recent opening of Eagle Court Apartments on Morton Avenue down the hill from my house. That renovation project transformed a notorious…

February 17, 2009 The damage Joe Bruno did to our region is his lasting legacy Perusing the Sunday newspapers a few weekends ago, I stumbled upon an interesting little detail buried inside an article buried in a back section.  It seems that construction of the the “Van Rensselaer Square Plaza,” a 250,000 square foot corporate…

January 30, 2009 A guest editorial from Steve Downs, an appeal to our new President Obama to right the wrongs of the previous administration and defend the Bill of Rights Note: The original petition is complete and has been sent. Sign similar petitions here. It’s funny how life works out sometimes. Attorney Steve Downs has…

January 25, 2009 The Day Before The Inauguration More people than ever, but hardly any politicians make the annual short march across Lincoln Park to the King Statue The other day a friend said to me, “I never hear about these Martin Luther King events in your neighborhood, at the Rockefeller Plaza, or afterwards at…

December 30, 2008 The Miracle At Eagle Court The City of Albany takes responsibility for its actions and fixes the damage it caused to lower Morton Avenue You’d better believe I attended the official grand opening and ribbon cutting this past December 16 for the newly renovated Eagle Court Apartments on Morton Avenue at Eagle…

November 24, 2008 The Next Mayor Of Albany The blogger asks a rude question, hoping to find out who wants to run the City *UPDATE* The Hearst Times Union claims that Mayor Jennings is launching his reelection campaign, but all The Mayor is doing is holding a fundraiser. He has not announced. You may think…

November 10, 2008 Trying To Keep It Real Has our long national nightmare ended with this last presidential election, or can we expect more of the same in a different package? *BIG UPDATE* Michael Connell, Karl Rove’s computer expert, ready to to testify about his role in stealing the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, has…

August 24, 2008 Glasnost At Hearst? The ascension of Jay Jochnowitz to the Times Union editorial page may mean a new era of openness and accuracy, or maybe not We were starting our two week vacation this past month in a cabin on the shore of Great Lake Sacandaga, which is in Adirondack Park just…

August 8, 2008

May 31, 2008

April 27, 2008

April 13, 2008

December 9, 2007

UPDATE: Great Man, Great City, Great University! For $150 you too can honor Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings for his great accomplishments! Click here for your personal invitation. November 30, 2007

November 22, 2007

November 5, 2007

July 29, 2007

July 21, 2007

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July 14, 2007

July 8, 2007

Options Available To Cyclists Invisible to Metal Detectors First published: Monday, June 11, 2007 Q: I do not drive, so I ride my bicycle for most local travel. Sometimes, I encounter very long waits at certain traffic signals, including one in Albany at Academy Road and Hackett Boulevard — especially at night. I wonder if…

BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS AGENDA Wednesday, April 26, 2006 5:30 PM Common Council Chambers Second Floor, City Hall 1. Case # 4-06, 1213 The case of Capital City Rescue Mission regarding the premises located at 229 S. Pearl Street requesting an Area Variance to allow forthe installation of an eight (8′) foot fence to surround…

Photos of the Pine Bush that The Mayor wants to destroy, here. This is a virtual tour of the condemned parts of the Pine Bush Preserve parkland, and of the West side of The Dump, otherwise known as the City of Albany "Landfill." Photos taken March 11, 2006, a warm Saturday.

August 4 , 2007

A Great Day For Terrorism

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‘Earlier this year, Environmental Advocates (EA), along with several other groups, issued a well documented "report card" on Governor Pataki’s environmental record. As in most areas of his failed administration, his environmental conduct was poor, rating bad in 59 of 78 areas surveyed, and good in only nine. Although the report was relegated to the…

Now With Comments! As promised for way too long! Check the bottom of the page and try them out.

A Patriotic Pendant (circa 1570) From The Dutch Revolution. The left side says "Better Turk than Pope" and on the right side "Despite The Mass," in other words, better to miss the Christian sacraments and burn in Hell than submit to the Spanish.

We have been told that a meeting is taking place this evening, Tuesday, March 28, involving the town leaders and city ward leaders of the Albany County Democratic Committee. This meeting is reportedly to discuss creating a separate city committee from the county committee. Stay tuned for more information. We will be updating this on…

March 22 , 2008

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Febrary 28, 2015 Or, how to get rid of all those stupid bags without sending them to the dump Within the last few years the supermarkets within the City of Albany have been undergoing a great deal of turbulence, what with the arrival of a new grocery chain not too long ago and the current,…

I think that there is a national significance to what is going on, and it’s a theory of mine that I’ve been developing now as I report on it and analyze the situation in urban America — is that increasingly, especially now that we’ve reached a peak oil crisis, there is a concerted move to…

April 6 , 2008

Now With Comments! As promised for way too long! Check the bottom of the page and try them out.