Comment Archives: stories: News & Opinion: News Blog
Re: “Blumenauer talks up investment in bike-pedestrian infrastructure”
Rochester is NOT Portland. Even though Portland gets planty of rain, and cyclists there don't mind riding in it, they rarely get extremely cold weather or snow - unlike Rochester. Rochester can be a bike-friendly city as long as it's kept in the perspective that people will only ride bikes about half of the year and only in good weather.
Re: “Blumenauer talks up investment in bike-pedestrian infrastructure”
I heartily support any/every effort to get more people out of vehicles and onto their feet/bikes. I do my darndest to bike to work as often as possible. It's good exercise, as well as giving me time to get me head in the right place.
Anybody who's got eyes and has been paying attention is aware of our growing obesity problem. This would help with that also.
Re: “Was the Atlanta education scandal inevitable?”
Anybody who has read "Freakonomics" already knows that some scandal was/is inevitable. Whoever is invested in the test outcomes is at risk of being corrupted by the pressure. Some will inevitably give in.
What is more surprising than the scandal is the low percentage of cheating. Other career paths with a direct results-to-employment correlation have pretty substantial cheating rates - steroids in cycling or baseball, Wall Street insider trading, bankers and credit default swaps (maybe they were technically legal, but the way they wormed out of being held responsible has to count as scandalous). That only a small percentage of teachers cheat is testament to the quality of people who go into teaching.
Re: “FILM: "Amazing Spider-Man 2" scenes to be filmed in Rochester”
i want to be an extra in your movie the amazing spider man 2. i am thirteen years old and do not have a car but i would still love to be apart of your film. do you have a spot a for a great thirteen year old actress in your movie?
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
"..narrative Warren's campaign is using is that of someone who will represent people who feel disenfranchised: like they don't have a voice in city government."
Like city residents who are Republicans
Re: “Scouts in a changing America”
Scouting was never about sex or sexuality, heterosexuality, homosexuality or other. Radical homosexual activists with an agenda tried to force the BSA, a private organization, to accept their views. It started with attacks on the BSA in San Francisco and spread from there. It got so bad the Boy Scouts were even booed at the Democratic National Convention in August 2000. Even when the Supreme Court ruled that the BSA, as a private organization, could exclude anyone they wanted to, the activists persisted. (You know how persistant these types are; they are same people who disrupted mass at St. Patrick's in New York, throwing condoms and even desecrating a communion host.)
It's sad that there seems to be a need to expose children to adult topics at earlier ages these days. Does sex need to be part of teaching boys about camping, hiking, and swimming? Should the BSA be required to develop a policy and discuss abortion rights? Let's have one place where kids can still be kids.
If there was ever a place for 'don't ask, don't tell' its in scouting. If you are truly interested in helping the scouting program, why do you need to make your sexual preference known? What purpose does it serve other than to push an agenda where it has no place. If you don't like the BSA rules, don't join.
Re: “EPA critical of Keystone XL review”
EPA is right. This pipeline is not worth the risk.
Re: “EPA critical of Keystone XL review”
The project is only vital for a more rapid decay of our environment.
Re: “EPA critical of Keystone XL review”
Ideological extremists and assorted crackpots have succeeded in tying up this vital project for far too long. Enough already with this insanity! America desperately needs the jobs, and the world needs the Canadian oil—which it is going get no matter what. Abolish the EPA, ship the most offensive environmentalist kooks off to Gitmo, and get on with it. Drill, baby, drill!!
Re: “Scouts in a changing America”
A primary aim of scouting is to inculcate a virtuous character. Obviously it would be completely counter-productive to install adult leaders who espouse an immoral lifestyle.
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
By the way, the Warren campaign's charges are bunk. Last time I looked, the process for selecting a political party’s nominess, whether by a caucus for mayor or via voters participating in a state’s presidential primary, was designed to award the nomination to whoever obtained a majority of the votes. Naturally this meant that, should one candidate obtain that majority before all caucuses had met or before all states had held their primates, then unavoidably the votes of the later groups would be rendered superfluous.
So when a candidate wraps up their win early is this the result of racism or some other evil attempt at disenfranchisement or to discourage voter participation? Of course not. It’s simply a matter of timing. You want your vote to count? Then work to ensure that your caucus or your state primary is held early enough to have an impact. As Ben Franklin said, “You may delay, but time will not.”
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
Ms. Fien - Thank you for the clarification. But I see that you didn't update the article itself and so unless someone reads your comment here they will receive an inaccurate view of the event.
Shouldn’t the statement now read,...
“The loss might even work to Warren’s advantage by reinforcing her campaign narrative of being an “outsider”: the candidate of the people versus the candidate of the city’s business interests.”?
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
GARY WALKER?! LOL. Does that mean I get to share his salary now? Actually, I campaigned for Bill Johnson 2 years ago -- not something Gary Walker would have done (at least not if he wanted to keep his job).
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
Interesting change of messaging. From Morelle's original press statement:
"The OVERWHELMING support for Mayor Richards expressed by the City Democratic Committee is an indication that the people of Rochester STRONGLY APPROVE of his leadership these past two years," (emphasis added)
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
MJN, I should've been clearer. What I meant is that Richards is clearly the choice of the party machine, and the narrative Warren's campaign is using is that of someone who will represent people who feel disenfranchised: like they don't have a voice in city government.
Chris Fien
City news editor
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
"The loss might even work to Warren’s advantage by reinforcing her “outsider” status: the candidate of the people versus the candidate of the city’s business interests."
Will somebody please explain how Warren, who has been city council president for three years, and a council member prior to that , can run as an "outsider"?
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
@YeashuaAD :Thanks for the enlightenment. I always though Gary Walkers stage name was "Good Gov".....so obviously he has more than one. The point is he is now accusing others of playing the "race card" when in fact his boss and Joe Morelle in particular did so with their premature announcement that all but suggested the 3 committees not counted were a non factor since they represent the majority of minorities in the City of Rochester. The gloves will definitely be OFF from here on out. I hope smart voters are paying attention.
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
Morelle is getting pretty big for his britches. Just another example of how he serves his own interests and not those of the public—especially not the public in the 22nd, 25th and 27th LDs. Really disappointing that Richards went along with this. I used to think he was an honorable man, even if he was more than a bit out of touch with his constituents.
I second Yeshua’s point about Gary Walker—aka RaChaCha. Maybe CityNews should FOIL his computer logs. I’m sure I’m not the only taxpayer unhappy about him spending public dollars trashing city council president.
Re: “[UPDATED] Democrats endorse Tom Richards”
When Lovely Warren and a majority of African American leaders supported Tom Richards for Mayor in 2011, it was with the understanding that Richards would finish out Bob Duffy's term and step aside.
When Lovely Warren and a majority of African American leaders supported Tom Richards for Mayor in 2011, Bill Johnson had not yet entered the race. After Johnson entered the race, they KEPT THEIR WORD and continued to support Richards.
Richards and Joe Morelle have not kept their word. It is they who are holding the knives. Morelle has been playing the race card from the beginning.
The idiotic and unnecessary press release they issued today illustrates the incompetence of Joe Morelle as Monroe County Democratic Chair. It also demonstrates that Tom Richards is unfit to serve all of the residents of Rochester. That the two of them would get together and issue a press release giving the false impression that Richards is backed by 75% of the City when they know that to be untrue reveals this to be both a blatant attempt to dismiss the wishes of a large portion of the City's population and a desperate attempt to energize a campaign and a candidate who have no vision for the future of the City of Rochester.
BTW, everyone knows that RaChaCha is Gary Walker, the Communications Director for the City of Rochester. I hope he wasn't on City time when he posted here on behalf of his boss.
Re: “Local drone protesters arrested”
Can't you journalists ever get over excluding men from being innocent? The article states "Critics say the drones are responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people, including women and children." Is it any worse to kill innocent women and children than innocent men? Are men's lives worth less? Or is it a given that 'innocent people' only means 'men' and you have to emphasize that innocent people can also be women and children? Why not just say "innocent men, women and children'? That should cover it.