Woodstock CT Café

by Snuffy  

Recent reference to the Cafe as a “Hate Blog” here and on WoodstockTruth.com deserves some examination. Here is an excerpt from Mr. Powers recent comments:

“The Sock Puppet misinformation campaign over at the Aljazeera Café never ceases to entertain . . . BOE bus driver bully from hell Becki Leavitt and her husband (also from hell) . . . My name is Craig Powers and I am the sole proprietor of this blog. Others contribute from time to time including Dave Richardson . . . ” and then “they called the tune with an article . . . and I will finish the fight by whatever means I deem neccessary . . . elected officials involved for . . . nefarious purposes, and way deeper than you know . . . I guess some would call it vendetta, but as with any man worth his salt, if you screw with my family you will ultimately pay the price”.

I mean, he sounds like Sonny Corleone, for God’s sake. Per Websters, “Vendetta” means “Blood Feud; a prolonged dispute marked by bitter hostility”. All of this racially charged, threatening, and, well, hateful language appearing in Mr. Powers comments follows months of mocking, conspiratorial attacks on BOE members by Preston Shultz and Dave Richardson against those volunteering their time to serve the town’s public education system. And it was Mr. Powers who had published under his family’s name a full page article in the Academy school newspaper outlining a completely false indictment of the BOE’s efforts to achieve funding equity with Woodstock Academy. From this, it appears Mr. Powers believes that he and his family can “screw with” anyone they want; can publicize whatever articles they want; and can use “whatever means he deems necessary”. And Powers will pursue a “vendetta” against anyone who publicizes any objection to his tactics. Read the rest of this entry »

The Cafe is happy to hear from the farmers. It is important for the rest of the community to hear about and understand their difficulties and views on community matters. Admin

Also from Joe Klusek: “I know I’m not alone, by a long shot, when I say keep on producing and take what you can. Too many of our farms (what’s left of them) are disappearing because of the heavy pressure put upon them by real estate developers - not so much right now but they’ll be back. In addition, we all need food, not to mention all of the other benefits our farms give us.”

Since you have posted these “random numbers” and not added anything else, I wonder what exactly is your agenda? What is your motive if not to portray extremely hardworking, honest, loyal people as greedy and government dependent. I say this because in an economy such as what we are experiencing now, and yes us farmers are experiencing it even with our subsidies, when you post numbers that stretch beyond ½ million dollars people fail to see this money was stretched over a period of ELEVEN years! They may also fail to see that while they pay over $3 a gallon for milk at the supermarket (many of the farms listed are dairy farmers) the government DECIDES what our product is worth and that during the eleven years of statistics that you so generously provided, was some of the worst economic times we have faced. Do you think your readers understand that our entire commodity rests on supply and demand? We are now facing prices for our product that reflect the 1970’s while our costs continue to rise. Unfortunately, I believe the posting of these government subsidies was nothing more than an attempt to inspire others to adapt to your narrow minded point of view without any reference to what these tax dollars actually go towards. The people of Woodstock enjoy a town with open space, a benefit that is held in such high regard, yet with no concept as to the extreme cost farmers/land owners must endure to preserve it.

by Becki

This is a response to Ann who has left some comments I felt needed to be addressed. - Becki

I actually AM a school bus driver for Woodstock and, might I add, quite proud to be so. In the beginning (2005) of the WoodstockCtCafé, I used pen names when commenting to kind of get things going because blogging was not a well-developed medium at that point and it helped show our early visitors what to do. It also helped spur discussion. Originally, my husband John and I had no intention of being identified because we wanted to focus only on ideas and discussion and not personalities. (Yes, my husband and I are the administrators of this site… Its not just a bus driver’s blog, though you shouldn’t make any conclusions as to my intelligence based on my occupation – that would certainly say much more about you.) Read the rest of this entry »

by Harry Stefan

This post is not relevant to the subject of this thread. It has to do with the town budget rather than the Board of Education budget.

If it were your responsibility to draw up the town budget, which items would you freeze, reduce or eliminate?

Salaries of Town Hall employees, including elected officials

Fire Department

Fire Marshall

Bracken library

Open Space

Town Beach

Recreation Department

Others

 By John

It seems that people at the UnTruth can only see conspiracy in everything that the BOE and Frank Baran do. It makes sense to conduct due diligence but, of course, the Untruth people wouldn’t recognize diligence in any cause that they don’t agree with for personal demented reasons. Instead it’s a ‘conspiracy’. Guys, there are good drugs to treat your metal problem.

It’s their premise also that Becki would not like it if she lost her job as a bus driver. Her reason for offering to drive a school bus was altruistic in the first place. On a daily basis she performs this difficult job for the sake of the kids and the school system that she respects. We only want what’s best for the kids and taxpayers.

Certainly we would like to publish any response that Frank received or receives in the future if he’s willing to send it to us. However, as Romeo pointed out, these bus companies tend to low-ball new towns and then jack the price up once they take ownership of the town buses (part of the deal).

One other point, there are about 20 other bus drivers (local residents) who are gainfully employed because they drive a school bus. Some of these drivers are soley dependent on their income from bus driving (a low paying job); thus this is an important contribution to the economic health of Woodstock even though Woodstock bus drivers earn a lower wage than bus drivers for these companies and other towns. This is not to say that a contract bus company would not hire these people. But do we want another contractor like the Academy?

My advice for the people at the UnTruth is “Get a Job!”

You Go, Frank!

Read the rest of this entry »

Apparently the credit for this ‘poem’ should not be Avenger’s but rather LilSuzieQue, though that was not clear initially.

From Avenger

Admin,
Who made you the Judge
who put you in charge
this world was not
created just for you
so what makes you think
you can tear it down
you’ll lose in the end
you just can’t win
do you hold
the world in your hands?
if you don’t
then why bother to criticize
when instead you could see
the world through other’s eyes
its not that hard
to just be nice
you don’t make the world
a better place
stop spreading hate
YOU need to change
by LilSuzieQue

You ask the tax payers to sacrifice, ask not of others what you wouldn’t ask of yourself.

Not in my back yard!

Well Sister,

We all have to give up a little for education. Would you rather loose teachers and extra curricular activities ? The shoe is on the other foot now !
Cando and JK, I agree

by Romeo A. Blackmar

I don’t know if this is relevent to this post, but did you read in today’s NORBULL that the State “found” around $1.6 BILLION DOLLARS, yep, that’s BILLION with a “B” in it’s coffers somewhere and they likened it to “finding loose change” in your couch!! Why should we have deficits in our budget and belt tightnening when the Government can’t even keep track of over a BILLION and a HALF dollars. Where is the hue and cry over that?

Local Democrats host first gubernatorial forum of the 2010 election season

Pomfret, Conn. - February 24, 2008 - At 7pm on Tuesday, March 24^th, 2009 the three leading Democrats considering a run for Governor of Connecticut will be participating in a Gubernatorial Forum at Pomfret’s Vanilla Bean Café hosted by The Quiet Corner Democrats and The Pomfret Democratic Town Committee. Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy and Former House Speaker Jim Amann have all agreed to attend. Democrats from across the area will have the opportunity to meet them in an informal setting, and then listen to them address the issues that affect North Eastern Connecticut.

“This is a great opportunity for us hear their ideas, and a great opportunity for them to reach out to potential convention delegates from over a dozen towns at one time,” said Jordan Jacobs of Hampton, a Quiet Corner Democrats co-founder. “We’ve been working hard for several years organizing Democrats in The Quiet Corner and we’re pleased that The Quiet Corner is not so quiet anymore.”

Quiet Corner Democrats is a service organization composed of Democratic Town Committee members from area towns that work to support local Town Committees and promote regional cooperation.

Attendance for this event is free but seating is limited.

For more information about this event or to make reservations please contact Chris Pitts at 860-457-8621 or email QuietCornerDems@gmail.com.

Contact: Chris Pitts 

by Newcomer

This is why I’m not a member of either political party. They can’t stop fighting against each other long enough to come up with any solutions. It’s always the same thing. One party is for government spending and the other is for tax cuts. Whichever party happens to be in control wins the argument but the people lose because we’re at the mercy of politicians.

Since the Democrats are in control, government spending wins. Fine. I’m realistic enough to know I have to deal with that. But can we spend the money on more things that make sense, like how about the National grid? I keep hearing these reports that our national grid is archaic and overloaded. Does anyone know if this stimulus bill has provided funds to make whatever improvements are needed to that? All this talk about how Americans need to go green and we need to get off of foreign oil. Is there money in this stimulus bill to provide some grants or subsidies or anything for homeowners who want to add solar panels or add residential wind power to their homes? Then homeowners could lower their utility bills and go green if it becomes an affordable option. Maybe convert from oil over to a residential geothermal system? Anything like this geared toward commercial buildings to encourage small businesses and help them go green? Read the rest of this entry »

by Had Enough … Really

This from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maynard_Keynes

“John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes (June 5, 1883 – April 21, 1946) was a British economist whose ideas, called Keynesian economics, have had a major impact on modern economic and political theory as well as on many governments’ fiscal policies. He advocated interventionist government policy, by which the government would use fiscal and monetary measures to mitigate the adverse effects of economic recessions, depressions and booms. He is one of the fathers of modern theoretical macroeconomics and considered among the most influential economists of the 20th century.”

The (9 page, 4000 word) Wiki article does mention Keynes’ “early romantic and sexual relationships were almost exclusively with men” (italics are mine). The article goes on to also include “In 1921 he fell “very much in love” with Lydia Lopokova, a well-known Russian ballerina…. They married in 1925 – leading to the widely repeated couplet of unknown authorship: ‘Oh what a marriage of beauty and brains / The fair Lopokova and John Maynard Keynes’. Their union was by all accounts happy, but childless.” Note only 139 words were included in the 4000+ word article that even remotely addressed the sexual orientation of Keynes. The overwhelming focus of the information on Keynes reported on his economic theory and its implementation.

Ernie, the article clearly identified Keynes as an economic theorist. So, I don’t understand what Keynes’ sexuality has to do with economic issues. Perhaps it is particularly interesting to you, but I don’t think the rest of us care. And just so we are clear, I would conclude from the Wiki information that Keynes was bisexual not homosexual - not that it matters to anyone but you. If you have now taken on the mantle of informing the public, I for one would like you to actually provide us facts. Most of us know how to spell ‘moron’ already, so perhaps we can all move forward. Read the rest of this entry »

by JK

I guess I should be more clear and specific, since that’s what I asked from you (Avenger). You mentioned some slogan/criticism toward teachers when you wrote “Still a Teacher, some people never retire they just stop going to work.” This statement has little basis in truth or facts. Most teachers work very hard. But since you find it easy to get folks riled up against public education in general, you take a cheap shot at all teachers. The fact that you feel no need to provide facts to back your slander up does not mean that your statement is true. Rather, it makes you sound mean-spirited and unscrupulous. I’m not saying your a bad person, just making a conclusion based on what you posted.

Taxpayer, Newcomer, Snuffy, and some others often post things that I may or may not agree with, but they usually try to back up their statements. So many of your posts are slogans that you seem to imply are facts, without any attempt at providing evidence. In other words, you make inflammatory, or at least controversial statements, without support. Just because you and some other people are mad about public schools and/or taxes and government spending in general does not make your statements true. As an example - you provide a definition, a few rants, and an insult aimed at Joe Breen - but there’s just not much to go with your comments. Read the rest of this entry »

by Snuffy

Dave Richardson has taken to calling the Cafe a “Hate Blog” (at the Telegram and at other places. Admin) because it provides a venue for advocates of the Woodstock public education system to debate its critics. Dave has now written his own response to the BOE’s “FAQ” which was published here recently. In his introduction, Dave makes a couple of interesting claims. First, after demanding the BOE disclose more information in the name of “transparancy”, Dave now maligns the BOE’s detailed FAQ as an “onging propoganda campaign”. Second, Dave insists that BOE employee Becki Leavitt, an administrator of the Cafe, is in violation of the BOE’s policies, but refuses, when asked, to identify the policy he believes is violated. Third, after months of publicizing derogatory information about the public school administration and its advocates, Dave now claims the BOE has “massive liability” because the Cafe publishes uncomplimentary comments about him and his CPS friends. Dave refuses to cite what law he believes has been broken, but I can assure him the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the rest of us!

The BOE’s FAQ provides detailed, accurate answers to frequently asked questions about the education budget, and offers the Superintendent’s contact information for additional inquiries. The BOE’s FAQ uses the standard baseline for financial information which is the State DOE data collected for every town, and provides the source State DOE and WPS websites. This sounds pretty transparant to me so far, but I am sure we will get to the source of Dave’s concern!

Question #1 relates to growth in Woodstock’s education budget. BOE responds that over the past five years, total K-12 education has increased 5.0%/year; total 9-12 has increased 5.2%/year; total K-8 has increased 4.8%/year; K-8 regular education has increased 4.0%/year; and K-8 SPED has increased 8.4%/year. Dave states this information is “misleading” based on his own calculations, which are incorrectly based on the BUDGETS not the ACTUAL EXPENDITURES that are the basis for the State DOE data. To impress us after this slight-of-hand, Dave recites the financial formula for calculating the Compound Annual Growth Rate, a calculation better applied with a simple calculator. Dave’s further statement that SPED costs at WPS are increasing while SPED COSTS at the Academy are declining is superfluous as it ignores the obvious fact that SPED expenditures are irregular as they depend entirely on the number and particular educational requirements of the SPED students. Dave’s point about the increasing number of high school students and recent decline in K-8 students ingores the issue of variable vs. fixed costs for these schools, as well as the minor, short term nature of this trend relative to the size of the data set. Long story short, the BOE’s numbers are clear and concise and show the problem - SPED and Academy cost increases are squeezing the K-8 regular education budget. Come on Dave, get with it! Read the rest of this entry »

by Newcomer

I’m surprised and saddened to hear that’s the case (to ‘Voyeur’). I still disagree with our so-called solutions though. I don’t understand why our society legalizes murder in some cases and not others. If we allow a child to be killed in utero, that’s a legal termination of a life. But if we wait a few months and the child is delivered and then killed, that’s not legal. No one has given me an explanation yet that makes sense of that. If it’s considered murder in the 10th month, it’s murder in the first, second, and third trimesters as well. It doesn’t matter what we choose to call it and whether or not we choose to allow it or not, it’s still wrong.

I don’t believe in contraception either. I believe that if God chooses to bless a woman by creating a life inside of her, then she should accept that gift as the Blessing that it is and trust that God will be by her side through all of the trials and challenges as well as the joys and successes of life. If a woman does not want to become pregnant, there are safe and natural family planning methods that will not harm the mother’s body and will not cause her the guilt of having to suppress her own motherly instincts in order to terminate a pregnancy.

If we took all of the taxpayer money that we now allocate toward contraception and abortion and instead used it to subsidize day care, maybe more women would not have to be forced to terminate a pregnancy. Our policies should be formed in such a way so as to support women by allowing them to work without their check going to pay for daycare. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the visitation activity at the Cafe over the last 5 days. The green bars are page turns and the blue bars are unique visitors - at least the ones we can detect.