Folks we have been treated to a bevy of National type news stories over the past five days that tie together most every theme in these strange times we live. To kick start things let me introduce the folks in Steubenville, Ohio because they are as some good people to blame for the tariff related hits to Mississippi’s agricultural sector:
When the Politics of Anger Prevail ~ Areza Naraghi
Is this a case of slaves turning on each other? I can see that from reading the article. Then again blaming hard working Mexicans for one’s own laziness seems to be the fashion these days. If there aren’t enough decent jobs in Ohio one naturally wonders if these whiners ever considered moving to a place like Lucedale, Mississippi, where they can work on a large farm doing back breaking labor for 10-12 hours a day outdoors since the Mexicans have it so well down here in the sweltering heat. I think I’d rather have the Mexicans since they’re not afraid of hard work.
On the other hand the modern day democrats like Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and company are Wall Street tools so there really wasn’t much of a choice in 2016 for the blue collar set, lazy or not.
Moving right along I posted this yesterday to a more thoughtful Facebook discussion featuring well known local conservatives and liberals and it deserves to be highlighted again:
Uncomfortable Questions in the Wake of Russia Indictment 2.0 and Trump’s Press Conference With Putin ~ Jack Goldsmith
And today’s kissing cousin story:
What Mueller’s Latest Indictment Reveals about Russian and U.S. Spycraft ~ Micah Lee
The Ruskies are certainly amateurish hackers, right on down to signing up with WordPress. Boris Badenov must be rolling in his grave.
Finally we have thunder on the left and Light Republicans mainstream Democrats are scrambling to keep control of their gravy train.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders are Trying to Prove Their Case in Kansas ~ David Dayen
Even better are the wingnuts that are so out of touch they fail to understand why the DSA message is resonating with so many people. As for how we are going to pay for all the free stuff I’m sure they will figure a way, just like the Wingnuts do now. Or if we are lucky maybe they pay for it with taxes and we live within our means.
Consider this an open thread.
Doug,
Where will these 12 Russians be tried, and who will prosecute them? Been trying to find this info?
Lana, unless they leave Russia, they will not be. We do not have an extradition with dt’s bestie.
The indictments indicate a judge was convinced there is enough evidence to issue one.
You’re asking the wrong questions.
Actually, Rachael, Doug answered this for me today. They will most likely be tried in Federal Court in Virginia. But, it is a long shot that they ever will. All of this money for naught. By the way, I was taught there are no wrong questions.
I know the Big “D” is the big news always, very tough competition, but if Doug will allow me to break protocol, I would like to give those interested an update on the Bay St. Louis City Council Budget Workshop tonight. I haven’t been to a City meeting or workshop in person since early Dec. Have watched remotely. It’s kind of like a soap opera though, you can miss for a long time, and nothing much has changed when you finally tune back in.
The presentation by Delta Water sounded sadly familiar to me since I reside in Waveland and my average utility bill is around $84 a month, never under $80 anymore. Any Bay resident reading Slabbed tonight, go fetch you bill and compare to the figure I just gave. This is for a household of 2.
These people revamped our system. I still don’t know if they address delinquent accounts as an identifiable source of revenue. It was interesting during their presentation when Councilman Smith kept prompting the lady, and reminding her of things not to forget in her presentation. Apparently, he has met with her before tonight. I got the same feeling about DeSalvo.
I hope part of their service contract is to remedy delinquent accounts, and not just keep sticking it to the ones who pay.
DeSalvo didn’t agree with Councilman Reed’s idea of having the other company who had approached Council for this work to be at the meeting at the same time. He said he didn’t want both companies at the podium at the same time , didn’t see how it would be beneficial. It may be beneficial to the public who will want to hear both presentations, and compare numbers and services. DeSalvo also wants to look at cutting back the Library donation. City Clerk, Sissy Gonzales said it would be a good idea to find out what the Library’s surplus is at this time. She said she thought it was in the neighborhood of maybe a million.
Long discussion on the lack of revenue regarding the rentals the city has to offer. The Community Center on Blaize Ave. is $28,000 under budget in revenue. Sissy said it is just not renting this year, and may be due to website being down for so long. Out of town folks aren’t seeing it advertised, which tells me maybe the locals are not using it. The current rates are:
Ballroom: $1,100-non profit–$550
entire building-$1,600–non profit–$800
$75 for rehearsals
small meeting rooms–$250–non profit–$125
Rentals are down. The highlight of the discussion was when Councilman Knoblock told the City Clerk, Gonzales he would like to see a Profit and Loss Sheet on the Hall, and she burst out laughing. I was thinking to myself, it must be great to work for the government. I could see a board member of a corporation ask a financial officer for a Profit and Loss Sheet, and get laughed at. Unreal.
There is some maintenance needed on the building, so the city is going to approach Rotary, which has a $150,000 fund for that purpose. Apparently city cannot afford to maintain the building.
The upstairs of Old City Hall still has not rented, and the Garden Center will be vacant as of July 31. These are all revenue streams the city is missing out on.
These are just a few of the budget discussions with many more to come before the pen hits the paper on September 30. Stay tuned.
Sounds like it was a humdinger of a budget workshop Lana. The new Youtube channel is a vast improvement over Facebook live.
When a city has buildings it cannot maintain and that lack results in lost revenue, time to look seriously at money management.
In fairness, this is not a new problem. Mike Favre, Doug Seal, and Jeff Reed all dealt with it previously. Dealing and resolving may not be the same thing.
Found out this morning I left too early. Can’t wait to watch tape. Understand DeSalvo got personal! Ouch!! He might want to stick to his Ward and why volunteers are providing services😳