This just in! Our City Administrator applies for the same job in Glendale! (audio of Ms. Beasley is up, click here please.)

At the Tuesday night BOA meeting Ms. Debbie Beasley stood to the mike to make what some (well at least one) thought was a rousing speech berating the Board for not coming to the meetings prepared! Wow, here we have a Board member who has nothing Worth while to say at the meetings telling the others they must come prepared, and thus not hold up the meetings.

Needless to say the vociferous member of the "four horse persons of the ridiculous" took to task the members who do not vote her or "His Honors" way. Now according to Ms. Beasley every member should have ALL the answers to ALL questions before they come to the meeting! Wonderful, why have the meetings in the first place? Ms. Beasley is it your contention that the BOA should ALL be a rubber stamp for the Mayor, or is anyone allowed to disagree?

Folks we will have the audio of this trite diatribe up soon, so check back for further eloquence in the recorded word from our great orator. By the way her "fan club" of one was none other than the always brilliant Ms. Duncan who applauded Ms. Beasley and further disrupted the meeting. Ms. Duncan that sort of thing isn't done at a formal meeting, read the Roberts Rules of Order.

Now back to our headline. I am told that Mr. Jim Eckrich has turned in an application to the City of Glendale for the position of City Administrator! Interesting as Ms. Beasley just finished praising him to the hilt in her ten minute speech to the great un-washed. Do we have trouble in paradise, but we just don't know it? Please tell us your not tired of your position in Crestwood Jim. Gee whiz we need someone to tell "His Honor" he can't do that, Golterman wont.


Tom Ford

NO. 813

"We the people!" An excellent message to those who would subvert our freedom. (click here please.)

I have been asked why I am a member of the "Tea Party," and Conservatives of America. This video seems to sum it up better that I ever could. There are those who would, and have attempted to change our Constitution, and the very foundation of liberty we enjoyed until now.

Ladies and Gentlemen our great Nation is under assault by the forces that would change us from a capitalist way of life to a socialist program, we see it every day. We have avowed enemies overseas laughing in our faces because they now believe we are weak, and testing our responses to things that never would have been tried three years ago.

What do we do in return? We have a "world apology tour," we give concessions, we "bow" to despots who would destroy us, and we toss Israel under the bus! Now we are told that this is all in the name of "being a kinder and gentler Nation," but I say it's all part of the "one world order" socialist utopia our leader believes in.

I know this will garner some "flames" but if you do please tell ALL of us why and where I am wrong.

"There are four pillars of liberty, the soap box, the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box. Please use them in that order."

Winston Churchill

Tom Ford

NO. 812

From the South County Times, "Low tax revenue prompts funds transfer." (click here for the story.)

Well, well the folks at City hall have finally realized what we the tax payers have known all along, were out of money! Amazing that the "fund transfer" to the tune of $150,000.00 has been approved at all considering the fact that were still "top heavy" with personnel.

Mr. Eckrich is short one parks and recreation director as our last one turned in her resignation, and we still have the always famous "animal control" officer (a duplication of services) at $50,000.00 per year that should be eliminated, so why the need for a "transfer" in the first place?

Well I will tell you why, Mr. Eckrich has no intention of ever leaving a position unfilled, why should he when all he needs to do is continue to move funds around? Alas, what do we do when there are no more funds to shuffle?

In case you don't know it on Tuesday night the Board will (no doubt) approve the new residential tax rate for 2011, and guess what kiddies, it's going up! Now I have no problem with that for "essential services," but hobby clubs and amenities that are not a complete necessity should be dropped first!

Your thoughts please.

Tom Ford

NO. 810

The Republican "pledge" to America by Mr. Kevin Jackson (click here please.)

As a Reagan Conservative I am 100% on the side of Mr. Jackson on this one. For far to long we have been subjected to "tax and spend" on both sides of the isle (the democrats have raised it to an art form,) but both sides are guilty.

As Mr. Jackson so aptly puts it we do not want "watered down lite tea!" What I am looking for in November is a REAL PERSON who will tell the truth for a change, and not say one thing and do another.

Tip O'Neil once said that "All politics is local" and he was right. Look at Crestwood where we have four Board members who THINK THROUGH THE ISSUES, and four who are but rubber stamps for "His Honor!" Sad but true, were it not so.

One of the posters on another thread said that their IQ was to high to be a "Tea Party member," and that in itself shows me the real reason were in the mess were in now. What's that you say? Well that person and others like them have become "sheeple" who are willing to follow the leader over a cliff if need be. To high an IQ? well I think it's more of a narcissistic arrogance attitude that make them think they are above the rest of us.

The real problems this Nation faces must and will be rectified in November by a bunch of simple "Tea Party people" with perhaps lesser IQ's, but with a love of this great nation that propells them to act, and act they have! I am proud to say that I am a card carrying member of that and other groups who are not "sheeple," nor are they followers, they are patriots all, and that in the end is what will bring back America!


Tom Ford

NO. 809

US Government is hiding the true amount of debt (click here for the story.)

In case you were wondering just what a mess we are in, I post this for your reading pleasure! I guess you know that my (and your) Grand Kids each owe at least $45,000.00 and mine are only four and nine years old!

Now, the next time you hear one of our Board members request a "Grant" from the Federal Government, point this out to the "Representative," and tell them to forget about it, we don't have the money!

A big thank you to Congress, the president, the Senate, and our local boys and girls who are spending us all into oblivion!


Tom Ford

NO. 808

Politicians often forget what they said, but their printed word doesn't! These are excerpts from "His Honors" 1994 run for mayor!

Wow, what the heck happened in a few short years? We go from "reformer" to grab the land from Schnucks via "eminent domain!" Yes indeed Mr. Mayor, read your own words and tell us where and why you went to the "dark side."

Amazing that a guy who said were taxed to the limit now has enacted (with the help of the "four Horse persons of the ridiculous") more tax increases than BHO!

Well mien Fuhrer (my leader for all you Roy supporters)you can forget about any more tax increases in the future until YOU show some leadership and trim the darned budget to where it should be! How you say? Well for starters no more "double dipping," IE, animal control goes, the bridge to no-where is put on hold, the Sappington House is given to the County, the staff of the City Administrator is reduced, and EVERYONE in City hall pulls their own weight for a change! When and if that ever happens we may reward you, but till then, forget about it!

Tom Ford

NO. 807

A story for your children and grand children, true at that!

The ANT
AND THE
GRASSHOPPER

This one is a little different ...
Two Different Versions ....
Two Different Morals
old VERSION

The ant works
hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper
thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm
and well fed.

The grasshopper has
no food or shelter, so he

dies out in the cold.



MORAL OF THE OLD STORY:



Be responsible for yourself!






MODERN
VERSION

The ant works hard
in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house
and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks the ant
is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper
calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be
allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.

CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN,
and ABC show up to
provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper
next to a video of the ant
in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
America is stunned by the sharp contrast.

How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper
is allowed to suffer so?

Kermit the Frog appears
on Oprah
with the grasshopper
and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green...'

ACORN stages
a demonstration in front of the ant's
house where the news stations film the group singing, �We shall overcome.�

Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright
has the group kneel down to pray for the grasshopper's sake.

President Obama condemns the ant
and blames

President Bush, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the
Pope
for the grasshopper's
plight.

Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid
exclaim in an interview with Larry
King that the ant has
gotten rich off the back of the
grasshopper,
and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts
the Economic Equity &
Anti-Grasshopper Act
retroactive to the beginning of
the summer.

The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number
of green bugs and,
having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar
and given to the grasshopper.

The story ends as we see the grasshopper
and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant�s food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house,
crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.

The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again

The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken
over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and peaceful, neighborhood.

The entire Nation collapses
bringing the rest
of the free world with it.


MORAL OF THE STORY:


Be careful how you vote in 2010.

Not by me but outstanding!



Tom Ford

NO. 806

Crestwood Court called "Zombie mall" on Fox 2 News! (click here for the video.)

Well, another nail in our coffin folks, now were officially a "ZOMBIE MALL" town! You will note in the video that no-one seems to have much hope for the aging Lady in it's present form, and no-one has the funds to change it soon.

I must say all that work behind the scenes by the economic development commission has really started to pay off for us! Hey gang what say we organize a "tumbleweed roll" on Watson Rd. for mid October? I bet there will be enough room since the traffic seems to have gone somewhere else.

Ladies and Gentlemen were bleeding dry reference our commercial tax base, and the Mayor and the "four Horse persons of the ridiculous" refuse to do anything about it. In fact last night Mr. Pickel was heard to say we shouldn't be worried in the little things!

Not to be outdone the always brilliant Ms. Duncan get's a slam in on Alderman Miguel (one of the four fiscally responsible Alderman on that Board) when she said "he doesn't speak for the Board!" Now madam, I thought you were the one who wanted "civility" up there? Pray tell, when do you start? By the way, why is it that all of your remarks come after the fact, does it take you that long to formulate your responses, or are you just trying to be a "media darling?

Now as to any tax increases you may have in mind, well forget it until you cut the dog catcher, Sappington House, re-lamping, the bridge to nowhere, and some of the entourage surrounding Mr. Eckrich.

Now as to the Crestwood Courts, well....................


Tom Ford

NO. 805

More wisdom and humor from Mr. Kevin Jackson (please click here for the column.)

Yep it's a slow news day in Crestwood (unless you want to talk about our Parks and recreation director on extended leave,) so I thought I would bring you another excerpt from Mr. Kevin Jacksons " Black Sphere."

I think he said it better, and from a much better platform than I could, so, your comments please.

Tom Ford

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 BOA meeting at 7:00 PM in the council chambers.

Ladies and Gentlemen, here is the agenda for the Tuesday night Board of Alderman meeting. There are two interesting things to watch here, those being the proposed pay plan as written by the employees (no not Mr. Eckrich who you would think would write it,) and the proposed tax rates for 2011.

Of the two I would rank the tax rates number one as you will note the prop-S tax which "His Honor" promised us would sunset is proposed for 2011 as well! "Oh what a tangled web we weave."

Questions? Please click on the City link to your right.


Date 09/14/2010
Type
Category Board of Aldermen
Time 7:00 PM
Location Board of Aldermen Chambers
Description Public Meeting
Attachments Meeting Agenda
Executive Summary
Memo re 2010 Tax Rates
Memo re Purchase of De-icing Salt
Ordinance re 2010 Tax Rates
Ordinance re Purchase of De-icing Salt
Ordinance re Transfer of Funds
Ordinance re Transfer of Funds (2)
Proclamation for Constitution Week
Resolution for Eagle Scout Kyle Horstmann
Memo re Report on Sappington Square CID


Tom Ford

NO. 804

Please join me in a prayer for those that died on 9/11/01, and for our great Nation.

Ladies and Gentlemen I don't have to remind you that 9/11/01 was one of the darkest days in our Nations history right along side Pearl Harbor. We all know the story of the attacks that left so many dead and maimed for no reason other than they were Americans.

It falls to us, the living to honor the dead, and insure the final victory for their sake as well as our children and Grand children else this great Nation fall into the dark ages!

Dear Lord we ask that you guard and guide us, give us the strength to defeat our enemies, and give everlasting peace to those who have perished. Lord please protect our families and the United States Of America. We ask this in the name of our savior, Jesus Christ.

AMEN


Tom Ford

NO. 803

The Quran, and Reverend Terry Jones, what say you? (click here for the story.)

We all have heard the story of the proposed burning of the Quran on September 11, 2010 by a Small (50 member) church in Gainesville Fl. What I am wondering is what Crestwood residents think of it?

As a Christian I have to say, I understand, but I do not approve. What this has come to seems to be way past the symbolism the Rev. Jones says it is, and seems to have taken on a life of it's own.

On one hand we have the first amendment which guarantees him the right to do it (unless it causes harm,) and on the other we have the need for freedom of religion for ALL religions from Apostolic to Wicken, and anything in between. In America today some put a great deal of emphasis on political correctness, but is that really where we should be going?

No other nation in the World will change their structure to follow ours, nor should they, so is it really necessary for us to bow to their wishes? I say no, it is not. Now enter the P.C. crowd that tells us that were not allowed to feel superior, we are not to hurt their feelings, we are not allowed to tell the truth about them, and we must never, ever respond to any threat real or imagined.

What we are building is a recipe for the annihilation of each and every one of us if these ideas are left un-checked. We live in a far different world today than we did on September 10, 2001. America is a war with Islamic extremists and there is no denying that to survive we must win it. We have tried the "be nice" routine and it hasn't worked, as a matter of fact it was announced today that the Military had to burn Bibles written in Arabic so as not to offend them.

It was said by Sir Winston Churchill, "An appeaser is one who feeds the alligator hoping he will eat him last."

What say you?

Tom Ford

NO. 802

Ever wonder what happened on "this day in history?"

Well here are some of the things that have shaped the future that happened on 9/7/?

On this day...
1714 Treaty of Baden-French retain Alsace, Austria gets right bank of Rhine
1800 Zion AME Church dedicated (NYC)
1822 Brazil declares independence from Portugal (National Day)
1860 Excursion steamer "Lady Elgin" drowns 340 in Lake Michigan
1863 Federal naval expedition arrives off Sabine Pass
1880 Geo Ligowsky patents device to throw clay pigeons for trapshooters
1889 Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of The Engineer's Thumb" (BG)
1892 James J Corbett kayos John L Sullivan in round 21 at New Orleans
1896 1st closed-circuit auto race, at Cranston, RI
1896 A. H. Whiting won 1st closed-circuit auto race held
1903 Federation of American Motorcyclists organized in NY
1907 Sutro's ornate Cliff House in SF destroyed by fire
1914 New York Post Office Building opens to the public
1915 St Louis Dave Davenport no-hits Chicago (Federal League), 3-0
1923 Boston Red Sox Howard Ehmke no-hits Phila A's, 4-0
1927 Philo Farnsworth demonstrates 1st use of TV in SF
1934 Luxury liner "Morro Castle" burns off NJ, killing 134
1936 Boulder Dam (now Hoover Dam) begins operation
1939 Radio NY Worldwide-WRUL begins radio transmision
1940 German Air Force blitz London for 1st of 57 consecutive nights
1943 Fire in decrepit old Gulf Hotel kills 45 (Houston Texas)
1948 1st use of synthetic rubber in asphaltic concrete, Akron Oh
1952 Outfielder Don Grate throws a baseball a record 434'1" (Tenn)
1952 Whitey Ford becomes the 5th pitcher to hurl consecutive 1 hitters
1956 Bell X-2 sets Unofficial manned aircraft altitude record 126,000'+
1963 1st US TV appearance of the Beatles (Big Night Out-ABC)
1963 Pro Football Hall of Fame dedicated in Canton Ohio
1970 Donald Boyles sets record for highest paracute jump from a bridge, by leaping off of the 1,053' Royal George Bridge in Colorado
1973 Mike Storen becomes the American Basketball Assn's 4th commissioner
1976 US courts find George Harrison guilty of plagarism (He's So Fine)
1978 1st game of the Boston Massacre, Yanks beat Red Sox 15-3
1979 5 day MUSE concert against nuclear energy opens at MSG, NY
1980 32nd Emmy Awards shown despite boycott
1980 Earnest Gray becomes 2nd NY Giant to score 4 TDs (vs St Louis)
1981 Judge Wapner & the People's Court premier on TV
1983 Drury Gallagher sets fastest swim around Manhattan (6h41m35s)
1986 Desmond Tutu installed to lead south African Anglican Church
1988 Guy Lafleur, Tony Esposito & Brad Park inducted in NHL Hall of Fame
1988 NY Daily News reports boxer Mike Tyson is seeing a psychatrist
1988 Security & Exchange Comm accuses Drexel of violating security laws
1990 Miss America 1991 crowned
1991 Harry Hamlin weds Nicollette Sheridan
1991 Monica Seles wins the US Open
3114 -BC- Presumed origin of Mayan "long count" calendar system


Tom Ford

NO. 801

On this Labor Day, a post (op-ed) from a friend in California (Thanks Jeff !)

"Write an op-ed piece, me? The notion presented by a friend caught me off guard, but she was adamant that I should so here goes. Who am I that you should read what I write? Nobody special, really so don't read it if you don't want – what do I care. Heck, we have beauty school dropouts and comedians that host their own political commentary shows now, why not an op-ed piece from me? But as long as you are asking, I really am nobody special – millions of Americans are just like me. Actually if you push the issue, I will have to admit that I don't really consider myself “average” because I find them – the average Americans around me - to be quite impressive and, admirable. So, by my very nature I would find the concept of writing an opinion piece to be laughable – like I have more education or experience that could possibly lead me to have anything more valuable to say than anyone else. Perhaps this too is typical and why so many of us that actually make things happen, choose to sit by, quietly NOT foisting our convictions upon others – it is out of respect for everyone else. Have we discovered the proverbial 'silent majority'? If we continue with this line of logic, we see that perhaps we have discovered why the liberal left is so willing to be so vocal – they actually do not respect the rest of us and our convictions. Disturbing on a number of levels ….

Maybe that is where I can have something to say, though – as but one of many millions just like me. If I am exceptional in any way it is because, in spite of everything today, I know that I was lucky - lucky beyond measure to have been born in this place at this time, at the pinnacle of this culture at the height of its influence and ability (well, at least I can remember it ...), surrounded by these People – Americans - they are from everywhere. It is that I have always known, as a full blooded American Mutt like so many of us, that regardless of which side of the tracks on which I was born or what may or may not have been offered to me because of it, I know I have had opportunities unavailable to almost every other human that has ever existed – in any country, at any time – we all have. That regardless of whatever convenient demographic that is used to identify, stratify and mass-market to us, I am surrounded by a people that can only be described as possessing a quiet Nobility – where the finest of human character is a common experience. That we have all come together to call ourselves Americans and we all proudly stand for a flag, that for those without, is nothing but a beacon of hope.

Hope.

There is a word. It used to be a neat word – a great word. It used to stand for the promise that is America - all the good and great things that are possible when it all goes right – it used to be so full of possibility, just like that flag. A place where together we know that nothing stands in our way, and that if we set our minds to it, with the Grace of God we can even walk on the moon, … and come home.

But it doesn't quite mean the same thing any longer. It is a new word now with a new meaning, though what that meaning might be I am not quite sure. It is now a word that people don't like to use, not without an expletive. Now it causes concern, and furrows brows. It was taken, hijacked by those who specialize in finding problems – real or imagined – and exploiting them. Now it symbolizes something else ... what is found when the rock is flipped over; all the possible things that could be bad when it all goes wrong. Now we concentrate on them, and are told to be ashamed. The word has been stolen as the core of a sales-pitch, it now sullies what it used to glorify – all of us, our hopes, our dreams … and our flag. It now symbolizes those who stole it; willful blindness to the point of ignorance, politics as usual, a hearty screwing of the little guy - smiling and shaking his hand while looking him in the eye as the knife is twisted. It symbolizes contempt for each and every one of us – treating the whole as if we are all as simple and gullible as the least of us on our worst day, or 'spinning' the latest controversy to shine one more reason to stay willfully blind. It symbolizes the arrogance of two sets of rules – one for us and another for those who make the rules. It symbolizes irresponsibility, and a total lack of accountability and transparency. It has come to mean very much the same as 'hype'; “tell them whatever they want to hear so we can get away with whatever we want to do”, “pass the law so we can read what it says”. In such statements it is hard to say any longer if our elected 'public servants' have any idea what they actually think, their goal for far too long has been the business of that sales-pitch, the schmooze, the spin, … and the twist. The casualty has been the truth, integrity, … and legitimacy.

Hope.

The word is now used only by those who continue the shill - trying to sell to us the notion that they can cure all that ails us, real or imagined, without any pain. The snake oil of choice has been “government spending”, but these are the same public servants so eager to see us all as less instead of more, so they can continue to emphasize the least that might be instead of the best that we are, so they can continue to pander and trade their snake oil for votes and continue to live by those other, better rules.

Perhaps the most wise among us could have foreseen this; promises so vague they were bound to be disappointed, so grand that the disappointment is unlike anything in a generation. Maybe those wise minds did, and in spite of their warnings we followed the piper anyway (or buy the snake oil, or drink the koolaide, or put on the rose colored glasses, or … pick your analogy), but now we are beginning to see the piper's bill and it isn't sitting well. We know we are still falling, in spite of the latest spin, but as the old saying goes; it isn't the fall that hurts, it is the sudden stop at the end, and we have a sneaking suspicion that all the commotion and hand shaking and smiling while looking us in the eye, were just more knife twisting and now we have to fall from a lot higher than we might have … we only 'hope' their isn't a rope involved. At least, unlike other systems, we get a chance to correct things – to 'make' a new decision. Maybe some day we can even rehabilitate and redefine a word ...

To me an opinion piece is mostly about politics, but you see, politics mostly makes me angry. Why? Because in a country that was founded on optimism and the premise that I and every person I know, is noble – think about it; you are Nobility – we are held in contempt and vilified, and treated like anything but. We Americans, if I may be so bold, are sick and tired of being made to feel bad for trying to be good. It makes me angry that an average guy like me – nobody special at all and one of millions just like me - can see that we have lost our way. In a country that is arguably one of the very Greatest to have ever existed and that was founded upon the ideal that less government is more and more is less, we have allowed more and more and more and more and more - without any end in sight. We have abandoned our fundamentals to the sound of pipes and fiddles, and the applause of those charged with watching the gate – well, the Huns are not at the gates, my good friends; they sit on the throne.

I never know where these are going to go either. Next week, maybe we can examine the role of the American media in this debacle – how they give such self-impressed, boisterous and apparently heart-felt lip service to the First Amendment and then fail to even recognize it when it matters most, how the Founding Fathers entrusted them with perhaps one of the very most crucial roles in our Republic and how they have failed; how they fiddled in accompaniment to the piper's tune (most impressive perhaps, is watching as they stop fiddling and drop away, ... one by one …), and applauded until they wet themselves. Or maybe we can discuss the failing of the Founding Fathers when they assumed that the 'press' would always have a self-interest that was critical and unbiased. Or maybe we will discuss the societal differences that make some cultures say they 'take' a decision, while Americans almost universally 'make' them. Or maybe we just did. "

Best regards my friends.

(Cartoon added by me.)


Tom Ford

NO. 800