ROBBIE WILLIAMS MEDLEY

FAIR HOUSING EXPO

FREE FAIR HOUSING EXPO SCHEDULED IN KINGSTON

Fair Housing Week Celebration

Mayor Shayne Gallo is pleased to announce that a Fair Housing Expo for all area residents will be held on Thursday, April 26 at the Midtown Neighborhood Center in Kingston, NY.  The event, which will feature a variety of family fun, educational activities and refreshments, will be held rain or shine from 2 pm – 6 pm at the Midtown Neighborhood Center at 467 Broadway in Kingston, according to event sponsor, Community Development Director Jen Fuentes, in partnership with Rural Ulster Preservation Company (RUPCO).

Current and prospective homeowners will learn about available housing restoration grants and about first time homebuyer programs as well as a number of initiatives to promote Fair Housing and enhance the quality of life in the City of Kingston.  Members of the Green Jobs, Green New York program will provide information to apply for free energy audits and contractor opportunities.  Consumer services and legal services will be covered, as will accessibility options for persons with disabilities. 

To celebrate Fair Housing Week, the event will host representatives from many City of Kingston departments and various non-profit service providers, including the Human Rights Commission, the Water Department, the City of Kingston Assessor’s office, Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, U.C. Health Dept, Local Lenders, City of Kingston Police, Building and Safety, Public Works, Parks and Recreation Dept, and Real Estate Professionals.  Free refreshments will be provided throughout the afternoon, along with various family fun activities.

ASTEROID MINING

So, there's this group of super wealthy billionaires who have decided to join forces to realize what I guess has been a childhood dream. They want to mine asteroids for resources just like all those science fiction movies we grew up with. So, get ready because this group of billionaires and former NASA scientists will announce Planetary Resources Inc., the first asteroid mining company in history.
Ordinarily, I would just read about this with amusement and think "how 2050" but then the list of contributors strikes you as almost doable. Serious even.
Harnessing the resources of asteroids is not a crazy proposition and the return of investment could be amazing. So much that they are convinced they can "add trillions of dollars to the global GDP." More importantly, this may solve many of our material needs as resources on Earth keep dwindling fast.
 
What's important to know is that the world governments couldn't embark on this kind of investment. Not because they couldn't, but because the general public, especially here in the US are thinking regressively. There's no way people would trust government, when all anyone's witnessed is leadership helping those who contribute substantially to campaigns.
 
Which is why, the billionaires list kinda makes sense. These are people who no longer need government and haven't for quite some time. Some got there by bilking the system decades ago, but that's another matter. So the question is, is this a hobby? or is this doable?
 
There are no details yet, but if they are going to invest millions of dollars on it, you can be sure it is doable and it will be profitable. They don't have to travel to the asteroid belt to grab them. There are many passing near Earth that may be accessible. Will it happen any time before we feel the passing of peak oil? Exhaust our coal and gas? We'll see. Will our global resources be better managed during the time they perfect their project? Don't be silly. The corporatocracy will continue to plunder what's left for their own profits.
 
Be aware of the press on this in the weeks to come. There are some famous names associated with this and plenty of money to make it so.

WORKIN SO FAR...

HOPE FOR THE "OLD LACE"

Mayor Shayne Gallo supports a plan by an affordable-housing provider to turn a former Midtown factory building into a 55-unit apartment complex.

Gallo said the renovation project by Rural Ulster Preservation Co. would transform a vacant building, add to the city’s housing stock, serve to help revitalize Midtown, and provide an oasis for young artists and couples.

“It would improve the quality of life in that neighborhood and contribute to the revitalization of Midtown,” Gallo said. “We need to do anything we can to revitalize Midtown and the (project) goes a long way to that end.”

The above statement and quote are from the Daily Freeman, and let me say, I am thrilled to have started my day with such news. Anyone who knows recent Kingston history remembers a not-too-distant Common Council that worked hard to change the zoning around this abandoned mill.The idea was fostered by former Alderman Chris Gonyea of Ward 2 in his attempt to increase our urban housing stock. After much effort, he Artist Loft Mixed-Use Overlay was born and extended into this M-1 Zone. 
I'm glad to have worked with Chris and the rest of my former colleagues to help lay the opportunity for RUPCO and associates to make this huge investment in this neighborhood.

Another great point: Gallo stressed that the creation of housing at the former United States Lace Curtain Mill site would help Midtown businesses as well because people living in the facility would frequent neighborhood shops and restaurants.
  
The right Mayor at the right time.

XAVIER COGAT

THINK

JUST YOUR AVERAGE GUY

ZOMBIE ECONOMICS

YUMMY FAST FOOD

By now, you've heard of that Pink Slime stuff they've been mixing with your fast food burger meat for decades. The 2008 documentary called FOOD Inc. raised our awareness of some of the creative short cuts the meat industry has used to increase their profits. 
  

This Pink Slime is made from all the trimmings in the packaging plant that you'd never purchase on the shelf. I am so not going into those details any further.
The question is, even if it's all beef, how safe can it be when you have to shower the parts with ammonium hydroxide to kill the bacteria? In the instances where the potency of the chemical was reduced, the FDA discovered several batches of burger destined for school lunches to test positive for E. coli and Salmonella. So you're stuck with that ammonia smell.
 

But is pink slime really any worse than hot dogs, balogna or yellow nuggets of mystery poultry? Probably not. But it might be smart to ask more questions about this stuff too. Unlike your burger patty, many nuggets and hot dog cylinders are made with mechanically separated meat. Chicken, turkey and pork carcasses, already picked clean of presentable cuts, are pushed through filtering machinery under high pressure, removing every last scrap of tissue. The resulting fragments are used in chicken nuggets, turkey and pork sausage, and many other processed meats.

 

I haven't ingested anything from the fast food joints in years. I think Wendy's was the last time about three years ago. However, I have enjoyed the burgers at Five Guys, but then you can see the ground beef handled right in front of you and you can ask which farm the cow flesh came from. The potatoes too.

 

As for the rest of the processed food supply, some legal preservatives have been linked to cancer, and the World Cancer Research Fund has recommended that people avoid processed meats altogether. Just the fact that humans are starting to resemble the pigs, chickens and cows they consume at such an alarming rate, should be an indication that the growth hormone enhancers in the livestock is making it to our Happy Meal.