Every wonder why we pay so much in taxes? It’s because of phenomenal amounts of waste at all levels of government.
Recently, we had several special elections in our district costing millions of dollars. A friend of mine just told me the following story which seems to epitomize goverment waste. Laid off a few years ago, she attempts to find little bits of work wherever she can find it: temporary census worker, poll watcher, etc. So she signed up to work at the polls during the recent Republican Primary and is assigned to a poll site in East New York.
For whatever legal reason, polls need to be set up in nursing homes because residents are not able to get to other polling locations. She is assigned to one such site. Although there are only four registered Republican voters at the site, a normal complement of 12 poll workers are assigned. Now here is the best part. Since the last election, three of the four voters passed away. That leaves one voter. So all 12 workers sit and wait the entire day for the one voter to arrive and must stay there until the polls close although the voter has already voted. Now there has to be a better way. Absentee ballot perhaps?
Do you have any examples of government waste?
… especially the businesses that support Sheepshead Bites.
We all know Sheepshead Bay shines during the summers, when weekends are spent with lazy strolls down Emmons Avenue’s waterfront, across the footbridge and to the beach – and when weekdays are spent at work, fantasizing about those weekend strolls.
So, this summer, make sure you check out these great businesses that support local independent news. Many of them, like Masal Cafe, Aqualina Crab & Seafood Bistro and Millenium Theatre, make for great summer dates!
Warning: I can do this all day. Cory Booker is my hero.
If you make Draft Cory Booker campaign literature – and why wouldn’t you – send it to us at nberke [at] sheepsheadbites [dot] com and we’ll post it.
It must be something in the air. In the past two weeks, Sheepshead Bay has seen several brutal crimes in the area, as neighbors turned on neighbors.
What next, squirrel-on-squirrel violence? Yup!
Reader nolastname spotted this squirrel chomping down on another squirrel earlier in the day. Sitting on the sidewalk, she appeared to be preparing a nice squirrel stew with a side of acorn and some sap-infused Chianti.
What’s causing this mayhem? Must be the tough economy.
Just kidding!
This ol’ gal was just carrying her youngin around like a cat, back and forth across a street. She stopped and struck a pose for the camera.
So nolastname was just wandering around the Bay this morning with her camera, when she stumbled upon this kid “bombed” in the Waldbaum’s parking lot on Ocean Avenue at around 9:00 a.m. Apparently, he face planted.
An FDNY ambulance pulled up next to the kid (who did not notice), and then turned on the siren. The kid shot up “like a bat outa’ hell,” according to nolastname, and tried walking away.
We’re betting the conversation between the EMS responders went something like this:
“Oh, look, a kid on the floor.”
“Is he dead?”
“I don’t know, let’s find out.”
Whoooop! Whooooop!
“Nope. And apparently he has healthy bowels, too….”
Don’t do drugs, kids. People will make fun of you.
Over the weekend, I revealed one of my true desires on the Sheepshead Bites Facebook page (which you should “Like” if you haven’t already!).
That desire is to have a speaking role on an episode of Law & Order. Any of the Law & Order series will do, but considering Special Victims Unit is the only one that still shoots in New York City, and is also the best of the shows still in production, that’s where I’d like to be most.
(Oh, and, well, Ice-T, man. Ice-freakin’-T!)
Quite frankly, I do a lot for you people. I run around getting photos, writing articles, receive death threats (really, that has happened multiple times), dealing with all kinds of nonsense – all to bring you the best, most relevant and useful news in the neighborhood. I – and the rest of the team, of course – do a damn good job, methinks. But the pay stinks!
So, after four years of doing this, I’m asking you to do something for me. Ask around. Be pushy. Exploit your professional and social networks. Everyone knows everyone in the big NYC, right? So get this SAG-less blogger a short speaking role on Law & Order and help his dream come true.
I prefer to be the guy who leads detectives to the guy who, in turn, leads detectives to the guy that may have done the crime.
Or, hell, I could be a dead local blogger – so long as I get a line in before I die!
Just a couple of things on this fine, fine Monday, in which it appears spring has sprung (for at least a week).
- We need more Morning Mug photos. So if you’ve got a handy, dandy photo you’d like to share with your fellow neighbors, send ‘em on over to photos [at] sheepsheadbites [dot] com.
- Grillin’ on the Bay is coming up on Saturday, March 24. We’ll have more on this announcement soon, but if you want to compete either as part of a barbecue team, or in the Brooklyn Chili Smackdown, just check out the event website.
- I won’t be at Grillin’ on the Bay this year due to a really, truly awful scheduling conflict. It’s very upsetting, as it’s one of the events I look forward to all year long. In my stead, we’re looking for some fun and interesting ways to promote Sheepshead Bites at the event (which we sponsor). If you have any ideas or would like to pitch me on something, e-mail me at nberke [at] sheepsheadbites [dot] com.
- Support our advertisers! Sheepshead Bites is made possible by the great businesses who stand behind the work we do. So go in there and thank them (ideally with a purchase) for helping keep independent local news alive in Sheepshead Bay. Our advertisers at the moment are:
Well, we didn’t post an open thread this week, and we’re also being forced to pass on The Bite.
So, we’re kinda-sorta combining all that action into one post. This one. You’re reading it. This is it. Amazed yet?
No?
Sheesh, you’re all so darn demanding.
Well, in lieu of The Bite, which we had to cancel due to a few last minute snafus, we’re asking you to recommend specific dishes at specific restaurants for your fellow readers (and also, potentially, for future Bite columns).
Know of an exotic dish? Or do you just plain ol’ love the staple item from restaurant XYZ? Does one market you know of sell a rather unique tasting pickled herring that’s less herr-ific than others? Let us know in the comments where you can get it, why you love it and approximately how much it costs!
Oh, and it is still an open thread. So you can also talk about dog poop or something…
Fantastic.
Me as an old man, according to http://morph.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/
I think I’ve stopped thinking.
My head-meats hurt and where once there was a cacophony there’s now just a fizzle and a pop. And gurgles. Gurgles are the best I can manage.
They say this happens when you hit middle age. That it gets harder to remember words. You walk into the kitchen and forget why you’re there. You’re telling a story and see something shiny and it all gets lost.
Is 27 too young for middle age?
Is 27 too young for dementia?
Whenever people meet me, they always say the same thing: “I thought you’d be older.”
Before I started showing my face on the site, when we had a considerably smaller audience, I asked readers to guess my age. Of 30 or 40 submissions, the average age was 57.
Is 27 too young for 57?
The point is, I couldn’t think of something interesting to write for this week’s open thread. I’m going to go hang out at one of the senior centers (Is 27 too young for that?). You come up with the topic…
Yes folks, it’s that time of year again. Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.
Some say that this is the day of the year to celebrate and cherish the one you love. Others claim it’s a manufactured holiday, conjured up by the greeting card and candy manufacturers as a ploy to lure us all into the stores.
Either way you look at it, there’s a lot of pressure on all of us to spend some cash on our significant other(s). Ya gotta put out!
So, let’s hear it folks. What’s your best Valentine’s Day story? Tell us all about that magical day when love was in the air and romance blossomed. Or tell us your Valentine’s Day horror story. We all have one of them, now don’t we?
