So, I hard cars picking up sales in one house as they’d done since we moved here, and now the other house had these strange drops and pickups going on.

Needless to say, I started calling the cops. My advice with the Suffolk cops when you see or suspect drug activity is to get up their ass as deep as possible. They aren’t going to act on a mere phonecall. You damn near have to put together a protest to get these people to act.

Here’s what they like to do. First, you call because a buyer has arrived. One is sitting in the car, radio playing, car running, while the other runs in for a courtesy toke and a purchase. Second, you call Suffolk County narcotics. You are put through to a nondescript answering machine. You leave a message and nothing happens. You won’t even get a return call if you care enough to leave a message. Third, when you are frustrated at the appearance of emboldened buyer and seller transactions happening regularly, you call the general police number or 911. The folks at the general police or precinct number ask why you called them, that you should call narcotics. You tell them that you have. They say, “Well, they are probably working on it.” You ask why you didn’t get a return call. They say they don’t know. Once frustrated enough, you get transferred to someone actually in narcotics. Fourth, you tell them what you saw and that you called. They tell you that they are probably working on it. You ask why they don’t respond when you called, and they say, “You don’t know that we didn’t, we may have. We don’t comment on current investigations.” Fifth, you ask, “How can I get someone to respond if I see drug-buying behavior going on.” They tell you to call 911. Sixth, you see a drug deal going down and decide to call 911. You say, “I’d like to report what appears to be drug dealing behavior in my neighborhood.” They transfer you to the narcotics answering machine. Seventh, you call 911 again and instruct them NOT to transfer you to the narcotics office, but that you’d like someone to respond, saying something like, “There is a car idling out front right now, can you get someone to respond?” They get the address and assure that someone will be by shortly. Eighth, you get off the phone. Buyer leaves. Seller leaves to buy a sandwich. Buyer is at home getting high. Thirty minutes later, a cop car shows up and shines a high-beam on the house only to find nobody there. Tenth, you call next time it happens and someone in narcotics tells you, “Yeah, you were calling before. We came by and didn’t see anything.”

Finally, you go fucking nuts! Options? Catalogue all of your calls and contact the precinct captain. I actually called the state rep once.

You know, when it comes to customer service I expect to get treated like shit because the people answering my calls are paid so poorly and are unskilled. Our police, however, are paid through the nose and still treat me like shit. I think Suffolk County narcotics cops suck!

The school budget only went up less than 2% this year.  Whereas that may seem reasonable on it’s face, especially considering the foolish request for $11 million to upgrade a Northport/East Northport high school football field (more than the annual budget for several IA NCAA athletic programs), the resulting tax increase will be far higher.  Why?  Because revenues are going to plummet because of the drop and/or freeze in property values.  What the city won’t be able to get, it will have to recoup by increasing taxes.  

So, though I just paid $400 to contest my property assessment (and won!), the actual tax I pay probably won’t change much in the coming year.  Sadness.

Don’t get me wrong.  I came to Long Island FOR the schools and was well-aware of the taxes.  Still, some people are getting soaked and times are very tough.

The food was outstanding – the best sushi that I’ve had to date. We started with pickled noodles, edamame, and fluke sashimi with sweet chili sauce with baby onions. Our son ate up all the edamame, while Lisa and I ate the fluke, which was terrific. I can only imagine that the fluke was very local, as it is commercially fished just east of Long Island. Anyway, it was thin sliced, presented nicely, and the combination of the sweet chili sauce with the onions made us think we were going to have a very fine main course.

The main course was ordered from their sushi menu (they have plenty of non-sushi dishes – Japanese fare). Two rolls were ordered for the boy: a cucumber roll and a crab role. Lisa ordered a rainbow sashimi roll and a crab roll. I ordered a shrimp roll and an avocado roll. Giving the specific names to the rolls would be silly, as they were given local names (for instance, they termed the Mackerel roll the “McRoll.”) Each of these was fine, but the fish rolls were particularly noteworthy, as they were very fresh. Overall, we were quite pleased with the meal and found it well worth the price (though it the price was a touch salty).

The environment was very nice, especially considering it was housed in a tacky looking strip mall. We entered fulling expecting to leave and head to Brooklyn for our second choice. Once inside, it was clear that they’d done quite a bit to prevent the interior from looking like a temporary little such restaurant. The environment was well above average.

Lisa commented on the food presentation. Lisa makes sushi, and whereas she may not have the skill of a chef, she makes up for it with her care and attention to detail and aesthetics. Lisa gets lots of compliments for her sushi, and Lisa believed the presentation was average – at best. I find it interesting the best-presented sushi we’ve had has actually come at tackier restaurants.

To sum, we enjoyed the visit but will probably venture into the city for Kotobuki’s prices.

I’ll add this, however.  I haven’t been back to El Ranchito, and I won’t be surprised when it closes.  I wish them the best, but if I’m going to dine in a hole-in-the wall, I want fair food at a good price.  I don’t want authentic below-average-tasting food at prices demanded by far better restaurants.  So, throw your barbs!  Have your fun!  The party will be over for El Ranchito very soon.  No doubt.

Recently, we’ve taken to dining at Nina’s pizza on Main Street in Northport.  My wife and I really like this place.  It is a small restaurant that does delivery and take-out, but their dining room is fairly well decorated and arranged.  Their service is slow and choppy, as their wait-staff is split about 90/10 between takeout and the tables.  Still, the prices and quality more than compensate for the service.

There are three things we like about Nina’s.  First, the pizza is good (and not just for the price).  We’ve ordered Sicilian-style pizza two times and their thin crust once.  We’ve been very pleased each time.  Their sausage is well spiced with fennel seed.  They don’t cake their pizza with cheese; in fact, they strike a great balance of cheese to sauce.  Their sauces are very tasty , with chunky tomatoes that hold their sauce and the flavor of garlic.  Everything tastes fresh.  Second, they serve beer.  Unfortunately, their only domestic beer is Bud product, which means I won’t drink it.  Budweiser is undrinkable swill.  Third, their prices are very fair.  A large pizza with drinks comes in less than $20.  That’s a good price for a meal for three people, and with plenty to take home.

But I don’t like to beat up on the waitresses. I wouldn’t be writing this if the problem was the waitresses because I don’t think anyone in the service industry is paid enough to pamper my ass (though for a $9.00 hamburger, I’m starting to question just how firmly I believe that now). Anyway, in addition to the matter of the waitress, the place was filthy, service was slow, and the manager seemed very uninspiring.

The main source of our entertainment/disappointment was the “greeter.” She didn’t do any greeting. In fact, all she said to us was “3?” She grabbed some menus, turned, and walked us to our table. Cold, but effective.

We sat for nearly 15 minutes before we were offered drinks. I can be understanding about that on a Friday if a place is getting slammed. But it wasn’t slammed, and it was well staffed – staffed well enough for one waitress to stand in the back texting someone (while standing in the way of others). We debated leaving until a waitress showed up. She was pleasant enough, so we stayed.

The greeter returned to place another family near us at a dirty table. We noticed by this point that the greeter had far too defeated a body posture for an 18 year woman (our estimate). Her body language, facial expressions, intonations were all indicative of more than indifference. Instead, she was telling everyone she didn’t give a sh!t. In fact, when the family seated near us asked the greeter to clean the table, she paused to look at the table. I think she was looking for evidence of the need to clean the table; she wasn’t convinced. After closer inspection, she rolled her eyes on her way to fetch a dirty towel she could swirl around. The patrons saw her roll her eyes, and talked about it after she stepped away. By this point, we’d nick-named her “No-Chins,” because she had no chin.

Soon after, she was directed to clean another freshly abandoned table. She brought her bin over and began ever-so-slowly to remove the items from it. In the process she knocked over a water-filled cup. Allowing the water to drip all over the seats, she started picking up the plates and napkins. Done with the dishes, the water had dripped all over the seats. So, she started picking up the individual ice cubes from the table top as she stepped in the slop on the ground. The manager noticed that the champ was leaving people in the front unseated, so she told the greeter to mop up the mess while she seated the guests. Evidently, mopping meant swirling the dirty towel around on the table AND on the floor. Realizing the greeter cum cleaning tard didn’t understand that mopping more than implied the use of a mop, the manager instructed her to go to the front of the restaurant to greet guests while she cleaned the table. So, greeter went to the front and proceeded to bring a family to the messy table. Arriving, they instructed greeter that they didn’t want to sit at the table. Why? Because it was still dirty.

She sat them behind us, where they proceeded to discuss leaving.

As they discussed leaving, I looked at the floor that the manager cleaned. It seems greeter learned the swirl-the-filth method from the manager who left large chunks of food swelling on the damp floor.

Later, as we paid up front, I was closer to the fryer. Having worked at both Brookfield Zoo concessions and White Castle, I recognized the smell. It smelled not of grease or old grease. It smelled of the grease bin I used to dump old grease into behind the restaurant. I’d never smelled this inside a restaurant. I can only guess that stench was emanating from an old abandoned fryer, really nasty old grease in a fryer being used, or grease spilled, abandoned, and accumulated on the walls.

Something is wrong at Friendly’s and we won’t be back for a while.

“Sooner or later Congress will have to confront the reality that we are on an unsustainable course that is a severe threat to not just our future prosperity, but our ability to advance the cause of freedom in a world that doesn’t always share our values.”

Despite his lofty rhetoric, this millionaire’s voting record doesn’t suggest one of fiscal responsibility. Evidently, it is more important to return money back to the rich by passing tax cuts than it is to find ways to balance the budget. He’s left trotting out the exhausted lines about “pork.” Meanwhile, he helped authorize a war costing hundreds of billions of dollars. Still, Sen. Coburn doesn’t see fit to recognize the numerous Democrats who didn’t support the war, who if they’d had their way would have saved the U.S. more than $500 billion.

Let’s look at his voting record:

Coburn voted against protecting Social Security trust fund dollars from the discretionary budget.
Coburn voted to extend Bush’s tax cuts.
Coburn voted to give Bush war powers to invade Iraq.
(FIGHTING A WAR WHILE LOWERING TAXES – TRUE PATRIOTISM)
Coburn voted against limits on farm subsidies (that largely go to corporate-owned farms).
Coburn voted against income limits for farmer subsidies (guaranteeing millionaires could continue to get assistance from teh federal treasury).

And just for you Americans out there struggling with the high price of gasoline, he voted against a bill that would protect consumers against oil company price gouging during natural disasters.

Meanwhile, he has fought to ban gay marriages, gay adoptions, abortions overseas, abortions at home, healthcare for just about anyone, or anything that would help a person while failing to advance the needs of corporations – a real man of the people.

As one looks more closely at the Wheaton College mission
one notices no mention of or commitment to citizenship or social justice. Just to their god. As such, it follows mercy doesn’t factor in, as naughty behaviors are just simply profane. Naughty behaviors should be walled out of the city of god. Let these victims of evil suffer under the weight of their sin (in god’s name, of course!).

Below is an image from the Chicago Tribune of Kent Gramm.

As a humanist with a Catholic background, I certainly sympathize with him. At the same time, I feel something in me that says he’s getting as good as he gave. As he sat in his classes and either overtly or covertly fostered an environment that encouraged judgment on his brothers and sisters (on matters that hurt nobody), he was setting himself up for similar scrutiny. For someone versed in the humanities, he should have been ashamed of himself.

I can’t even blame it on a Republican this time; the plate was proposed by State Rep. Edward Bullard, D-Miami.

The editorial staff at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel condemned the plate, rightly saying:

“the proposed plate not only thoroughly demolishes the church-state wall, but is absolutely guaranteed to get Florida involved in a costly legal battle. If passed — let us pray it isn’t — the plate would be the first of it’s kind in the country.

If I didn’t have friends there, I’d wish Florida the absolute worst.

Don’t let the smile fool you. This guy has rank in the U.S. Army, but he literally thinks he is God’s soldier (sounds jihadist doesn’t it? Just wait!)

I mean, it appears as if Freddy thinks we are fighting in Iraq so he and his family can get front row seats at the rapture! Check out this nonsense he’s got posted at his MySpace page”

About me:
G.R.A.C.E = GOD’S RICHES AT CHRIST’S EXPENSE. Once I was blind, but now I see. Carla and I love the LORD JESUS more than any words can be expressed on my space! He who has the Son has life, he who has not the Son of God has not life. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It is by GRACE that we are saved thru Faith – It’s a free gift and can’t be earned. Carla and I have shared a life together for the past 27 yrs and not only is she is my best friend, but I love her as Christ loves the Church. God created us for His honor, praise and glory. We are from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and have settled on the Missouri River in the oldest city in Kansas about 30 min from Kansas City. Please keep our military in prayer for their safe return and thanks for demontrating selfless service and sacrafice for being away from their families. 1 Pet 3:15 – Be ready always to give an answer to anyone that asks you the reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Phil 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Psalm 18 – The LORD is my Rock and my fortress and my deliverer. We are eternally In Christ, Please take 1 min to view the video on the left – Don’t watch it if your not willing to consider the life changing truth of God’s Word.

You can read much more at his MySpace page – be sure to listen to his song about trembling soldiers and the christ-baby. Confirming to some degree much of what others have claimed about him in recent news stories, Freddy Welborn belongs to Christo-fascist group called His Soldiers, ostensibly a group of men who think they are soldiers of God (Christ Qaeda!).

Take a look at the Jihadist rhetoric of this group!

His Soldiers means God’s soldiers..in every way you might think..not just those in the military, but any of those who believe in and follow Him, anyone that knows that as Christians that we are in a daily battle..a spiritual battle, not against others, but against the spiritual powers and principalities around us at all times; we were created to love and serve Him…His Soldiers is designed to be a safe prayer/conversation/life in general forum for Christians, Christian military, prayer warriors, Christian warriors, and their frenz (sic) and families..where we will strive for edification, fellowship, and support of each other, without threat of attack for our beliefs in our Lord Jesus Christ. We can be in this world, but we are not of this world..and shouldn’t have to be under attack here for our beliefs. This group has been created as an alternative to the “Christian” groups on here that have become open forums for spiritual attack and negative, cutting and cruel “religious” warfare…this forum will also be free of ANY and ALL negative remarks regarding our military and its members..

Yep! This is the kind of guy we need hunting down religious radicals – cuz it takes one to know one. Right? Check out this image that many of the His Soldiers members like posting:

Better yet, check out the His Soldiers images of the “secular” army hoping their under-armed humvees are protected by bulletproof prayer:

My friends – be VERY afraid.

It is going to take an extra-special measure of tolerance for Jews to stay cozy with Republicans after this stunt (which is actually quiet consistent with GOP history). According to USA Today, Republican candidate for the 2nd US House District Tony Zirkle has recently given a speech to Chicago Nazis. Here he is below (no shit!).

Indiana Republicans and the Klan go WAY back. It’s nice to see Indiana’s big tent party bringing another diverse group into the fold!