My thoughts on Championship Sunday (Part 1 of 2) [by Patrick Mackenna]

Championship Sunday provides as much angst to football fans as satisfaction. The enjoyment of the game cannot be experienced without this nagging voice in the back of your head saying, “It’s almost over… soon there will be nothing but college basketball and hockey!” This Sunday represents one more chance to ignore domestic duty in the name of “watching the game honey” (if this strategy works in your household, good for you!).  One more chance to deepen the body indentation in your couch…  one more chance to experience the long gluttonous football Sunday. Ahhhhhh, football.

NFL delivered the goods this year.  San Fran, Seattle, New England and Denver represent the leagues elite. As if that weren’t good enough, each match up has built in rivalries and story lines galore. The talking heads are wiping the drool off their respective shoe tops. Expect to hear the following from the talking heads throughout the week. The capital letters represents the melodrama in their voices. Personally, I always like to envision Skip Bayless saying this stuff.

“CAN PEYTON MANNING OVERCOME HIS NEMESIS TOM BRADY?

“BELICHICK IS A GREAT COACH, BUT I’LL TELL YOU WHAT… THIS MAY BE HIS BEST WORK YET.”

“THERE’S NO LOVE LOSS BETWEEN THE 49ERS AND THE SEAHAWKS. THESE GUYS JUST PLAIN DON’T LIKE EACH OTHER”.

“CAN THE SAINTS WIN ON THE ROAD? I KNOW THEY ALREADY LOST, BUT WE ARE CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGATED TO ASK”

“IS JIM HARGAUGH CLINICALLY INSANE?”…ok, so you probably won’t hear this one from the talking heads, but I imagine them actually thinking it.

The Denver/New England match up is viewed as a great rivalry or as the “I’m so sick of watching these guys” game. Through either vantage point, the juxtaposition is clear. Manning was the first pick of the draft and most highly touted college prospect since John Elway. Brady was infamously selected in the 6th round and split starting reps in college. Manning was immediately thrust into the starting lineup and won rookie of the year. Brady barely made the team and got an opportunity to start when Drew Bledsoe was injured. Manning’s high powered offense features several pro bowlers; Brady’s pro bowlers from one year ago are injured, in prison, now playing with Manning, or as his current case –  featuring an endless supply of retreads and short white guys. Manning has always smelled like the favorite and Brady the underdog with huge chip on his shoulder.
Manning and Bray have appeared in public to be respected competitors; no noticeable dislike for one another. I’ve chosen to view there rivalry from a much less rational perspective.

Maybe there’s no TMZ worthy footage of a Brady-Manning fight…if there were footage maybe it’d look like this epic Slater/Morris showdown. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJeVGiNAG5Y&sns=em] Slater has to be at least -260 favorite in this fight. Clearly he’s the Peyton of the duo. Slater has always been expected to win these fights. Preppy (or Brady, if you wil)l, holds his own as a sizable underdog with his aggression and suave. The tension between the two of them was always Kelly. Much like the tension between Manning and Brady has always been the Lombardi Trophy. How do you think Vince Lombardi would feel about having his name used within a Saved by the Bell Analogy? What the hell is going on out there?

Brady has won three Super Bowls and appeared in five. Manning has won one time and appeared twice. (The opposing quarterback in Manning’s lone Super Bowl win: Rex Grossman…I will say that again, he beat REX BLEEPING GROSSMAN). Brady’s ability to play big when it mattered most and Manning’s tendency to get tight in the same situations has further accentuated the juxtaposition. Ultimately, Manning is seen as a stat monster, devouring regular season records while Tom Brady is viewed as a winner.


One random thought before moving on to the NFC…

• Dan Dierdorf called his last game as an analyst on CBS. Dierdorf’s career as an analyst is known best for his double negatives and for how everyone you know hates having to listen to him. “GUYS, DONT THINK FOR ONE MINUTE THAT TOM BRADY ISN’T FIRED UP FOR THIS GAME!” He really leaned into the double negatives. Dierdorf is also the first analyst to champion the philosophy that offensive lineman are the smartest on the field. This theory, of course, always lost credibility given the fact that Dierdorf played offensive line. Dierdorf’s ability to garner hate across demographics always blew me away. He’s loathed by old, young, male, female fans alike. Anytime you watched a game with friends and became aware Dierdorf was calling the game, several people in the room groaned. “Oh, what the hell? Dierdorf? I hate this guy.”

Look for part two in a few days overlooking the storylines of Seattle-‘Frisco.

[By Patrick Mackenna]

(The preceding article is a guest submission for NiagaraHub.com. The content or opinion expressed within does not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of NiagaraHub.com. Readers are encouraged to submit articles and videos, but NiagaraHub.com expresses the right to approve or disapprove each submission. Each submission will be posted as is.)

Guestview regarding Robert Moses Parkway (unedited) [by Bob Baxter]

Dear Editor,

Soon 2014 will begin–and 17 years will have passed since the Niagara Heritage Partnership first proposed the Robert Moses Parkway be totally removed between Niagara Falls and Lewiston NY. This is the gorge rim parkway which, as was proposed, should be totally removed so that the area could be restored to natural landscapes (with hiking and bicycling trails running the entire length); this restoration would be an extention of the Olmsted-inspired park at the Falls, and have the potential to be the focus of a newly developed, regional market for ecotourism at Niagara.

These efforts were grassroots from the beginning, eventually extending to a Wild Ones Niagara Chapter, which succeeded in obtaining a grant ($140,000) from the Niagara River Greenway Commission and the City of Niagara Falls to study the total removal proposition and its rationale. The name of the study was Regional Economic Growth Through Ecological Restoration of the Niagara Gorge Rim; the study (by EDR) supported the economic and environmental premises it was designed to investigate: in short, they concluded, removal was a good idea. There were sufficient funds available to accomplish the task of total removal and it would make economic sense to do so; there were no opposing views that stood up to honest scrutiny; there was, indeed, a market for significant economic growth for the region via a developed ecotourism market.

Unfortunately, these conclusions are being ignored by most local politicians and state agencies, such as The Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), also known as State Parks, which has been busily engaged in knee-jerk responses (the so-called “pilot project”), general stone-walling, and in hiring a consultant to first collect and then justify ideas derived from what amounted to a local “public opinion” poll, the subject of which was: “What do you think we should do with the gorge parkway?” Opinions that leapt off the top of people’s heads have now been turned into “options.” The Parson’s Group (the consultant hired by OPRHP to do a “scoping”) has now been sequestered for over three years while the mirrors needed to justify a selection of “options” are being adjusted, turned this way and that. The one interim report issued during this time was an affront to logic, a mishmash of double talk that implied total removal was still an option while retaining some version of the parkway was one of its stated goals. (The detailed critique of this report is posted on the website mentioned below, under Recent Postings, titled: “The NHP Evaluation of the Niagara Gorge Corridor Project, Robert Moses Parkway-North Segment, Scoping Report Presentation.”)

The cost for this justification thus far has been over three quarters of a million dollars and counting. The conclusions of the EDR study will not be considered because they weren’t made available to the consultant team before their “deadline.” What sort of mental gymnastics, in a world of reason, justifies ignoring available evidence?

The brief history of the issue presented here is necessarily lacking in supporting detail and evidence; both are posted in abundance at www.niagaraheritage.org.

Additional evidence in support of total removal is also being ignored; there are large numbers in favor of total removal: over 4,000 individuals have signed petitions, and 85 organizations, some state and national, with a membership base of over one million. Accumulating these names and groups over the years is precisely what common sense and progressive action demanded. If a business, for example, proposes to manufacture green widgets, it’s wise to investigate the potential market. When millions indicate they’d purchase a green widget, that’s a signal the plan is on track.

Here, in the case of parkway removal, while we’ve compiled impressive supporting numbers, we’ve scarcely scratched the surface; hundreds of thousands of more people in search of natural vacations for groups and families stand ready to visit. We could offer tours designed especially for them; they could design their own, online, encompassing the region. (See the concept for a map in “Remarks to the OPRHP including Tourist Map Suggestions.”) We could use direct marketing techniques to encourage groups to hold conferences here for extended stays.

But when those opposed are not studiously ignoring this evidence of strong support for total removal, what is their reaction? They’ve said, “Those people aren’t from around here.” Our response to that is: “Yes, that’s one definition of tourists.”

Additionally, in response to critics who’ve long insisted the NHP was unwilling to compromise, we have, in fact, compromised. In accordance with EDR findings, which determined the stretch of parkway between Findlay Drive and the City line was the most significant and should be the first section removed, we agreed that totally removing the parkway from downtown Niagara Falls to the City line at Devil’s Hole would still permit the goal of developing an ecotourism market and we’d be willing to settle for that. This we did in spite of the fact that unrestricted parkway traffic would still be permitted to drive over the power project and under one end of the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, something we’d argued was a threat to homeland security. We’d written to the proper authorities about this, and also informed Senator Maziarz and Assemblyman Cerreto (neither of whom responded). All of this is a matter of public record and is posted on the NHP site.

Those interested in further details might read the following, listed under Recent Postings: “Time for Senator Maziarz to Step Up on Parkway Removal,” “Letter to Assemblyman John Cerreto,” and “Ecotourism Best Way to Extend Tourism at Niagara.”

Currently, on the 3rd of December, 2013, it was announced that Niagara University plans to develop a center for “high-tech innovation” regarding tourism development. This center has been named the Niagara Global Tourism Institute, and as such, according to Bonnie Rose, Niagara University’s vice president of academic affairs, will focus their “strong commitment and drive” to “bring everything we have home to Niagara Falls and Western New York as quickly as possible.” It’s already been linked with the realization of The Niagara Experience Center, a good thing. Mayor Dyster of Niagara Falls strongly supports the Institute. The Buffalo News has written an editorial strongly in support, though one element of their support notes that “the ability to tap deeply into the potential surrounding the falls” is something the “Canadians long ago figured out and why so many tourists admire the natural wonder…from the other side of the border.” What the News has yet to figure out is that it’s geography that makes the view better from Canada–not Canadians “figuring something out,” and that no Tourism Institute will change that.

That point aside (though it’s not a minor one if that perception shapes early attitudes that might influence the Institute), one of the Tourist Institute’s initial investigations should be: Which new populations of tourists could be directly marketed with the gorge parkway totally removed and the restoration of natural scenery underway? All the facets of ecotourism should be the major focus. The Institute has stated the mapping “out of assets that we have” will be one of their first research projects; for a list of the regional assets we have related to wildlife, of interest especially to birders, www.nfwhc.org would be of help. The Audubon Society and the Sierra Club, among others, should also be consulted.

Envisioning a vital new park along the gorge rim, young trees beginning to grow, long-grass, wildflower meadows attracting ground nesting birds, butterflies fluttering in this serene landscape, the Old Growth Forest at DeVeaux extending its edges toward Whirlpool Park where it will flourish into an Old Growth over a century from now for those not yet born–and then imagining the naturalists, hikers and hiking clubs, the bicyclists, photographers, artist-painters, those interested in the restoration, the reclaiming, of natural scenery, the botanists for native plant life unique to this area, geologists, and others for whom the park would be attractive year around, summer and winter, spring and fall for migrating birds, and for the autumn foliage–this is necessary for the Tourism Institute if it is genuinely interested in the use of “cutting-edge innovation” to revitalize the tourism
market here at Niagara.

Sincerely,
Bob Baxter
Conservation Chair
Niagara Heritage Partnership
791-4611

 

(The preceding article is a guest submission for NiagaraHub.com. The content or opinion expressed within does not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of NiagaraHub.com. Readers are encouraged to submit articles and videos, but NiagaraHub.com expresses the right to approve or disapprove each submission. Each submission will be posted as is.)

 

Creating Frankensteins [By Gerald Sterling aka Anona-mouse]

Quite a few years ago Frank Parlatto was very busy at trying to make a go of One Niagara, considering it was tottering on the edge of a big hole in the ground. He did quite well considering what means he had to feed the white elephant, the darling of the sultan’s choice.

For those of you who do not know what a white elephant is, we’ll start with Pink Elephants, the kind people see when they are knocked down drunk. It has nothing to do with Gay Rights.

The story of the white Elephant goes as so, or at least legend or fable has stated so. Long, long ago a sultan in India had a favorite white elephant, one he loved very dearly. To honour his most loyal and faithful servants who he loved so dearly, he would give them the honour to care for it by having it taken to their house where that honoured servant could care dutifully for it. Sometimes it happened though that the person of honour ran afoul with the sultan because he could not maintain proper upkeep of the Sultan’s darling animal, and therefore with all due respect to chastise the underling for their poor care for ( let’s call the elephant Ellie ) Ellie, finding her in a poor state, the sultan would chastise the ungrateful servant for his lack of dutiful and proper care.

So having had such a white elephant to care for, Parlatto found out that the Sultan became irate with him for not having due respect, even though Parlatto had kept Ellie in a better state than the previous caretakers, and in fact was becoming quite prosperous and on the road to success. When the last straw broke the camel’s back, Parlatto decided to go into the medical profession, so to say and after reading up on Frankenstien, he decided to create one of his own! Was he ever successful!!!!!

So, to make an interesting introduction viable, that is capable of working successfully to enter into a more full detailed analysis of present conditions at the inspections department, who are our present sultan of a sorts so to say. Even though a state judge ruled in favour of Parlatto against the city fathers decisive stand in which they seemed to go to extreme measures to thwart Parlatto’s enterprise, Frank had been prospering well but he eventually decided he wanted out. It was a defeat for free enterprise due to excessive unrelenting interference by city officials who had singled him out, and wanted him out. It is so sad, and it was very discouraging to watch what was happening throughout the years of his dedicated struggle to promote One Niagara as a local entrepreneur who has pride in the city of Niagara Falls.

Going on down the line, one by one the Sultan sulked because there were becoming fewer subjects to replace for Ellie’s care; man, she surely could eat! And of course what goes in must come out dealing with anatomy! Nevertheless for a time Parlatto disappeared and vanished from the political spectrum until one day out came a something called, “The Reporter.” Man did people spaz!!!!

There were some people who even used the new newspaper to roll up their crystal and dishes complaining about what he wrote. At least it was good enough for them to use in a beneficial manner, so when a person looks at the good and not the evil, well I do not want to create a paradox, because evil has its merits, and as Pope John Paul stated, “Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.” Let’s get back to Parlatto’s Frankenstien. Frankenstein was born that eventful day, and everyone was waiting and hoping it would turn around and eat Parlatto up, but to the contrary, it chumed up to him calling him Pa! We call Parlatto Pa-lotsa, because we think he’s got lotsa bucks to give away a free newspaper! That is generous of him, even though I would think twice about even thinking about buying the thing! BUT, I do admit that his Frankenstien proved to be the poorman’s friend, and to be honest, I think if Frankenstein sat down at a negotiating table to work out a deal with a rich guy, the rich guy would certainly want to get Frankie’s favour. But just like anyone else, we all have our faults, as I like to say, and I am going to quote myself, “We could even find fault in asphalt; and everyone has a crack in their ass!”

Now the gist of this article, which I have even not got to yet is based upon the Sultan’s wish to drop off Ellie at my house. Seeing I have had enough of former beasts of burdens, seeing I decided to follow in Pa Lotsa’s steps and try to accomplish something positive for the city. Joe Williams tried to, too. Poor guy, just when he dug the big hole some terrorists flew the planes into the Twin Towers and brought down the economy to where it suffers yet today. Anyone could see Joe could not go further with his project, and not only Joe, but millions of others had to curtail investment. America was badly hurt economically, and many people suffered greatly from the loss. I mentioned to Joe we could fill up the big hole with water and put the Loch ness Monster in it but I guess he did not like the idea, anyway, and by the way, it was super stupid to not have constructed underground parking at the site, unless they thought the Niagara River would fill it up with water. Don’t worry, Pa Lotsa’s gots his own problems looking for red herrings to dangle before Dyster, and of course his business is controversy, so that is exactly what this article will deal with. Oh yes, getting back to the subject. How do we create another Frankenstien, or do we really want another one? I think it is only fair to find Pa Lotsa’s creation a mate, and man, between the two of them they could create a SPECIES!

Just pitty the poor bastards that get in their way because one has to be evil, and the other good, that is considering it is not a Gemini. If it be Gemeni Twins, then both have to be evil and good, or one evil, one good one good one evil if they have split personality disorders, and if they are bipolar or skizzo, how many personalities are we going to have to put up with? Get ready for the Skitzo Times(TM). Oh, lets get back to the main gist, for the moment we have to speak in code right? I just noticed we ran out of time so we will have to continue with this report at a later date.

Please forgive me for my description of such a detailed roundabout story. I am sure if you tune in to the next follow-up it will begin to become clearer what our creation will look like to match Frankie’s Frankie.

Check out the movie Species. Better yet, check out the actress who played the part, but we have to get to the subject of this article to clarify issues which a lot of people in this city need to know about our present leading political leaders and public servant figures.

By the way, do you think it is fair to taxpayers to pay insurance premiums for morbidly obese city workers? Talk about the problems created by smoking, just think if they smoke and drink excessively too!

All right, the problem: Anona-mouse went up to Ellie and what do you think she did? You have all heard the story about the mouse scaring an elephant! Perhaps you have heard the story about the “Mouse that roared.” Well, should the city fathers play fairly, which is quite hard for them to do, seeing they have a slight elevation in social status, but act rather like upper crust: one would realize that crust is defined as a solidified
substance.

[by Gerald Sterling aka Anona-mouse]

Permission given to Niagara Hub to publish this in their opinion column. Reproduction for profit in any other form or manner is not granted. Sterling Publications © 21031116

(The preceding article is a guest submission for NiagaraHub.com. The content or opinion expressed within does not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of NiagaraHub.com. Readers are encouraged to submit articles and videos, but NiagaraHub.com expresses the right to approve or disapprove each submission. Each submission will be posted as is.)

Calling all BILLievers… [by Patrick Mackenna Jr.]

Focusing on outcome at the expense of process is careless. It’s still the prevailing practice of choice in many of life’s arenas. Don’t tell me about the labor, show me the baby. We look at results often to the exclusion of input, planning and execution. Favorable results can and often are correlated with congruent favorable processes, and vice versa.

Two years ago the Buffalo Bills started the season 5-1 and were considered a virtual lock for the playoffs. This town was enamored with the team and more specifically with the humble, bearded and recycled quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick’s statistics were very good to the naked eye and Fred Jackson was discussed a potential MVP candidate.

There weren’t any columns written about the limitations inherent in Fitzpatrick’s play. There wasn’t much coverage about the undersized core of wide receivers who struggled to create separation. Little was made of the defense’s weak pass rush and their continued problem stopping the run. No one seemed concerned when Jason Campbell, yes that Jason Campbell, pitched a near perfect game and should have beaten the Bills in week 2 that year. There was little concern for the strength of schedule, or lack there of. Buffalo’s only victory against a playoff caliber team was a last second miracle of sorts against New England. Chan Gailey was considered an offensive genius. Maybe I should say that again…Chain Gailey was considered an offensive genius.

Why didn’t anyone write these articles? Because they were winning.

Quickly, 2011 became unglued and the Bills ended up 6-10. The process finally caught up with Buffalo. Strength of schedule improved, teams took away short passes, the defense continued to stink, Fred Jackson was injured and Fitzpatrick regressed to the mean. I expect the 2013 Bills season to end in opposite fashion. This year the strength of schedule will depreciate substantially, Manuel’s play will improve and the defense will play even better against the upcoming competition. The Bills record is not indicative of the quality of this team.

This year’s Bills are 3-6 and markedly better than the 2011 team. Fans must be awfully sick of pathetic attempts to spin the narrative around the club into something optimistic. Looking forward to next year shouldn’t last 14 years. Bills fans may not have to wait for next year. There’s a real chance that we make the playoffs this year. Ready?

For starters, EJ is back and Jeff Tuel will never play again. This sentence constitutes the meat of this entire paragraph. The difference between these two quarterbacks cannot be understated. Quick aside…was anyone else dreading the nonstop Tuel puns? Watching him play is one thing; listening to people jam his name into every sports metaphor involving a tool was much more difficult.

Buffalo has played a brutal schedule. Their opponents record of 49-28 (63.6%) is the 2nd most difficult in the league. Kansas City’s strength of schedule is near the bottom of the league, their opponents are 27-49 (35.5%). Chief’s fans are drinking the Kool-Aid by the barrel. Kansas City’s schedule ends tough and Buffalo’s ends soft. The Bills play the Steelers, Jets, Falcons, Bucs, Jags and the Dolphins (combined 13-36) before closing with the Patriots. There is no reason to count us out just yet…

The NFL has become dependent on competent quarterback play. Buffalo managed to tread water without EJ against high quality opponents. The assumption going into this stretch is that inferior competition combined with Manuel’s substantial improvement over replacement should produce nice results.

Advanced stats indicate that Buffalo ranks 12th in defense (5.2 yards per play allowed), while the offense ranks near the bottom of the league (4.8 yards per play gained). Those numbers are nearly identical to the Kansas City Chiefs (5.1/4.8). Those numbers are more impressive when injuries and strength of schedule is accounted. Buffalo is about to embark on a stretch against opponents comparable to Kansas City’s first (9) opponents and should benefit accordingly.

It is my prediction that Buffalo goes to New England the last week of the season at 9-6 playing for the playoffs. We are going to have relevant football Sunday’s in December. No more hoping for losses to ascend on next year’s draft board.

[by Patrick Mackenna Jr.]

 

(The preceding article is a guest submission for NiagaraHub.com. The content or opinion expressed within does not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of NiagaraHub.com. Readers are encouraged to submit articles and videos, but NiagaraHub.com expresses the right to approve or disapprove each submission. Each submission will be posted as is.)

Insight on Niagara [by Vincent M. Mameli]

I would like to personally thank the City of Niagara Falls Council majority members, consisting of Sam Fruscione, Glenn Chalookian and Bob Anderson for our 2013 budget. All homeowners would be paying 8% more in property taxes if they didn’t have the guts to trim Mayor Dysters’ 2013 budget. They also saved 28 jobs. This decision temporally cut the budgets of city block clubs and the NACC (the arts center at the old Niagara Falls High School, on Pine Ave). Funding to the Niagara Tourism and Convention Corporation and the USA Niagara Corporation were also cut. This was a tough but necessary decision. The council majority knew that once the 89 million in Casino money was paid to the city Dysters 8% tax would have stayed. These groups, whose budgets were cut, crucified the council majority at every council meeting concerning the 2013 budget. Sam Fruscione’s primary election was badly damaged because of their persistence. They didn’t like Sam because they had to wait for their money. Now they’re getting their money, 28 jobs were saved and every property owner saved 8% in property taxes. Sam, a long time teacher at Abbott Elementary School, made the honest decision.

Sam was instrumental in creating the Niagara Falls Tourism Advisory Board and stressed on giving tourists proper directives, which in turn, give money spending tourists reasons to stay longer and spend more money on local restaurants and area business’s. Again, a tough decision because the big money tourism leaders, that support our mayor, don’t want our tourists educated. While our tourist city should be user friendly, big money tourism leaders make more money when the tourists are uninformed and herded to select businesses. This cheats our tourists of a quality experience and gives Niagara Falls a bad name. Sam wants to put an end to this, don’t you?

In1980, a handful of local residents successfully lobbied local and state officials for the Riverwalk Bike Path funds and a LaSalle Waterfront Park. Twenty years after the funds for the trail were made available by the NFTA and government officials, city officials finally got on board and Sam pushed hard for the projects to be reality. Mayor Dysters’ administration attempted to take credit for these tourism ideas for the trail and the park and tried to put their own flair to the ideas by pushing for a canoe launch near the Grand Island Bridge. Realizing Dysters’ administration was making a dangerous decision, Sam attended a public meeting with three tourism board members to stress the dangers of this uneducated direction. At the meeting, comments on the dangers were booed by Dyster followers whom, as it was printed in the Gazette the next day, called him and the tourism board members that accompanied him “thugs”. It wasn’t long after that when Danny Sokol took a kayak from that area and almost went over the Falls. That was on the Front Page of the Gazette. Tourism Board members still want to know why a concession stand and security cameras they lobbied for at the park were scrapped in favor of a storage facility for a movable dock. That movable dock turned our park into a liability instead of an asset. Please make note, this handicapped assessable, moving dock is a not a safe place on a windy day.

Tourism Board members wanted to know why the road around Goat Island was changed so, Sam invited Mark Thomas (Niagara Parks Commissioner) to a tourism board meeting to explain. He told us that they purchased the trolleys before measuring under the bridge to Goat Island so they had to revamp Goat Island to accommodate the trolleys. Tourism Board members also found out that the unused rock climbing wall at the Discovery Center cost over a quarter million dollars. Should we let these local decisions go unquestioned, just because the state says so?
These things may not be important to everyone but job opportunities should be. Although the Gazette and Buffalo newspapers didn’t agree, our council members were correct in questioning our mayor for hiring out of town administrators. Why would we need an engineer, with no license, from Saudi Arabia. Why would we need a Fire Chief from Florida? Why would we need an city administrator from Atlanta? Can they teach local professionals about ice and snow? Those jobs should have gone to residents that need work.

Let’s not forget that our present mayor was a silent councilman during the Elia Administration when the state of New York sprung the Casino deal on us. Did we get a good deal? No. As a council member, was Dyster man enough to stand up for residents of Niagara Falls? No, Paul was quiet as a church mouse.

The Casino Pact put together by the Pataki Administration gave the state 25% of the casino profits. Niagara Falls receives 22% of the states 25%. That leaves 5.5% of casino profits, From Niagara Falls’ 5.5% of casino profits, USA Niagara and Niagara Tourism and Convention Corp get approximately $3 million annually each. Our school system also receives a couple of million annually. Did this give Niagara Falls residents tax relief? No it didn’t. Now, to add insult to injury, our mayor wants to raise our taxes to give all his carpet bagging administration raises. Us everyday taxpayers can’t afford it.

USA Niagara did well by tearing down the Wintergarden to open Falls St., and securing the NCCC Culinary Art Institute on Falls Street, but they did neither without the help of our tourism board and local residents. What turned me against the USA Niagara state run marketing group was their concept of signage. It turned into a money grab for the state. Most of the signs led to the Casino and the Maid of the Mist boat docks, New York States cash cows.

The 3 million dollars a year we give to the NTCC is used to sell tours for select private tour owners and all expense sales trips around the world. Why is our casino money used to pay for private business’ sales personnel?

The Niagara Falls Tourism Board has lobbied our administration for 6 years now to help tourists visit our city and spend money to help lower our taxes to no avail. As of today, no city signs point to Goat Island or the Horseshoe Falls or the Bridal Veil Falls or Three Sister Islands or Luna Island or etc.. etc.. Concerning the revamping the Robert Moses Parkway for local tourism, our mayor has relinquished our city line at Findley Drive leaving control of DeVeauxs’ section of the parkway to the town of Lewiston. We are on the verge of giving our tourists a quality experience so that we may have business opportunities for every new business owner but we need Sam Fruscione re-elected to finish our mission. Without Sam there is no tourism Board. Please vote November 5. Please cast your vote for Sam Fruscione so Niagara Falls residents can have the fruitful opportunities they deserve.

Thank You.

Vincent M. Mameli
(716)-812-0448
City of Niagara Falls Tourism Advisory Board

(The preceding article is a guest submission for NiagaraHub.com. The content or opinion expressed within does not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of NiagaraHub.com. Readers are encouraged to submit articles and videos, but NiagaraHub.com expresses the right to approve or disapprove each submission. Each submission will be posted as is.)

Christopher Columbus was awful (but this other guy was not) [from The Oatmeal]

Was Christopher Columbus a brave explorer and tireless hero that discovered the New World or a something much, much different?  The Oatmeal sheds a bit of light onto the subject.  Pretty hard not to agree… we all know that the facts are bit twisted and we are all taught folklore in elementary school when it comes to Columbus and his escapades. An enlightening read, for sure.  Happy Bartolomé Day!

Read The Oatmeal’s article on Columbus Day here: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/columbus_day

 

* * *

Three Sisters Islands Rehabilitation a Travesty to Olmsted’s Memory [by Frank Thomas Croisdale]

“The possession of arbitrary power has always, the world over, tended irresistibly to destroy humane sensibility, magnanimity, and truth.”

– Frederick Law Olmsted

There is a funny little trait shared by many people that have grown up in the city of Niagara Falls – we tend to think of parts of the city as belonging solely to us. Take Hyde Park for example; Duck Island in particular. I first walked onto Duck Island to fish with my grandfather when I was little past the age of being able to tie my own shoelaces. Not long after, I routinely rode my Schwinn Stingray 5-speed there to find an oasis amidst the tempest of childhood drama.

The city market at Pine and 18th is much the same. Some people went there to buy fresh produce or look for treasure amongst someone else

Avery responds to “The King is mean” attitude in Niagara Falls

[Story has been archived]

Turn Off the Lights [by Paul Gromosiak]

The following article appeared in the Niagara Falls Gazette on Monday, June 1, 1931.

Artificial Lighting of Falls Condemned at Park Conference

Dispatches from St. Louis indicate that the 11th annual meeting of the National Conference of State Parks, held in the city last week, a resolution was adopted condemning the artificial lighting of Niagara Falls as ‘gilding the lily.’ The consensus of opinion at the meeting was, the dispatches say, that the members present agreed with the recent opinion delivered by Prince Kikuko, of Japan, that the lighting adds nothing to the Falls.”

Before the Falls were artificially illuminated for the first time, in 1860, the Falls could only be seen on the night of a full moon or during a thunderstorm.

Why I’m quitting Facebook [by Douglas Rushkoff]

[From CNN.com]

I used to be able to justify using Facebook as a cost of doing business. As a writer and sometime activist who needs to promote my books and articles and occasionally rally people to one cause or another, I found Facebook fast and convenient. Though I never really used it to socialize, I figured it was OK to let other people do that, and I benefited from their behavior.

I can no longer justify this arrangement.

Today, I am surrendering my Facebook account, because my participation on the site is simply too inconsistent with the values I espouse in my work. In my upcoming book “Present Shock,” I chronicle some of what happens when we can no longer manage our many online presences. I have always argued for engaging with technology as conscious human beings and dispensing with technologies that take that agency away.

Facebook is just such a technology. It does things on our behalf when we’re not even there. It actively misrepresents us to our friends, and worse misrepresents those who have befriended us to still others. To enable this dysfunctional situation — I call it “digiphrenia” — would be at the very least hypocritical. But to participate on Facebook as an author, in a way specifically intended to draw out the “likes” and resulting vulnerability of others, is untenable.

Douglas Rushkoff

Facebook has never been merely a social platform. Rather, it exploits our social interactions the way a Tupperware party does.

Facebook does not exist to help us make friends, but to turn our network of connections, brand preferences and activities over time — our “social graphs” — into money for others.

We Facebook users have been building a treasure lode of big data that government and corporate researchers have been mining to predict and influence what we buy and for whom we vote. We have been handing over to them vast quantities of information about ourselves and our friends, loved ones and acquaintances. With this information, Facebook and the “big data” research firms purchasing their data predict still more things about us — from our future product purchases or sexual orientation to our likelihood for civil disobedience or even terrorism.

The true end users of Facebook are the marketers who want to reach and influence us. They are Facebook’s paying customers; we are the product. And we are its workers. The countless hours that we — and the young, particularly — spend on our profiles are the unpaid labor on which Facebook justifies its stock valuation.

The efforts of a few thousand employees at Facebook’s Menlo Park campus pale in comparison to those of the hundreds of millions of users meticulously tweaking their pages. Corporations used to have to do research to assemble our consumer profiles; now we do it for them.

The information collected about you by Facebook through my Facebook page isn’t even shared with me. Thanks to my page, Facebook knows the demographics of my readership, their e-mails, what else they like, who else they know and, perhaps most significant, who they trust. And Facebook is taking pains not to share any of this, going so far as to limit the ability of third-party applications to utilize any of this data.

Given that this was the foundation for Facebook’s business plan from the start, perhaps more recent developments in the company’s ever-evolving user agreement shouldn’t have been so disheartening.

Still, we bridle at the notion that any of our updates might be converted into “sponsored stories” by whatever business or brand we may have mentioned. That innocent mention of cup of coffee at Starbucks, in the Facebook universe, quickly becomes an attributed endorsement of their brand. Remember, the only way to connect with something or someone is to “like” them. This means if you want to find out what a politician or company you don’t like is up to, you still have to endorse them publicly.

More recently, users — particularly those with larger sets of friends, followers and likes — learned that their updates were no longer reaching all of the people who had signed up to get them. Now, we are supposed to pay to “promote” our posts to our friends and, if we pay even more, to their friends.

Yes, Facebook is entitled to be paid for promoting us and our interests — but this wasn’t the deal going in, particularly not for companies who paid Facebook for extra followers in the first place. Neither should users who “friend” my page automatically become the passive conduits for any of my messages to all their friends just because I paid for it.

That brings me to Facebook’s most recent shift, and the one that pushed me over the edge.

Through a new variation of the Sponsored Stories feature called Related Posts, users who “like” something can be unwittingly associated with pretty much anything an advertiser pays for. Like e-mail spam with a spoofed identity, the Related Post shows up in a newsfeed right under the user’s name and picture. If you like me, you can be shown implicitly recommending me or something I like — something you’ve never heard of — to others without your consent.

For now, as long as I don’t like anything myself, I have some measure of control over what those who follow me receive in my name or, worse, are made to appear to be endorsing, themselves. But I feel that control slipping away, and cannot remain part of a system where liking me or my work can be used against you.

The promotional leverage that Facebook affords me is not worth the price. Besides, how can I ask you to like me, when I myself must refuse to like you or anything else?

I have always appreciated that agreeing to become publicly linked to me and my work online involves trust. It is a trust I value, but — as it is dependent on the good graces of Facebook — it is a trust I can live up to only by unfriending this particularly anti-social social network.

Maybe in doing so I’ll help people remember that Facebook is not the Internet. It’s just one website, and it comes with a price.

Douglas Rushkoff writes a regular column for CNN.com. He is a media theorist and the author of the upcoming book “Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now.”

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