Rochester's first multiple homicide of 2016.

It has been only eleven days since 2016 began, which began with a terrorist threat on Rochester's east side.
There have plenty of shootings since then, most recently on Evergreen Street last night.
Today, firemen responding to a fire at 193-195 Leighton Street found four bodies at the scene. That, too, is on the east side.
The victims didn't die as a result of smoke inhalation or the fire. They were murdered. The fire was set to cover up the murders, only the perps didn't count on the Fire Department being as quick and efficient as they were.
It is now in the hands of the Rochester Police Department's homicide squad. And the Monroe County medical examiner, who will have to determine the time of death. The heat of the fire will probably interfere with the accuracy of that analysis.
What will not have to be determined is the cause of death: three of the victims were dispatched execution style with gun shots to the head; the throat of the fourth victim was cut.
Rochester has become THE place for multiple or mass murder.
I sincerely doubt that this latest multiple murder was caused by foreign terrorists. Just like last year's multiple murders, this was the result of our own, home grown, domestic lunatics.

Rochester's interim superintendent of schools keels over.

That's right.
Daniel Lowengard from Syracuse, who is filling the unfulfilled portion of not-so dearly departed Bolgen Vargas' contract, fainted last night while meeting with teachers.
As a result of his "faint," he is in guarded condition at Strong Memorial Hospital.
Lowengard started working for the Rochester City School District on January 1. Which means he really began his job on January 4.
Four days into his six month position, which will pay him $180,000, he keeled over.
Perhaps he finally realized what he had gotten into: ever so briefly overseeing the worst school district in the state and one of the worst in the nation, while the school board hunts for a permanent superintendent of schools. One they can more easily manipulate than they could Vargas.
The D&C quotes a release from the school board as saying "We are all optimistic that Mr. Lowengard will be back to work very soon."
For how long?  In the dismal parade of superintendents the RCSD has had in the last twenty years, he could easily become the one with the briefest tenure in the position.
And if he doesn't come back, how much will we have to pay him or his estate off?

Summing up 2015.

Tomorrow night is New Year's Eve. It's time to sum up 2015 in Rochester.
2015 was almost exactly like 2014. I don't see any important changes occurring in 2016.

Politics:

The November elections left both the Republicans and the Demagogues in the county legislature in exactly the same configuration as they were in December, 2014. A Republican county executive, and the Republicans outnumbering the Demagogues 19 - 10. Nothing new will be coming out of that political body.
Since Republicans have abandoned active involvement in the City of Rochester, the Black Demagogues and Establishment Demagogues fought themselves to a standstill. Despite sometimes humorous attempts, neither made inroads into the other's territories. The only interesting result of Election 2015 in Rochester was that two Establishment Demagogues were propelled into positions where they can easily challenge Mayor Warren for her office in 2017.
City Hall remains minister-ridden and devoted to promoting the interests of the black community,
perpetuating the tale of 'Two Rochesters." It could hardly be otherwise. The black community is the mayor's only secure power base. She can honestly argue that the black community needs her help more than anyone else, but it makes one wonder what Affirmative Action has accomplished in the last fifty years. The bitter truth is that Affirmative Action created job quotas based on race, social promotion, political correctness and a sense of undeserved entitlement.

Poverty:

Rochester remains one of the poorest cities in America for its size. That is because technology eliminated low skilled, high paying industrial jobs that were Rochester's mainstay. Photonics is being hailed as Rochester's latest economic savior. Previous saviors were High Falls, the Fast Ferry, Renaissance Square, Paetech Tower and a new downtown theater, all of which bit the dust after costing Rochester's taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars with nothing to show for them.

And how do you attract business developers to an area where their potential employees are unqualified for the positions they might offer? And why would any serious developers choose to locate in an area that is perceived as dangerous and violent, because the excuse given is that people commit crimes only because they are poor?

Education:

The Rochester City School District remains a national joke and the worst performing school system in the state. The parade of inept superintendents of schools, hired by the near moronic and repeatedly popularly elected school board has produced this lump of shit. Equally to blame are parents who are unconcerned that fifty percent of the students are absent from school any day of the week, and that less than fifty percent of the student body graduates. They are also unconcerned that fifty percent of those who do graduate are functionally illiterate and unqualified for any high skilled, high paying jobs. That is not going to change in 2016.

Crime:

Rochester is perceived as a dangerous, violent place. That is true enough in certain areas of the city: the ghetto. Most of Rochester's violence and murders take place there. The violence is usually black on black. Sometimes it is black on Asian refugees, who are easy marks for street-smart thugs that roam our streets at will. The rest of us are usually safe from that kind of violence, except for burglaries, robberies and home invasions. The black community is largely unconcerned with black on black violence, unless it is spectacular, like the mass shooting at the Boys and Girls Club on Genesee Street last summer. They prefer not to notice that teenage thugs blossom into full grown criminals because that's whitey's fault. They are more concerned with black deaths resulting from altercations with white cops. Then all Hell breaks loose.

Crime, like charity, starts at home. The trite phrase "It takes a village" is bullshit. It takes a family to raise decent, law abiding and responsible children. Families consisting of teenage baby mamas, absentee baby daddies and overworked and frazzled grandmothers aren't much of a family, and certainly are incapable of providing much of a moral compass for their children. That, too, isn't going to change in 2016.

Of course, there are many people who honestly seek to improve Rochester. There are all sorts of voluntary organizations and neighborhood groups who want to help others and devote their time, money and efforts hoping to make a difference: the Kiwanis, the Rotary, the literacy volunteers. How successful have their efforts been?

In conclusion: Tomorrow night is New Year's Eve. 2016 will bring no great changes to the lives of most of us. It will go on the same as most years in the past have. We will continue to remain apathetic, cynical and untrusting because there is really not a lot happening in this city to get excited about or to believe in. Our politicians are liars, because they cannot make things better despite their election promises; our elected officials and their hangers-on want us to do their work for them because they want to get re elected and can't admit they are incapable of changing anything; our fears of crime and violence only serve to reinforce long held prejudices and stereotypes.

So pop the cork, make merry and go on with your lives, knowing that everything that currently goes on in Rochester will continue if we are here or not.

All politicians and their hangers on gorge at the public trough.

David Andreatta has provided us with yet another well-written, reasonably well-balanced commentary about the incestuous nature of political appointments in the Rochester area.
While he is employed by the local liberal newsrag, the D&C, Andreatta pulls no punches, letting both the Republicans and the Demagogues get it right between the eyes.
It is doubtful that his commentary earned him any brownie points with the editorial staff of the D&C, whose bleeding heart liberal agenda generally makes them look ridiculous and has lost the respect of any thinking individuals who follow their exploits.
Andreatta's article, "Maggie Brooks' long quaff at the public trough," should be read in full.
A brief summation will suffice here.
Outgoing County Executive Maggie Brooks was recently hired by RTS ( the Regional Transit Service ) as their vice-president of strategic initiatives. The job was created out of thin air for her a few weeks ago.
At RTS, she will be joining several of her nearest and dearest who were also associated with her in the county legislature: Scott Adair, Daniel DeLaus Jr. and Justin Feasel. Feasel, Brooks' spokesman, was hired in the last few days, too.
RTS has been under Republican control for years.
Let us not forget that Mr. Maggie Brooks ( Bob Wiesner ) was also appointed to the Monroe County Water Authority some time back, another agency under Republican control. That was before he got his ass busted in a bidding and price fixing scam, which is still in the courts.
Before Demagogues get their knickers in a twist about this, Andreatta also pointed out that they are not without sin, either.
Mayor Lovely Warren appointed her Uncle Reggie to a position at City Hall that never existed before. He left when public outcry over his speeding got to be too much for her to handle. Uncle Reggie currently works for RTS.
Hmmm,
Mayor Warren also appointed plenty of her political cronies to newly created or resurrected jobs at City Hall. If no worse, she is certainly no better than Maggie Brooks in that respect.
Former MCDC chairman, Joe Morelle pere appointed Joe Morelle fils to fill a vacancy in the county legislature. The family that preys together stays together.
However, Andreatta failed to mention how ex police chief, ex mayor and ex lieutenant governor Bob Doofus got himself appointed to head the RBA ( Rochester Business Alliance ) through his shady connections, while double or triple dipping on his six figure pensions.
And let us not forget that expensive Demagogic kept woman, the notorious Molly Clifford. The Doofus and Richards administrations kept on creating jobs for her that she was unqualified for.
I am certain that a lack of space prevented Andreatta  from mentioning those and other instances of Demagogic malfeasance.
What is clear that most politicians of both parties see elected office as a way of feathering their own nests. When out of office they hope to use their connections to continue to feed off of the public like ghouls or vampires.
Or swine.

We kill vicious animals, don't we?

It is the final week before Christmas. You know, the season of peace and goodwill towards men.
To celebrate this joyous season, two men were shot in Rochester on Thursday night. One on the east side, the other on the west side.
Friday morning, two bruthas who are brothers invaded an apartment house on the west side, holding four people hostage. All four of the victims were injured, two requiring hospitalization.
Saratoga Street is one of the poorest parts of Rochester. How much would they really gain by breaking into poor peoples' apartments?
Not much, but we'll get to the "why" in a few more sentences.
Later on Friday morning, another asshole was shooting off his gun in his car on Dewey Avenue. When pursued by the cops, he fled his vehicle. That resulted in School #7 being locked down and several blocks of streets around it being cordoned off for four hours while the police searched the neighborhood for the asshole.
When the thugs responsible for this holiday merriment end up in a court of law, they and their bleeding heart white liberal allies will blame their socio-economic status, racism and their dysfunctional family upbringing as being responsible for their criminal behavior, not they. While there is a kernel of truth in these excuses, those factors are not indicative of anything approaching predestination. They also choose to ignore the most important factor of all: freedom of choice.
That's right.
These assholes have chosen to commit crimes. They have chosen to terrorize, bully, beat, maim, shoot and kill people. They want to do as they please. Then they count on their bleeding heart liberal allies ( usually white ) to beat their chests and cry "mea culpa" and provide excuses for their behavior for them. So do their mamas and daddies.
These criminal assholes are then sentenced to pitifully little time behind bars, as though that will rehabilitate them.
But what is there to rehabilitate them for? They like hurting people. They get their kicks from it. That's what bullies do.
When returned to law abiding society, the odds are that they will return to their old tricks and continue their criminal behavior with other criminal associates. That's what recidivism means, and those rates are high.
And they will go on doing it until someone stronger than they are beats the shit out of them, pounds them into submission or kills them.
We kill vicious animals with nary a thought about what made them vicious. But we draw the line at killing vicious humans who are far more dangerous. The death penalty is out.
We could lobotomize them, but bleeding heart liberal politicians are afraid of that, too.
I have a suggestion.
We could arm violent criminals and drop them into those territories controlled by ISIS. There they could engage in their blood lust to their hearts' content.
Most violent criminals are cowardly bullies, and don't like fighting people who might be better armed and just as vicious as they are. They wouldn't last long there. The ISIS fanatics would eat them alive.
Bon appetit.
And we wouldn't need to support these violent assholes any more, or waste time trying to rehabilitate them, because that doesn't work.

David Gantt is at it again, according to David Andreatta.

Black racist State Assemblyman David Gantt has been up to yet another shady real estate deal with the City of Rochester. It is becoming a bad habit. Nobody dares to stand up to him or stop him, for the sake of political correctness.
Last summer, the D&C's rogue news reporter David Andreatta reported about Gantt's zombie property on Central Park. That bit of scamming cost the city $26,000 to demolish it.
Nobody can call Gantt a cheap politician when you figure out how much he costs the city for his real estate investments.
Today, Andreatta blew the whistle on Gantt's latest bit of con artistry in his well written and witty expose: "A slow clap for Assemblyman Gantt."
See the full story in the D&C for an in depth description of what transpired.
The following is a brief synopsis of that article, which will suffice for this blog.
Gantt has acquired yet another property on Lyndhurst Street ( he already owns six other properties there, most of which are under a limited liability company called LMG Management ) for nothing, thanks to a little known state law that allows people to acquire property belonging to someone else for nothing under something called the doctrine of "adverse possession."
The property is just across the street from his long time residence.
Furthermore, the city approved Gantt's application for money to fix up the property before he completed the "adverse possession" transaction, having begun to process it two years beforehand. The money Gantt is getting from the city is more than the property is worth.
Rochester mayor Lovely Warren is one of Gantt's numerous "children," so that should be no surprise.
Nobody in City Hall raised any eyebrows, despite the fact that Gantt has a history of property tax delinquencies, either paying them late or not at all. Nobody in City Hall dared to.
Mind you, it is all perfectly legal, if unethical.
But when white slumlords pull this kind of shit, there's all Hell to pay when the media gets their claws into it.
That's what political correctness is all about.
At least Gantt is providing inspiration to con artists everywhere, regardless of race, color, creed or national origin.

An observation about the San Bernardino terrorist massacre.

Three weeks ago, the world fell all over itself responding to the terrorist massacre in Paris.
Over one hundred innocent people died in that incident.
Everyone who was anyone responded in shock and disbelief before the cameras, pledging solidarity with France over this tragedy.
The local liberal newsrag, the D&C, ran stories about it for days.
Even Facebook addicts got into the act. They superimposed the Tricolor over their photos as a sign of solidarity.
Last Wednesday, three terrorists slaughtered fourteen people in San Bernardino, California.
There was no real outrage displayed by any other world leaders. Locally, the event got only perfunctory coverage by the D&C.
As for Facebook, I haven't noticed that any regular users bothered to superimpose the Stars and Stripes over their photos.
Perhaps if there had been several hundred victims we might have gotten more attention.
Or maybe the lack of concern is because it was innocent American lives that were snuffed out.
Just sayin'.