The Story: Recap, Highlights

Will here. I moved from NYC to rural Columbia County and started Glencadia Dog Camp. I ran into a corrupt and malicious local government that tried to use zoning law to silence and punish me for not continuing to pay bribes. I learned zoning, planning, and freedom of information law and beat the town in court twice pro see and the county once on appeal.


Three pro se wins: 
Matter of Pflaum v Grattan 2014 NY Slip Op 02357 Decided on April 3, 2014 Appellate Division, Third Department
Hon. Patrick McGrath, May 21, 2012 decision in New York, Supreme Court
Hon. Henry Zwack, August 29, 2013 decision in New York, Supreme Court

And this front page Time Union article is based on my FOIL research.

We had dramatic hearings, vandalism, charges, and more than 15 lawyers prowling around. In the end, they didn't get me and I didn't get them. They're still running the government and stealing hand over fist and I'm still running my business in peace.

medium

I've been over here.

ethnic versus ideological axes of political power

Talking about American elections in Germany lately, I usually said, by way of shorthand, that in the US we have winner-take-all elections, so we make coalitions before elections whereas in parliamentary democracies, as in most of Europe, you make coalitions after elections. In a system of proportional representation, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton would not be in the same party.

this dress makes me look fat...

the onion, not the onion

Charlie Hebdo has a thing or two to teach the Onion about guts.

podcast

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/phlogiston/id1066087803

movement politics

Hillary supporters think Bernistas are pushy and rude. Bernie supporters think Hillarites are blind. I think I understand it.

prosecutions for public corruption by the Albany FBI 2015: 2 cases

Podcast 12 is kind of a companion document to this blog entry.

I used to say that the Albany office of the FBI had not initiated nor had any role in any convictions for political corruption for many years. 2015 changes that. Below the fold, the two cases I found on the FBI website. 

letter to the town of stuyvesant

revised here or if that doesn't work, try this but I think THIS VERSION is the best and now the town has uploaded a pdf...

Basically, after losing in state court twice, the town seems to be trying to re-write the law and start the dog war back up. I think it's a mistake and would prefer peace. Here is my letter to the town:

moody's rating of Columbia County

https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-assigns-Aa3-to-Columbia-County-NYs-141M-GO-bonds--PR_903067386

points on bernie

Three points.

19th congressional race

This article is an endorsement for congress of the Will Yandik, environmentalist, farmer and writer. Also, check out his facebook page here. 

new episodes of the podcast

Check them out on itunes here. Or stitcher.  Or soundcloud.

meet FRED, an educational philosophy

Private schools often seem to need a philosophy (Montessori, Waldorf, Democratic School, etc.). This is especially true if they have not existed for 100 or more years or if there are several private schools close to each other. Public schools, on the other hand, cannot have a philosophy, at least not in New York, although they can in Oregon. Charter Schools can have a philosophy.

Is the philosophy marketing or does it help with education? Let's consider.

8th annual Christmas Day fetch competition

2008: Brooklyn 5, Manhattan 4

2009: Manhattan 5, Westchester 4, Brooklyn 1

2008: Brooklyn 5, Manhattan 4

2007: Manhattan 4, Brooklyn 3

2011? Connecticut? CT 5, Manhattan 2, Westchester 2, Brooklyn 1

2012: forgot to hold competition

2013: Brooklyn 4, Manhattan 3, Up there (Westchester & CT), 1

2014: CT 2, Brooklyn 1

2015: Manhattan 3, Brooklyn 1

Podcast about people who came out nowhere

Was local government designed by a maniac who hated the residents?

In response to gun violence, two upstate New York sheriffs call for more people to walk around with guns. Let me explain why I think people who are charged with protecting public safety would advocate something that will make everyone more unsafe. "Responsible" offices does not mean "rational" policies. Not at all. Not here anyway.

Phlogiston Podcast and other audio links

I have a new podcast: here.

My old audio uploads are still here. This includes audio of meetings with the DA, complete, etc. Lots of raw audio.

You can here many years of audio here. Here is an album that is not in that list from 2005.

Here is where I will and have posted info on the book I'm doing about Pazzis Sureda.

entry by Ollie

viola growling

lotta dancing

No Dinosaur Courts: amendment to end life time tenure of federal judges

Imagine a supreme court appointed by Woodrow Wilson, a confirmed racist. That is something we should imagine because such a gap between the court and the society at large is inevitable. Democracy demands we limit the terms of federal judges. We can do it now with a constitutional amendment or we can wait until the supreme court become intolerable and has to be undermined more completely in another way. We need to tame the court to save it.

diamonds on the sidewalk

The propensity in the human mind to not see diamonds on the sidewalk where a diamond should not be, is not supposed to be, and on the rare occasion when it is there, right where is is not supposed to be, so, obviously, is are not there... and it gets kicked to the curb. Happens every day.

le pen v mujica

Trump is a nativist, unpredictable, egomaniac wild card, more like Le Pen than anyone in American history. Sanders maybe a bit like Pepe Mujica of Uruguay.

by Ollie