Thursday, December 17, 2015

R.I.P. BULLET NEWS

Not at all surprised that the noisy, newsy, nosey Bullet News will soon disappear from the internet. On December 31, 2015, the noise will stop forever. The news and nosiness will also not be missed. The Bullet began five years ago amid great hope that a news source would finally provide real investigative reporting and the truth of what goes on in Niagara.

Alas, that was not to be. The Bullet became a disappointment fairly early on despite a talented editor, a refugee from big corporate media where the truth is buried under advertisers' dollars. I guess it's too much to expect that an independent news source would tackle the sacred cows and expose the corruption that is everywhere, including the Niagara area.

I was inspired many years ago by the story of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward who, with their editor's blessing, exposed the Watergate Scandal that eventually brought down the presidency of Richard Nixon. They were my heroes. I always hoped that some day I could expose corruption as they had done. Well. I tried. LOL.

Lately, I have been hoping to see the new movie, Spotlight which is the story of reporters who exposed the abuse and cover-up of sexual abuse of young boys by Catholic priests in Boston, Massachusetts. That story intrigues me as I know full well the power of the Church as a witness to a massive cover-up of a scandal in my own parish in Buffalo. I knew that I could not report what I knew because there was no local media source that would touch the story. Of course, the Church hierarchy closed ranks very quickly to conceal the scandal, but many knew. All these years later, it remains hidden, the "guilty parties" were reassigned and protected by the hierarchy. All is forgiven and forgotten, yet I remember and so do a very few others, This scandal was not about abuse of young boys, but it was a direct insult to the teachings of the Church. It is still frustrating to know that they got away with it.

I'm still angry that the local "connected ones" got away with subverting democracy in their plan to eliminate four duly-elected men from Fort Erie's Town Council. Too bad the local media, especially Bullet Media did not see fit to report the story fully. It is all there for all to see, yet no one had the guts to follow the money to its obvious conclusion.

No, I am not surprised that Bullet Media went under. Too bad it didn't have the balls to expose the corrupt underbelly of local politics.Guess they didn't want to upset their noisy advertisers.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

WHO SAW THIS COMING?

Well, hello all you people who voted against your own self-interest and put the Chamber of Commerce on Fort Erie Town Council.  You know, those people who helped put together character assassinations of four councillors who they disagreed with.

Now, they're in power/ Thanks Marina Butler (devotee of EDTC GM Jim Thibert;) Kimberly Zanko (Chief Cheerleader and Chamber Maid;) Chris Knutt (Who?;) George McDermott; and Stephen Passero (Channeling Eve Harrington.)  The only councillor who survived the putsch was Don Lubberts from Ward 5.

For your information,  you easily manipulated voters: 
the S.L.A.P.P. Lawsuit devised by Thibert and his allies has finally been resolved and the four accused unjustly councillors have been paid back for the thousands of dollars they had to pay out of their own pockets to defend themselves against these sore losers.

You low-information voters are also going to pay for your ignorance through higher property taxes and water rates.


ALREADY HIGH WATER RATES TO RISE BY 4.74% in 2016


Thank you, Fort Erie Council. Read about it HERE.

The additional infrastructure servicing the town is spending on the capital budget towards the Canadian Motor Speedway will also add to the bottom line for operating costs to the tune of about $254,000. Overall, the 2016 water and wastewater budget expenses are increasing by about $676,000 over the 2015 rates.




 EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm putting this in the form of questions: What could possibly go wrong when a company from the Mideast (Home of Hezbollah, Al Qaeda, and ISIS) that is planning to build a large installation very close to the one international bridge connecting the US with Canada at one of its busiest crossings? A quick look at the various holding companies and banks involved with the Canadian Motor Speedway poses a lot of unanswered questions that the public doesn't get answers coming from its evasive and well-programmed PR department, run by a former "concerned citizen" who spoke at numerous meetings in favour of the project. Again, here's a question: how long has she been on the CMS payroll? (We will not be getting an answer to that question and others like: what bank is funding this project?)

So, the taxpayer is paying for the infrastructure improvements on the speedway; half a million to the high school theatre; another half million (or more) to the horse track; and lots more. All this on the promise of jobs. So, the Chamber of Commerce donated $10,000 to the school theatre when Fort Erie has a high unemployment rate and systematic poverty. No, the Chamber got their photo op with a large cheque for the theatre while people in Fort Erie have to visit food banks to feed their families.


We suspected that the priorities of the new council were all pro-business and not people friendly. We hoped that some would develop a true understanding of how to govern all the people instead of pandering to a select group, but that obviously did not happen.



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