After watching a few moments from Fox "news" division, I had to once more dip into some sage advice and remind myself that there will always be corporate lackeys, shills, and those who care little for the people and everything for their own asses.

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"I'm sometimes asked "Why do you spend so much of your time and moneytalking about kindness to animals when there is so much cruelty to men?" Ianswer: "I am working at the roots." -George T. Angell, reformer(1823-1909)

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"Time wounds all heels". Groucho Marx

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"How come we choose from just two people for president and 50 for Miss America?" anon.

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"If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?"

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"No one ever went broke overestimating the stupidity of theAmerican people." H.L. Mencken

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"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of greatmoral crisis, maintain their neutrality." -Dante Alighieri, poet (1265-1321)

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"There is no character, howsoever good and fine, but it can be destroyed by ridicule, howsoever poor and witless." -Mark Twain

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"Power does not corrupt men. But fools, in a position of power, corrupt power." George Bernard Shaw

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"He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that fool you. He really is an idiot." Groucho.

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"I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace, that 2 are called a law firm, and that three or more become a congress.”John Adams, in Congress, Philidelphia,1776

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"Come the millennium, month 12, In the home of greatest power, the village idiot will come forth to be acclaimed the leader."Nostradamus, 1555

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"If your voting could really change things, Congress would make it illegal." unk

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" Feminism is a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." Pat Robertson

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"Despite almost every experience I've ever had with federal authority, I keep imagining its competence." --John Perry Barlow

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When they took the fourth amendment,I was quiet because I didn't deal drugs!When they took the sixth amendment,I was quiet because I was innocent.When they took the second amendment,I was quiet because I didn't own a gun!Now they've taken the first amendment,and I can say nothing about it.

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"I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. -Thomas Jefferson-

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"I'm proud to pay taxes in the United States; the only thing is, I could be just as proud for half the money." -Arthur Godfrey

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"If I seem to take part in politics, it is only because politics encirclesus today like the coil of a snake from which one cannot get out, no matterhow much one tries. I wish therefore to wrestle with the snake" . -MahatmaGandhi (1869-1948)

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“They’ve turned the world into a wasteland, and they call it peace.” Tacitus, Agricola, quoting Calgacus on the Romans.

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"Bush has promised to be a uniter, and he has United the world against us. We have become a target of world ridicule known previously only to the French...."John Stewart, the Daily Show, 6-8-01

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THIS IS PORN

This is Porn.

There are people compiling lists of what they dislike and selling it to librarians, teachers, parents, businesses, bosses, companies, and people YOU know. They are using it to block sites that contain what they feel is porn.
This is what they are blocking.
They have small minds.
Fear them.
Fight for more porn.

Why Do You Want to Move Here?

Welcome to the neighborhood, now will you please sign a non-alteration agreement?

Yes, that's what I would LOVE to have happen for every single sale of any peoperty in WG. I guess I have become more and more militant about saving what is left of the land I love as more and more people see WG as just some big piggy bank they can shake for a while and then walk away with a few dollars in their pockets. That leaves the rest of us poorer socially, historically, and permanently.

I never felt like this when I moved here, but that was 25 years ago, when the whole place was pretty much consigned to the "old foggies" in their Lincolns toddling up and down an aging string of antique stores. Or that was what people would LIKE to believe.

What was really here was a downtown with lots of things that were already the envy of other "destinations. There used to be a hand dipped candy store in the (now remodeled) medical building next to Manleys donuts. Hicklebee's bookstore was already thriving in a too-small space across from it's current location. We had one of only 3 costume shops in the entire south bay area. A unique little bakery tucked into what is now the health food store was right next to an ahead of it's time orchid grower (long gone, but their window with it's water archetecture lives on). Bergman's. Lincoln Lanes grocers, where Chuck Daddas not only served up a classic butcher shop and hand picked veggies, but they would take your check without ID and occasional deliveries on demand could happen.


So what happened? Money and greed. Property prices skyrocketed, and the city refused to push for covenants to protect the historical grace and elegance of this area- as did most of us local folks. We might LOVE the hell out of the Palms or Willow Street Park, but we certaintly aren't going to take the time to meet and push for protections to save our way of life. The lovely home on the left still stands today, but anyone can buy it and bulldoze it tomorrow- and get a permit to put up a house almost twice that size. Charmless, but functional. We all seem on the fence between private property rights and our social rights as a whole- and I think that they can both function fine if we bothered to set some ground rules.

On my own street just south of there, we have seen 2 lots turned into 3 twice (and the prices went from $650,000.00 each for those two to $1,450,000.00 each for the 3 that replaced them) and the beautiful old spanish house at 1045 Coe is already on the chopping block- the same people that did it on Broadway bought the place and subdivided just the BACK yard into THREE lots coming out on Clintonia- and when they are done, that lovely home in front will be quietly bulldozed. No muss no fuss. No one but us locals will even notice the dust. One of the ground rules we need in WG is that the lots should NOT be allowed to be subdivided. WG *is* different just because of lot sizes, and the city planners that come and go with mayoral tides are not concerned about that. We should be. WE should be screaming about it.

We have residents that come and go like locusts, buying homes and sites just to re-sell them the moment property values nudge up a point. It might be the American way- but that way is now inroaching on OUR way of life. This is our problem. Too many jerks arriving in paradise and wanting to carve it up for pretty driftwood.
So we have competing needs. Healthy competition for jobs, business owners needing to make profit, businesses that need to have new modern space, and homeowners that see their domicile as a temporary stop on their leap through life, against those who want to protect and defend a lifestyle, support their local unique businesses and avoid chain stores, encourage local money to stay local, and have their homes and property still be worth something based on more than just the square footage.

Most WG'ers know that having a downtown that packs as much per square foot as possible into it is not necessarily right for every town. But you can't tell that to a developer who makes their living tearing things down and rebuilding them (often with re-development dollar).

So why does someone move here and then bitch and moan about how much they want to change it? Well, my own personal belief is that most people don't consider much of anything more than 5 minetes, including pregnancy and homicide. They are as short sighted as guinea pigs, only not as smart. Moving into a historical neighborhood and then demanding to tear down the history is stupid. Yes, STUPID. I have no problem shouting those feelings and that sentiment at various neighbors on various chat boards when they scream they need a KMART or a WALLMART or a BEVMO or a second STARBUCKS or a fleet of HUMMERS to drive their kids the 3 blocks to school before they go spend money on things they desire. I am thankful that these people do not have the money to chop up the Hope Diamond, or sell a book Hours by the page. Some people should never own fine things, for they do not appreciate them.

Like many in the animal kingdom, they want to live here until they soil the place up and then move away to a cleaner pig pen to do it again. I am sure they will use their profits to move to even pricier neighborhoods where they can "remodel" other historic homes. They permanently destroy the landscape of this place. Graffiitti vandals are probably more acceptable to me- at least THEY are going to probably live here their whole lives, and the damage they do is minimal and repairable.

I often wonder if these people would move to Paris and demand Wonder bread in restaurants, Go to Spain and scream about the running of those poor bulls, or Vacation at Niagra falls and complain about the humidity. Maybe even move in and then want to divert the water for a local boating lake. I do not understand them, but I fear them. They are brutes- no class, no social conscious, but they do have *cash* and muscle.

I WENT BACK TO OHIO
BUT MY CITY WAS GONE
THERE WAS NO TRAIN STATION
THERE WAS NO DOWNTOWN
SOUTH HOWARD HAD DISAPPEARED
ALL MY FAVORITE PLACES
MY CITY HAD BEEN PULLED DOWN
REDUCED TO PARKING SPACES
A, O, WAY TO GO OHIO


I WENT BACK TO OHIO
BUT MY PRETTY COUNTRYSIDE
HAD BEEN PAVED DOWN THE MIDDLE
BY A GOVERNMENT THAT HAD NO PRIDE
THE FARMS OF OHIO
HAD BEEN REPLACED BY SHOPPING MALLS
AND MUZAK FILLED THE AIR
FROM SENECA TO CUYAHOGA FALLS
SAID, A, O, OH WAY TO GO OHIO

The Pretendrs "My City was Gone".