Comment #19

Letter to the Editor from Huntington Highway Superintendent William Naughton

By Village Tattler, on February 10th, 2013

Bridge and Tunnel Authority trucks arrive at Huntington Highways’ Elwood facility to assist in clearing the roads.

We have just experienced the worst possible scenario with regard to a winter storm. On Friday, it started off raining and quickly changed over to a record 29-inch snowfall. Because of the rain all roads ended up with a thick layer of ice under the snow.

Our primary method of snow removal has always been using local contractors in small 6 wheel dump trucks or pickup trucks. These trucks have had a very hard time plowing the snow because it is heavy and there is a layer of ice under it. The trucks lose traction and are getting stuck. Because of their frustration with getting stuck and damage to equipment, many of them have left service.

Due to the ice our own equipment has become stuck and some of it has been damaged. Yesterday we reached out to Supervisor Frank Petrone and State and County Emergency Management officials to request heavy equipment like payloaders, 10 wheel dump trucks, backhoes, etc. Some of these requests are starting to be filled. We would like to thank these agencies for helping us out in this trying time.

We are operating today with 100 less contractor pieces of equipment than we had yesterday but please be assured that we will not stop until every road is open to traffic.

We appreciate your patience.

Comment #19 to

“Letter to the Editor from Huntington Highway

Superintendent William Naughton”

·         Hutch

February 15, 2013 at 11:32 am · Reply

When the snow starts falling, there are a number of things that should already have happened and a number of things that should be happening throughout the snowfall. #1: All snowplow drivers, private and public, should certainly know how to plow snow. If they don’t, they need some education on the topic (not costly, or time consuming). If it becomes evident that a driver/operator cannot grasp the art of snow plowing, they should not work for the Town, in any capacity. #2: All public snow removal equipment needs to be staged in appropriate areas as to realize their maximum benefit. #3: If 18″-30″ of snow is expected, all plows must be in operation no later than 6″-8″ into the storm. Most plows are not designed to handle more than 8″ of slush and/or wet snow. #4: It is no secret that both the Town and private contractors own and operate Front-end Loaders, Backhoes, and Bobcat style loaders. All these assets need to be brought into the mix, especially in the village where there is a necessity to get rid of the snow, not simply plow it into mounds. If a private contractor refuses to use these assets under his ownership, they need to be terminated from Town contracts. #5: If the Superintendent of Highways cannot manage a simple snow storm, perhaps it is time to reconsider his tenure as an employee of the Town of Huntington (ref. Brookhaven). Lastly, in a town the size of Huntington, there is absolutely no rhyme or reason for the tax-payers to put up with, or accept, this type of performance from the people we elect to run our government. It seems that most of our public officials in the Town of Huntington have been with us for quite some time; if it’s time for a change, let’s not only demand it, but exercise our vote to bring that change to fruition.

 

Letter to Editor

Letter to Editor                                                                                 sent: 5/11/2012

NY Times

 

ref.:       Easy Useless Economics

                by Paul Krugman

 

subject:                                kudos to Mr. Krugman

 

   This is the first article I have read in a long time that states, directly, the simple reasons why our economy is in the tank, and is likely to stay that way, if the folks involved keep sitting on their hands. Mr. Krugman is willing to say what no one else dares to: “So now we’re in another depression, not as bad as the last one, but bad enough.” He also comes right out and points to the main element that brought us back from the “Great Depression”- a World War. Moreover, those, for the “nay-sayers”, involved massive amounts of taxpayer money to kick start our Economy, albeit a War Economy.

   Due to our modern day depressed Economy, and our collective distaste for another War, the previous option is not realistically feasible. The one avenue that seems to make a great deal of sense, right now, is a massive Government investment towards our National infrastructure. If we are to “throw” money at the problem, let’s toss it in the right direction, and get our money’s worth. Mr. Krugman, please keep this train of thought in the public‘s face until government action is taken.

 

{word count = 211}

 

 

Short Bio: Hutch Dubosque is a retired

Manufacturing Engineer who currently

writes on Socio-Political issues

Who's keeping score?

Interesting time line:

WW II             1941-1945   4 years

Cold War         1949-1984   35 years

Korea             1952-pres.   61 years(ongoing-no end in sight)

Viet Nam         1956-1975   19 years

Beirut              1982-1984   2 years

Desert Storm  1992           3 months

OEF                2001-pres.   13 years(ongoing -2014 projected)

OIF                 2002-2010   8 years

 

Now put them in descending order:

Korea            1952-pres.    61 years(ongoing-no end in sight)

Cold War        1949-1984            35 years

Viet Nam        1956-1975            19 years

OEF               2001-pres.    13 years(ongoing -2014 projected)

OIF                2002-2010            8 years

WW II            1941-1945            4 years

Beirut             1982-1984            2 years

Desert Storm 1992                      3 months

 

So, when anyone tells you that the war in Afghanistan is this Country’s longest, you can get in their face with some facts. The war in Afghanistan is certainly one of our longest and most bloody; it just isn’t at the top of the list, yet.

In search of identity through Foreign Policy

Friday, February 08, 2013

There are researchers and scholars that who will state that our Nation’s Foreign Policies came of age after the Cold War. While there were some very significant Foreign Policy outcomes spawned at the end of the Cold War, our Nation’s modern day Policies were birthed at the end of World War II. Between 1945 and 1949, the United States of America had absolutely no qualms about the direction of its International and Foreign Policies. The dawn of the Nuclear Age brought about a sense of paranoia that would inevitably drive The United States into ways of thinking that came out looking a lot like Colonialism and/or expansionism. The Nation was slipping quickly into exactly the type of Country it had revolted against less than two hundred years earlier.

As Communism and Capitalism banged heads throughout the Cold War, Capitalism eventually came out on top as witnessed by the demise of the Soviet Union. There was, however, a very large menace to Capitalism that had not been corralled by the end of the Cold War. China sat by, apparently trying to stay under everyone’s radar. Oddly enough, it was China, not the Soviet Union, which drove the United States effort against the “Domino Theory” in Southeast Asia during the height of the Cold War. If there is one positive aspect of the Viet Nam War, it was indeed the fact that China could no longer annex the Indo-China Peninsula. As a result, the power brokers, the shadow “movers and shakers”, in the United States were sincere in their beliefs that the Viet Nam War was a success. It was this feeling of omnipotence that then drove the ensuing Foreign Policy of the United States. As an aside, it also drove the Military/Industrial Complex to heights never before imagined.

Where this has led the Nation through the 1970’s to present is to an overriding confidence that the rest of the World wants to be just like the United States. After all, are not immigrants tripping over one another to get into this Country in search of the “American Dream”? The question needs to be asked; what exactly is the “American Dream”? Apparently, there are two very separate “Dreams”. There is one for the proletariat, which is the one we all have had drilled into our heads since we were born. However, behind the scenes, there is another “Dream”. It is the dark, sinister, behind-the-shadows “Dream” that centers on the belief that the United States of America is the true way and that American ideals and practices should be shared with everyone; should be forced on everyone, if necessary. You think not? Just step back and take a look at our Nation’s recent History in its dealings with other sovereign Nations around the planet. Take a good look at Palestine, Bosnia, Serbia, Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Take a good, long skeptical look at World events as they have unfolded in recent years. You do not have to read between the lines to see what the United States is up to.

Those two words, Expansionism and Colonialism, keep rearing their ugly heads. It is time for a change: just not the one that has been crammed down our throats. It is improbable that all our History books would be rewritten. It is more probable that the power of Social Media will set this all straight, without cloak and dagger, smoke and mirrors, and lies upon lies. In the face of reality, the Citizens of the United States of America may entertain a dose of the truth about who and what runs their lives, the life of the Nation and, through expansionism, the life of the Planet.

Some thoughts on Socialism & Capitalism

v  Labor comes before, and is the essence of, all forms of capital. Capital cannot exist   

without the primary existence of Labor.

v  From Thomas Jefferson to Abraham Lincoln to Norman Thomas, and beyond, our Nation was born of European Style Socialist Theories and movements.

v   As it happened throughout the 1800’s, the United States of North America wound up enjoying the practice of Marxist socialism more so than than the European Nations it was trying to emulate. Most of the socialist movements in Europe died a quick death.

v  The Industrial Revolution of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s turned the USoNA from its unique brand of Socialism toward its equally unique brand of Capitalism, which have coexisted for over a century.

v  By definition, the USoNA is has practiced exactly the same expansionist behavior that led it into Social and Economic Revolution for its Independence. The evolution from a group of partisans yearning to be free of tyranny has lost itself in the muck and mire of Socialism, Colonialism and Capitalism.

v  It is never a good idea to meld the terms Socialism and Communism. They simply are not one, and the same, and there is a place for both to exist independently.

v  What today are termed our overbearing Entitlement Programs are often referred to as Socialistic. Social Security, Medicare, Unemployment Insurance, and Worker Disability Insurances were theoretically born of Socialism (Marxism), but were tailored specifically for our own Economic System. These programs are not Entitlements; they are contracts with the working public, employers, and government. These programs are set up as contributory insurance plans. They are not handouts, nor are they free money.