Libertad's journal on e:strip™ - Buffalo, NY's Original Neighborhood Blogging Community (estrip v5.0)

01/02/09 15:57 - 33ºF - ID#47254Angry at bus fare increases

The NFTA did end up raising the fares on the bus to $1.75 like they said they would. Today I was so exhausted after working that I took the bus anyways even though I usually walk or take bike. I was just going from Summer to Auburn so it felt like such a rip off. I can't believe taking the bus is treated as a luxury in this city.

NFTA Chairman Gregory Stamm said, "Effective January, were only putting in a 25 cent increase."

I like how he says "only" 25 cents. How incredibly insensitive is to say that? It does make a big difference, especially when they intend on increasing it another 25 cents in July. I know sacrifices have to be made but why does it have to be poor people that have to suffer the most? I wonder how much money Gregory Stamm makes to say it is only 25 cents?

I think this is what they call being nickeled and dimed except this time we are being quartered.

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metalpeter writes at 12:34:12 01/03/09 - Comment #43983

It does make sense because they have to pay for the new buses now. I don't know if they take out loans or buy in cash but at the very least you still would need a portion of that money now for those buses. If you believe what the NFTA says the reason they have to raise fairs is because the money they where getting from the state they won't be getting. Logic would make one think that you should be able to run a bus company with out any help and turn a profit, but if that was done how much would fares be then? But see when you base what you do on how much money you get from the state and then you lose that money then what do you do? Well lets see only black catch the #2 out to union and transit so lets get rid of that route so what if everyone loses there jobs, or maybe the could fire all the drivers and then hire on only part time people and not give any benifits, oh that would be so nice. Or maybe they could fire the NFTA cops and let all the school kids fight and mug people underground cause the Buffalo cops won't go down there, oh wait they could come up with a special divison and then the city would have to pay for that. I'm sure there is some waste in NFTA's system like there is in any place that you could get rid of, but keeping routes and services is more important then the cost of a bus.

ajay writes at 03:19:39 01/03/09 - Comment #43972

Wow... that makes my $1.50 fare here in SF (and $45 for a monthly pass) quite a bargain!

I was looking at the Exec. Director's message:

He says, "... By adding cutting-edge hybrid bus technology to our current fleet, we are not only being socially responsible by reducing air pollution, we are lowering our operating costs based on improved fuel consumption and a decrease in maintenance costs...."
and "... Metro’s ridership has increased eight percent this past year..."

So: increased ridership + lower operating costs = higher fares? Doesn't compute!

james writes at 12:22:57 01/03/09 - Comment #43970

I have been thinking about this a while. Trying to balance my outrage with an intelligent reply with new ways for NFTA to assess its costs. In the end, the only reply worth saying is

Fuck you NFTA

metalpeter writes at 08:09:46 01/02/09 - Comment #43967

My flash a pass (I know not called that anymore) went from $66 - $77 dollars so that is only $11 more a month. The last time the price went up was 5 years ago, so as long as it doesn't go up again in the summer then I'm fine with the rate increase. I think it going up again is a bad idea. But I do have a question. What I would like to see is 24 hour Bus service but how much would fares have to go up for that? I haven't been to crochchester and I hate the Knighthawks (lacrosse team) so I don't know how there service is. But a lot of people take a bus out union or transit road and the malls and places like that. If there are only a few people on a line then people think oh you should cut that route, well then those people lose there job. The simple answer is the drivers should take a pay cut, well if you could make more driving yellow buses then you might lose all your drivers. Plus if you budget for so much a year it is hard to change your spending habits. I think what get NFTA into trouble is that they run other stuff other then the bus and rail and what the riders pay, helps pay for those things.

Things I would like to see the NFTA to do and then they can raise the fair in the summer:
1. 24 hour bus service
2. If you have plane tickets you show them to driver and you go to the airport for free
3. Metro rail (the train) extended (not sure how far is practical) at the least down to that harbor with the silos and where they have the boat stuff
4. not sure what else other then maybe some other routes and better service to some places

I did want to mention something else that NFTA used to do, and I think they still might. You can have where you work subtract from your check each week money that at the end of the month gets you a monthly pass and the money comes out before taxes and there is some kind of savings, the only thing is that the company has to sign up for it so if there isn't enough interest it might not work. On a side note I'm glad there are metro cops how would guys in cars police an underground train. If you think they can (never been there) then how to trains in NYC get Tagged.

janelle writes at 05:01:25 01/02/09 - Comment #43959

NFTA has also been making it difficult for people with disabilities to be recertified for the half fare card (i.e. more paperwork than usual required). Really important for these individuals because they live on fixed income. The more difficult you make the process, the less likely people will follow through on it and it will increase the number of people paying full fare.

A few clients from where I work were denied recertification although they were previously eligible. Kind of funny considering their disability is permanent. Mental retardation doesn't just go away. Lol.

I'm all for accountability in social services to ensure people aren't ripping off the system, but this recent change seems like a purposeful attempt to discourage people from claiming benefits for which they are eligible. There needs to be a balance between maintaining fiscal accountability and access to service for those individuals legitimately eligible.

joshua writes at 04:24:23 01/02/09 - Comment #43958

There is nothing that can be run in Erie County in a financially responsible way - it really is that simple. They claim that ridership is up (about 10% or so? maybe a little more?) but generally speaking, they worry about coverage first and how to pay for it second. Now they are worrying about that second part - even with fuel prices dropping and increased ridership they can't manage to administrate the bus system properly. Either the system gets smaller and more cost efficient, or the system stays as it is and riders pay more. Now you see which way they've gone. They are asking you to pay an additional quarter rather than make buses less available.

This ain't a big city in terms of population, but really our civic living space is almost the northern half of Erie County in total. It is too bad that we don't have the population that would make expanded mass transit more feasible from a financial perspective. I'd love a light rail train that would take me from here to my office, but it's a non-starter. Our state is bankrupt, our federal government is bankrupt, we're bankrupt - they aren't going to spend $40-50 million per mile for one train line in Buffalo, New York, a place where people are leaving at the rate of 10,000 every decade and the long-term means to keep the system running are in severe short supply. Take heart though - they are also raising fares in NYC and pretty much everywhere else, even if it isn't utterly necessary for survival.

PS - I heard that they were also considering an additional 25 cent increase mid-year.

tinypliny writes at 04:06:08 01/02/09 - Comment #43957

:( This just makes me sad. Buffalo is becoming more living unfriendly every day. Oil prices plummeted recently and transport by personal vehicles has become cheaper than ever. Public transport in this city reflects greed, corruption, mismanagement and complete disregard for people who actually take the bus! :/ Rochester, Syracuse and Albany fares are $1.00. We live a stone's throw away from these cities and yet the apathy and venality we live in is deplorable.

Words: 184 -- , NY

01/05/09 22:31 - 24ºF - ID#47295813-111-111

Who is calling me from this number? I really had no idea what she was saying and this same number called me last night at 3am! That's right 3am! I didn't answer it because I really didn't know who the hell would be calling from such a number at such a time but they left a voicemaiil which really was just them hanging up. So now they call me at 10:12pm and I have no idea what they are saying. I googled the number and I came up with giberish numbers and this website for escort advertising called rare-escorts.com

Then I also got a call earlier from "Verizon Wireless". The number was 1-800-600-5092 and her name was Heather. I totally didn't understand why she was calling me but she wanted me to authorize something which seemed very vague and I just said please send it to me in writing. So she says she can't do that and pleads with me to do it on the phone right there or I wouldn't ever be able to get some feature which happened to be the same cost as my current plan. Again, I repeated to her that it wasn't a good time and I couldn't deal with it right now and asked if I could call back at another time and she gave me the number. I am so suspicious of people in general but this seemed shady. So I ended up googling the number and found this from callercompalints.com.

Caller Complaints
N
Filed by N at 1/5/2009 1:01:04 PM
Caller Type: Unknown
Phone Number Report: this number is unknown and caller never leaves a message..I haven't picked up the calls, as they come duing week days and on my cell phone...ridiculous, what are these calls for?

K
Filed by K at 1/2/2009 2:59:36 PM
Caller Type: Unknown
Phone Number Report: This number shows up as unknown ..They don't leave message ..ANNOYING

Heather
Filed by Heather at 1/2/2009 1:21:26 PM
Caller Type: Unknown
Phone Number Report: The number was 800-600-5092. They did not leave a message, and I do not know who this number belongs to.

phil
Filed by phil at 12/31/2008 8:34:34 AM
Caller Type: Unknown
Phone Number Report: returned call. no one answers. annoying...

Filed at 12/30/2008 9:37:59 AM
Caller Type: Unknown
Phone Number Report: call recieved but caller hung up during my recorded message went out to caller.

Filed at 12/29/2008 2:14:30 PM
Caller Type: Telemarketer
Phone Number Report: calls my number repeatedly without leaving a message.

iz
Filed by iz at 12/27/2008 3:09:48 PM
Caller Type: Unknown
Phone Number Report: called my personell cell. no permision - no information

yot
Filed by yot at 12/22/2008 6:03:45 PM
Caller Type: Unknown
Phone Number Report: called my cellphone and left no message.

AD
Filed by AD at 12/22/2008 2:23:50 PM
Caller Type: Unknown
Phone Number Report: called and left no message. when i returned the call there was no voicemail to find out the caller's name/business.

mbn
Filed by mbn at 12/22/2008 1:15:05 PM
Caller Type: Unknown
Phone Number Report: cALLING AD HANGING UP WITH NO MESSAGE!!

Why do I get the most bizarre calls? This one time this lady would call me ever single day and say "oH i sorry wong number." When I went away for four months and came back home they were still calling the number every day. My phone was out of service for four months!

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Words: 579 -- , NY

01/06/09 19:49 - 27ºF - ID#47312Suze Orman

Suze you are my hero. You used to live in a van and now you are rich and famous and wear designer space outfits. I am on page 207 of your book for the Young Fabulous and Broke and I just love you for helping people in humanistic terms. As you always say Suze, people first, then money, then things.

0109/Omag200712Suze220x3120106.jpg

Thanks e:mike for the book. I love it! BTW, I like to say her name in a Spanish accent as demonstrated below.

0109/06195955.gif

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Words: 91 -- , NY

01/10/09 14:45 - 22ºF - ID#47353CO-OP sells toxic tomatoes

My roommate bought these tomatoes from the Lexington CO-OP the other day. I just noticed that the sticker says H2GRO on it which I have previously posted about. Anyways, these tomatoes are grown in a green house that Waste Management converts methane gas from their dump site into electricity to power it. My main problem with this is that the green house is adjacent to where all the radioactive material from the Manhattan Project is being stored as well as where all the toxic chemicals of the North East region are disposed of by Chemical Waste Management. The only reason I really ever found out about it was from when I drove around the site and fell upon it. I felt so sick after being around these dump sites that I can assure anyone that these are not tomatoes that should be consumed. Here is the link to my journal where I take a tour of the Lake Ontario Ordinance Works site in Ransomville NY.

So I know some people at the CO-OP and am definitely going to bring this to their attention. Seriously people, DON'T buy these tomatoes!

Thankfully Artvoice has been keeping up on this continuously developing story. They haven't ever made mention of these tomatoes as far as I know. Here is their latest story.

Meanwhile, In Lewiston: Dangerously High Radiation Levels

by Geoff Kelly & Louis Ricciuti

Chemical Waste Management proudly reveals dangerously high radiation levels

On the Friday after Christmas, whence all news stories go to die, Chemical Waste Management released the results of a radiation survey of its landfill in the Town of Lewiston.

The survey was performed by the URS Corporation, and CWM spokesperson Lori Caso proudly claimed that no significant hotspots had been detected: More than four million samples were taken and evaluated, and 99.85 percent of the samples had registered less than 16,000 counts per minute, which is the self-determined standard CWM uses to decide whether a spot warrants further investigation or remediation.

Doing the math, that means more than 4,000 samples registered above 16,000 counts per minute.

And in any case, 16,000 counts per minute is quite high-640 times what most health physicists would consider a normal level of radioactivity. It's even high by landfill standards: A few years ago, at the BFI-Allied (previously CECOS) landfill on Pine Avenue in Niagara Falls, the maximum acceptable radiation level was set at 1,000 counts per minute. That standard was later raised by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to accommodate "asphalt fill" materials from a Porter Road repaving project that set off BFI-Allied's radiation detection gate alarms at 1,500 counts per minute.

In 2002, defense contractor SAIC performed a radiation survey of the Lewiston Porter Central School District Campus, not far from CWM. SAIC used a standard of 8,000 counts per minute to determine whether a hotspot warranted further investigation. SAIC found levels ranging between 7,000 to 13,000 counts per minute of radioactive emanation, with an anomalous "rock" found on the property behind the elementary school that registered at 38,222 counts per minute. Health physicist Dr. Rosalie Bertell said of the Lew-Port findings, "Rather than calming the public, this should cause outrage."

To put CWM's 16,000 counts per minute in context, we called Tedd Weyman of Toronto's Uranium Medical Research Center. Weyman said "normal" radiation levels in Toronto are 35 to 45 counts per minute. In Baghdad, which the US military has contaminated with depleted uranium munitions, radiation levels range from 25,000 to 75,000 counts per minute.

"What's being found around the schools at Lewiston Porter is, from a scientific perspective, extreme, shocking, and profound," Weyman said. "These rates are higher than what is allowed at any nuclear facility."

He added, "This is a catastrophically serious situation and a human health crisis. These rates are against the law."

-geoff kelly & louis ricciuti

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libertad writes at 09:12:49 01/11/09 - Comment #44295

(e:joshua), we live in Buffalo and it really isn't possible for me to grow my own produce. I did try to grow tomatoes on my porch this summer but it was a bad year for them and I only got to eat about two of them. The green house is across the street from the dump and a little further down the street maybe 200 yards or so is where all of the tons of radioactive effluent was dumped into the earth and later "cleaned up". Maybe a 1/4 of a mile or so from that is where Chemical Waste management receives and treats all of the toxic waste from the entire N.E. region. If you want to go and eat the tomatoes by all means eat your heart out.

I admire Geoff Kelly and Louis Ricciuti for their continuous reporting of something that has been going on in our region since WWII. To call him an asshole when he is just trying to make people aware of the dangers this poses to the area does not really speak so much of yourself. Why don't you take a drive out there Josh and take a trip around the LOOW, you just might learn for yourself why these guys are so passionate about this issue and you might not treat them as if they were crazy alarmists making it all up. I am telling you Josh that I felt sick from being there. Nobody can tell me that it is safe to eat the tomatoes they grow there, live around the border or attend classes there. No, it is not a death sentence, as we know from many fine ( estrip

pers) who are alive and well, but it just does not make any sense to be so close to toxic chemicals and radioactive waste no matter how well they say they have disposed of it.

ladycroft writes at 08:42:09 01/11/09 - Comment #44294

p.s. ditto leetee, can i have that bean dip recipe too!?

ladycroft writes at 07:49:48 01/11/09 - Comment #44289

you know, growing up I was always convinced that our property was contaminated and I would end up growing a sixth toe or something.

joshua writes at 01:38:44 01/11/09 - Comment #44287

(e:lib) - how far is the H2GRO greenhouse from this dump? Depending on the fuel being stored there, particularly if it is depleted, it may not be effected at all.

joshua writes at 01:33:32 01/11/09 - Comment #44286

Ok this has nothing to do with the tomatoes - (if you are really scared, grow your own for Christ's sake) -

What drives me crazy about this, is this:

"In Baghdad, which the US military has contaminated with depleted uranium munitions, radiation levels range from 25,000 to 75,000 counts per minute."

Geoff Kelly has a point about Waste Mgmt, but as far as Iraq goes, he needs to qualify this shit or shut the fuck up. I am absolutely, 100% tired of assholes like this. It is well known that the US has coated anti-armor munitions with depleted uranium - it is very effective - but to suggest that if you visit Baghdad, Iraq and can expect to encounter 25,000 to 75,000 counts per minute? Nonsense. Geoff Kelly can't prove it either.

People are so extraordinarily ignorant about latent radioactivity with depleted uranium, and radiation in general. Take a look at the exposure you get from an x-ray - if this absurd crap makes you panicky, then surely you'll never use modern medicine again to diagnose an injury you can't see. Get a CT scan on your chest and it is equivalent to natural radiation exposure for 3 years - OH MY GOOOOOODD!!!!!!!! one one one

Generally speaking - if people are afraid of radiation they should hope to die ASAP, as they are exposed to it every single day.

paul writes at 09:47:49 01/10/09 - Comment #44274

I will definately never buy them. Thanks for the notice.

Words: 675 -- , NY

01/11/09 09:27 - 18ºF - ID#47364Hot Bean Dip

Here you go e:leetee and e:ladycroft. I'm glad you both enjoyed it. For any of you who may want to make this to serve to veggies make sure that you check the refried bean ingredients as they often have animal fat in them. Usually the fat free ones are OK. Recipe from

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

* 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 1 cup sour cream
* 2 (16 ounce) cans refried beans
* 1/2 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
* 5 drops hot pepper sauce
* 2 tablespoons dried parsley
* 1/4 cup chopped green onions
* 1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
* 1 (8 ounce) package shredded Monterey Jack cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, blend the cream cheese and sour cream. Mix in the refried beans, taco seasoning, hot pepper sauce, parsley, green onions, 1/2 the Cheddar cheese and 1/2 the Monterey Jack cheese. Transfer the mixture to an 8x12 inch baking dish. Top with remaining Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses.
3. Bake in the preheated oven 20 to 30 minutes, until cheese is slightly browned.

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Words: 172 -- , NY

01/19/09 13:54 - 17ºF - ID#47448Moochas Gracias Paul

Thank you so much for fixing my mess of a computer last night. I really thought that I was going to lose almost all of my digital photo files and that would have made me so sad. I am sorry you were so allergic to my rabbit dandered computer. I didn't even think of that happening and am so happy that I at least spent the time carefully vacuuming out the inside because I can't even imagine what you would be like if I didn't. I always thought you would be able to come over to my house as long as you didn't go in the rabbit room but now I know that you really never could come over. Anyways, I am most greatful. Thanks again!

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Words: 134 -- , NY

01/21/09 18:06 - 19ºF - ID#47477Barack and Michelle do what?

I lifted this off unzipped.net. Looks like I'll have to read this blog some more.

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Words: 33 -- , NY

01/27/09 22:04 - 20ºF - ID#47537Winter always turns to spring

In Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism there is a letter that Nichiren wrote to one of his followers that is titled "Winter Turns to Spring". It is a letter he wrote to Myoichi, a recent widow with children in order to encourage her. It really is such a beautiful letter but the reason I share it is just because we all need that little reminder that winter without fail turns to spring.

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Words: 73 -- , NY

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