Rocco Frank For 118Th District State Representative

Rocco J. Frank, Jr., CEO of ComputerFox Stores, a local computer repair chain, will announce his candidacy for State Representative for the 118th District of Connecticut, on Wednesday May 19th, during a Milford Independent Party Town Committee.

Frank is a registered Independent, and in 2010 will run for a second time. Frank says, “He is frustrated by the lack of state funds to our schools, their associated unfunded mandates, and the sustained loss of individual rights as justified by our corrupt Federal Government.” Frank pledges that he “will introduce and support 9th and 10th amendment legislation if the Federal government continues to federally tax Milford’s citizens and then give no services in return.”

Frank, who is no stranger to politics, wants to eliminate political corruption and start a truth movement. He aims to make the Milford community passionate about important issues again, and to increase voter turnout. He is also a strong Constitutionalist, believing whole-heartedly in protecting our nation’s most valued document and upholding the Bill of Rights to ensure the freedoms of all Americans.

Frank’s large Milford ComputerFox location will also serve as his political headquarters. The facility is located at 374 New Haven Ave. in Milford. All are welcome to stop in to meet with the candidate and to learn more about what he stands for. All are encouraged to visit the official website at www.roccofrank.com to check out his Biography, Political Agenda, see a schedule of events, to read or post blogs, watch important political videos, to obtain Contact Information and learn how to help with the Frank campaign.

The Frank campaign will begin with his speech at the start of the evening ITC meeting, which will run from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Wednesday May 19.

The Meeting is located at Citrus 56 Broad Street in Milford. Frank will be addressing the public on the viability of merging of the two High Schools and methods of procuring school construction dollars from the State of Connecticut. The meeting is free to attend.

Blogs Will Be Slowing Down

Due to the demanding schedule between now and the Nov.4th Election This blog board will be slowing down a bit, but to add a little update check the debate schedule in the below blogs from a few days ago. Please come to the forum if you are undecided and bring your questions.

Amann's 2008 Legislative Update Fails To Mention Concern Over The Cost of Electric.

Jim's legislative update was recently mailed out and everyone should have received it by now. To start let me mention the good news, I believe it was a remarkable improvement over the last one and it did address many points of concern here in town.

The flip side is that he made no mention of one of the biggest issues among those competing for his seat. This issue is the skyrocketing cost of electricity. Slossberg has figured this out, my competitors for the replacement of his seat have figured this out, the governor has figured this out, so why has Jim not mentioned a single word about what is clearly one of the biggest issues not only here in Milford, but in Connecticut and yes the entire country.

Having made a video addressing his agenda last year, I will only hope that Jim just forgot to mention this issue, that perhaps it is just a "snafu" an oversight or perhaps may I dare to call this some kind of conspiracy. Jim, come to think of it has not had any public position on the surging cost of electric, not in his last legislative update or his current one perhaps I do not read enough news and just missed his official protests. Should this be the case please let me know and I will write a retraction to this article, just e-mail me at frank@mycomputerfox.com or call me at (203) 247-4357.

Until then I must sadly once again protest Jim's leadership in taking a strong position on the energy company here in town and the DPUC allowing them increase after increase in cost to consumers. Certainly I would hope that Jim does not resort to what my opponent did "Condemn" the electric company. My personal belief is that condemning companies does not help consumers but does foster the kind of animosity and dysfunction that pits consumers against monopolies.

While I do not personally condemn UI, I certainly can empathize with their difficult position and as long as "we" consumers desire electric and electric service we are stuck with UI "love'em or hate'em." The right way in dealing with this problem is old fashioned "liaises faire" economics and open market competition. I believe the right thing to do is open Connecticut's energy markets and the new taxpayer built electrical grid to world wide competition and investment. Zoning all over Connecticut should be open to dedicating new sites to accommodate competing companies; Allowing the building on new power plants, not just peak plants. Anti-trust laws should bar UI from growing any further until a sufficient number of competition emerges in the market.

My current concern on this issue, (widely ignored by our current state representative) can easily be fixed by focusing on sites to build these energy companies, clean companies would be ideal, perhaps wind, solar, hydro, or something equally as good. It pains me greatly to see so many state resources focused on building movie studios, rather than dedicated sites to produce desperately needed cheap energy I hope Jim gets this message, he will need to if he wants to become a successful Governor some day.

Petty Thieves Hit Lexington Green

The wonderful development here in the North end of Milford, Lexington Green seems to always have its share of nuisances when it comes to petty criminals. This latest incident involved the theft of of two video game consoles and a purse from Oak Ridge Lane.

According to the victim the game console can be identified as belonging to her kids because she initialed everything. The game console bore the initials "J" and or "B" and can be clearly seen in large letters.

Her neighbor was also the victim of a stolen purse, a purse that was taken from the inside of her car parked in front of her house. These thefts at Lexington Green and its associated two developments are not uncommon. Just last year vandals damaged the gazebo, spray painted profanities on the rocks by the gazebo, and followed up with a purple "W' painted on the main entrance.

Those responsible for these juvenile delinquent acts almost always trace back to local kids who either live in the development, or have parties where outside kids come into the development sometimes under the influence of alcohol and do damage to association property.

In the last year accidents have also been up as two light posts and a fence was taken down by distracted, or drunk drivers who failed to adequately pay attention to the road. Should anyone know of any information that can assist in reporting the names of individuals involved in these criminal acts, they are urged to contact the local Milford Police department, or me the neighborhood watch dog at (203) 247-4357.

This 4th of July, Milford Kids and Adults Should Take Notice Of Suzuki's Invigorating Message

This young Girl, Severn Suzuki gave a speech at the UN Earth Summit in 1992. Her goal, was to tell the World that her generation deserves better than the broken policies of the past. Although little has changed today, and such speeches can bring tears to our eyes, we again need to be reminded of how important it is to turn off the television, stop being consumed by our Ipods, personal problems, etc. and make time for our ailing country.

Personally I believe that our great nation is governed by "We the People" the very words that the founders of America wrote as an immutable law to the governance of ourselves. The very reason our world has become dominated by corporate greed, special interests, and unconscionable corruption is because too many people are asleep. Too few Americans are up to the challenge of critical thinking, and even more have not even considered citizenship as an important priority.

While we do, however have a very high voter turnout in town, we do not have many leaders who are capable of solving or challenging the very culprits that have created the problems Suzuki speaks of...just hear the words of this very brave and admirable young lady. It has been said that she silenced the world for five minutes.

Oklahoma Fed up With Feds Threatens Withdrawal. Is Connecticut Next?

The Oklahoma legislature, needless to say is very upset with the Federal Government. In a historic vote this week the legislature voted 92-3 on a bill that promises to sanction and disobey Federal law. These are laws that Oklahomans' have called regressive and over a long period has resulted in substantial injury to the economic health of its states citizens and economy.

The House Joint Resolution introduced in the legislature passed by a wildly popular majority of 92 in favor and only 3 opposed. The document linked above is a must read as the United States starts to show signs of it's unraveling.

This case,sadly, is only one item in particular, even Mike Bloomberg, the current mayor of New York is fed up with the inequities of taxation and unjust apportionment of his city funds. While Bloomberg did not try to dump the Federal Government, he did take the initial step of trying to dump the state of New York. Bloomberg claims that his city residents lose over 11 billion in taxes to the state. These are taxes that are not apportioned back to the city and consequentially New York's Citizens are forced to pay more taxes for less services. Bloomberg indicated he would like to see New York City become a new state. Click HERE for a reference to this story.

The growing cry for secession is gaining in popularity among the states. Last time such an anomaly happened was during the Civil War. Other fringe movements on the table are (Click on link) Vermont also Hawaii, Alaska, and California are building movements.

Even the Lakota indians have grown tired of the lack of leadership from the federal government. The average Lakota indian only lives to age 44. and according to a statement by Phyllis Young, who helped organize the first international conference on indigenous rights in Geneva in 1977, told a news conference "we have 33 treaties with the United States that they have not lived by. They continue to take our land, our water, and our children,”

The question remains why do states want to withdraw? According to a 2004 Washington Times article "New York and California, Connecticut -- the states that are blue are all the states that are paying for the bulk of everything this government does, from ... Social Security to everything else, and the people in those states don't like what this government is doing."

My personal opinion is that with our country racking up debt to the tune of one million dollars a minute, our Congress and the President with the lowest approval ratings in history, it is just a matter of time before the entire economic and financial system collapses. When this will happen is hard to tell, but history makes it clear than when monetary systems are abused the system of exchange fails due to hyper-inflation.

As of now, the United States is still very strong, and even though an alarming rate of momentum for separation is happening, America is not expected to break apart any time in the near future. America is being tested in these final moments. A tandem crisis exists of poor leadership and economic policy. Should these problem remain unsolved in the next decade, than it will become entirely feasable that conditions fostering the break up of America will develop. The Federal Government needs to stop continuing its loss of credibility, it must responsibly fund the countries obligations. Failure to do so will result in the states seperating to have greater responsibility over their affairs.

Our Fiat monetary system of printing money and issuing credit not only indebts every American but it is rapidly bringing America to bankruptcy. This year will be the year that America racks up 10 trillion dollars in debt! To put this into perspective, that is enough money to purchase all the property in 10 states at market value. It is no wonder the states are looking to bail out before the "roof caves in." When and if that happens you will soon see a large problem become your personal problem, it is time for everyone to "wake up."

Krazy City Makes Its Debut at the Milford Post Mall

Walking through the Post Mall some months ago I was one of the many curious onlookers into the row of spaces next to Sears that were under construction by some megalith. My Middle School aged stepdaughter, who was even more curious than I, later filled me in with the details.

The local kids at school were all talking about Krazy City the new Kids only spot aimed at entertaining our town youth within the confines of the mall. My feeling was one of excitement, as I now had a place to affordably leave my kids while I engaged in my typical hunter gatherer endeavors at the adult stores in the mall that she often decries as boring.

Last week I attended the new Krazy City with my youngest nephew who soon became as entranced with the Deal or No Deal game, as well as the adults who were with us. The place is absolutely enormous, with a roller coaster in the window, bumper cars to the rear an indoor Ultraviolet Golf Course and scores of games of all types and varieties.

Kids have the opportunity to win tickets that are redeemable for prizes, and when it comes time to take a break food is served in the adjacent cafeteria that bears a larger than life photographic mural of historic Baltimore.

There is one person expected to be disappointed with the new kids establishment and that is the longtime owners of Smiles on the Post Road in Milford whom after 20 plus years now have a formidable competitor of which to entertain the town kids who according to the new census are in decline in the coming years.

Our Kids' Test Scores, and Local Property Taxes

Not very often do we think about things like the Federal No Child Left Behind act, or our states share of the ED or the Federal Education Disbursement funding to local states and cities.

Some believe that NCLB was one of the crowning achievements of the Bush administration back in 2001, it passed with an impressive majority in both the U.S. House of Representative and the U.S. Senate and is viewed as a bi-partisan success. But shortly after it passed we had somewhat of a local and state revolt here in Connecticut.

The first to come out against it was Connecticut Education Commissioner Betty Sternberg, she began arguing that its testing requirements are too expensive and that taxpayers “won’t learn anything new about our schools by giving these extra tests.” Many parents seem to agree.

Attorney General Blumenthal was also given the blessing of the Connecticut state legislature to actually go and sue the Federal Government so as to bring relief to the demands of many schools in CT. Some cited that this model does not work because our state schools do not represent a common demographic image of what other states have in America.

It is common knowledge that our schools perform much more poorly in the big cities where poverty is common, and incredibly above average in the wealthy suburbs. Towns like Wilton, Greenwich and Westport are able to maintain lower property taxes, and also receive the all the benefits of the NCLB program as well.

Under the NCLB law, cities receive some early benefit in funding and then the big schools soon get penalized for failing to meet the expectations of the law. This impedes poor performing schools ability to recover the ED funding. The law also works in tandem with the big city problems of tax delinquencies, low real estate values and dwindling school revenues. Ultimately big cities end up having difficulty meeting even the most basic educational objectives while the wealthy suburbs enjoy a disproportionate share of the federal funding and higher valued real estate.

This issue was recently debated in Hartford, and many municipal mayors are directly attributing the decline in ED funding to an ever growing demand on property owners to fill those education budget shortfalls. These are resulting in taxpayer protests, high foreclosure rates, and statewide teacher layoffs. Layoffs that work to create even more of a downward spiral, because cities work hard to find those teachers that qualify under the NCLB law only to later put the ED funding and students in jeopardy by contributing to the very factors that cause students to fail; their good teachers to be layed off.

NCLB was revised in 2007 and those changes are still uncertain as to whether or not anything will improve. But in the meantime Connecticut is not alone in this issue because many other states are following CT in their pursuit of a fair law that balances the education budget with taxpayers ability to pay. Education in Connecticut has also been further complicated with more legal mandates from Sheff Vs. O'Neill, and all its associated expensive educational mandates.

Advocates of NCLB have pointed out that since the inception of NCLB many student scores have improved, and these are some of the results according to Wikipedia.

Improved test scores (NAEP)

The Department of Education points to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results, released in July 2005, showing improved student achievement in reading and math:[12]

-More progress was made by nine-year-olds in reading in the last five years than in the previous 28 years combined.

-America's nine-year-olds posted the best scores in reading (since 1971) and math (since 1973) in the history of the report.

-America's 13-year-olds earned the highest math scores the test ever recorded.

-Reading and math scores for African American and Hispanic nine-year-olds reached an all-time high.

-Achievement gaps in reading and math between white and African American nine-year-olds and between white and Hispanic nine-year-olds are at an all-time low.

-Forty-three states and the District of Columbia either improved academically or held steady in all categories (fourth- and eighth-grade reading and fourth- and eighth-grade math).

Further reference from the American Conservative:


One last point to this article is that every parent can help our local school budget by getting involved with the school and learning how they can work with their children to improve our towns NAEP test scores. This is the best we can do since our law suit challenging NCLB has been dismissed.

Hollywood East CEO A SCAM artist!!

Reprint from CTBLUE

Quality Journalism this morning at the Day. Yes, I know I don't say that often, but you have to give the devil its due.

I refer to this morning's article, One Small Lot, One Big Mess, about Joe Gentile, the Utopia developer and involved in CT's Hollywood East. The story involves a scam in which he's involved in New York, where he is apparently using some fairly complicated legal shenanigans to bilk some "partners" out of their share of a real estate deal. One device he's using is a mechanic's lien filed on the property by a construction company, with whom he's apparently in league. By foreclosing on the lien he can wrest ownership of the real estate from his minority partners. It's a fairly complicated deal, but it seems clear from the story that Gentile is a slippery guy, and one whom it would be wise to keep under close surveillance, assuming you have the misfortune of getting involved with the guy.

He does it by doing business through various corporations, each of which appears to be set up to handle only one phase of the transaction. Besides making it difficult to prove the elements of the scheme, the tangle of corporations provide at least a first line of defense for Gentile. It is not easy to establish the personal liability of a guy who surrounds himself with corporations.

The Day's story gives us at least a glimmer of insight into the nature of the scam Gentile is pulling in Preston:

Gentile said the lawsuits will prove him right, and once that happens, he will do what he always does: Finish the job.

“The ironic part of this whole thing is, I became a huge winner,” he said. “West 23rd Street is the hottest block in New York City. I'm in a good place, and I have a lot of options.”

Those options, he said, include selling the property at a significant profit or going ahead with a condo complex.

“Am I wrong because I'm smart and it worked out for me?” he said. “Maybe God was looking down on me for doing the right thing.”

The best speculation I've ever heard about Gentile posits that once he gets his legal hands on the property he will use his newly acquired legal position to enable him to back out of his grandiose committments and take a profit out of the property and run. That appears to be what he is set to do in New York: steal someone else's property, milk as much money out of the project as he can, and then turn it over for a huge profit.

Milford Parent Disappointed With Event Cancellation

The following letter was submitted to my blog this morning. It speaks to the feelings of many parents not just this one instance. Letter sent via E-Mail to Superintendent Polansky.

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Dear Mr. Polansky,

I am sending this email out of sheer disappointment and frustration. My daughter is an 8th grader at Harborside Middle School. There have been at least 2 recent situations that I have found disturbing and totally unacceptable. The first is the cancellation of the 8th grade lock-in due to a “lack of chaperones”. I have spoken with many other parents who feel the same way about how this was handled. The automated phone calls from the school are a great way to communicate DIRECTLY with parents. This system was used but only to cancel the event rather than to alert parents ahead of time that unless a specific number of parents came forward to volunteer that the event would need to be cancelled. This was very upsetting to me as this event was to make up for the 8th grade trip to Washington DC. that was also canceled.

The second unacceptable situation is that I received a letter on April 4th, dated April 1st congratulating my daughter, Lea, as her art work was chosen to be on display at the Parsons Complex. The letter was an invitation to a reception with refreshments etc. I opened my mail that evening (8:15pm) only to find that the event was the day before!!! I was so angry. How is it that if it this opening reception was to honor the accomplishment of these select students, that this delay in informing parents could happen? Lea was so upset. It was a week of disappointment that could have and should have been avoided. I have spoken with both the Dean and the secretary at Harboside. I have heard all of the reasons and excuses. I am not satisfied.

I am concerned that these 2 very recent situations have brought down kid’s spirits and have lessened their faith in the adults they have trusted and counted on. I would like to know what the Board of Education will do to ensure that this will not be the norm for Milford Public Education.

I would appreciate a prompt response as my blood has been boiling.

Sincerely,
Terri Finch

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Walmart Targed On CT Post Blogs And TV

Walmart recently was scolded for conduct that even the most aggressive people must of found outright cruel. Walmart is today's topic because they just recently opened up in town and already have created a fuss on the Topix portion of the CT Post Blog board.

Accusations have been flying amok, one in particular is their reputation for lying. The current theme directs viewers to a website called walmartthemovie.com. The website features a documentary that you must pay for, however it is free to watch on google videos. Click HERE.

The Walmart phenomenon, was particularly disconcerting to me because recently a blogger accused Mayor Richetelli of making an agreement abating "three years property taxes" for the positive effects of their presence here in Milford.

This seemed downright odd and suspicious, so this morning I contacted the town Assessors office and spoke with Dan Thomas who called the allegation "false" that no one is exempt from property taxes and that included Walmart. He said the town only offers two exemptions for property taxes. One is "enterprise zones" like in Bridgeport, the other exemption is for "pollution control equipment" like that found in heavy industry.

In either case, the town or its budget has not been impacted, and the remarks directed at our mayor are "baseless" and "False." One thing the bloggers did succeed in doing is bringing this news clip to my attention, and without a doubt that is shamefully true. The Walmart Movie is disheartening, but one thing I do recommend and that is at the very least you take a good long and hard look at Walmart. Then decide if you think they are good for our community.

Many towns have "booted" them outright, because they provide inadequate security, poor health care benefits, oppose unions, and pay low wages. Walmart and its owners are among the wealthiest people in the world, and as such, the inequities of management and labor are always at odds. They also have become the focus of the Presidential race as Hillary Clinton was openly slandered for her past employement in their legal offices.

This is the video that I think is a modicum of evidence causing a firestorm of debate. Watch it and decide for yourself.



To end this blog on a good note, the news is that all the public pressure appears to be working because some concession was reached for the Shank family.

A Truly Uplifting Story

Today I had a completely different story prepared, however I received this E-Mail from a my devoted partner Terri it has been passed along several times so we do not know who wrote it. It had the result of touching both our hearts and wish to share it with you all.

Two Choices

What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: "When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?"

The audience was stilled by the query.

The father continued. "I believe, that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child."

Then he told the following story:

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they'll let me play?" Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, "We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our tea m and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning."

Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.

At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.

However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.

Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to first!" Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.

Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!" Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.

A ll were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay"

Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run to third! Shay, run to third!"

As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, "Shay, run home! Run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.

"That day", said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world".

Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

AND NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.

If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the "appropriate" ones to receive this type of message. Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the "natural order of things." So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process? < BR>
A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.

Happy Easter And Good Friday

Today is a holiday that many Catholics and Christians celebrate. As a Roman Catholic myself most everyone in my extended family celebrates Good Friday. Today's blog is to explain to those of you exactly what Good Friday is all about. So I will begin with the official Catholic version of what this day means to me.

To begin, church and prayer are always expected, and on this very important day Christians and Catholics unite to observe the anniversary of Jesus Christ's crucifixion. It is in memory, and belief that Jesus died for the salvation of mankind. While the entire history of the religious ritual, and observation is deep rooted this link will explain in great detail the entire history and meaning behind the crucifixion.

The most important part of the crucifixion is the celebration of Easter or the "Rebirth" of Christ who is said to have risen after he died. Christians and Catholics believe that Christ will come again and also celebrate his rebirth in one of the most important masses of the year.

To most of us Easter will always be remembered as a family day with Egg painting, crafts, the Easter Bunny and fun events. For me, the best part of Easter is watching my kids run around the yard looking for hidden eggs, and candy. As a kid I remember My parents hiding their loose change in plastic egg containers. We would later hear that the neighborhood kids were still finding surprises months later.

As an adult, one thing always did puzzle me, and that is the idea of an Easter Bunny, to me this is something akin to Santa Claus, while many may know the story of Santa and Saint Nick where exactly did the Easter Bunny come from?

Today I asked myself that very question and learned that the Easter bunny is a symbol of fertility representing rebirth, as rabbits are born in the spring. The Egg on the other hand has more in common with a chicken than a rabbit but they were also considered fertility symbols. Historically Catholics could not eat Eggs due to lent (a fasting period) and at the conclusion of lent (Easter) there was plenty of eggs to be had. This is my take on it, but be sure to share your views as well as I am no expert on the historical evolution of these types of traditions, however they do seem entirely emblematic. Happy Easter to all of you!

Daylight Savings Time Spring Ahead

Remember to set your clocks to the proper time. There is nothing more frustrating than looking at your watch and realizing it is yesterday's time and not the time you think. For anyone out there wondering what the history of daylight savings time is about click HERE for details.

Frills on U.S. Flags Art Imitating Life?

Noticed a rather odd thing last time I was in the state Court House. What I saw was a U.S. flag being displayed with three sides marked with Gold frills. Certainly we do not fly U.S. flags with "Gold Frills" so why do we have them in our public buildings, and most often in places where authoritative persons hold office?

My curiosity got the better of me and I asked a few people who worked for government and the most common answer I got was that they were prettier than ordinary flags and looked nicer with the frill. Some said they had no idea why, but the general consensus was that they are just more artistically pretty and nicer to look at and there is really nothing more to it than that.

The answer did not satisfy me, so I asked some friends of mine in the military. They, of course, know all about flags as they are taught their uses in every ceremony. There are "Storm" flags, "Parade" flags, "Garrison" Flags. Flags that are used for covering a the tomb of a fallen soldier etc..

This made me feel like I was on the right track and the answer came back to me that the flag with a "Frill" around it is known to the military as an "Admiral" flag or one used by military service persons at sea on a U.S. Ship or during war.

Here is the actual description from a military manual:

"Pursuant to U.S.C. Chapter 1, 2, and 3; Executive Order No. 10834, August 21, 1959, 24 F.R. 6865, a military flag is a flag that resembles the regular flag of the United States, except that it has a YELLOW FRINGE, bordered on three sides. The President of the United states designates this deviation from the regular flag, by executive order, and in his capacity as COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF of the Armed forces."

With this mentioned I must ask everyone in public office buildings. Are we part of a militarized society? Or is your "frilled" flag just pretty art?

Codex Alimentarius and Your Food

Codex Alimentarius is the Latin word for "food code" and was established in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Association contained within the World Health Organization and the United Nations.

The scope and purpose of the food Codex is to resolve issues pertaining to food safety, these include residual and types of pesticide, meats from animals that may be diseased, unsafe food additives, labeling procedures and many other aspects. In short the "Food Codex" controls everything we eat except it be home grown.

This is especially important to know because the scope of responsibility and level of efficacy is Germain to every American who buys their food from a grocery store. Most of us blindly trust that our interests are being accurately represented and that our food is safe, while others are not entirely content with some of the rules.

One case in point is the new law requiring minerals, herbs, vitamin supplements to be labeled and dosed according to the new codex rules. Many countries who see these items as medicinal in nature fear that their control and regulation, under the authority of the 2008 Codex commission held in Jan. of 2005, has crossed the line from food into medicine. The video excerpt below is from one such person who has added a legal explaination and is worth watching and taking notice of, especially since so many people use the items under review for regulation as medicine.

This change will have a far reaching effect on everyone from Homeopathic services, to body builders, to the allowed nutritional contents labeled on our foods such as cereals. Enjoy the video, and as always feel free to add your opinions.

Local Retailers Face Hardship in 2008

The year is coming to a close and the Federal Reserve has indicated there is a good chance of a National Recession. The numbers on the economy continue to disappoint economists with the poorest performing sectors being in Banking and Real Estate. Retailers also saw a disappointing holiday season as they indicated their sales were off.

Locally here in Milford I have noticed a more obvious growth of retail vacancies in plazas like the one here on Cherry Street where half the plaza appears up for lease. Milford has a very large retail base many of it from national chains like the new Lowes, Sears, and large chain stores. Should shoppers continue to curb spending into the the future the dynamic of our retail markets could dramatically change as major retail corporations rethink ways to contain losses and keep their finances on track.

Cramer from "Mad Money" the popular CNBC Cable show said that he is not concerned about all the dismal economic news, he believes that none of it is Germain in the face of Strong employment numbers throughout the country. He has no intention of sounding the "alarm" on the economy but said should the employment numbers rise to high un-employment in addition to the slumping economy, than his entire optimistic opinion will dramatically change to one of serious concern.

The current sentiment is that the economy will continue to slump into 2008, the Fed will continue to take corrective measures, and the dollar may very well continue its decline as the U.S. struggles to maintain control over the health of and continuity of our debt mired nation.

Christmas Santa Vs. Jesus.

This year while sending out my Christmas cards I carefully thought to find ones that said "Happy Holidays" as Christmas means different things to different people. We are a culture of diversity celebrating all aspects of tradition across all religions. These include Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and some I cannot even think of.

We try not to be insensitive to others, but in my search for the meaning of the holiday I asked several kids about what it was we celebrate on Christmas and many of them had not a clue. The only thing they had on their minds was Santa, the holiday carols, gifts, and decorations.

Quite sadly in the documentary "Supersize Me" more kids can positively ID Ronald McDonald than Jesus Christ, and of course the clouded meaning of the holiday does not stop there. Those who are vocal about Dec. 25Th being the celebration of the birth of Christ are told to take it out of school, city hall, and in essence to pack up any mangers and put them in the privacy of your own home. Those who are courageous enough to display mangers for public display are closely guarding them, especially after several vandals have damaged mangers at churches.

This year I must ask all of you who celebrate Christmas whose birthday do you think it is?

Bush & Clinton Smuggled Drugs & Weapons.

This video is one that has resurfaced recently due to the Presidential campaign heating up to a primary win for Hillary on the Democratic side.

Personally I do not believe that there is any difference between political parties, but I do believe that the Television and controlled media choose the winners for us. They only spotlight and praise the candidates of their choice, and then promote information that sells the general public on their agenda issues and not your best interests. This was eloquently stated in "Operation Mocking Bird" now available to us all through the Freedom of Information Act.

Just last night I was thinking that getting an informed political opinion on a presidential candidate is about as unbiased as expecting the Disney Channel to do an objective "critique" of Mickey Mouse. The Television lately feels more like a instrument of political mass hypnosis than anything else.

The interview below should hopefully convince you of what Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Venture said about the American Presidency; That is we have a dual monarchy that has existed for nearly 20 years or more. This Dual Monarchy started with Bush Jr. for 8 years, Clinton for 8 years, Bush Sr. for 4 years, Bush Sr. as V.P. before that.

With Hillary (Bush) Clinton in the White House we could have another 8 years of the Dual Monarchy of the Clinton and Bush's. Hopefully you will find this video sobering enough to vote for a new leader, rather than 4-8 more years of the same old thing.

Myleftnutmeg.com Censors Opinions

MyLeftnutmeg.com has been engaged in routinely censoring objectionable ideas from bloggers. I have personally witnessed diaries and comments dissappearing on a regular basis. I believe that their deleberate censorship is the result of everybody and everything that is not in line with their "Progressive" agenda, an agenda decided upon by the "Progressives" in charge.

A myleftnutmeg.com censorship case in point is the article below, featuring a Mexican shop owner breaking our Flag laws. The shop owner displayed their countries flag above the U.S. flag in a display of supreme nationalism.

Without a doubt censoring this article is within their Right to do, as it is mine to take my issues elsewhere. I believe that the suppression of ideas and blogs on a Blog board that calls itself "Progressive" is infact deceptive advertising. Their blogging policy is simply marked with a distasteful expletive "Don't be an A** H***." This cleverly masked deception trivializes the intent and purpose of their blog board and misleads posters and bloggers into thinking that their thoughts are welcome.

From My personal experience such censorships of dissenting views and practices only serve to blindfold the general public, a tactic that is about as progressive as Adolph Hitler's newspaper censorship during Nazi Germany. The censorship only sought to spread the "Progressive" agenda of the Nazi party. This practice has been repeated throughout history with Communist Russia, and yes folks Saddam Hussein Did it as well.

This note is to serve as an informative bit of commentary to any would be visitors of MyLeftNutmeg.com that if your opinions are not "Progressive" by authoity and opinion of the "Left Thinking" persons controlling that site your posts and blogs will be immediatetly deleted.

I would recommend viewing my own blog to express your opinions at www.rfrank118.com, the Ctpost.com board, or topix.com. There are numerous sites that do not censor, these are just my personal favorites.

Rocco J. Frank Jr.