I encourage comments and criticism on this blog and of 550+ comments, I have deleted only one comment for inappropriate content. I think that’s pretty good and it supports my view that opposing viewpoints to mine should not be silenced.
That said, I’m not pleased with the tone of some of the recent comments as they don’t contribute to the debate in a meaningful way. Now you may ask “What does that mean?”. I’m not sure exactly as I feel very much on a slippery slope to define a standard for comments. I can only ask that we all raise our game for a higher standard of dialog on the substance of the issues.
I want to keep the deletions as a rarity than a matter of course. Let’s all raise our game.
Thanks
June 27, 2009 at 8:48 am
I apologize for my comment that offended everyone on this blog.I only regret I can’t say it to her face as she is not available because of her keeping tabs on these sights all day.$860,000 folks,you needn’t worry about my comments but rather LISTEN to hers very carefully for the remainder of her dead administration.I’ll be patient and wait for her new plan. Good Luck bloggers!
June 27, 2009 at 11:44 am
F. George- Mayor is only 1 vote out of 7 in the budget process. So your questions on spending should be addressed to the entire Council, the mayor and the Controller. Her plans on economic development will bring in tax revenues to the City. The Mayor is at City Hall more than forty hours a week. A simple phone call to her office can result in an appointment.
But since you are advocating making rude sexist remarks to her face perhaps sitting on your computer may be your best course of action.
June 27, 2009 at 12:11 pm
You are the problem with this country young lady,do you suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome as well?Has typing on a keyboard destroyed your ability to EARN a living?
She doesn’t belong in office.Quit provoking me and my opinions might sway in a sympathetical fashion to better suit you.
Some folks just feel the need to opine just to vent. FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Might I suggest you petition to have me removed from this blog.
June 27, 2009 at 12:52 pm
F. George- Oh forgive me. Is that what you are doing is venting. I was just discussing the issues, which is the intent of this blog. Just let me suggest 2 items that may make you feel better.
1. Freedom of Speech is part of the 1st amendment of the constitution and limits government’s ability to restrict free speech. So since this is a private blog you don’t have to raise your 1st amendment protections. I will not petition for you to be removed from any blog. I find your rants quite entertaining.
2. If you want the Mayor out of office you can in November 2011 cast a ballot reflecting your feelings.
I disagree with you, this is a GREAT COUNTRY that we live in.
June 28, 2009 at 11:58 am
Is socialism OK with you?
June 28, 2009 at 4:39 pm
The U.S.A. is not a Socialist Country. It is a Free Country. You should learn to respect this great Country of ours.
June 29, 2009 at 5:00 pm
As for #2. you could attempt to have her recalled. Be careful what you wish for though, look what our state is stuck with after Spitzer flew the chicken coop or should I say henhouse! We can only hope that the candidates that are elected to the city council in November will not be the mayors yespeople…(please take notice I did not say yesmen)
Checks and balances are vital to any govt.
June 29, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Gov David Paterson has shown a tremendous amount of courage since assuming the duties of Governor. He has taken on the most powerful special interest groups, thus resulting in an abundance of ridicule. Paterson is trying to get the New York State Senate to do their job, not being afraid to take on that body. I wish more politicians would have the courage that Governor Paterson has exhibited. Unfortunately in the end he may lose his next election or not run again. His plight will qualify for Kennedy’s future addition of profiles in courage. Job well done Governor.
June 27, 2009 at 4:02 pm
The best thing about your freedom of speech is that others have that same freedom to respond to your empty, vile, uneducated comments.
June 28, 2009 at 12:00 pm
I graduated from RPI,where were you educated? FMCC?
June 28, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Obvious troll. This guy needs to be banned,
June 28, 2009 at 12:15 pm
I did not say you were without education, I said your comments were uneducated. There is a difference, I am suprised you did not learn that at RPI.
June 28, 2009 at 12:16 pm
typing too fast…*surprised
June 28, 2009 at 4:51 pm
So is F. George NOW attacking our local community college FMCC? FMCC is a great school that offers excellent educational opportunities to our county residents. FMCC locating satellite classes in down town Amsterdam is great for our City. FMCC enjoys great support from our City residents.
June 28, 2009 at 6:49 am
It is very obvious that you think like a caveman. Woman, in my opinion, have much more common sense than any man I know. It is apparant that you feel women in general should be barefoot and pregnant and cooking you dinner. Get with it old man! This is MY freedom of speech.
June 28, 2009 at 12:03 pm
I agree with you,women use more common sense than men.What do you think is holding back OUR Mayor? Men?
June 28, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Yes, with one female council woman, the men are holding our mayor back!
June 29, 2009 at 8:29 am
I wish we had an ALL WOMEN council…I wonder how fast this city would get cleaned up in every area. Very fast, I’m sure. We don’t sit around and argue over every little thing. Women get things done! I am voting for any women who runs for Third Ward even if she is not in my party. GIRL POWER!!!
June 28, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Now that you mention “private blog”…what do you consider the Amsterdancin site…public or private? When contacting the mayors office regarding official city business you should not be directed to her “private blog” for answers. This is wrong. Her site is nothing more than an infommercial for her views, accompanied by a long list of praise Ann Thane comments, because she screens the comments and only post those in her favor.
awish- I have witnessed the mayors insane actions at city council meetings…we should be happy that the men are holding her back, what is the other choice… restraints?
June 28, 2009 at 9:34 pm
I consider it her private blog as it reflects her views and she owns the authorship of the blog posts. As such she can define her policies as she sees fit much like any publisher. I do not view her blog as the ‘official’ blog of the city; if I felt it were represented that way– which I do not– I would be opposed. I agree with you; the blog represents the views of the mayor and readers should understand it as such– for better or for worse. I’m not sure how to answer the ‘referral’ question: I could see cases where it would be reasonable and other cases that would not be.
That said, I think the issue of comment policy is important and subject to discussion and criticism. I’ve tried to be clear with my policy and hopefully others will be clear. But like anything: caveat emptor.
June 28, 2009 at 10:03 pm
I’m hard-pressed to think of a public blog in the pure sense of the term. Or a public publication for that matter.
June 29, 2009 at 2:59 pm
let me explain…When I contacted the mayors office regarding the venue of the Chalmers meeting, I was directed by her assistant to go to her site for the details. When I got to the site thinking (at that time)she may have set a site up since the official city site was not yet in place…it was a complete infommercial with her opinions, and long list of posts commenting on how wonderful the she is and how people are unpatriotic and do not have love for the city if they do not support her on this project. I feel that crossed the line!
By the way…I agree sex, race, and religion should not be a factor when it comes to voting OR opining!
June 29, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Ilovethesun- Can you direct me to the posting that stated someone was unpatriotic if they did not agree with a certain agenda. Thanks.
June 28, 2009 at 10:44 pm
The Mayor has done a great job while in office. She will not allow the naysayers to stop her from promoting economic development. Water deal with Town of Amsterdam will generate commercial growth, Water deal with Town of Florida will generate industrial growth. Her plans to develop Chalmers and Esquire will generate population growth as well as expanding our tax base. She brought FMCC to downtown Amsterdam to expand educational opportunities. City Hall is a Professional place to do business and now a U.S. Congressman is paying rent to the City to better serve the City’s constituents. With Luther Forrest developing its computer chip factory and SUNY Albany the education center of the World in Nanotech the City of Amsterdam is primed to recruit spinoff companies and to join the Capital District in growth. The Mayor has done a superb job in promoting this City. The Mayor is not distracted by the negative comments. She is a positive thinker that Amsterdam desperately needs.
June 28, 2009 at 10:59 pm
You must be watching a different meeting than I am. The lunacy is 80% Bill Wills and 20% Joe Isabel. The others seem to be basically sane most of the time.
I could see why you have difficulty though, it appears you do not have a strangle hold on rationality. Your dislike for the Mayor is apparently boundless. You must believe you have been wronged personally by the Mayor in some way. Why don’t you disclose your true motivations
June 29, 2009 at 6:04 am
#1 I am so glad that I can read Mayor Thane’s blog, The Recorder spews lies.
#2 Socialism? Where did that come from F. George?
June 29, 2009 at 8:11 am
Yes, socialism was raised by F George.
June 29, 2009 at 3:15 pm
This is a comment on the mayors blog…made by you awish4amsterdam…talk about spewing, this sounds like an absolute threat to spew someones personal business, yet she posts this nonsense but refuses to post comments made that are not in her favor.(and has the nerve to say that if people feel ugly go somewhere else. Can you get any uglier than your attached post?) To think that she allows her assistant to refer people to her blog for information regarding the city or official city business is amazing. Imagine what outsiders must think if they are referred to this site.
“Some people spin hate and lies, you are truthful and positive and they can not stand it. Please remember “they” are the minority. Many of them have such dirty backgrounds it amazes me that they can even show their faces in public. They do not just have dirty backgrounds, they are still filthy in the present. They are not playing by the rules of being good citizens…I dare say good humans. They are sick and twisted slipping in their own drool as they salivate for your job.
You have to ignore them and keep pushing through, doing your job the best that you can each and every day. Don’t let them distract your good works because then they win. Soon the lies they spin as well as some of their personal business that they should be taking care of will be revealed.”
June 29, 2009 at 8:21 pm
I am refusing to respond to the “spin” to show respect for the administrator of this blog, for which I have the deepest respect. Also, I think it is important to maintain the blog’s integrity which I have so admired over so many months.
June 29, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Huh, exactly, which means you have no response … If you cannot post an intelligent response with out disrespecting flippin, I don’t think I would want to waste my time reading it thank you! By the way no spin here my dear, just plain hard facts. All I did was copy and paste your exact post and mentioned the fact that I feel you have nerve talking about spewing anything. It is okay for you to spew but no one else…just you and if anyone else does…they are bad, sexist etc. No one has attacked the mayors personal issues,no one cares about her home life, etc. My posts are purely based on my political views. What she does at home or her own personal business issues or the personal business issues or home life of any candidate or council person should be left out.
June 29, 2009 at 12:43 am
ilovethesun wrote:
“we should be happy that the men are holding her back, what is the other choice”
Another sexist comment from a critic of the Mayor.
June 29, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Please…let me rephrase that “we should be lucky that “anyone” is holding her back”…I do not form my opinion about “anyone” based on gender, race or religion! PLEASE BE VERY CLEAR ON THIS! Norman, I am sorry that you took it that way.
June 29, 2009 at 9:06 am
Flippin is asking everyone to raise our game and all I’m reading about are extremely sexist comments posted by Karen Hetrick that bashes all men and states that “ALL women have more common sense than men.”
It is echoed by AWish4Amsterdam. A Wish4Amsterdam’s act is growing tired with her playing the “blame the media” game.
You have a few nut cases in here who bash women and yet these two characters (Karen Hetrick and AWish4Amsterdam) consistently put all men into that group.
All men are not alike, just like all women are not alike.
We do not run around screaming MAN POWER!
It’s disrespecting to women.
June 29, 2009 at 10:05 am
Well said. Moving the game to other court does not raise the game.
June 29, 2009 at 3:12 pm
A better Amsterdam- Those sexist comments raised by F. George was extremely vulger and way off base. It was Ilovethesun who bashed the media. Women has not normally been represented in politics so GIRL POWER raised by K. Hetrick is simply a show of support for women in politics. Women running for election and winning in Amsterdam politics is a good sign. My comments do not in any way is intended to attack any man. It is intended to acknowledge a new trend in our community that should be supported.
June 30, 2009 at 8:12 am
Karen Hetrick is a woman’s worst nightmare.
Remember, our mayor needs the votes of men to get re-elected and this push for GIRL POWER and the elimination of men will not help broaden her appeal.
I can’t believe it’s 2009 and we’re talking about this. I work in an office filled with woman in what was once a male-dominated industry and we get along great.
It’s people like Karen Hetrick and Alex that hurts the cause.
GIRL POWER is not a show of support for women in politics. It has become a form of male bashing and is also filled with deep-rooted hatred.
To group us all into being a bunch of F.Georges really does hurt your cause.
Most men, including myself don’t think like him.
As for the media bashing and I repeat myself again for you Alex, it was AWish4Amsterdam who continues to bash play the “blame the media game” Her “Recorder spews lies” comment is a perfect example. Again, it gets tiring.
Flippin has asked you all to raise your game.
Well it appears the content here is going back in time – perhaps to the 1950s.
June 30, 2009 at 8:45 am
A better Amsterdam- I applauded the fact that women are beginning to take a central role in politics in our community. You said that where you work what was once a male dominated office is now filled with women. Those are very similar statements, but somehow you interpret my comment as being negative. Bashing K. Hetrick doesn’t add to the political debate. We can all agree that F.George comments were out of line and move on. Simply for the fact that women are advancing in a particular field doesn’t take away from the excellent contributions made by men. This should be a battle of ideas. Amsterdam will succeed if we all simply work together.
June 29, 2009 at 7:57 pm
I am merely making the same type of remark to F George to offset his comments about our Mayor, who everyone knows is a woman. He has been nothing but rude when talking about her and cannot see past her being a woman. She is our Mayor and deserves much more respect than he gives her. Bra burning happened a long time ago! Some men seem to be afraid to give women too much power and authority. I say, give her the same opportunity as any other Mayor in that office. She has a very creative vision for our city. The past generations of Mayors (who just happened to all be men) drove our once beautiful city to where it is today. The worst being the mayor who tore down our beautiful and most historic downtown to put up a pointless mall. If this never happened, we would all have jobs in the “city” of Amsterdam. Like many of us did when there were stores, movie theatres, restaurants, etc…Give her some respect and let her try new things her way to see what happens. It certainly couldn’t hurt anymore than all past administrations in this city. And I am not a “character”, I am a woman. And I do support any woman who is running for the council. I am tired of watching these old men who already had their chance and think they know it all to keep on doing nothing for our city. We are strong, we are women.
June 29, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Man or woman, who gives cares. That is so ridiculous. It is women like you that create problems for women in the workforce… crying sexism at times it doesn’t even exist. Just stop you make it worse for when sexism is the truly the issue…it is like crying wolf.
June 30, 2009 at 6:12 am
I’m sorry for sounding “sexist”, but if you haven’t noticed, it is men (?) like you who are holding women back in politics and in the workforce. It does exist, for example, on another topic on flippin’s blog, F George said the Mayors “Prom” is over. That is truly a sexist and immature remark and completely uncalled for. Men like this should grow up and give up. Women have every opportunity to run for the same positions as any man. All I ask is that you give her the same opportunity to run our city as she sees fit. If Amsterdam has so many problems today, let us place much of the blame on the past Emanuele administration. What did they do to make our city any better? Fight over a dump for 4 years? I didn’t see any difference in this city when they were in office. I don’t remember them fixing fire hydrants, codes violations, lowering taxes and on and on. And I believe the council was an all man team.
June 30, 2009 at 6:53 am
Karen,
You are telling me that I (a female) am making sexist comments about other females. I tried to explain to you the problems with creating a sexist issue where one does not exist…and you are so tunnel visioned that your response was accusing me of being sexist when you have no clue what gender I am. I have NEVER used sex, race or religion as a base for any of my political decisions. May I suggest you do the same. One person made the comments…who cares what he thinks, let it go, be a strong woman and rise above.
June 30, 2009 at 9:58 am
Thank you. I am over my rants. I think that we should at least give our Mayor a fair shake. She may not be perfect, what politician is? We are all human. I very much disliked F Georges remarks and insults and pretty much calling the mayor a prom queen. I admit I may have gone a bit overboard on the sexist thing, but some people know just how to pull my strings. Forgive me for my insults pertaining to some men (not all). I would like our city to prosper and flourish and I would like it to be during this administration. How much longer can we wait to bring our city back? Give Mayor Thane a chance. And give Peace a chance. “Girl Power” has nothing to do with hating men, I say this so more women will think about running for public office in any capacity. Until recently our common council has mainly been made up of all men. Let us try a different approach for once. What could it hurt? The damages have already happened a long time ago. The end.
BTW…I am not a woman’s worst nightmare, I am her friend, and loyal supporter. I also am not a man hater, I just think men have had their time in office, lets try something else for a while.
June 29, 2009 at 11:30 am
[...] “The Judge Report.” You can follow the comment threads on Flippin’ by clicking HERE and HERE, and the Judge thread by clicking HERE. What’s most interesting to me is not [...]
June 28, 2009 at 9:12 pm
F George,
How did we get this thread to socialism? Please explain.