Rock Radio Knows a Good Joke

I heard the funniest joke the other day on Jack-FM. The DJ, who’s name I didn’t get, quipped, “Despite Kevin Gaughan’s recommendation, Jack-FM will not play German Techno.”

Now, if the joke needs explaining it’s that just as any radio station with a taste for good music would not play German techno music, so also any people with a taste for good democratic government would not listen to Kevin Gaughan’s importuning all communities to downsize their representation on town boards.

But sadly, humor notwithstanding, the downsizing fiasco continues with the Amherst Town Board jumping on the irrational Gaughan bandwagon, promising to downsize their Board from 7 to 5. Chalk this up to another earthshaking, revolutionary political move in Western New York. Yes, I do speak sarcastically, very sarcastically.

Speaking of jokes, a “special committee,” as reported in the Buffalo News rcommended that Niagara County go ahead and establish a Homeland Security Department with a full-time director, believe it or not. I find this ludicrous at best given that in my inquiries, protection of high risk targets in our area are under the jurisdiction of either New York State in cooperation with Canada and/or the Federal Government. Although reportedly there is some resistance in the Niagara County Legislature, this project is too sweetly Neo-con for them to resist for too long. None of them are going to want to look “unpatriotic” by putting our homeland at risk. But given that we are already being protected by the aforementioned governmental bodies, what more are we going to protect? Some grape orchards, cows and goats? We need a full-time director for this??? I smell political nepotism in the works, don’t you? If good ol’ Hobbes over at Niagara Times doesn’t come out against this, I’m going to have to hunt him down and expose him for the hypocrite he would otherwise be.

And one more story deserves a cynical smerk, I think. The Niagara County District Attorneys office and Wilson Town Justice George R. Berger continue to conspire to cover up the sexual “hazing” incident last year on a school bus during return from a sporting event. The actions of the students accused were obviously bullying of the first order. But as long as institutions such as small town schools like Wilson continue to condone such violence in the name of “hazing” or “boys will by boys,” then these actions will continue and will contribute to the violation of children’s civil rights, the degradation of viable learning environments and the continuation of unacceptable levels of immaturity among teachers, coaches and administrators.