Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Get Outta the Way of My Optimism

Our mostly conservative local blah, blah, blahgosphere seems infested with negative doom and gloom and misinformation. Allentown is doomed! It's because there is no leadership! Stimulus is bad! Pay to play! Failing schools! Crime! Stores closing! And anyone with a positive outlook is labeled a "cheerleader" "an apologist for the mayor" or just a clueless moron. And if that person wants to write about the good things going on, and there really ARE good things, then they are deemed a "puff blogger." Or if you are excited about Obama, our first African American President, you are labeled as a "Messiah worshipper" who has drunk the kool-aid. Well, all I can say to that is get outta the way of my optimism!

Most people's perception of Hamilton St. is way off. Actually, you CAN really walk around at 7th and Hamilton when it is dark. It's not that scary. Usually there are not too many people around. In fact, if more people would actually walk around downtown at night then THAT would help reduce crime. We patronize the downtown establishments as much as we can. And we have even been to events on 7th St. at night! Ooohhhh, scary! ;0

I am all for constructive criticism, but constant negativity and smears against good people are harmful to a community and does nothing to help move Allentown forward. People who take action and volunteer to help their community should be applauded, not smeared. So, blah blah blahggers, get the hell outta the way of my optimism and go back to your caves or trees where you can sniper fire from afar. Or just stay at your own blahgs where you can blow smoke up each other's behinds.

We are in a serious economic crisis, and our President has reached out across the aisle in a truly bi-partisan way. But yet it's not "real bi-partisanship" to some Republicans. I believe that these Republicans are robotic obstructionists. And obstruction is what they are good at, not governing. The past 8 years proves that. They put political ideology before the needs of the American people, and that's wrong. I say, they had their chance, now it's time for them to get outta the way and let the President that WE the people elected do his job. And if you still wanna hate me simply because I am a liberal, even though I have extended a hand to you, then all I can say is get outta my way.

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

You go, grrl!

Anonymous said...

Q. How come none of the local bla bla bla-gers had no genius questions for Mayor Pawlowski? And as a followup question, why did the chicken cross the road?

Angie Villa said...

I should have said Blah Gas Smear.

I don't know why those blahgers had no questions. I guess they were more concerned about criticizing the fact that WE got the interview.

Katie Bee said...

i'm optimistic! but then again i am a naive, clueless college kid educating myself on mom and dad's dime. what the hell should i know?

Anonymous said...

It is telling that the pessimists about Allentown are people who tend not to live here.

Bill Villa said...

"Blah Gas Smear."

Ooh I like this ...

Anonymous said...

Good perspective although I like to hear all sides. Some good points have also been made as well around the blogsphere about the problems that confront us. Yet at some point we need to get about the business of rebuilding

I think that the glass is half empty right about now, but I also think we have a lot of good things going for us. And lets not forget that we are the most adaptable, innovative people in the world, and hardworking to boot.

All it would take is to set aside differences and work together on things we can in a cooperative effort and as a people we could overcome our problems, locally and beyond.

Oh and my wife and I go downtown to eat all the time. We have never felt that it was not safe for us and we like to support local merchants.

Bill

Ryan said...

The sad thing is, in my experience, most people who would criticize Allentown (and those who look to improve it) would not do anything to try to patronize or improve the inner city even if they were able to step out from behind their safe computer screens. Hopefully more people can start doing rather than just talking. Keep up the great work!

Anonymous said...

After work last night, after working out at the Fitness Center on 6th Street, I stopped for a beer at Croc Rock, and had to leave after one brew 'cause the place was packed with kids going to a show. There was a band in the bar warming up the crowd (no cover!). There were young people milling around outside and lots of drivers looking for parking. There was even a taxi trolling for fares. This is at 7:30 p.m.
Oooh. scary.

Angie Villa said...

Hi Bill,

I try to look at the glass as half full, but I agree with most of your points. But I think the local blogosphere is slanted too far to the right, and local radio is right wing. I guess it has been that way for a while. Maybe the liberals are spending their time actually doing things rather than talking.

Angie Villa said...

Thanks Ryan,

I try to promote the downtown as much as possible. There really are a lot of great places with friendly service.

The only downside I have experienced is getting a parking ticket on a Sat. :(

Anon 7:20 Croc Rock seems to be a happenin' place.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this post. I tend to avoid the negative blogs, because when I do speak up, I am called an 'apologist' or some such nonsense. Look. I chose to buy a house in the city. I CHOOSE to enjoy the city as I see fit. I don't give a f*ck who the mayor it, this is MY city. Do I like city crime? no. Do I prefer it over suburban hell? yes. HELL yes. I just met a couple of officers that are new on my neighborhood beat. I've seen them twice on my block in 2 days. They are friendly and happy to be on their feet in the city. Good things are happening.
The 'puff' blogs are just as real as these negative blogs. Do they only talk about positive things in Allentown!? YES!!! That is the purpose of their blogs, for goodness sake! My one concrete example is the Allentown Good news blog. They consistently give notice about COMMUNITY MEETINGS, events, and great things happening in A-town, and yet they are excoriated for it. BY OLD MEN WHO DON'T LIVE IN ALLENTOWN.

Bill Villa said...

Well-said, Anon 9:40, and the "all caps" punch of your last sentence tells me you're as fed up with Bernie O'Hare and Mike Molovinsky as so many others of us in Allentown (and beyond) are.

IDEA: the more people who step up and express their disapproval of O'Hare and Molovinsky in blog comments, as anon 9:40 has here, the quicker we can run those two clueless morons outta Dodge (and out of Allentown's issues).

They are a negative and corrosive force, like a cancer.

And proclaiming people as "apologists" and "cheerleaders" and "puff bloggers" is really on the low end scale of their proactive axis of evil. Their real specialties include:

* Character Assassination
* Reckless Deception/Twisting of Facts
* Old-Fashioned Lying
* Sadistic Cruelty (see: "Troll Parade" blog)
* Pack Mentality Bully-ism
* Indoctrination (see: "Stepford Boys")
* Misogyny
* Crony Protectionism (Kranzley, Martin)
* Annoying Know-It-All-ism
* "Policing" All Other Local Blogs 24/7
* Doling out "punishments" for "transgressions"
* Deceit (posting anonymously)
* Deceit (lying about posting anonymously)
* Deceit (creating characters, e.g., "The Banker,"
"Retired ASD Teacher," "KathyD")
* Dishing It Out But Not Being Able To Take It
* Squealing/Crying to law enforcement
* Filing ludicrous nuisance criminal charges against people who justifiably fight back against them
* Publicly Threatening to Sabotage Legitimate Litigation (i.e., my deceased daughter, Sheena's)
* Being Totally Pusillanimous Cowards

Mrs. Dottie and I encourage (and try to inspire) more readers to PUSH BACK against O'Hare and Molovinsky, as anon 9:40 valiantly has.

You will be providing a much-needed public service, plus, it is really F-U-N knocking bullies on their asses (and they hate it when that happens :)

Try it, you'll like it.

And don't forget, there are way more of us than there are of them.

As our greatest Liberal Democrat President (so far) FDR said, "There is nothing to fear but fear itself."

Join us in (figuratively) knocking know-it-all bullies Bernie O'Hare and Mike Molovinsky on their asses, every chance you get.

Angie Villa said...

Bernie O'Hare is a disgraced ex-attorney who is barred from practicing law because of, and by his own admission, "dishonest behavior". And this is the guy people look up to as the beacon of truth and justice in the blogosphere? And speaking of bad judgement, Mike Molovinsky hitches his wagon to O'Hare's "star."
This gross example of bad judgement in and of itself should disqualify Molovinsky for even any consideration as mayor of ALlentown.

Anonymous said...

Molovinsky lives in South Whitehall Township, has for years.

He fraudulently changed his address to a property he owned in Allentown in 2005 so he could run for mayor.

As soon as the election was over, he changed it back.

Look in the old phone directories, you will see.

Anonymous said...

Hello Bill and Mrs Dottie -
I am Kathy D. Here I sit in my kitchen in Upper Mac, and I can assure you in no uncertain terms that I've never MET Bernie O'Hare, I am not a "fan" of his (nor a detractor) and I just happen to scoot around the local blogs because I'm interested in what ya'll are doing. I don't know who the Banker is, or any of the other folks you claim are Bernie in disguise, but I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know that I'm really named Kathy, I'm a mom of 2 elementary aged kids in Parkland, and sometimes I like to post on blogs for kicks. Anyways, I understand you guys have a problem w/ Bernie O'Hare, and I don't have a "side" in the argument. (Although, I will candidly say that the Troll Parade is a disgrace and a prime example of the potential ugliness of the internet.) I really haven't paid too much attention to the details of your beef w/ O'Hare, but claiming that I am him will not solve any problems. I'm not Bernie, and I'm sure you can plainly see from my ISP that I'm coming from a different place than he is. If I did anything on any "Kathy D" posts to offend you, I do apologize - I do not recall anything I posted that you would take issue with, but please know that it was never my intention to ruffle your feathers. Your family has obviously been thru some rough times, and I totally sympathize with your mission to find optimism in tough times. My advice to both of you is to spend more time focusing on the good things in life and just walk away from those things that cause you more grief. I wish you both good luck. And, if you're doing any live shows locally, please post about the when and where, as my kids love music, and I'd like to see one of your performances. Stay strong and consider putting aside your own anger at the Bernie O'Hare's of the world once and for all.

Angie Villa said...

Readers, we have excellent reason to believe that the previous comment, submitted by (ahem) "KathyD" (wink wink) really came from
> Bernie O'Hare.

See if you can figure out
how we have figured this out
and let us know your theories.

We'll give you the correct, "smoking gun" answer, in a few days ...

Bill Villa said...

Teacher!
Teacher!
I know the answer!
I know the answer!

Angie Villa said...

Yes, William, I know you know the correct answer, but please give the other students a chance to catch up to you ...

Anonymous said...

We won't hold our breath waiting for dunce of the class Gladys Kravitz Molovinsky to figure this one out, eh?

Anonymous said...

Let's see .... the Americus and Traylor are being purchased and money is being invested. ... The city is putting an extra 3,000-plus police manhours on the pavement each year along the Hamilton Street corridor .... sounds like moving forward to me.

Anonymous said...

Hi! Wow, I honestly can't wait to see the smoking gun answer to your question. Perhaps that's the point. Is this false accusation a ploy to get more traffic to your website? I hate to think the worst, but...geez, I'm not O'Hare! Honestly, I just sent my kids off to school, and I thought I'd hop on the internet before I left for the gym. (I have a rough life, don't I??) Anyways, if it makes you guys happy to allege that I am someone else, be my guest. There's not a thing I can do about it, and...I really don't care that much. I'm just naturally curious about your motivations here.

All this "false identity" stuff on the internet (mostly on facebook and myspace but here as well) will eventually lead to the government controlling our internet usage. Identities all over the net are being stolen and misrepresented, and no matter what you believe in this case, it's another case of a small identity theft. When enough people have had enough of this, the gov't will get involved. You can kiss your internet freedoms goodbye once that happens.

I wish you all peace...and good luck with your endeavors. I was sorry to see you didn't post any gigs coming up, as my kids really might enjoy one of your shows. I'll look again later to see if you have anything coming up in the near term.

Anonymous said...

I had to post my frustration here.
I was reading about the added police man hours on Hamilton and adjacent areas, and stupidly, studpidly! thought to read the comments (I know, I know, by reading I am part of the problem).
People were actually criticizing the move! In one breath they complain about not enough police, and then they complain about where they are assigned. People will post on BO and MMs blogs that they are scared to walk on Hamilton during the day time, and now they say that Hamilton shouldn't have more police!? WTF!? Seriously, you can't win with these miserable people. Let them stay out of the city, tucked in their awful suburbs. I don't want these people as neighbors!

Anonymous said...

"can't wait to see the smoking gun -"KathyD" (wink wink)

All good things to those who wait, Clarice.

Bill Villa said...

"BO, MM, you can't win with these miserable people." -Anon 8:55

Yes We Can (do stay tuned :)

Bill Villa said...

"In one breath they complain about not enough police, and then they complain about where they are assigned." -Anon 8:55

Yep. We know. That's why BO/MM Flip-Flop "Greatest Hits" had been tentatively scheduled as our next to next post, but ...

we probably won't need it after our next post (batten down the hatches and don't say we didn't warn you :)

Bill Villa said...

Readers,

it has been brought to our attention that disgraced ex-attorney (and damaging liar/blogger) Bernie O'Hare has offered to pay Mrs. Dottie and me $1,000.00 if we can prove that the commenter "Retired ASD Teacher" is really Bernie O'Hare posting anonymously-- something O'Hare adamantly, and vehemently, and frequently denies he has ever done, even once, ever, in his entire blogging "career." Honest.

And we all should believe O'Hare (wink wink), even though he is barred from practicing law because of, and by his own admission at his blog, "dishonest behavior."

A helpful commenter at O'Hare's blog (that O'Hare keeps deleting, frantically) has suggested a very simple resolution to O'Hare's "challenge" that Mrs. Dottie and I endorse completely ... and that is ...

>>> send "Retired ASD Teacher" (who claims he had "cafeteria duty" with Mrs. Dottie when she taught in the ASD) over to our house and we'll hand him $1K.

It's time to put up or shut up, O'Hare.

We'll be home all weekend.

Anonymous said...

Rope-A-Dope.

Angie Villa said...

Readers, on a related subject, did you know that Bill asked the following question at our blog on Jan. 21:

"Hey whatever happened to O'Hare's comment character "Retired ASD Teacher?"

And sure enough, after a lengthy absence from our local blogosphere, surprise surprise, "Retired ASD Teacher" showed up at O'Hare's blog ... 2 days later ... on January 23.

What a curious coincidence!

Also, if this "Retired ASD Teacher" was indeed one of my lunch duty buddies when I taught art in the ASD, I will certainly recognize him and know him when he comes to collect O'Hare's $1000.

FYI, when O'Hare "had dinner with" (wink wink) "Retired ASD Teacher" last May and wrote a post about it, in which O'Hare passd along some compliments about me made by "Retired ASD Teacher," I asked O'Hare in a comment to give "Retired" my e-mail address.

O'Hare replied: "Your wish is my command."

I never heard from my alleged lunch duty pal, "Retired ASD Teacher."

And I don't expect a reunion with him this weekend either, even though, as Bill has mentioned, we'll be home all weekend.

Put up or shut up, O'Hare.

Bill Villa said...

WORTH REPEATING DEPARTMENT

re: our next (upcoming) post

batten down the hatches and don't say we didn't warn you :)

Anonymous said...

There comes a time when a tease just gets old. Seriously, where did ya'll learn your blog moves - dorkville?

It looks like your big plan to post something fiery hasn't driven too much traffic your way, though - sorry about that. How will you remain #1?

Obviously, anyone who agrees to "meet" with anyone else on these threads is a deranged loon. I give all you bloggers credit for having major balls to reveal your true identity. I'd be scared to bits, but that's just me being a huge sissy.

What's interesting about this whole post and comments is the negativity. And, wasn't this article supposed to be promoting optimism? How could such an antagonistic post ever bring about more optimism? It's obviously designed to incite even more hatred. So...spare me the holier than thou attitude on your part.

I can't stand not to watch this disaster take place, because I have a weak resistance to temptation. But...good luck to everyone and please don't do anything stupid. I'd hate to see actual damage come of these posts. That's just stupid.

Bill Villa said...

"I really haven't paid too much attention to the details of your beef w/ O'Hare ..." -"KathyD," in an earlier comment at this thread

Well you could have fooled me.

I guess you're a quick study?

Angie Villa said...

"KathyD" said ...

How will you remain #1? > like this :)