Mr. Floatie’s Creator Complains @ MyRye.com Commenter
It's with some irony that MyRye.com received and read the following email from Hen Island agitator and Mr. Floatie creator Ray Tartaglione. Tartaglione, a frequent commenter on MyRye.com, logged a complaint that someone else was posting in his name.
MyRye.com allows for anonymous postings. It allows for open discussion of issues. We will not permit impersonation, and when notified we will take measure to remove postings. When we went to do this in regards to Tartaglione's complaint, it seems our commenter has already change his or her profile to Hey Tartagilone (Parody). Thank you.
We will not release any IP Address or other information on commenters.
Please keep it clean, don't impersonate anyone and keep commenting.
Here is the email from Tartaglione:
From: Ray Tartaglione [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 11:15 AM
To: jaysears@
Cc: Jordan Glass; Ray J Tartaglione
Subject: Impersonation on My Rye
Jay,
Someone is posting on MYRYE.com using my name. Somehow they were able to set up a new Type Pad account using my name spelled exactly the same way. I am aware that you have no affiliation to Type Pad but at the same time I am sure you know this is impersonation, which is a crime. I am in the process of making a police report about the incident.
In the past on multiply occasions bloggers have encouraged the vandalism of my vehicles on the MyRye Site. At that time, I also filed reports with the Police Department. After speaking to my attorney, I am now in the process of commencing legal action. At a future time he will be in touch with you to obtain the IP addresses for the parties and blogs in question.
Although I know you have nothing to do with either incident, as the administrator of MYRYE and the party that has care, control and custody of the site, I formally request that you immediately remove any posts that encourage acts of violence against me, immediately remove any posts from bogglers that impersonate me and notify me of the same. I would also respectfully request you notify your readers of the seriousness of the situation in the form of a letter or article on your site. The URL for the Type Pad account in question link follows; https://profile.typepad.com/tartaglioneray Thanks for your help and understanding with this.
America / Hen Island "Thank Mayor Doug French"
Ray Tartaglione
Heal The Harbor.com
101 Westmoreland Ave.
White Plains NY 10606
Phone 914-948-1100
Fax 914-997-2167
Does any one know what “bogglers” are?
Jay
Thanks for understanding the sensitivity of the situation. I am sure you understand, I am in no way trying to stifle anyone’s freedom of speech. I also encourage everyone to keep commenting. I am just not willing to let someone else use my name when they do. I also believe that the impostor realized he made a grave mistake, although it was a little late.
A river dirty! (arrivederci)
Ray
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy0aBtzUbXQ
To quote another commenter: “You don’t need to be sherlock holmes to type “auto body toxic” into google and quickly realize these places are hell on earth. It doesn’t take Christopher Columbus to type Mr. T’s address into google maps can see his shop is located right near a playground. Even homer simpson would realize that blowing toxic fumes through an exhaust fan into a playground for 38 years is really, really bad for children.”
@Jay Sears
“MyRye.com allows for anonymous postings. It allows for open discussion of issues.”
Mr. Tartaglione has given away his end game many times. He has no intention of discussing issues. He attacks anyone who disagrees with him which is why the list of people he’s labeled as “dirty” stretches from Rye to the moon and back. His whole schtick is about innuendo and embarrassment. The issues don’t even cross his mind. Mr. Sears, if you resist his demand for the IP addresses you will be added to the “dirty” list.
Bribery = The offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of something of value for the purpose of influencing the action of an official in the discharge of his or her public or legal duties.
Would offering a $16,000 check to a city council so they would investigate a Mayor when the council already had resolved the issue constitute bribery?
Would offering the money be looked upon as thinking pure thoughts or would it be looked upon as “dirty” thoughts?
Dirty,
Would you be talking about this grant? Do you consider this bribery? Personally I think the City Council should do this as it is part of the job description that they agreed to when they ran for office. But the mayor has a problem taking an honest look at his activities. Filippi was the one who is not aware of his role as Councilperson. Maybe he should read the City Charter. So if he wants the City to get paid for something he should do as part of his job, what can I tell you, just another flaw in your neighbor’s administration?
March 3, 2012
City of Rye
Mayor Doug French
City Hall
1051 Boston Post Road
Rye, New York 10580
Re: $16,984.19 Private Grant
Dear Mayor French,
At the February 8th 2012 Rye City Council Meeting, Councilman Richard P. Filippi stated that the council would support an independent, council sanctioned and locally led investigation into Mayor French’s growing multiple building and tax violations if someone would come forth and privately finance the process. I along with the help of Heal The Harbor.com and other anonymous supporters have now offered to do so.
At the February 29th Rye City Council Meeting this week, Heal the Harbor’s attorney, Mr. Jordan Glass, presented a facsimile check in the amount of $16,984.19 to the council. This is the exact amount paid in restitution, interest and penalties by Mayor French so far in to the taxing authorities as the result of our ongoing investigation of the special benefits he secretly obtained from the city at the detriment of the taxpayers and the law.
I made only two conditions on providing this investigation grant. They are:
1) That retired Judge & former Rye City Mayor John Cary (who I have had no contact with in this matter) would be solely responsible for the selection of the investigative team, setting the scope of the investigation, and monitoring its operation and the issuance of its conclusions.
2) That if any further wrong-doing of any kind is uncovered, Douglas H. French would immediately resign as Mayor of Rye and, because he publicly placed partial blame for this matter on the recently deceased Vinny Tamburro, that Mr. French would then write another personal check for $16,984.19 – this time for deposit into the account of The Vincent Tamburro Memorial Fund.
I also sadly note that at the conclusion of Mr. Glass’s February 29th proposal presentation, Rye City Councilman Filippi mockingly insinuated that the enlarged facsimile check displayed would not be negotiable and that the actual funds would never be delivered to the city treasury. I can assure you that the funds are immediately available for deposit into an escrow account as designated by the city for release under Judge Carey’s instructions and directives under the two conditions described above.
Please advise me as to the bank name and account number of a suitable Rye City escrow account for this undertaking and – if the Rye City Council will accept these conditions for its private grant – let the work begin.
Very truly yours,
Raymond J. Tartaglione
@Ray Tartaglione
I gotta remember that the next time I’m clocked doing 120 MPH in a school zone. I’ll just offer the officer a private grant and continue on my way. LOL.
On another note, I could care less who the Mayor of Rye is. I could care less who’s on the Council or who the City Manager or who the Building Inspector or the Assessor are. Personally., I think it’s irrelevant. You’re the one making a big production of trying to make changes to all those positions. I have more faith in the laws than that. Rye has a new Building Inspector, a new Mayor, a new Rye City Council, a new City Manager, a new Westchester Board of Health Commissioner, a new County Executive and a new City Legal Council and nothing has changed since you started your debacle. You started your debacle extremely ignorant of the existing order of things and now all you have left is to destroy reputations and livelihoods. In fact , I think you have lost ground. You are now arguing for sewers over composting toilets and are ardently opposed to collecting rain water. Your ideas will never see the light of day. Hurricane Irene and Tropical storm Lee filled the streets and shores of Rye with sewage gushing from the sewer pipes and you argue that sewers are the right way to go. You should take a trip to the Bronx Zoo and see the huge composting toilet facility they have at the Bronx River entrance of the Zoo. Why didn’t they “do the right thing” and just connect to the city sewers? Do you think the wave of the future is to follow HTH or the Bronx Zoo when it comes to being environmentally responsible? I’m extremely confident you are being totally disingenuous with your campaign against everyone and anyone who stands in the way of your plans.
I’m just wondering how many Auto Body shop owners and tow truck drivers in America moonlight as “environmentalists”?
JW,
Thanks for the plug.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR7aIT-ku2U&context=C3a08cb1ADOEgsToPDskJWat9xMUGp5PUyUgcVN_Xz
JW,
I am also involved in a few other businesses. If you can plug them when you get a chance it would be appreciated.
But going back to the auto shop, now that you mention it. I can’t tell you how many new costumers we have been getting from Rye, thanks to all the publicity. Something I never expected. It’s interesting how educated and interested they are on the topic.
RJT has been servicing Westchester County for over 30 years. We currently process over 30,000 road service requests each year, and pride ourselves as Westchester County’s largest Emergency Road Service operation.
RJT provides mechanical, auto body repair, and maintenance for all models and makes of both foreign and domestic automobiles. All service is done at our state of the art facility located in downtown White Plains, New York.
RJT is conveniently located near the White Plains Transportation Center. At the center, trains and buses are available to NYC and other locations. We offer our customers pick up and drop off service or use of our loaner car by appointment.
https://rjtauto.com/
@Ray Tartaglione
I’m glad for you and your business. I HAVE seen a big increase in BMW’s with toilet bowls attached to their roofs
driving around Rye lately. They actually look pretty good! I was wondering where they got
the work done. Now I know. I really like the art deco style toilet bowl. As they say, nobody ever lost a dollar underestimating the taste of the American Public especially, the affluent American public. I have an idea, how about MyRye plug your business and you donate a percentage of your Rye business to the Tamburro Fund? I’m all for doing that. Councilman Platt once suggested that you devote more of your time to constructive activities rather than the destructive ones that seem to consume your time. How about giving up destructive activities for Lent? Maybe after a while of being engaged in constructive activities, you’ll apply to join the Sustainability Committee in Rye. They’re always looking for members with great, forward-looking, environmental ideas for improving Rye’s environment. How about running for Mayor after Doug French resigns? Or maybe, applying for Scott Pickup’s job after Tedc has him fired? Maybe do both jobs at the same time? The official car for the Mayor of Rye could have a toilet bowl attached to it’s roof and a few advertisments for your business on the side doors! How cool would it be being seen driving the official Mayor Mobile with toilet bowl attached to roof leading the Rye Little League parade every April?!!!
Now, you gotta admit, that’s cool!!!!!!!
@ Ray Tartaglione
Go to this link and click on the second picture from the right.
https://ryerecord.com/news/full-moon-rising.html
You see the circular ripples down by the white house between the yellow fire hydrant and the green street sign? Those ripples are caused by the sewer manhole at the intersection of Hewlitt and Milton Road. The sewage gushing from that manhole is a frequent event on Milton Road during higher than normal tides. After Hurricane Irene that manhole gushed sewage for 5 days. There was even toilet paper stuck in the manhole cover holes for evidence. The Boat Basin smelled like human defecation for 2 weeks after Irene and this is only one of the many manholes in Rye that were spewing sewage after Irene. This sewage never made it to the treatment plant and ended up on Rye’s streets and along the shores in RAW form. I couldn’t even attempt calculate the amount of raw sewage Rye has been covered in over the last century.
My question to you Mr. HealtheHarbor is : How is this better than composting toilets? If every Rye citizen had a composting toilet in there house there would be NO RAW SEWAGE flowing down the street every time we got a storm., Tell me your solution for stopping these manhole covers from spewing raw sewage multiple times a year or is it really not about stopping the raw sewage from infecting our environment? When this high tide happened in Jan , there hadn’t been a human being on Hen Island for 3 months. Meanwhile the sewage spewing from that manhole covered Milton Point and drained directly into LI Sound. The sewage gushing from that manhole was not from Hen Island. It was Milton Point.
Mr. Floatie and The Floatiemobile were in Rye to bring attention to the fact that the City was not enforcing Health and Safety codes. It has done its job better that anyone would have ever expected. We are already designing our next HEALtheHARBOR.com campaign for the Floatiemobile, should the Mayor decide not to resign. A picture of Mayor French sitting on a toilet bowl behind bars. Caption “GOT ILLEGAL STAR TAX $16,894.19! It’s not milk”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2906eZqxifY
Now I see why you live behind a gate on Anderson Hill Road in Purchase.
@HTH
“Mr. Floatie and The Floatiemobile were in Rye to bring attention to the fact that the City was not enforcing Health and Safety codes.”
Ahhhhh….. Your end game is revealed. The raw sewage flowing into the LI Sound is OK because it’s part of the “Sanitary Connection System” which is part of the code. Very clever. It has nothing to do with whether the “sanitary connection system” is environmentally responsible, it has to with whether the system is CODE. In that case, HealtheHarbor doesn’t classify as an environmental group. No wonder you were using examples of Suffolk County’s mosquito spraying program a few years back! As long as the laws on the books allow it, it’s OK whether it’s environmentally safe or not. And that is the reason for you’re push for Hen Island to connect to a sanitary connection. Now I see. HTH isn’t going to rock the boat and call for composting toilets on Hen Island as long as sanitary connections are the defacto standard for dealing with human excrement. It’s especially good when running sewers to Hen Island would cost a fortune and would over flow every high tide BUT as long as sewers are part of the code, it’s OK.
IF HTH was in Mongomery, Alabama in 1957 would they be turning in all the white people who didn’t force black people to sit in the back of the bus?
Ray, quick and serious question:
If you didn’t live on Hen Island, would you be as passionate about this are you are now?
@Average Citizen
Whether you know it or not, the answer to your question is really all you need to know.
Mr. Tartaglione CAN’T live on Hen Island. He’s not allowed to be out there from Nov 1 – April 1. Five months of the year Hen Island is CLOSED. The Boat Basin is closed during those months and Hen Island is only open when the Boat Basin is open.
Due to that fact, the houses on Hen Island are classified as “Seasonal Residences” as proven by the tax assessors records which can be seen here.
https://www.sca-corp.com/Rye/dsp_parcel2.cfm?SwisSBL=15900500010010000000&CFID=2057516&CFTOKEN=90280619&jsessionid=f030d7cde6c7e37deb49277f39442a6f1a6d
Since “Seasonal Residences” are not defined in the Rye building code, the Rye Building Dept and Rye Tax Assessor defer to the State Building Code for the requirements for “Seasonal Residences”. It is why Mayor French’s “October Rye City Council Updates from Mayor Douglas French” said the following :
“Once again the Council heard complaints by a Purchase resident about conditions on Hen Island which is off the coast of Greenhaven. The Westchester County Health Department regularly tests the Long Island Sound in and around Hen Island and those tests continue to show that water quality meets the County’s health standards and there are no violations of any regulations. The County and the Courts have ruled that no action is required with respect to mosquito control. And finally, the seasonal cottages on Hen Island are not considered permanent dwellings under the New York State Building Code, and are therefore compliant with potable water requirements.”
As you see , according to State Building Code, Hen Island is not required to have a direct source of potable water. Hen Island is treated like every other seasonal residence in NYS.
Mr. Tartaglione started his mission without doing his homework and now is punishing everyone and anyone for his own incompetence.
Just another note,
Mr Tartaglione has repeatedly tried to pretend that Hen Island is required to conform to the “Permanent Residence” code. He has repeatedly acted disingenuously about the building classification Hen Island falls under. Most Rye citizens have no idea what regulations he’s talking about and to what building classifications they apply. His disingenuous behavior has kept the public in the dark about what the real issues are.
Mister 4181775,
You and your neighbor Doug French can put any spin you want on the Mayor’s allowing pollution and not enforcing health and safety codes. This is Rye, New York and we swim, boat, fish and live along the shores of the Sound and more specifically in Milton Harbor. We don’t live in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains and even if we did according to NYS regulations you still need potable water in every residence. Below is the 2007 Westchester County inspection and investigation report that identifies Hen Island as a polluter and identifies each and every health and safety violation.
https://healtheharbor.com/correspondence/WestCounty_FOIL.pdf
Here are a few photos to go along with your BS.
https://healtheharbor.com/gallery/pages/sewage/sewage10.html
https://healtheharbor.com/gallery/pages/sewage/sewage12.html
If I still have your attention here is a video about where your sewage is going on Hen Island.
https://healtheharbor.com/gallery/video/sewage.html
“His disingenuous behavior has kept the public in the dark about what the real issues are.” REALLY???
@ Ray Tartaglione
“We don’t live in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains and even if we did according to NYS regulations you still need potable water in every residence. ”
then you say
““His disingenuous behavior has kept the public in the dark about what the real issues are.” REALLY???”
Yes, REALLY. As you JUST demonstrated. Every residence, whether seasonal or permanent, is required to have potable water but, what you don’t mention, which is EXTREMELY DISINGENUOUS, is SEASONAL residences are allowed to bring their potable water in containers to the residence. Which is why Hen Island complies with the NYS potable water requirements for seasonal residences. You DISINGENUOUSLY left that small detail out.
“5.74 tons of volatile organic compounds are emitted each year from the average auto body shop.” (Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency)
“SEASONAL residences are allowed to bring their potable water in containers to the residence.”
Can you show me where that might be in the code?
“Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please”.
Mark Twain
Mister,
You sound just like your friend and Neighbor Mayor French. You or he is surly not the person I want making decisions for me. Doug French has a limited amount of supporters and it seems that you are all starting to believe your own propaganda. It is pretty obvious that the rest of the public is not that stupid. Is it your belief that “language is a tool for concealing the truth?” Watch as our great leader tries to baffle the public and then watch Sack reprimand and scold him like a little child.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2906eZqxifY&context=C37d65baADOEgsToPDskKrWHFd8KRebeDlhErhrVPp
Sorry for the confusion. I’ll try again:
Ray, quick and serious question:
If you didn’t own a residence on Hen Island, would you be as passionate about this are you are now?
Environmental Hypocrite,
“5.74 tons of volatile organic compounds are emitted each year from the average auto body shop.”
You can also find the same “5.74 tons of organic volatile organic compounds” at City Hall sitting at the dais every 1st & last Wednesday night of every calendar Month!
(Source: RYE RESIDENTS)
Jim Amico said it best…”you are Guilty by Association”
@Ray Tartaglione
Why do you keep insinuating that the Mayor has anything to do with this? He is ONE vote on a Council of SEVEN and as you have been told a gazallion times, the Council is not in charge of enforcement in Rye. Why do you DISINGENUOUSLY keep blaming one person out of seven for your dissatisfaction with the classification of Hen Island?
Can we just agree that I want WHOEVER you want for Mayor, OK? How’s that? If you want Joe Sack to be Mayor, that’s who I want to be Mayor, OK? I could care less who the Mayor is. I already told you that. Who the Mayor is, is IRRELEVANT. Got It? You may be able to fool Rye’s disinterested public but I KNOW how things work and the Mayor’s job has nothing to do with what you want.
Secondly, as far as the potable water is concerned, why don’t you get in touch with the group below and get back to me.
New York State Department of State
Division of Code Enforcement and Administration
One Commerce Plaza
99 Washington Avenue, Suite 1160
Albany, New York 12231-0001
Tell them your situation on Hen Island and see what they say. Then report back to this blog.
I have a feeling HealTheHarbor should get crackin on another Flotiemobile for Albany.
AC,
Interesting question. I would have to say that yes, I would be on it but If I didn’t live there I wouldn’t know what was going on out there. It’s in my face because I am there. Additionally I do have a general serious concern about people that trash our world but I also understand there is a balance between man and nature.
You have to realize that the ones that oppose me here are only worried about their pockets and couldn’t care less about protecting the waters for future generations. That is why the Sound is the way it is because past generations didn’t care. If these Hen Islanders had a pond in their back yards, would they defecate and urinate in it? I think if they had to spend money they would rather not fix the problem but your guess is as good as mine.
We are not talking about a lot of money here, only about two hundred a month per cottage and don’t forget these are second homes for everyone out there. So what we have is, thirty four selfish people that don’t care about their neighbors or the other 15000 people in Rye and everyone else that uses the Sound. What is really outrageous is that the Mayor who is elected and sworn in to protect the health, safety and ensure law enforcement is closing his eyes because he and his wife are friends with the Volpe’s who’s family control the Board of Directors on Hen Island.
@Ray
This is not the first time you have mentioned the $200.00/figure for utilities to the island through the Greenhaven eeasement. Please show us the costs from a licensed engineer. Please provide total costs for:
1) Hooking the south end of the island (almost 1/2 mile from easement) to the sewer main.
2) Feasibility studies showing:
A) Size and type of sewer main
B) Location of said main
C) Location of power station that would
Opps:
Power station that would provide the pumping power for the force main uphill to the City connection
D) Costs associated with permitting the job
I STRONGLY doubt you will respond to this because you can’t because you have no numbers. It’s all a big lie.
Some years ago before your sorry self came to the island, there was an informal study on providing electrical service to the island. JUST THE COST OF THE CABLE, was well in excess of 2M dollars. Since the easement is at the north end off the north end of the island, the middle and south end would not be able to take advantage of said sewer line. This is your plan. Hook up the north end where you and your cronies have cottages and shut down the rest of the island. Right up your alley.
Since you are so fond of deals, are you willing to front the money for this project and upon it’s completion sell your cottage ?
I didn’t think so.
I again call on you to stop your harassment of City officials and, for once, provide some REAL solutions with REAL numbers provided by a verifiable source.
@Ray Tartaglione
You went out of your way to say:
“Is it your belief that “language is a tool for concealing the truth?”
“”Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please”.”
about the potable water requirements on Hen Island.
Then I asked you to contact
New York State Department of State
Division of Code Enforcement and Administration
One Commerce Plaza
99 Washington Avenue, Suite 1160
Albany, New York 12231-0001
to get the truth and I haven’t heard a word.
Did you contact them or do you already know that I was telling the truth about the potable water requirements for Hen Island?
You seem to project your lying self onto everyone who disagrees with you. Bad habit.
@voice of reason
Your say about Ray Tartaglione’s sewer numbers “It’s all a big lie. ”
The same can be said about the fact that there hasn’t been a Volpe on Hen Island’s board in over a year BUT he keeps on lying the lie day after day, Council meeting after Council meeting.
“The same can be said about the fact that there hasn’t been a Volpe on Hen Island’s board in over a year”
@Ray
Any comment ?
Didn’t think so. BTW, when you flush YOUR toilet, where does it go ?. Any comment?
I didn’t think so.
So let’s answer LIFO. Ben Minard, who happens to be brother to Ed Volpe’s mother Lorraine, just happens to be the Board President. That would make Ed Volpe (Doug French’s neighbor on Meadow place) his nephew. I would think that adds up to a Vople on the Board. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck and looks like a duck. It’s a duck!!!!
Ladies,
“Numbers” You don’t need an account to figure that $200.00 X 34 residences =$6,800.00 per month X 12 months per year =$81,600.00 financed over a thirty years = $2.448.000.00 that is 2.5 mil in my book. Actually it translates to $50.00 a week. Some of the homes on the Island are shared by three or four families. (Brothers and sisters and their kids) If you factor that in it’s about $5.00 per week. Some of you spend that on a half of pack of cigarettes a day. I say, quit smoking and put the money towards cleaning up the sound. You will still have money left over for ice cream!!
Hen Island is home to over a half a dozen contractors. If they will not take the contract, I will take it tomorrow and I will still fill my pockets after the job is done. Don’t forget you are not digging up any streets, roads or other utilities. A 2 million dollar Cable? Are you ordering that cable laced with Diamonds? This is a walk in the park. And finally where did I get the figure you ask, from the City of Rye Engineering Department, long before I started to complain and long before the City started to protect polluters. O, BTW there is no uphill main. It is located along the shoreline of Greenhaven and it’s a Westchester County trunk line. That was another fact the engineering department showed me. Do your homework ladies, I did a long time ago!!!! Sweet dreams….
Ray, what interest rate is factored into that 30 year bond?
“It is well documented that exposure to volatile organic compounds can cause adverse health effects such as cancer, immune and neurological damage, and reproductive and endocrine disorders.”
-National Institute of Health
“5.74 tons of volatile organic compounds are emitted each year from the average auto body shop.”
– Environmental Protection Agency
“My Shop in White Plains (www.rjtauto.com) has been in operation for over 38 years…”
-Mr. Tartaglione
Do the math.
“Ben Minard, who happens to be brother to Ed Volpe’s mother Lorraine, just happens to be the Board President. That would make Ed Volpe (Doug French’s neighbor on Meadow place) his nephew. I would think that adds up to a Vople on the Board. ”
Let me help you out. Wouldn’t it be easier and more accurate to say Ben Minard is a Minard and so was Lorraine Volpe.
That would make more sense. Ben Minard was never, and will never be a Volpe but Lorraine Volpe was a Minard. See how easy and simple it is when you use correct logic? So as you’ve shown, my statement that there are no Volpe’s on Hen Island’s board is correct. It is you who has twisted it. The statement that “the Minards, with their one vote out of 7, control the Board” or “the Minards, with their 2 votes out of 34, control the Island” would still be DISINGENUOUS but much more accurate. BUT, that wouldn’t make any sense to the ignorant Rye public, would it? The Minards don’t live on Meadow Place next to Mayor French. That wouldn’t fit into your never ending conspiracy theory , would it?
At the last council meeting you claimed you donated money to Mayor French’s campaign. Why would you support Mayor French when you knew his neighbor had interest in Hen Island?
@Ray Tartaglione
Have you contacted the people at:
New York State Department of State
Division of Code Enforcement and Administration
One Commerce Plaza
99 Washington Avenue, Suite 1160
Albany, New York 12231-0001
and proven to yourself that the Mayor is enforcing the potable water laws on Hen Island or are you going to just keep ignoring that fact?
AC,
I didn’t figure interest but the point was this issue really amounts to pennies per day. I am sure we could arrange to get the money for Libor or close to it.
EH,
When you refer to RJT could you please use a hyperlink https://rjtauto.com/ , we could always use the extra plug.
Mister,
I never said I donated any money to French’s campaign. I wanted to but he said he didn’t want the money to be reflected on his campaign disclosure statements. What I said was that I supported his campaign by arranging a fundraiser at Bob Schubert’s home, arranging for the filming and production of the anti Otis video’s (linked below) titled “Take Rye Back”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wju1Oz4Sy9w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EChWR1_Ah4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OmlmbcNyd8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEVYeKIvxuA
And by campaigning against Mayor Otis on a number of occasions. Below is a link to a picture of Mr. Floatie at the Rye train station the day before election day. That is Mayor Otis in the background. French laughed when he seen this picture!
https://healtheharbor.com/gallery/pages/floatiecampaign.html
To answer your question; Why would you support Mayor French when you knew his neighbor had interest in Hen Island?
We spoke about that issue in detail the night of the Schubert fundraiser in front of everyone. He down played their relationship and he also assured me that it would not be a factor. Now that I can see that he cheated on his taxes and renovated an entire home without permits, I can understand why it was so easy for him to lie to everyone that supported him. He is just one big disappointment, even presently his own party wants to run away from him, they are just trying to figure out the best way to do it and minimize damage
As far as your Minard / Volpe connection; I have a bridge in Brooklyn I would like to sell you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhV1o1M1No4
Ray, LIBOR is not for long-term borrowings. You would be looking at a FIXED rate bond for 30 years. Rates for AAA-rated municipalities are under 4% but by the time you would borrow I would venture to say that rates would be higher and also Rye might not be rated AAA. So lets be conservative and go with 4.0% That makes your monthly nut $12,000, thereby almost doubling your estimate.
@Average CItizen
,
LIBOR, as you already know is the (L)ondon (I)nter (B)ank (O)vernight (R)ate. It’s the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans. The rate is not available to the banks customers or the bank would take a bath in losses. Anyway, It’s crazy to be even talking about spending millions of dollars on sewer pipes and digging up all of Hen Island and parts of Greenhaven when Hen Island has already voted to install composting toilets in every seasonal cottage on the Island.
Composting toilets are far and away the best solution and I’m not even counting the financial implications. If everyone in Rye, or even everyone in Westchester, had a composting toilet in their home we wouldn’t be reading article after article of the environmental disasters which happen every time it rains. Sewers are 19th century technology and instead of just abandoning them for MUCH more environmentally friendly solutions we keep trying to make the sewers better BUT, as you can see by the articles and pictures after every storm it’s impossible to do. The sewage problem can’t be handled by sewers, it has to be handled at each source of the sewage which is each house. That is the future. There is no other way. The treatment plants can’t handle the amount of sewage that flows in during each storm. There would be ZERO sewage in the streets of Rye if everyone had a composting toilet . Hen Island is taking the first steps to “do the right thing” and hopefully other people will join them.
@Ray Tartaglione
If you think I care about Mayor French, I don’t. I already told you that so stop telling me how much he lies and so forth. I don’t care. The only thing I know is he hasn’t lied about Hen Island. I asked you to go here :
New York State Department of State
Division of Code Enforcement and Administration
One Commerce Plaza
99 Washington Avenue, Suite 1160
Albany, New York 12231-0001
and find out for yourself that Mayor French is enforcing the potable water laws correctly but you refuse to do so. I’m positive you already knew he was enforcing the potable water laws correctly else you would have included it in the lawsuit against Rye but, you didn’t. In your lawsuit the judge ruled that Rye was free to let the Health Dept. continue being Rye’s governing body when it came to health matters or it was free to enforce a law on the books that nobody even knew about and had never been enforced in the history of Rye. If Mayor French had, all of a sudden, discriminately enforced that law against Hen Island , I think cries of discrimination would have been heard. You don’t use the Health Dept for 50 years than all of a sudden, because someone complains apply a different standard out of the blue. Mayor French is being totally consistent with every Rye Administration that has existed since Hen Island was founded as to whether he is enforcing the laws correctly.
Just a little busy rignt now. I’ll get back to you later about the money etc.. For now take alook @ this;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HkWckwXmC4
@Average Citizen
The other things sewers do is increase the volume of sewage with drinking water. As one source said it best, could you imagine taking a dump into a 5 gallon glass bottle of Poland Spring water then flushing it down the toilet and repeating this for everyone in the household? How about pissing into the 5 gallon jar then flushing it down the toilet. As you can see it is an extremely bad use of drinking water not to mention it probably makes the volume of sewage 10,000% bigger. The beauty of composting toilets is that it does not use precious drinking water to flush away your waste, it doesn’t increase the waste’s size AND the output can be used in your ornamental gardens as a nitrogen source instead of being flushed into a treatment plant where they use plastic wheels to try and reduce the nitrogen before being dumped into LI Sound. Now which sounds better to you?
Is all this stuff about Hen Island toilets just a diversion to keep people’s attention away from the much more serious problem with toxic automobile shop pollution?
The comment by Environmental Hypocrite is really alarming. All those tons of toxic fumes make me very worried about the health of our children.
Sarah,
Click on the link below and go to the picture in the second row , third from the right.
https://ryerecord.com/news/here-we-go-again.html
You will see a white house several days after Irene with the sewer still gushing sewage from the manhole at the corner of Milton and Hewlitt. Do you see the white and orange barrier on an angle? Underneath that barrier is the drain that drains DIRECTLY into the Boat Basin. This happens every storm in the Boat Basin. Raw sewage draining for days into Milton Harbor. Is this what you would consider healing the harbor?
AC,
The actual figure given to me from the city was 1.5-2 million. Financing two million over thirty years @ 4% would cost $9548.31 per month divided between 34 residents would cost them $281.00 per month. That is without any creative financing or anything else. There are federal grants that could also fall into place and bring the numbers even lower. But let’s say anywhere between 250-350 per month per household. It’s nothing compared to the gain for the residents of Rye as well as Hen Island and the protection of the Sound.
I wasn’t kidding; if a few of the contractors that live on the island got together they could do it for half the price. It’s not that big of a job and when finished it would leave them with an annuity that they would have never had in their lifetimes.
At this point money is not the problem because the Mayor and the Hen Islanders are the real holdup. There are so many ways to skin this cat “it’s not funny”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKM6N1Nj27s
What we really need here, is for everyone to take a look at how the problem can be fixed. The methodology and dollarology can always be worked out.
Up until now, I had to drag them kicking and screaming. But Huston, we are making progress! In 2007, I complained that Rye never enforced any building or safety codes ever on Hen Island. No one even heard of Hen Island. For two years Rye and the Hen Islanders said; that was not true. In 2009 Rye issued 2 pages of Building violations, so now every home on the Island is required to comply with the building codes and the whole state is watching.
The City pulled this “Westchester County is our Health Department” BS, hoping that I would leave the City Council meetings and bring the show to the County but that move didn’t work. As you well know, once you identify a problem you are half way to fixing it. We are almost half way there even if the French supporters are not willing to admit it, the public is not stupid and they can see thru this whole charade. They might not agree with my methods or stand behind me at the meetings but they do when they are alone in the voting booths.
@Ray Tartaglione
You say:
“It’s not that big of a job and when finished it would leave them with an annuity that they would have never had in their lifetimes.”
So, Hen Islanders are being selfish because they’re refusing the big cash payoff???????
You said:
“The City pulled this “Westchester County is our Health Department” BS”
Is it really BS ?
You say:
“the public is not stupid and they can see thru this whole charade.”
Smartest thing you’ve said in 5 years.
Have you contacted the people at :
New York State Department of State
Division of Code Enforcement and Administration
One Commerce Plaza
99 Washington Avenue, Suite 1160
Albany, New York 12231-0001
and found out what the potable water laws REALLY are?
Do you have any comments on the sewer manholes that spill RAW SEWAGE into the streets and shores of Rye during every storm we have? Should Hen Island connect to the sewer system which is responsible mutliple times a year for RAW sewage spills so they can collect on an annuity?
They’re so selfish.
@Ray Tartaglione
You called me a liar when I said Hen Islanders were not in violation of the potable water laws by carrying their potable water out to their seasonal cottages. I responded that you should contact the people at:
New York State Department of State
Division of Code Enforcement and Administration
One Commerce Plaza
99 Washington Avenue, Suite 1160
Albany, New York 12231-0001
and you still haven’t responded.
I also wanted you to comment on the picture in the second row , third from the right in this Ryerecord.com link:
https://ryerecord.com/news/here-we-go-again.html
You are hell bent to install sewers on Hen Island and you won’t comment about a picture showing RAW sewage spewing from a manhole and draining directly into LI Sound for DAYS after Irene ended. Are these sewer breakdowns what you consider healing the harbor?
Mister,
You need to read up on Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s). (try google) That is why the sewer on Milton Road overflows every time there is a heavy rain. It doesn’t happen in Greenhaven where the Hen Island access to the County trunk line is located.
Many homes in Rye are illegally hooked up leaders, gutters and storm drains to the sanitary sewer system. That is what you are witnessing on Milton Road by the Marina. Like I said, do your homework and you will figure it all out.
As far as your phone call, you can call whomever you like. Here is the code from the City of Rye;
https://healtheharbor.com/codes/potablewater.html
And here is the County code;
https://healtheharbor.com/codes/occupancies.html
Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, I was surfing on you tube! Is this the song that throws you over the edge?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy0aBtzUbXQ
PS. Big surprise for you in the AM. Sweet dreams…..
That’s not the code for seasonal residences. That is the code for PRIMARY RESIDENCES. Rye doesn’t have code for SEASONAL RESIDENCES that is why they refer to the NYS code. Nice try tho.
So the sewers on Hen Island would never be under water during a storm tide? OK.
Here you go Mister, your surprise!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgPPTrlEZbE
Just what I always wanted, a Youtube video! No one ever gave me a Youtube video before! Here’s two for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rreBKDko6OY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUYIxfsCeCE&feature=related
Your welcome.
@Ray Tartaglione
There you go again expecting me to protect Mayor French. Like I said, if you want Joe Sack to be Mayor, so do I. Whoever you want to be Mayor is fine by me.
I just find it funny how mad you are at Mayor French for dumping you. He promised you and him would be a match made in heaven before he used and abused you, then threw you in a ditch. Now, having still not gotten over your feelings of rejection your acting like a vengeful ex and doing spiteful things. Maybe you and Mayor French could agree to see a therapist together to resolve your feelings of rejection?
The solution is out there!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_zvEm1KyQ8
@ Mister…..”A MAN IS ONLY AS GOOD AS HIS WORD”!
Mayor French deserves everything he gets and then some –
we all reep what we sow my friend!
His entire campaign ticket members are on borrowed time as are Stuckup & Wilson!
@ Larson,
What am I missing….what’s the connection?
@AboveAvg.Citizen
I know how you only think pure and virgin thoughts. I commend you on that. Like I told your friend Ray Tartaglione, I don’t care who runs Rye. The laws and code that govern this town supercede the people who volunteer to run it and if Ray Tartaglione was right , he would have won one of his gazillion lawsuits he has filed but, he hasn’t. That is all you need to know. Rye’s Administration HAS been enforcing the laws, the problem is Ray Tartaglione doesn’t like the laws.
@Ray Tartaglione
Are sewers really the answer? How about preventing the sewage from ever reaching the sewers by using composting toilets?
Watch this Youtube video of what happens when a pumping station like the one in Mamaroneck Harbor gets overwhelmed by storm water runoff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzWOOqPAEgs
So much poo! So little pumping station capacity.
@Ray Tartaglione
I think this is a video of the manhole at the intersection of Hewlitt and Milton Road during Irene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTm9ktb6_iM&feature=related
Mister,
When I don’t respond, it doesn’t mean you’ve won. It simply means you’re comments aren’t worth answering.
Ray, just buy the elevator shoes and we will all be happy. It is funny, a friend of mine that is a marine biologist said he 100% guaranteed that bathers at Play-land and Oakland beaches are way more polluting by urinating in the water then Hen Island community possibly could.
Chrissy,
Sorry, I didn’t know they now allow you to defecate in the water at Oakland and Playland beaches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy0aBtzUbXQ
@Ray Tartaglione
Don’t worry, I didn’t think that for a second because I don’t think you lose. YOU’RE the one that seems worried that I think you lost. You’ve already fixed the propane storage problems, the electrical permit problems and some “structural problems” on Hen Island. Why are you worried
I think that’s losing? In fact, those fixes have already saved me money! Let’s be honest,the situation on Hen Island was much more complicated than “Hen Islanders are criminals”
. It even took YOU 10 years to “recognize” it, right? So we’re all guilty.
But you have to admit that Hen Islanders have cooperated with Rye to change things. You thought Hen Islanders would be too stubborn to change, a thought even I agreed with, but they did change. They changed so much that last year they voted to install composting toilets in every seasonal cottage on Hen Island! And now, YOU are
the stubborn one who won’t change. See how we’ve come full circle? You are the one who is holding on tightly to your 19th century sewer technology and being adamantly against the collection of rain water instead of embracing much more progressive and environmentally friendly technology. And while you hold tightly to your 19th century sewers you have destroyed the credibility of Mr. Flotie,
HealTheHarbor and yourself. It now does look like Mayor French is right, that you are trying to develop Hen Island or at least make it too expensive for anyone but the rich.
It now does look like a vendetta
against the rest of the shareholders of Hen Island and anyone in Rye who enforces
the codes correctly. If you had agreed to the composting toilets you could have taken credit for EVERYTHING but your stubborness and your agenda that is now apparent has prevented your victory or at least postponed it for the foreseeable future.So, if you do end up losing it will have nothing to do with me thinking I won. The reason for your failure
will be that you’re not really an environmentalist, you’re an opportunist.
“The world is divided into two categories of people: those who defecate in drinking water and those who don’t. We in the western world are in the former class. We defecate in water, usually purified drinking water. After polluting the water with our body’s excrements, we flush the once pure but now polluted water “away,” meaning we probably don’t know where it goes, nor do we care.
This ritual of defecating in water may be useful for maintaining a good standing within western culture. If you don’t deposit your feces into a bowl of drinking water on a regular basis, you may be considered a miscreant of sorts, perhaps uncivilized or dirty or poverty stricken. You may be seen as a non-conformist or a radical.” – Joe Jenkins
All day long, Americans carry human excrement around in their bodies but, as soon as it comes out they run like hell.
“In the United States, humans take flush toilets for granted. You take your dump into a large bowl of drinking water, then flush it. End of story. That’s the civilized thing to do. But where does the flushed material go? What would happen if everyone in the world crapped in their drinking water supplies? Why doesn’t any other land mammal defecate deliberately in water? Why do we? These all seem like questions any reasonably curious person would ask once in a while. What if the toilet won’t flush? Then what? How long can you hold it? People actually crap in ziplock bags and put them in the trash during power outages. Really.” — Joe Jenkins
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
—- Jiddu Krishnamurti
“It is ironic, however, that we humans have consistently ignored one problem that is very near to each of us – one waste issue that all of us contribute to each and every day – an environmental problem that has stalked our species from our genesis, and which will accompany us to our extinction. Perhaps one reason we have taken such a head-in-the-sand approach to the recycling of human excrement is because we can’t even talk about it. If there is one thing that the human consumer culture refuses to deal with constructively, it’s body excretions. This is the taboo topic, the unthinkable issue …………. For waste is not found in nature – it’s strictly a human concept, a result of our own ignorance. It’s up to us humans to unlock the secret to its elimination. Nature herself provides us with the key, and she has held it out to us for many thousands of years.”
—— Joe Jenkins
“In effect, we are behaving as if we have no children, as though there will not be a next generation.”
—– Lester R. Brown
Watch this Youtube video of what happens when a pumping station like the one in Mamaroneck Harbor gets overwhelmed by storm water runoff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzWOOqPAEgs
“Today, however, the use of the term “waste” to describe recycled materials is an unpleasant semantic habit that must be abandoned. Otherwise, one could refer to leaves in the autumn as “tree waste,” because they are no longer needed by the tree and are discarded. Yet, when one walks into the forest, where does one see waste? The answer is “nowhere,”
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
—- Jiddu Krishnamurti
because the forest’s organic material is recycled naturally, and no waste is created. Ironically, leaves and grass clippings are referred to
as “yard waste” by some compost professionals, another example of
the persistent waste mentality plaguing our culture.”
“Feces and urine are examples of natural, beneficial, organic
materials excreted by the bodies of animals after completing their
digestive processes. They are only “waste” when we discard them.
When recycled, they are resources, and are often referred to as
manures, but never as waste, by the people who do the recycling.
We do not recycle waste. It’s a common semantic error to say
that waste is, can be, or should be recycled. Resource materials are recycled, but waste is never recycled. That’s why it’s called “waste.” Waste is any material that is discarded and has no further use. We humans have been so wasteful for so long that the concept of waste elimination is foreign to us. Yet, it is an important concept.”
—— Joe Jenkins
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
—- Jiddu Krishnamurti
“Regardless of the benefits or the hindrances of one’s education, we still find no waste in nature. One organism’s excrement is another’s food – it’s that simple. Everything is recycled through natural systems so waste doesn’t exist. Humans create waste because we insist on ignoring the natural systems that we are dependent upon. We are so adept at doing so that we take waste for granted and have given the word a prominent place in our vocabulary. We have kitchen “waste,” garden “waste,” agricultural “waste,” human “waste,” municipal “waste,” “biowaste,” and on and on. Yet, our long-term survival as a species requires us to learn to live in harmony with our host planet. This also requires that we understand natural cycles and incorporate them into our day to day lives. In essence, this means that we humans must eliminate waste altogether. As we progressively eliminate waste from our living habits, we can also progressively eliminate the word “waste” from our vocabulary. We can start with the term “human waste.””
——- Joe Jenkins
Click on the link below and go to the picture in the second row , third from the right.
https://ryerecord.com/news/here-we-go-again.html
You will see a white house several days after Irene with the sewer still gushing sewage from the manhole at the corner of Milton and Hewlitt.
“Religious movements that worship humans are ego-centered. It is ironic that a tiny, insignificant lifeform on a speck of dust at the edge of a galaxy lost somewhere in a corner of the universe would declare that the universe was created by one of their own kind. This would be a laughing matter if it were not taken so seriously by so many members of the human species, who insist on believing that the source of all life is another human, colloquially referred to as “God.”
We humans have evolved enough to know that the idea of a human-like creator-deity is simply myth. We can’t begin to comprehend the full nature of our existence, so we make up a story that works until we figure out something better. Unfortunately, human-worship breeds an imbalanced collective ego. When we actually believe the myth, that humans are the pinnacle of life and the entire universe was created by one of our own kind, we go off the deep end. We stray too far from truth and wander, lost, with no point of reference to take us back to a balanced spiritual perspective we need for our own long-term survival on this planet. We become like a person knee deep in his own excrement, not knowing how to free himself from his unfortunate position, staring blankly at a road map with a look of utter incomprehension.”
—– Joe Jenkins
“If you don’t deposit your feces into a (toilet) bowl of drinking water on a regular basis, you may be considered a miscreant of sorts, perhaps uncivilized or dirty or poverty stricken. You may be seen as a non-conformist or a radical.”
—– Joe Jenkins
“Consumer cultures of today must evolve toward sustainability. This is a shift that will likely be fought tooth and nail by those powerful, non-sustainable industries that stand to lose profits, and by their paid spokespersons in the newspapers, radio, television, congresses, and senates of the world. Nevertheless, if we humans are half as intelligent as we think we are, we’ll join together cooperatively and eventually get our act together. In the meantime, there are those of you who are doing your share, shifting as you can, incrementally, but surely toward sustainable lifestyle choices. You are also further educating yourselves, as the reading of this book indicates, and perhaps realizing that nature holds many of the keys we need to unlock the door to a sustainable, harmonious existence on this planet. Composting is one of the keys that has been relatively recently discovered by the human race. Its utilization is now beginning to mushroom worldwide.”
—– Joe Jenkins
“Not worried about antibiotic resistant bacteria in your swimming area? Here’s something else to chew on: 50 to 90% of the pharmaceutical drugs people take can be excreted down the toilet and out into the waterways in their original or biologically active forms. Furthermore, drugs that have been partially degraded before excretion can be converted to their original active form by environmental chemical reactions. Pharmaceutical drugs such as chemotherapy drugs, antibiotics, antiseptics, beta-blocker heart drugs, hormones, analgesics, cholesterol-lowering drugs, and drugs for regulating blood lipids have turned up in such places as tap water, groundwater beneath sewage treatment plants, lake water, rivers, and in drinking water aquifers. Think about that the next time you fill your glass with water.”
—- Joe Jenkins
Here is the headline story over at The Sound Shore Review.
https://myryesoundshore.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2304:one-year-later-plastic-disks-still-pepper-long-island-sound-shores&catid=34:news&Itemid=53
Just another sewer related environmental disatster. BTW, if they wanted a 100,000 more plastic wheels from the treatment plant spill they could find them on the shores of Hen Island.
Here’s another one.
Click on the link below and go to the picture in the second row , third from the right.
https://ryerecord.com/news/here-we-go-again.html
that sewer manhole gushing sewage in front of the white house was doing that for 5 days after Irene. The whole boat basin smelled like sh*t for 2 weeks. Is that healing the harbor?
“The good news is that we burn our [municipal solid waste] to make energy.”
— Tom Lauro
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
—– Mister4181775
“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
—- Jiddu Krishnamurti
“There is a disturbing theory about the human species that has begun to take on an alarming level of reality. It seems that the behavior of the human race is displaying uncanny parallels to the behavior of pathogenic, or disease-causing, organisms.
When viewed at the next quantum level of perspective, from which the Earth is seen as an organism and humans are seen as microorganisms, the human species looks like a menace to the planet. In fact, the human race is looking a lot like a disease-causing pathogen, which is an organism excessively multiplying, consuming, and producing harmful waste, with no regard for the health and well-being of its host – in this case, planet Earth.
Pathogenic organisms are a nasty quirk of nature, it seems, although they do have their constructive purposes, namely killing off the weak and infirm and ensuring the survival of only the fittest. They do this by overwhelming their hosts, by essentially sucking the vitality out of them and leaving poisonous wastes in their wake. Pathogens do not give a damn about their host organisms, and they often kill them outright.
This may seem a silly way for a species to maintain its own existence – afterall, if you kill the host upon which you feed and upon which your life depends, then you must also die. But pathogens have evolved a special survival tactic that allows them to carry on the existence of their own species even after their host has died. They simply travel to another host……………
In the case of pathogenic organisms that kill their host, the behavior is predictable: multiply without regard for any limits to growth, consume as if there were no tomorrow, and excrete waste products that grievously harm the host. When this is translated into human terms, it rings with a disquieting familiarity, especially as we relentlessly equate human success with growth, consumption, material wealth, and profit.
Suppose we humans are, in fact, exhibiting disease behavior: we’re multiplying without regard for limits, consuming natural resources as if there were no tomorrow, and producing waste products that are distressing the planet upon which our very existence depends. Well, there are two factors which we, as a species, are not taking into consideration. First is the survival tactic of pathogens, which requires additional hosts to infect. We do not have the luxury of that option, at least not yet. If we succeed at continuing our dangerous behavior, we also succeed in marching straight toward our own demise. In the process, we can also drag many other species down with us, a dreadful syndrome that is already underway. This is evident by the threat of extinction that hangs, like the sword of Damocles, over an alarming number of the Earth’s species.”
—— Joe Jenkins