Recharger The Dog » Swapon Nath http://www.rechargerthedog.com Wed, 09 Jun 2010 22:41:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Why the rest of us are shmucks http://www.rechargerthedog.com/2007/03/28/why-the-rest-of-us-are-shmucks/ http://www.rechargerthedog.com/2007/03/28/why-the-rest-of-us-are-shmucks/#comments Wed, 28 Mar 2007 23:42:28 +0000 Recharger http://rechargerthedog.com/?p=419 uncivilservant.jpgGreat website on civil servants, doctors, etc. who abuse parking privileges. Example: cop parks his $70,000 Corvette on River Terrace at Warren Street. Parks in the exact same spot for 14 months. Uses his unmarked car to hold his spot when he takes his Vette out. In the above picture, said Vette with car cover that hasn’t been moved since before last months’s storm cannot possibly be on ‘official police duty.’ Transportation Alternatives, champion of drug-addled cyclists and 12-step pedicab drivers, says [...]]]> uncivilservant.jpgGreat website on civil servants, doctors, etc. who abuse parking privileges.

Example: cop parks his $70,000 Corvette on River Terrace at Warren Street. Parks in the exact same spot for 14 months. Uses his unmarked car to hold his spot when he takes his Vette out. In the above picture, said Vette with car cover that hasn’t been moved since before last months’s storm cannot possibly be on ‘official police duty.’

Transportation Alternatives, champion of drug-addled cyclists and 12-step pedicab drivers, says — and we agree — that municipal employees, especially the police, abuse their city-issued parking permits. The group estimates that at least 150,000 drivers — more than 12.5 times the number of yellow cab drivers — have such permits.

Parking permits, says TA, have become de facto salary bonuses. A Police Department Spokesman disputes this, claiming that permits do not allow police or other vehicles to park at bus stops or fire hydrants. Indeed, several weeks ago, the Police Department towed 12 vehicles displaying police and court permits that were parked illegally in Chinatown.

Okay, but did they pay the $600 ticket and pound fees?

– Swapon Nath

]]> http://www.rechargerthedog.com/2007/03/28/why-the-rest-of-us-are-shmucks/feed/ 0 Manhattan’s littlest, cutest, most adorablist army http://www.rechargerthedog.com/2007/03/14/manhattan%e2%80%99s-littlest-cutest-most-adorablist-army/ http://www.rechargerthedog.com/2007/03/14/manhattan%e2%80%99s-littlest-cutest-most-adorablist-army/#comments Wed, 14 Mar 2007 21:42:56 +0000 Recharger http://rechargerthedog.com/?p=413 knickerbocker greys.jpgWE DON’T REALLY LIKE MAKING FUN OF KIDS, BUT WITH A WAR ON, and up to 64,000 Iraqi civilians dead as a result of the American invasion, and another war in Afghanistan, and you know, the history of civilization being more or less defined by war, war, and more war, and the world facing nuclear annihilation, we find an organization that trains kids at an early age to dress in army uniforms, march around, and participate in annual sham battles [...]]]> knickerbocker greys.jpgWE DON’T REALLY LIKE MAKING FUN OF KIDS, BUT WITH A WAR ON, and up to 64,000 Iraqi civilians dead as a result of the American invasion, and another war in Afghanistan, and you know, the history of civilization being more or less defined by war, war, and more war, and the world facing nuclear annihilation, we find an organization that trains kids at an early age to dress in army uniforms, march around, and participate in annual sham battles at Camp Smith in Peekskill, NY to be more than a bit grotesque.

Such are The Knickerbocker Greys, an organization for kids ages 6 to 16 that has been around since 1881. The 21 Upper East Side cadets (was 200 between the world wars) drill in the old Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue, learn the importance of walking erect and referring to filled soda glasses as charged cannons.

According to the Grey’s website,

The main focus of each weekly meeting is to learn traditional armed forces marching and drill routines, but cadets learn much more than the drill itself. Greys learn discipline and the habits of orderliness, and from that they develop leadership capabilities themselves. How to motivate others, deal with subordinates firmly but respectfully and command a group of peers.

“Dealing with subordinates firmly but respectfully” — has a certain ring to it. Guess this was where Grey’s most famous alumnus, “Preppy Killer” Robert Chambers, learned how to strangle 18-year-old Jennifer Levin in Central Park on August 26, 1986, when, according to Chambers, she got frisky during sex. Chambers, we may remember, got bail and while awaiting trial, was videotaped at a party strangling a Barbie Doll till its head popped off, gleefully exclaiming, “Oops, I think I killed it!”

– Swapon Nath

]]> http://www.rechargerthedog.com/2007/03/14/manhattan%e2%80%99s-littlest-cutest-most-adorablist-army/feed/ 0