BELLPORT-NY.COM

Its that time again. Time to take a look back at the year that we are about to leave behind, that is. It sure has been an exciting year by all counts, and the antics just keep coming. This is gonna be one for the history books, that’s for sure. But aside from all the big media grabbers like the New York Giants wining the Super Bowl, there have been some other events of notability.

Some events of 2008 we will remember for their shock value, like the sudden death of actor Keith Ledger who overdosed on prescription medication just as his career was beginning to take off in a big way. Then there is Oj Simpson, who finally got convicted this year. That one you have to laugh at. On a more somber note, we are about to end the year still at war in Iraq with no clear end in sight, only promises yet to be kept. Its a good thing information is going digital these days because it would take a heck of a lot of paper to make a book big enough to cover all of the historical events the world has seen in 2008.

There’s been some major changes going on locally as well. In 2008 the village of Bellport elected the first new mayor in 25 years. The former Mayor, Frank Trotta was unseated from his career term by one David Pate, a Brookhaven Research associate who has lived in Bellport for half of a century. We really have yet to see how this will change the way business is done locally, or not. On the uglier side, we have the recent allegations and indictment against long time Village of Bellport Trustee, John Orlando. That’s one we may not want to see in the books, unfortunately I am sure their is more to come with that story.

I would like to make this article an open discussion on all that has happened this year, big or small. If it was of importance to you, we want to hear about it. You are invited to leave your comments below and tell us about your year. Also be sure and stop back for part 3 in this series of articles looking back at the year 2008. Hope you enjoy, I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions.

Here we are half way through the month of December and we are all still stuck on this whole Blagojevich, Jackson, Obama triangle. Now it turns out that Jessy Jackson Jr. has been speaking to the feds for several years now in regards to the Illinois governor. Some are labeling him an informant. Jesse is working hard to clear his name while Obama still isn’t talking about any connection his office may have had with Rod Blagojevich. The President Elect has released a statement that they will not release any information to the media until given the OK by federal prosecutors involved. He made reassurances of no inappropriate conduct and promised more later in the week. Personally I will be glad when we can move past this, and on to the more pressing matters at hand.

In other new, a Iraqi reporter attempted to assault president Bush using his shoes during a press conference. The guy had pretty good aim and was quick enough to launch both of his shoes directly at the President before being tackled to the ground. Bush was too quick for him though, and easily dodged both of the well aimed projectiles. It was actually surprising how agile old George Jr was in his reaction. Almost as if he had been practicing for it. Probably just from dodging the flying pots and pans at home when Laura gets fired up. The shoe tossing reporter may now face up to 15 years in an Iraqi jail for the assault, though some feel he is now very popular with the Iraqi public and they would not want to make a martyr of him. I don’t know about 15 years in prison, but the guy should definitely be held accountable. Like him or not, George Bush is still President of The United States of America.

Check back for updates and more. We post new articles pretty regularly and try to stay on top of the current news. I am always voicing my opinion on these stories and I welcome you to do the same. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks for visiting BELLPORT-NY.COM

That’s right folks, you too can reserve your spot in congress. All you need is the desire to lead and the bankroll to back it up. Everything is for sale in America these days it seems, including the seat President elect Obama left in Senate, representing Illinois. It turns out Illinois has been developing a bit of notoriety for their governors going bad. 3 previous governors from the state have been convicted of crimes while in office already and current governor Rod Blagojevich isn’t about to break tradition.

It seems he was actively taking offers for the position in question. As governor it is his responsibility to choose someone to fill the vacancy. I guess he figured with all the money running around Washington these days he may as well cash in on the deal himself. Brilliant guy, so brilliant he let the feds get him on tape, admitting that he intended to cash in on his power, saying something along the lines that he was not going to give the position away for free. Someone was gonna have to ante up.

There are also stories going around of actual cash offers he may have been considering. Jesse Jackson Jr has been mentioned. I’m sure we are gonna hear allot more about that in the weeks to come. It’s just one story after another about this crooked politician and that one. With all the hundreds of Billions of dollars running through these officials hands I wont be surprised to see even more crooks coming out of the woodwork in the next few years, and how much they embezzle the American public out of in the process.

Most sources agree that President elect Obama had nothing to do with this whole thing, and was unaware of any wrongdoing in general. Im sure he is fuming though, Doesn’t make him look good to be in the center of this type of scandal this early on in the game, and just his closeness to the whole situation would obviously cause his critics to raise questions. It seems silly to me to even suggest he may be involved in something of that nature. There wouldn’t be anything to gain on his part, and there are other ways he could have ascerted his own influence into who would fill his old position, should he have chosen to do so. Legal ones even. Never a dull moment in the game of politics.

Reports this week have stated that America lost another Half a million jobs this month. In a of normal growth we would be up 1 million jobs right now. Unfortunately there is nothing normal about the state of affairs today. We know that one of the main triggers for our economic crash, was irresponsibility on the part of home lenders. It all started with sub prime mortgages going south, mortgages that never should have happened in the first place. This lead to the market crash, which in turn is why so many Americans are now losing jobs.

Heres where it gets really fun. Those people who have lost there jobs are now begining to get late and default on their mortgages, and I’m not talking about sub prime anymore. These are hardworking people with good credit who have lost their primary source of income and just cant foot the bill anymore. Analysts are now saying that 10% of all mortgages are now being affected. This is huge, especially considering the rate of foreclosures is now up 75% from last year.

Its a viciose cycle, with one problem creating another. This is trickle down economics at its finest. You know what they say, “*It runs downhill.” To top it off we now have the failing auto industry, which may not be able to hold on for the Bailout money, if and when it ever comes their way. I am anxious to see if our president elect jumps right into creating some new jobs to stop the bleeding here.

There has been plenty of talk about our failing infrastructure, roads and bridges in need of repair, and how millions of jobs could be created immediatly by injecting cash directly into the projects. It sounds great, though critics who oppose feel that these things should be handled at a state level. I just wonder if thats their way of saying they want to have some creative input as to exactly where that money goes. Hopefully it doesn’t en up in some crooke politicians pocket. Time will tell.