funding- The Buffalo Bean

Smoke-Free, Stressed-Out Living...

Posted by Matt in Buffalo, Campaign 2010, Commentary, Erie County, Featured Articles, NY State Government on 04 26th, 2010 | No Comments

You can’t smoke while at work, in restaurants, at bars, and, depending how stifling a particular community is, within the public portion of the outdoors. But at least you can still light up at home. Or maybe not. The public/private consortium of health bullies that is the Erie-Niagara Tobacco-Free...

Buy Your Own Art...

Posted by Anthony Bialy in Buffalo, Commentary, Economy, Entertainment, Federal Government, NY State Government on 04 19th, 2010 | No Comments

This year’s Hallwalls’ Artists & Models Affair might be fun or freaky. It could be both, too, but it should be up to individuals to find out for themselves. Admission to the undoubtedly provocative May 1 event is 15 bucks presale or a Jackson at the door. Either way, taxpayers are also...

Posted by Anthony Bialy in Commentary, Featured Articles, NY State Government on 02 8th, 2010 | Comments Off

While I’m sorry to be a downer, I don’t think you’ll win Powerball. Someone will pick the correct numerical combination, although it’s astoundingly unlikely to be you personally. But playing is like attempting to entice a model from the opposite gender or cheering for a non-Yankees franchise:...

Off-the-Rails Spending...

Posted by Anthony Bialy in Buffalo, Campaign 2010, Commentary, Economy, Federal Government, Media, News, U.S. Senate on 02 2nd, 2010 | 2 Comments

We need government-funded trains to facilitate travel across the country. On top of that, their construction will spur financial recovery. That’s because it’s 1936. Regrettably, when it comes to fixing and administering the economy, we’re still coping with a Depression mentality; further,...

Posted by Anthony Bialy in Buffalo, Campaign 2010, Commentary, Economy, Media, News, corruption on 01 11th, 2010 | 2 Comments

City Hall can’t run the economy properly. City Hall can barely run City Hall. Buffalo has not quite been dragged into financial utopia by its government; that’s especially seen in the folly of redistributing our money among companies of the bureaucracy’s choosing. But at least one...

Posted by Anthony Bialy in Buffalo, Campaign 2008, Campaign 2010, Commentary, Economy, Erie County, Federal Government, House of Representatives, News, U.S. Senate, White House on 12 28th, 2009 | Comments Off

It’s nice to agree with your congressperson every so often. Concurring with one’s representative makes one feel, well, represented. That’s true even if accord happens for some as rarely as seemingly every area of the country except Buffalo gets walloped with Christmas-week snow. Anything...

Posted by Anthony Bialy in Campaign 2008, Commentary, Economy, Entertainment, Federal Government, Media, News, U.S. Senate on 12 21st, 2009 | Comments Off

The best summary of the social disease factory called the Woodstock Festival was offered by The Who. The unenthusiastic participants’ perfectly crude, decidedly and awesomely not safe for work reaction both during and after the squalid affair effectively summarizes the faux idyllic colossal mud bath. ...

Posted by Matt in Erie County on 12 15th, 2009 | Comments Off

The following letter to the editor by Erie County Legislator Ed Rath will appear in the Amherst Bee tomorrow: Dear Editor: Erie County has adopted its 2010 budget. I am happy to report that the budget keeps tax rates steady for next year. During these difficult economic times, it does not make sense...

Dinner Should be on the Hall...

Posted by Anthony Bialy in Buffalo, Commentary, Economy, Media, News on 12 15th, 2009 | 2 Comments

The City of Buffalo would like you to dine out. Please. But kindly only do so at sanctioned eateries that the local government has blessed with cash. The Buffalo News recently highlighted the specific flaws of a loan program that removes “free” from markets: City Hall lending to business...

Posted by Anthony Bialy in Buffalo, Economy on 11 23rd, 2009 | Comments Off

There’s no law that everyone has to be equally miserable, although the present Congress might soon address that. Until then, Buffalo is nonetheless going with the flow down the drain instead of floating above the present nationwide depressing standard. G. Scott Thomas from Business First notes...

Posted by Anthony Bialy in Buffalo, Economy, Erie County on 10 21st, 2009 | Comments Off

Tell us when Bass Pro opens. We don’t want updates, timelines, projections, limp promises, or press conferences based on optimistic speculation. Local news outlets should refuse to mention the hypothetical downtown retailer in any dispatch that doesn’t include the words “doors...

Posted by Anthony Bialy in Architecture, Buffalo, Commentary, Economy on 10 8th, 2009 | Comments Off

Aged buildings look nice. Everyone prefers the warmth and character that radiates from old-timey brick facades, especially when compared to soulless concrete monstrosities. Take the Summit Building at 918-920 Main Street, which is a four-story red-bricked gem dating from 1891. For historical reference, the...

Posted by Anthony Bialy in Buffalo, Commentary, Economy, Federal Government, News on 10 7th, 2009 | Comments Off

Money? Good. Fighting cancer? Good. But money intended to aid the cancer fight could be spent ineffectually despite the astoundingly noble goal. The Buffalo News carried a recent story about a federal grant that’s by default more useful than every other project that has been or will be funded...

Posted by Anthony Bialy in Buffalo, Commentary, Economy, Erie County, Media, NY State Government, News on 09 30th, 2009 | 3 Comments

It used to be that companies were “incubators for skills.” But why bother getting on-the-job training when the government will cover the cost of getting you up to speed? For one, The Buffalo News adores the idea of making everyone pay to school a few workers, as evidenced by the Mark...

A Train That Goes Nowhere Fast...

Posted by Anthony Bialy in Buffalo, Commentary, Economy, Federal Government on 09 22nd, 2009 | Comments Off

The word “private” doesn’t appear in a recent Buffalo News story about a potential New York-based super-swift train. It’s as if local leaders don’t even bother to pretend anymore that businesses should be the entities responding to the public’s needs. Unfortunately, officials are looking...

Posted by Anthony Bialy in Campaign 2010, Federal Government, NY-20, U.S. Senate on 09 16th, 2009 | Comments Off

Politics didn’t change Kirsten Gillibrand, but a new job did. She became a company woman once since she was assigned to stand for in the Senate; that’s different that how she acted while representing only New York’s 20th Congressional District in the House. Unfortunately for her, she may have just...