WolfeNotes.com

I knew that phrase and the eye candy would get your attention!

You may not have read about it in the press, or Democratic Party emails, or your corporate algorithm driven social media feed, but – and I apologize in advance for interrupting your busy day of shopping and social media memes with political propaganda – but Democratic Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had something rather profound to announce to the American people.

RFK Jr. just called for ending the permanent war economy, closing the 800 foreign US military bases around the world, ending the US Empire, and bringing the troops home to help build schools, hospitals, renewable energy systems, etc.

He grounded this new America First campaign in compassion (not in the xenophobia and racism of MAGA) and historically linked it to the wisdom in Martin Luther King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech and the objectives of his Poor People’s Campaign.

Quoting his uncle President JFK – RFK Jr. called for smashing the CIA into a thousand pieces and scattering it to the wind.

And he vowed to end “the corrupt merger of State and corporate power” .

And for my environmental friends, he spoke at great length of his career working with environmental activists and their success in suing corporate polluters, as well as the values (spiritual, not just economic) that the natural environment provides.

How do you like ‘dem apples  (pun intended!)

I just thought readers here might be interested in all that – particularly because I’m sure that you’ve been brainwashed to think he is an anti-vax, anti-science, nut job.

You can watch speech and much more at this link and be treated to the most wonderful renditions of The Turtle’s “Happy Together” and a soulful “America The Beautiful”:

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’S Historic Presidential Announcement In Boston, MA

(my advise to RFK Jr. would be to lay the foundations and develop plans for bolting the Democrats for a 3rd party after they sabotage him like they did Bernie Sanders (twice! in 2016 and 2020).

I’d also let his policy team know that I’m available for the campaign and my only extraction would be appointment as Regional Administrator at EPA  Region 2.)

[Update 5/16/23 – A good friend and knowledgeable source strongly disagrees with the above:

Rfk jr is a dangerous crook – he sold out the people in Ringwood superfund site – and pettys island – plus other stuff

DEP Doubling Down On “Young Forest” Campaign Despite Glassboro Clearcut

THE STORY THAT THE CONSERVATION GROUPS AND MEDIA FAIL TO TELL

Once again, today’s media coverage of the DEP’s illegal clearcut of over 20 acres of mature wetlands forest in the Glassboro Wildlife Management Area fails to connect the dots on what’s really going on.

The Glassboro project was not a “mistake”, as Murphy DEP Commissioner LaTourette recently misled the legislature. It was an example of DEP’s flawed forest and wildlife management policies.

Those management policies are known as the “Young Forests” initiative. “Young Forest” policies explicitly justify the logging of mature forests to create habitat for certain species, particularly for game birds and deer to promote hunting (and thereby increase DEP hunting license fee revenues and federal grants). For that science and an expose of the forest products industry’s national Young Forests campaign, see:

• Forest-clearing to create early-successional habitats: Questionable benefits, significant costs

DEP is an active member of a well funded national “Young Forests” campaign that threatens to clearcut thousands of acres of NJ forests.

The campaign is based on dubious science and focus group tested slogans.

THAT IS THE STORY THAT THE CONSERVATION GROUPS AND MEDIA FAIL TO TELL.

LaTourette also testified to legislators that he was reforming the DEP policies and personnel that caused the Glassboro clearcut.

But DEP staffers didn’t get the memo and are instead doubling down to defend the status quo.

Incredibly, despite the public outrage, embarrassing national media coverage, and critical Legislative oversight, the DEP is doubling down with impunity by lobbying with the forestry industry to promote exactly the same Young Forest policies that DEP relied on to support the Glassboro clearcut.

As I wrote last week, DEP staffer Sharon Petzinger, a champion of the Young Forest initiative, is scheduled to speak on May 18 at a political event of the NJ Forestry Association to promote the DEP’s Young Forest program.

I wrote to Latourette to demand that Petzinger’s presentation be cancelled:

Dear Commissioner LaTourette – I write to bring to your attention the external activities of one of your staffers, Ms. Sharon Petzinger, of the Division of Fish and Wildlife (see below announcement by the NJ Forestry Association).

This activity is particularly troubling at this moment in time, given the recent controversy over the Department’s illegal clearcut in Glassboro WMA. You recently testified to the Legislature that you were reforming DEP’s policies to prevent a recurrence of Glassboro, and Deputy Commissioner Moriarty recently met with conservation groups to discuss reforms. So, administrative and regulatory reforms are underway (in the absence of any Stakeholder or public process) that are directly relevant to Ms. Petzinger’s presentation.

Additionally, there are sensitive ongoing legislative deliberations for drafting a bill by Senator Smith to implement the recommendations of the Forestry Taskforce. Senator Smith publicly stated that he will introduce a bill in June. Some of those most controversial recommendations involved the Department’s interpretation of the science and policy supporting “active management” (logging) to provide habitat. The NJ Forestry Association was a Co-Chair of Senator Smith’s Task Force. Thus the linkage to legislation is irrefutable.

As you know, the Glassboro WMA clearcut was designed to provide habitat.

Ms. Petziner has been a longstanding advocate of exactly the same controversial forest management projects (logging) to create habitat (and young forests). Ms.Petzinger has generated public controversy and has advocated scientifically dubious “active forestry management” (logging) projects that have undermined the public’s trust and confidence in the Department.

At the May 18 presentation promoted below, Ms. Petzinger will be representing the Department and presenting the Department’s forestry and wildlife management policies to a private special interest group with economic interests in logging.

Given the circumstances, Ms. Petzinger’s  presentation is totally inappropriate and creates the appearance of political advocacy and lobbying for a specific management policy to be included in Senator Smith’s current legislative deliberations .

I strongly urge you to direct Ms. Petzinger to cancel her presentation.

I do now know what the Department’s current policies and procedures are with respect to such presentations, but when I was with the Department such external activities required management approval. If the external presentation involved a high visibility and highly controversial matter involving pending legislation, the Commission was required to review and approve the presentation.

I would hope that you have similar management policies and procedures in place.

Bill Wolfe

(Saratoga Springs, NY (see photos)

My mom, Julie Peacox, was a brilliant, tough, and awesome woman who died 20 years ago this December (obituary).

Julie was a huge supporter of education and continuing learning.

Born into the Depression just 2 months after the crash of ’29, to a poor working class and dysfunctional family, she had a difficult childhood. But she found refuge and recognition in school and excelled.

She had no support network or economic resources and there was little opportunity for a smart ambitious working class woman from the Washington Irving HS Class of ’47, so she was forced to work to survive after HS graduation.

She began her career as a secretary, what today we might call an Executive Assistant, at Schenley Industries Empire State Building Headquarters in NYC.

As a mom, Julie constantly stressed educational excellence to us kids. She led by example.

She was a voracious reader and made efforts to discuss and explore ideas with her kids. Our house was full of books, magazines, and classical music and opera (the later, which we hated, was radio broadcast early on Sunday mornings). We had a NY Times daily home delivery. In hard economic times, the electric and gas might get turned off, even the milkman sometimes stopped delivery, but the NY Times bill got paid!

Julie was a school advocate and leader in the Tarrytown PTA, then a longtime School Board member, and President of the Tarrytown School Board for many years. She served on the Westchester County BOCES  Board (Special education) and often went to Albany to testify on education legislation. NY Gov. Mario Cuomo named her to a State Task Force seeking re-use plans for the closed GM auto plant.

She was so proud to finally earn her Bachelor’s degree from SUNY Empire State College, at around age 60, after perhaps a decade of night classes and correspondence courses at several local colleges and the SUNY downstate (Westchester County) campus.

She did this academic work while working full time running her own court reporters agency, often with 2 or 3 jobs, sometimes including typing work to make ends meet.

Her efforts had a huge impact on the educational opportunities of thousands of kids who went through the Tarrytown School system, as well as on her own 3 kids, all of whom excelled academically and went on to earn college degrees (before she did!) and put their own kids through college (and beyond).

Julie had a very tough life. She struggled and worked hard. She cared for others. She got involved as an advocate, activist, and professional. She got a lot done. She did her best.

AKC Censors Critic Of Cruel Marketing Tactics

Bouy, along the Snake River in Idaho (10/12/22)

Ms. Rackley mocked my suffering. Repeat: she mocked my suffering and my dog’s suffering.

I could be the first to ever be cancelled by the American Kennel Club (AKC). And I say “fuck these greedy and cruel psychopaths!”

Some might think that the event I describe below is humiliating or embarrassing to me personally, but I take exactly the opposite perspective.

This episode reveals the depraved and cruel commercial conduct of an elite member of the American Kennel Club (AKC) and the AKC’s apparent tolerance of that conduct.

It is no secret that my dog and I have suffered from his decline from chronic arthritis over the last 6 months.

Frankly, I’ve never been so preoccupied, depressed, and paralyzed with anxiety in managing his suffering and contemplating putting him down to end his suffering.

For an extremely active outdoor dog who loved the wild and acted more like a wolf in the wild than a domestic animal – yet retaining a domestic dog’s love of people – this crippling chronic disease is especially painful to watch.

Here’s the story:

To divert my mind from Bouy’s demise and explore finding a new canine lover, I’ve recently hit the AKC website to look for puppies.

I know I should have known better, because Bouy is a rescue dog and there is a surplus of gorgeous dogs to rescue out there.

But I did it anyway. Maybe we should just blame the internet. I’ll take some of the blame as well for being a fool.

Anyway, one elite commercial AKC dog marketer I came across was a woman named Chrystal Rackley, from Apple Valley Ca.

Not only did she snobbishly market the genetic endowment of her “AKC award winning” puppies, she turned out to be a cruel and greedy retaliatory bitch.

In calling her out for that cruelty, apparently she got my AKC account blocked and I can no longer look at beautiful pictures of puppies:

See my explanatory complaint letter below to AKC:

———- Original Message ———-

From: Bill WOLFE <>

To: “communications@akc.org” <communications@akc.org>, Bill WOLFE <bill_wolfe@comcast.net>

Date: 05/12/2023 7:31 PM MDT

Subject: Inquiry regarding member conduct and blocked AKC account

Greetings – I am a longtime dog owner/lover and recently retired professional and traveling in an RV.

I write to you to file a complaint against an AKC member and because my AKC account has been blocked, for unknown reasons.

Here’s the story.

Over the last few months, as my 12 year old Lab has been suffering from severe chronic arthritis, I’ve medicated him and struggled with decisions on putting him down.

I recently began looking on the AKC website for a puppy to offset the emotional impact and form a loving relationship with a new canine friend.  I had very positive and empathic conversations in seeking a gorgeous fox red lab from one of your members, Susan Burkey (Arizona). But the timing of my dog’s health and that puppy litter did not work out. Susan completely understood this.

I then explored puppies with another AKC member, Chrystal Rackley, from Apple Valley Ca.

Ms. Rackley mocked my suffering. Repeat: she mocked my suffering and my dog’s suffering.

I found that deplorable and unacceptable conduct and wrote to tell her so.

Apparently, that negative exchange triggered my blocked AKC account.

I demand restoration of my account and for AKC to investigate and discipline the unprofessional and cruel conduct of Ms. Rackley.

I have lots of media experience and no reservations with going to the media about this ugly conduct. I don’t think that would benefit AKC reputation.

Respectfully,

Bill Wolfe