Saturday, August 14th
2:00 – 10:00
Ancient Order of Hibernians
375 Ontario Street
Albany NY 12208 (518)438-8230
Denis Kelly is a 41 year old married father of 2 young children
who recently under went the first of two surgeries
due to complications with Crohn's disease.
He recently moved back to Albany to become a deputy
with the Albany County Sheriff’s Office.
Unfortunately, with little time on his new job,
Denis was taken off payroll
and health insurance was cancelled for him and his family.
Denis has
dedicated his life to helping others as
a decorated Marine,
Paramedic
& Police Officer
and has always put others before himself.
Now it is our turn to do the same for him,
his wife and 2 beautiful children.
We are asking you to be a part of this great day of music,
drinks and BBQ to help this wonderful family in their time of need.
Benefit kicks
off at 2:00 pm with The Andy Cooney Band
More info on other performers to come
For information please contact:
Jimmy Kelly
(516) 972-5682 or email
jollyjim1@aol.com
Donations may be sent to:
Jimmy and Anne Kelly
46 Freeman Road, Albany, NY 12208
The Kelly Family has always been there for the Irish community,
and this is a great chance to help them in their hour of need for their son.
Slán, Maureen
"Gubmint"
and How "Gubmint" Works
Once
upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert.
Congress said, "Someone may steal from it at night."
So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job.
Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So
they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write
the instructions, and one person to do time studies.
Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks
correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people.
One to do the studies and one to write the reports.
Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So They created
the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer, then hired two
people.
Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable
for all of these people?" So they created an
administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer,
Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.
Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one Year and we
are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost." So they laid off the
night watchman.
NOW slowly, let it sink in.
Quietly, we go like sheep to slaughter.
Does anybody remember the reason given for
the establishment of the
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.....
during the Carter Administration?
Anybody?
Anything?
No?
Didn't think so!
Bottom line. We've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of an
agency...the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember!
Ready??
It was very simple...and at the time, everybody thought it very appropriate.
The Department of Energy was instituted on
8-04-1977,
TO LESSEN OUR DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.
Hey, pretty efficient, huh???
AND NOW IT'S 2010 --
33 YEARS LATER
-- AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS "NECESSARY" DEPARTMENT IS AT
$24.2 BILLION A YEAR.
THEY HAVE
16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT EMPLOYEES;
AND LOOK AT THE JOB THEY HAVE DONE! THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND
SAY, "WHAT WAS I THINKING?"
33 years ago 30% of our oil consumption was foreign imports. Today 70% of our
oil consumption is foreign imports.
Ah,
yes -- good ole bureaucracy.
AND, NOW, WE ARE TURNING
THE BANKING SYSTEM, HEALTH CARE, AND THE AUTO INDUSTRY
OVER TO THE SAME GOVERNMENT?
HELLOOO!
Anybody Home?
The Sheriff Tommy Doyle remembered for patrolling Brooklyn
streets with a fierce but fair justice
Denis Hamill
Tuesday, July 13th 2010, 4:00 AM
Tommy Doyle died last week.
They should erect a statue to him outside the 72nd Precinct stationhouse.
This legendary cop, who patrolled the streets of Park Slope and Windsor Terrace
for more than 40 years, was known in my old stomping ground as The Sheriff of
Park Slope. The toughest, smartest, most omnipresent street cop you ever saw in
a blue uniform.
"Think of that old TV show 'The Blue Knight,' and you might imagine Tommy
Doyle," says Bill Clark, the homicide detective whose exploits became the basis
of "NYPD Blue." "When we created the show 'Brooklyn South,' I named the main
character Tommy Doyle. He was THE cop's cop. Doyle once said that a good cop
fixes more leaks than a plumber. Because in the days when he answered a call to
an old lady, if she had a leaky faucet, he'd also grab a wrench and fix that. He
cared about people."
Growing up, I witnessed Doyle patrolling the streets with a fierce but fair
justice. If he caught us with a six-pack on the parkside, he'd confiscate the
beer, hop us in the ass and brandish his nightstick in our faces with a warning
that he better not see us again that night. If he did, he'd take us in for
public intox, dis-con and resisting arrest.
"There are a lot of guys walking around today whose lives Tommy Doyle changed
because he didn't lock them up when he could have," says Clark, also from Park
Slope. "He knew an arrest record would follow a kid through life. So he'd give
you a hop in the ass instead. Or take you home to your parents A lot of those
kids grew up to have terrific careers. Some of them became cops. Because of
Tommy Doyle."
On summer nights, my crew would gather at our pal Glenn's house on 12th St.,
because his widower father worked nights. Before we'd venture out, Glenn, who
had the deepest voice, would call the 72nd Precinct and say, "Hello, is Tommy
Doyle around."
If the desk sergeant said he was out on patrol, we'd stay in Glenn's house till
Doyle's four-to-midnight tour ended. If it was Doyle's night off, we'd rush out
to party on the parkside.
One night, drug dealers were openly working the parkside, and Doyle waved me to
his car, asking if I was dirty. I said no. He grabbed a dog-eared notebook from
my back pocket, flipping the pages, his face scrunching.
"Hell's this crap?"
"Poetry."
"Poetry! Whadda you, a fairy? No friggin poetry on my watch tonight, hear? I
know your old man drinks up at Farrell's. But what if some narc who don't know
you came through here tonight? And maybe he don't like poetry? Understand? Hear
what I'm saying, numbnuts?"
Doyle was warning me to scram because he didn't want me getting collared in a
drug sweep coming later. See, Doyle wasn't just looking for collars for overtime
dollars. He was the neighborhood sheriff who knew the difference between the
career criminals and the mixed-up kids worth saving with a warning.
"He was quite a man," says Chris Cincotta. "He was my training officer in
December 1981, and he taught me to be a cop. Not a police officer - a cop. He
was just one of those colorful people that made up this great city. Tommy Doyle
had his code. Park Slope and Windsor Terrace were better places because of it."
Still are.
Because there are hundreds of kids Doyle hopped in the ass straight toward
manhood still walking in his flatfoot steps. They will all be saddened by his
death.
"Tommy Doyle was a great cop and a total gentleman," says Jimmy Houlihan, owner
of Farrell's Bar. "If you were a decent neighborhood kid, he always gave you a
break. If you were a wise-ass or a bad guy, he'd lock you right up."
Doyle lived out in Bay Ridge, where he raised three daughters and a son and had
16 grandchildren. His whole life was the NYPD, specifically the 72nd Precinct,
which he only left in 1995. They held a big party for him in the El Caribe. Then
Clark hired him as a consultant on "NYPD Blue" and "Brooklyn South," and he
spent some time in Los Angeles.
"But Tommy really missed The Job," says Clark.
Doyle suffered a stroke a few years back, later became wheelchair bound,
developed other health problems including pneumonia.
Last week, at 76, in Staten Island University Hospital, Tommy Doyle told a loved
one, "Okay, I had enough."
He ended his final tour the next morning.
Doyle deserves an action figure statue, with one foot hopping a wayward teen in
the seat of his pants.
