rural social justice – Page 26 – Rural Tompkins County

“All Roads Lead to Cornithaca” – “Rabid Lemmings: The Musical – I’ve Got A Sheriff”

I’ve Got A Sheriff

(To the tune of I Shot The Sheriff by Bob Marley and the Wailers)

I’ve got a sheriff, but I could not spot a deputy
I’ve got a sheriff, but I could not spot a deputy

All around my rural town
They’re driving up and down
They say they want to bring in the guilty
But there’s no sign of a deputy
There’s no help from the deputies
But I say

I’ve got a sheriff, but I must rely on self-defense
I’ve got a sheriff, but he never helps no matter the offense

The County always hated us
For what I don’t know
Every time that they do us down
They say, “If you don’t like it; why don’t you go”
They say, “If you don’t like it; why don’t you go”
I say

I’ve got a sheriff, but I had to buy a chain-link fence
I’ve got a sheriff, but I must rely on my own defense

Money came my way one day
And I started out of town
All of a sudden I see the Tax Assessor
Aiming to do me down
So I shot, I shot him down
I say

I shot the tax man, and I finally see a deputy
I shot the tax man, and I finally saw a deputy

Reflexes got the better of me
And maybe that’s as it should be
Every day those fuckers go to the well
But one day the bottom will drop out
Yes, one day the bottom will drop out
But I say

I shot the tax man, now they’re suiting up the deputies
I shot the tax man, now they’re shooting up what’s left of me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A seventh song for “Rabid Lemmings: The Musical” – I say “God Damn the Tax Assessor Man.”

“All Roads Lead to Cornithaca” – “Revised Constitution Bumper Sticker”

After many emails to County authorities with no acknowledgement of my question: “what requirements the residents of other local roads fulfilled to get approval for their “4 Ton” weight limit for non-local traffic”; I received the following response:

“Residents don’t decide where signs are placed. Petitions hold no merit. Roads are posted for other reasons.”

This is an excellent example of Black Box Bureaucracy: even when Tompkins County authorities are willing to respond; there is nothing to get ahold of — not only is there no meaningful public participation in the decision making process; there is no disclosure of why these decisions are made, or even who is making them.

What are the “other reasons” behind their decision that roads in some areas have a 4-Ton limit, and rural roads like Lansingville Road get a 20-Ton limit? Is it that we’re not golfing partners? Or because we didn’t make a big campaign contribution? Or maybe it’s just that we’re rural and have no place in their “vision” of a future society.

The role of Tompkins County government in the continued thru-cutting of large industrial trucks on rural roads will be fully documented and exposed in “Tompkins County and Tammany Hall.”

“All Roads Lead to Cornithaca” – Cornithaca Road Signs – “Ag, Gov. and Media – More Than In Bed”

Like “Rural Social Justice” – What? – the plight of rural communities across the county, and their victimization by “City-centric” corporate and government policies, is unreported and unremarked. This is not by accident.

“All Roads Lead to Cornithaca” – Cornithaca Road Signs – “Ag Disclosure”

When an Industrial Farming business moved into a nearby town, and its farming practices seriously injured neighbors [including brain damage in one child and an infection that necessitated the removal of all the eyelids in an adult] they were legally protected from any wrongdoing by an agricultural “Permit Shield.” Anything that would expose a threat to health, or reveal the subordinate position neighboring rural families are put into as the result of Agricultural Law is NEVER disclosed to prospective buyers or the general public. New York State’s fraudulent Ag Disclosure statement is a tool of Urban Colonialism. The conduct surrounding the formulation and use of this “Ag Disclosure” statement is one of the topics that receives documented exposure in the upcoming “Tompkins County and Tammany Hall” book.