Hare’s The Scoop … Scene And Heard Around Town ….
November 6, 2009 by Barbara
“SNAKES” AND LADDERS ….
Snakes and Ladders originated in India as a game based on morality called Vaikuntapaali or Paramapada Sopanam (the ladder to salvation).This game made its way to England, and was eventually introduced in the United States of America by game pioneer Milton Bradley in 1943.
The game was played widely in ancient India by the name of Moksha Patamu, the earliest known Jain version Gyanbazi dating back to 16th century. The game was called “Leela” – and reflected the Hinduism consciousness around everyday life. Impressed by the ideals behind the game, a newer version was introduced in Victorian England in 1892, possibly by John Jacques of Jacques of London.
Moksha Patamu was perhaps invented by Hindu spiritual teachers to teach children about the effects of good deeds as opposed to bad deeds. The ladders represented virtues such as generosity, faith, humility, etc., and the snakes represented vices such as lust, anger, murder, theft, etc. The moral of the game was that a person can attain salvation (Moksha) through performing good deeds whereas by doing evil one takes rebirth in lower forms of life (Patamu). The number of ladders was less than the number of snakes as a reminder that treading the path of good is very difficult compared to committing sins. Presumably the number “100” represented Moksha (Salvation).
The squares of virtue on the original game are Faith (12), Reliability (51), Generosity (57), Knowledge (76), Asceticism (78); the squares of evil are Disobedience (41), Vanity (44), Vulgarity (49), Theft (52), Lying (58), Drunkenness (62), Debt (69), Rage (84), Greed (92), Pride (95), Murder (73) and Lust (99)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_and_ladders
Dear Reader … Hmmmm…..”SNAKES”…. We hear Vice Mayor McIntee has turned over a partial payment for the Dodd e-mail (the fishing expedition as Comm. Dodd refers to it)…that was only the cost of the paper but not the hours of labor it took…the charges for labor are appropriate and coincide with hours charged by the town itself to this writer and others making public records requests…it is in line with state statutes… Comm. Dodd has complied with his duty to this political “payback”…and now the ball is in McIntee’s court…pay up or go back to the State Atty. and let them decide!… Comm. Dodd is all on board with either choice the Vice Mayor makes…but Dodd will stand his ground until either option is taken!….
The lights are finally on in El Prado Park…but if residents and tourists felt safer with the brightness…forget about it!… Why?… Well let’s start with this…If you had a 102′ ladder truck and you were going to use it for a drill …where would you take it?… No idea?…How about using it on the Minto sales trailer…then get a bunch of your guys up there on the trailer roof …and start shooting the water from the hose in the park!… We saw a few park passerbys…..run for safety!…
Lots of talk about the VFD shed to be placed on the beach for the Seadoo (s)….The Vice Mayor spoke about last commission meeting and many wonder where …how …and why?… A look at the powerpoint presentation the Vice Mayor gave when we had the beach rescue showed the Seadoo was of no help at all in the rescue!…
The 102′ Tower Ladder truck is back with new lettering (now that the 2nd year checks are filling the VFD diminished coffers once again)…and it is sticking out in front of the canopy due to the incredible number of VFD apparatus in the first year alone…acquisitions of apparatus and upgrades (sirens, lights, signs) are a monthly event that keeps that VFD credit card sliding through the credit card machines at a record pace…
We hear the Dep Chief (McIntee) carries his own…for gas…BJ’s and other “purchases”he makes riding around in his new commander car… despite his pre-election for VFD Officer letter last year to the Fl. Ethics Commission that his position would have nothing to do with purchasing!… (He admitted such involvement on the dais with the trucks …and we saw his name on invoices for the canopy and the ATV repairs)….And many voters wonder why the Fl. State Ethics Commission is not enough for local ethics enforcement!…
Still awaiting the answer for how you average response time to fire call in 15 seconds…that is what the VFD Fire Chief had for the month of September….Maybe that’s why McIntee is trying to replace him?… We hear McIntee has someone else in mind to be Chief to his re-election for Dep. Chief…Hmmm. could it be due a faster response time than McIntee…some funny averages that don’t add up to the CAD reports…or maybe the bloom is off the rose for Perkins being “Little Chief”…because “Little Chief” has been caught with “Big Mouth” when out of earshot of “Big Chief” McIntee?…
It’s quiet in our town…at the restaurants…and the hotels… and it is up to the businesses to unite and realize that they need to join together for the next election… If we have a “Broom Boys” clarify the 33′ height limit re-election…the town will continue to decline… and not just in the townwide height limit……Don’t be afraid of the dwindling CIC-Mc-Furths…be afraid of the dwindling downtown and tourism!…
Tomorrow is the 1st Saturday of the month and the Chamber of Commerce will have its 2nd Beach Cleanup at 9 am at the Beach Pavilion… gloves and bags provided…and supporters of the Chamber… the businesses …and the beach will be there ….
Have you seen the BSO out on their new ATV…it’s a presence on El Mar and on the beach that more than makes up for the void witnessed from the VFD ATVs!… And guess what people comment on the most….the BSO doesn’t stop to politic or hand out business cards and lollipops!… People are pleased!…Nice!…
BIG….BIG… BIG….The BIG By-The-Sea-Future is out today BIG TIME ….and full of some BIG…BIG surprises!… And its grown…to 16 BIG pages…due to what it offers…in BIG time-ly concise reliable content…BIG advertisers…and a BIG readership 4 months away from this BIG all important election in town!… (more on this to come)….It’s BIG!…
The Town Agenda is out later today…for the one and only commission meeting in November …on Tuesday the 10th at 7 pm……a day after the Master Plan Steering Committee/ Commission workshop on Monday November 9th at 5:30….The UOT Fundraiser is on Wed. November 11th at Athena By The Sea 6-9 pm….BSO Lauderdale by the Sea Police Town Hall Forum November 12, 2009 …….
The March 9, 2010 Referendum dates…1st Ordinance reading is Dec. 1st at the 1st Reg. Comm. meeting of the month / 2nd Ordinance reading is Dec. 8th at the 2nd Reg. Comm. meeting of the month ….Very quick turnaround between the 1st and 2nd…leaving the Town commission majority with a big assist from the Town Atty and Town Manager to skew those all important 75 words…This writer again holds out hope…NO REFERENDUMS!… Let the “Broom Boys”…run on their record…no “clarification”…no “ethnics”..(Jimmy-boy speak for the ethics referendum)… just accountability for their actions on and off the dais!….
more to come….
