FattyFats and the Get Fat crew enter the streets, stage left. boom box booming. Heads bopping. FattyFats at the front, George in behind, carrying Bruce. George turns the boom box off, and FattyFats clears his throat, ready to speak...

Something has been worrying me recently. something has been concerning me. Something has been confusing me.

What the fuck is going on in Philly?

A week ago, Don Cassi, acting Godfather, chief decision maker of Philly decided to pull a Switzerland. She decided to remain neutral. It was always going to end badly. Declaring neutrality, she then seemed to ignore her own defence. She was always going to either end up getting taken out by the Jade/Chade axis, a shot available when there are no other options. Or be taken down by the Allied forces during a clean up operation. You can never trust a neutral. And it was her neutrality that got her killed.

This then led to LottaBEssen, a mere boss who had barely found the streets, being quickly promoted into head of Philly. And since then, Philly has limped from crisis to crisis. Problem to problem. Starting off with the takedown of Tonks. Now I am not privy to what happened. Nor do I care. It has not been properly explained, nor should it need to be. But what is certain is that LottaBEssen decided that she could no longer work with Tonks, so took him out. Leaving nearly 45 Mafioso unsponsered. At risk from the hunters to claim a scalp. It was an uncoordinated, poorly executed take down which caused many more deaths.

And onto them deaths, a ‘protection list’ was issued on November the 11t, which was not ...

andrewsantellana - Dead - No funeral visits - No WS requested
_JerryVieweg - Dead - No funeral visits - No WS requested
Fearless - Dead - No funeral visits - No WS requested
P1TB055 - Dead - No funeral visits - No WS requested
PaulaWhite - Dead - WS REQUESTED!!! (But not from CL/RHM/LHM)
Rapid-Fire - Dead - No funeral visits - No WS requested
Itachi - Dead - WS REQUESTED BY RHM!!!!
Jessica_Biel - Dead - WS REQUESTED BY RHM!!!!
Solomon_Rossa - Dead - No funeral visits - No WS Requested
Cory-Chase - Dead - No funeral visits - No WS Requested

10 people died as a result of LottaBEssen’s action, yet she did not feel the need to visit ANY funerals. Nor did she feel the need to search for any of the witness statements. Maybe this is the reason why half a dozen of those who served under Tonks have felt the need to leave Philly. One time, this would of got you killed. Your leader died, your loyalty was to your city, and you joined the city. Maybe They saw the sinking ship and felt the need to jump? Maybe they did not fear the consequences.

3 more decided to take their own lives. And Possessed, poor Possesed, promoted to Made Man, yet did not know he needed auth to set up. He claimed it was a mistake. An excuse which they must teach in at the University of Philadelphia.

What the fuck is going on in Philly?

As it was claimed by LottaBEssen that when she killed a youngster. Someone not yet old enough to do anything. An innocent. Yet it was claimed it was a mistake. An error. And it was just another in a long line of mistakes by Philly. So what the fuck is going on? A leader has to have great attention to detail. Over and above the common thug. Yet LottaBEssen showed a grave error in judgment. Had someone accidentally killed one of her bodyguards (I haven’t by the way!) rather then mug her, I am sure she would not of accepted the ‘mistake’ excuse. So here we have a City Leader. Someone who must uphold the good of this world. Making a mistake. A grave mistake. If the leader of the city is making these type of mistakes, what can we expect from its members?

What the fuck is going on in Philly?

Then just as the air had been cleared. Just as she had admitted the error, we then see another person embarrassing the once great city. Cataclysmic, authed by LottaBEssen clearly on the back of a great street presence (Threads / Posts: 4 / 2 at time of writing) had employed a young man called Undead-Tom as a RHM. Now Undead-Tom, arguably the 4th most powerful person in Philly, came to the streets after having a couple of bodyguards killed (again, I did not do it!). Now this was a surprise. Not because is was the first time Undead-Tom had visited the streets (Threads / Posts: 0 / 4 at time of his moan) but due to the quality. Clearly Undead-Tom has not been handed the position of RHM to the Underboss of Philly due to his street ability!

And then to make matters worse, as if to rub a wound when its bleeding, Undead-Tom returned to the streets. This time to make a superb apology for his original bile. A 45 word speech. That came 7 minutes after the first. Could this not of been addressed in his original speech? Then he signs off with:

~Tom

Want to be ~G~rin much?

So back to the original question...

What the fuck is going on in Philly?

The City of Brotherly Love seems to lack leaderships. I am sure LottaBEssen is a delight to speak to in the coffee shops, but is she a natural leader? Some are just not up to it. Some are destined to be a followed. Destined to be a number 2. Will she show the leadership? I do not know. But she has shown errors in judgment since Cassi was slane. And ontop of that, these errors of judgement are filtering down to her Underbosses RHM. So what is going on?

Mistakes!
Errors of judgement!
Unlawful killings!
Lack of leadership!

And to sum it all up, Las Vegas has recently been opened up to all who wants it. Out of the first 3 people to set up, 2 are ex-Philly members. Clearly showing the faith in there now ex-city.

Philly is sinking, can LotteBEssen save it? Your thoughts...

Personally I think that LotteBEssen should step down

Ask this question to yourself

If you shot a gangster under 48 hours would you be shot and killed

I even mention this in the thread
Could the killer of infants please stand up?
By Hicksy

The recently killed Cassi's neutrality did not get her killed. The actions of a stupid kill hungry Godmother got Cassi killed. More eager to put kills her on gun than to inquire about the truth, Jade shot Cassi and moved onto the next target.

All of that is besides the point really, what is occuring in Philly is Phillys buisness, no one elses.

Hurly, the point is that her neutrality caused her to drop her guard and not seek protection. Had she joined Jade, she would not of died by Jades gun, and wouldve taken pro-wacks. Had she joined The Aillied Forces, she wouldve been provided with the prowacks needed to surivive. By being neutral, she assumed she was safe...and when it comes to killing -48's and street talking, it becomes a world business issue, not just a Philly issue...

I beg the wisdom of a mere wiseguy questioning the leadership of the Godfather counsil who has ratifed and accepted LottaBEssen's leadership of Philly.

And then yet again, ANOTHER big mouth from Chicago (and you wondered why we call it the "Windy City") steps up to the plate to go against the leadership of the GF of Chicago and call for LottaBEssen to step down.

I hope that those who are in charge of Chicago help their own house stay clean, instead of letting those punks spew crap about something thats none of their concern.

Amused me there TimThomas. You haven't addressed any of the issues presented. Instead you just tried to discredit the person delivering them. Don't know if you couldn't be arsed, didn't want to or couldn't. Just amused me.

I haven't got anything to add to the whole debate. I have had no reasons since returning to pay any attention to Philly. Either in these streets or elsewhere. Maybe I should have.

TimThomas, I have a question for you. Where have I said LotteBEssen should step down? What I have actually done is highlight the problems Philly have faced, and created for themselves, over the last week. At no point have I said 'LottaBEssen should stand down.' You have taken what I have said and created that headline.

Maybe you have some points there FattyFats, but what the fucks going on in your head how can you question Cassi's desicions? thats plain disrespectful in the highest order

Fatty...

Clean house first

Personally I think that LotteBEssen should step down

Ask this question to yourself

If you shot a gangster under 48 hours would you be shot and killed

I even mention this in the thread
Could the killer of infants please stand up?
By Hicksy

Reply by: T-Man-The-Second at Nov 15, '11 19:41

Nothing for nothing, but FattFats raises some very valid points here.  I'm a capo and I endorse his views and Gene's.

I've got my button - does that mean, Tim, that it means more coming from me?

Chicago's house is very much in order.  I spend a lot of time there - it's orderly.  In what way isn't it, Tim?

TimThomas, certainly you have every right to dimiss Fatty - a man much the same as me, a mere wise guy. Sure, when dismissing someone's points of view based only on superior rank can often look as though you simply can't counter their points or raise a valid argument; but ultimately as a more senior figure then it is your prerogative.

However to address a Capo, a man of equal stature and rank to yourself, as a big mouth and place him in a group who you call 'those punks' is surely a little insulting, if not outright disrespectful.

If you beg the wisdom of a Wise Guy questioning the Leadership of the GF council; then I should like to beg the wisdom of a Capo completely dismissing one of his peers' opinions out of hands and resorting to petty name calling.

he has raised valid points but i dont think any of this was Cassi's fault and someone who wasnt in her shoes at the time shouldnt be hasty to judge is all

Bringing up Cassi's misfortune was completely unnecessary for the purpose of this speech, and I'm pretty sure you know that. If you want to inquire about the status of Philly as it stands now, why would something that happened weeks ago even be relevant? Plus, you based this entire portion of your speech on PURE speculation and opinion, and shouldn't even be taken seriously. This is a joke of a speech, and I am afraid to say I'm even responding to such monstrous errors in assumption, speculation, and even observation. You hold no regard or respect for anyone in Philly, so I'll hold the same regard for you.

First of all, many of the deaths from the protection list had requests sent out for witness statements, yet you seem to have omitted those? Nice. False or incorrect information is a GREAT way to follow-up poorly-reasoned speculation. This is certainly going somewhere.

Funeral visits? The unsponsored folks that died were worth about as much as a crew IA, unless they joined a PH family. Do you visit the funerals of your inactives? Your NPMs? Didn't think so. So, now you're holding LottaBEssen to a standard that you don't even hold to yourself or your own leaders. Hypocrisy, yet another piece to this excellent puzzle.

As to Lotta's unfortunate mishap with the -48, how did she respond? She admitted her mistake and tried to compensate for it. Had that mobster not spout off in the Streets (a mistake you are holding against Undead-Tom), you wouldn't even know about it. So one person's mistake reveals another's, but you only regard the one that makes Philly look bad. Also, "long list of mistakes"? You've given two, and your first wasn't even logically sound.

If you were familiar with Cataclysmic's role as a RHM with Tonks crew, you'd know that in the HQ of 40 or so members, Tonks was relatively absent. That means that time that Cata could've spent arguing with you in the Streets, instead was spent caring for the family he was in charge of in Tonks' absence. But rather than observe what responsibilities he was faced with, you just saw the one area of his leadership that was lacking, after only a few days of being a leader. So your judgement of PH auths is misplaced in that regard, and overall unnecessary. I don't see you attacking any other city for their lack of Street presence? Being selective with information, are we?

As to those of PH that set up in Las Vegas, you really don't even bother gathering information before you speak, do you? Utopia and Arnold_Rothstein both wanted the opportunity to be authed, but with the new GF council policy, it would be a while before PH would be able to auth either of them. Loss of faith in their city? Hardly. Utopia was a great member of our family, and the reason he set up in LV was because he deserved it in Philly, but the circumstances didn't permit. Nice swing at the nuts there, Fatty. He just died and you're already insulting his character? Based on the content of this speech, I should've expected as much.

All in all, I see that Philly has made mistakes. I see that Philly is and will be tested over the coming weeks, and we will have a chance to right those wrongs. We are rebuilding, maybe you should shift your poor observation skills and bad speculations at another city for now?

Before I go anywhere with this reply, I'd like to express my amazement at the mere thought of a Wise Guy from another city calling out the leader of a city in such a disrespectful way like this.

It seems that you've made a few key points which I'd like to address one at a time. Let's start with the protection list. As we all know, the Godfather council has just completely revolutionised how the protection list works in a post-war situation. The point you've made here is already completely outdated seeing as the council recently declared to the world that they are now of the same mind on this issue, so it's a safe bet any future methods would be far more efficient, no? This is without pointing out the fact that many of those killed were in a coma, never to return and find a place within our streets again anyway, which explains the lack of attendance at funerals in some cases?

The -48 hour issue. It was a mistake Lotta made, which she immediately admitted to, both in public and in private, and did her best to rectify by consulting with the son of the deceased. I'd say there's not a lot more than that she could actually do to resolve the issue? The fact the son of the deceased immediately came to the streets shouting his mouth off, something you seem to have completely skipped over in your rant, says enough about his character for me to not lose too much sleep over it. I see someone else calling for Lotta to step down. Publically calling for the godfather of a city to step down? Insane amounts of disrespect being thrown around here today, truly is staggering. The Godfather Council obviously has enough faith in her as a leader for this to not be an issue for them, and it's not an issue for them, it's not an issue for you. Simple as.

As for the authing of Cata, and his choice of a RHM. You ask "what the fuck is going on in Philly?". I ask "who the fuck are you to be questioning Philly's auths?". Do you know the inner workings of Philly and Cata's family? Do you know the relationship between Lotta and Cata? Are you aware of how well they work together, and whether their relationship is good for the city of Philly?

Didn't think so.

I am not enjoying all this Wise Guy attacking. It's making me feel quite sad. Deep inside and down low.

Moving on. If no-one questions anything. This world would be proper shit. We would all sit as happy families until everything goes dark forever. Without conflict there is no progress. However, when questioning those above you. You need to be sure of your facts and quite clear that it is not a personal attack but more an observation and offer some form of constructive words. Without doing this you should really die. The matter of disrespect is not one to be taken lightly.

But while you are all hung up on a Wise Guy disrespecting Philly. How about a Capo, a sworn in member of Philly, doing the same thing to a Godfather in Chicago? I'd say that is a far far bigger issue and should really result in the blood of two members hitting the floor. But hey. Likes been said. What the fuck does a Wise Guy know and who should listen to him anyway?

Tristan, I outrank you and I endorse everything that Gene_Hunt said.

So, dear boy, explain to me what the fuck is going on in a city where *the leader* breaks universly held normative rules (and they are universly held for a reason) and says "oops, sorry".

That's the leader, the example setter.

That is fucked.

So what the fuck is going on in Philly?

What the fuck's going on where someone comes out and instead of attacking the person attacking them, instead attacks their city?

Mr. StreetPreacher, I just supplied you with the information that you're looking for. Lotta made a mistake, and punishing her for that would only hurt an already hurting city. She offered compensation, she apologized, and the best overall option was to simply move forward.

So presumably mistakes are tolerated from the top down in Philly?

Punishment usually doesnt stand on ceramony to be fair no matter who or under what circumstances its called punishment for a reason

and i stress this is only my opinion

No, that is not what is to be presumed from this. Philly operates on what's best for Philly, and Lotta stepping down was NOT what's best for Philly. Why would we deliberately put ourselves in a worse position, as a city, because Lotta was off by a few minutes?