Joe's Air Blog

The Demise of the USA

2010-02-09T21:12:00.005-05:00

I've had a hard time expressing the problems with the ineffectiveness of the US Government. Probably because I don't know enough fo the facts. Paul Krugman doesn't have my problem. He explains how dysfunctional we've become.

In the past, holds were used sparingly. That’s because, as a Congressional Research Service report on the practice says, the Senate used to be ruled by “traditions of comity, courtesy, reciprocity, and accommodation.” But that was then. Rules that used to be workable have become crippling now that one of the nation’s major political parties has descended into nihilism, seeing no harm — in fact, political dividends — in making the nation ungovernable.

Bleah for the USA!

Shadows of Mt. Washington

2010-02-02T21:24:00.005-05:00

Mt. Washington Shadows
Originally uploaded by Roadduck99

I regularly drive by New Hampshire's Mount Washington as I commute to my home away from home in Montpelier, Vermont. Combined with its neighboring peaks, Mount Washington is an imposing presence in the Northern part of the state. And yet it remains a very accessible mountain. Several towns are at its base, and the peak is accessible via car or train.

This accessibility is a conundrum. The mountain is an imposing presence, a massive hulk looming over the highway. The peak is covered with snow for much of the year, and the height of the mountain often creates its own weather. It's not particularly inviting, to say the least.

And yet there it is, a constant presence amidst north woods civilization. Routes 2 and 302 guide traffic around the mountain. Towns like Gorham and Bretton Woods dot its base. It's like living next door to a giant. You respect the mountain and aren't inclined to mess with it, but you always have the opportunity to check in and see what's going on.

The Mountain looms large over Lancaster, NH.

For this reason, Mount Washington has a certain appeal to me that is missing from Maine's own giant, Mount Katahdin. Katahdin is a hulk in its own right, but it's also kept separate from the populace, safely tucked away in Baxter State Park, miles away from the nearest town.

View from the top of Katahdin.

I'm certainly not saying that it's preferable to have people living on the slopes of every mountain. It's important to maintain wilderness and protect these habitats. And while wilderness has its romance, the mountains among us have a romance of their own. One can gaze up at the heights and see how they are impacted by the change in seasons, or even the day's weather.

Part of me longs to live next to this giant rock, and spend my days learning its secrets. I want to climb it, drive up it, take the train to the top. I want to visit the weather station at the summit. I want to sit on its rocks and write about the mountain surrounding me. And I want to take my camera out every day and chronicle the many moods of the mountain. I'm a mountain guy who lives next to the ocean, but my dreams take me to the hills. For now, I enjoy my periodic drives by this giant beauty.

Case in Point

2009-11-25T11:42:00.002-05:00

As I opined previously, the conservative argument against "Public" healthcare coverage, that "it would put a government bureaucrat between you and your doctorm," is a non-starter when you consider that currently there is an insurance company bureaucrat standing between you and your doctor. Case in point: I went to the dentist this morning. Both the dentist and I agree that, because I am a pretty strong night-grinder, I could benefit from wearing a guard at night. When this idea was submitted to the insurance company, however, someone there decided that I did not need a night guard. Now I have to make phone calls to try to convince them otherwise.

Bureaucracy is already rampant in the system. Let's make the changes needed to reduce costs and cover everybody. Whining about potential red tape doesn't address anything.

More Health Care

2009-10-22T21:46:00.005-04:00

One of the primary arguments against a public insurance option in the current healthcare debate is that this is a form of Socialized Medicine, and Socialized Medicine is bad. Such statements are usually followed up with anecdotes about how messed up healthcare is in England or Canada or France, because people have to wait for service (which, of course, we do in the US), and the technology lags.

The funny thing of it is, as bad as the healthcare systems are in these countries, people still live longer than they do in the US.

I've included Switzerland in the comparison below because, as Paul Krugman points out, the "Public Option" plan favored by many Democrats most closely resembles the Swiss system. And Cuba, because we all know that everything sucks in Commie Cuba.

Average life expectancy in 2007, per the World Health Organization:
Switzerland 82
Canada 81
France 81
England 80
Cuba 78
USA 78

Infant mortality rate in 2007, same source:
France 3 deaths per 1,000 live births
Switzerland 4
Canada 5
England 5
Cuba 5
USA 6

The fact of the matter is that basically all developed countries other than the US guarantee health care coverage for all their citizens. And all of them fare better in life expectancy and infant mortality rates than does the US. Do we have the best healthcare facilities in the world? Perhaps we do. But that doesn't do any good when there are 50 million people who can't get treatment because they don't have coverage. (Or often, even if they do, but that's another story.)

Let's care for our fellow countrymen, folks. Let's ensure healthcare for all.

More Health Care Thoughts

2009-10-19T22:08:00.002-04:00

This part two of a thought experiment about the US Health Insurance industry.

I am employed by a not-for-profit organization that provides medical and dental insurance to its employees. Employees are required to share in the cost of this program, and a variety of competitive options are provided. I opt for the so-called “80/20 plan,” in which essentially 80% of costs are covered following a $20 copay, subject to an annual deductible. I have approximately $50 withheld pre-tax from my paycheck every two weeks, for a cost to me of about $1,300. In addition, I have a Flexible Spending plan available to reimburse me for the things not covered by the plan, including vision care as well as the aforementioned copays and deductibles. For 2009, I am withholding $750 from my pay to co-insure myself for healthcare.

In all, my insurance will cost me over $2,000 this year. (Of course, my employer is also bearing a significant amount of the cost of my coverage, an amount unknown to me.) Let me reiterate – the amount of your copays and deductibles also comprise the cost of your health insurance. These are the conditions imposed by the insurance company to provide healthcare coverage. They won’t pay the bill until you pay these costs above and beyond your premiums.

Unfortunately for me, in addition to my normal checkups (physical, eye exam, two dental exams) I had one trip to the Emergency Room last winter, and I broke a tooth later in the year, which have added over $1,000 out of my own pocket to the total bill. But fortunately I am in generally good health, with no chronic issues to deal with.

The Federal Government will withhold about $5,600 in estimated income taxes from my paycheck this year. My actual final bill will likely be less than that, but for purposes of this discussion let’s use the higher number. My health insurance costs - not including the emergency situations - equal about 36 percent of my annual federal income tax bill. If the Federal Government became the sole provider of health insurance in this country, but the result was a 30% increase in my Federal income taxes – it would save me money.

Let me repeat that – I would be better off with a 30% tax increase it the tradeoff is that I have no medical bills to pay.

This is a very simplistic calculation, to be sure. For one thing, every employer is different in the amount that they ask employees to pay. Some people pay no premiums out of their own pockets, while others pay significantly higher amounts. But I have a competitive plan, and I earn more money than the average worker in this country. I also am not covering anybody else under my plan, unlike many who cover spouses and children. I suspect that most people pay more than 36% of their federal tax bill in health insurance costs.

It is for this reason that I don’t understand why a tax increase is anathema to so many. For most US citizens, publicly-provided health care coverage would put more money in their pockets. Quite the opposite to the message promoted by the conservatives, this would be an economic boon rather than a burden. Some people would have higher tax bills as a result, but those people would be the mega-rich of this country. I submit that adding a few hundred or a couple of thousand dollars to the pockets of the average American will result in greater economic stimulus than keeping it in the investment portfolios of our country’s wealthiest citizens. The middle class are far more likely to actually buy stuff with their extra cash.

Thoughts on Health Care

2009-07-21T19:57:00.002-04:00

The latest political boogeyman is Universal Health Care, as proposed by the Obama administration. Lots of rhetoric is thrown back and forth on the issue, and the Right Wing, while offering little in the way of alternatives, continues to snipe at the proposal.

Some of the common themes:

It's going to lead us to socialism!
Please. For one thing, the checks and balances in our government are too strong, and the election cycles are too short, for us to become a socialist society. If the people don't want the US to become a socialist society, we'll vote out those who we think are leading us in that direction.

Besides, the government has been providing essential services that benefit the public good for a long, long time. Having a state-sponsored police force hasn't led us to socialism. Nor, for that matter, has publicly-run health care, like Medicare.

There will be a government bureaucrat standing between you and your doctor!
I'm not sure how this is worse than having an insurance industry bureaucrat standing between you and your doctor. Or between you and your reimbursement, for that matter.

Private capital is incented to operate more efficiently!
Private capital is incented to maximize profits. Sure, they might provide health insurance with fewer employees than the government will provide it with, but they are also looking for ways to get more money into the pockets of the executives and shareholders. Some of this is done by operating more efficiently. Some of this is done by increasing premiums. And some of this is done by denying coverage to people who believe they've purchased it. In a government-run universal system, there is no profit or bonus incentive, so those costs are eliminated.

As for operating efficiently - raise your hand if you've never heard of governmental entities cutting jobs? I thought so.

Government spending will increase! Taxes will go up!!!
And spending on private healthcare coverage will go down. Again, I fail to see the difference between a dollar sent to the government and a dollar sent to a private company.

You'll have to wait in line to get treatment!
Which is no different from today. People don't get surgery on the same day they sign up for it, they have to wait a couple of weeks. As for the converse, it's simply not true that in countries with socialized medicine that a person in cardiac arrest (for example) has to wait for the doctor to treat a kid with a skinned knee. Would any civilized society stand for that?

I admit that I can't begin to do an analysis of all the dollars associated with a government-sponsored health coverage system. I also don't deign to understand all the details of the Obama package. There is no doubt that there are tremendous flaws in the system, many of which are the result of granting too many concessions to the insurance industry.

But common sense tells me that, in the long run, a government-sponsored health industry will be cheaper than privately run insurance companies. Yes, more people will be covered, but those people already incur costs that the rest of us cover through Medicare, or rate increases needed to offset charity care. If covered, those currently uninsured are also more likely to receive preventative treatment rather than more costly critical care.

And since the government already provides Medicare and Medicaid, there is already an infrastructure in place upon which the new system can be built.

Health insurance should be about providing for the health care of people, not about increased profits. We will never have adequate coverage until those providing the coverage have the patient's health as their primary focus. That is not currently the case.

Montpelier Vice

2009-07-17T01:05:00.005-04:00

It's been awhile since I wrote about Montpelier. In fact, it doesn't look like I even finished the essay I started about Big Tree, the wonderful band that I saw at the Langdon Street Cafe last spring. (And rather than going there now, let me just say this: if they are in your town, go see them. The live performance is mesmerising.)

In a similar vein to Big Tree tonight was the "Indie Folk" band Rusty Belle, from Amherst, Massachusetts. OK, so these guys were right up there, too. "Indie Folk" doesn't really capture the sound of this band, which moves from folk to blues to country to rock to eclectic, Tom Waits-sounds. Rusty Belle is another vibrant live act, and seemed to have a pretty good following established in Montpelier. All of the the band members are mulit-instrumentalists, which leads to such oddities as the fact that three different band members sat behind the drum kit at various times, as well as the fact that the primary drummer also appears to be Rusty Belle's best guitar player. All band members are fine singers, highlighted by frontwoman Rita Rockit, who's stylings are at times reminiscent of Janis Joplin.

Rusty Belle rocks

Terrific live music is always appreciated, but the revelation of this trip was the Three Penny Tap Room. Open since May 1, this is a first-class beer bar with a rotating menu of brews on tap (leaning heavily toward Belgians this week), along with top shelf bottled offerings, wine and liquor. Thursday nights are know as "Cask Night," in which a new cask of exotic beer is openend and enjoyed. Tonight's offering was the sublime Harveistoun Ola Dubh Special 12 Reserve from Scotland. According to my new friend (and proprietor/bartender) Scott, only three casks came into the US, one of which landed in Montpelier. (Another may have found it's way to Portland's Novare Res, but I haven't confirmed that.)

So what's so special about Special 12? Well, this is a lovely stout that has been finished in casks in which Scotch was aged for 12 years. The result is a low-carbonation chocolaty/oaky tasting brew that definitely drinks as much like a liquor as it does a beer. In fact, the Three Penny served it in 8-oz snifters. This is definitely a sipping beer. At 8% alcohol, that's just as well.

Stout finished in Scotch barrels. Is this even a good idea? Why, yes it is.

This epitomizes the Three Penny's niche. It's a place for Beerophiles. The bartenders (particularly Scott) are extremely enthusiastic about beer, and really love the product that they have brought in to share with their customers. It's not a cheap night out, however, with beers listed on the blackboard at prices ranging between $5 and $18. (Though I have it on good authority that you can get a PBR there for only three bucks.) But given the ultra-high alcohol levels in the brews offered, this is merely incentive to keep the consumption to a reasonable level. You can have a tab of $25 before you even think you're started (something else I have on good authority.)

Three Penny Taproom

Montpelier's night life is stronger than ever, with terrific music nightly at the Langdon Street, and the new Three Penny Tap Room. If you are in town, check it out!

Moose in the Androscoggin

2009-07-08T12:34:00.005-04:00

Moose in the Paper
Originally uploaded by Roadduck99

Yesterday was an exciting day at my office. A moose somehow found its way to a tiny island just below the Brunswick hydroelectric dam in the Androscoggin River between Brunswick and Topsham. Word traveled quickly and soon a steady stream of onlookers made their way to the Frank J. Wood bridge and the grounds of the Fort Andross Mill complex.

This is not normally moose country.

My office mates and I, however, didn't need to go anywhere. The window by my desk overlooks this very island. Most days we find ourselves looking for eagles or osprey, or the occasional sturgeon leaping out of the water. Today we had the best seats in the house to watch as the juvenile bull moose stood around, grazed on leaves, and bedded down for an afternoon nap. When Smilin' Dave (so named after two Niagara Falls dare devils) got up for an afternoon snack, I ran downstairs to get a better photo.

My co-workers, all keen observers of nature, observe keenly.

In a case of right place/right time, one of my photos made it into the Portland Press Herald. The lean times have left the paper short handed, and nobody was available to cover this story. So reporter Dennis Hoey called an associate of mine to get the details. Since the PPH had no camera on site, he asked if Bruce had a photo he would be willing to share. Bruce said no, "but I know somebody who did get a good shot." And the rest, as they say, is my 15 minutes of fame.

Ecological Intelligence

2009-06-14T21:26:00.000-04:00

“We have to stop speaking about the Earth being in need of healing. The Earth doesn’t need healing. We do.”

These words, from South African physician and naturalist Ian McCallum, close Daniel Goleman’s new book Ecological Intelligence: how Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy can Change Everything. Goleman’s book is an ambitious work that goes beyond the usual cries that humans are screwing up the planet and discusses how we can use market forces to change that behavior.

Not that Goleman ignores the fact that humans are screwing up the planet. (Or rather, screwing up the planet for humanity, as with the opening quote.) He goes into great detail to show how those of us in the US continue to pollute the air, ground, water and our bodies, long after science has shown us to be doing great harm. The reason for this is threefold: 1) Industry doesn’t change its practices because it might not be profitable to do so; 2) Government doesn’t regulate change, because political elections are financed by Industry; and 3) Consumers don’t insist on changes because we aren’t aware of the harm we are doing.

To combat this, Goleman introduces the reader to the concept of “Radical Transparancy,” wherein a product’s devalue (i.e. the harm it can do) is as readily known as its value. Studies have shown that if consumers are aware of the social, environment and especially health impacts of a product, most will change their purchasing habits even if it means spending more to buy the better product.

To illustrate, Goleman tells the tale of trans fat, which under the label “shortening” was a staple of home and industrial food production for 100 years. However, when the Institute of Medicine and the Food and Drug Administration independently issued reports at the turn of the 21^st century detailing the health risks associated with trans fat, public concern reached heightened levels. When the FDA issued labeling requirements indicating the level of trans fat in foods, the agency in effect issued the death knell. Trans fat has been almost completely eliminated from foods in the US, because informed consumers do not want to buy products containing trans fats.

Not all stories are as cut-and-dried as that of trans fat. In some cases the risks are less immediate (global warming), or less personal (worker treatment), or less obvious (tainted water supplies).

To fully understand these risks, we need to understand more than simply how a product is made and how it is disposed of. We also need to understand what impacts result from the production of components, and of the subcomponents, and so forth. We also need to understand the impacts of shipping, packaging, and how the product is used. This is called “Life Cycle Analysis,” a cradle-to-grave study of a product’s impact.

One such study was made by the folks at Proctor & Gamble, who discovered that the greatest impact from its production of Tide laundry detergent was in the way the product was used. More specifically, the energy required to heat the laundry water was greater than the impacts incurred in manufacturing and transporting the product. This inspired P&G to develop a detergent that is just as effective using cold water.

Goleman treats the reader to several such anecdotes, and highlights several companies in addition to Proctor and Gamble (like Interface and (gulp!) Wal Mart) that have taken it upon themselves to improve the impacts of their businesses. Goleman also discusses the way that the US Government’s loose approval guidelines, the phenomenon of Unintended Consequences, and the corporate practice of “Greenwashing,” make it more difficult for the consumer to fully understand the impact of their purchasing practices. Thus the need for Radical Transparency.

Ecological Intelligence does a thorough job of describing the perils that face the unwitting consumer in the United States, and how industry and government work in tandem to obfuscate those perils. The reader comes away understanding that the threats to our health, the environment, and the people in third-world countries are real and avoidable. Where the book falls somewhat short is in offering solutions. This is because the Radical Transparency industry is in its infancy. The resources available to the consumer are not easily accessed at the point of sale (or, more importantly, in the aisle when the shopper is making a decision). Those that do exist still have large gaps in compiling the massive amounts of data on all products available for sale in the US.

This is an important book, and perhaps the first step in bringing the need for Radical Transparency into the collective consciousness. I believe that the population of this country is grossly unaware of the true impact of the way that we live. With the government beholden to industries that are unwilling to make risky changes that might impact the bottom line, the impetus for change must come from the grassroots. I believe that an educated population will generate the force required to shift the markets. We just need the information.

The following web sites are referenced in Goleman’s book. They have their shortfalls, but begin to provide the information that will help us change the way business is done in the US.

http://www.goodguide.com/ to find safe, healthy and green products.

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ for Skin Deep, the Cosmetics Safety Database.

The Termite

2009-06-11T21:56:00.007-04:00

One of the great things about the organization that I work for is that I get to meet a lot of cool people who are doing a lot of cool things. One such cool thing was introduced by our Board member Ford Reiche, who is the CEO of Safe Handling, Inc., a transportation company in Auburn, Maine.

Ford recently became the proud owner of the Termite, a pickup truck that is powered through wood gasification technology. Ford bought the truck from a gentleman in Alabama who developed the technology through years of trial and error. Ford and his son George recently flew to Alabama and drove the Termite home - several hundred miles almost completely powered by scrap wood. What the Termite lacks in sophistication, she more than makes up for with innovation and efficiency - harmful emissions are lower than even hybrid vehicles.

Ford showed off his baby at a recent board meeting at the Samoset Resort in Rockland, Maine. The story of the technology, the guy who built this machine, and the misadventures encountered on the drive home, are best shared directly through his own blog. Here I will share a few photos that I took while he was showing off this baby the other day.

That's the engine in back - hay filter, heat exchanger and burn chamber. The termite gets about one mile per pound, or 40 miles per "tank" of scrap wood.

The rails are actually the radiator that cools the engine. The bright green paint is simply eye-catching.

Ford Reiche, looking every bit the mad scientist.

The gauges must be read through the rear view mirror. They are scaled differently as well.

Garden Update

2009-06-08T18:43:00.002-04:00

Square Foot 0604
Originally uploaded by Roadduck99

It’s been about a month since I started this year’s garden, so I thought I would provide an update. It’s my first time trying the Square Foot Gardening method. The originator of this method, Mel Bartholomew, promises that SFG is a fairly low-maintenance method of growing vegetables, and so far I am finding that to be the case.

Of course there is the original work involved in assembling the boxes, mixing the soil and filling the boxes. In reality, accumulating the required materials takes as much time as assembling everything at home. If you want to do this on the ultra-cheap and find people who will give you scrap materials, it will probably take more time. But time is money, and I was willing to pay for convenience.

I also knew that I was going to want to put trellises on my boxes in order to grow tomatoes, beans and cucumbers vertically. Since it was going to be awhile before anything would be ready to climb, I didn’t let the lack of trellises keep me from planting.

In early May, I put in cold-tolerant plants: broccoli, onions, shallots, carrots and several varieties of lettuce. Unfortunately, we have a groundhog in the area who doesn’t understand boundaries, but who also happens to enjoy greens. The groundhog slowed the development of the lettuces and offed one of the two broccoli plants. This necessitated a deterrent. So when I put up the trellises, I also jerry-rigged some posts to hold up bird netting to keep the pests out. This was meant to be a temporary fix, but it seems to be doing well in keeping the rodents away, so I am taking my time with the upgrades.

Over Memorial Day weekend I put in a few other plants – two tomato plants, a pepper plant, basil and swiss chard. I also planted seeds to grow pest-deterring marigolds and zinnias. A week later I planted pole beans and cucumbers. I have also relocated some parsley that was in another garden bed and which also turned out to be on the groundhog’s menu.

Checking in today, things have really started to grow. The cukes finally popped out of the ground the other day, and so everything is off and running now. Free from groundhog nibbles, the lettuce is going strong, and the broccoli (including a seedling I purchased to replace the one that didn’t make it) is growing fast. The seeded items are all up and making their way. We’ve even harvested some lettuce leaves to put in our salads, though we don’t have enough yet to preclude our buying store-bought greens. And I have a couple squares still available for later plantings of lettuce or broccoli, or maybe something else altogether.

Mel promises very little weeding because we start with weed-free soil. That’s mostly true, though he maybe didn’t anticipate that my own compost might have some still-viable seeds in it, or that the maple tree in my back yard would be dumping dozens of seeds on the garden. The good news is that the weeds are easy to see and, since they aren’t embedded in the soil, easy to pull.

All in all, the first month with the new garden has been very gratifying. I look forward to sharing more results in the future.

You don't have a vote in the matter

2009-06-03T17:22:00.001-04:00

Rush might support Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. This is big news, despite the fact that he's an entertainer and, therefore, his position doesn't matter.

Perhap's he's engaging in some reverse-psychology - if the Dems believe Sotomayor is cool with the far right, they might start to think that she's not a good choice after all.

Open the door.

2009-05-27T17:30:00.000-04:00

Doorknob
Originally uploaded by Roadduck99

If you’re still with me on this thing, be advised that what follows isn’t what you’ve come to expect from me. This isn’t intended to be a naval-gazer blog. Sometimes that’s just what’s needed.

I’m looking for a door to open. I think there’s one around here someplace, and perhaps it’s already open, like the one in the photo. Perhaps, like the photo, there’s a window that reveals what is on the other side, and perhaps the door is already open wide enough that the outside is reflected in the doorknob. And perhaps it has been there all along, but I’ve only seen the door separating me from the other side and never looked closely enough to notice the knob was ready for me to turn.

The 12 months or so have been difficult for me. Almost exactly a year ago, my wife and I moved into a new house in the heart of town. This was supposed to be an exciting new beginning, with a smaller mortgage and a smaller commute. What it has turned into, for me, has been a lot of dissatisfaction. I’ve had difficulty sorting out priorities and setting goals, or even seeing the value in doing so. I haven’t given the attention deserved by my marriage, my job, or myself. I have sought counsel to sort things out. I have, I am sad to say, come away with a lesser opinion of myself.

I have discovered that the doors I believed were keeping me out of a good place, may in fact be keeping me in a bad place. I don’t need to arrive so much as I need to escape.

I began this blog because I had stories to tell. I have not been allowing myself to tell these stories for a couple of years now. I have many excuses, but it doesn’t seem important to hash through those here. I’ve got people with whom I can discuss those. In recent months I have taken up telling stories through photographs that I post at flickr. The doorknob photo, I think, tells more of a story about me than about the old building that houses it. (The farmhouse at the McLaughlin Garden in South Paris, if you’re curious.) Other photos that I have posted tell stories about my gardens at home and the world that I see around me.

They say a picture tells a thousand words. I like them because, though I have much to learn, a photograph can be quick and easy to produce. They are also quick and easy for many people to enjoy. Writing, for me, is usually fairly quick and easy, too. When I have a story to tell, I can produce half a picture in a fairly short amount of time. But somewhere along the way I have closed myself in a room thinking that it’s not so quick and easy to write – not if I want to “do it the right way.” But I think it’s time to try turning the knob and see if the door will open.

I have stories to tell. I won’t be telling one every day, and not all will appear here, but I will be telling them. The door is open.

Grow Your Own

2009-05-08T18:13:00.000-04:00

Down with the plants
Originally uploaded by Roadduck99

The time has finally come when those of us in Southern Maine can start in earnest to grow a vegetable garden. I had a small, traditional plot at my old house, but moved at such a time last year that growing veggies at home was impractical. I’m a big believer of eating locally, so Doreen and I took advantage of the local farmer’s markets to a great extent, even during the winter.

My back yard, however, is even more local than all those wonderful farms, so I was keen to start growing my own produce this year. Over the winter, Doreen’s cousin turned me on to the Square Foot Gardening method. (Note to self – return Denise’s book!) It’s a simple method developed by a gentleman named Mel Bartholomew, if a somewhat radical departure from traditional row gardening, wherein one maximizes the utilization of one’s space and enjoys a more flexible planting schedule.

Since I don’t have a ton of space at my new house for a traditional plot, this sounds like a perfect solution for my needs. In recent weeks I bought some 2x6 pine boards for the boxes, along with some 4’ ash lathe for the grids. Mel calls for making one’s own soil called “Mel’s Mix,” which is equal parts peat, compost, and vermiculite (or pearlite, which Mel doesn’t prefer but which is much more readily available – I have a little of each in my mix). I assembled the boxes in mid-April, and filled them with my freshly-made soil over the past weekend. Now to get planting.

Though I have in some years started seeds inside, I’m usually a little behind schedule for what the garden needs. (“Broccoli – ‘k it says here I need to start these 12 weeks before last frost. Last frost is toward the end of May and today is…..May 2. So I need to start these eight weeks ago.”) Fortunately, the local farmers are a lot more on top of this than I am, so I can get seedlings from them. Maybe it’s a little more expensive than seeds, but I’m not going to grow 100 broccoli plants anyway, and 50 cents for a plug seems perfectly reasonable.

So this week I got started with some seedlings from the Tuesday Farmer’s Market – and just in time for three days of nourishing torrential downpours, I mean rain. I’ve started with plants that should withstand any lingering frost we might get: broccoli, onions (Red Wing), lettuce (Romaine, Red Sail, Black Seed Simpson (I think)), and arugula. I also bought some shallot sets and put them in the ground this morning. I might pick up some radish seeds because they are fast and easy and can be planted right now.

I’ve still got a bit of infrastructure to build – mainly trellises on the north side of the beds to hold vining plants. Mel claims I can grow pumpkins on the trellis, but I believe I will start with cukes and tomatoes. Those will have to wait a few more weeks to go in. I also have plans for (short) carrots, peppers, and a few more things we haven’t decided on yet. A few squares will be dedicated to marigolds and basil to keep pests away, and maybe some alyssums or other flowers for a little color.

I’m excited to be growing food again. Keeping it fresh, local and organic is definitely the way to go!

Daffodil

2009-04-29T13:16:00.002-04:00

Daffodil
Originally uploaded by Roadduck99

I think, maybe, spring is here.

Almost a year in the new house. It's gratifying to see something that we put in the ground last autumn - these daffodils - come up and bloom for us this spring. We've done a lot of work inside the house to make it ours. I'm glad that the outside will feel more like our own this summer as well.

You Don't Say?

2009-04-17T12:33:00.001-04:00

According to the EPA, greenhouse gases are bad for us.

Next thing you know, they'll come out against cigarettes.

Baby Lilies

2009-04-09T09:43:00.003-04:00

Baby Lilies, originally uploaded by Roadduck99.

Snow is gone and new growth is already starting to sprout. Here are my day's-old day lilies, covered in morning dew. (OK, technically raindrops, but that sounds less romantic.)

Flickr is my new thing, please check out my photostream and leave your thoughts and comments, good or bad.

That's just Religulous!

2008-11-06T21:42:00.002-05:00

Tonight I saw the film Religulous from Bill Maher. In this documentary, Maher uses all the subtlety of an Islamic extremist deploying a suicide bomb to tackle the Fairy Tale nature of religion.

Maher travels to the Vatican, to Jerusalem, the Morman temple in Salt Lake City, and an Orlando amusement park, among other places. Along the way, he interviews religious leaders, religious scholars, political leaders, actors portraying religious figures, and ordinary folk who are true believers. Along the way he has one simple question: "tell me why I should believe this crap?"

Maher takes great joy in pointing out the contradictions in the bible, the incongruity involved with "men of christ" building decidedly non-Christlike churches and wearing non-Christlike wardrobes (a preacher in a $2,000 suit?). He unveils the truth that many religions bear striking similarities in their mythologies, along with the convenience that most religious leaders received their marching orders in a private conversation with god.

Ironically, the most seemingly level-headed individuals in the film are a pair of Catholic priests. One states emphatically that there is no relationship between the bible and science, even though more and more religious types try to "prove" that there is a scientific basis to the stories of the bible. (Ultimately, this requires yet another leap of faith for one to believe the message.) The other stands in front of the Vatican and tells us that there is no way Jesus would have lived in a place like that, and that most of the dogma presented by the church is ridiculous.

But, more and more, violence overtakes the world in the name of religion. The government of the US is populated by lawmakers, including the current President, whose worldview is guided by their religious beliefs. However, all seemingly religious violence is denounced as "politics." Maher shows that the two are dangerously intertwined.

Maher risks having his message undermined with his sledgehammer style, as well as his openly mocking the beliefs of those he is interviewing. Further, the clever, razor-sharp editing makes the viewer wonder if the interviews are being cut to put statements in the least-favorable light. But ultimately the film prevails as carrying two important messages. First, humans will never live peacefully as long as so many faithfully follow ancient teachings claiming that those who believe in other gods are infidels who must be destroyed. It's not politics after all, it's a basic tenet for many religions. The second message pertains mostly to the US, where so many evangelical Christians populate the highest offices in Washington - when the world is run by people who believe in the End of Days and that the Rapture is imminent, then world leaders might not make decisions that take into account the long-term health of the planet and its inhabitants, human or otherwise.

This movie is not for the faint of heart or the strong of faith. The show I attended at the Eveningstar Cinema in Brunswick was attended by a small audience that seemed united in it's non-believer status. It is, however, quite poignant and laugh-out-loud funny. Brilliantly subversive filmmaking.

Should we "Redistribute the Wealth"?

2008-10-20T19:58:00.003-04:00

So Barack Obama made what is probably the biggest error in his campaign when, just before the final presidential debate he told "Joe the Plumber" that his tax policy will "redistribute the wealth." Or words that John McCain took to that effect.

But why shouldn't we redistribute the wealth? Sure, this is a militantly capitalist country that is supposed to bow at the altar of unfettered markets. But we still need some government, do we not? Some services are provided for the public good, to the benefit of civilization. Roads, for example. Public safety, for another. Most would agree that public education is a good thing, and some would argue for expanded publicly-funded healthcare beyond Medicare and Medicaid.

OK then, why should the wealthy pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than do the poor?

The most compelling case, in my opinion, is that unfettered capitalism has created a schism between the rich and the poor, and that it is the oppression of the poor by the wealthy that has driven the poor to need more governmental services.

Business owners move jobs overseas to take advantage of cheaper labor. Employees are put out of work, and put in greater need of assistance, in hopes of boosting corporate profits. If the government is taking on more responsibility while corporations and their executives are getting richer, should the rich not assume a greater portion of the tax burden?

Likewise, many corporations, among them "big box" retailers, keep a part-time work force in order to avoid providing health benefits to their employees. These employees are forced to postpone health care services, which invariably increases the cost, and rely on medicaid or charity care when they do seek services. Shouldn't those who send employees into the arms of the government in order to increase their own profits ultimately be held to pay for the increased cost of providing those services?

The basic tenet of Republican economic policy is that allowing the wealthy to keep their earnings will spur investment in the economy. This will result in job creation and a "trickle down" of wealth to the poor and middle class. The problem? It doesn't work that way. The wealthy keep their money to themselves. Today we see the widest earnings gap that we've seen in 100 years - since before any sort of labor protections were put in place. Today, after 8 years of the Bush Administration, the economy is in the worst shape that it's been in since 1992. Coincidentally, 1992 was the end of 12 years of the Reagan/Bush policy of promoting "trickle down" economics.

Wealth does not trickle down. Providing tax breaks to the wealthy is nothing short of class warfare.

So yes, we must redistribute the wealth. If business owners are rewarded for cutting jobs and wages, that is exactly what they will do in a market-based economy. If jobs and wages are cut, the economy will stall and more people will be looking for government assistance. Therefore tax policy must penalize those who would unfairly benefit.

But perhaps it's more simple than that. On The Daily Show, John Stewart was much more concise. He pointed out that the Bush administration tax policy were effective in "redistributing wealth" from the poor to the very rich. Obama's policy would simply start to bring things back to where they were under the Clinton administration.

By all means, lets have the rich pay a greater share of the tax burden.

Oh, and by the way

2008-10-16T22:29:00.004-04:00

Of course we're in a recession.

A recession, by definition, occurs when the economy slows down. In other words, less money is being spent today than was spent yesterday.

So look at the facts:

1) Recent economic growth was spurred by ballooning consumer debt. In other words, we were buying things with money that we don't have.

2) Lending money to people who don't have any money and expecting it to be repaid with interest, carries a fair amount of risk.

3) Banks need to grow revenues in order to appease shareholders, meaning they needed to find more consumers to whom they could extend credit. Since they'd already lent to the strong customers, now they needed to lend to those with less financial security. This adds risk.

4) Eventually all that risk came back to bite the banks in the ass, and the loans stop being repaid, creating losses.

5) Shareholders don't like losses, therefore the banks needed to stop the losses. This was done by no longer extending risky credit.

6) Consumers now have less access to money that they don't have, (and besides, with rising unemployment and falling 401(k)'s, now seems like a good time to hang on to cash), therefore they are buying less things.

7) Ergo, we're in a recession.

But don't worry. Soon enough people will have contracted their household spending to more manageable levels, then they will start spending more. Spending doesn't have to grow by a lot to get out of a recession, it just has to grow. That's why these things usually only last a few months.

For a somewhat less rosy outlook on the future of the US economy, check out this article in the fall issue of the secessionist rag, the Vermont Commons.

Hey, this is the second post of the evening. (Better than watching the Sox right now. EDIT - Spoke too soon!) Keep reading!

FiveThirtyEight.com

2008-10-16T22:02:00.002-04:00

I have another blog, where I (used to?) write about baseball. Anybody who has read the SeaBlog realizes that I really love statistics. One of the baseball analysis sites that I really like is BaseballProspectus.com, with its best-in-the-business player performance projection system, named PECOTA.

Well, PECOTA creator Nate Silver has turned his projecting genius to politics. The results of his labors can be found at the delicious FiveThirtyEight.com. 538 (representing the total electoral votes available in the presidential election) arrives rife with colorful maps, charts and graphs. But data on it's own is dry and can be overwhelming and inaccessible. Luckily, Nate and crew accompany the data with well-written insight and analysis. The 538 formula proved to be Best In Show for the primary season, and it looks real strong for the Presidential race. Barack Obama is currently installed as a 19:1 favorite to take the White House in a couple of weeks.

Reading 538, I was directed to the Tax Cut Calculator at AlchemyToday.com. The methodology is very transparent, and it shows that, despite the McCain rhetoric, most of us will be better off under Obama's proposed tax plan. So we can all breathe easier. Even Joe the Plumber, who it might be added is in no danger of making $250,000 annually at the moment.

Tell Me They're Joking, Part II

2008-10-10T22:32:00.003-04:00

Wha...whaaaaaaattt?

They're effing kidding, right?

The great State of Alaska (aka The Russian Front) launched an investigation into whether or not Governor Sarah Palin abused her power in having her ex-brother-in-law fired from his State Trooper position. The report issued today concludes that she did just that.

However, to nip that little problem in the bud, the McCain campaign issued its own report that proved, without a shadow of a doubt, that Palin acted ethically throughout.

Trying to head off a potentially embarrassing state ethics report on GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, campaign officials released their own report Thursday that clears her of any wrongdoing.

Excuse me? Can you really do that? Can you really just issue your own report clearing yourself of wrongdoing on a controversial issue? I suppose if you can show that the report was prepared by a truly impartial party.

McCain spokesman Taylor Griffin, who distributed the campaign's report, said it was written by the McCain-Palin campaign staff and based on public filings and Todd Palin's affidavit.

OK, so much for that. No conflicts of interest there!

Just how stupid do they think we are?

Tell Me They're Joking

2008-09-23T13:32:00.002-04:00

It's just effing ridiculous. The GOP is going way out of its way to make sure nobody can talk to Sarah Palin and subsequently report on it. I don't know if this has to do more with her outrageous lack of qualifications to be Vice President of the USA, or just because when she does talk she tends to lie through her teeth. Regardless, the only access to Sarah Palin is the occasional photo op.

Despite all this, there is plenty of evidence that she is woefully inexperienced, dishonest, and toes the Christian-right line. There is plenty of evidence that her values are anti-woman and anti-working class.

And yet. AND YET! Sarah Palin's mere presence on the Republican ticket is making it difficult for Obama to court Hillary Clinton supporters? This despite the fact that the similarities between Clinton and Palin are 100% biology and 0% ideology. Is biology going to get the US out of the mess it's in?

What the hell is wrong with people?

Home Sweet New Home

2008-06-19T12:31:00.003-04:00

After some deliberation, soul-searching, cost analysis and prioritizing, my wife and I decided a few months back to sell our old house and look for a smaller, less-expensive model in a more convenient location. While we loved our home, which was relatively maintenance-free and on a quiet country road, there were some drawbacks:

At 1,650 square feet, it was just too big for two people.
It was seven miles from pretty much any chore that needed to be done. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it adds up and it makes any simple errand at least an hour time commitment.
While the seven miles was a bikeable distance, I wanted to be close enough to my workplace to have a carbon-free commute regardless of the weather.
The mortgage was just large enough that it was difficult to get ahead with money. We finally determined that our cash was not being spent in proportion to our priorities.

Our initial plans called for us to list our house on May 1st, when the snow is gone and people are out looking for houses. As it turns out, at the end of March we found just the perfect house to buy:

This house isn't as much of a looker as our last one, but it did have it's plusses:

At 1,300 square feet, it is still probably too big, but a much more appropriate size.
It's 1/2 mile from the office, meaning I can walk to work every day. It's no more than a mile to almost all downtown amenities.
It was listed for quite a bit less than we were selling for. Because we had a fair amount of equity in the last house, we were able to cut our mortgage by more than half (along with gasoline savings of probably 75%).

We were nervous about selling in a down market, but we were pretty committed to the new house. It was the right house in the right location. And our broker was pretty confident that our house would sell, because it was so beautiful on the inside. So we ended up making an offer on the new house, contingent on our current house selling, and listing ours a month earlier than expected.

Then....nothing. Not one peep. We knew it would be slow, but we were a bit surprised to hear nothing. Perhaps our expectations were unduly influenced by the fact that our house before this one sold, at listing price, in five days. That was in 2001. The market was better then. We spruced up the curb appeal just as soon as the snow allowed us, but we couldn't get anybody inside.

We were getting nervous, because it had been four weeks and our 45-day window on the new house was starting to close, when we made the decision to lower the price by a fair amount (~4%). This was a Thursday. The next day, we had two calls scheduling showings. The next day, we were under contract. Probably for less than we could have made if we didn't have a ticking clock, but for more than we originally thought we would list for. So we were happy with the result.

On May 30, all the real estate changed hands and we moved into our new home.

And we love it here. The house was built in 1974, and it's pretty much all original materials. So updates are in order - all the walls, all the floors, all the appliances need to be changed. (We've already installed new appliances.) And there were a lot more little things needed to bring it up to date (apparently the idea of venting moisture outside was novel back in 1974, for example). We've done quite a bit already, which I will detail in the next post, and there are a lot of major changes in store. We plan to do this the right way, with an emphasis on energy efficiency and sustainability, so it might take longer and cost more than we would have considered ten years ago. But it's worth it to do the right thing, and to have a house that we can really be proud of.

More to come...

Happy Earth Day - Buy This Part of the Earth

2008-04-22T09:37:00.003-04:00

It's been exactly one (leap) year since I last posted to this blog. Happy Anniversary! Instead of making good on past promises, I thought that I would engage in some shameless shilling. Up for your consideration: one house situated on two acres (included) in lovely rural Brunswick, Maine. Three bedrooms, 1 3/4 baths, 1,650 square feet of living space, full unfinished basement, quiet setting, and stunning wide pumpkin pine floors throughout the first level. Low-flow faucets and showers, Energy Star appliances, wood burning stove, well insulated and lots of sunlight, all within 5 miles of downtown Brunswick or Freeport, and less than 1/2 hour to Portland or Lewiston/Auburn. Contact my broker today!

This house could be yours!

Click Here For Details!

Why would I want to sell such a fantastic house? Because it's more house than my wife and I need. I'd prefer to move into a smaller house and have a larger family enjoy this one. Contact my broker today!

Solutions Plus

2007-04-22T20:01:00.000-04:00

Saturday was a gloriously sunny and warm day in Southern Maine. So I spent it, along with my wife and a few other committed individuals, inside the theater at Frontier Cafe. The event was Solutions + Saturday, the brainchild of Fred Horch, proprieter of F.W. Horch Sustainable Goods in Brunswick. Solutions + Saturday was the culmination of a series of events celebrating Earth Week at the Cafe.

The were four topics examined, all of which centered around short films followed by discussion.
*Recycling
*Local and Organic Food
*Household Chemicals
*Energy and Climate Change

Each of these topics is worthy of it's own post, or even series of posts, and I intend to touch on them all in a series over the next few days or couple of weeks. I've certainly written a fair amount about Global Warming, and the economics of eating local food has been an interest of mine as well. I haven't thought as much about household chemicals, but the discussion related to pesticides, vinyl products, and other poisons that we readily bring into our homes was a real eye-opener.

The first topic, recycling, is to me a no-brainer. It is so clear to me that the foundation to protecting the planet is the mantra "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" that it is fundamental to all decisions that I make. The discussion on Saturday centered around the new single-stream recycling system in Brunswick. Students at Bowdoin College made a short film called "The Quest for Dan the Can" to educate other students about the changes in the recycling program. The film took us to the Brunswick landfill, and the recycling processing facility in Avon, Mass.

Discussion following the film centered around the Brunswick program, what can and can not be recycled, and a few myths. One myth discussed was the common misconception that it takes more energy to recycle an aluminum can than to create a new one. This only accounts for the actual can manufacturing process. Of course, a new can requires energy to extract the raw materials, transport the raw materials, and transform the raw materials into aluminum. Once all of these uses are accounted for, the energy cost of a new can far exceeds that of a recycled one.

Other interesting facts are that metals and glass do not degrade in the recycling process, so these materials can be recycled into the same products indefinitely. Fiber-based materials like paper do degrade, so can only be recycled into lower-grade materials. Certain plastics can be recycled indefinetely (#2 PET), however plastics all have some sort of pesky toxin issues, as well as the pesky petroleum-based issue for most (there are some vegetable-based plastics now on the market.)

One topic that was not discussed, perhaps do to time, is the concept of "precycling", which can also fall under the "reduce" category. Precycling can take a couple of forms. One form that I use a lot is buying in bulk and reusing containers at home. This reduces the amount of packaging associated with your purchases. Another form is to buy products whose producers have chosen to minimize the packaging for their products. One could also let the manufacturer know that one of the reasons that you buy their products is due to the limited packaging. (Do as I say, not as I do. I think this is a great idea that I may have done once in my life!). The final form of precycling is, if you can't avoid packaging, to purchase products enclosed in recycled packaging, preferably post-consumer material if possible. Again, let the manufacturer know that their packaging decisions matter to you.

I commend Fred Horch and Frontier for running this program. The only downside was that the public participation was very light. I know that Frontier and F.W. Horch publicized the event fairly heavily, but the weather certainly wasn't in their favor, especially considering the storms that we have suffered recently. It wasn't a good day to be inside. Still, there was lively discussion of all topics, and all are very important topics for the health of the planet and those who inhabit it, including humans. After attending the presentations, it is my pledge to bring these topics to an even broader audience - you the loyal reader. Stay tuned!

Meet the Robinsons

2007-04-19T22:25:00.000-04:00

Well, here's another trip to Vermont, and another chance to see some live music at the Langdon Street Cafe. Montpelier's cooperatively-owned hangout is just 225 steps from the front door of the Capitol Plaza Hotel, so it's terrifically convenient to pop over and have a brew or too without the need to get behind the wheel. Add in the first signs of spring - temperatures in the 50's even after sundown - and an intrepid traveller can find himself in a right proper mood to see a band.

Tonight's experience was a step up from last month, where I saw over-enthusiastic bluesman Blue Fox at the same venue. Gracing the stage tonight were Dana and Susan Robinson. The husband-and-wife duo bill their act as "new old time music." This means that they play traditional Americana and English folk music. I believe the "new" part refers to the fact that much of the music is penned by Dana Robinson. Dana plays guitar, fiddle and mandolin, while Susan accompanies him on banjo and guitar. Unfortunately, Susan arrived with a bum hand, so she was only able to play on about half of the numbers, however she contribute sweet harmonies throughout the show, and provided lead vocals to a couple of traditional English ballads.

Despite giving the spotlight over to his wife on occasion, however, Dana is the focal point of this act. He had released four solo albums before forming an act with Susan, and the original songs are all his. He sings with a pleasing tenor reminiscent of Cat Stevens, and plays a crisp, percussive finger-style guitar. On some tunes he picks up the fiddle or mandolin while Susan plays guitar. And while he loves the traditional old country music that fits his wife's voice so well, Dana is clearly most influenced by Woody Guthrie. The show featured a cover of Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty", as well as an original titled "What Would Woody Do?" (The answer: "Write about it, talk about it, sing about it too.") Robinson's songs evoke the same folksy America that Guthrie wrote about more than half a century ago.

Whenever I see live music, I like to watch the guitar player and try to pick up some tips. Alas, Dana Robinson plays a fast finger-picking style that I won't be attempting for awhile, and it was difficult for me to really follow along with everything he was doing. Fortunately, Susan plays a more basic rhythm guitar. Her playing featured mostly basic open chords that were enhanced by hammer-ons and pull-offs and some fairly simple walkdowns (or walkups) on the chord changes. If you are not a guitar player, I'm sure this doesn't mean a lot to you. If you're a novice like me, who has only recently begun working these effects into his guitar playing, it's fun to watch. It shows how it really doesn't take a lot of flying fingers to turn a simple song into something with enough motion in the melody to make it sound fairly complex. This is not to say that Susan only plays simple melodies - she's a fine musician who (if I'm reading the bio correctly) has only been playing guitar for a few years. However, much of what she plays gives hope to a hack like myself.

But enough about me. Although I had never heard of the Robinsons before this week, I was excited to see that they were bringing this style of music to the Langdon Street Cafe while I am in town. They move next into Maine, where they are playing house concerts in Bangor and Blue Hill, and then a show in Massachusetts before heading back to their home in North Carolina. Dana Robinson is a former Vermont resident, and I gather that the couple comes to the northeast regularly. Their next trip to town will be to play at the Northwoods Stewardship Center in East Charleston, VT, in July. I say it's well worth the effort to see them play live.

Polar Bears Step it Up

2007-04-16T20:17:00.000-04:00

Keepin' it cool for the Polar Bears

Saturday was the day that people gathered at over 1,400 locations across all 50 states to encourage our lawmakers to Step It Up! and enact legislation to cut carbon emissions and fight global warming. Participants certainly numbered in the tens of thousands in this grassroots effort to put democracy in action and make their voices heard.

I attended the Polar Bear Action at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. The Polar Bear is Bowdoin's mascot, and is the current poster child for species threatened by global warming (in the case of the polar bears, the issue specifically relates to shrinking ice sheets). Approximately 400 students, faculty and members of the community gathered to for food and music, and appearances by Representative Tom Allen and an aide to Senator Susan Collins. Following the speeches, participants marched down Maine Street carrying signs and chanting our encouragement for the government (and the people) to fight this global crisis. Additionally, hundreds of letters addressed to the local state reps and Maine's Washington contingent were signed encouraging their action.

Rally time.

All of us need to recognize the grave danger that we are putting the human race into, and the even graver danger for many of our population centers. Our continued dependence upon carbon-based fossil fuels is certainly speeding our own demise. We need to consider not only our energy choices, but the impact of all of our consumer choices - local food versus global agriculture, local vendors vs. sprawl-inducing big boxes and the like. Please take a moment to learn more about how your choices are impacting the globe.

Blog It!

2007-04-08T21:22:00.000-04:00

Maybe you've come here to read if I have anything on my mind these days. Well I do, but it's not to be found here. I've encouraged others to Step It Up over at the Land Blog. Meanwhile, the baseball season is beginning to heat up, and so is my coverage of the Boston Red Sox and Portland Sea Dogs over at Joe's SeaBlog. I encourage you to check out both sites.

A Flock of Dodos

2007-03-21T23:37:00.000-04:00

I did get a chance tonight to attend my first Green Mountain Film Festival movie, and it was a real good one - Flock of Dodos. Dodos is former marine biologist Randy Olson's examination of the growing "debate" between those who want schools to teach Intelligent Design as an alternative to evolution, and scientists.

The crux of the ID proponents is that there are some holes in Darwin's Evolution science. In other words, evolution doesn't explain everything that we've found in the development of life on this planet. Because evolution doesn't have all of the answers, ID proponents want to promote Intelligent Design as a potential "alternative" theory to evolution. The only problem is that ID doesn't have holes, it has wide, yawning chasms in its explanations. The other problem is that, given that ID does not stand up to any actual scientific scrutiny. It is a theory with literally no data to support it, therefore it does not belong in a high school science class.

The other pillar that ID stands upon is the supposition that some things are so elegant and so perfectly-constructed that they couldn't have happened by environmental adaptation and chance mutations. Some power must have thought these things through. Just as some power obviously designed Mount Rushmore. ("A person designed Mt. Rushmore" the filmmaker points out to a Pennsylvania School Board member.) The problem with this argument is that we have strong evidence that some genetic advancements were the result of environmental adaptation, and we have strong evidence that genes have mutated in the past, whereas we have no evidence of the existence of an intelligent designer. So why would we assume that those evolutionary advances that don't fit neatly into some of the premises of evolution that we know exist, instead are better explained by a phenomena of which there is no documentable scientific evidence? Indeed, the existence of an Intelligent Designer is something that one has to accept on faith. And while the ID folks will argue up one side of you and down the other that ID does not promote religion, the fact is that the words "faith" and "religion" are often used interchangeably in our society.

One question that gets examined toward the end of the movie is, why, in the absence of scientific support, is ID gaining steam in this country. One possible answer - Americans don't like to think that much, and ID (actually, I think we can call it "Creationism" now) doesn't require a lot of hard thinking. It's a neat, easily digestible answer. Another answer is that those who are in the best postition to debunk Creationism - the scientists - aren't interested in the debate. They see Creationism as non-scientific hokum and not worthy of debate, just as we no longer debate whether or not Earth orbits Sun. The scientists exacerbate the issue by failing to treat the Creationists with much respect. "They are ignorant," is a commonly-stated viewpoint. The Creationists, on the other hand, are in the position of having to respect the scientific validity of Evolution, and therefore only need to focus on the gaps in what evolution can explain. And, unlike the scientists, they are motivated to actually engage in the debate. And, frankly, I believe that they have an audience that wants to believe in Creationism, because many of us have spent a lot of energy in our lives believing that we have to accept, on faith, the presence of a higher power.

It's all heady stuff, but a topic that Olson handles fairly even-handedly even though we are aware early on of what his opinion is on the matter. There is a great deal of humor in the film as well. Most memorable is the discussion of how rabbits have to ingest their food twice (in other words, eat their own poop) to extract the nutrients from it. As one scientist asks, "who would design that?" And the scientists are not always portrayed in a positive light, particularly in a roundtable discussion of PhD convened by Olson. Okay, the roundtable is actually a poker table, and Olson films the scientists playing cards, getting drunk and obstinately denouncing Creationism. They are having fun, but they clearly are not respecting the Creationsists.

In the end, it is Olson's own mother, "Muffy Moose," who steals the show. A lively, eccentric octagenarian, Muffy lives around the corner from leading Creationist lawyer John Calvert. Molly has lived a full life, and has tried on lots of sprituality hats over the years, but she's a devout Evolutionist. When she is on screen, she never fails to fully engage the audience. She also has the line of the movie when, consulting a toy, she says "let's see what the Intelligent Eight Ball has to say."

Flock of Dodos is getting a lot of non-theatre play, and it will be coming to Showtime in May. The DVD public release is set for August of this year. I'm certain that most of us are so clearly entrenched in our beliefs that this movie is unlikely to change anybody's mind on the subject, but it's a fairly thorough and entertaining examination of the issue, and I highly recommend it to all.

Waiting for the Flood

2007-03-20T22:17:00.000-04:00

I'm in Montpelier again, for a week this time, and things are a little different. People are waiting for a major flood. Not just on alert for it - they are actually waiting for a flood to happen. The situation is very similar to the circumstances that led to the great flood of 1992. Downtown Montpelier is situated at the convergence of the Winooski River and its tributary, the North Branch. The problem is that the Winooski is frozen solid East (upstream) of the North Branch. The current concern is that, given the proper circumstances (warm temperatures and rain), the upstream ice will break up and lodge at the river bend just downstream of the North Branch. A pileup of ice will effectively block the North Branch from properly draining into the Winooski and, voila, back it up into the streets and basements of Montpelier. This map shows the flood zone from 1992. It's actually a pretty small geographical area. However, it does encompass basically the entire Montpelier business district. Importantly, it includes both my workplace and my hotel. I am lucky enough to be on the third floor of both buildings, but my rental car would be lost in a major flood.

The residents of the city are on alert, but they are keeping a good sense of humor about the whole thing. Businesses have decorated their storefronts with sandbags and plywood in a sort of community-art project. The Capitol Grounds Coffee Shop has gone a step further by lining its exterior walls with coffee sacks filled with sand. Many a storefront features pre-flood or Noah's Ark sale signs. I have several cool pictures that I would like to post, but alas, the interface between camera and computer is back in Maine.

Life goes on as well. This is a big week for Montpelier, as the annual Green Mountain Film Festival is in progress. This ten-day festival features 38 films, both new and old, drama and documentary, but primarily independant. The thread is good filmmaking and a good story. Many films are followed by discussions led by filmmakers, critics, historians and social groups. It's an impressive lineup, one worthy of keeping an eye on in future years as well.

While I hope to get to a film or two before I get flooded out, I have yet to do so. Tonight I stopped by the Langdon Street Cafe to listen to some music. I managed to catch the final few minutes of a student film about young musicians, and a nice five-song set by said musicians. Unfortunately, I did not catch the name of the young duo. They played mostly original music, and the themes presented in their songs reflected this limited worldview. The best song was a cover of Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl."

The main attraction for the evening was a gentleman by the name of Blue Fox. Blue plays acoustic Delta blues on steel resonator and slide guitars. Blue has a terrific voice and is an accomplished guitarist, but he wasn't really getting it done for me tonight. I thought he was trying to overstep his bounds as a guitar player, bringing out a bag of tricks on almost every song. While technically impressive, Blue struggled to integrate his solos into the rhythm of the music, making them sound forced rather than natural. As a novice player whose next solo will be his first, I feel odd criticizing Blue Fox's performance. But as I said, his style wasn't working for me on most songs. When Blue stuck to the basics and wove the song's melody into the rhythm, his playing really shone.

I appreciate that Montpelier continues to have much to offer, despite being a very small city that practically rolls up the sidewalks at 8 p.m. I have my eye on a film festival movie for tomorrow evening, and if things work out, I hope to report back on that very soon. I also look forward to posting some pictures over the weekend. Hopefully they will be whimsical sandbag decorations, and not the "devastating flood footage" variety.

US is near the bottom in family-friendly employment policies

2007-02-01T12:08:00.002-05:00

In the "sadly not a surprise" category, a new study from researchers at Harvard and McGill Universities shows that "The United States lags far behind virtually all wealthy countries with regard to family-oriented workplace policies such as maternity leave, paid sick days and support for breast-feeding...The study, officially being issued Thursday, says workplace policies for families in the United States are weaker than those of all high-income countries and many middle- and low-income countries."

The most damning information, according to the article, is that the US is alone with just four other countries - Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland and Papua New Guinea - who do not provide some guarantee of paid maternity leave. On the surface, this does not appear to be esteemed company. 173 total countries were in the study.

The strong points for the US were in the areas of equal access to employment, and in compensation. The sad state of this country is that dollars are able (and expected) to appease any injustice imposed upon people. That's a conclusion that you could draw in theory, anyway. In reality, those who are not offered maternity leave are more likely to be people working at the low end of the pay scale.

This is yet another example of how corporate America is allowed to run rampant with little governmental control. All corporations have to do is say, "it will cost too much money if we are mandated to provide maternity leave" and the government cowtows to them. God forbid we jeopardize the bottom line by being decent to people. We want mothers to be back at work so we can continue poisoning their children with polluted discharges into the air and water while nobody is looking.

Is it not true that unpaid maternity leave costs too much for most families to handle? Why are corporate bank accounts more important than personal ones? Furthermore, don't corporations suffer from lost productivity and poor morale from workers who are forced back on the job when they should be attending to their children, or from women who were forced to take unpaid leave in order to care for and bond with their newborn? What about not providing paid sick time? Sick workers will go to work rather than miss a day's pay, perhaps to their own detriment as well as their co-workers, and more productivity losses ensue. It's not easy to quantify the cost of lost productivity, but it is a real one that does affect a company's bottom line.

To be fair, most companies do provide for paid maternity leave and sick time, though they are not forced to do so. Allowances for breastfeeding breaks and paternity leave, however, are much less common. And many companies are happy to have employees work 60-hour weeks with no legal repercussions. Workers are too often treated as commodities - units of productivity, if you will - in this country, rather than as people. The government is loathe to create more regulations, assuming that the "market" will take care of any problems in our capitalist society. However, the market does not address employment practices, especially for those on the lower end of the earnings scale. Low-skill workers can not pick and choose where they work based upon benefits, they have to hope to get jobs wherever they are available. If that's at Wal Mart and they won't be getting health insurance, too bad for them. Organized labor faces more roadblocks every year, making them less effective than in the past. And the consumer market isn't really in a position to have much influence, because we simply are not informed of a company's employment practices, and we are not educated on how poor educational practices can be a detriment to society.

If the US is supposed to be the greatest country to live in, then we should act like it. People should be treated as people, and poor employment practices should not be legal in this country. It's shameful to be the wealthiest country on Earth and continue to appear at the bottom of these lists.

Googleblogging

2007-01-17T20:50:00.000-05:00

Blogger has apparently been acquired by Google, and one of the new features is the ability to label posts. I labelled the last one as "politics". I guess if a reader really likes ones take on politics but could give a crap about, say, guitar playing or Joe Pez, they can have a listing of all those posts just a click away. I guess the possibilities are endless. I am guessing that the labels will also be endless. I hope it makes your blog-reading experience even more enjoyable.

Doomsday Approacheth

2007-01-17T20:34:00.000-05:00

I was not aware of it exists, but there is such a thing as a Doomsday Clock, and it's been moved closer to midnight. As of right now, it's five minutes 'til "nuclear" midnight. Like any good clock, it's not constrained to any linear definition of time, as it's been as close 11:58 (the height of thermonuclear testing in 1953), to the downright comfy spread of 17 minutes when it was set to 11:43 following the fall of the Soviet Empire in 1991. According to the referenced articles,

The major new step reflects growing concerns about a "Second Nuclear Age" marked by grave threats, including: nuclear ambitions in Iran and North Korea,
unsecured nuclear materials in Russia and elsewhere, the continuing
"launch-ready" status of 2,000 of the 25,000 nuclear weapons held by the U.S.
and Russia, escalating terrorism, and new pressure from climate change for
expanded civilian nuclear power that could increase proliferation risks

I say nuclear war is less of a threat to our civilization than climate change and natural resource reduction will be in the not-too-distant future. For sure more wars are to follow the current skirmish. I just don't have them pegged as "Nuclear".

Joe Pez

2006-12-26T08:34:00.000-05:00

The gift of the year - a Pez dispenser that looks an awful lot like yours truly. I think he's actually a chopper guy - like that guy deserves a pez dispenser more than some random blogger.

EDIT - Up close, Joe Pez looks a bit older than Joe Blogger (what with the wrinkles and all), and he needs to fill in his goatee. But otherwise, it's a strikingly good resemblance.

Joe Pez rocks around the Christmas Tree

New Look

2006-11-14T19:40:00.000-05:00

Hopefully more readable. Tell me what you think?

Wild Rides

2006-11-13T16:09:00.000-05:00

Roller coasters. Little train rides on rickety-looking tracks, featuring high-speed plummets, neck-whipping turns, and stomach-twisting loop-de-loops. Invariably they feature names that sound monstrous or death-defying. Names like Oblivion or Phantom's Revenge. I've been on only two in my life, a kiddie-coaster at Funtown, USA, and a grown-up (albeit small) coaster at Palace Playland in OOB. The last one was 20 years ago, and I didn't enjoy it. Only crazy people go on roller coasters.

Crazy people like my brother-in-law's partner Frank. In addition to being crazy, however, Frank is easy going, fun loving, and persuasive. Devilishly persuasive. "You gonna ride the coaster with me?" he asks, referring to Kraken, the big blue mass of twisting steel at Sea World. (Kraken bones, perhaps?) I'm looking up at it rising behind the stadium in which I'm watching the sea lion show. I'm skeptical, and not much of a fan of heights. It looks tall. It is tall!

"It's not that bad." Frank's lived in Florida for 15 years or so, but he's got a strong, if soft-spoken, Brooklyn accent.

"It'll be fun!"

Can you trust a guy who sounds like he should have a name like Frankie the Fish?

"It'll be a good warm up for SheiKra." (Shreik-ra?). SheiKra is the new coaster at Busch Gardens in Tampa. We've bought a two-day pass with the intention of hitting Busch Gardens in a coupld of days (both parks are owned by Anheuser-Busch).

I've seen the pictures. SheiKra's first drop is 200 feet. Straight down. It's the only dive coaster in the USA. I have no intention of going on SheiKra. However, as a compromise I agree to ride Kracken. Frank really wants to ride it, and it's no fun to go alone. Did I mention how persuasive Frank is?

I get strapped in to Kracken, and the car starts the climb. It's going up. Very high. I can see a long way as we climb, and I wonder what I've gotten myself into. Soon I find out - steep drop into a big loop, sharp turns, twists, climbs, dives. It's a quick ride, and I'm a little shaky getting off. It was OK. Actually, I have a big smile on my face from the adreneline.

Another compromise. I'll ride one or two coasters at Busch Gardens, but I won't ride SheiKra.

We arrive at Busch Gardens two days later. It's Halloween. It's a Tuesday, and the park is very quiet. The first coaster that we arrive at is Gwazi (sounds like a jungle beast), a long, fast twin wooden coaster. Frank doesn't like it bacause it bangs you around a lot, but I kind of want to give it a try, because it's a novelty. My nephew Jason wants to go, so we get in line together. The first disappointment is that only one of the two cars is running. This means that we won't go screaming by a bunch of other people travelling 60 mph in the opposite direction. It also means that there is a long line, exacerbated by the fact that this is the coaster closest to the entrance.

The long line allows us to take a good look at the undercarriage of this huge structure. Eh, kind of rickety looking, though I'm told that it's only a few years old (I'm also told that it will be torn down in the near future). This adds to the excitement. As we wait in line, we can also see SheiKra in the distance. Cars climb slowly to the top, go around a sharp 180-degree corner, then approach the precipice. Slowly they reach the edge of the 200-foot plummet. Then the car stops as the riders look straight down, 200 feet. SheiKra lets them consider this for about five seconds. And then they are gone.

It's a long line on Gwazi, and we see this scene repeated over and over. I'm not riding SheiKra. Finally we get on board, and Gwazi takes up to 60 miles an hour in it's first plummet, removing the gravity from below our seats. I can't see the track in front of us. There are no loop-de-loops on this one, but it makes up for them with fast twists and turns, and the potential that something is going to break from underneath. It's another good ride, more fun for me then Kracken was, making up a bit for the 45-minute wait.

We catch up with the others at the hospitality tent, having a beer. I have a quick drink (they are complementary), then we head off to the birds. As we continue our trek around the park, we approach SheiKra. It doesn't look any more pleasant up close (see left).

"You gotta do it once, just to say you did it."

Frankie the Fish has spoken, and soon he, Jason and I are quickly walking up the stairs. Unlike Gwazi, there is no line for SheiKra (nor will there be any for the rest of the day, this being off season and mid-week). This isn't necessarily a good thing. There's no time to reconsider, and no justification ("the line is too long") for turning back. Soon we are climbing. Waaay up. Soon we are on thes thin little rails curling around a corner 200 feet in the air. It doesn't seem very sturdy to me. I'm openly questioning my own sanity. Then a jolt, and we slowly inch over the edge. There are only three rows in this car, and we're in the last one. I'm actually not looking straight down - I can't see the bottom of the drop from back here. This is good.

For a couple of seconds (that seem like about a minute). Before I know it, we are plummeting straight down. It happens so fast that I don't have time to soil myself. Soon we are in a big loop.

WhooooooOOOOOOOOaaaaaaaaaaaaa! A couple more twists an then we climb again and .....

What? Another 90-degree dive? Nobody told me about this!

The second dive is not as long, then it comes up into a nice twist and a plummet into a pool, allowing the car to splash water on unsuspecting passers-by. Then we are done.

(Here is a video showing the whole ride. Hang on!)

At this point I am hooked. Since there is no line, and since we didn't actually get to look straight down, we make the quick climb back to ride again. This time we are in the second row (the line for the first row is a little longer). The ride continues to be frightening, but exhilerating.

Afterwards, I ride three more coasters. Scorpion is smaller but it's tight loop-de-loop generates some serious G-forces. Montu is an inverted coaster that whips you around the outside of the curves. Both good rides. But for my money, the best coaster at Busch Gardens is Kumba, with 130-foot drops, 60-mph turns, and a world-class corkscrew. It is an incredible rush.

The twists of Kumba.

So now I am a crazy person, and I can't wait to get back to Busch Gardens and ride the coasters again. It brings a entirely new world of possibilities for future vacations.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

2006-11-13T15:56:00.000-05:00

Phew!

I'm on the train, riding home from Boston, and thus ending a two-month stretch in which I:

Drove to Vermont
Flew to DC
Flew to Dallas
Drove to Vermont
Flew to Florida
Rode the Downeaster to Boston

Except for the Florida trip, all have been for business. Ordinarily I welcome the business travel, if only for the opportunity to write for my blogs. As many of you are aware, I have not been doing that. I have usually been travelling with others, leading to an inordinate amount of evening activity. Furthermore, I've just had no time to catch my breath, and have been too tired to put a lot of thought into writing.

Not that all has been bad. My trip to Montpelier and Vergennes in October was past the peak foliage season and most of the leaves were either brown or on the ground. This doesn't stop the hotels from being packed with tourists, and because I'm not the greatest organizer in the world, I was too late to get into my go-to hotel in Montpelier, which was sold out for the nights I was in town. I still enjoy the leaves at this time of year, despite their lack of peak color. The varying shades of brown and sienna are starkly beautiful, and one can look deep into the understory of the leaf-matted woods and see the serene emptiness. It is still early enough in the year that one can safely take the north route through the mountains without fear of sliding off the road into a snowbank. The White Mountains of New Hampshire loom large and muscular on a clear day, and the extensive stand of white birches of Shelburne are spectacular in the morning sunshine.

I am also happy to report that I was pleased to find some nice restaurants in Vergennes, a pretty little town about 15 miles south of Burlington. I have a friend in the area, and she took me to Park Squeeze, a warm little hole-in-the-wall that features local, organic food and drink, including the wonderful organic Wolaver brews from the local Otter Creek Brewery. With help, I've been more successful at sniffing out good places to eat in outlying Vermont towns than I was a few months ago.

Though scenic, driving between Maine and Vermont is no picnic. It takes me four hours to go between Brunswick and Montpelier regardless if I take the scenic route or the Interstate. Still, driving is a pleasure when compared to flying just about anywhere. In the past six weeks, I've seen the inside of the following airports: Portland, ME; NY - Laguardia; NY - JFK; Philadelphia; Washington National; Dallas; Tampa; and Sarasota. I've seen security ranging from the quick shoes/carryon xray zipthrough in quiet Sarasota (where I received my first-ever Homeland Security patdown - I passed), to the mysterious air-puff scanner in DC. I've had flights delayed due to weather-related air traffic backup, and due to the unwillingness for a plane to start up at 6:00 on a cold Tuesday morning. And I've seen everything from surly, not-gonna-discuss-it ticket agents (DC again - not directed at me), to the ultra-friendly, ultra-fashionable staff at Jet Blue.

Jet Blue - now there's an airline! This discount carrier arrived in Portland a few months ago, and their service and attitude are unlike any other airline that I've flown. Reservations are easy, as was the cancellation of one of our party's flight. Jet Blue boasts self-checkin kiosks, at which we received more prompt and courteous human assistance than most "agented" ticket counters. On board the seats have plenty of legroom and your own personal satellite television screen. Ordinarily I like to read on the plane, but who can resist watching the 1978 battle between college football titans USC and Alabama on ESPN Classic? And the icing on the Jet Blue cake is their stylishly-painted tails, which feature blue patterns ranging from pinstripes to harlequin patterns and often match the suits and accents of the in-flight crew.

Even a terrific airline like Jet Blue is a pain in the ass to fly, however. For a short flight on the eastern seaboard, one might spend more time at the airport (including taxiing time) than in the air. And it's depressing to approach security and see the box full of potentially lethal half-used jars of lotion or tubes of toothpaste. These containers exceed the acceptable 3.5 ounces of capacity that might render them harmless. Sometimes they are in a plastic baggy that is too big to be safe. And as silly as all this seems, perhaps the most depressing thing about air travel is witnessing how obsessively connected American society needs to be these days.

This is more evident in airports than any other place I've seen. In Dallas I watched a woman conduct a business meeting using her laptop (and $10 wireless internet connection!) and cell phone. After boarding a plane in DC, a woman in front of me was working on an email on her laptop while the young man next to me was furiously sending text messages with both his cell phone and his blackberry until about two minutes after we were asked to turn off electronic devices. After the flight attendant (link) informed us that we would be delayed for a while at the gate and electronic devices could be used in the meantime, the cell phone, blackberry and laptop were all whipped out again. When it came time to once again turn off the electronics, laptop lady again kept desperately typing away at an email, even giving the flight attendant a head fake, "I'm closing the screen, see?" then resuming after the attendant continued down the aisle.

Perhaps it appears hypocrical of me to pass judgment on these people as I sit here on the train, pecking away at my keyboard. It feels different to me, however, as I am at the moment not connected to the outside world. This is my first trip on the Downeaster, and it's been a to ride. For one thing, there is ample leg room - much more than on the Boston - Portland bus. I can actually sit comfortably with my laptop on the tray in front of me. The seats are wider, too, and today it's much less crowded than the bus (having several passenger cars will do that). It's a little more expensive than the bus, and takes about 1/2 hour longer due to the additional stops, but the comfort and the cafe car (Booze for sale! Whoo hoo!) more than compensate. I'll still take the bus if I'm going someplace near South Station, but in going to North Station (my training was across the street), nothing beats the train. At $44/person, it doesn't seem all that economical compared to driving when two or more are travelling unless one is going to park for a couple of days, but sometimes the worry-free comfort is worth the extra expense.

And so I've reached the end of my ride, and the end of my travels for a little while. I look forward being able to relax, perhaps catch up on my sleep and excercise, and get back to a normal diet. I also hope to find more time to reflect on the elections, add to the summer/fall book review series, do some off-season baseball analysis, write about my golf exploits, and reflect on my new-found passion for roller coasters.

But first, I think I need a nap.

Snowe must Go

2006-10-24T12:18:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking that I ought to write a blog entry about Maine's incumbent senator Olympia Snowe, and how it is time for her to be removed from the Senate. Per usual, Wisdom Weasel has done all of the heavy lifting on the issue, and his comments reflect much of what I would say on the matter.

For all of the moderate Democrats and Independents in Maine who don't like the direction that the Congress is heading, but who push-button Snowe's re-election because "she's a moderate," and "she does a good job representing the interests of Maine," there is one sentence in Weasel's post that is pertinent, if a bit underserved:

In reality all Snowe represents is a warm body helping to shore up the
Republican majority; to be patronized by the leadership on matters pertaining to
lobsters and lighthouses but otherwise just counted as another vote for the GOP.

Snowe is "helping to shore up the Republican majority." This means that the Republicans get to set the Senate agenda, get to have majorities on all the senate committees, and get to direct the debate on the Senate floor. A vote for Snowe helps to perpetuate the Republican agenda, no matter if she is a moderate legislator. And, as Weasel so convincingly points out, if Olympia Snowe was once a moderate, she is no more. The only time she breaks lockstep with the GOP agenda is when the the outcome is not in doubt. A token bone to her constituancy to enable her to wave the "moderate" flag.

My support will go to the Democratic challenger Jean Hay Bright, the journalist, organic farmer and former homesteader from Dixmont. Hay Bright wants to pull out of Iraq, supports single-payor health care (might as well join the rest of the industrialized world!), supports renewable energy investment, and wants to protect the environment, all values that I share.

Bill Slavick is the Independent in the race, and while I find his forthrightness to be quite enjoyable, there are a couple of areas where we aren't so well aligned, and I question whether he has the political chops to make a difference in Washington without a party backing him up (as opposed to Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders, who has been in the House for many years and who, in fact, has the endorsement of Vermont Democrats, who did not enter a candidate in the race.) Slavick's web site is worth a read.

Ecology of a Cracker Childhood

2006-07-25T22:24:00.000-04:00

The summer reading series continues this week with a review of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray. The book was published in 1999 by Milkweed Editions, and was recently brought to my attention when Ms. Ray was the keynote speaker at a conservation meeting that I attended recently. Ray is a naturalist and activist who grew up in southern Georgia and now resides in Vermont.

Ecology of a Cracker Childhood is equal parts memoir and tribute to the longleaf pine forest that once dominated the landscape of Georgia. Ray grew up as the child of a deeply religious patriarch who owned a junkyard along Highway 1 in Baxley, Georgia. Ray recounts her family history beginning with her great grandfather. Her family were "Crackers," the hard-drinking, hard-fighting Scottish immigrants who settled in Southern Georgia. Ray's grandfather was an enigma, prone to bouts of violence and lenghty disappearances into the forests. Ms. Ray portrays her grandfather as inseparable from the wildlife that populates the forest, and therefore sees herself and her people as one with the landscape. It is upon this foundation that the story is built.

The longleaf pine forest is largely a thing of the past in Georgia. The trees have been heavily logged and subsequently converted to slash pine forest or development. The resultant impact on the entire ecosystem is profound, even where the land remains forested. Longleaf pine has been replaced with slash pine, which grows more quickly and therefore generates more income than it's slow-growing cousin. However, the slash also grows more thickly than the longleaf and chokes out the understory. Sections of the forest that have been developed have fragmented the landscape. Ray walks us though how these developments have endangered the flora and fauna associated with the longleaf forest. Wiregrass and pine savannahs, Indigo Snakes and Gopher Tortoises, Flatwoods Salamanders and Bachman's Sparrows, all are evolved to live among the longleaf pines. Human greed and gluttony, the impulse to cut and sell every last tree in the forest, imperil these living things and many more. Ray's compassion for the survival of the forest invoked the New York times to consider her the Rachel Carson of the Southeast forests. (See my sidebar, below.)

While the discussion of the longleaf forest is compelling, it is Ray's recounting her family history that sets this book apart from what one would expect from a "nature" book. Ray speaks frankly about the violent nature of her father, grandfather, and other ancestors. She also speaks frankly about the mental illness that gripped many of these same men. Her grandfather, Charlie Ray, is consumed both with illness and violence, and he proves to be the most fascinating character in the book. Charlie Ray was essentially a feral man, posessing a violent streak and a communion with wild animals that evokes the image of a man raised by wolves. His stories are the most entertaining, but it is Ray's father who is the most dominant personality in the book, the one who seems to have had the greatest impact on the young Janisse.

Frank Ray was a devout man, a strict disciplinarian who did not allow a television in his house. He dealt in scraps, running a junkyard and making a living bartering for items that many people simply throw away. It was a struggle to provide for his four children, and they were quite poor, though never without food on the table. Frank Ray did not shy away from using a belt to discipline his children, and he also had a bout with mental illness. Janisse Ray recounts these facts without judgement, and she makes a point to ensure the reader that she knew that her father loved her and her siblings profoundly. It's an honest reflection of real life, but the relationship feels unresolved in this book. Perhaps this is by design, as most relationships are not lent to simple resolutions, and regardless, Frank Ray is still alive. I'm sure that the relationship continues to evolve.

It is the descriptions of Ray's childhood that were most challenging for me as a reader - not due to the content in any way, but in my personal relationship to the era. Because Janisse Ray had such a rural upbringing, with no television and with a junkyard as a playground, the stories evoked mental images of the 1940s. However, Janisse Ray is a direct contemporary of mine, having been born just three years before me. We grew up at the same time and in the same country, yet the stories seem quite distant to me. It is doubtless, however, that my reality and hers crossed paths. Ray may have gone to school in dresses sewn by her mother, but she certainly had classmates who wore the ghastly polyester fashions that were in vogue during the 1970's. She may have grown up without a television, but she attended school with kids who spent lunch hours discussing the prior evening's episode of Mork and Mindy. It's a challenge to me, because I don't believe that my personal experiences are worthy of a memoir, but I find Janisse Ray's to be a very interesting story.

Ray's concern for the forests, and her deeply personal memoirs, are enough to make this book a recommended read. One other aspect that truly sets the book apart is Ray's writing style, which at times evokes heartfelt emotion and, at it's best, waxes into pure poetry. Consider this passage as Ray describes spending a night in the pine savannas:

At evening in a Southern coastal-plain savanna, chuck-will's-widows call from the piney flatwoods a quarter mile upland. Not a rustle or hoof fall punctures the peace, except one moaning howl a mile a way that might be coyote or wildcat. Half the moon, like a broken dinner plate, poises directly overhead and the stars begin to appear, first in the nimbus of moon, then one by one across the lit sky. Soon a canopy of purple velvet is sewn with diamond flecks above the thick and hillocked grasses.

The dreaming is deep.

In the morning, a strip of pink pools through the slash pines in the lowland east. The fog is a garden wall made both of stone and imagination. In the garden a million million spiderwebs are spun of strands of dew - dream catchers, wind nets, hammocks of dawn. There are thousands of them, a revolution of spiderwebs in an anarchy of fog. It is like an ocean of webs, every tussock slung with a diaphanous nightcap.

The words are rich with imagery, and draw the reader into this beautiful part of the world that bears preserving. While the subject matter isn't always a pleasant read, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood never fails to compel.

Sidebar: The Rachel Carson Comparison

2006-07-25T08:37:00.000-04:00

Ecology of a Cracker Childhood has a snippet from the review by the New York Times prominently displayed on the front cover:

"The forests of the Southeast find their Rachel Carson."

Well, maybe. Maybe not. This is in no way meant as a criticism of Ms. Ray's book, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm just not sure that the Carson comparison is apt. Then again, I'm not sure that it isn't appropriate, as I've never read Rachel Carson's work.

You see, I also recently read Suburban Safari by Hannah Holmes. Prominently displayed on the front cover is this snipped from the review by Entertainment Weekly:

"Holmes is a Rachel Carson for 21st-century suburbia."

Having read these books just a few weeks apart, I can easily say that they are so vastly different that it is very unlikely that both authors resemble Rachel Carson. Yes, all three are concerned about humanity's impact on the other inhabitants of this planet. All three are also female. With Ray and Holmes, the comparison pretty much ends there. Holmes is witty, whimsical and scientific. Ray is poetic, introspective and emotional. Ray spends a lot of time talking about populations, while Holmes dedicates many pages to discussing individuals.

It is quite possible that more appropriate comparisons could be made to Audubon, Muir, Thoreau, or any of a host of other people who have written about nature. (Unfortunately, I haven't read a ton from these guys either, so I can't suggest who best fits with whom.) These writers need not be compartmentalized based solely upon their gender. When Rachel Carson's name is thrown about so liberally in these reviews, it begins to appear a bit trite.

Montpelier has the Blues

2006-07-19T22:39:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile since I wrote about my travels in this space. I've been to Portland, Oregon in recent months, and I've had several trips to Vermont. Most have been whirlwinds and I haven't found the time to write about them, unfortunately. However, tonight I was back in Montpelier and ready to soak up the culture. As I've noted in this space before, Montpelier is a pretty small town that shutters most of its windows at 5:00 pm. That's the case during the winter months, anyway. This was my first bonafide summer trip to Montpelier, and as the sun is up longer, so are more people out and about.

Because my actual work-related plans changed at the last minute, I decided to check out the calendar for the Langdon Street Cafe. The Langdon Street is the local communist (I mean "cooperative") foods/arts project in the heart of Montpelier. I've been told that the music and beer are good, and the people watching is unsurpassed in Montpelier. And so it was that I found myself making my first venture there, despite the fact that the place is two short blocks from my hotel.

Montpelier's Langdon St. Cafe, on Langdon St. in Montpelier

New at the Langdon Street is the Wednesday night blues happy hour, featuring Dave Keller and Jan Shultz. This is a gig that Keller started just this month, and thus far seems to be attracting a small but enthusiastic crowd. Keller's main band is a six-piece R&B outfit, but the event at the Langdon Street was a blues jam featuring four musicians (Keller on guitar, Schultz on bass, Nick Kirshnit on trumpet, and presumably Brett Hoffman on drums). I think this is the "Blues Trio" plus the trumpeter. I didn't recognize the songs (Robert Cray, Junier Wells, etc.), but I did recognize the groove, a funky blues punctuated by occasional guitar and trumpet solos. The set was appropriately loose, almost to the point of being sloppy (in a good way), with Keller announcing songs and instructing the rest of the band as to which chords to play. We were told that this was Kirshnit's first time appearing with the trio but he proved to be a consummate professional, stepping in with seamless solos as soon as Keller gave him a nod. We were even treated to a tune sung by the bartender, who had requested the opportunity to show off her vocal talents with the rest of the band, and who sounded like she had been performing with the rest of the musicians for quite some time.

I always enjoy watching musicians perform live, and a jam session always carries a spirit of freedom that effervesces through the music. These guys were performing for the love of music (and whatever meager donations were dropped in the bucket at the front of the stage), and the lack of structure to the show lent it a refreshing air of sincerity. The Langdon Street Cafe proved to be a worthwhile venue to sit back, enjoy some Wolaver's Orgainic Ales and listen to some back-to-the-roots blues. Yet another hidden treasure from Montpelier.

Mainers Support Higher Taxes

2006-07-11T21:14:00.000-04:00

Once again, Mainers have shown that when given the choice between lowering their taxes and maintaining "local control," they'll take local control every time.

The most recent example comes from Livermore Falls, a mill town about 30 miles up the Androscoggin River from Lewiston/Auburn. According to this story, Livermore Falls residents voted at the end of June to not fund several town services (including police and emergency services) in protest of plans to close the local transfer station and switch dispatch services to a regional rather than local service. These moves were designed to save taxpayer dollars. Ultimately, it took restoring the "local control" over dispatch and the transfer station to gain approval for reopening the rest of the town government.

The town decided to keep local dispatchers and continue to pay for the transfer
station. But in order to do so, they will have to raise the property tax levy
limit.

Time after time we in Maine are beat about the head with the fact that the state carries the highest tax burden in the country. In fact, according to The Tax Foundation, Maine's State/Local tax burden has been highest in the country every year since 1997. This leads to periodic support for potentially destructive tax-reform legislation.

Yet every time we are given the opportunity to consolidate services to save money (for example school districts, which are extraordinarily inefficiently organized), Mainers squawk. "We want our local control," they say.

Well folks, you can't have it both ways. You can't have neighboring towns paying full-time wages to duplicate services for a few thousand people, and also save money.

Personally, I'm all for paying a few more tax dollars and making sure that Sally down at the clerk's office keeps her job. I see it as akin to shopping at Grand City instead of Wal-Mart. Keep the dollars in the community. Then again, I'm not complaining about my tax rate, though it is undoubtedly too high. Other Mainers do complain about their taxes, but are apparently incapable of seeing the connection between their choices for local governance and the tax rate. So Livermore Falls, you've officially lost your standing to support TABOR this fall, though I've no doubt how the vote will go in that town.

Business done the right way

2006-04-26T08:37:00.000-04:00

Recently, my partner purchased a shirt from a company called Bamboosa. For some time we've been purchasing food that is primarily locally-grown or organic (or, at least all natural), preferably both. For some shorter amount of time, we've been focusing on natural cleaning products and other earth-friendly household supply. In the back of our minds, we've been thinking that we should look into purchasing clothing made from organic fabrics. We've dipped our toes in the water - a pair of Maggie's Socks here, an organic tee-shirt there - but we've found the price differential to be a little extreme when considering some of the higher-ticket items.

We've finally decided that we need to put our money where our mouth is. There are several considerations: prices will never go down if demand doesn't increase; ideally we're getting a better product (one that lasts longer); and the health of the planet is more important than our pocketbooks. So when my partner needed a new long-sleeve, off-white tee shirt, we pulled out our trusty Co-op America Green Pages (actually, our trustly laptop, on which to look up the Green Pages) and did a search for women's clothing. We came across Bamboosa, specializing in clothing made out of bamboo.

Not only did Bamboosa have a reasonably priced shirt, they have a high commitment to the environment and socially responsible business practices (read more here). And bamboo, like hemp, is a "naturally organic" product. In other words, you practically can't stop it from growing, so you don't need a bunch of chemicals and pesticides to help it along. It also grows very quickly, so sustainability isn't an issue.

Needless to say, we were sold on Bamboosa. The shirt that we received is surprisingly soft and comfortable. Who knew this about bamboo?

Unfortunately, there is a problem with the garment, one which we would not have known about had the manufacturer not contacted us. (Here's one vote for giving your email address to companies!) A problem with the sewing machine caused little holes near the seams - holes that will become bigger as the shirt is worn and washed.

With no prompting from us, Bamboosa has promised to replace the garment at no cost - we don't even have to return the original. This is business done the right way, and I highly commend the folks at Bamboosa for putting practice and planet above profit. In the end, this will make them the most profitable company they can be.

Relax, You're On Green Mountain Time

2006-03-22T22:44:00.000-05:00

Relax, you've got 1,400 words ahead of you . . .

I tried to have dinner in Bethel tonight. I really did. Same with Royalton. I drove through both towns looking for a restaurant that would satisfy my jones for “Local Character” in small-town Vermont. By the time I drove through the Eye of the Needle, I figured I was out of luck.

More on that in a moment.

Today I stepped out of my normal, Montpelier-centered duties and took a field trip to West Haven, a tiny town about 20 miles west of Rutland on the New York border. It’s budget season, and these meetings are easier when done face-to-face.

The drive from Montpelier is two hours, so I had a lot of car time today. There was about 30 miles on the Interstate, but the rest of the trip is what I call “classic Vermont” driving. Classic Vermont driving is defined by the landscape. Vermont’s terrain, first and foremost, consists of mountains. (“Verde Monts” = Green Mountains, remember.) The choice is to either build the roads over the mountains, or between them. Most Vermont roads have wisely been built between the mountains.

The paths through the mountains for the most part follow classic pre-automobile trails. In some cases, the roads feel hardly wider than a carriage path. This is because the glaciers didn’t have the decency to put a lot of space between the hills. Add to this the fact that the slopes are generally too steep for either housing or agriculture, and the valleys are downright cozy. For much of the drive along routes 107 and 100 through the center of Vermont, the spaces between the slopes are probably less than ½ mile wide. Tucked in this space, along with the road, are houses and farmland and, usually, a river. Water, after all, follows the lowland and it’s natural for the road to follow the river. I have seen no place where this is more true than Vermont. The buildings and fences are so close to the road that it sometimes feels like you are trespassing on private property. At other times it’s just you and the river. Villages pop up in places where there is a little more space between the hills.

Then there are the valleys, which are simply spectacular. West Haven is in a region known as the Southern Lake Champlain Valley. This is, as the name implies, the valley surrounding the southern part of Lake Champlain and the rivers feeding from it. Much of this area was a big(ger) lake a very long time ago. Now the valley is rolling hills with the mountains forming a picture-postcard backdrop.

Of course, if you give people room to spread out, they will. This brings us to Rutland. I’ve been to Rutland before – I actually went to a friend’s wedding there about 15 years ago. Rutland’s name isn’t pretty, nor is it’s reputation. It’s big (for Vermont) and crowded (for Vermont) with lots of cars and box stores and strip malls.

It’s not that Rutland is so bad compared to most of the country, mind you. It probably falls somewhere between North Conway, NH (pretty mountains, tons of shopping centers) and Bangor, Maine (lots of people, sprawling at the edges) from an aesthetic standpoint. It’s just that, compared with the rest of the area, Rutland comes as a bit of a shock. You’re driving through these little towns that hardly register on the maps, that are just oozing with the rugged, rustic character of Vermont. Suddenly, you’re in Rutland. You could be in anywhere, USA.

It’s the little towns in Vermont that are so appealing to me. They are so small and out of the way that nobody would ever consider putting a McDonald’s in them, much less an Applebee’s or an Olive Garden. Each of these towns is its own little treasure, with its own little businesses, stores and restaurants.

Or not.

I decided that, on my drive back to Montpelier, I would stop in one of these little towns for dinner and soak up the local flavor. I had good luck on the way down, stopping at the Vermont General Store in Pittsfield for a sandwich to go. The store had a terrific supply of specialty and natural foods, and an old-fashioned looking beverage cooler bursting with local brews. While the staff weren’t in any rush to hand me my lunch and get me out the door (typical of Vermont), the people were extraordinarily friendly, and my sandwich was terrific.

On the way back, things didn’t work out quite so well. The very things that make the place so charming also make it difficult to find a restaurant. There just aren’t a lot of places that can support many restaurants. I didn’t want to stop at Killington or a mountain lodge, because those places are designed for tourists, not locals. When you do come across a restaurant, you’re often coming around a bend at 50 mph. Due to the two-ton pickup truck in your rear view, a quick slam on the brakes is out of the question. Inevitably, this is followed by a windy stretch of road with river on the left, mountain slope on the right, about two feet of breakdown lane on either side of the road, and no hope of turning around for several miles.

I finally decided that I would stop in Bethel, the charming (of course) little town where I would pick up the Interstate. Bethel was actually a pretty good sized-town. Lots of little shops on the main street. This being after 5 pm, all were closed. There were couple of convenience stores that might have had a deli, but that’s not what I was looking for. I drove to the edge of town on the three major roads. Nothing.

Undeterred, I recalled that when I exited the Interstate earlier in the day, I had seen a sign that promised food if I headed in the other direction. This turned out to be Royalton. I saw a sign for the Fox Run Inn and Family Restaurant. I figured I was in business, until I saw the Realtor’s sign out front. Royalton also featured the Village Pizza shop, which looked to have counter service, laminated seats, and a beverage cooler in the seating area. So much for your frigging local flavor!

It was soon thereafter that I passed through what I have dubbed the Eye of the Needle. This was a narrow underpass below some train tracks, wide enough for only one vehicle at a time. Of course, there are sharp corners coming into the Eye from either direction, so the trick is to slow down and, in the absence of headlights on the other side of the Eye, gunning it for dear life.

As near as I could tell, the Eye symbolically separated the part of Royalton where there is “not much”, from the part where there is “even less”. At this point, I decided to cash in my chips and head back to Montpelier, where there is much local flavor that I have yet to experience.

It’s unusual for me to get in the car once I park it at the hotel, because there are so many places to eat packed within a few blocks that I usually walk everywhere. Since I was already in the car, I took the opportunity to eat at “The Pig” (again, as dubbed by me). The Pig is Finkerman’s Riverside Barbeque, on Route 2 in Montpelier. Finkerman’s has the kind of roadhouse feel that I like in my BBQ joints, but is also kid-friendly and was quite busy this Wednesday night. It’s a different kind of feel for Montpelier, a little more of a “marketing concept” atmosphere, but kind of funky nonetheless. The staff was very friendly, and there are a lot of local microbrews on tap. Alas, the service was kind of slow (one shouldn’t have to wait too long for pulled pork) and the food was ho-hum. It seems like a fun place to get together with friends, but it falls short of places near my home, like Buck’s Naked BBQ in Freeport or Beale Street in Bath (and South Portland and Augusta).

And so ended my big adventure for the day. My evening meal was a bit of a letdown, but I truly enjoyed driving the byways of this little state and learning more about my home away from home.

The North Maine Woods

2006-02-27T21:39:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting outside the Cosi coffee shop in the Ballston section of Arlington, VA. My plane to Maine leaves in about three hours, and it's too nice outside to be sitting in an airport. Reagan National is less than a half hour from here via the Metro rail service. I'm in town for orientation and training - two days of power point presentations followed by a field trip to the Potomac Gorge reserve in nearby Maryland.

Today's weather was ideal for the hike. I had some concern earlier in the week, because the area was hit by a foot of snow over the weekend. However temperatures soared into the 60's, and we had ideal conditions for what turned out to be a three hour hike over the rocky trails. There were still pockets of snow on the ground, but they did not really impede our footing.

I was overdressed from the beginning, and had to shed several layers during the trek until I was down to my tee shirt. This was a far cry from the conditions that I met on a field trip just a week earlier. Instead of the hustle and bustle of the nation's Capital, I was far up in the Maine woods. I was in the upper St. John River area of Aroostook County, in unincorportated towns that, for the most part, don't even have names. They go by cryptic code letters, "T12 R17" and the like (which stands for Township 12, Range 17). Locals just use the numbers. "Twelve Seventeen" is all the information one needs, though a few do carry fancier handles like "Big Ten Township".

The area sounds remote, even for Maine, and it is. In fact, from certain parts of the state it is easier to get there by leaving the country and driving through Quebec, Canada for part of the journey. This is exactly what our party did. However, it is unwise to assume that the area is largely devoid of human activity.

This was a surprise to me. In looking at the state of Maine, one sees the western half of Aroostook County (along with the northern portions of several other counties) as vast wilderness, with no towns and little reason for anybody to go there. However, if one looks at a map that also shows Quebec, one sees a series of towns that dot the Maine border. These towns are populated by people who do one of two things, farming and lumbering. Those in the forestry industry cut a lot of lumber in Quebec. They also cut practically all the lumber in this part of Maine. One can not last long in this endeavor without being able to speak French, because most Quebecois don't speak any English whatsoever.

The border crossings aren't the busy entry points seen along the major thoroughfares of the state. They see a few dozen people a day, usually the same few dozen people every day. Because the logs are sold into lumberyards on the Canadian side of the border, some pulp truck operators may cross a few times per day, depending on where the lumber is being harvested. In general, border crossings are pretty uneventful. Even the US guards seem to recognize that a terrorist would be going pretty far out of his way to cross at St. Juste and navigate the logging roads to gain entry into the country.

The logging roads are legendary in Northern Maine. The first rule to remember is that the pulp trucks have the right of way. These roads are owned by the timber operators and they are, first and foremost, there for the forestry industry. The trucks go fast, and they aren't going to move over for any four wheeled vehicles. If you see one heading your way (which isn't always a given on the windier parts), you need to slow down, move over, and give a friendly wave as the truck goes by. The main roads are barely wide enough for two vehicles during the summer months, and they are downright snug with snow piled on either side. It's also worth noting that the road beds are primarily ice-covered, so the driving is slick. That doesn't appear to deter anybody from driving well above the posted 40 mph speed limit.

When I left on the St. John trip there was no snow cover in Southern Maine. That was the case for much of the drive north, with such outposts as Bingham and The Forks showing bare ground. Not until we were in the snowmobiling town of Jackman, almost to the Canadian border, was there consistant snow cover. Driving north through Quebec, however, it’s apparent that winter is in full force. Several feet of snow were on the ground and large snow banks lined the streets and driveways. Much of the land consists of open fields dedicated to farming, and the constant wind sweeps drifts of snow that need to be shoveled days after the last storm. The towns are very utilitarian-looking, with functional homes nestled close together and sitting close to the roads. There are no subdivisions, and nearly all of the homes are along the main roads. There are a few grocers, gas stations and maybe a restaurant or two. It gives all the appearance of a hardscrabble life, and harkens back to the US of 40 years ago, before formulaic chain stores homogenized the landscape.

There is very little industry along Quebec – Maine border. Other than farming, the towns of Daquaam, St. Pomfrey, St. Juste and others of the region simply serve the timber industry of Easten Quebec and Western Aroostook County in Maine. Men cross the border into Maine to harvest the wood, and the wood crosses the border back into Quebec, where the lumber yards sell it to paper mills or saw mills. Part of what makes this region of Maine so mysterious and magical is the lack of a human population, however there is a great deal of economic potential in the woods that is being exploited by the Canadian population just a few miles away. And in fact, while these are truly “deep woods”, it is not virgin forest. Most of the timber has been cut several times over the past couple of centuries. I’m certain that the forestry practices have affected the mix of the tree species in some townships, but here is living proof that forestry is a long-term sustainable industry. In fact, the land that we are visiting is conservation land, part of which is acting as a sort of laboratory to test the impacts of new silvacultural techniques designed to maintain the makeup of the forest, and conserve parcels that have unique or interesting characteristics. This is humanity coexisting with nature, where both people and animals are sustained by the wild forest.

The wilds of the St. John River are also treasured for the wildlife. Wildlife abounds – moose, lynx, marten, otters, and snowshoe hares are abundant. Bears roam the territory in the warmer months, however they are deep into their winter hibernation during my visit. There is some snowmobiling activity in the region, however the access is too limited for there to be many cross country skiers or snowshoers. There are many cabins along the river that are used by hunters and fisherman. They are accessible by canoe, although the river is very shallow for much of the year and canoeing trips can involve a fair amount of carrying as well. The cabins are very austere, usually one room with a woodstove and a bunk or two. The people who inhabit them (most are leased by the same individuals for many years) don’t need much in the way of modern conveniences. It’s truly frontier living.

The North Maine woods are a region unlike many others in the country. Most undeveloped land in this country is difficult to access – mountains or barren land. This is not the case in Aroostook County. The terrain consists of the same rolling hills of the towns across the border, very similar to the foothills found in Oxford and Franklin Counties in the southern part of the state. However nobody has chosen to build a town amidst wide expanses of the forest, and as such it is the largest contiguous forest remaining in the United States. It is wild and unique and, as such, is a treasure. There are sexier portions of the North Maine Woods that are currently under development pressure. It’s beautiful country, but it’s beautiful because humans haven’t made it look like the rest of the country. My hope is that we see it in our hearts to keep part of the wilderness wild, and maintain the treasures that the wilderness houses.

A blog post about a blog post about a blog post

2006-01-19T23:05:00.000-05:00

A Montpelierite named Morgan W. Brown read last night's post about the Farmer's Night concert, and he linked this blog and my post. So I'm linking him right back. Here is the Montpelier Matters website, an everything-you-want-to-know-about-Montpelier blog. And click here to read what he has to say about the post directly below this one.

Alexander Rocks the House

2006-01-18T21:45:00.000-05:00

Literally.

I'm here in Montpelier on another Vermont junket. I arrived a night early to avoid driving in an ice storm, and my last-minute change in itinerary led me to a different hotel - Betsy's Bed and Breakfast. While lacking in some of the privacy afforded by the Capitol Plaza, not to mention proximity to the office, the B&B experience offers a charm of its own. For example, all of the rooms are unique and warm, in contrast to the cookie-cutter rooms of the Capitol Plaza and the chain hotels. And of course there is the hearty breakfast, which this morning featured orange pancakes and a side of bacon, along with assorted muffins and fresh-squeezed orange juice. Breakfast also featured conversation with other guests, most of whom were partaking in a writing residency at Vermont College, just up the hill.

Today also brought an opportunity that is almost certainly "Uniquely Vermont" - a rock concert in the House Chambers of the State Capital building. The event was Farmer's Night, and on hand was Alexander's Goodtime Band. The band is fronted by guitarist Peter Alexander (no, not that Pete Alexander) and the rythyms are laid down by bassist Ben Butterworth, but the star attraction is former Phish drummer Jon Fishman. Liberal politics brought Alexander and Fishman together, as both were involved in directing the New England Coalition, a safe energy (aka anti-nuke) group based in Brattleboro, VT.

And it was the setting of (mostly) liberal politics that housed the event, with the ornate ceiling overhead, oversized chandelier hanging down and aging desks that the House members use to keep their notes straight. The scene was the somewhat surreal mixture of humanity that simply defines everyday life in Montpelier - elderly legislators in their business attire seated next to aging hippies seated next to Generation Y Phish-heads, and everybody with a smile on his or her face. The lighting was inappropriate, but the acoustics were surprisingly sound. Alas, there was no hint of the herb that is often associated with Phish, though I am certain that marijuana has found its way into the Vermont Statehouse on more than one occasion in the past.

Living up to the band's name, Alexander and crew played good time music, a toe-tapping blues/folk/pop combo that got many audience members into their dancing shoes. The trio played mostly originals that varied from the political ("There's a thin line between right and wrong/ Especially when one side is very strong"), to the romantic (an ode to the coast of Maine), to various songs exploring love, love lost, and sex. The handful of covers were well chosen, ranging from "Man of Constant Sorrow" (from O Brother, Where Art Thou), to a rocking blues version of Leadbelly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night", to a stirring version of Hendrix's "Little Wing".

Alexander's Goodtime Band filled the room with music in true power-trio form. Alexander is an accomplished 12-string player, if falling a bit short of "virtuoso" status, and passionate vocalist in the style of Jimmy Buffet or Willie Nelson, Butterworth kept the groove on both four string and eight-string (if I saw this correctly) basses, and Fishman is a drummer of some renown. Alexander kept the mood loose with his between-song banter and salutations to the many people in the room who he has met through his political dealings. The highlight, and perfect summation of the mood, was when Fishman's daughter (who is maybe four years old) yelled "daddy!" and ran up to the drum set to "touch fingers" with her father while Alexander was telling a story between songs. Daughter later returned to stand in front of the drum kit and point at daddy during a solo. Priceless.

Farmer's Night is a regular gig at the state house in Montpelier, and it's free to the public. According to sources, "Every Winter, the Vermont Legislature hosts the Vermont Farmers Night Series in the House Chamber of the Vermont State House. Before the Interstate was constructed, many Legislators lived in Montpelier when the Legislature was in session. They organized Farmers Night to entertain themselves. The Series is free and features a variety of music, poetry, lectures, historic displays and even wildlife!" Most of the music appears to be of the jazz or brass band variety, rather than rock and roll, but it's an interesting part of Montpelier culture that I look forward to exploring again in the future.

Happy New Year

2006-01-03T12:43:00.000-05:00

The Holidays are now behind us, and I look forward to regaining some blogger momentum in 2006 (the last two months have been very slow). (Un)fortunately, there is a lot of material out there.

I think this country is a mess right now. The current regime is heading deeper down the road to fascism and has become an international embarrasment. But for all of the guns and money controlled by the US, some other nation would surely take it upon themselves to enforce the "rule of law" upon us, as we've proven so quick to do to others.

As embarrassing as the administration is, it's only abetted by the media. Media Matters is a leading watchdog, and David Brock's 2005 recap illustrates the steady stream of misinformation being spread to the American public.

There is room for optimism, however, as we enter 2006. For one thing, it's an election year, and American citizens have the opportunity to send a message to the Republican party that it can no longer attack the poor of this country, inpinge upon our civil rights, and desecrate the environment, all the while turning more money and power over to the rich. We can overthrow the Republican majorities in Congress and re-establish proper checks and balances in Washington.

More and more people are questioning the Bush Administration, and waking up to the abuses enacted upon the citizens of the US and the rest of the world. Let's continue to spread the message and do the right thing in 2006. There will continue to be attacks by the right-wing blowhards, and without question we'll have an orange alert or three as election day nears, but let's not fall prey to these tactics, and start ourselves on the path to recovery and civility this year.

No free ride

2005-11-21T18:40:00.000-05:00

I had a brief debate about taxes, a couple of weeks ago, over at Words Matter with a guy named "Keepmo'money". Keepmo' was commenting in response to Jim's post about a speech made by Warren Buffet. In the speech, Buffet (one of the world's wealthiest men, and the man who brought you Geico) advocated against the type of tax structure favored by George W. Bush.

In response, Keepmo'money stated that taxes are "stealing," and even went so far as to compare the government's self-imposed power to tax with decisions made by the Nazis. He also succinctly stated that "Liberals justify this system of stealing by giving all the good things that are done with the money. It still is stealing."

Now, obviously this guy is an idiot and doesn't really justify your or my attention. However, he does express a mindset that I've heard from others: "why should I give my money to the government?" I've earned it, it's rightfully mine, and the government is stealing from me.

The simple answer is that it's not your money. By this I mean that you are paying the government to provide you with services. Just as you would consider failing to pay someone who landscaped your yard "theft of services", failure to pay taxes can be considered theft of services. Let's think of some examples.

Here's one: as soon as Keepmo' puts the wheels of his SUV onto the pavement of a public way, he owes the government some money. The government built the road and maintains the road. If it were a private road (i.e. not supported by tax money), he would most likely have to pay a toll. Tolls are another form of taxes. The less tax money that goes toward road construction and maintenance, the more toll money gets charged. So far, we're not saving any money. In addition, to be truly "fair," every road would have a toll, so that just those using each particular road are paying for it. Would this be a better system?

Here's another: education. Currently a whole lot of our tax dollars go to support public education. What would happen if we didn't pay taxes? Well, we already know the answer to this one, because we already have private schools that don't receive tax support. These private schools charge tuition. In a "tax-free" world, tuition is another form of tax.

So far, we're not keeping any mo' money.

How about safety: police and fire? These services are paid for by tax dollars. Are we supposed to pay for our own police and fire protection, like we do insurance? If we don't pay, we don't get coverage?

"I'm sorry that your uncle got shot, but he discontinued police coverage last year, so we're not going after the killer."

"Wait, what's the address of the fire? 32 Main? No coverage, let 'er burn!"

Or maybe they send you a bill. "OK, we sent over two tankers and a ladder. You got your hourly charge for the trucks, plus mileage to and from the station. We had ten men on the scene, and since it was a Sunday they get double-time . . . . ."

And just think of the fines for speeding!

This is obviously absurd, but it illustrates a point. Government provides services that benefit the public good. Education, safety, infrastructure. And in most cases, they provide them much more efficiently than a fragmented, privatized provider system would. How about national security and defense? Most conservatives consider these worthwhile endeavors. How do you suppose we would pay for these without taxes? We live in a capatilist society, people aren't going to volunteer to put their lives on the line, and defense contractors aren't going to build bombers and simply hand them over to the military, free of charge.

Maybe we could all just pay some of our own money into a pool, and we'll use that pool of money to pay for the bombers. Oops! That's a tax, just like the government does.

Unfortunately, Keepmo'money doesn't leave any contact information, so we just have to hope that he comes back to continue the debate. I suspect that what Keepmo' and most of the other "anti-tax" people really mean is that they don't want their tax money to go to social services, which they usually define as "lazy poor people on welfare." However, I think that it's well documented that government handouts to the well-to-do easily exceed those provided to the poor of this country. Furthermore, I suspect that we get favorable returns from money spent on social services (e.g. productivity gains as a result of adequate health insurance for the workforce), especially as compared to tax breaks to industry that end up in the pockets of the shareholders.

Hopefully I'll have enough time in the coming weeks to further explore some of these concepts. For now, however, I hope that I've demonstrated that there is no such thing as a free ride, and a reduction of taxes doesn't necessarily allow us to "keep more money."

A Resounding "No"

2005-11-09T20:44:00.000-05:00

In the most definitive vote yet on the issue, Mainers rejected discrimination against homosexuals by a 55% - 45% margin on Tuesday night. The vote culminates years of work by Maine Won't Discriminate, which has fought this battle twice in the past. Apparently Mainers are more convinced that homosexuals do, in fact, face discrimination in their daily lives. As Wisdom Weasel pointed out, the Christian Civic League may have also mis-stepped in running a campaign based on irrational fear ("Protect our Children!" "Save Marriage!") rather than making the focus on "special rights" as they have done in the fact. Indeed, I read just one reference to special rights, in a letter to the editor of the Times Record, in following the debate this year. As I wrote the other day, the campaign of Michael Heath and his minions was based on desperate non-truths, and Mainers were savvy enough to see through them. For that, I am proud of my neighbors.

And, in another resounding "no" that caught my eye, voters in Dover, PA ousted an entire school board. Enraged by the board's plans to teach "Intelligent Design" (a religious construct appropriate for Sunday School, not Public School), several residents ran a concerted campaign to take control of the board and reverse this decision. They were hoping for a simple majority but came out with 8 of the 9 seats. Score some big points for freedom of thought in this country!

Good Night, and Good Luck

2005-11-08T19:27:00.000-05:00

See it now.

The latest in a long line of terrific movies offered at The Eveningstar, Good Night, and Good Luck documents CBS Newsman, Edward R. Murrow, and his co-producer, Fred Friendly, as they challenge the methods of Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy during the 1950's Anti-American hearings.

Directed and co-written by co-star George Clooney, Good Night takes us inside the production rooms of CBS' See it Now, the first television newsmagazine. Murrow and Friendly run a series of programs that questions the crusade to locate and out communists. The themes of this film have parallels in today's US, where Constitutional rights are routinely cast aside in the name of "national security". Murrow and crew soldier on, knowing that they will themselves come under scrutiny and attack from Senator McCarthy. They are also aware that they are risking the very existence of their show, as neither the network nor the show's sponsor (Alcoa) is all that keen on a series of programming that takes on the Federal government. Still, Murrow's unquestioned integrity, and the decision to primarily tell the story with footage of McCarthy himself, swiftens the turning tide against McCarthy that results in his ultimate censure by the Senate. The members of the CBS news staff are not without tragedies of their own, and the show itself loses it's prime-time viability when Alcoa pulls out.

The film captures the stress of this endeavor. Filmed in black and white and featuring a lush jazz soundtrack, the movie sports the feel of the 1950's. However, rather than the white-bread Happy Days America that we have come to define the decade, we see that not all is well in the US. Isolated to the tight confines of the newsroom, the board room and the barroom (all of which are filled with the smoke from infinite cigarettes), the tension is palpable. David Strathairn gives a magnificent turn as Murrow, capturing the newsman's resolve but also revealing the underlying nerves that are plying at his insides. Clooney also gives a solid performance as Friendly, however it is his work behind the camera, particularly his choice to use actual McCarthy archival footage, that gives the film its oompf. The entire cast, which also includes the always-terrific Patricia Clarkson and Robert Downey, Jr., give first rate performances.

Good Night, and Good Luck will likely stay in theaters longer than most so-called Independent films (the film is a production of Warner Independent Films, as in AOL Time Warner, so I'm not sure that I would classify this as a true "independent" endeavor). I encourage all to see it for the rich production, gripping performances, and timely history lesson.

Vote No on 1

2005-11-06T20:04:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, Mainers will have the opportunity to reject hatred and uphold the law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. The law states that no Mainer can be denied employment, housing or public accomodation based upon their sexual orientation. While proponents of the "people's veto" play on fear, ignorance and hatred, reasonable Mainers will see that homosexuals do face oppression in this state and vote to do the right thing. Please Vote No on question 1.

The vote will likely be very close, so I encourage all Mainers to head to the polls on Tuesday and reject hatred. Most of the arguments by Christian Civic League and others supporting the referendum fall short on fact, leaving bigotry as the only rational motivation for their actions.

"Preserve Marriage": This is the biggy. For some reason, Christians are real threatened by the thought of gays getting married. I don't understand why "the sanctity of marriage" is damaged by homosexuals getting married, but many people believe it so. I even read a letter to the editor that suggested that the "next step" will be "three people getting married". This incredible leap of logic is symbolic of the fear-mongering preferred by the "Yes on 1" camp. No matter, however, as the law on the books specifically states that it is not to be interpreted as to permit gay marriage.

"Protect Maine": This is the other part of the slogan on the signs. I have no idea how Maine is threatened by gays. I did read an ad in the paper that said that, if allowed to stand, this law (which is supported by the Maine Education Association) will lead to gay-friendly curriculums and the celebration of gay pride week. I thought that the curriculum was set by the school boards and administration. Another leap of logic, I guess.

"Mainers have already rejected protection of gays twice before." So what? Mainers are wrong to promote hatred, and it is an embarrassment to the state that we have done so. I believe that there is greater understanding of the hardships that gays face in their daily lives, and that it is more and more apparent that protection is needed. And if the law is rejected a third time, I hope that the legislature brings it back a fourth time, simply because it's the right thing to do.

"Why protect a choice?" While I know a lot of gay people and have no doubt that homosexuality is not a choice, this line of argument also holds no water. Is religion not a choice? Is it illegal to discriminate based on religious affiliation? Why not take religious protection off the books, just to be equitable.

(Actually, scratch that. Too many Christians in this country would likely take advantage of the ability to discriminate against people of other faiths.)

"Isn't discrimination illegal anyway? Why do we need another law?" That's right, folks. Freedom from discrimination is protected in the constitution. So, in addition to religion, let's drop protection based on gender, race and nationality off the books, too.

No, we won't do that, because we know that, despite the redundancy, these laws provide an avenue to prosecute those who would discriminate agains their fellow people. As does the new law in Maine protecting those of all sexual orientations (please note that heterosexuals are also protected under this law).

If you believe that it's wrong to discriminate against other humans, you should not vote to approve this referundum. If you don't think that it's OK to discriminate, but you oppose the law presently on the books, then it's obvious that you have a problem with homosexuality and don't want to treat gays as equal human beings. Everybody is entitled to their feelings on the issue.

Just don't pretend that a Yes vote is based on anything other than hatred.

The Wombat Knows

2005-10-25T21:46:00.000-04:00

At Global Community.org, there is a wise wombat who explains that we have only one planet, and we have to take care of it and share (nicely!) with our neighbors. If a wombat can figure it out, why can't more people do so?

Verde Monts

2005-10-25T20:57:00.000-04:00

That's my fancy title for this post about my recent trip to Vermont (even the French were onto the "Green Mountains" theme). Last week I spent three days in Vermont's tiny capitol, Montpelier. With a population of just over 8,000, Montpelier has a true "small town" ambience, but at the same time has a lot to offer within a small area. In addition to being the home of the Vermont state government, Montpelier is a center of higher education, with three colleges as well as the New England Culinary Institute.

Montpelier is a compact, picturesque town, with its downtown confined to a few blocks. One can start walking at the west end of State street, where the State House and government buildings are located, and reach the other end of the business district (Main Street) in less than five minutes. The walk takes one past the Capitol Plaza hotel, along with many shops and restaurants. The feel is reminiscent of Portland's Old Port district.

The NECI (which boasts the Food Network's Alton Brown among its alumni) is a treasure for the city, which benefits from its three teaching restaurants (a pastry/sandwich shop, a casual restaurant and a high-end dining establishment). However the true spirit of the city can be found in the Coffee Corner, a fixture on the corner of State and Main for half a century. The Coffee Corner looks for all the world like every eggs-and-coffee greasy spoon that you've ever been in, but there is a notable difference. The Coffee Corner is a place where eggs share the menu with tofu as easily as state legislators share booths with farmers. With a nod to Vermont's liberal and independent spirit, consideration is given to vegetarian and vegan diners, even to the point of having a separate grill in order to avoid cooking vegitarian selections alongside meat products. The Coffee Corner is also a founding member of the Vermont Fresh Network, which "builds innovative partnerships among farmers, chefs and consumers to strengthen Vermont's agriculture."

Montpelier is full of many such delights. Businesses use the tables of the Capitol Grounds (the trendy, liberal coffee shop) to hold informal meetings, and even the liquor store has artistic photographs in the front window. The lawns donwtown are kept immaculate, and the victorian inns are tidy and well kept. I found Montpelier to be a wonderful place to relax and breathe the fresh air. I look forward to my next trip, when I hope to have more time to explore all that the city has to offer.

Speaking of people loving their jobs. . .

2005-10-14T22:13:00.000-04:00

Here's a shameless promotion for my friend Becky's web site, Kidz Cakes! The site was just launched a couple of days ago, and it looks great. Good enough to eat, even! So if you're in the Northern Rhode Island/Southeast Massachusetts area and you need a cake for any occasion (like, say, a college graduation this spring), contact Kidz Cakes and they'll set you right up. Take it from me, I've sampled many of Becky's creations (even before she turned pro), and they are always delicious.

Becky is a wonderful person, as is her entire family, and they deserve all the shameless plugs that I can give them. So check out Kidz Cakes, and tell 'em Joe sent you.

All Work and No Play

2005-10-14T19:49:00.000-04:00

That's not entirely true, but I feel like the Blogs have been neglected lately. I checked in on the Sea Blog earlier and a tumbleweed went bouncing across the screen. The reason for this dearth of material is my new job (which, by the way, I absolutley love!) You see, I used to do a lot of my blogging during my lunch hour (or occasionally beyond) because, frankly, I didn't care if they thought that I was violating their Internet-use policy. (Which, to be honest, I did with regularity. They got me back by stiffing me out of some vacation. Bastards!) I took that job out of necessity, and they never gave me a reason to consider it anything other than a short-term arrangement, so everybody was out for themselves.

That wasn't a real healthy relationship, but the happy result of all of that is that I've done quite a bit of writing in my blogs over the last few months. Things are going to change a little bit with my new job. Not that they won't let me use my PC during lunch hours (I'm pretty sure they will), but things just feel different at the new place. Everybody seems to be about accomplishing our mission, and I am happy and motivated at a job like I've never been before. I'm not sure that I'll need the mid-day diversion that writing provided me at the other place.

Not to say that I won't be writing. I have more "free" time at home now, and I'll be spending some time on the road, so there will definitely be opportunities for me to blog (and work on longer pieces) during the evenings. The critical thing now is to establish new habits to make writing at home a greater part of the routine. This week has been a transition week, letting go of the old job and embracing the new one. Next week is another transition - getting acclimated to the Vermont portion of the job. If my portable has come in by then, I'll be able to do some writing from the road. Otherwise, it's probably another week or so of neglect before I get back into the swing of things. If I'm lucky, I'll have the time to do a couple more wrap-up entries at the Sea Blog before that material gets too stale. Then it's full force here and at the Land Blog.

It's a new era in Joe's Blog Land, and I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully you'll stick with me through the transition period.

Cross-post: Joe's Land Blog

2005-10-09T21:22:00.000-04:00

Just making sure traffic gets steered to the Land Blog. My latest post there relates to the continued failure to put the environment and endangered species on a level footing with profitability. This is also an excuse to get my "related links posted" without fiddling around too much with the Land Blog template at this point.

What Do Conservatives Want?

2005-10-05T12:31:00.000-04:00

Laurie Meunier Graves, editor of the Wolf Moon Press, wrote a thoughtful piece in the wake of Hurricane Katrina called, "What Do Conservatives Want?" The essay echoes many of my own thoughts about the impact of the tax cuts and contempt that conservatives have for social programs:

"What do conservatives want? Do they really want a country that ranks “43rd in the world in infant mortality”? Do they really want a country where people’s teeth go black and fall out because they can’t afford to go to a dentist? Do they really want a country that thinks nothing of abandoning poor people when a natural disaster strikes? Perhaps I’m being naïve, but I can’t believe that most conservatives want this."

This is my issue with the conservatives as well. Sure, tax cuts seem good, but think of the impact on people for a moment. The US is the wealthiest country on the planet, no? We should be proud to live in a country where poverty has basically been eradicated. Yet, it isn't so, and many (conservatives) believe that the poor have only their own damn selves to blame. It boggles the mind that many of us (conservatives) believe that it is OK to enact policy that allows so much of this country's wealth to be hoarded among so few, while others go without basic healthcare coverage.

Graves' article focuses largely on healthcare issues, and they are central to the problem. We live in a country where people openly mock Canada's National Health Care policies. Yet ever more of our citizens cross the border to get their prescriptions filled in Canada, where the drugs are affordable. If Canada's system is so innately terrible, why can they afford prescriptions while US citizens can't? I also have family in Arizona, and they've been known to drive three hours to cross into Mexico for dental work, because Medicare won't cover it and the cost from the US dentists is so prohibitive.

Think about that for a moment. My impression is that about 95% of the population of this country thinks of Mexico as a third-world country. Yet a US Citizen can go there and get good treatment for a lot less than they can get in this country. It's shameful.

But it doesn't stop with healthcare. We develop all kinds of new housing projects that are aimed toward wealthy or upper-middle-class residents, because the developers can turn a tidy profit. Yet low-income housing is so difficult to come by that too many of our citizens live in substandard housing, or on the streets. We don't support victims of domestic abuse with adequate services. Women are often forced to choose between living with an abusive partner or living without a roof. There are many, many other examples.

I can hear the counterarguments already. "You're never going to be able to eliminate poverty;" "if you give people handouts, they will sit around and just take the handouts." And both are true. I don't believe that we can eradicate 100% of the poverty in this country. And there will always be people who take advantage of ("cheat") the welfare systems. But the fact that there are going to be some exceptions, in my opinion, is no justification to enact policies to deny help to those (many more people) who can be helped, but don't wish to make a career of it. Conservative policy in this country has become mean policy, though (to paraphrase Graves again), I don't believe that most conservatives are mean people.

So, what do the conservatives want? And better yet, why do they want it? The vast majority of those who voted the "conservative" line in the last election will never in their lives be in a position (i.e. be wealthy enough) to actually benefit from the policies favored by the current administration. We need to educate the masses about the impact of these decisions, and fast. The changes that this society needs to make can either be implemented peacefully, by electing politicians who are in favor of social programs (you cynics may issue your challenges here). Otherwise, it can be a less pleasant process, marked by confrontation and social unrest. I am in favor of the former, and I hope that this country can begin again to move in the right direction, starting with the 2006 elections.

More on Writing

2005-10-03T12:01:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, while the rest of you were out enjoying a beautiful autumn day (those of you in Maine, anyway), I was taking a class in the Joel and Linda Abramson Center at the University of Southern Maine. The topic: How to Freelance.

The course was taught be Sherry B. Hansen, a Brunswick resident who has had hundreds of articles, poems, and short stories published over the last 17 years. Like me, she did not grow up, or even graduate from college, thinking that she would be a writer. However, when she was in her early 40's, she gave up the workaday life for that of a freelancer. And what a life it is! Hard work, uncertainty, and quite a bit of rejection. When an article does get published, it probably won't pay a heck of a lot. Still, there are resources and skills that one can develop to help maximize ones chances of getting your work published.

The class of 11 was a varied lot. Participants ranged in age from mid-20's to about 60, with most of us hovering within a few years of our 40th birthday by my estimation. There were a few stay-at-home parents, a nurse or two, an "odd job" guy, and a couple of people who have jobs, but not what they would call careers. By my count, there was just one accountant in the mix. People's areas of interest were equally varied. One guy wanted to write CD reviews and band interviews. One woman wanted to write "life experience" stories. One woman has written a lot of health-related articles for in-house news letters, and was thinking that she ought to start getting paid for her troubles. Another woman wanted to write essays about her experience as a cancer survivor. One guy wants to be the next Dave Barry. One guy writes about baseball and the environment. Some folks have been published previously, others of us have not.

There was a lot of practical advice to be gained from this class. One of the biggest items for me was the most basic - how do you contact publications that you might be interested in writing for? Following that up - how much do they pay, when do they pay you, how are rights handled. And the biggie to end the day - how to write query letters. There was more than enough information for one to get started, which is really what I was hoping for from this session. The other valuable lesson from Ms. Hansen, though not one on the agenda, is to not expect to get rich, but at the same time not to get discouraged. If a publication rejects your article, move on to the next publication. With enough hard work (and enough talent, I suppose), you will get that first clip, and you're on your way. Sherry had a lot of war stories to tell from the last 17 years, all entertaining and informative.

Next up is figuring out what to write. I did send out my first query, a book review for When Towns Had Teams. I'm going to wait to find out if it's been accepted before I publish it on Joe's Sea Blog. I pitched it to the Times Record, but I have a couple of fallback publications to look into as well. After that, who knows? The Abramson center features water free urinals. These babies save, on average, 40,000 gallons of water per year, per urinal. The topic is a natural for the Land Blog, but I have to start thinking, is there anybody out there who would pay me for an article on the subject?

Stay tuned. . . .

Land Blog Fans

2005-09-30T13:24:00.000-04:00

As promised, a new entry over at Joe's Land Blog. "Ecosystems at the Millenium." The Land Blog lives!

And speaking of writing...

2005-09-28T21:54:00.000-04:00

While I was doing some research on how to write a query letter (tomorrow night's project), I came across this Blog, called Query Letters I Love. Allegedly these are real screenplay query letters sent to a Hollywood studio. Unquestionably the funniest Blog I have ever read (apologies to Weasel, who can also bring the goods). You must read the commentary!

Perserverance Pays Off

2005-09-28T21:00:00.000-04:00

Regular readers of this Blog (both of you!) have been subjected to my occasional whining about my dissatisfaction with my current employment situation. Well, it's time to share some good news - I am getting a new job! It is a finance job, but it's also in the environmental arena. I don't usually get into specific personal information in this Blog, but tonight I am excited to inform you all that I will be working for both the Maine and Vermont Chapters of the Nature Conservancy, right in downtown Brunswick, Maine.

I couldn't be more pleased with this development. When I was unemployed last spring and summer, I went through the excercise of identifying my "ideal" job. While acknowledging that "Powerball Winner" would be a wonderful job description, my reality-based answer was "Finance manager for the Nature Conservancy in Maine". No kidding! At the time, I met with a former banking associate of mine who is now employed by the conservancy. This meeting was primarily to strategize my efforts to transition from the for-profit sector to the not-for-profit arena (which he had done recently), and to help expand my job search network. At the time I expressed how much I would like to work for TNC, but (as I expected) there was no position in the offing.

Eventually I landed my job for which I was highly qualified with a "Good Maine Company". Alas, I wasn't all that thrilled about the company, but the bills don't go away just because your severence does, so I accepted the position. As my friends and family are well aware, the job turned out to be worse than I had anticipated. Quite a bit worse, actually.

Shortly thereafter I saw an ad in the paper for exactly the job I was looking for - Finance Manager at the Maine Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. I called my contact and expressed my interest. I was given an interview, after which I started composing my resignation letter. Not exactly true, but I was starting to fantasize about what I would say. Unfortunately, management turnover and budget concerns led the Maine Chapter to try a different approach. I was quite heartbroken, and left to spend the following months moping and complaining to anybody who would listen, and occasionally my reader(s) here.

It turns out that things didn't work out quite the way the Maine Chapter had hoped, and so my friend gave me a call and said that they were looking to fill the position again. The long story short is that I was on the short list of people they were considering. To make this a full-time position, the Maine Chapter partnered with the Vermont Chapter, which is about half the size of Maine. I spoke with several people in Maine and my "boss" from Vermont and was offered the job, which I accepted on the spot.

This is a very exciting time for me. I will be taking a pay cut, but not as much as I was willing to accept, and it is completely worth it to know that my days will be spent helping to preserve the natural beauty, and natural resources, of this great planet of ours. I start in a couple of weeks and just can't wait to begin.

Readers of this Blog will remember that I have stated on several occasions that I wish to write for a living, and this isn't a writing job. But I will have an extra two hours a day, because the work day and commute are both shorter, which I plan to parlay into more writing time. I hope to begin freelancing on the side within the next year. I am taking a "how to freelance" class this weekend, and I have also completed a book review that I will be pitching to a couple of publications in the next couple of days (more on that in the near future). Things are moving forward in this area as well. Just as "keeping my eyes on the prize" seems to have paid off in this job endeavor, I believe it will pay off for my writing career.

This move doesn't mean that the Land Blog (yes, it's still alive) will turn into a series of TNC press releases. While the Conservancy does remarkable work in protecting "The Last Great Places on Earth" and I am excited to be a part of that effort, I still have a strong passion for exploring and advocating sustainable energy sources, and for finding ways to conserve fossil fuels. This will continue to be a central focus of the Land Blog (the soon-to-be published post that references TNC work notwithstanding!).

So thank you to all of my friends and family who stuck by me and believed in me and helped send positive energy my way as I have gone through this process. I am very grateful for all of your well wishes, and I look forward to this next step in my life's adventure.

Meeting on Common Ground

2005-09-24T20:50:00.000-04:00

My partner and I went to the Common Ground Fair, MOFGA's annual "Celebration of Rural Living", which is held every September in Unity, Maine. Under bright blue skies, with a crispness in the air that belied the early Autumn season, thousands of individuals made the pilgrimage to this year's 29th renewal of the event.

Though my partner has been to the fair several times and has tried on more than one occasion to get me there, this was the first year that I have been able to attend. This is not for a lack of desire: given my growing interest in gardening, the environment and progressive politics, I have understood the Common Ground Fair to be an event that I would likely be interested in attending. And so it was as we pulled in to the fairgrounds at about 9:45 Saturday morning that I was able to see what the fuss is all about.

And there is a lot to fuss about. MOFGA's soiree has grown well beyond the boundaries of organic gardening, and it has truly become a "common ground" where people from many walks of life gather together. (Except for those people who actively oppose a woman's right to choose what happens to her body. They were lined up on the Route 202 with placards showing "images of death" to those driving toward the fairgrounds. To each his or her own.) Certainly there is a heavy agricultural flair to the fair. There are livestock demonstrations, vegetable contests, yarns woven from sheep, lamas and alpacas (who are shown off outside the tents), herbs, bulbs and seeds, and a farmers market. There are demonstrations and lectures about organic farming and many other related topics.

Along with all of this, however, there are sections dedicated to Maine-made products, arts and crafts, environmental issues, "green" households, Native American culture, and social issues, among others. While all walks of life appear to be present among the crowd, there is a definite left-wing/hippie leaning in the politics and the patronage represented. This is a good place to find out what is happening to the people and places in the state of Maine and areas beyond our borders (like the guy who was educating us on all the good things that happen in Cuba). Oh, and there is food. Some of it, on the surface, is standard fair fare - french fries, fried dough, blooming onions and lemonade - and there were some ethnic entries (my favorite being the Korean booth called "Downeast Seoul"), but there is a difference. All food vendors are required to sell all natural or organically produced foods. Thuse the french fries were made from organic Maine potatoes cooked in safflower oil and seasoned with sea salt. The fried dough was made from organic whole wheat flour. And so on. The food was wonderful, and even the indulgent stuff wasn't as bad for you as normal.

We only had a few hours to spend at the fair, which is unfortunate because there is much to see and learn. We hardly had time to stop and listen to the musical acts performing under the tent, or the group of Native Americans who were drumming and chanting, or the bagpipers who were wandering the grounds playing the melancholy songs that issue from their pipes. We also didn't have as much time as we would have liked to get tips about gardening, or information about solar energy, or biodiesel. Likewise there were lots of books available in the media tent that would have been fun to peruse and purchase. I did manage to make a connection with the couple who publish the Wolf Moon Press, and get some information about the kind of articles that they are looking to include in their magazine and online. Perhaps this can be a starting point for a place to get my work in print.

There are many opportunities to learn, to connect with people, and to connect with the land that supports us every day at the Common Ground Fair. This year's three day event ends on Sunday, September 25. Next year is the 30th anniversary of the Fair, and it will likely to be bigger and better than ever. Check out the Common Ground Fair, and check out the MOFGA web site to learn more about how they continue to promote organic gardening and the continuation of the rural culture within Maine.

Your Tax Dollars at Work

2005-09-12T23:28:00.000-04:00

The Navy brought their flying recruiting show to Brunswick over the weekend. The show, at the Brunswick Naval Air Station, featured the Blue Angels and their F-18 fighter jets. I have to admit that I watched the show, despite the fact that I probably "should" have been protesting with my left-leaning brethren. Well, I watched the Blue Angels anyway, from my friend's boat in Harpswell Sound, pretty much at the end of the BNAS runway. The power and precision of these machines is quite impressive. (I'll also note here that, with the team practicing in Brunswick for three days beforehand, I had already seen a lot of the show anyway).

Of course, the power of earth-moving equipment is fun to watch, too. But when it's taking off the top of a mountain in search of coal it's not fulfilling, even if you can't take your eyes away. This air show, which attracted 200,000 to the base (I think that the figures are just for the base) and many more to surrounding areas, burned 1,300 gallons of fuel used by the F-18's alone (according to one of the linked stories) and countless others in transporting people to Brunswick. It's a colossal waste of resources. Likewise, the tax dollars needed to maintain these $30 million aircraft could be better spent in many many areas. The Blue Angels, after all, are all about entertainment and recruitment. These pilots are not engaged in combat training at this stage of their careers. The last Angels show scheduled for Brunswick was cancelled due to the 9/11 attacks. Hurricane Katrina was much more devastating than 9/11, and clearly underscored how poorly this country has been allocating resources in recent years. If anything, Hurricane Katrina should have provided impetus to cancel the show and scrap the program altogether.

Supporters of the air show talk about how it increases the patriotic feeling in this country, and how attendance showed support for the troops in Iraq. This is baloney. The Blue Angels have no relevance to the war in Iraq, unless it draws more people to the military so that they, too, can spread democracy in the desert (I heard a Navy recruiting ad on the radio this afternoon that elicited the power of the Blue Angels). The Blue Angels were around long before the start of the war in Iraq (and, indeed, the War on Terror), and they'll (unfortunately) be around long after. They serve nothing other than to spread propaganda about the military.

So, I'm sorry, but I went to see the Blue Angels. I also went to spend time with my friends and enjoy a boat ride off the coast of Maine. But I oohed and ahhed at all the right times, and was impressed with the machines and the daredevils who fly them. I also came away with an empty feeling because I don't buy into the goodwill mission that these pilots are supposedly spreading. The whole event was, ultimately, a big waste. At least I got to see where some of my tax dollars are going.

Apocolypse Now?

2005-09-01T12:53:00.000-04:00

This is a post in reference to the national crisis now being faced in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's pummeling of New Orleans and a wide swath of the Gulf Coast in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. I have a lot of thoughts and emotions resulting from the events of the past week. Driving home last night I found myself unable to have a conversation with my wife because I was simultaneously concerned, disappointed and angry.

Yesterday, a co-worker made an incredibly insensitive quip about the people who died essentially "getting what they deserved" for not evacuating the city when instructed to do so. My question to him was, were they able to evacuate? I don't know the details about the evacuation process in New Orleans or other areas prior to the hurricane, but I do know that it is unlikely that the infrastructure is adequate to handle the evacuation of such a mass of people in a short period of time. Ultimately it is the people of lowest means - the poor, ill and elderly - who were least likely to be left behind in the city. It is not the fault of these people that they did not have the means to evacuate, and they did not "get what they deserved".

(Granted, there are always those who stubbornly refuse to evacuate when a storm like this comes along. Hopefully they were aware of the risks that they were taking. To cast aside the fate of thousands because a few of them may have ignored the warnings strikes me as heartless).

We drove past gas stations that had raised the price for a gallon of gas by 40 cents or more. I stopped at one station that was selling regular for $2.85 per gallon. When I remarked that many stations were charging $3.19, the clerk told me that the old fashioned (analog) pumps couldn't be programmed to charge more than $3.00/gallon. I guess that's to our benefit until the pumps can be updated, or until the "cheap gas" stations run out of fuel. Unless demand is reduced immediately (and substantially), prices will continue to rise. Katrina has caused substantial damage to America's oil rigs, refineries and pipelines. Reserves will dwindle quickly, and prices will increase. I am angry that no administration (I'm not singling out the Bush administration here) has been able to grasp the fact that our societal dependence upon oil, a finite resource, is not sustainable and therefore taken significant strides to move away from oil dependence. Well, I guess the Carter administration knew all this, but Reagan cast Carter's energy initiatives aside and we haven't looked back. We are now 25 years behind where we could have been in developing (and using) more fuel-efficient technology and non-petroleum energy sources.

And, lest you think that I am merely engaging in self-riteous finger wagging at "you driving your Hummer around", I am also disappointed in myself for not being able to do more to wean myself off petroleum. Sure, I feel good about burning wood rather than oil, but how much oil has gone into the effort to bring my my annual cord of wood? And how much oil am I saving by burning wood as a secondary heat source? And is it possible that I could drive less and use less plastic than I do now? Of course I can. I usually justify my occasional slipups with the fact that I know I strive more than most people to conserve energy, and "nobody is perfect". Well, maybe not being "perfect" (or closer to perfect) is no longer good enough.

Then today I read the news that is the kicker for me - funding for needed improvements to the levee system that is vital to the flood control efforts in New Orleans has been cut by 44% in recent years. Why? To help pay for the "War on Terror" in Iraq. Or, shall I say, "to pay for the war in Iraq while simultaneously reducing taxes for the wealthiest of Americans"? Furthermore, Bush Administration policies have allowed greater development of wetlands - wetlands that help serve as a natural defense against hurricane-induced storm surges.

Katrina has become what might be categorized as the Perfect Storm, one whose impact is much more far-reaching than simply the effects of its wind and rains. And one whose impact on this country is exacerbated by the US's own "Taxes are bad! Who cares about the environment? More development is good!" policies in recent decades: poor services available to the poor, ill and elderly; a transportation system centered around the automobile that was ill-equipped to evacuate New Orleans in anticipation of the hurricane; an "Enviornmental" policy that compromised the natural defenses against the hurricane; funding for person-made disaster control diverted to an ill-advised war (and to the bank accounts of the rich); and a petroleum-based society that will now be handcuffed for an indeterminate amount of time due to damage inflicted on the oil wells, refineries and pipelines.

Hurricane Katrina obviously could not have been avoided. But if we had acted with even a little bit of foresight over the last couple of decades, Katrina's human, environmental and economic impact could have been greatly reduced. The Bush Administration's policies are certainly responsible for some of the current problems, but others are the end result of decades of ignorance and inaction by the citizens and politicians of this country. Hopefully we can learn lessons from Katrina, and this will serve as a wakeup call to us all.

Note: Jim Baumer has written a couple of well-researched and well-thought-out entries over the last few days that I think are worthy of a good read. Today's entry at Words Matter directly targets the Bush Administration, adn it provided some inspiration my entry today. I agree with most of Jim's points, so rather than try to go down that road myself, I will simply suggest that you read what he has to say. And at his blatherings blog at WriteForYou, Jim forwarded a post-oil picture of America that was written by Tim Holt in the Portland Oregonian. This vision may come to pass all too soon, it seems. I planned to reflect on this at the Land Blog, but it seems appropriate to point you to it from this post. Jim cares deeply about our society and always writes thoughtfully about many of the issues that of concern to me. I encourage making his Blogs part of everybody's regular reading.

Wolfe's Neck Farm Beef goes For Profit

2005-08-22T12:10:00.000-04:00

This week's edition of MaineBiz magazine includes a feature about the Wolfe's Neck Farm brand of natural meats. Wolfe's Neck Farm, a not-for-profit located in Freeport, Maine, through it's Foundation for Agricultural Renewal has been selling it's naturally-grown meats for several years. The market for the product started out fairly small - farmer's markets and local restaurants and natural foods stores. Now WNF sells to large retailers (Hannaford and Whole Foods Markets) and high-end restaurants as well. With people becoming increasingly aware of what goes into their foods, and especially since the introduction of Mad Cow Disease to the US, demand for Wolfe's Neck's naturally grown beef (pasture fed, no hormones or antibiotics used, etc.) has rapidly increased. The operation, with revenues of $6.5 million last year and growing to an estimated $10-$16 million this year, has outgrown the scope of Wolfe's Neck Farm.

Now, with the support of the Portland-based philanthropic Libra Foundation, the WNF is spinning off the natural meats division to Pineland Farms Natural Meats Inc. Management will remain basically intact, and the new corporation will be housed at the Pineland Farms business center, located at the former Pineland mental health institution in New Gloucester, Maine. Because the Wolfe's Neck Farm label has become widely recognized it will continue to be used, though it may be complemented with the Pineland Farms Prime Beef label in the future.

I admit that I am usually skeptical about adding a "for profit" motive to a business model. When decisions are made solely with the bottom line in mind, bad things often happen to products and people. For now, however, it sounds like the current mission of FAR will be continued:

While Pineland Farms Natural Meats is in the midst of developing new business
strategies, (Erick) Jensen (founder of FAR) says its social purpose will remain the same: helping cattle farmers in Maine and beyond get the best value for their product, thereby
keeping farmland in production. “Now that we’re for-profit, we have the
resources to do that,” he says. Currently, the company has seven feedlots across
the state, with more than 4,000 head of cattle. Jensen would like to see the
number of feedlots increase by 30%-50% in the coming year.

My wife and I have made it a point to only purchase natural meats, and we have readily supported Wolfe's Neck Farm in our purchasing decisions. To the extent that this change makes natural meats more accessible and affordable, it can only be looked at as a positive. I will be optimistic that the company will be able to maintain its standards of quality as it continues to grow in the coming years.

An Axe to Grind

2005-08-17T16:38:00.000-04:00

As a follow up to the "40" post, I'd like to comment on my fantastic birthday party. My wife and our good friends arranged to surprise me at the Sea Dog Brew Pub in Topsham. With family and friends on hand, we enjoyed good grub and good beer (and the occasional wine and lemonade) and celebrated me. (I guess this is a worthwhile endeavor, but I'm not always sure!) Everybody was very generous with gifts, which is much appreciated. The gifts fell generally into four categories: Red Sox stuff, golf stuff, "40" things (e.g. 40 plastic cups), and cooking gear. The granddaddy of them all, however, was from my wife. She apparently has been following my not-so-subtle hints (read: I haven't shut up about it), and she got me a beautiful Fender Toronado guitar. It's got a sunburst finish and a tortoise shell pick guard, and (unlike the model shown) has two single coil pickups rather than the humbuckers shown on the current model.

Oh, it's not the Jag-Stang that I've been lusting after since I laid eyes on the Sonic Blue beauty at the Music Center in Brunswick last winter. But it's a very similar guitar, and it's available (the Jag-Stangs were limited edition and aren't available through the standard retail channels at this time). It was also much more affordable (much to my relief). It's a second-hand model that is in terrific shape, but still cost about half of the retail price of a new one. Good shopping, honey! It's a wonderful instrument, and paired with the Ibanez practice amp that she purchased, it sounds great. It especially sounds great with the Overdrive button pushed. Distortion covers up for a lot of missed notes!

So now I'm 40, and I'm rocking, and I'm fully embracing my mid-life crisis! I hope to not overly annoy my ever-suffering partner with my poor guitar playing, but I'm really psyched with the gift. Thanks to her, and thanks to all who turned out for my party!

"40"

2005-08-17T12:32:00.000-04:00

So I turned 40 years old yesterday. Because the first digit on the odometer has rolled over, and because it's pretty much in the middle of our expected life span (in the US anyway), it's a landmark birthday that often causes people to reflect on the state of their lives. And, what the Hell, I've got a Blog - why not me?

The question that I ask myself often these days is, "am I where I want to be in my life?" (Sometimes it comes in the form of, "Where am I in comparison to what I expected when I was younger?") It's not a suprise to the regular readers (reader?) of this Blog that there are changes that I would like to make, particularly with regard to my career. (And the update on the prior post is that I haven't heard yet from MaineBiz, so I'm guessing that they are not interested). I have known for probably 10 years that I don't enjoy my chosen career. Oh, there are times that it's kind of fun for me, but for the most part I look ahead on my career path and think, "that's not for me." Especially now as I peruse the job listings with regularity, I find myself looking at positions for which I'm very qualified and thinking, "Ick. I don't want to do that!" I also find myself (gasp!) Blogging at work. Writing when I should be accounting. This seems like another indicator that I don't desire a future that follows my present career path.

So, how did I get to this place? What kind of person will spend 10 years plugging away at a career that they don't like? I suppose that the easy answer to that one is, most US citizens spend their days at jobs they hate. But does that make it OK, and does that mean that I should just fall in line, suck it up and be miserable like the rest of you? I don't think so (which doesn't mean that I want the rest of you to be miserable, mind you), and I've got to do something about it. Which has been the problem in the past - I have been afraid to take risks in my life, for fear of losing the lifestyle that I have become accustomed to. But what good is maintaining that lifestyle if it's not making you happy, and you feel like it gets in the way of the pursuit of the things that do bring you joy?

It would be regrettable indeed if I were to wake up after another 40 years and say to myself, "well THIS has been a waste of time!"

So I'm making changes. There are things in life that bring me joy: my wife, my family, my friends, writing (and reading), baseball, nature & the environment, playing guitar, travelling and gardening foremost among them. What I find, however, is that working, commuting to and from work, and doing things to get ready to go to work (making lunches, ironing) take up a large portion of my waking hours, leaving precious little time for the things that I enjoy. Part of the solution is to make better use of my "free" time, which is part of the endeavor. Another part could be to generate my income while engaged in the activities that I enjoy. Since I'm unlikely to ever learn how to play guitar well enough to make a living in music, I am focused primarily on making the transition to a career as "working writer", though I would also pursue a finance opportunity for an environmental cause or a company that is providing alternative energy sources. While the MaineBiz thing didn't work out, I will be registering for a "How to Freelance" class this fall. Every step I take brings me more confidence that I will be successful one day in having a career that I enjoy.

And so I suspect it will follow that making the commitment toward my goals and continually making efforts to achieve them will lead me to a more fullfilling life as I navigate through my 40's. I have made changes in my personal values and in the way that I communicate that have led to a stronger relationship with my wife. I have made changes to my diet and exercise habits that allowed me to lose 50 pounds. I have made following my passions more of a priority, which has led me to my baseball scoring gig, to buy a guitar, and to write much more than in the past (evidenced by Joe's Family of Blogs!). It has led me to take a more active role in preserving the environment, by making better purchasing choices, recycling, and promoting my views via the Web. And so it will be with my career.

So am I where I want to be with my life? No, not really, but I'm getting there. I'm in good health, in pretty good shape financially, and have many valuable relationships with the people in my life. I'm headed in the right direction, which I probably would not have been able to say ten years ago. The first 40 years of my life haven't been an unqualified success, but the next 40 just may be.

The Cost of War

2005-08-15T20:09:00.000-04:00

My friend David sent me the link to this website that tracks the fatalaties suffered by the "Coalition" forces in Iraq since the start of the war in March, 2003 (updated through August 4 of this year). It's an interesting graphic interpretation created by Tim Klimowicz that also includes sound, and it tracks the timing and location of deaths suffered by the US led forces. It's rather eye-opening in that it represents the breadth, in terms of both time and location, of the devastation suffered by our military forces. Log on also to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count web site to keep track of the numbers (2,047 total deaths, 1,853 of them US soldiers as of this writing).

Where this falls short (acknowledged by Mr. Klimowicz himself) is that it doesn't detail the loss of life suffered by the Iraqi "enemies". The President's ever-evolving goal in Iraq has been to eliminate Saddam Hussein (check), get rid of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (well, that one certainly backfired!), and eliminate the terrorist threat (not sure we ever had the right idea on this one, though). The numbers are difficult to come by, at least via US search engines, but the Iraq Body Count web site estimates roughly 23,000 - 27,000 Iraqi citizens have been killed in the war. This does not include military deaths, mind you. It's impossible to quantify how many of the dead were actual terrorists, but I suspect the number is somewhere south (far south) of 23,000.

Now, we know that anybody can put anything up on the Internet - I'm living proof of that. But the creators of this web site make the database readily available and cite two sources for each report. I think that it's a reasonable representation of the losses. And while the media in this country are centered on the loss of US lives, the real cost of war is measured in all human lives lost. Not all Iraqi citizens hate the United States. (Well, not before the war anyway.) The loss of these lives, especially the innocent lives, should be mourned by every US citizen as we ask if it's worth it, and why are we really there?

Cross Reference - Joe's Land Blog

2005-07-28T13:19:00.000-04:00

If I owned the sun, an examination of some of the forces that inhibit the expansion of solar technology in the US.

New Blog / Corporate Welfare

2005-07-19T09:50:00.000-04:00

I’m pleased to announce that I have launched a new Blog, Joe’s Land Blog, in which I will focus on issues that relate to our environment and land preservation causes, as well as my own experiences as a backyard gardener. (In reality, I have launched two new Blogs in the last week, but I’m not ready to tell you about the other one just yet). Over the last ten years or so I have transformed from "apethist" to pseudo-activist in the political arena, with a special interest in the environmental issues affecting the United States. The launching of Joe’s Land Blog is the next logical step for me to try attempt to spread awareness about the dangers facing this wonderful planet of ours.

The first entry at Joe’s Land Blog concerns the Energy Bill currently moving forward through Congress. The House version of this bill contains language that would protect the oil companies from lawsuits regarding the water contamination resulting from the gasoline additive MTBE. (To its credit, the Senate version does not carry such language, which has killed the bill in the past). You can read my comments regarding that issue over at JLB. In this space, I would like to take a moment to comment on the concept of corporate "protection".

One of the greatest embarrassments of American politics and culture is the devotion to protecting corporate profits. Indeed, it is the greatest embarrassment, as practically all the wrongs perpetuated by our governments (e.g. Iraq) and our corporate leaders (Enron, among a very long list) can be traced to the protection of corporate profits. It’s obvious why our elected "representatives" continue to vote on the side of Corporate America, for it is Corporate America’s deep pockets that will fund the next re-election campaign. What is less obvious, is why we the people continue to elect government officials who do not act in our best interests. Well, I guess that one is obvious, too – we really don’t have a choice. People who would represent the people never get to the ballot. The people need to make a grassroots effort to get such candidates on the ballot, and to vote them into office, because those we have today are destroying our country and our (the middle- and lower-classes) way of life.

Take the House of Representative’s desire to protect the oil companies from liability related to MTBE, for example. The standard line is that lawsuits would cut into profitability, and that would result in higher prices to the consumer. Indeed, such lawsuits (or merely proactively cleaning up the damage) will cost in the billions of dollars. Estimates for the cost of the cleanup range from as little as $1.5 billion (American Petroleum Institute) to as high as $89 billion (municipal water utilities). Lawsuits would likely up the price tag, because the lawyers need to get paid, too.

That’s a lot of money for the oil industry to absorb. Prices will undoubtably increase. But consider this: according to the investor information available at Yahoo.com, ExxonMobil recorded $27B in profits over the 12 months ended 3/31/05. If the API figure is correct, ExxonMobil could clean up the damage on its own with just a minor blip on its earnings. That’s just one company. British Petroleum recorded $17B in profits in 2004. Chevron $13B. Royal Dutch/Shell is a private company, so financial information isn’t readily available, but it is between BP and Chevron in size. Say $15B. ConocoPhillips’ profits were $8B for the year.

Between just these five companies (not including many smaller companies, not to mention MTBE manufacturers), one year’s profits of $80B would cover 90% of the most pessimistic cleanup cost estimates. Cleanup, however, would be spread out over many years, mitigating the impact on profitability. This is an industry that could sustain such a cost, and it would recover most of it at the pump, regardless. Insurance companies would also cover much of the cost, resulting increased liability premiums - primarily to the petroleum industry - in the future. Market forces, however, would likely retain some of the cost in the bottom lines of the large corporations, too. The cost of the cleanup, then, is borne by users of gasoline, people who buy insurance, and shareholders of petroleum and insurance companies. In other words, all of us ultimately pay.

If we don’t protect the oil companies, the result is that we all share in the cost of the cleanup. Executives and shareholders of companies who have polluted the water while earning huge profits will pay their share (in lost bonuses/dividends/etc.), and people who use gasoline will pay more at the pump. The people who have benefited from how the oil and gasoline industry bypassed safety and public health in the name of profitability will be the same people paying the cleanup costs. That’s as it should be. Futhermore, Corporate America will have a little extra incentive to make the choice to not pollute in the future, now posessing the knowledge that they will likely be held liable down the road.

Now consider what happens if the oil companies are protected from liability lawsuits. What happens then? For one thing, where is the incentive for them to clean up their acts? It doesn’t exist. Corporations will feel empowered to continue to use products that are known pollutants and possible carcinogens. The impact on the public health is unknown. Whatever the cost, however, it will be borne by the healthcare industry and health insurers, ultimately resulting in increased healthcare costs.

Already you can see the costs being spread from specifically the users of petroleum (which is most of us, but concentrated in the heavier users of gasoline) to the users of healthcare (which is also all of us, but with no relation to how much petroleum we each use). Furthermore, while we can choose to reduce or eliminate the amount of gasoline we use, we can’t really make that choice when it comes to healthcare. Also consider that if public water is affected, our only alternative is bottled water, which costs more than public water or a private well.

I haven’t yet mentioned pollution abatement in this scenario. Eventually I suspect that we will come to our senses and decide that it’s bad to continue poisoning ourselves. At this point we’ll need to clean up the MTBE pollution. Since we have held the petroleum companies and MTBE manufacturers free from liability, we know that they aren’t going to cover the brunt of the costs. Who remains? Water consumers and taxpayers. The costs are moved further from those who have profited from the pollution and spread to those whose primary offense is the need to use water. Then consider that the Bush administration has been doing everything in its power to move the tax burden from Corporate America and high-wealth individuals to the working class.

The people responsible for the pollution earn tons of money as a result, and don’t pay their share into the public coffers. The rest of us pay through the cost of healthcare (and our health itself), the cost of our water and our own tax bills. It’s morally reprehensible. Civic responsibility should not be an afterthought in the pursuit of profits. We don't allow people to simply steal money from somebody else and keep it as their own, we punish them. Stealing our natural resources, making others pay for one's actions, is another form of stealing, and should be punished, not rewarded.

If your elected representatives to Congress are among those who support the bill that protects the oil companies from MTBE liability, please ask yourself exactly how this person is representing you and serving the public good. Then ask yourself why this person was allowed to be elected. It's time to change the system.

Making Strides

2005-07-16T15:44:00.000-04:00

I have recently taken what I see as a very important step (hopefully not a symbolic one, but we shall see about that) in my writing "career" – I applied for a writing job. I won’t go into a lot of specifics here, but it would be writing for a local business magazine, meaning I actually have some relevant experience on my resume. None of that experience is as a "writer", however, and I’m sure many of the applicants do have writing credentials, so I have to face the facts that this is a long shot. I go into the process optimistically however - if they are willing to take a chance on me, I am sure they will be rewarded.

While I am optimistic and excited about the prospect, I’ll admit that I am also a little scared. All that I have heard about having a writing career in Maine is that it’s hard to make any money. This job is no different in that I won’t be getting rich at it, and my family will have to make some changes to how way spend our money (and maybe to how we earn money as well). We all tend to be frightened by things unknown. I’m no different.

I have wanted to leave my career in accounting and finance for several years, thinking that I would be much happier as a freelance writer. I’ve come to the realization that I am not really a good fit for the type of job that my experience points me toward, and I have a hard time buying into many of the "business" issues that concern my employers. My current employer has an eye to the bottom line in everything that they do, and it leads management to make many decisions that I don’t agree with. It was similar at Megabank, though surprisingly to a lesser extent.

I have always enjoyed writing, and I have always found time to write for the newsletters of the various companies that I have worked for. At pretty much every stop, somebody has read one of my articles and said, "you should be a writer." I always took that as a bit of an overblown compliment - "I want to make you feel good, but I'm not really serious." At my prior job, I had one person tell me that he was serious. "I mean it - you have talent!"

I heard it enough over the years that I started to think that maybe I could consider a career in writing.

My wife was kind, encouraging me and keeping he patience with me well past the timeframe of any other rational person. "Take a class," she would say. She also encouraged me to r espond to ads looking for sports reporters for small or medium-sized local newspapers. "Nah - I don't want to do that. We'd never pay the bills!" Something about the reporter jobs didn't appeal to me (aside from the low pay), for reasons that were difficult for me to articulate at that time. I think I can articulate it now: I want to be a writer, not a reporter.

Reporters need to get the facts and report the facts. I want to do research and analysis and write my findings. I want to educate and sometimes entertain. I don't want to be sent on an assignment that needs to be done in two hours. I want to have time to craft an essay, choosing the right words, presenting the right facts, building to a conclusion. Reporters don't do this, feature writers do this.

The problem is, how does a guy with no writing resume get a job as a Features Writer, paying the same as a middle-management accounting would. The answer is, he doesn't. At least this guy doesn't know how that would happen.

Still, I have persisted with this crazy thought, and now I am taking strides toward my ultimate goal. Why now?, you may ask. Well, as noted above, I am ready to change my job again. As I look at the job listings, there is nothing that appeals to me. I keep thinking, "God! I don't want to do that again!" My resume has led me to exactly the point where the jobs available to me are ones that I don't have interest in - middle management, more about administration than the numbers. Frankly, this isn't my strength, or my interest. I can no longer find positions that I wish to apply for. And staying where I am now really isn't an option for my mental health.

The other factor that has come into play is the fact that I have met a writer who has transitioned from a business career to a writing career. I've plugged the book he's about to publish a couple times at my other blog, and I'll plug his writing business here. Though I haven't had the opportunity to really pick Jim's brain about how he pulled off this transition, he has been quite an inspiration to me. He's now written a book and started his own publishing company to get his book to the people. Since we met, I have been encouraged to write a lot more (as you can see at the Sea Blog), and I am already developing outlines for two writing projects that I plan to work on in the future.

So here I am, rapidly approaching my 40th birthday and at a crossroads in my career, and I am choosing to take a left-hand turn that I would never have envisioned ten years ago. The map is kind of vague about what I'll find down there, but I feel the need to go. I need to be able to afford fuel for my car, however, which is why I applied for the magazine job. I now feel comfortable saying "I am a writer," rather than "I want to be a writer." Please continue to check in to see how I progress in making it happen.

Support VAWA Renewal

2005-07-12T10:39:00.000-04:00

The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is up for renewal this year, and Men’s Resources International is sponsoring a Men’s Declaration of Support petition to urge Congress to approve the reauthorization of VAWA. Per the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women, when VAWA was originally enacted in 1994 it "dramatically improved the law enforcement response to violence against women and made many more services available to victims. In 2000, Congress re-authorized the law, adding services for rural, older and immigrant women, as well as those with disabilities."

The current incarnation of VAWA "would enhance the civil and criminal justice response; improve services and outreach to victims; provide resources for sexual assault victims through rape crisis centers and state coalitions; help children and youth who experience or witness violence; address the needs of victims from communities of color; aid immigrant and tribal victims; and support prevention, health, housing and economic security programs designed to stop violence and help victims."

The Men’s Resource International Declaration of Support encourages men "to be part of the solution to the problem of domestic and sexual violence." Because I am married to a woman who has worked for both Domestic Violence and Sexual Assualt organizations, I am aware that there are very few men working in these fields. Since men perpetuate the vast majority of these types of crimes, it seems imperative to have more involvement from men in the endeavor to reduce the problem. Men can be positive role models to children and other men in modeling behavior that does not include violence.

VAWA would provide resources to Men’s Resources International and other organizations that are involved in training and supporting positive behaviors. Children are especially impressionable, and any programs involving children could prove to be invaluable. American society tolerates, even encourages, violence among boys, and children receive many messages through TV, movies, video games, etc. that demonstrate violence to be an OK option to handling conflict. VAWA would promote programs that offer more positive images to children, particularly those who have been exposed to violence in the household.

I encourage men to sign the Declaration, and I encourage all to let their Congress people know that you support the renewal of VAWA. The path to ending domestic and sexual violence against women is a long one, and this is a very important step toward moving us forward.

I am an Environmentalist

2005-05-28T14:02:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure why I feel the need to say this, but I want to. I am an environmentalist, and I'm darn proud of it. I'm concerned about the planet, and I do what I can to help preserve it.

I mow my lawn with an electric lawn mower. (It doesn't look like the one in the picture. It's green, and an older model.) My mower doesn't have a ton of power, and it only holds its charge for about an hour and a half (less with all the rain - tall, wet grass), so I can only do half my lawn at one time. It's a compromise, but it's worth it. I'm not using fossil fuels, even to generate my electricity (see below), and I'm not releasing exhaust into the atmosphere. When I was a kid, the combination of grass clippings and gasoline fumes had me sneezing all day when I mowed the lawn. Not anymore. It's a lot quieter, too (though I do use hearing protection).
I buy green electricity. It's completely from renewable sources (primarily hydro, but also some wind power). I know that hydro dams and wind turbines have their own impact on wildlife, and this does concern me, but I believe that the negative impact on the planet is much less than that created by oil, gas and coal. One day, when Maine's incentives are in place and I can better afford it, I will put solar panels on my roof and live even less on the grid.
I try to conserve energy as much as possible. I have my TV's and other electronics plugged into surge protectors, and I try to turn off all electrical supply to them whenever they are not in use (otherwise they draw electricity even when turned off). Sometimes I forget, but it's still better than never turning it off at all. I also drive a 1995 Mazda Protege. It's not a great car, it's not the safest car on the planet, but it gets 35-40 MPG, and I'll drive it until I can afford a hybrid.
I buy as much all-natural and organic food as is practical. We have a few great natural foods stores locally, such as Royal River in Freeport, Morning Glory in Brunswick and the Whole Grocer in Portland. I've only been there a couple of times, but I would also like to point out the Fare Share co-op in my (almost) home town of Norway. Buying organic is better for my body and my planet, as no harmful chemicals (pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers) go into either of us. Buying organic produce also means that I am usually supporting the local farmer, because the lack of preservatives makes it difficult to ship tender vegetables over long distances. Supporting the local farmer is good for the local economy and helps perserve the wonderful rural nature of Maine.
The vegetables, herbs and flowers that I grow at my own home also do not receive any chemical stimulation. I use only natural fertilizers, and I even spade the soil rather than using a roto tiller. Some of my efforts fail, but I'd rather do the right thing and come up a little short in the veggie department than vice versa.
I also buy all natural cleaners from manufacturers such as Seventh Generation and Ecover, and personal care products from companies like Kiss My Face and Burt's Bees. I am starting to buy more organic cotton and hemp clothing, such as sold by Santa Fe Hemp. The reason is simple - the less bad stuff that goes into the earth and the atmosphere, the better off the planet, the animals, and the people will be.
I recycle as much as I possibly can. In a typical week, my wife and I will fill about 2/3 of a tall kitchen bag with garbage. That's not much. The rest is either recycled or composted.

I'm not your stereotypical environmentalist. I don't have long hair or wear tye-dyed clothing and Birkenstocks. I don't listen to the Grateful Dead or do anything with hemp other than wear it. I'm an accountant, for pete's sake! But I'm more committed to the environment than I am to GAAP.

So why am I writing this? I guess it's because I believe that it's time to put my mouth where my money is. I don't understand why more people aren't environmentalists, because the long-term health of the planet is more important than any job or any company's bottom line. I don't have any children, but I believe that it is unfair for us to use up the planet at the expense of other generations. At some point, the human race is going to have to come to grips with what we are doing to the Earth and change its ways. I want that day to be today, not 50 or 100 years down the road. We know that our consumerism (especially in America) can not last forever, so why put off change.

I don't know if anybody will even read this blog. It's been very much neglected until the last week or so, but I'm getting much more traffic at my other blog, so maybe somebody will skip over here. But I am writing this because, if you do read this, I want you to think about what you take out of the planet, and what you put into it. We should all strive to have a positive impact in our lives, not a negative one.

Some day I hope to be working in an industry that is having a positive impact on the environment. When I was laid off by megabank last spring, I started looking for environmental jobs, but they are few and far between in Maine and I ended up with a smallish wholesaler. I had a sort of "pre-interview" with the Maine Chapter of the Nature Conservancy last winter, but no job materialized. It was a disappointment, to say the least, as I had identified this particular job as my ideal while I was unemployed (they are located in Brunswick, after all). I have a lead with a major retailer that is very close by that is also heavily committed to the environment (I won't name names, but it shouldn't be hard to figure out). If that works out, at least I can feel good about working for a company that shares my values (I'm not sure that my present employer even has values). Ideally, however, I'll eventually be working for someone who is preserving land from development, or investing in alternative energy solutions (solar, wind, biodiesel, etc.). At that point, I will really feel good about my contribution to the environment.

In the meantime, however, there is this post on this blog, and if you read it, I hope I had an impact.

Control Room

2005-05-27T20:07:00.000-04:00

In continuing the theme of looking at happenings in the Middle East, we rented the film Control Room last night. The movie came out last year so it's a bit dated, yet it remains timely. Control Room is a documentary focusing on Al Jazeera's coverage of the first few months of the Iraq war. The setting is the US military's Central Command ("CentComm") in Qatar, and we see behind the scenes with Al Jazeera's producers and on-air personalities. It's a fascinating and eye-opening look at Al Jazeera, which has been portrayed by the US as an anti-American propaganda machine. What we see doesn't really support that image, as the coverage seems to be a little more balanced than the US version, showing both Iraqi and Coalition casualties and making an effort to show the human cost of the war.

I'm not going to write a full review of the movie. Mark Caro of the Chicago Tribune does a good job with that effort. I was impressed with the professionalism of the the Al Jazeera journalists portrayed in the movie. They did not back down from their Western counterparts when challenged about their journalistic bias, pointing out that no journalist can be completely unbiased. I was also impressed with the US reporters in the film, who expressed concerns about the lack of information coming from the military. The most interesting moments came when the Al Jazeer journalists would offer their reflections on the US government, Saddam Hussein, and the conflict at hand. To a person they acknowledged that the US would secure a military victory but that it was unlikely that the US would be able to institute a stable democracy in Iraq by using such a heavy hand. The Iraqi people did not like Saddam Hussein, but they also do not like the US invoking its will upon the region, fearing another Israel/Palestine situation.

It's no secret that I am not a fan of the Bush regime or the war in Iraq. The snippets from Donald Rumsfeld, spewing lies and propaganda as he accuses Al Jazeer of the same, are frankly embarassing. Then again, I'm embarassed pretty much any time I hear him speak. I am sympathetic to the people of Iraq, because I think that it's wrong what we have put them through in the name of neutralizing a "threat". I think that the current administration has gotten the US into a bigger problem than it realizes.

But enough of my blabbing. Control Room sort of flew under the radar in the midst of the hype associated with Fahrenheit 9/11, but I think it brings a critical portrayal of the Iraq war in a package that I think more Americans would find agreeable. Director Jehane Noujaim has done a terrific job in presenting a seemingly balanced view of the war without a hint of either preachiness or hyperbole. I recommend anybody who wants to learn more (and put a human face on our Arab "enemies") to rent this film.

Common Dreams

2005-05-24T20:06:00.000-04:00

Anti-Iraq War rhetoric at Common Dreams. This is the type of thing that I might write if a) I had the time for research and b) knew anything about history. In a nutshell, Iraq War bad, George W. Bush bad. I still can't believe we re-elected this dork.

Thanks to Dave for the heads up on the article.

Another Road Home

2005-05-21T22:31:00.000-04:00

We went to see the movie Another Road Home at the wonderful Eveningstar Cinema in Brunswick. We hadn't really planned to see a movie tonight, this was a complete impulse move as we were driving by. "Another Road Home is on in 15 minutes!" "What's it about?" "I dunno - I remember thinking that it sounded good...." "Well, let's go check it out." (It turns out that I had other priorities tonight, but it was a good decision to go.

Another Road Home is a documentary about Israeli filmaker Danae Elon's quest to reconnect with Musa Obeidallah, a Palestinian man who worked for Elon's Jewish parents in Jerusalem for 20 years. Elon's father Amos Elon, a historian and sharp critic of Israel's policies regarding the Palestinians, was less a figure in Danae's formative years than Musa, who worked 18 hours a day in the Elon home and was Danae's primary caregiver during her youth. After Danae Elon moved to the US to study filmmaking in 1991, her parents moved their primary residence from Jerusalem and eventually lost contact with Obeidallah. After 9/11, Danae asks her mother if Musa was still alive, and her mother replied, "Yes. I would have heard if something had happened to him," although she could not specify who would have informed her.

And so it is that Danae Elon begins her quest for Musa. Locating a Palestinian within Israel promises to be a daunting task, so Danae tries another tact - Paterson, New Jersey. Obeidallah had sent all eight of his sons to study in the US, to acquire an education that they could not be afforded in Israel, and the Elons were aware that many of the sons had lived in Paterson, which has a large Palestinian population, and that one of them had owned a grocery on Main Street. And so it is that Danae heads to Paterson where, after a relatively short search, she finds someone who knows one of Musa's sons. He remembers Danae and a reunion follows shortly.

There are many poignant moments in the movie. Among Musa's children, Danae was closest in age with Naser, who now is opening a pharmacy in Paterson. Musa often brought Naser to the Elon house with him, and Naser and Danae were friends. Naser now has many questions for Danae - questions which, given the many awkward silences in her responses, the filmmaker wasn't prepared to be asked. Naser is direct: "What did you think of me, this Arab in your home? What did you think of my father?" Danae doesn't really answer. Later in the film she admits that she wasn't entirely sure what she was looking for when she started her search. I believe that she doesn't have an answer for Naser because, in those years, she was just a kid, who probably didn't fully understand the Israel - Palestine conflict. Her parents, after all, were obviously sympathetic toward the Palestinians, so she would not have thought of the Obeidallah family as lesser people than her own. Naser, however, was very much aware of the class differences, having to face them every day. "When I came over, I remember that you used to have a guitar that you would play with. Obviously they were giving you these things in school. My school didn't have any guitars. You had lots of books on the shelves. My school didn't have all of these books." Danae doesn't have an answer to Naser's queries.

Many telling moments involve Amos Elon. Noted as a critic of Israel's policies regarding the Palestinians, Amos Elon nonetheless is obviously nervous about being reunited with the Obeidallah family. I believe that this is because he is a well-off Jewish man, and thus sees himself as a potential target of the Palestinian people. He asks if any of Musa's son's have beards, which would be an indication that they are fundamentalist Arabs and, therefore, potentially terrorists. He admits being skeptical that there can ever be peace between Israel and Palestine (which, interestingly, both families acknowledge as the same geographic location), due to the years of hatred and bloodshed between the people. He offers that relationships between the Arabs and Jews are "painful". There can be no social relationship, because the conflict between the people must always be acknowledged. He stopped calling Musa six years earlier, because he sensed a hesitance in Musa's voice, as if he were somehow withdrawing from the relationship. I believe that it was Amos Elon who became uncomfortable being friends with an Arab, but feels the need to rationalize the decision by attributing the withdrawal to Musa Obeidallah. Amos and Beth Elon (who grew up in the US) are very intelligent people who are sympathetic to Palestine, yet even they have difficulty in dealing with the war between their people.

After Musa learns that his family and the Elon family have been reunited in the US, he decides that he must visit. Here is where we start to learn about the harsh realities facing the Palestinians. Because he is not Jewish, Musa may not fly out of the Jerusalem airport. Instead he must drive to Jordan. There are many checkpoints in Israel, and Palestinians are often detained for being Palestinians. What should be a one-day trip turns into a four-day ordeal. When he arrives in Maryland (where his eldest son lives), he is nonetheless in good spirits. He is happy to see his family, and he is happy to see Danae. He is reunited with Amos and Beth in New York, and he obviously still has much affection for his former employers. But his strongest feelings are obviously for Danae, whom he considers his own daughter (in fact, he may have known her better than his own children when she was growing up). Musa is in sharp counterpoint to Amos' contention that Israelis and Arabs can't socialize, even asking at one point to not speak of politics because he simply wants to enjoy the company of his friends.

Musa Obeidallah turns out to be the real star of this film, and a true joy to watch. He is a very giving man. He thinks nothing of traveling for four days, sometimes sleeping on floors, to get to the US. "I did it to see you," he tells Danae. He worked 18 hour days to afford to send his sons to the US to be educated, so they can have a better life than he does. (His daughters have remained in Israel and married.) His sons, in turn, have honored him by becoming very successful, one a pharmacist, one an engineer, another a graphic designer. Five of the sons continue to live in the US, and while they don't appear to have plans to return to Israeal any time soon, all feel strongly connected with their homeland. They all own houses in Israel (Palestine, as they refer to it), and though they may never set foot in those houses, it is how they stay connected to their homeland. And despite the fact that their lives have been forever affected by the Israel - Palestine conflict, they all warmly welcome their Jewish friends into their homes.

I have never been a scholar of the war between Israel and Palestine, so I learned a lot from this film. One thing that I have sorta been aware of is the nature of this dispute - basically land was taken from the Palestinians and given to the Jews, with the full blessing of the west. The Palestinians are understandably not fond of this arrangement, yet the US media always portrays them as the bad guys. I'm not sure that's necessarily the case. When Musa returns to Israel, accompanied by Danae, we see barbed-wire fences and concrete barricades. Israeli soldiers at checkpoints sometimes turn routine stops into several hour interrogations simply because the Palestinians can't be trusted. (There are many parallels to this in many societies, obviously, but it still doesn't seem right). It's sad to me that these kinds of conflicts must persist for so long, with no real hope of reconciliation. The source of the reconciliation can be found in the person of Musa Obeidallah, because he realizes that, at the core, people are people. He treats everybody kindly because he sees the person, not the nationality. This enables this simple man, with a sixth-grade education, to trust the Elon family because they are his friends. Too many others would distrust them because they are Jews, with no regard for what they stand for as individuals. It's a a lesson that I hope Danae and her family learned, and that I hope more of us can learn, too.

Bizarre George

2005-05-17T12:51:00.000-04:00

OK, there's no direct George Bush in here, just his administration:

"The report had real consequences," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Monday. "People have lost their lives. Our image abroad has been damaged. There are some who are opposed to the United States and what we stand for who have sought to exploit this allegation. It will take work to undo what can be undone."

No, no, he's not talking about the faulty reports of WMD and an imminent attack from Iraq (which has cost many thousands of lives). He's talking about that troublesome Newsweek story, which spurred rioting that has resulted in more than a dozen deaths. I'm certainly not defending Newsweek (if, in fact, the story is untrue), I'm just wondering where the indignation is for, you know, that other thing.

McLellan also weighed in on the Uzbekistan problem:

"The people of Uzbekistan want to see a more democratic government, but that should come through peaceful means, not through violence."

I believe he said this without a hint of irony. Because, you know, that other thing has its own web pages.

So, in retrospect, over the last couple of days we have:
* Alternative energy = good
* People dying due to faulty reporting = bad
* Using force to institute democracy = bad
* Admission of wrongdoing = nonexistant

Bizarro George

2005-05-16T14:24:00.000-04:00

US President George W. Bush urged Congress to encourage development of alternative fuels, to reduce our dependence on foreign oil supplies.

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this.

On the one hand, this is welcome news to be celebrated. I have quietly championed alternative energy solutions for a couple of years now, though I haven't been able to actively use alternative power sources all that much myself. Access is limited (BioDiesel), or prohibitively expensive (solar power). However, if Congress makes it a point to incent the development of alternative energy sources, perhaps access and affordability will become less challenging.

On the other hand, Bush has never really come across as the "Environmental President". The cynic in me supposes that his cronies are ready to take advantage of the uptake in demand for non-fossil-fuel sources, therefore now is just the right time to start doling out tax breaks for their efforts. If that's the case, I won't begrudge him too much for it. He'd still be doing the right thing, even if it's for the wrong reasons.

What is troubling to me, however, is that there is no backing off on his plan to drill in the Alaska Natioal Wildlife Preserve. Also, he still wants to invest in additional nuclear power plants and oil refineries. These are not initiatives that I support.

Furthermore, and perhaps most maddening, is that there doesn't seem to be any talk of actually conserving fuel, especially that used by automobiles. There is really very little need to encourage people to buy gas guzzling SUVs. In fact, given the technology that already exists, there is no need for SUVs to guzzle gas the way that they do. Automobile manufacturers complain that it would be too expensive to implement this technology in automobile production - but don't the costs ultimately get passed down to the consumers? And if they're afraid that the consumers will balk at paying the higher prices, why don't they provide tax incentives to people who drive fuel-efficient automobiles? Ultimately, that works as the government subsidizing the auto industry (by increasing demand for their products), just someone else gets the tax refund.

(Also, people are willing to wait to pay full price for a hybrid vehicle. Doesn't it follow that they might be willing to pay a little more for a readily-available fuel-efficient car? The demand for this product isn't driven by cost, it's driven by the fact that fuel conservation is a desired goal for many consumers.)

I clearly have a good-sized rant in me on this topic, but I'll need time to complete some research to do it justice. I believe that one of the most important things that this country can do in the name of national security, is to make it fuel conservation seem Patriotic. Hell, we already think that we don't need anything from any other countries, why can't we extend that to, "We're Americans, we don't need your stinkin' oil"?

In the meantime, I'll take Bush's speech to be a good sign. At the very least maybe the Alternative Energy industry will become mainstream, and make more jobs available to people who care about the cause. (Like, for example, me!)

Oh, how they taunt me

2005-04-21T15:28:00.000-04:00

The few people in my life who are very close to me know that I am jonesing big-time for an electric guitar. Unfortunately, there are other priorities in life that also require money, and this doesn't exactly meet the critical needs at this point. But the folks at Music123.com taunt me endlessly: "April is Guitar Month at Music123!" Blah, blah, blah. Then they send links to all these sexy guitars and tell me how great they are and what a great buy, yaddah yaddah yaddah. Who do they think I am? I've got practically no willpower whatsoever. They reel you in with the you-CAN-afford it Washburn for $199. But nobody lusts after a Washburn X8! No, what I really want is a Strat, or (even better!) a Jag-Stang in sonic blue! Unfortunately, it's a limited-issue and not heavily available right now. But if I had it, I could rock just like Kurt Cobain did! (Well, if you adjust for my lack of talent, that is!)

The Air is thin

2005-04-01T12:36:00.000-05:00

I've had thoughts, but they haven't made it here. I was happy that the Red Sox won the World Series. I was unhappy that Bush won the election. I was unhappy that the Nature Conservancy didn't work out. I was unhappy that my grandmother died. I was unhappy that my home was broken into and my computer and my wife's jewelry stolen. I was happy that they caught the guy. I'll be happy if we end up recovering some of what we lost. I'm happy that baseball season is about to start again. Things are on the upswing, I guess. . .

The Political Compass

2004-07-14T12:27:00.000-04:00

The Political Compass

Here's an interesting test to see where you stand politically. Rather than looking at "left wing" vs. "right wing" (which is an economic evaluation), it also considers where one stands on the social scale of "authoritarian" vs. "libertarian".

I scored on the "Libertarian Left", down there with Gandhi, Mandela and the Dalai Lama. Also down there with my partner, who may have been more left than me. Among the people who appear to be polar opposites is President W, who is about as far to the Authoritarian Right that one can score. So, I probably won't be voting for him anytime soon.

You might also want to take The World's Smallest Political Quiz. My score is pretty much the same here. I am characterized as a "left-liberal".

Take the test, and (if you wish) tell me how you score in the comments section.

Squirrels Gain an Ally

2004-07-14T11:58:00.000-04:00

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted here, with a week in (mostly) sunny Rhode Island in the interim. While my diligently watchful eye was diverted, the squirrels seem to have recruited an ally to pilfer sunflower seeds from the bird feeder.

I wandered into the kitchen moments ago and took a look (as I now compulsively do) out to the feeder, only to see a new critter sitting on the ledge, chomping away. A chipmunk! Small enough that it almost looks like a bird at first glance, but big enough to pig out as an unwelcomed guest.

So now it's me against three - two squirrels and a chipmunk. They are burning through my bag of sunflower seeds. I need to get a job very soon in order to afford more. Or, at the very least, to keep me from checking out the bird feeder ten times a day!

Fahrenheit 9/11

2004-06-28T08:49:00.000-04:00

Michael Moore's epic is the most controversial, and among the most important, films produced in a generation (or longer). The scathing attack on the latest Bush regime (and, indeed, the entire Bush family), which focuses on the Iraq war and the "war on terror" subsequent to the September 11 attacks, is a brilliant piece of cinematography and is setting records at the box office. Moore has an agenda, but everybody in the theatre knows this. Moore's brilliance is the way that he consistently uses George W. Bush and company's own words to demonstrate how this administration is manipulating and using the American public. Example: in the summer of 2001, many key figures in the Bush administration stated that there was no threat to the US from Iraq. Switch to Winter 2002/Spring 2003, and suddenly we "know" that Saddam has weapons of mass destruction and ties to Al Quaeda.

I'm not going to write review of this movie - there are plenty of people out there doing that (see Mary Meltz in the Portland Press Herald, for one). I am sure that the reaction to the film will fall in line with one's political leanings. However, I will comment that there are a lot of important issues addressed in the film, not all the sole province of the war on Iraq or the war on terror.

The most important issue, in my opinion, is the role of money in the war and in our society. The Bush family is shown with extensive ties to Saudi Arabia and the Bin Laden family. The Saudis have an extensive investment in the United States economy. The Bush family has made multiple millions of dollars through its ties with the Saudis. Moore suggests that these ties led GW to turn his head on the Saudi involvement in the 9/11 attacks, along with the ongoing blind eye toward Saudi human rights violations.

As disturbing as this message is, I was most digusted with a gathering of the giants from the defense, engineering and oil companies (headlined by Halliburton), where the message was that "there is a lot of oil in Iraq. As soon as reconstruction begins and the oil begins to flow, there are huge profits to be made." It's a sick, cynical message as American and other coalition soldiers are killed or maimed, not to mention the thousands of Iraqi soldiers and citizens. Representatives of the American companies who stand to profit most were practically licking their chops at the "opportunities" that awaited them.

Moore's images also drive home the human impact of this war. American TV hasn't shown the pictures of dead American soldiers, much less the many thousands more wounded. American TV certainly hasn't shown the images of the dead Iraqis, or of their grieving families. Fahrenheit 9/11 shows these pictures, however, and they are heartbreaking. Real people are fighting this war, and real families on both sides of the planet are affected by the violence.

The juxtaposition is disturbing but the message is clear - somebody (maybe you or a friend or family member) has died for the sole purpose of making somebody else (most likely not you or anybody you know) very wealthy. Check that - "even more wealthy". Moore illustrates how our "vouluntary" armed services are largely staffed by the very poorest Americans. These people sign up to protect a promise of prosperity that very few of them will ever taste. Meanwhile, the rich kids stay safe at home. In a vintage sequence, Moore stands in front of the Capital, imploring members of Congress to sign up their sons to help preserve "freedom" in Iraq. The reactions are priceless.

OK, this has kind of turned into a review of the movie. I could go on, but instead I recommend that you, the reader, find a way to see this movie. Unfortunately, it is in limited release in the US - only 800 or so screens. Yet these screens are selling out, making F9/11 the highest-grossing movie of the weekend, and the highest-grossing documentary of all time, eclipsing Moore's Bowling for Columbine in just three days of release!

And this is really the (original) point of my post - Fahrenheit 9/11 is already a cultural phenomenon. Only three theatres are showing it in Maine - The Movies in Portland, the Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville, and the Eveningstar Cinema here in Brunswick. I've attended many films at the Eveningstar over the last three years, but have seen nothing like this. We were turned away from a sold out show on Saturday (all shows sold out), but were able to buy tickets for Sunday. By the time we arrived at the theatre, the line was out of the building, and three of the five daily shows were already sold out for the day. By the time our show was let out, the 5:00 show (which was not sold out when we entered the theatre) had a line out the door. People are tired of the direction that the current regime is taking this country, tired of the lies, and tired of the transparent motivations of Bush and Company. People are demanding to see this film, despite the best efforts of Disney , (whose Miramax subsidiary dropped the film), the major movie theatre chains ("not enough people want to see documentaries"), US film distributors, and lots of right-wing blowhards who would make it seem "unAmerican" and "unpatriotic" to see this film.

Attending this film is not "unpatriotic". The expression of free speech is a cornerstone of a democratic society. I won't say that it is your civic duty to see the movie, because that's no better than trying to suppress the message. Lots of patriotic Americans are lining up for F 9/11. The crowds at the Eveningstar range from college age kids to people well into their retirement years, and everything in between. There is no better way to get people to see or read something than to try to censor it from them - our natural curiosity leads us to find out what they don't want us to know. The Bush administration has a lot to hide from America, but they don't do a very good job hiding it. Michael Moore found out, and I suggest you do, too.

Comments

2004-06-28T08:47:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure why you can't comment. My settings indicate that anybody can leave a comment. But feel free to register or whatever you have to do to leave a comment. I won't sell any of your personal information unless I get a really good price for it!

Squirrel ups the Ante

2004-06-24T13:51:00.000-04:00

The squirrel that I have been doing battle with over the last couple of months has upped the ante.

Like most people who have bird feeders, mine has become a squirrel feeder. Squirrels are cute, but they aren't birds, and their use of the feeder is unauthorized. I want to feed the chickadees and gold finches. I tell the squirrels this, yell, chase them away, shake my fist like an old geezer (I have a lot of time on my hands right now). Nothing works.

Until recently, there was apparently only one squirrel feeding from my feeder, but yesterday the unexpected happened. When I opened the front door to chase him (or her) off, two squirrels jumped down. Worse yet, squirrel #2 was obviously a juvenile.

This is a cunning ploy by the squirrel. As much as I realize that the baby squirrel will grow up to be a full-grown nuisance, I still feel guilty in depriving a baby squirrel of its food. Imagine, a squirrel playing head games with me.

That worked for about a day. Today I yelled at the baby (who is already feeding there on his own), chased him, and shook my fist. When I looked a moment ago, he was back . . .

Supersize Me

2004-06-22T19:45:00.000-04:00

Supersize Me, a film by Morgan Spurlock, is an entertaining romp through the Fast Food World that we live in. In the film, Spurlock makes himself into a guinea pig, testing the effect of eating nothing but McDonald's meals over the course of 30 days, with the caveat that he Supersizes the meal if asked by the person taking his order. He has a complete physical evaluation before the experiment and follow-up exams every week. Predictably, his physical condition takes a turn for worse as the month wears on.

Aside from experiment, around which the film flows, Spurlock talks to many parties related to the issue of obesity and McDonalds' (and the fast-food industry in general) role in the problem in this country. Interspersed throughout are interviews with dieticians and doctors, lawyers, the former surgeon general, a food industry lobbyist, school nutritionists, physical education teachers, and others. Notably absent is an interview with a representative of McDonalds, though this is no oversight of the filmmaker. In the process, Spurlock addresses many issues that confront us in the United States.

First and foremost, of course, is obesity. 37% of the children and adolescents in the United States carry too much fat, according to the film's web site, while two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. Spurlock shows us how the problem has grown and spread throughout the United States in the last 30 years. At the same time, many physical problems have become more predominant, including cardiovascular disease and adult-onset diabetes. We are told that obesity is now second behind only smoking in the number of preventable deaths it causes in the United States.

Lawyers, noting the correlation between increased obesity and the proliferation of fast food restaurants in this country, have sued McDonalds for the poor health of two overweight teenage girls. One lawyer, when asked pointedly why he was pursuing the litigation, was unable to come up with a ready answer outside of "monetary compensation". Though not one of the primary themes of the film, the quickness with which Americans resort to "Suing the Bastards" is another disturbing truth that is explored.

In traveling the country, Spurlock introduces us to physical education instructors who lament the lack of physical education available to students. While people should ideally get 30 minutes of exercise daily, some children get only 45 minutes per week, while other schools neither require nor offer phys ed classes. One offshoot of George W. Bush's "no child left behind" program is that fewer resources are available for physical education in schools, resulting in some schools relying on private funding of gym classes while others cancel classes altogether. Meanwhile, private food providers "support" education via school lunch programs, but the result is a lot of soda and chips in school and not a lot of balance in the meals. By offering these lunches, schools support the private vendors, however the "support" received from the food industry does not come in the form of the financing of health-education classes that might allow the children to make informed choices in their food purchases. Meanwhile, a school for "problem" adolescents in Wisconsin offers balanced, healthy meals featuring whole grains and seasonal produce for approximately the same cost as they would pay the food factories, and discovered fewer behavioral problems and more attentive students as a result.

Greed is another undercurrent in the film. The private vendors of certain school lunch programs are involved because it benefits the bottom line, not because they have any interest in supporting education. Until very recently, McDonalds has shown little inclination to provide healthier alternatives because they are making billions of dollars doing business as usual. One could cynically conclude that the recent introduction of salads (which are shown to also be high sugar/high-calorie in the film) has everything to do with maintaining market share and nothing to do with an interest in public health. That's because McDonalds' management does not answer to the public, it answers to the shareholder, and the shareholder is interested primarily in the bottom line.

We are also left with questions about personal accountability. Where is the line drawn between where McDonalds assumes responsibility for not providing healthy meals and where we as individuals assume responsibility for our own choices? One teenage girl, after meeting Jared from Subway, laments that she can't afford to buy two sandwiches a day from that particular chain. She obviously has not been taught the basics of healthy nutrition. The role of lobbyists and advertising in painting our perceptions is addressed, as well as the lack of oversight that the government demonstrates over student nutrition. We even see the impact of the "Wal-Martization" of the USA.

This is an entertaining film, but it is quite disturbing. It really shows the unsavory underbelly of life in America, though certainly not with the "in your face" style of, say, Michael Moore. I do find it lacking in that there is no clear segment about the basics of healthy eating, where a few minutes spent here might have been helpful. Also, no reference is made in the film to the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, which also addressed the McDonalds problem back in 2001. I have not read Fast Food Nation, so I'm not really sure if this is an oversight, but it seems a notable omission in my opinion. Otherwise, very well done!