Monthly Archives: November 2011

pacific rim

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Amid the somber browns and grays of the beach are beautiful splashes of color.

Green sea anenomes are abundant.

Ochre sea stars and anenomes.

Having let go of my quest for sea otters, I was poking along head down among the rocks and was unprepared when I met these three river otters. Fortunately they were curious and came back for a better look. The Olympic Peninsula coast is still a wild and spectacular environment, landward logging continues apace, and the forests face continued threat from timber and mining interests, and of course the local populace who struggle to earn a living.

11-11-11 Music

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Morning Edition tickled me this morning with some music from All Songs Considered — songs that cause you to immediately crank the radio up to 11 when they come on. Not too surprisingly, their list and my list have few common entries. Since I’m old, my list is really long, but this one bubbled right up to the surface. Oh, and that one. I couldn’t make up my mind.

The well-deserved fall of Joe Paterno

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This lady is upset that Joe Paterno is a “target” and is “taking the rap” for the child sex abuse scandal that has ended his lengthy career.

Today, he’s been the only one decent enough to walk away from the University, and it just proves what a good man he is.

Really?  Are you friggin’ serious?

Let me just say this: How dare you come out with a statement like that?  How dare you? What if that had been your son or grandson?  As far as we know so far, eight children have been grievously harmed and their lives ruined, possibly forever, by a sexual predator that Joe Paterno knew about.

A graduate student witnessed the anal rape of a young boy by Jerry Sandusky in the Penn State locker room, and reported it to his father (what?) and Joe Paterno.  Why he didn’t stop the assault immediately is the subject of a whole other rant, but this grad student has said he informed Paterno of this incident.  For some reason, Jerry Sandusky was never prosecuted for raping this child.  That too will come out eventually.

I am left wondering what the hell was going through Joe Paterno’s mind when, after the shower rape incident, he continued to see Jerry Sandusky in the company of young boys from Sandusky’s “Second Mile” program (established by Sandusky in 1977, so the list of victims could be much much longer) on the sidelines of games or in the locker room meeting the players?  This literally went on for years, and Paterno let it continue.  He knew about the child sex abuse being committed by his assistant coach — he’d been told explicitly, and he’d reported the incident to the appropriate authorities at the University.

Some people might say that Paterno had done his duty.  He reported what he’d been told to the higher-ups.  Well, that’s all very well and good isn’t it?  Surely Sandusky’s subsequent victims suffered less because of it.  Right?  Hell no!  Doing one’s duty is a minimum, and then there’s doing what’s right.  Paterno failed those children in the worst way imaginable — he allowed them to become victims of a predator.  For a run-down of how the victims were groomed and abused, go here.

I’m sure that in her normal life the lady in the above video is a very nice and well-meaning woman, but she has lost her focus on what’s important.  The important issue here is NOT that Joe Paterno is ending his amazing career in utter disgrace; the important issue is that at least eight boys — hell, even one boy! — were terribly harmed and their lives will likely never be the same again or what they might have been, because Joe Paterno (and others in the University) put their multi-million dollar football program ahead of them.

I will shed no tears over the end of Joe Paterno’s career.  I’ll reserve my tears for the young boys who were so terribly betrayed and abused.

Disturbing factoid of the day…

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28.6%…

That’s the number of homeowners estimated to be ‘underwater’ – owing more on their mortgages than their houses are worth – at the end of the 3rd quarter, up from earlier in the year.

By my calcs, that’s approximately 16.6 MILLION homes… currently worth less than their owners paid for them. And according to this year old article from Reuters…

the total value of U.S. single-family homes tumbled about $798 billion in the fourth quarter (of 2010), according to Zillow. For the year, values fell by more than $2 trillion to $22.3 trillion.

Don’t know how much value has been shed this year so far, but if the numbers are up, it’s got to be at least in the multiple hundreds of billions of dollars, I’d reckon.

As they say in Scotland… Ouch’mon.

Watering Hole, Thursday, November 10th: Swearing At Off the Republican Debates

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Despite concerns for my mental health, I’ve watched most of the endless-seeming Republican debates so far. I skipped last night’s, but I did catch some of the “highlights.” I have now been forced to come to the conclusion that Republicans must hate “government” with such a fervent passion that they are willing to field this pathetic and un-Presidential selection of candidates.

Herman Cain…Mitt Romney…Rick Perry…Newt Gingrich…Michele Bachmann…Rick Santorum…Jon Huntsman…Ron Paul

Herman Cain: Buffoonish snake-oil salesman with delusions of grandeur

Mitt Romney: Easily replaced by a life-sized cardboard picture of himself

Rick Perry: Ignorant alpha male with disturbing personality twists

Newt Gingrich: “Republican hypocrisy” poster-boy desperately fighting off irrelevancy

Michele Bachmann: Blank, shiny eyes are windows into her empty soul

Rick Santorum: A man enthralled by his religious views and fantasies

Jon Huntsman: Underneath the sanity, a willingness to woo the crazies

Ron Paul: Old man yells at government

There are far too many reasons why none of the above is capable of leading, arguably, the most influential country on the planet. The Republicans must know this, yet still expect American citizens to take this lineup seriously.

I find this both disturbing and insulting. Disturbing, because the power and money behind the Republican scenes will do everything they can to get one of these clowns into the White House. Insulting, because, as an American citizen, I believe that the President of the United States should be someone worthy of representing this great country; someone who is a true leader, not a puppet; someone who, by his or her innate character and integrity, reflects what America should be, once was, and can, hopefully, be again.

I will no longer lend any credence to these “candidates” by watching the upcoming Republican debates. Besides, I need to hold on to at least some of my sanity.

This is our open thread. I’ve offered my opinion, what do YOU think?

News Flash – Zygote Files Lawsuit Against In Vitro Fertilization Clinic

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Seeking to do in the courts what the Pro-Lifers failed to accomplish in the ballot box, Attorney C. Michael Hunt filed a lawsuit on behalf of Zygote John and/or Jane Doe against the In Vitro Fertilization Clinic in Bethlehem, PA.

According to the Lawsuit, the Zygote has been imprisoned in a testube ever since its egg was fertilized in 1994. Since the Zygote is still a minor, not having existed 18 years, the lawsuit was brought through his and/or her Guardian Ad Litem. The Zygote is seeking damages for false imprisonment, an intentional tort under Pennsylvania law, as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress and violation of its right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, guaranteed under the Declaration of Independence.

“This person is approaching the legal voting age” Hunt said in a prepared statement. “Yet he, or she, has never had the opportunity to go to school, to make friends, to run and play in the grass, or go to church and worship the God who gave him, or her, life.”

John and/or Jane Doe is seeking in excess of $10 million, and a court order granting him, or her, full and complete access to and use of a womb for a period not to exceed nine months.

The Watering Hole, Wednesday, November 9, 2011: CRASH AND BURN!

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In the end, it wasn’t even close. As of this writing:

The people chose unions over Republicans: 61% to 39%, with 99% of the vote counted in Ohio.

And Zygotes lost their bid for personhood, 58% to 42%, with 91% of the votes counted in Mississippi.

Of course, the next natural disaster to strike the U.S. will be God’s revenge for these votes. (/snark)

This is, unmistakeably, a clear sign that the Republican Agenda is not being accepted by a vast majority. Which means, of course, that Fox Gnus will spin this as a ratification of all things Republican.

THIS IS OUR OPEN THREAD. TO GET THE DISCUSSIONS GOING: WHAT BALLOT INITIATIVES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE PUT UP TO A VOTE OF THE PEOPLE?

The Watering Hole: Tuesday, November 8 – Personhood

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Image source: Flickr Creative Commons user zieak

I am not talking about the abominable plans in Mississippi to turn a fertilized egg into a person legally. I have no intention to grace this irrationality with a post. I am talking about “The Economy” and “The Markets”. Both are nomina depicting a number of activities but are treated like they were personalities.

The Economy, that’s what we do. That’s the system or range of economic activity in a country, region, or community. We do it by producing goods, by providing services, by consuming. You name it. It is not a person, it is the totality of economic interaction done by all of us. As this is done by all of us, we have as a society or community the right and the duty to set the rules how this interaction should be, in order to be most profitable for all of us.

The Economy is not a person which is empowered to set the rules unless we make it that way, or rather let it happen. We do that currently.

The Markets are defined ranging from a) A public gathering to sell and buy merchandise, to b) A specific geographical area where certain merchandise or good are being sold to or bought from, to most globally c) The entire enterprise of buying and selling commodities and securities. If this were a person I’d recommend psychiatric evaluation for dissociative disorder.

The Markets are an integral part of the greater entity The Economy. The Economy is what WE do, The Markets is what WE do inside The Economy. WE decide how we want to do it. It is time we took our lives and our society back into our own hands and start to send representatives into our parliaments who do OUR bidding not the bidding of their shill friends Economy and Markets.

For behind the shill we find the real friends who perfectly understand how to use the concept of The Economy and The Markets as godlike ruling force against us. We all know who they are on your side of the Atlantic and on ours. 

This is our open thread. A public gathering to offer and accept your comments and a lively discussion. Get going.

The Earliest Nor’Easter EVER: Before and After

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Two weeks ago, the Northeast was enjoying a fairly normal, if a bit rainy, autumn. Temperatures were mild and the foliage season went as usual, if somewhat dampened.

Before

Then the earliest Nor’easter ever hit.

After

The storm reached our village around noon on Saturday, October 29th, starting with innocuous-looking, barely visible flakes. Despite the moisture of the ground, they began to stick pretty quickly: to the ground, to the trees, to the wires overhead. We lost power just about 4:00pm – luckily, I was able to immediately light the gas stove and, with enough daylight left for me to see in the kitchen, I threw together a lamb stew. While that was cooking, the destruction began outside. The first ‘victims’ were the bird-feeders, about 15 feet off the deck. Wayne managed to dig one out and hung it on the surviving shepherd’s hook.

When Tree Limbs Attack

When Tree Limbs Attack

When the long, windy night – filled with the sounds of snapping limbs, cascading snow, and the thudding and scraping of branches on the roof – was over, the house was surrounded by a forest of branches.

Surrounded

Surrounded

We were lucky: the roof was intact, the deck was unharmed, and no windows were broken. Unfortunately, there are thousands of homes and businesses without power even now. NYSEG and other utility trucks, along with local and NYSDOT highway crews, have been out in force all week, but there is still an incredible amount of tree damage and debris left to be cleared.

Update: Of course, the snow can transform a still-unfinished garden into something a bit more wondrous-looking:

Garden Gate

Sunday Roast, November 6th, 2011: Current and Past Perspectives

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The Marx Brothers

The Marx Brothers


The Opinion page of last week’s edition (October 28th) of our local paper, The Pawling Press, offered some interesting perspectives on today’s political scene:

First: the liberal columnist, Frank Matheis, used a song from the Marx Brothers’ “Horse Feathers“ to describe today’s GOP:

“I don’t know what they have to say,
It makes no difference anyway.
Whatever it is, I’m against it.
No matter what it is or who
commenced it,
I’m against it.

“Your proposition may be good,
But let’s have one thing understood,
Whatever it is, I’m against it.
And even when you’ve changed it or
condensed it,
I’m against it.”

Next: the conservative columnist, Paul Keyishian, discussed “The fundamental role of government in a democracy”, putting forth his views on the differences between liberals’ and conservatives’ ideas of the role of the federal government, vis a vis what he called “legislative intervention.” (Note to self: remind Paul Keyishian that the current political battle going on is NOT between liberals and conservatives.) Here’s his closing summary:

“To put it succinctly, you might say that when liberals examine the federal government, they see an indispensable instrument of progressive sociopolitical legislation. When conservatives examine that same government, they see an inordinately costly and needlessly bureaucratic institution. And it’s incumbent upon us, individually and collectively, to ultimately decide which (if either) side is actually correct.”

Lastly: The Pawling Press has been running a weekly column called “Emphasis – U.S.A.”, which brings us “reflections from the archives of Robert McCormick, a noted NBC Washington correspondent…” (Note: I have tried to google Robert McCormick, but found little. However, the time frame here is during the formation of civil rights legislation.) The title of this “reflection” was “Southern Senators don’t debate, they heckle and bite.” I particularly liked this quote:

“The Southerners are always undiluted poison in a debate, and they are even more deadly in an argument over civil rights.”

McCormick then goes on to tell about a dispute between Senator Same Ervin (R-NC) and Senator Jacob Javitz (R-NY), over certain figures in the Civil Rights Commission’s findings. Ervin uses “a very old story that is current down [his] way about a Southern Mountaineer…”: Ervin’s story ends with “..Here are the figures; you know that figures don’t lie”, to which the ‘Southern Mountaineer’ replies, “I know figures don’t lie, but liars sure do figures”, to dismiss the Civil Rights Commission’s statistics. Sounds like Southern Senators haven’t changed much over the last several decades.

This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to present your thoughts on any topic that comes to mind.

The Watering Hole: November 5 – Then and Now

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Then

The Marshall Plan or the European Recovery Program (ERP) was the large-scale American program to aid Europe in which the United States (US) gave monetary support to help rebuild European economies after the end of WWII in order to combat the spread of Soviet communism.

The monies involved were $13 million in US aid (5% of US GDP, a drop in the bucket!) on top of $12 billion in American aid already spent in Europe up to that time.. The monies provided were eventually returned to the United States. In addition, Germany also repaid 16 billion marks of debts from the 1920s which had defaulted in the 1930s, but which Germany decided to repay to restore its reputation.

Former enemies as well as allies were recipients of this aid.

At that time, the US economy was, by far, the most powerful in the world.

During the Eisenhower(R?) administration the Interstate Highway System began as a military asset, but made it was available to every American.

This describes post-war America through the 1950s.

The United States put men on the moon in July 1969. The rescue of the crew in the Apollo 13 mission riveted the world in 1971. The rapid response to a potentially fatal outcome was diverted by United States’ can-do attitude and technological prowess.

The Space Shuttle was first launched in 1981, a heavy lift vehicle that has never been matched. It served for 30 years. It was used to assemble the International Space Station as well as deploy and repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

The collapse of the USSR between January 19, 1990 and December 31, 1991 left the United States as the sole major power on earth.

Now

From then on, the United States has rested on its laurels. Tax revenues from corporations and the rich have been pared to the bone. The Iraqi invasion and occupation has depleted the national treasury simply because there were no “matching funds”. The nation was trying to drive a Lamborghini on a burger flipper’s salary. The solution was to slash entitlement and infrastructure programs which had served the nation very well since the mid 1930s.

Now China has been asked for assistance by European for assistance in support of the economic collapse resulting from weak economies in Greece, Italy and Spain. The US is in a position where it cannot help – the dollar is weak and US manufacturing is struggling at best! And China rebuffed the request until Europe gets its house in order.

Just this week, mainland China demonstrated a first step towards development of its own space station which when completed be truly international – available to all nations (There are nations denied access to the “International” Space Station.).

China is starting the development of naval airpower and stealth aircraft.

China is in the process of becoming a world power in solar energy conversion using either steam or silicon.

This is our Open Thread. Now how did we get into this fine kettle of fish?