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"For the last few years, I've watched two municipalities in my district that I really love be trashed by candidates for elected office. I've never seen that before in my career," - Senator Vinnie Leibell
Good Saturday Morning,
Just a few short items today.
I attended the opening of the 4H Fair yesterday (the fair continues today and tomorrow) and took pictures of some of the politicians who came out for it. Opening day is usually chock full of them and the regular coterie was certainly in place. You can find them here. Assemblyman Greg Ball was there, sitting alone on a hay bale while everyone else gathered sociably together. And it must have been really hard for him after finding out that the county's most powerful politician is assisting his opponent.
Anyway, come on out to the 4H Fair and stop by the Town of Kent's Stormwater Management Committee's tent to say hello and pick up some useful literature.
Michael Kiernan Lalor had at least one of his people at the fair yesterday. He came out carrying petitions to get Lalor on an independent "Energy" line in the upcoming election. Of course, I tussled with the guy over the truth about offshore drilling and energy policy in general, and he simply wasn't prepared, spouting off unnamed "experts" who claim that we can drill ourselves out of the mess we're in and provide energy security at the same time. Even the Teamsters Union has rejected this approach. (See the story below.) I said that the best way to lower gasoline prices was simply to use less and that our efforts should be focused on alternatives, leaving the oil in the ground as a hedge for the future, but he and Mr. Lalor apparently have no tolerance for that point of view as it requires sacrifice on our part and sacrifice is no longer part of the American lexicon. And since Congressman John Hall's campaign was no where to be seen, preferring instead to play the old-style incumbent routine, I just hope the voters are smart enough to know that Lalor's position on this is untenable and crafted only to garner votes.
An article appeared in yesterday's Journal News about Adam Cloth who died in a car accident the other night in Kent. I knew Adam, not as a friend, but as a friend of a friend, an acquaintance. He was a talker and once he got going on something there was no stopping him. He was saving up money for a vacation with his mom and worked with troubled kids at Lincoln Hall down in Somers. I know those kids are going to miss him, and I will too. There's a family funeral tomorrow way downstate.
The New York Times covers a story today about how the war in Iraq is not coming into your living rooms, that with more than 4000 American soldiers killed and tens of thousands wounded, unless you were paying very close attention you'd never know it. Contrast that with the war in Vietnam, (or Korea and WWII where moving images were played out in theaters,) where each night on the nightly news pictures flooded living rooms across the United States making that war personal. News photographer Zoriah Miller broke a taboo by posting images he'd taken of soldiers killed in combat to a website thus earning the wrath of the Department of Defense who has banned him from areas in Iraq controlled by the Marines and is seeking to ban him from any point in the world the US has ongoing military operations.
When questioned, Lt. Col. Chris Hughes, speaking for the Marines said, “Specifically, Mr. Miller provided our enemy with an after-action report on the effectiveness of their attack and on the response procedures of U.S. and Iraqi forces,” However, Mr Miller's crime was that he brought the truth to you and that, as far as the Pentagon is concerned, is aiding the enemy. From a strict, propagandist point of view, the Lt. Col. may be right. But in a free and open society, he is not. Which one are we?
And, if you really want to be feeling your age today, Mick Jagger turned 65.
And now, the news:
- LaGrange seeks $2 million open space fund
- Woman turns love of historic island into book
- Ball's foe gets campaign cash from Leibell
- Town's namesake spring called historic
- The Six Sins of Greenwashing
- Hoffa Rejects 'Drilling Our Way Out' of Energy Crisis, Demands Long-Term Policy Solutions
- Wealth Does Not Dictate Concern For The Environment, Study Finds
LaGrange seeks $2 million open space fund Voter OK sought; cash to aid buy of farmland rights
By John Davis
Poughkeepsie Journal
FREEDOM PLAINS - LaGrange voters will be asked in November to approve borrowing $2 million to establish an open space fund.
If approved Nov. 4, some of the funds will be used to purchase the development rights on the 174-acre Pierson Farm at the crossroads of Skidmore and Mountain roads.
Neil Pierson, the owner of the farm, is asking the town $756,500 for those rights.
In selling the rights, Pierson would retain ownership and the ability to farm his land, but he could not subdivide it to build homes.
The purchase by the town would be one of the measures identified in its 2007 open space plan for preserving LaGrange's rural character.
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Woman turns love of historic island into book Michael Risinit
The Journal News
PHILIPSTOWN
The Warner sisters spent their lives within a few rowboat strokes of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
That location might seem a plum one for two young ladies in the mid-1800s, especially those accustomed to a posh life but who found themselves living like pioneers along the Hudson River. But that wasn't life's plan for Susan and Anna Warner, once of St. Mark's Place in Manhattan, forever of Constitution Island in the Hudson.
"It's so hard for us to think of them in contemporary terms. You're shooting distance from West Point and didn't have any relationships?" said Ronnie Coffey, who has turned her love and expertise of the island and the Warner sisters into a book.
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Ball's foe gets campaign cash from Leibell Michael Risinit
The Journal News
SOUTHEAST - State Sen. Vincent Leibell, R-Patterson, is running uncontested this year for another term in Albany, but he still has an electoral fight on his hands.
His opponent? Assemblyman Greg Ball, R-Patterson, and his allies. His weapon? Some $52,500 so far, much of which has gone to Ball's opponent, Republican John Degnan. His reason? Ball and his verbal bashing of Brewster and Southeast, according to Leibell.
"For the last few years, I've watched two municipalities in my district that I really love be trashed by candidates for elected office. I've never seen that before in my career," Leibell said.
Read More
Town's namesake spring called historic Board approves designation
By Michael Valkys
Poughkeepsie Journal
Town of Poughkeepsie leaders have officially made the spring that gave the community its name a local historic landmark, part of an effort to raise awareness about the often-overlooked piece of the area's past just off bustling Route 9.
The town board Wednesday night unanimously approved the designation.
The move came following a recommendation to do so from the town's Historic Preservation Commission. Officials hope to erect a sign to mark the spring site, clean up the area and make it more accessible to the public.
"This is a unique spring," town Historian Jean Murphy told the board. "It's been a wonderful thing and we can give it the recognition it deserves."
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The Six Sins of Greenwashing Do You Know When a Company Is Misleading You About Its Eco-Friendliness?
Greenwashing, the term used when a company misleads a consumer regarding its environmental practices, can make it difficult for the average eco-newbie to know what's truly best for Mother Earth.
Terra Choice, a Canadian environmental marketing agency, is attempting to make it easier for you to decipher who are the good guys and who is doing the greenwashing.
The company lists the Six Sins of Greenwashing on its website so you can wise up to the tricks.
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Hoffa Rejects 'Drilling Our Way Out' of Energy Crisis, Demands Long-Term Policy Solutions Teamsters General President Urges Deeper Partnership Between Labor, Environmentalists
July 23, 2008
(Oakland, CA) – Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said today that working Americans hard hit by rising gas prices and a collapsing economy demand a comprehensive long-term program focused on exploring and developing alternative sources of energy as a solution to the crisis facing our country.
“We are not going to drill our way out of the energy problems we are facing—not here and not in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” Hoffa told labor and environmental activists at an Oakland, Calif., summit on good jobs and clean air. “We must find a long-term approach that breaks our dependence on foreign oil by investing in the development of alternate energy sources like solar, wind and geothermal power.”
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Wealth Does Not Dictate Concern For The Environment, Study Finds ScienceDaily (July 25, 2008) — It has been a long-held assumption that poor nations will not support efforts to protect the environment since their citizens are too preoccupied with meeting basic needs, such as food and housing.
However, a new study in The Sociological Quarterly reveals that citizens of poorer nations are just as concerned about environmental quality as their counterparts in rich nations.
Riley E. Dunlap, PhD, of Oklahoma State University and Richard York, PhD, of the University of Oregon compared results from four large cross-national surveys, each conducted in several dozen nations ranging with differing economic statuses. Representative samples of citizens were surveyed in each nation.
Results showed that citizens of poorer nations were equally if not more concerned about the environment compared to citizens in wealthier countries. The citizens of the poorer nations were supportive of efforts to solve environmental problems.
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