| News That Matters "The most wasted of all days is one without laughter." - e. e. cummings "The Rosenberg case illustrates the excesses that can occur when we're afraid," Good Friday Morning, My apologies for being so late this morning but until there's a benefactor, I have to pay the bills. Three hundred and ninety-nine years ago today in 1609, Henrik Hudson "discovered" the Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk river. The Mahican were less than thrilled. In yet another NY Journal News Ad Word alert, when placing your mouse cursor over the words, "environment" or "community" in a JN editorial this morning, you get a pop up ad for... ExxonMobil. Again. People living along the Texas coast are facing Hurricane Ike this morning. The National Weather Service says this: (emphasis, mine) All neighborhoods...and possibly entire coastal communities...will be inundated during the period of peak storm tide. Persons not heeding evacuation orders in single family one or two story homes may face certain death. Many residences of average construction directly on the coast will be destroyed. Widespread and devastating personal property damage is likely elsewhere. Vehicles left behind will likely be swept away. Numerous roads will be swamped...some may be washed away by the water. Entire flood prone coastal communities will be cutoff. Water levels may exceed 9 feet for more than a mile inland. Coastal residents in multi-story facilities risk being cutoff. Conditions will be worsened by battering waves closer to the coast. Such waves will exacerbate property damage...with massive destruction of homes...including those of block construction. Damage from beach erosion could take years to repair. Police in Riviera Beach, Florida have been rather diligent in enforcing a new city ordinance targeting droopy shorts and trousers, according to police reports. Since officers began their crackdown last month, they have arrested at least 12 baggy pants perps. One report says: "P____ was shirtless and wore tan baggy shorts with blue and white boxer style undergarment below his waist, hanging low, exposing approximately two inches of his boxer style garment." Two inches! Is this really what we're paying our cops to do? John McCain says he knows where Osama bin laden is and that he knows how to capture him. He said, "I'm not going to telegraph a lot of the things that I'm going to do because then it might compromise our ability to do so. But, look, I know the area, I have been there, I know wars, I know how to win wars, and I know how to improve our capabilities so that we will capture Osama bin Laden - or put it this way, bring him to justice. We will do it, I know how to do it."
The Putnam County Land Trust is holding a special opening ceremony for it's new permanent headquarters at the Dorie O'Brien House in Southeast this evening. On Sunday September 14, 2008 at 1:30 PM, Fort Montgomery State Historic Site staff will lead a hike retracing the 1777 attack on the fort. Using first-hand accounts, participants will follow the route of the attacking British and Loyalist forces and locate specific noted features from the battle. This two mile hike will last approximately two hours. Not recommended for children under 12. Please bring sturdy walking shoes and insect repellent. Please meet in front of the fort's visitor center at 1:30. Program is free with paid site admission: $3 per adult, $2 per senior.There's this from Sustainable Hudson Valley: Economic, civic and citizen leaders throughout the Hudson Valley will gather to explore strategies for transforming the region’s economy and environment through “green collar jobs” at Sustainable Hudson Valley’s third annual conference in Kingston September 19 and 20, 2008. Cool Communities/ Living Economies 3: Ten Years to a Green Economy takes up the challenge from Nobel laureate Al Gore, echoed by scientists: to bring clean, high-performance and renewable technologies into the mainstream without delay. Information is available on www.sustainhv.org <http://www.sustainhv.org> . Earlybird registration ends September 12.There will be a Native Plant Training Workshop on October 22, 2008 from 8:30 am - 5:00pm at the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY. Participants will learn techniques and methods for reintroducing native plants to areas that have been managed for the control of invasive plants and will also learn how to preserve existing native plant habitats. For more information contact Meredith Taylor at 845-889-4745 ext. 109 or Emilie Hauser at 845-889-4745 ext. 112 And now, the news:
Protecting Our Water SupplyInvestigating Drinking Water Stormwater Runoff RelationshipBy: Paula Markowitz WittlinPublished: September 05, 2008 Water, a commodity essential to our lives, is often taken for granted until its excess, lack, quality, or cost cause us to focus our attention on our watershed. Old Orchard Street separates the Lower Kensico Reservoir from two algae bloom-covered City of White Plains reservoirs. Squarely within the White Plains watershed, and down the road from the Police Department’s pistol range, the two bodies of water, which serve as auxiliary drinking water sources, are the potential recipients of runoff from nearby lawns and dumping sites of landscapers and contractors. Al Gassman, a county land surveyor and longtime Orchard Street area resident, contacted the White Plains Times this summer with a concern that the “ponds” were more algae-encrusted this summer than at any time in the past 14 years. He offered a tour of the reservoir area with an emphasis on grass and algae encroachment as well as wildlife. “This land belongs to everyone in White Plains,” Gassman said. Read More Phosphorus fertilizers help lawns but hurt bodies of waterGreg ClaryJournal News Columnist Tell the truth - we all like beautiful lawns. Whether they belong to us or someone else, whether they're available to all or just to flocks of geese, thick green lawns conjure the prospect of laying on our backs and watching the clouds. But at what cost? To get lawns the way we want them, most of us have to resort to fertilizers. I know, because I'm the king of crabgrass, and the main reasons it's overtaken my postage stamp of a yard are part laziness and part concern for the environment. I don't like to use chemicals on my grass; it seems like a paradox to grow natural plant life with something created in a laboratory. But more to the point, my wife vetoes the idea every time it comes up. Read More Why Water Could Be Worth Fighting ForOver one billion people - 18% of the world’s population - lack access to safe drinking water worldwide. Only 56% of Africa’s 800 million population have access to clean water. About 700 million people in 43 countries are affected by water scarcity, according to the UN.In another few years - in 2025 to be precise - the number could swell to 3 billion driving back gains in the fight against poverty and under-development, otherwise known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For many people around the world, safe drinking water is a scarce resource and out of necessity, they resort to what’s available - polluted water. Read More August Foreclosures Up 27 Percent from Last YearA report says foreclosure filings in August increased 27 percent compared to the same month a year ago.READ: More WCBS Opening Bell Stories It's a significantly slower pace than in previous months. The foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac says nationwide, 303,800 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice in August. That's up 12 percent from July. That means one in every 416 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing last month. August's increase, however, was smaller than the two prior months. Still, the total number of foreclosure filings is the highest since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in January 2005. The top three states in foreclosure rates were Nevada, California and Arizona. Florida, Michigan, Georgia, Ohio, Colorado, Illinois and Indiana rounded out the top 10, though Michigan, Georgia, Ohio and Colorado all reported rate decreases year-over-year. Read More Kennedy set to offer bill today for national service programBy Susan Milligan, Globe Staff | September 12, 2008NEW YORK - Senator Edward M. Kennedy, sidelined from the Senate as he undergoes treatment for a malignant brain tumor, plans to introduce a sweeping new national service bill today to recruit 175,000 Americans of all ages to do service work in health, education, environmental protection and anti-poverty programs, with their work partly subsidized by the federal government. The plan, meant to build on national service initiatives that began under former President John F. Kennedy and expanded under former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, would provide an estimated $5 billion over five years to encourage citizens from kindergarteners to retirees to get involved in community organizations - including faith-based groups - on a series of programs targeted at national problems. The new corps members would be paid modest salaries to spend a year working on specific national problems. Employers would be eligible for tax cuts for giving workers time off to do community service, while a new venture capital fund would also be created to boost the creation of new service organizations. Read More Court rules against fall victimThe state Court of Claims has thrown out a legal action against the state filed by a Putnam County woman who survived a 120-foot fall from the Kaaterskill Falls on her birthday four years ago. Clarissa Marino of Patterson had to be flown to Albany Medical Center Hospital following the accident at the Catskill Forest Preserve in Greene County on Oct. 14, 2004. Her friend, Itzamargrid Ramos, had taken Marino to the falls as a 20th birthday surprise and the duo were hiking on a remote part of the Laurel House trail when Marino slipped on a rain-slicked rock, the court papers say. She landed in a stream, where she remained for about 90 minutes before rescue crews could get to her. At the time, Marino had on flat, rubber-soled slip-on shoes with no tread. Many Cancer Patients Receive Insufficient Pain Management TherapyScienceDaily (Sep. 10, 2008) — Pain is one of the most common symptoms of cancer patients, yet many of them do not receive adequate therapy for the pain caused by their disease or treatments, according to a study in the September 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics, the official journal of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. For cancer patients, pain can come from the cancer itself, chronic inflammatory changes or infections. Standard cancer treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy can also cause pain, but despite its common occurrence, pain is a frequent source of patient anxiety due to improper management. Army Still Using Physicians In Interrogation, Bioethicist SaysScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2008) — U.S. Army psychiatrists may be participating in the interrogation of detainees, while ignoring recommendations to the contrary from professional medical associations, according to a Penn State bioethicist and a Georgetown University law professor."The American Psychiatric Association (APA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) adopted positions in 2006 that basically said physicians should not be directly involved in any interrogation of any individual," said Jonathan Marks, associate professor of bioethics, humanities and law, and acting director of the Rock Ethics Institute. "According to them this is not what physicians should be doing, whether the interrogation is aggressive or not, or legal or not." Yet documents recently provided to Marks and M. Gregg Bloche, professor of law, Georgetown University Law Center, by the U.S. Army in response to requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reveal that the Department of Defense still wants physicians to be involved in interrogations and continues to resist the positions taken by the professional medical associations. Read More Rosenberg transcripts raise possibility of perjuryBy PETE YOSTWASHINGTON (AP) — Newly released grand jury transcripts add strong evidence to the argument that the conviction and execution of Ethel Rosenberg in the Cold War's biggest espionage case were based on perjured testimony. In recent years, one of the two key witnesses against Rosenberg recanted his testimony. It now appears that the other witness made up her testimony. too. The witnesses were Ethel's brother and sister-in-law, David and Ruth Greenglass. Thanks to the work of a team of lawyers and historians, the government released the grand jury testimony that formed the basis for the charges against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. At the Rosenbergs' trial, the Greenglasses testified that Ethel Rosenberg had typed stolen atomic secrets from notes provided by David Greenglass. The testimony provided the direct involvement the jury needed to convict Ethel Rosenberg and that the judge in the case needed to sentence her to death. On Thursday, after spending several hours poring over the transcripts, the lawyers and historians spotted a major omission in Ruth Greenglass' testimony to the grand jury. Nowhere does Ruth Greenglass tell the story about seeing Ethel Rosenberg type up the secrets. Read More 78-year-old man prepares for bar mitzvahSACRAMENTO, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- A 78-year-old Holocaust survivor in Sacramento is preparing for a day 65 years in the making -- his bar mitzvah ceremony.Bernie Marks said that when he was 13, the age Jewish boys traditionally hold the ceremony that represents their transition to manhood, his family lived in a Nazi-ruled ghetto in Poland where Jewish religious practices were outlawed, the Sacramento Bee reported Thursday. Marks, who has been active in Sacramento's Congregation B'Nai Israel for 54 years, said he recently mentioned to Rabbi Mona Alfi that he never had his bar mitzvah ceremony, and the rabbi replied: "It's never too late -- why not now?" Read More
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Friday, September 12, 2008
News That Matters - September 12, 2008
