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Good Friday Morning,
It is a beautiful day today and the weekend promises more of the same so get outside and do something.
For reasons I'm not sure I understand but that may reflect the growing multiculturalism of the United States, the World Cup games are everywhere you look and turn. This is a Good Thing. Not that I care about soccer all that much but it is the only sport that we actually have in common with the rest of the world and we're not getting our asses kicked.
For the last few days I've been sitting in traffic in Carmel which backs up from the Route 312 and 6 intersection and runs all the way through to the Shoprite on Route 52. And it's not just the past few days, this is what it's like from around 3PM until after 6PM each day and it's only getting worse. What's needed are some simple, common sense, fixes to traffic lights and turning lanes that would speed flow and smooth out traffic patterns.
- When you're heading north on Route 52 and get to the courthouse, we need a long, dedicated LEFT TURN lane and traffic signal at Route 301 and a through traffic lane to Fair Street.
- A little further south and at the top of the hill by the Reed Library, the right turn arrow onto Route 52 has to stop going red one second before the light turns green again. This causes everyone to stop. And then go, causing traffic behind it to "accordion" all the way back down the hill.
- At the same time land needs to be appropriated on both sides of Route 6 along the Giggles shopping center to allow for a dedicated RIGHT TURN lane onto Route 52.
- The light at the intersection of John Simpson Road and Route 6 needs to take into account the high volume of traffic on Route 6 at rush hours and stay green for a much longer period of time.
When I first moved up here eleven and a half yeas ago we didn't have this problem but we do now and it's time for the County Legislature to stop trying to give Paul Camarda $3.7 million dollars and put that money instead to moving traffic on roads already clogged up.
British Petroleum's Tony Hayward was "savaged by Congress" according to reports in the British press and after hearing and reading some of the interaction I would tend to agree. Let's face it and be honest, Mr. Hayward is a business manager not an oil expert and it should be the guy who actually makes the decisions about the wells who should be on the stand.
What is disturbing is that Congressman Joe Barton, chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, actually apologized to Mr. Hayward, not for his treatment at the hands of the US media and his fellow members of Congress, but for what he called the "shakedown" to create a $20 billion fund for reparations and repairs caused by the oil spill.
"I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday. I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown, in this case, a $20 billion shakedown."
"I apologize," Barton told Hayward. "I do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong is subject to some sort of political pressure that is -- again, in my words, amounts to a shakedown. So I apologize."
Well, that might be acceptable if Congressman Barton hadn't received more than $100,000 from the oil companies in political donations. Shakedown? Yeah.
To add insult to injury, Republicans in the House are stonewalling an Administration attempt to raise the bar for oil drillers in the future and Sarah Palin still insists that we Drill, Baby, Drill claiming safeguards already in place are more than adequate. They may be - if the agency responsible, the Minerals Management Service of the Department of the Interior, weren't in bed with the oil companies.
If you'd like to see the current size of the Gulf oil spill, point your browser here: http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/ and if Carmel doesn't come up automatically, put it in the search bar and click "Move the Spill". The oil spill now covers an area larger than Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut combined and continues to grow. It would stretch from Scranton, PA to Portsmouth, NH, from Carmel northwards past Saratoga.
And one last thing, there's a BP station opening at the corner of Fair Street and Route 52 in the Hamlet of Carmel. Once they do open, for at least a little while, feel free to stop in for cigarettes, snacks and the paper but please, buy your gasoline elsewhere.
The Israeli Knesset voted to significantly ease the blockade of Gaza allowing in most of what's being smuggled through the tunnels anyway with the exception of steel and concrete which can be brought in if done so by an international aid agency to build their own projects. But the Arab media insists that's not enough and would like Gaza to also be able to import gunpowder, high explosives, missiles and rockets from Iran, North Korea and Syria.
In the meantime, Turkey continues its political assault on the Jewish state over the graves of 1.5 million slaughtered Armenians and 30,000 dead Kurds.
In Other News:
- A Man in Sarasota, Florida was attacked by a raccoon in his garage.
- Also in Florida, a 14lb Shih Tzu is facing the death penalty after allegedly attacking a 5 year old leaving him with a gash that required ten stitches behind his ear. The boy, not the dog. Officials in St. Johns' County say that according to code any attack by a dog above the neck qualifies the dog to be murdered by the state. There was nothing in the report about what happens if the attack is below the neck. (For attacks below the belt, see the entry a few lines down.)
- A 53 year old man in Austria was arrested after police found (are you ready for this?) over a million pornographic images and videos of children.
- A woman in Kapurthala, Punjab decided to take matters into her own hands when she suspected her husband was having an illicit affair. Suffice to say that she mixed an intoxicant with some liquor which she fed to her husband. You don't want to know the rest but she's been charged with attempted murder and he's in hospital a few inches shorter.
- Scientists have determined that "Otzi", the 5300 year-old frozen mummy discovered a few years back suffered from smokers' lungs. From campfires, not from Marlboro's.
- A Southwest Airline employee called police after finding "40 to 60 human heads" improperly packed in transport containers. Though they were destined for a medical research facility, three of them were on the no-fly list and four others had attempted to smuggle edible food onto the plane for the flight.
- The National Rifle Association has balked at the new DISCLOSE Act which would dig a little deeper into political action committees. They've threatened to scuttle the bill if they're not exempt from it.
- The US Government is claiming that Iran could fire "dozens or hundreds" of missiles at Europe. I don't know how since they're all being smuggled into Gaza.
- A new poll shows that support for the Health Care Reform bill continues to grow as Americans get used to the idea of not being screwed by their insurance companies.
- Bank of America still sucks.
Enjoy your weekend!
Saturday: Farmers' Markets Generally all over the place. Brewster from 10AM - 2PM and in Kent on Route 52 (at the old police station) at about the same hours. The Ryder Farm on Starr Ridge Road in Brewster has a pay-on-your-own farm stand that's open 24 hours a day. How can you possibly go wrong?
Clearwater Festival- Great Hudson River Revival Dawn to Dusk - A festival celebrating music and the environment. Seven stages with live music and performance artists! Featuring Steve Earle, Shawn Colvin, David Bromberg Quartet, Pete Seeger, Joan Osborne, Buckwheat Zydeco, Subdudes, Keller Williams, Railroad Earth, Donna the Buffalo, and many others. Other attractions include: Story Grove, World Dance Stage, Green Living Expo, Sails on the Clearwater and Mystic Whaler, Family Stage, Jugglers and Face Painting, Juried Crafts, Great Food, Hudson River Education Exhibits. For tickets and more information, see www.clearwaterfestival.org. Location: Croton Point Park, Croton, NY
Tag Sale to Benefit Victims of Blasting in Carmel 10AM - 6PM - 31 Mechanic Street in Carmel, next to the Gilead Cemetery. Plenty of antique and vintage items ...tools (blacksmith and farm), bric a brac, jewelry, dolls, etc. No Early Birds!
Bee Buzz For Kids (of all ages) 10AM - 11:30AM. Bee Buzz for Kids (all ages), with Chris Harp. Introduce your children to the amazing world of Honeybees. Be a part of saving the Honeybee population through your children's education. HoneybeeLives Apiary, New Paltz. Advance registration required, $10 per person. Visit www.HoneybeeLives.org, email HoneybeeLives@Yahoo.com
Building Natural Fences and Gates 10 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Come learn how to make long-lasting beautiful structures with branches from your own backyard. The workshop will be lead by Nick Zachos, an accomplished woodworker and artist. Hands-on workshop; help build gates for the Discovery Garden used by our children’s programs. Workshop Fee: $15 members/ $20 non-members Pre-registration required. PLEASE BRING A PICNIC LUNCH Contact Sandra at Sandra@philliesbridge.org or 845-256-9108.
Music For Humanity 7:30 PM - Free Performance Night at www.NobleRoasters.com in Campbell Hall. This monthly free musical evening features 3 outstanding local/regional performers. Music starts at 7:30PM. Arrive early for a seat. Contact Barry@MusicForHumanity or call 845-469-0900 for more information or, www.MusicForHumanity.org
Sunday: Clearwater Festival- Great Hudson River Revival Dawn to Dusk - A festival celebrating music and the environment. Seven stages with live music and performance artists! Featuring Steve Earle, Shawn Colvin, David Bromberg Quartet, Pete Seeger, Joan Osborne, Buckwheat Zydeco, Subdudes, Keller Williams, Railroad Earth, Donna the Buffalo, and many others. Other attractions include: Story Grove, World Dance Stage, Green Living Expo, Sails on the Clearwater and Mystic Whaler, Family Stage, Jugglers and Face Painting, Juried Crafts, Great Food, Hudson River Education Exhibits. For tickets and more information, see www.clearwaterfestival.org. Location: Croton Point Park, Croton, NY
Tag Sale to Benefit Victims of Blasting in Carmel 10AM - 6PM - 31 Mechanic Street in Carmel, next to the Gilead Cemetery. Plenty of antique and vintage items ...tools (blacksmith and farm), bric a brac, jewelry, dolls, etc. No Early Birds! Fox Tales  1PM - Gabrielle Foxs' one-act plays at the Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond Street at the corner of Lafayette, in NYC. The plays are being performed as part of the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity which consists of a series of 50 plays whose proceeds will be directed toward various charities.
Gabbie's three short plays are directed by Patterson's Tony Howarth and one of them, "The Graveyard Shift", was first staged right here in Putnam County then made into a short film by Kent's Chris Casaburi.
I've worked with both Tony and Gabby before but this is my first time playing the role of an actual stage manager and so far it's been a tremendous experience.
More information about the event is here. And, a great write-up from the NYJN is here. (Read it!)
Into the Future: Wednesday, June 23 Hudson Valley Science Café 7:00 PM - Topic: The Geology of the Hudson River Valley and the Art it inspired. Presenter: Gilbert Brenner, Ph.D., Retired Professor of Paleontology and Geology, SUNY New Paltz.
A Science Cafe is a monthly gathering in a Cafe, Pub or Restaurant, open to the public, with a short presentation of a topic followed by discussion. The essence of a Science Cafe is informality, with groups seated around tables with food and drink to encourage conversation. Hudson Valley Science Café usually meets on the 4th Wednesday of the month, except where noted. Website: http://www.cafescientifique.org/hudsonvalley.htm Meeting site: Diana's, 1015 Little Britain Road (Route 207), New Windsor (just east of Stewart Newburgh Airport, on the opposite side of the road from the airport entrance). See http://www.DIANASNY.com for menus and map. $3.00 admission fee includes coffee or tea. If you arrive at 6 PM, you can order from the Early Bird menu. No orders are taken during the Presentation (7:00-7:30).
Forum on Deer Management 7PM - The CCEDC Environment Program invites you to attend an Open Environment Forum on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 at 7:00pm to learn more Suburban Deer Management in New York State. The forum will be held at the Farm & Home Center, 2715 Route 44, Millbrook, NY 12545, with Guest Speaker Dr. Jay Boulanger from the Cornell University Department of Natural Resources.
Dr. Boulanger will discuss the problems of deer overpopulation and deer management options from a community and landowner perspective. The talk will also cover research-based information on the best management options and new experimental management research results. In the early 1900's there were an estimated 500,000 white-tailed deer in the US. Unregulated hunting threatened to eliminate the white-tailed deer from much of its range, and hunting regulations were put into place. Today there are over 20 million deer in the United States and numbers are rising. Densities may exceed 40 deer per square mile in some rural areas, and over 100 deer per square mile have been documented near many eastern metropolitan areas. Public concerns with deer overpopulation include crop damage, damage to landscape plants, deer/car collisions, transmission of Lyme Disease, and effects on habitat quality. Many communities are facing the challenge of managing locally-overabundant deer herds in areas closed to hunting.
The Forum is Free and Open to the Public. There is no pre-registration required, and light refreshments are provided. For more information, contact Vicky at (845) 677-8223 x153 or vcb4@cornell.edu.
Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County provides equal program and employment opportunities. The programs provided by this agency are partially funded by monies received from the County of Dutchess. For more information on the CCEDC Environment Program, see: www.ccedutchess.org.
Friday, June 25 Kid Jerusalem CD Release Party 6:30 PM - Cultural Center on Lake Carmel. Formerly known as "Nina Zhu and the Kids With No Morals," Kid Jerusalem is a rock/alternative band founded in the summer of 2008. Made up of talented and versatile musicians, the band now is comprised of Brad Schult, lyricist and vocalist, Adam Antezzo on drums, Steve Guigliano and Jed Handelman on guitars, and Keith Lauria on bass. Nina Zhu occasionally plays piano and supplies backing vocals. A local favorite, Kid Jerusalem's first EP CD on June 25th will be followed by a northeast tour. Also appearing with Kid Jerusalem: A Standard Protocol, The Parthenon, The Holding Company and special guests Dave Fleming and Matt Giordano of Locomotive Espada. Tickets: $5.00 – $8.00
Sunday, June 27 Kent CAC Hike to Wonder Lake State Park 10:30 AM - Meet at the parking area for Wonder Lake State Park on Ludingtonville Road. From there we'll hike to the south end of Wonder Lake using the hiking trails built last year by the New York New Jersey Trail Conference. From there we'll hike along the eastern shore to the lake's north end and return to the parking area. Don't forget to bring your lunch and water for the hike. Also, you may wish to bring a camera since there should be some great opportunities to photograph the mountain laurel in bloom along the shore of the lake.
This is a moderate hike that takes about three hours including a lunch break and stops to photograph the lake and (hopefully) the mountain laurel. If bad weather forces us to cancel the hike, I'll send an e-mail like this one and post the news on the Kent CAC programs page about an hour before the scheduled start. For further information contact hike leader George Baum.
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