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|  It's rare that the tabloid published in the city 25 miles east of here (the closest thing to a daily newspaper covering Sullivan County) publishes something that I consider qualifies as good investigative journalism, but today's " Disaster in waiting: What if the Neversink Reservoir Dam gave way?" is an exception. The piece, by Greg Bruno and Jessica Gardner, describes a worst-case scenario if the NYC water system's dam located near Grahamsville (about 45 minutes from Monticello) were to fail. There's a (PDF file) map showing the downriver area that would be innundated by a catastrophic structural loss of this nature. Obviously, a large region of countryside would be impacted the effects of such flooding; not just the villages and hamlets in the water's direct path. "According to a recent emergency action plan [by the NYC Department of Environmental Protection] intended to help communities prepare for a major dam collapse, full-scale breaching of the Neversink would paralyze the region, killing thousands," the article says. "Entire communities would vanish, from Hasbrouck to Port Jervis, leveling schools and inundating homes. At Foxcroft Village in Loch Sheldrake, where hundreds live in manufactured buildings, water would pulverize them in seconds. 'Dam failure would pose major threats to life and property to downstream communities," the plan predicts. "This damage would have regional impacts on Southeastern New York,'" the article continues. Politicians and bureaucrats quoted in the text don't sound too concerned about the possibility; which is compared to the failure of state and federal officials to heed pre-Katrina warnings about possible levee failures in New Orleans. I suspect that some of the sources quoted in the article will feel that the quotations attributed to them, and the context in which they are quoted, is unfair, but it's a sad fact that elected and appointed officials rarely do much of anything for the public good if they're not held accountable. It's certainly better that such accountability begin before a disaster occurs than to wait for a post-mortem. ( Article text is quoted here ) | |
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| Election results posted by the Sullivan County Board of Elections are here. Photos of election night at headquarters of Sheriff candidate Mike Schiff are here, and of his swearing-in at the legislative chambers in the Sullivan County Government Center, still recovering from this past summer's suspicious fire down the hall that wiped out the personnel and County Attorney's offices, here. The photo at the right is of an antique sign hanging in a TGI Friday's restaurant in Queens, photographed by me on the first of last month and doctored just a bit in Paint Shop Pro. | |
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| Making the most of what may be among the last warm days of the season, I walked from Monticello to Thompsonville to Bridgeville, then back into the village yesterday afternoon - eight miles, according to our good friends at google. Many times I take my camera when I go out walking, but the photo at right was taken with my cell phone. A little over-exposed in the sky perhaps (it was more pink, like in the lake), but not bad considering. When I say "warm days", I mean warm enough to comfortably go out in shorts and a t-shirt. The day was beautiful, though a heavy electrical storm blew in after dark (which is why I didn't post this last night). More seasonal photos that I've taken this year can be seen here, including some from Saturday's six-mile walk around Kiamesha Lake and the long defunct Concord Hotel, and similar routes walked throughout 2005. I'm not sure of the name of this lake. It's at the corner of old Route 17 and Rose Valley Road just east of Monticello, New York. | |
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| Shown at right is one of a number of shots taken from the Martin Jankiewicz' Piper Arrow, on a day trip from the Sullivan County Airport at White Lake to the Columbia County Airport near Catskill. More photos from this series are here. For much of the flight the Hudson River was in view, as well as the Catskill Mountains with the autumn leaf colors just a little past their peak. Before returning to White Lake, we flew past the Sullivan County Airport and down the Upper Delaware River valley from Cochecton to Narrowsburg. The ride was a little bumpy at some points, but both landings were perfectly smooth. The photo at right shows the Exit 105 cloverleaf on Interstate 86 (actually still Route 17, or the Quickway), which is now known on some maps the Southern Tier Expressway; along with a portion of the Village of Monticello and Town of Thompson, New York. | |
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| An old farmer decided he would run for a political office against a large political machine. When the votes were counted the farmer had won. No one understood how he did it, until someone asked the the farmer how he won. The farmer said the only way he could figure it out was that everyone who knew him voted for his opponent, and everyone who knew his opponent voted for him; and his opponent knew more people. (Courtesy of David Shaw.)
When it comes down to it, elections are serious business. It's just the campaigns that get silly.
"I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts."
- Will Rogers | |
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| BEACH LAKE, PA. – Participants scanned the skies prior the start of the start of the 13th annual Bud Rue Memorial Walk for Social Justice on October 17th, hoping for fair weather. For the most part, they got their wish. Aside from a few drops, rain held back yet again – as organizers said it has in past years – until the route was finished. More than two dozen UU members and friends took part with the Upper Delaware Unitarian Universalist Fellowship’s yearly five-mile trek along rural northeastern Pennsylvania’s dirt roads with the aim of benefiting local charities in Sullivan County, N.Y. and Wayne County, Pa. Local affiliate chapters of Habitat for Humanity in Wayne and Sullivan counties, Rape Intervention Services and Education (RISE) in Monticello, and the Victim’s Intervention Program (VIP) in Honesdale will receive 100% of the proceeds of funds raised on the walk. Since the first walk-a-thon held by the UU fellowship the small liberal religious congregation has raised more than $38,000. Past beneficiary groups, in addition to those named, have included Interfaith Outreach United of Callicoon, the Upper Delaware Land Trust, and the UU United Nations Office. Named in memory of the organizer of the walk-a-thon which the fellowship held in 1993, Bud Rue, the fellowship’s goal is to help meet community needs rather than merely serving its own membership, said to Tom Rue of Monticello, son of the walk’s namesake who took part in the event with his wife Carmen Rue. During the 1993 walk, after having advocated in fellowship meetings for the congregation to raise money for Habitat and other charities, and then taking the lead in organizing that first event, Bud Rue died of an apparent heart attack during the walk. Since then, fellowship members – including members of the Rue family each year – have continued the tradition that he began, naming the activity in Bud’s memory. After retiring from teaching secondary mathematics, Bud Rue and his wife Ann devoted much of their free time to founding Wayne County Habitat for Humanity. Although Bud began the initiative for the creation of the local chapter which has since built a number of houses for people in need, during his life he gave credit time and again to the other Habitat volunteers in Wayne County without whom the chapter wouldn’t have gotten off the ground. For more information about how to assist Wayne County HFH, see their website at rileycorners.com/habitat/. A few years later, Sullivan County Habitat was formed and is currently starting their second house, according to chapter Diane Garry who took part in the walk-a-thon. For details on donating to or joining HFH in Sullivan County, their website can be found at home.hvc.rr.com/habitat4sullivan/. VIP and RISE and VIP offer counseling to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. A crisis hotline operated by RISE is available 24 hours a day at (845) 794-9595; and a similar hotline by VIP serves Wayne County residents at (570) 253-4401. Information about activities of the Upper Delaware UU Fellowship can be found on the congregation’s website at uduuf.org or by calling lay minister Laurie Stuart at (845) 252-6626. Sunday meetings are held at 10 AM at the Beach Lake Community Center in Beach Lake, Pa. More photos of this event are available on the walk-a-thon's website. | |
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| Congratulations to editor/publisher Laura Stuart and the staff of The River Reporter on 30 successful years! | |
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| I came across an interesting article by a Danish medical environmentalist named L.G. Hersoug in the current issue of the engineering journal Indoor Air while browsing an EBSCO Biomedical Journals database tonight. It's personally interesting to me right now in particular because I've been sick all week; starting with the viral sore throat, followed by a relatively severe asthma attack which has coincided with some very damp weather. A "relatively" severe attack, I say, because since I started using Advair 10 years ago I've not had attacks anywhere approaching the severity as before. Ah steroids. ( Viruses as the causative agent related to ‘dampness’ and the missing link between allergen exposure and onset of allergic disease )Along related lines, here's a bibliography of scientific references on asthma and some reading material and links. A little broader in scope, the companion website for the book Our Stolen Future includes an extensive collection of references on the subject of disturbances to the fetal endocrine system caused by environmental contaminents common in the modern world. Back to the subject of viruses as a cause of asthma, this isn't something that I've heard much about. Generally, I think the most common non-psychogenic explanations of asthma that I've heard have related more to allergies. Under the heading of synchronicity, another item in the news this week was the awarding of the Nobel Prize for medicine for proving that peptic ulcers are caused by viruses rather than stress. At Royal Perth Hospital in Western Australia, Robin Warren and Barry Marshall worked “with tenacity and a prepared mind challenged prevailing dogmas”, the Karolinska Institute said in its Nobel citation. #And in more medical news, of the import that it really deserves top billing here, Merck Pharmaceutical reported this week that its experimental vaccine to protect against a virus that causes HPV and cervical cancer. A vaccine for cancer? How ironic that at a time of such miraculous advances, world health is threatened by a pandemic of bird flu threatening to kill millions and throw civilization into chaos. | |
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| I sent the following letter to The Sullivan County Democrat, The River Reporter, The Towne Crier, and The Times Herald-Record regarding a current candidate for Sheriff of Sullivan County: To the Editor:
Voters interested in reviewing 1992 and 1993 published accounts from three local papers describing the firestorm that followed disclosure that a Swastika and a cartoon of Black man being hanged decorated the locker-room of the Monticello police station may do so on the World Wide Web at tomrue.net (link # at upper right corner).
Attributed confirmation of present-day Sheriff candidate Frank Armstrong’s involvement is included there.
No one should not suppose that such overtly racist expressions were then, or are now, typical of Monticello's finest. It is precisely because they were so unusual and offensive that they were brought to light and a lengthy public discussion ensued.
Despite his involvement in this long-ago incident; the ex-officer in question is doubtless a good man at the core. It remains up to him to demonstrate that goodness now by doing the right thing and apologizing to the public, without reservation or excuse.
But my answer today is the same as it would have been if I were asked 13 years ago to vote for one of the officers involved in this incident for Sheriff. Thanks, but no.
Sincerely,
Tom Rue
Monticello | |
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| A few odd links on the medical treatment, or the lack thereof, for a viral sore throat...
Understanding the culture of prescribing: qualitative study of general
practitioners' and patients' perceptions of antibiotics for sore throats
by Christopher C Butler, Stephen Rollnick, Roisin Pill, Frances Maggs-Rapport,
and Nigel Stott, widely cited article in the British Medical Journal,
1998; 317: 637-642 ( Read published responses )
Viral Sore Throat : Adult
Health Advisor 2005.2
"The treatment of a viral sore throat is similar to that of the
common cold. Your health care provider will usually not prescribe antibiotics.
You can use analgesics to relieve minor pain. The treatment consists
of gargling with warm water. Some people feel more relief with warm,
salty water. Avoid contact with others until the symptoms are gone.
Get plenty of bed rest or otherwise limit activity until the fever is
gone." Related links on the same website.
Strep Throat Overview : eMedicine
Health
"Most cases of sore throat are caused by viruses and are not strep
throat. Viral sore throats do not need treatment. Symptoms of a viral
sore throat include a runny nose, cough, hoarseness, red or runny eyes,
and diarrhea. The viral sore throat improves on its own without any
treatment."
Sore
Throats : entnet.org
"While bacteria respond to antibiotic treatment, viruses do not."
Sore Throat:
Easing the Pain of a Sore Throat : familydoctor.org
"Antibiotics don't work against viruses. Infections caused by viruses
usually just have to run their course. Most symptoms caused by a cold-type
virus go away in a week to 10 days. "
Sore throat : MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
"Antibiotics are usually NOT wise in the absence of a positive
strep test or throat culture."
What
are antibiotics? : irishhealth.com
"Antibiotics are not effective against infections</a> caused by
viruses, so if you go to your doctor with a viral illness such as a
cold, flu or a viral sore throat, antibiotics have little or no role
to play." | |
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| Sensing that the mood of the country could turn mean or that the attack might be used by those who wished to make war for purposes of empirialism and global plundering, just four days after the September 11th attack I write an opinion article called "September 11th and the problem of evil" which was published in The Towne Crier of Livingston Manor and in The River Reporter of Narrowsburg, which said in part: ...I cannot agree with those who call for war. No matter how one tries, it is a hard thing to face up to unmitigated evil. Flying into those buildings was evil. I don't know the solution to evil in the world. But to think that a likely world war will stop future acts of terror on our soil, perhaps of the same or even a grander scale, is naive folly and ignores the lessons of history. Four years later, where have Bush's wars gotten the U.S.? Has he rid the world of weapons of mass destruction? Has he made the world safer from Al Quida, the Talaban, and the like? The answers are fairly obvious, as any unbiased observer must admit.
Asking similar questions, this column came to me this morning, forwarded by a regular reader of LouRockwell.com:
( Read 'Where's Osama' by Anthony Gregory )
A few months after the attack, I compiled some family photos and memories into an a page entitled The World Trade Center: A vanished landmark.
In the spring of 2004, my sister published an article in Designer magazine entitled Hope on the Fence. | |
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Above Skinners Falls on the Upper Delaware
| </td> In the background of the photo at right, on the bridge at Milanville, Pennsylvania, the Skinners Falls rapids can be seen - which canoeists and other recreationists find to be the most challenging such rapids on the entire stem of the river. The Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River is administered by the National Park Service under authority of the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. The last major free-flowing river in the northeast, the Delaware is the primary source of drinking water for the river basin, which includes greater metropolitan New York City, Philadelphia, Trenton, and numerous other urban, suburban, and rural communities. Land along the upper portion of the river is privately owned, while the environmental integrity of the water and river valley is balanced with economic needs for land and water use; which are managed and coordinated by the Upper Delaware Council - a nonprofit consortium of federal and state agencies with representatives from several of the 15 river towns and townships between Hancock and Port Jervis under a river management plan adopted in the mid-1980s. - On the Milanville Bridge, built 1901, renovated in the mid-1980s, The River Reporter, Tom Rue
- The river law, 10 years later, 1978 to 1988, The River Reporter, Tom Rue
- Delightful detours in Wayne and Pike Counties, Pennsylvania, 1988, Doug Hay & Tom Rue [viewers]
- History of the Delaware Community Center, Callicoon, N.Y., Tom Rue, 1988 [viewers] (eight miles upriver)
- Lenape-English Dictionary, Daniel G. Brinton and Frederick D. Stone, 1889 [viewers]
- Treaty with the Delaware, U.S. Department of Interior, 1778 [viewers]
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| The Middletown Thrall Library of Orange County, New York has put up a huge collection of informative links on Katrina entitled Hurricane Katrina Information Guide. Here's one particularly striking article on the subject: By Marjorie Cohn t r u t h o u t | Perspective Saturday 03 September 2005 Last September, a Category 5 hurricane battered the small island of Cuba with 160-mile-per-hour winds. More than 1.5 million Cubans were evacuated to higher ground ahead of the storm. Although the hurricane destroyed 20,000 houses, no one died. ( Read More ) | |
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| The level of Kiamesha Lake looked lower than usual today, reflecting this season's scarce rainfall, I suppose. As I walked along Concord Road today I stopped to take a few pictures of the source of Monticello's drinking water. Ordinarily it's impossible to get to the shore at this spot without getting wet because of the slope of the bank, but today there were several yards more than usual of dry land. The name of the lake derives from a Native American term for "clear water" and was formerly known as "Pleasant Lake"; source of the name "Pleasant Street", also known as NYS Route 42, which extends out from Monticello in a northernly direction. Kiamesha Lake is located at 41.683N latitude and -74.661W longitude. In the distance, the water filtration plant can be seen. The plant has a capacity of 2.4 MGD, though average consumption flows range from 0.85 MGD in the winter to 1.0 MGD in the summer. Water is pumped from the lake through a flashmix and flocculation chamber, clarifier tank and a series of gravity sand filters, with filtered water discharged into a large capacity clearwell under the main plant building. Water flows are disinfected by gas chlorination and piped into the village, according to a report by Monticello village engineer Glenn Smith posted on the website of the Washington-based Right-To-Know Network. During the American Civil War, Pleasant Lake was the site of Camp Holley, where Union troops and new recruits awaited departure. The camp was along what is now Route 42 or Pleasant Street (then the Newburgh/Cochecton Turnpike) about 500 feet before the traffic light in at Concord Road. Near the area as the present Leisure Time Water & Ice Co. garage, the encampment was located on the shoreline and extended in both directions from there. Around 1984, a civil war oven was found in the mud during a drought when the lake level was very low, according to former village manager George Panchshyn. A cast marker denotes the spot along route 42 at the spot the camp was located. ( Read about a recent aborted attempt to incorporate Kiamesha Lake as a village ) |
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| Every crisis is an opportunity, and for one young New Orleans man the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina became an opportunity to show the mettle of his character by, of all things, stealing a school bus. This past Thursday's edition of The Houston Chronicle carried an account of the heroic actions of a boy who was determined not to let the fact that he'd never driven a bus before stand in the way of getting himself and his neighbors out of their flooded city. Chronicle columnist Rick Casey then commented: When I heard President Bush on Thursday morning call for "zero tolerance of people breaking the law during an emergency such as this," it gave me shivers.... [because] Wednesday, 20-year-old Jabbar Gibson modestly confessed that he had commandeered a school bus in New Orleans, then picked up about 70 passengers before heading out for the 13-hour trek to Houston.
Had Gibson been apprehended in New Orleans, he'd probably be in jail (bus theft is a felony). On MSNBC, I watched as a family was arrested after allegedly stoling a car to try to leave New Orleans. Gibson's action was, as Casey notes, "heroic." Color me one who would steal bread for my family, if push came to shove like it has for many who are stranded. The Chronicle's description of Gibson's courage helps to balance some the widespread bias in its portrayal poor black victims. ( School bus comandeered by renegade refugees first to arrive at Astrodome, The Houston Chronicle, September 1, 2005 )( Teenager snatches bus to save dozens, The Times of London, September 4, 2005 ) | |
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| Out for a walk this afternoon, I passed some members of the Monticello Senior Citizens Club selling lemonade and tea in a front yard on Fraser Ave. When I asked if they were raising funds specifically for survivors of Hurricane Katrina, the lady at left replied, "Of course!" Some links to recent items in The New York Times: | |
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| Before leaving the house this morning, I sent the following letter: Editor:
The desperation given eloquent voice  by Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans speaks to the ineffectual leadership in Washington. It's unfortunate that Mayor Nagin is not sitting in the White House, rather than in a city in ruins.
Bush took advantage of 9/11 to rationalize his looting and conquest of Iraq. He led us into a pointless war against a country that had not attacked us, and has wasted billions of dollars and thousands of barrels of innocent blood to portray himself as a patriotic "wartime president" while pursuing imperialist objectives in the middle east.
It was known and widely reported in the media in advance of Hurricane Katrina making landfall that an unprecedented national disaster was likely, yet thousands of indigent and sick people were left to fend for themselves. A training exercise called "Hurricane Pam" included a scenario similar to what now exists there, and yet the Homeland Security Administration was distracted and unprepared.
There can be no excuse for the disintegration of society that New Orleans is witnessing. If George Bush is not accountable for it, no one is. He can't pass the buck any more.
Sincerely,
Tom Rue
Monticello, NY Published September 6, 2005 in the Times Herald-Record of Middletown, N.Y. | |
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| In stark contrast to what I wrote here last night about there being no words for the human despair along the Gulf Coast, journalists are rarely at a loss for words. Words make up language and language shapes the thoughts and worldviews which ultimately determine social policy. Floods and other great social stressors wash away the polite veneer of white privilege and expose the underlying injustices, corruption, and inequalities. Or to paraphrase Isaiah, they "shall sweep away the refuge of lies and the waters shall overflow the hiding place." BoingBoing.net posts examples (see Black people loot, White people find) where the color of the subject's skin determined how their survival measures are described by copy writers. Similar observations are posted on PointerOnline, which advertises that it offers "everything you need to be a better journalist", including discussion on 'Found' vs. 'Looted'. In remarks to the press today, multi-millionaire George Bush fumed that "looters" in New Orleans and elsewhere "should be treated with 'zero tolerance.'" This while thousands of starving refugees who have been waiting for days now for promised federal aid grow more desperate and angry. Many of these people are hungry, thirsty, and some continue to die - while our national leader looks as ineffectual as ever. Consider this exchange between White House spokesman Scott McClellan with a reporter today: Q: Scott, do you cited the President's zero tolerance for insurance fraud, looting, price gouging. Does he make any allowance for people who have yet to receive aid who are taking things like water or food or shoes to walk among the debris?
MR. McCLELLAN: I think you heard from the President earlier today about his zero tolerance. We understand the need for food and water and supplies of that nature. That's why we have a massive effort underway to continue getting food and water and ice to those who are in need. There are ways for them to get that help. Looting is not the way for them to do it. Meanwhile, thousands of refugees are wondering where the beef is, as they sit idly in sick and sweltering in shelters and stranded on rooftops or bridges waiting for Washington to get its act together. ( Read 'The Storm After the Storm' column by David Brooks in today's NY Times )And back on the topic global warming, mentioned here the day before the storm hit, today's New York Times discusses Bush's dismal failure of leadership, concluding with this sentence: "Complacency will no longer suffice, especially if experts are right in warning that global warming may increase the intensity of future hurricanes. But since this administration won't acknowledge that global warming exists, the chances of leadership seem minimal."( Read 'Waiting for a Leader' editorial in today's NY Times )Link to Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman - The Drowning of New Orleans - Hurricane Devastation Was Predicted | |
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| The edge of what was Katrina may be reaching this area now. As I put gas in the car on my way home from work, wind was gusting and rain coming down hard. I realized that tomorrow it will be September and the the harvest is past. I thought of those on the gulf coast with the horrific losses and traumas they've been through these last few days. There aren't words to describe the pictures on TV of New Orleans and its environs. Ripples of this catastrophe will effect society for years, perhaps as deeply as the dustbowl rent our social fabric. These neuvo homeless will spread across the country, perhaps in greater concentration in cities close to home, or perhaps not. After all, it's still a free country more or less, and we hope these Americans will be as welcome in Albany, Boston, Peoria, Vegas, or Laguna Beach as they presently seem to be in Houston. But after the more privileged and wealthy of the refugees have made new lives for themselves, will the same widespread public sympathy still exist for the lower economic classes of displaced people still left whose needs will take longer and more investment to meet? Isn't it amazing how quickly the illusion of social order can disappear. | |
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| These notes are edited from an e-mail recently written to some old friends thinking of bringing their family to camp near the Skinners Falls on the Delaware River, a popular spot for canoeists and other recreationists.Among the natural resources in this region is the Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River, administered as a unit of the National Park Service, which in 1978 Congress marked for special protection. Since that time, the U.S. Department of the Interior, together with riverfront towns and townships above Sparrowbush, as well as the State of New York and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, have cooperated to plan and enforce zoning and other laws designed to protect the scenic river. In more recent years, added protection against overdevelopment has been given to NYS Route 97, the scenic byway that snakes alongside the river from Hancock to Port Jervis. ( Read More ) | |
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| As the city of New Orleans and its environs prepare for the landfall of hurricane Katrina, meteorologists on television are warning of a possible "catastrophe of biblical proportions" even as large areas are being undergoing mandatory evacuation. One scenario envisions 30 feet of water spilling into New Orleans, where ground elevation runs from 5 feet (1.5 m) below sea level to 17 feet (5.1m) above. If such a massive and powerful flood were to occur, one can imagine that the shoreline of Lake Pontchartrain could be permanently altered and much of the present New Orleans metropolitan area remain underwater. Today's edition of The Washington Post (8/28/05) projects a possible million homeless and warns: "When Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans on Monday, it could turn one of America's most charming cities into a vast cesspool tainted with toxic chemicals, human waste and even coffins released by floodwaters from the city's legendary cemeteries." This year is not the first time that an " Atlantis scenario" has been feared for New Orleans. In 2004, an article USA Today began: "More than 1.2 million people in metropolitan New Orleans were warned to get out Tuesday as 140-mph Hurricane Ivan churned toward the Gulf Coast, threatening to submerge this below-sea-level city in what could be the most disastrous storm to hit in nearly 40 years." The day before hurricane Katrina made landfall (8/28/05), Jefferson Parish, Louisiana emergency manager Dr. Walter Maestri described what his office viewed as the worst case scenario. Maestri remarked to a CNN reporter, "This is the one agency in government that not only is allowed to pray, it's demanded. We've got callouses on our knees in this business." Maestri has criticized federal policy-makers for cutting funds to the Federal Emergency Management Agency when FEMA was folded into the Department of Homeland Security as short-sighted. Historically, New Orleans' location was chosen because of its easy access to the Mississippi River through Lake Pontchartrain and Bayou St. John. Little was known in the city's early years of the weather's power on the Gulf coast, or how hurricanes developed. In early October of 1778 a storm surge destroyed the settlements of the Balize, Bayou St. John, and Tigouyou. All structures were wiped out of existence. The following August, William Dunbar made scientific observations on the nature of tropical storms and hurricanes which were presented to the American Philosophical Society in 1801. Dunbar described that 1779 storm as "the most dreadful ever remembered...the village presents the most pitiful sight." Since then, many destructive storms have taken heavy tolls on people and ecosystems on the Gulf Coast. Katrina, however, is today being forecast as likely among the worst storms to hit the region in recorded history. ( Read More ) | |
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| Now that former presidential candidate Pat Robertson has turned to issuing fatwa-like death threats, why hasn't the FCC stepped in with another of its regulatory sanctions? The comparison to the accidental baring of Janet Jackson's boob at the Superbowl is a good one. She apologized for the "wardrobe malfunction", yet stations were still fined a chilling sum for the unintentional broadcast. Naturally, it's unlikely that the Bush administration will take any such action against one of their most ardent supporters on the Christian right. (See Groups call for FCC to investigate Pat Robertson by Cox News Service). An international uproar broke out last week when Rev. Robertson called for the assassination of a democratically elected foreign head of state. On August 22nd he called for President Hugo Chávez of Venezuala to be killed. Using his 700 Club program as a forum to spout his violent screed, Robertson said on national TV: ( Read More ) | |
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| The handwriting on the wall (shown at right) has it that George W. Bush is a Nazi. I walked past this wall today at the end of Concord Road, in Kiamesha Lake, New York. This was a photo that I took last spring of the political mural. It's no small irony that particular statement should appear on the walls of a defunct historically Jewish hotel in the midst of the Catskills' borscht belt. The expression "handwriting on the wall" harkens back to the Jewish prophet Daniel who was asked to interpret the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (Iraq) wherein a graffito was written by a mysterious finger. "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Uparsin," wrote the finger on the wall. ( Read More ) | |
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| The American Red Cross is holding one of its blood drives at Catskill Regional Medical Center. Personally, I'm not able to participate today, though I donated at the last one and will most likely do so next time. If you haven't given blood lately, check out the website of Northeast Pennsylvania Region of the Red Cross, which serves this area. There you can register to receive notifications of upcoming drives. | |
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| There was nice weather at Point Pleasant beach in New Jersey with family, where I read half of a biography of Alfred Adler (Phyllis Bottome, Vanguard Books, 1957 *). His ideas seem to me more in line with more present-day family systems theories and cognitive behavioral therapies than even Jung's, or certainly Freud's. It's interesting and unfortunate that Adler doesn't get more credit for revolutionizing psychology. I guess that's what comes of dying young. As to the beach, the ocean was cold, but I dove into the waves a few times. Ever notice how the sand slides out from under your feet as the wave recedes; almost enough to knock you down? The sun burned my ankles, but not bad. It was a nice day. ( A few quotations attributed to Adler ) | |
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| While walking along West 42nd Street in Manhattan today, near the place in the Hudson River where the USS Intrepid and where Circle Line cruise ships dock, a group of Chinese women and men sat lotus-style on the sidewalk. While a couple members held out banners, the majority sat staring straight ahead in silent meditative protest of the persecution of their compatriots in China in their home country. "Falun Dafa", I understand, originally refered to the movement that practices Falun Gong. Now the movement itself is being called by the name of its practice, Falun Gong. Confused? Maybe it's not the first religion to assume a nickname given to it by outsiders, like Mormons for example. Falun Gong (pronounced fah- luhn goong) and means "the Practice of the Wheel of the Dharma" which religioustolerance.org describes as largely a spiritual movement that incorporates Buddhist and Taoist principles, Qigong (body, mind and physical exercises), and healing tecnhiques. ( Read More ) | |
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| On my way home from a doctor's appointment this afternoon, I tuned into WAMC in the middle of what I found to be a fascinating lecture on healthcare economics. The central thesis, from what I could gather, was that America has fallen behind the rest of the world in the quality of care that it delivers because of a value system in which the acquisition of wealth and power, which rests in the hands of a tiny fraction at the top of the social pyramid, is placed above the common good; while the majority of is manipulated into wanting things that they don't have rather than providing caring to each other. The speech made a number of points which were impressive enough to me that I made a mental note to try to find it on the web when I reached home. Using a few key words, google informed me that the speaker was Stephen Bezruchka, M.D., MPH, a senior lecturer at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Department of Health Services. I couldn't find a transcript of the actual broadcast that I heard today, although I did discover some other material by Dr. Bezruchka and the Public Health Forum that he heads that included the identical points that I heard on the radio. ( Read More ) | |
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| Depicting an afternoon hiking the Heritage Trail in Winding Hills Park in Montgomery, New York, an album of photos summarizes the walk, plus a few photos taken on the way home in the Town of Mamakating, Sullivan County. The park is maintained by the Orange County Department of Public Works. Click here to view album. | |
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| This is not new, but clearly in the category of worth noting. I just came across the website of The Baghdad Museum Project, an Iraqi-headed non-profit organization attempting to save the remnants of the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad, following the looting of the museum in April, 2003, by means of the following goals:- establish a comprehensive online catalog of all cultural artifacts in the museum's collection,
- create a virtual Baghdad Museum that is accessible to the general public over the Internet,
- build a 3D collaborative workspace within the virtual Baghdad Museum for design and fundraising purposes, and
- establish a resource center within the virtual Baghdad Museum for community cultural development.
Related External Links:
Mary Ellen O'Connell (2004). Occupation Failures and the Legality of Armed Conflict: The Case of Iraqi Cultural Property . Art, Antiquity and Law, Vol. 9, December. [PDF]
Catherine Phuong (2004). The protection of Iraqi cultural property, International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 53(4):985-998. [PDF]
Anne Hitchcock (2003). Through the fog of war, The George Wright FORUM, 20(4):28-40. [PDF]
Michael J. Thompson (ed.) (2003). Logos: A journal of modern society and culture, Special issue on Iraq, 2(1), Winter. [PDF] | |
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| Gang tags are becoming more common on the streets of Monticello. "Who cares?" you say? After all, it's just graffiti, right? Think again. Leaving them in place allows those who perpetrated the defacements the impression (true or not) that this territory is indeed their turf. This invites responses in the form of other criminal activities by rival gangs (Crips, Bloods, etc.) -- each of whom also have an evident presence in Monticello. Such rivalries can quickly escalate well from petty crime like criminal mischief (graffiti) to thefts, drug trafficking, crimes against persons, including potential large-scale violence -- resulting in wasted lives and serious harm to the fabric of the local community. I can't help but wonder why these tags are allowed to remain visible, without code enforcement -- or at the very least, a police "request" to the property owner to cover or remove them. In the case of public property like road signs, I can see no reason at all to explain a delay in removing the messages other than neglect or a failure to realize the significance of the tags. There are similar tags on an abandoned bungalow on Joyland Road in the Town of Thompson, which I realize is out of your jurisdiction -- but close enough to be relevant and of interest. A few of the attached photos show the back of Mountain Fruits on Broadway (taken from Pleasant View Drive) with graffiti declaring "L.K for life" with two gold crowns appearing beside a reference to the "East Side Gang". Other apparent gang markings appear on a DPW road signs where Joyland Road intersects with the Exit 106 overpass by Route 17. If you have ever had an open discussion with any reformed gang members, or heard experts on this topic explain the meaning of these markings, you will understand that these are not innocent expressions or adolescent nonsense. It seems to me that the community could take a more proactive prevention approach by actively seeking the removal of gang-related graffiti as one important step in communicating to gang members and educating parents and others that this territory is not theirs, but belongs to a civilized society. I am not suggesting "profiling" or targeting of minorities. There are other, better ways to approach this problem. For years we have been told there is a "war on dirt" in Monticello, and yet the Village looks worse than ever. I suggest that the village give gang tags such as these special priority in this supposed war, along with taking other meaningful coordinated community educational and enforcement actions to curb gang activity, and while at the same time supporting positive and healthy youth activities. Link to a Powerpoint slideshow on responding to inter-gang conflicts on the website of Center for Problem Oriented Policing. ( Signs of a problem: Acknowledged or not, gangs leaving their mark ) | |
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| During a walk to Thompsonville today I shot about a bunch of pictures along the way, including several of one of Sullivan County's oldest cemeteries where the caretaker has mounted a couple of poems by Robert Frost{ 1}{ 2} on the stockade fence surrounding the plot. See full set of photos. According to my late friend and local historian Bert Feldman: "William A. THOMPSON (1762-1847) was a native of Connecticut who settled in what is now the town bearing his name circa 1796 where he erected a gristmill. A Yale graduate and lawyer, Thompson had invested in large tracts of land (at a dollar an acre!) in this area, and decided to settle here. In 1802 he was named Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ulster County, and, in 1803, became the first County Judge of Sullivan County. He built a mansion at Thompsonville, and had hoped that that village would become the county seat. In his later career he became an authority on fossils and was a member of many learned societies. He outlived three wives and was the father of 16 children!" At right is the grave of Judge Thompson's, after whom the hamelet of Thompsonville and its parent township are named. Judge Thompson built Sullivan County's first mill and factory, at Thompsonville. Nowadays there's not much more to Thompsonville than a few houses and a post office. A booklet commemorating the 1954 sesquicentennial celebration of nearby Monticello reports: "Two miles eastward, the village of Albion (now Thompsonville) [Note: Quinlan has it as "Albion Mills"] had been settled by Judge William A. Thompson, in the late 1790's. (The Town of Thompson was named for him - a compliment of which he was justly proud, especially as it is the only town which bears the name of a citizen of the county.) It contained a saw-mill, a tavern, and a grist-mill (for the grinding of grains), and seemed on its way to being "the" important community of the Town. While Judge Thompson was settling his village, the "Newburgh and Cochecton Turnpike Company" was chartered to build a road connecting the Hudson and Delaware Rivers." Also buried in the Thompson family plot are a number of Strattons. Local Masonic historian Alfred O. Benton, "Johnathan Stratton is believed to have been a member of Sullivan Lodge but unfortunately there are no records to verify it. But whether he was or not, he was highly respected and an asset to the community, having been honored by President John Quincy Adams with an appointment which made him Thompsonville's first postmaster." Related External Links: | |
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| Depression affects as many as 1 in 5 Americans in any given year.( *) If left untreated, it can be fatal. Treatment options include a wide array of counseling approaches and medications. Keep in mind that it can take several weeks for some many medications of this type to begin working. When discussing antidepressants with a therapist or doctor, do not hesititate to ask detailed questions about side-effects, and to talk about any concerns you may have once you begin. Many go away after a few weeks, and yet side effects are still the most common reason people stop taking antidepressants against their doctor's advice. If, as a consumer/patient, you're uncomfortable talking freely with your doctor, consider another doctor! I'll add to these links as I have time. If you find any that don't work, have any links of your own to add (hold the spam please), or if you have any general comments on this topic, feel free to comment below. ( Read More ) | |
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| Generally speaking, I try to walk every day. But a rule of thumb that I've had is that when there's precipitation, I tend to stay inside. By the late morning the sky was still grey, but then the rain seemed to subside. So rather than use the treadmill, I went out. No sooner was I a block from the house when the rain picked up again. Soon it was a steady flow, not like the cloudbursts we've had in recent weeks, and without electrical activity. Air temperature was in the low seventies -- comfortable -- so I kept up the pace, following my usual route around Rock Ridge Drive, Concord Road past Kiamesha Lake to Route 42, and back to the village, which I've measured at 3.6 miles. My chief concern was, not so much melting like the Wicked Witch of Oz fame, but with the iPod which Janesa, Eddie and Carolina together gave me for Father's Day possibly getting wet. Almost as this occurred to me, on the shoulder I spotted a small white plastic bag about the size of a handkerchief. That's what I thought it was at first glance. It looked fresh and clean when I looked closer found that it said "Blockbuster Video" in blue block type. It was likely recently tossed from a passing window by some careless litterbug who had not a clue that their mindlessness would prove a serendipitous service. I picked up the bag, which had been trash but was now just what I needed, shook off the beaded raindrops (it was dry inside), deposited the Shuffle therein and wadded the package into my pocket, music still humming. Later, Carmen and I went after dinner to the Bean Bag sandwich and ice cream stand near the raceway for frozen yogurt, and then to our favorite retailer (he said sarcastically) to purchase four items (well, four if you count a pair of slippers as two items). It took us over an hour to get in and out, thanks to a refusal to keep an adequate number of cashiers on duty. So much for the promise of those good-paying jobs made before Wal-Mart came to town. | |
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| I wrote an article today on Bridgeville (see yesterday's entry) for Wikipedia, in addition to some edits to related pages (i.e. Monticello, Town of Thompson, and S.C.C.C. - each of which erroneously located the college in the Thompson rather than in Loch Sheldrake, Town of Fallsburg); and a bare bones user page for myself. | |
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| The air was thick with humidity under the blazing sun. I stopped at Bridgeville and placed my hat, shirt, socks, shoes, and camera on a rock under the bridge and cooled myself in the river. Before resuming my trek, I drenched my shirt in the clear water of the Neversink. Pictured at right is the cornerstone of New York State's first covered bridge (built 1807, demolished 1923). The hamlet of Bridgeville is in the Thompson, Sullivan Co., N.Y. Photos of the original covered bridge can be seen on a site devoted to hearby Rock Hill. A set of the Bridgeville images that I shot today are available on flickr. If you like these Sullivan County pictures, there's a buttload more on my website. Here's a satellite photo of the vicinity which I did not take. | |
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| Do you or someone you know have Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder? Essential features of ADHD are a persistent pattern of inattention and impulsivity, with or without hyperactivity. Symptons first appear in childhood and may persist into adulthood. These are a few links that I've stuck together. I'll add more as time goes by. If you find any that don't work, or if you have any to add or any general thoughts on the subject, feel free to comment. ( Read More ) | |
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| | You scored as Existentialism. Your life is guided by the concept of Existentialism: You choose the meaning and purpose of your life.
"Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does."
"It is up to you to give [life] a meaning."
--Jean-Paul Sartre
"It is man's natural sickness to believe that he possesses the Truth."
--Blaise Pascal
Existentialism | | 100% | Hedonism | | 90% | Utilitarianism | | 65% | Justice (Fairness) | | 60% | Kantianism | | 45% | Strong Egoism | | 35% | Apathy | | 20% | Divine Command | | 0% | Nihilism | | 0% | </td>
What philosophy do you follow? (v1.03)
created with QuizFarm.com |
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| I just received an e-mail from the good folks at moveon.org announcing the availability of this fine document:  | |
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| The following class was approved today by the course review committee of UniversalClass.com and is open to the public:  | |
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| When Carmen and I went for a walk this evening, the sunset over Monticello's main street hung in the sky like an orange balloon. Telephone and electrical cables have been edited out, illustrating the improved appearance when cables are placed underground. ( Check out the picture ) | |
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| Born August 2, 1934 in Detroit, Clyde B. Rue, known through his life to family and friends as "Bud", would have been 71 years old today, though it's hard for me to imagine -- either him at that age, or that the years pass so quickly. Even more, this fall I will be the same age that he was when the photo at left was taken. He died October 24, 1993 at age 59. Link to Bud Rue Memorial Walk for Social Justice. ( Biographical Summary ) | |
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| Thie following letter ran in today's issue of the Times Herald-Record of Middletown, New York: It's good to see some positive coverage given to Camp La Guardia by the Record. "Homeless shelter is proving successful" (July 24) gives a rare glimpse of healthy changes that have occurred since VOA began administering the 773-bed men's Chester homeless shelter seven years ago. It's time to see and portray big-city social problems, together with our region's suburban and more rural struggles, as connected.
It matters less that residents of Camp La Guardia may have recently lived in the city (though many have also lived upstate and elsewhere during their lifetimes) than it does that they deserve as much as the wealthy and middle class to benefit from the promises of America's social compact. Rather than a place to crash and eat, successful treatment, training and placement programs offered at Camp La Guardia make a genuine difference for its residents -- and slowly, by extension, of society's overall fabric.
True patriotism is not simply belligerence and nationalistic pride. Americans fortunate enough to have homes and enough to eat demonstrate love of country, as residents in Orange, Sullivan, Ulster and other counties have done, by lending support to domestic social programs like this and others that make the U.S. a stronger and better nation.
Tom Rue
Monticello
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| Carmen and I spent the day swimming at High Point State Park in Sussex County, New Jersey; and I climbed the stairs of the monument for the first time in many years. It recently reopened after a lenthy renovation. The 220-foot tall obelisk was constructed as a memorial to fallen soldiers after World War I, but regardless of the intent of its builders, it provides unrivaled scenic vistas of New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. A map of the area is graciously provided by the good people at google. | |
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| This is a letter was written to a local physician in the Sullivan County area concerning specific treatment and support resources for addicts and alcoholics in the mid-Hudson region. It's posted here on the chance that the information may be of help to someone else. The name of the addressee and a few small portions of the letter have been redacted from this copy.
Opinions expressed below, as elsewhere in this blog and website, are mine alone and are not made on behalf of any other person, agency, or organization.
( Read More ) | |
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|  While spending the morning at the hospital in preparation for impending endoscopic sinus surgery (not a big deal, hopefully), a gracioius x-ray tech graciously provided me a copy of the CD containing my close to 150 CT images of my skull. Here's one - which is quite enough, I think. | |
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