Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Press Conference at Three O'Clock Springs

Tomorrow I'm the featured speaker at a press conference called to discuss issues with the PennEast/UGI pipeline.  I won't be upset if you don't read the whole thing, since it is about eight minutes long, but I manage to quote both Alfred E. Newman and the poet Gary Snyder near the end.  Here's what I'm planning to say:

Welcome to Three O’Clock Springs, which is part of the Wild Creek Watershed, which is part of the Pohopoco Watershed, which is part of the Lehigh River Watershed, which is part of the Delaware River Watershed.  It has been suggested that a reasonable way to organize municipal boundaries would be by watershed, an idea that I believe has merit.

I have a slight personal connection to Three O’Clock Springs.  My great-grandfather Hiram once lived at the corner of 903 and Hatchery Road, and one dry summer was forced to make the trip down here to fetch water.  Soon after that he moved to what is now Pohopoco Drive on land with its own reliable spring.

The PennEast/UGI fracking gas pipeline will run between where we are standing and the Turnpike, heading south across Wild Creek Cove and Beltzville Lake.  Where we are standing is the headwaters of Wild Creek, the main tributary for the Penn Forest and Wild Creek reservoirs, the source of drinking water for over 3000 businesses and 115,000 people in Bethlehem and the surrounding area.

The construction corridor of the Pipeline will be 100 feet across except on steeper slopes, where it will be 125 feet across.  The permanent open corridor will be 50 feet across, leading to further fragmentation of the forest and providing a pathway for invasive plants.  The yellow rope you see stretched out shows you just how wide the corridors will be.  [At this point two guys will stretch out a 125 foot rope.]

The next speaker will discuss the problems created for streams and wetlands, but I would like to focus specifically on problems created for the Water Authority.  The Authority has been an excellent steward of the land.  It has worked extensively with the Nature Conservancy to ensure that its polices are environmentally sound. 

One deleterious effect of the Pipeline for the Authority will be a lessening of the amount of carbon credits the Authority will be able to sell.  Fewer trees mean fewer credits available.  

Potential damage to the Wild Creek Reservoir because of blasting during the construction phase and afterward with a possible Pipeline explosion are also concerns that the Authority has raised.  From what I have seen of thePennEast/UGI published material, these concerns have never been adequately addressed.

Another worrisome issue is that the Pipeline crosses the water main that carries the water from Wild Creek to Bethlehem.  The first crossing is near Route 209; the second time is near the Appalachian Trail.  There is only one main with no redundancy.  Were a pipeline explosion to occur, 115,000 people could be without water for months.

These issues were not addressed adequately by PennEast/UGI, which seems to take the attitude of Alfred E. Newman, “What, me worry?”


Finally, I would like to read you a sentence from the poet Gary Snyder’s essay Coming into the Watershed,  “...we who live in terms of centuries rather than millions of years must hold the watershed and its communities together, so our children might enjoy the clear water and fresh life of this landscape we have chosen.” 

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Putin in the Middle East

In the international arena, the Rolling Stones were right.  You can’t always get what you want.  President Assad of Syria was a bad leader.  His regime jailed and tortured opponents.  When a revolt against his government broke out, he had no compunction about using cluster bombs and poison gas.

On the other hand, he stopped using poison gas after international pressure, and his opponents morphed into ISIS.

The U.S. is backing some rather ineffectual rebels.  We don’t coordinate with Iranian opponent of ISIS, because Republican Congress members see Iran as an implacable enemy.  We don’t want to support Putin’s efforts on behalf of Assad because we worry about Russian influence in the Middle East.


My take on this is that Assad is better than ISIS in the same way that Stalin was better than Hitler.  Churchill, when asked about the alliance with Stalin, said he would make an alliance with the Devil to defeat Hitler.  Assad and Putin may be devils, but they are better than ISIS.

Monday, September 28, 2015

Progress on global warming?

In December international representatives will meet in Paris to try to strike a new global climate agreement to reduce global warming.  According to an an analysis by a group called Climate Interactive, if all the pledges by all the countries so far are carried out, by the end of this century the planet’s climate will increase by about 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit instead of 8.1 degrees if countries continue on their present course.  (See “Progress Seen on Warming, With a Caveat” by Justin Gillis and Somini Sengupta in today’s Times.)

The good news is that the Pope has called for action, our President realizes how serious this problem is, and even China is moving aggressively to reduce greenhouse gasses.  

The bad news is that certain groups (Republicans in Congress, members of ISIS, religious fundamentalists) deny global warming even exists, in spite of clear scientific evidence to the contrary.


The really bad news is that even if countries carry out their pledges, we will have drought, famine, species extinction, wars over water and crops, sea level rise, and a world in just 85 years that none of us would recognize.  I shudder when I think what today’s kids, including my own grandson, will inherit.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

The Tannersville Cranberry Bog

Earlier this week Linda and I and five other participants were part of a guided tour through the Tannersville Cranberry Bog.  The bog is a remnant of the last ice age, when glaciers carved out a basin and dropped seeds from northern latitudes, giving the bog the appearance of a Canadian landscape, right down to the Canadian warbler, which nests in the bog.

The bog was the third purchase by the Nature Conservancy way back in the Fifties.  When the Conservancy sees an important ecological tract, the organization simply buys it.  I am pleased to be a member.

We saw an amazing variety of plants, including pitcher plants and sundews, both of which eat insects.  I finally saw what poison sumac looks like, and we saw two kinds of cranberries.  The creek that flows by the side of the bog contains river otters, and the bog itself is home to bears, coyotes, and bobcats.  Our guide, who spends quite a bit of time in the bog, has never seen a bobcat, but they are there, since they have been photographed by trail cameras on the boardwalk.


A number of trails on the property are open to the public, but you must be accompanied by a guide to go into the actual bog.

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Adios, John Boehner

He should have quit a long time ago.  He couldn’t keep the crazies in the House in line, he permitted useless activities like the 42 attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and I can’t think of a single positive thing he did for the country in his years as Speaker except quit.

It will be interesting to see who the Republicans pick now.  Whomever it is will be in charge of a group of men and women who see government as a negative force.  It makes you wonder why they ran for office.

They will probably vote to shut down the federal government as a protest against Planned Parenthood, even though no federal money can be used to pay for abortions.  Let me repeat that: no federal money can be used to pay for abortions.  They be willing to deny reproductive health services to millions of low income women to make some mistaken point.  


No wonder Boehner quit.  

Friday, September 25, 2015

The Pennsylvania Turnpike

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the turnpike, Pennsylvania Heritage, a magazine of the Historical and Museum Commission, featured an article on the turnpike by Curtis Miner.  The first phase of the turnpike, a 160 mile stretch between Irwin and Carlisle, was completed in 1940.

The turnpike was authorized in 1937.  The Roosevelt administration agreed to fund most of the costs with the stipulation that the road be built quickly.  It took 23 months from field surveys to final paving to complete the first 160 mile segment.

Two thoughts occur.  First, the turnpike bridge at the Mahoning Interchange across Pohopoco Creek and Route 209 will probably take longer than 23 months to complete.


Secondly, the current Pennsylvania legislature, with representatives like Doyle Heffley and Jerry Knowles, would never have approved the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  It would be too much money, and involve too much federal interference.  Also, it had never been done before.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Pope Francis

You’ve heard the expression when someone wishes to draw attention to the obvious, “Is the Pope Catholic?”  

In the past I’ve sometimes wondered.  The message of Christianity seemed to get lost in doctrinaire pronouncements and a lack of humility in the Papacy.

Not Pope Francis.  He is a pope with whom atheists, Hindus, Muslims, and Southern Baptists can feel comfortable.  His support for action on global warming, his call to help the poor, his critique of unbridled capitalism, his plea that the refugees be helped–all are what this planet needs.

I do have my criticisms.  Some might considered trivial (Father Serra should not be a saint), but some are major (the failure to change the doctrine on contraception when overpopulation is one of the causes of both refugees and global warming).  


On the other hand, I believe the Catholic Church is like a very large oil tanker.  It takes a while to change course.  I hope Pope Francis has a long life.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Styrofoam wins in New York City

On Monday a New York State Supreme Court Justice denied New York City’s claim that recycling used polystyrene containers “was neither environmentally effective nor economically feasible.”

This all sounded very familiar.  In Fairfax in Marin County in the 1990s I was involved in a drive to ban polystyrene containers in that town.  We used the initiative process--signatures on a petition followed by a popular vote.

Fairfax was a hotbed of environmentalists.  The Green Party was the second largest party in Fairfax, ahead of the Republicans.  The City Council supported the ban, as did the Town Manager, whom I was sleeping with at the time.  (Still am.)  

We did an all out campaign–door-to-door, phone banks, major demonstration at a shopping center (I was Mr. Polystyrene Man, “who never goes away.”)

You can’t recycle polystyrene.  It is contaminated with food and liquids, and even if it isn’t, you may be able to remold it into things like lunch trays, but you can’t close the loop and reuse it as polystyrene.  It ends up in landfills or storm drains, and it does not biodegrade.

I have noticed that judges often don’t understand environmental issues.  Evidently this judge took the industry at its word that recycling was possible.


I hope New York City appeals.  This is bad stuff.  By the way, the ban in Fairfax still stands.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Chicken Quesadillas

I heard tonight that the conservative 9/12 group in Carbon County will be holding a meeting to discuss the threat of Muslims.  This is the same group that sponsored a speech by the anti-Muslim Dr. Ben Carson last year at Penns Peak.  Do these people even know a Muslim?

I love the diversity of this country.  Here’s a small example.  In the recipe page of the latest issue of the Lancaster Farming newspaper, the first recipe listed is Chicken Quesadillas.  

I can just see some Mennonite farmer’s wife in Ephrata saying to her husband, “Jake, when you go to town, get me some tortillas and some guacamole.  I’m going to try this chicken quesadilla recipe.”  

Just think how Lehighton would be improved by a good Syrian restaurant.  Or Mexican, or Indian, or Thai.


You can go all the way back to James Madison in Federalist Paper #10.  Madison explains the advantages of a pluralist country better than anyone I know.  I recommend the 9/12ers read it.

Monday, September 21, 2015

Scott Walker, dropout

Some of then are religious fanatics in the ISIS mold, like Huckabee and Santorum.  Some are just not very bright, like Jindal or Perry.  Some are entertaining, like Trump.  Some are out of their depth, like Carson.  Some are silly, like Graham.  Some are liars, like Fiorina.  Some are so far to the right as to be laughable, like Cruz.  And at least one was pure evil, and that was Scott Walker.

Walker made his reputation going after public employees like teachers.  He compared public employees to terrorists.  He wanted to build a fence not only along the Mexican border, but along the Canadian border as well.  The Koch Brothers loved him.


And today, in the face of declining poll numbers, he dropped out of the presidential race.  I am so happy

Sunday, September 20, 2015

In defense of Republican Presidential candidates

Gail Collins mentioned in a recent column that in 1948 over 20 million people listened for a full hour to a radio debate by two Republican presidential candidates, Harold Stassen and Tom Dewey, on one topic.  (She didn’t mention what the issue was, but it wasn't immigration or gay marriage.)

While I did not watch the last Republican debate, I read about it.  According to Bill Press, in three hours CNN did not ask one question “on the Syrian refugee crisis, climate change, gun safety, voting rights, criminal justice reform, or jobs.”

That’s pathetic.  No wonder our voters are ignorant.  In the early days of computers, the term GIGO was popular.  If your input was garbage, the results would be garbage.  Garbage In, Garbage Out.  


Fox and CNN have much to answer for.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Sen. Toomey sees "Republican talent"

Sen. Toomey (R-PA) said the last Republican presidential debate showed great talent up on that stage.  Really.  Let’s run through some of the “talent.”

Bush has proposed a serious and detailed tax plan.  Unfortunately, it would cut the taxes of the top 10%.

Walker says he could take on terrorists because he has experience fighting public unions.

Fiorina lied through her teeth about Planned Parenthood and fetal tissue research.  Her business background leaves quite a bit to be desired.

Carson, although a physician, thinks the theory of evolution is bogus and said the Affordable Care Act was the worst thing that happened to America since slavery.

Huckabee is actually running for position of pastor of the Hard Shell Baptist church in West Hooterville.  (OK, I made that one up, but it sounds about right.)

Trump.  Really?


Toomey also said he would vote for the eventual Republican nominee, no matter who it was.  This is a guy who in his campaign announcement touted his ability to work with Democrats.  And to think he has been one of my U.S. Senators for the past five years and now wants another term.  Not if I can help it.

Friday, September 18, 2015

UGI/PennEast pipeline grant

Susan Gallagher, the chief naturalist of the Carbon County Environmental Educational Center, has received some negative feedback for accepting a $5000 grant from UGI/PennEast pipeline people.  The money would be used to create a handicapped nature trail.  She asked for opinions.  Here is what I sent to Ms.Gallagher: 

Dear Susan,
    You asked for feedback on the PennEast $5000 grant to the Carbon County Environmental Educational Center.  Should you take the money?

Here are some other questions to ask.   
1.  If you refused the money, would that change PennEast’s mind about the pipeline?  Would it make the pipeline less likely?
2.  If you accept the money, does that mean you must support the pipeline?
3.  Can the Environmental Center put $5000 dollars to good use, and will it help the environment of Carbon County?

The answer to the questions in #1 is no.
The answer to #2 is no.
The answer to #3 is yes.

If PennEast gave $5000 to the Sierra Club or to Save Carbon County, I would advise those groups to take the money.  I will paraphrase what the former speaker of the California Assembly, Jess Unruh, said about legislators and lobbyists.  If you can’t take their money, drink their liquor, fool around with their women, and look them in the eye and then tell them to go to hell, you shouldn’t be in politics.  I don’t think you have to worry about the liquor and the women, but I do think you can take their money and still tell them to go to hell.  So take the money.

Sincerely,

Roy Christman, 610-377-0235

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Richard Estes, painter

Today Linda and I saw an exhibition of paintings and silk screenings by Richard Estes at the Museum of Arts and Design on Columbus Circle in Manhattan.  We also ate lunch in the museum’s restaurant on the 9th floor.  Tres elegante.  (And tasty.)

Mr. Estes’s art work is known as “photorealism,” one of my favorite genres.  He is one of the best.  Yes, it took all day.  Yes, the George Washington Bridge is expensive.  Yes, parking was $32 for two hours.  And yes, it was worth it.  

Just Google “Richard Estes paintings” and I think you will agree.  If you want to see the show, hurry.  It ends on Sept. 20.


P.S.:  We bought a copy of the New York Daily News with a picture of Trump and Bush on the front cover with the caption:  “Junior High.”  I’m thinking of having it framed.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Homo naledi and Republican candidates

Last week an international team of more than 60scientists announced the discovery of a previously unidentified species of early human lineage–“Homo naledi.”

A large collection of bones from this new species was found in a cave near Johannesburg.  The bones must be in excess of 2.5 to 2.8 million years old.  The discovery was front page news in the New York Times and adds to our knowledge of the origin of our species.

Oh, wait.  There are candidates appearing in a debate tonight who would deny the discovery.  It doesn’t fit with the Biblical story in Genesis.  These people are running to head the most powerful nation on the planet.


Some readers may be disappointed that I don’t watch the Republican debates.  I am 72.  Most of my life has already been lived.  I am not about to spend what little time I have watching a bunch of mean and ignorant people hurl insults and spew venom in an attempt to move up in the pack.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Moral codes and Kim Davis

I find the Lehighton Times News annoying for various reasons, but the biggest reason is the paper’s editorial writer Jim Zbick.  Yesterday he wrote that Cecil B. DeMille, the movie director, was right when he said the 10 commandments were THE LAW (Zbick’s emphasis).  

Zbick’s point was that we all needed a moral code like that of Kim Davis, the bigoted county clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses to gays.  Zbick is upset that a large number of people in America were not attending church and thus have no moral code.

Here’s my news for Jim Zbick.  You don’t need to attend church to have a moral code.  You don’t need to be a Christian to have a moral code.  And if you are a follower of the Ten Commandments, you can screw up your interpretation.  I went back and re-read them, and nowhere can I find an injunction that says, “County clerks shalt not issue marriage licenses to gay couples.”

Just to make sure, I checked out the New Testament.  I was expecting to read in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are recalcitrant county clerks, for they shall uphold bigotry,” but I didn’t find that either.

I have my own moral code.  It’s a secular and tolerant moral code.  It beats the moral code of Kim Davis any day.


I fervently hope the Times News can find a better editorial writer.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Solar Power and Free Enterprise

Next Monday, if everything goes right, we should be getting solar panels installed on our shed roof.  We will generate all the electricity we use.

President Obama recently spoke at an energy conference in Las Vegas.  He noted that fossil fuel interests are trying to restrict consumers from accessing solar, wind, and other renewable sources to protect the status quo.

“That’s not the American way.  This is about the past versus the future.  America believes in the future.”

He said that many in the fossil fuel industry champion free market solutions, unless the free market is pointing to the wisdom of renewable energy.  He said that fossil fuel proponents are pro-free market until solar starts working, and then they oppose free market ideas.  

It really has nothing to do with the free market.  It has to do with greed and monopoly power.  


Information on the President’s speech is taken from “Obama calls out fossil fuel interests for fighting solar,” Lancaster Farming, Sept. 12, 2015, p. E4.

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Bat count

We have been counting bats for the Pennsylvania Game Commission state-wide survey since the 1990s.  At one time in the 90s we had the second largest maternal bat colony in the state.  Bats were living in the house eaves, in the shed, in the space between the porch ceiling and the roof, and in a bat house we put up for them.

We liked our bats.  They were fun to watch, they were harmless, and they kept down the bug population.

Unfortunately our bats were not immune to “white nose syndrome,” a disease which struck bats down by the millions and has spread to almost all states east of the Mississippi.  In the past three years our bats numbered in the single digits.

Until this year.  A few weeks ago when I was coming back from the truck patch, I noticed some bats flying from below the slate roof at Kibler School, the museum owned by the Palmerton Area Historical Society just east of our house.  We counted them emerging at dusk twice this week.  We got 55 on the first count and 59 on the second count.  They’re back!  


Palmerton resident Bob Reinhart is building us some new bat houses, and I’m hoping in 2016 we’ll be back to over a hundred.  I’m optimistic.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

The 55th

Palmerton High School Class of 1960 held its 55th reunion today.  We had it during the daylight hours because some of us don’t like to drive at night.  Some of us have canes, walk bent over, have artificial knees and pacemakers and stents.  A number who could have attended our 50th have since died, and others were unable to attend because of medical issues.


How strange it is that these old and decrepit people don’t see ourselves that way.  We look at each other and remember the person we knew in 1960 when we graduated.  We might have grey hair or no hair, have gained weight or lost weight, but inside of us are those same teenagers we were back in 1960.  

Friday, September 11, 2015

No way to run a rally

Yesterday supporters of Kathleen Kane held a rally in Harrisburg to support Ms. Kane, whose name is usually preceded by the word “embattled” or “beleaguered.”  The organizer of the rally forgot the first rule of rallies:  Don’t hold a rally unless you know people will show up.

She invited 1000 people to the rally via Facebook.  20 people came.  

I probably shouldn’t comment on Facebook, since I never signed up and regard the whole thing a colossal time suck, but I will anyway.  (You knew I would.)

Your friends on Facebook are not really your friends.  You can’t borrow a cup of sugar from them.  They won’t come to your funeral.  They are passive and inert.  If you want them to come to a rally you must call them, cajole them, provide rides for them, buy them lunch.

I too think Kathleen Kane is being treated unfairly, but a rally with 20 supporters is worse than no rally at all.  


On another note:  I’m sorry Rick Perry dropped out of the Republican Presidential race.  I thought the glasses were working.  He did look smarter, didn’t he?

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Dr. Ben Carson

Creeping up in the Republican presidential race is Dr. Ben Carson, a surgeon who has been peddling his story of personal achievement in the face of immense odds.  He has never held a political office, knows little about politics, and has called the Affordable Care Act the worst thing in America since slavery.

I suppose none of this bars a person from being President.  After all, when you look at some of the other people running (Ted Cruz, Rickie Santorum, Mike Huckabee, etc., etc., etc.) Ben Carson doesn’t seem so outlandish. 

But here is the disqualification.  Some of the Republican candidates, when asked about evolution, say, “I’m not a scientist.”  This is like saying, when asked if it is raining outside, “I don’t know–I’m not a weatherman.”


Carson, who is a scientist, denies evolution.  He is a doctor who must see that new flu vaccines are needed each year because of the evolution of flu viruses.  He is either very stupid or very cynical.  Either way, he should never be allowed anywhere near the White House.  

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Syrian refugees

Some years ago Linda and I were looking for the Damascus Restaurant in Allentown.  We asked a guy on the sidewalk if he knew where it was.  I’ll never forget his answer.  “It’s three blocks down.  You can walk–you’ll be safe.  This whole neighborhood is Syrian.”

Hundreds of thousands of Syrians are fleeing the violence in that country.  By now you’ve probably seen the picture of the dead little Syrian boy who looks like he is sleeping on the beach, except the waves are washing over him, or the picture of the Turkish policeman holding him with his little legs hanging over the policeman’s arms.

Germany is taking thousands.  Austria is taking thousands.  Belgium and Sweden are taking thousands.  So far we have taken about 1500.  Here’s what I think.  Take them all.

The U.S. has benefited from Cuban refugees in the Sixties.  It has benefited from Hungarian refugees in 1956.  It has benefited from Hmong, Lao, and Vietnamese refugees.  Heck, if we go back far enough it has benefited from German refugees in the 1700s (my ancestors), from Irish potato famine refugees in the 1850s, and from Jewish refugees from Russian pogroms in the late 1800s.  I cannot think of a refugee group that did not enrich this country.  


So take them in.  Remember the words on the Statue of Liberty.  We’ve got some room.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

UGI-PennEast Pipeline Grants

UGI-PennEast has been doling out $5000 “Community Connector Grants.”  The “connector” thing is kind of cute.  

The grants go to various community organizations such as the Franklin Fire Company or the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation.  

My first thought was what a pathetic way to try to win community support for a pipeline that is an environmental disaster.  My second thought was that this is a really chintzy grant from a company that stands to make billions.

Now I hear that supervisors in two townships in Northampton County have changed their opposition to the pipeline because of the grants.


Here is my offer to UGI-PennEast.  You already gave me a measuring tape and a refrigerator magnet, but I still oppose your pipeline.  I think you should send me a check for $5000.  Maybe I’ll drop my opposition.  It’s worth a shot.

Monday, September 7, 2015

Karl Marx at the Redneck Festival

This will be my last post related to the Weissport Redneck Festival, I swear.  (At least until 2016.)  I must mention two concepts taken from Marxist analysis which I think were illustrated at the Festival.

The first is the term “lumpenproletariat.”  Marx noted that below the proletariat (read workers) was a group of societal dregs.  These were the people who could be hired as strike breakers.  These were the people who could be recruited for anti-Semitic rallies, who were often criminals, who had no loyalty to the working class, but who were often shock troops for the fascists, like the brown shirts in Nazi Germany.  In modern day America they would be anti-union people willing to fly Confederate flags and beat up on Mexican immigrants.  I saw a number of them at the Festival.

The other Marxist concept I saw illustrated was the idea of “false consciousness.”  Marx noted that not all workers realized their true interests.  They sometimes identified with the owners or managers, and they felt themselves superior to the workers.  Even though they had no assets and no hope of moving up, they felt themselves to be better than the working class.


Thomas Franks wrote a whole book about this phenomenon a few years ago entitled What’s the Matter with Kansas?  Poor people in Kansas, whom my mother would have said didn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of, were voting Republican.  It’s weird, but I met quite a few of those types at the Festival as well.

Sunday, September 6, 2015

The Weissport Redneck Festival Straw Poll Results

I’ll just give you the final count.  We ended the poll about 7 p.m. this evening.  Each respondent was allowed to pick one Democrat and one Republican, although some of the respondents could not bring themselves to pick a person from the other party.  

In addition, some respondents said they were picking the candidate in the other party they hoped would be the nominee, because they thought he or she would be the weakest candidate.  In any case, here’s the final count.

Democrats:
Sanders 20
Clinton 19
Webb   3
O’Malley       1
Biden (write-in)  1

Republicans:
Trump 30
Carson   5
Kasich   5
Paul   5
Walker   3
Christie   2
Bush   1
Fiorina   1
Pataki   1
Perry   1
Rubio   1
Santorum  1


Most people who passed by our booth did not participate, so the largest number would be:  refused to participate.  People made comments like “They’re all crooks,” or just looked the other way.  I should point out that the Weissport Redneck Festival does not draw a thoughtful and erudite crowd. 

Saturday, September 5, 2015

At the Weissport Redneck Festival

I’ve been staffing the Lehighton Area Democratic Club’s booth at the Redneck Festival with help from my cousin Carol and other volunteers.  To attract people to our booth, we are conducting a straw poll with a pre-printed ballot listing all of the Democratic presidential candidates (5) and the Republican candidates (16).

From experience we knew that this is not a good venue for Democrats.  Any event that proudly hangs up large Confederate battle flags is not a good venue for Democrats.  We asked people to indicate their party, and most of the people who participated were indeed Republicans.  And most of them immediately checked off Donald Trump’s name.


We have one more day of the Festival, and we will count up the choices tomorrow evening about 8 p.m.  I am certain the results will show that Trump is the overwhelming favorite.  And why?  Over and over people didn’t mention the immigration issue or any other issue.  What they said was, “He’s his own man,” or “He’s not in anybody’s pocket, or “He says what he thinks.” 

Friday, September 4, 2015

Army Engineers: The Pork Barrel Soldiers, Part II

The Corps had proposed two more projects for Carbon County to go with the Beltzville project and the Francis E. Walter Dam.  A dam was planned for Strohl’s Valley Road (I have copies of the plan) along with an even bigger project that would have flooded all of Little Gap.  (Goodbye Blue Mountain Ski Resort.)  

Three events helped to curb the power of the Corps in its dam building mode.  

The first was the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado.  This was actually a Bureau of Land Management project (another federal agency that should be disbanded), but it became a national issue.  While the dam was eventually built, flooding beautiful portions of the Colorado River canyon, the fight galvanized environmentalists.

The second major setback for the Corps was Tocks Island on the Delaware.  The project was stopped at the last minute, after the land had already been condemned.  Today this project has become the Delaware River National Recreation Area, but the Delaware River still flows free.

The third blow to dam building came from President Jimmy Carter, who killed, if I remember correctly, 17 major dam projects.  Luckily, his successor Ronald Reagan, while certainly not an environmentalist, was a cheapskate who opposed dam projects for fiscal reasons.

Nonetheless, the Army Corps is still doing bad things for the environment.  It is now proposing to build a dam in Montana on the Missouri River.  The dam will wreak havoc on the pallid sturgeon, a fish that can grow to six feet and weigh up to sixty pounds.  This fish is on the endangered species list.  

The pallid sturgeon was around when dinosaurs walked the earth.  And now, thanks to the Corps, its days may be numbered.

Here are two links.  The first if from the Cato Institute, a right-wing organization that published an excellent analysis of the Corps.  Go to <http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/usace>.  The second is from the New York Times detailing the issue with the pallid sturgeon.  It includes a picture of the fish.  <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/03/opinion/an-ancient-fish-is-running-out-of-time.html?_r=0>.


Thursday, September 3, 2015

Army Engineers: The Pork Barrel Soldiers

The civilian branch of the Army Corps on Engineers embodies everything wrong with government.  It builds projects of dubious value, it is arrogant, it wastes taxpayer money, and yet it continues to receive the support of Congress members who can point to federal dollars coming into their districts to build unnecessary dams and “flood control” projects.

I’ll admit I have a personal bias, and I just realized this posting might have to be divided into two parts to get everything out.  The Corps was the agency that built the Beltzville Dam.  Our farm, which supported three families, went from 460 acres to 29 acres, and my Dad, a lifetime farmer, became a hired hand at a chicken farm, then a plumber’s helper, and finally a janitor.  He watched while our farm buildings were bulldozed and burned and the Wild Creek flooded.

Actually, not one of our fields was flooded.  They became part of the “park.”  Within a decade of the fields being seized under eminent domain, they were rented out for farming.  (By that point in time all our farm equipment had been sold at auction and the Christman Brothers were not able to rent back our fields.)

The price offered for the farm was minimal--$200 an acre.  (This was in 1967, but that was still a very low offer.)  After a battle in federal court, the Christman Brothers were awarded approximately $800 an acre, although I should point out that the attorney received approximately 1/3 of that amount.

The representatives from the Corps who dealt with the local farmers were arrogant, imperious, and so out of touch with the local residents that they even mis-named the project as “Beltzville,” a non-existent village on Route 209.  

Today the land in Beltzville State Park is not owned by the state.  It is still under the jurisdiction of the Army Corps.  In the Nineties I started an abortive campaign to have the Corps turn the land over to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, but I never had much support.  

And while I have had some good relations with Beltzville Corps managers, (Bob Greene springs to mind), when I recently stopped in to get the Corps’ support against the PennEast Pipeline, the phrase “blown off” comes to mind.  


OK, I need two posts.  Upcoming:  The Corps an environmental agency, why DCNR is so much better, a look at the Corps’ threat to pallid sturgeon, and why I really like the Cato Institute’s study of the Corps.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

It's what God wants

I am always amazed at the number of people who know what God wants them to do.  The people from ISIS know Muhammed wants them to destroy archeological treasures.  Hindu fundamentalists know that god wants them to kill a scholar who opposes idol worship.  And a county clerk in Kentucky knows that God wants her to deny marriage licenses to gay couples.

At times like this I really wish there was a God who could come down from heaven, release some thunderbolts, and intone from a burning bush, “Do your really think you are doing my will, you stupid cow?”


The amazing thing about the Kentucky clerk is that she was married four times, although to only three husbands, one of whom evidently changed his mind and agreed to marry her for the second time.  I guess Jesus doesn’t really care much about divorce or multiple bed partners, as long as they are heterosexual.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Liquor Control Board kickbacks

I am a firm supporter of the present system of “State Stores” in Pennsylvania.  First of all, they provide a steady source of revenue to the state, millions of dollars, year after year.  

Secondly, state stores do not add to urban blight.  If you live in most states, you know that your local liquor store is often a hangout, a location that attracts winos, alcoholics, and other disreputable people.

Third, the state stores decrease alcoholism.  Clerks have no reason to sell to drunks.  They have no incentive to sell to teenagers or people who are obviously inebriated.  

Fourth, they provide good paying jobs.  If you think that liquor stores will be paying union wages, think again.

Finally, I like the whole idea of state stores.  There is something old-fashioned about it.  It is one of the things that makes this state unique.

Unfortunately, there is another state tradition–that of the kickback, the payment under the table.  Why is this state so goddam corrupt?  Why would a LCB marketing director, knowing that the State Store system is under attack by Republicans, take cash and gifts from suppliers?  Why would he undermine the system that some of us are working so hard to retain?

This is not a borderline moral issue.  This is not a grey area.  You take money from suppliers, you KNOW that is illegal, immoral, and ammo for the anti-state store forces.  


There are times I’d like to move back to California or move to Oregon or Minnesota, where the political culture emphasizes honesty and correct behavior.  It is about time we change the political culture of this state.  The current way of behaving is no longer acceptable.