“There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs.” – John Rogers Tuesday, July, 19, 2011 A few weeks ago I wrote NY Senator Greg Ball (better known as “Senator Twitter”) regarding his NO vote on civil rights last June. Apparently, no surprise … [Read More]

Good Wednesday Morning,

It’s rumored that Alana Sweeney, wife of Judge John W. Sweeney, is running for County Executive. Can someone verify that for me? Thanks.

While we’re on that subject, is anyone challenging the current town board and Supervisor in Kent?

The Journal News reports that a disarmed drone missile on its way to a museum in West Virginia was stopped in Ossining by local police, no doubt out of jealousy. But the article also says it was picked up in Putnam Valley! If anyone knows what this is about, how a missile got to Putnam Valley and who had it please let me know.

Battling for Leibell

“When I resisted, he threatened not to pay me unless I complied with his request and told me that I would be
fired as Putnam county attorney. Mr. Leibell told me that I should not ‘piss on Santa’s boots,’ “ – Carl Lodes

The battle over former state Senator Leibell’s future is being played out in public these days, mostly in the letters column of our newspapers. While dozens have written the judge for leniency, the writer’s saying, in essence, that they support government corruption, the letters in the media are a lot less forgiving. See this, and this and this.

Blast!

If you live in the Town of Carmel, there’s a public hearing at 7PM this evening on their new proposed blasting ordinance that we wrote about a couple of weeks back. The difference between the originally proposed ordinance and the one that will be talked about this evening is virtually nil.

On the other hand, the Town of Amherst, NY has a blasting code that is a model document which actually protects life and property while the one in Carmel, well… it’s Carmel. ’nuff said.

The hearing begins at 7PM at the Carmel Town Hall and you should be there.

For more information on the ordinance and the differences between the old and the new, see News That Matters from May 2 and scroll down about 1/3 of the way. To see even more, see, “More Blasting in Carmel“.

Sorry, I Must Have Forgotten.

Back during the campaign for State Senate both candidates signed a pledge to support independent redistricting. The candidate who won has now backed off on that pledge and would prefer that the process of maintaining this district as a Republican district and that district as a Democrat district continue on until we’re all neatly placed into one or the other – for life.

The first paragraph of the Pledge reads:

“I _____________ pledge that if I am elected to the Legislature of New York State, I will support the creation of an independent, non-partisan Redistricting Commission to draft advisory maps for the Legislature to review and approve. Further, I will vote “no” on any proposal to establish a Commission that is not independent…”

It’s singed and sealed by the Senator Who Shall Not Be Named and dated July 22, 2010, barely a year ago. But the Senator has forgotten!

There’s a demonstration and rally today in Peekskill at noon at Pugsley Park (Main Street between Division and N. James) to remind him of that pledge. Here’s a link to a map if you can make it.

Where’s Nan VII?

I have no idea! And if you visit her taxpayer funded congressional website and look under the “solutions” tab you’ll find a list of issues from National Defense to Small Businesses. And when you click on one to find out her solution you’re told to contact her office in Washington, D.C. But we already *are* at her office in Washington, D.C. when we’re on her congressional website. The question is: why is she afraid to write out her positions on issues?

Here’s a Letter to the Editor about Ms. Hayworth that’s worth a quick read:

“Nan Hayworth defends her record and claims robust dialogue is possible. Sadly nothing is farther from the truth and her voting record proves she has voted strictly along the  Republican party line on all issues that increases the wealth of corporate privatization on the backs of the the aged, the poor and the workers of America.

Nan Hayworth has voted to deregulate , cut funding for clean air, health care, medicare and medicaid,  abortions,  women’s health care, unregulated oil drilling she calls healthy competition. She unquestioningly claims the safety of Indian Point. Noteworthy,  Entergy is one of her donors.

From what many of us have observed, Nan Hayworth lives in an ivory tower of privilege and is not willing  to truly represent the  needs of District 19 constituents.  As so many politicians, she has been bought hook , line and sinker by her party which unfortunately impedes her capacity for true open dialogue and reflection.”

- Lillian Jones

No Ride List

If New York Senator Chuck Schumer gets his way, you’ll be frisked, probed, groped and shoeless upon entering an Amtrak train and if your name is on a list you won’t get on at all. (We’ll talk about the validity of the ‘list’ under separate cover.) And if you think this will end at Amtrak, think again! Soon enough it will be Metro North, local buses and who knows what else.

The solution is obvious: Every American will report to a special center where they will be probed and investigated and if they pass will be given a numerical tattoo on their forearm made with magnetic ink, that can be read like your EZ-Pass. Those who do not pass will have a chip embedded under their scalp so they can be tracked by satellite. This will ensure your safety. Homeland Security promises.

Fat, Fat! Fatty Fat FAT!

See this Chart:

And now see this chart:

These two charts from the CDC show the rate of obesity in the United States over a single generation. Packaged foods, an overabundance of corn sugars and red meats, a sedentary lifestyle and a lack of physical exercise are the leading causes of obesity. And it kills! This year 400,000 Americans will die because they’re lazy.

There’s lots of blame to go around and I’ll put my finger squarely on Madison Avenue and the Fat Food industry.

So let’s see: We make you fat so the corporate farms (who collect billions in Federal support) and their attendant industries gets rich as you spend your money on soda, cookies, sugar-laden breakfast foods, and triple-bacon-cheese-burgers. Then once you’re fat the health care industry gets you. If you’re of a hefty size small, efficient cars (low profit) are simply impossible to get in and out of so you need larger cars (larger profits) and they suck more gas so Exxon can have another $10.7 billion quarter. And when you’re larger and don’t get any exercise you’re cold all the time so you turn up the thermostats thus using more fossil fuels making the Arabs wealthier.

There’s a pattern here that’s as clear as day: US Style Capitalism makes you sick by design and then shakes you down. Otherwise, why would white bread be less expensive than whole wheat? The foods that make and keep you healthy are unaffordable. What makes you fat and sick is cheap!

So, cut out the corn syrup and fructose, save Mickey D’s for once a month, walk to the school bus instead of driving your kid the few hundred yards and get the hell out of the house and take a walk.

It’s true: healthy, frugal and sensible people are a danger to Capitalism!

But being healthy, frugal and sensible is the best way to undermine the system.

And now, The News:

1. Community remembers Hazel Dickens through music, memories
2. Better fuel standards would save Americans $67 billion at the pump each summer
3. The Clean Energy Transition
4. Denmark tops list of clean technology producers; China is No. 2; US at 17 is rapidly expanding
5. Pew: 71% of Americans say “This country should do whatever it takes to protect the environment.”
6. Couple pushes for vast nature preserve in the midwest
7. Pundits predict no more accurately than a coin toss

Community remembers Hazel Dickens through music, memories

By CharLy Markwart Princeton Times

PRINCETON — The fiddles cried a long, lonesome tune through the hills of West Virginia Tuesday, as Mercer County’s own world-class folk singer/songwriter Hazel Dickens was brought home to be laid to rest in Princeton.

Dickens, who was born in Montcalm in 1935, died April 22, at a Hospice near her longtime Georgetown, Md. home, of complications from pneumonia. Revered throughout the bluegrass, traditional acoustic and folk music worlds for her unmistakably raw mountain voice and her powerfully candid songs standing up for the rights of women, laborers and the impoverished, she had traveled the country and the world playing the music she learned to play as a child growing up deep in a Mercer County hollow. Her death was reported by national media outlets including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and NPR’s ‘All Things Considered,’ reflecting the great respect she had gained throughout her award-winning career in the music.

“We all know much about Hazel’s musical achievements,” said Ken Irwin, co-founder of the label on which Dickens recorded, Rounder Records, who spoke at the funeral service held at Seaver Funeral Home. “There were many awards, and there will be lots more later on. Her loss leaves gaping holes in the areas of music that she touched, and holes in our hearts and souls that will not be easily mended. Perhaps they will never be entirely mended, and they needn’t be, because with her warmth and sense of humor and love, Hazel touched us and reminded us of the best of ourselves as human beings.”

Irwin, a close friend of Dickens’ who traveled many roads with her throughout her musical career went on to share fond memories of the unassuming singer’s flair for “commanding attention” with her big voice and her unapologetically outspoken songs that purposefully gave a voice to the downtrodden.

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Better fuel standards would save Americans $67 billion at the pump each summer

The average family would save $513 in just three months

On May 5^th, Environment America and the Sierra Club released a joint report, Summer Gas Prices: Beating the Heat with Clean Cars, that evaluates the impact of higher federal fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.  CAP’s Valeri Vasquez and Junayd Mahmood have the story

The timing of the study couldn’t be more appropriate; on the brink of vacation season, gas prices are reaching new highs every day. Meanwhile, the average U.S. passenger car only gets a disappointing 23 miles per gallon.

The study is aimed at influencing the latest round of fuel efficiency standards for 2017-2025. The Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency are considering raising corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, standards to between 47 and 62 miles per gallon for 2025. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, automakers are already fully capable of achieving 60mpg using existing technologies and polls show overwhelming public support for the higher standard.

Researchers used gas prices from April 25^th and historical driving patterns to estimate the impact of a 60 mpg standard on summer gasoline savings. The report found that Americans would save an estimated $67 billion and use 17 billion fewer barrels of oil during this year’s three peak summer driving months of June, July, and August if the standard were enacted today.  The study finds:

The average American family would save $513 in just three months.

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The Clean Energy Transition

By Melissa Everett

Opening remarks at Green Economy panel of Clearwater’s Indian Point Technical Briefing, April 25, 2011, Desmond Fish Library, Garrison, NY:

Good afternoon.  I have the honor of being your guide out of the scary stuff and into the hopeful aspect of the challenge before us, the path of action that can make the Hudson River Corridor a safer and more secure place, and the economic opportunities that could be created by means of a clean energy economy.  Shortly I’ll introduce a couple of expert speakers, and a hands-on panel of innovators, to brief you in more detail. First, let me set the stage.

One growth area for green jobs, today, is in the world of think tanks making sense of the opportunities and building scenarios to move us forward.  Because this advance work has been done, we have a foundation to build on in terms of possibilities,  as three examples show:

•   Mark Z. Jacobson and Mark Delucchi, in Scientific American (2009) laid out a global scenario for meeting the planet’s energy needs entirely with efficiency and renewables by 2030.  They calculated global demand, and then charted a pathway for meeting it entirely with wind, water and sunlight in all their forms, including geothermal and renewably charged hydrogen fuel cells for transportation and industry. It can be done, but it won’t be done by baby steps. They’re talking about 3,800,000 wind turbines; 900 hydro plants; 490,000 tidal turbines, 5,350 geothermal plants; 1.7 billion (with a “b”) solar collectors and 100,000 solar power plants of various types.  This would be a transformation of the built environment and the economy – the kind of great goal that occasionally brings people together. On the good days.

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Denmark tops list of clean technology producers; China is No. 2; US at 17 is rapidly expanding

AMSTERDAM — Denmark earns the biggest share of its national revenue from producing windmills and other clean technologies, the United States is rapidly expanding its clean-tech sector, but no country can match China’s pace of growth, according to a new report obtained by The Associated Press.

China’s production of green technologies has grown by a remarkable 77 per cent a year, according to the report, which was commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature and which will be unveiled on Monday at an industry conference in Amsterdam.

“The Chinese have made, on the political level, a conscious decision to capture this market and to develop this market aggressively,” said Donald Pols, an economist with the WWF.

Denmark, a longtime leader in wind energy, derives 3.1 percent of its gross domestic product from renewable energy technology and energy efficiency, or about euro6.5 billion ($9.4 billion), the report said.

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Pew: 71% of Americans say “This country should do whatever it takes to protect the environment.”

Public support for alternative energy transcends political barriers

A new Pew Poll “Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology” finds strong support for the environment and clean energy.  The PDF is here.

Pew buried the lede.  The most interesting finding to me is that 71% of Americans believe “This country should do whatever it takes to protect the environment.”  And 59% believe that “strongly.”

CAP polling expert Ruy Teixeira has some background on the poll, along with a chart with the results of the energy question:

The Pew Research Center has just released a very interesting study, “Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology.” It segments the public into nine groups: eight politically active groups and one inactive group (bystanders) composed entirely of nonvoters. Of the eight active groups, two are described as “mostly Republican” (staunch conservatives and Main Street Republicans), three as “mostly Democratic” (new coalition Democrats, hard-pressed Democrats, and solid liberals), and three as “mostly independent” (libertarians, disaffecteds, and postmoderns). In reality, however, postmoderns lean strongly Democratic, while libertarians and disaffecteds lean strongly Republican. So there are really four active Democratic and four active Republican groups.

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A husband and wife who are the primary backers of a plan to create a vast nature preserve in the nation’s midsection spoke in Sioux City this week. Frank and Deborah Popper talked about their concept of the Buffalo Commons at Briar Cliff University.

The Poppers propose creating the huge, natural area of prairie on the Great Plains where the human population is decreasing. Deborah Popper says people are more accepting of the idea now than in the past.

“There is a real network of people interested in restoring prairie,” she says. “I don’t think that’s a wacky thing to spend time doing. There are a whole variety of people who are quite intent on decreasing inputs in agriculture.” The Poppers went public with the idea in 1987.

Frank Popper, a professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey, says they have changed some of their ideas relating to government intervention with the Buffalo Commons. The federal government is now the main agent to create the area, something that’s never happened before. In the past, he says, the idea was backed by farmers and ranchers, Native Americans, non-governmental agencies, media mogul Ted Turner and even some state governments — every possible organization except the federal government.

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Pundits predict no more accurately than a coin toss

Krugman tops, Cal Thomas bottom of accurate predictors, according to study at Hamilton College

CLINTON, N.Y. – Op-ed columnists and TV’s talking heads build followings by making bold, confident predictions about politics and the economy. But rarely are their predictions analyzed for accuracy.

Now, a class at Hamilton College led by public policy professor P. Gary Wyckoff has analyzed the predictions of 26 prognosticators between September 2007 and December 2008. Their findings? Anyone can make as accurate a prediction as most of them if just by flipping a coin.

Their research paper, “Are Talking Heads Blowing Hot Air? An Analysis of the Accuracy of Forecasts in the Political Media” will be presented via webcast on Monday, May 2, at 4:15 p.m., at www.hamilton.edu/pundit. The paper will also be available at that address at that time. Questions during the presentation can be posed via Twitter using #hcpundit.

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It’s Valentine’s Day a holiday brought to you courtesy of Hallmark Cards(tm).

The predicted high temperature for today is 48F with a cold front blowing in this evening leaving us with a high barely above freezing tomorrow. But the temps moderate during the week as the long-awaited thaw sweeps east across the nation. And though most of the snow should melt this week be prepared for those March and April nor’easters that blow up the coast bringing heavy, wet snows to the region.

Is everyone aware that the new “Patch” media sites popping up all over the place are owned by AOL and thus may fall under Arianna Huffington’s new management? Just sayin’….

If you have water stains on interior walls from the ice dams that built up on your roofs this winter, now is the time to get estimates on repairs and repainting.

To be sure, the work cannot be done until after the ice has melted and the weather moderates a bit. But from the widespread problems that so many Putnam area homes and businesses have encountered, contractors are going to be busy come spring so it’s best to lock in a price now before the demand outstrips the available manpower and prices rise to Westchester levels or you end up using unscrupulous, non-licensed contractors to pay a lower price for inferior work.

And just in time for spring renovations and repairs, one of News That Matters’ long-time sponsors is offering special rates for News Th Matters readers. Act now to save some money and support local businesses.

I had to drive to Morris County in New Jersey to find work this past weekend because, well, I can’t describe the scene here in Putnam without cursing and calling people names. But what struck me was the price of gasoline once I crossed the state line and it turns out it’s the state tax on gasoline that makes the difference.

Here in NY the state adds 65.6 cents onto every gallon while in New Jersey they add, 32.9 cents per gallon. The Federal tax is 18.4 cents, unchanged since 1994. For the record, in Connecticut they add  63.6 cents and in Pennsylvania it’s 50.7 cents.

What this means is that on a 20 gallon fill-up we pay $13.12 in state taxes and $3.68 cents in Federal tax and then, of course, there’s Putnam County’s share of around 27 cents. That’s a total of $17 in taxes.

So does that mean that when I see a price of $3.35 for regular that the price of the gasoline is actually only $2.50? It would be if it weren’t for all the taxes paid along the way which the oil companies pass on to you and the money [Fill In Gas Company Here] keeps as profit to pay its shareholders.

While we’re talking about the price of fuel, I needed 100 gallons of propane and I’m locked into purchasing it from Burnwell. When the woman quoted me $7.99 a gallon I told her I’d burn the furniture instead. Then I realized the reason I had called in the first place was because I was out of gas, hence the overwhelming smell of mercaptan that pervaded the house. So I called her back and she lowered the price to $6.99. When I asked why my landlord was paying $3.12 she said it was because they use more than 1000 gallons a year compared to my measly 100 (now that the leaks have been fixed). So the more carbon based fuel you use the less you pay which encourages you to use more. But if you’re frugal and use only a little you pay a lot.

Not only is that bass ackwards, but when I’m President the government will own the utilities with the result that a) the profit motive will have been removed thus passing those savings onto everyone and b) the more you use the more you will pay thus rewarding conservation practices that will wean us off fossil fuels and on to renewables and better construction techniques for homes and businesses.

Demonstrations may, or may not be, taking place in Iran as of this writing. Last week calls for a renewed version of the “Green Revolution” for this morning were thwarted by the Iranian government who was shutting down and restricting internet services over the weekend. But a Facebook page in support had 43,000 supporters and on the 7th of February the Iranian government hung two protest organizers from the massive demonstrations that took place in 2009.

Southeast resident Cathy Croft reports:

Five towns in Putnam County, Philipstown is not included, have been discussing an IMA to deal with enhanced MS4 regulations. An Attorney, George Rodenhausen has been hired by the communities. Mr. Rodenhausen was involved with the 1997 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).  To date, $35K has been spent in legal fees.  The County is currently paying the amount.  Ultimately Southeast will be responsible for paying 20% of the cost.

What was not mentioned at last night’s meeting is there will be a Special Meeting of the Putnam County Legislature Called By The Clerk At The Request Of The Chairman To Be Held At The Putnam County Emergency Operations Center, 112 Old Route 6, Carmel, New York 10512 on Monday, February 14, 2011 at 7PM.

Carmel resident Lori Kemp’s response to the county maintaining its high sale tax rate was this:

I celebrated this passing by taking a quick drive to CT.  I filled up on gas, bought some cigs and other taxable items – I estimate the 15 minute ride saved me about 35 bucks versus the 52 cents it cost me to get there.  Since the County seems so worried about Paul Camarda’s bottom line, I’m also guessing that my little shopping spree in CT helped to keep Paulie’s property taxes in check,  and so by example, I was kinda “shopping Putnam.”

To which Brewster resident Mike Santos replied,

Lori, the Putnam County government refuses to acknowledge that what you did is commonplace, encouraged by their own stubborn addiction to stealth tax, and is the cause of what they like to call the “Putnam Paradox”.

People are not stupid. About two-thirds of Putnam residents live in the eastern half of the county, and within easy driving range of Connecticut. They will shop where prices are lower, and Connecticut stores start with a two-and-three-eighths price advantage. People know that “shopping Putnam” does not keep theirtaxes lower, it merely means they are paying an artificially inflated stealth tax instead.

Were the sales tax rate lowered to 6 and-three-eighths, fewer Putnam shoppers would go to Connecticut, and sales tax receipts would probably rise. Oh, wait, that was Ronald Reagan’s theory! We can’t be espousing Reagan’s economic theories in Putnam. It may be illegal.

In the meanwhile, it is local retailers who suffer loss of business because Putnam Legislators want to hide from the taxpayers the true cost of supporting an obsolete and bloated county government.

Courtesy of Sarah Palin:

“And nobody yet has, nobody yet has explained to the American public what they know, and surely they know more than the rest of us know who it is who will be taking the place of Mubarak and no, not, not real enthused about what it is that that’s being done on a national level and from DC in regards to understanding all the situation there in Egypt. And, in these areas that are so volatile right now, because obviously it’s not just Egypt but the other countries too where we are seeing uprisings, we know that now more than ever, we need strength and sound mind there in the White House. We need to know what it is that America stands for so we know who it is that America will stand with. And, we do not have all that information yet.”

Source: http://readersupportednews.org/off-site-news-section/69-69/4935-comic-relief-sarah-palin-on-egypt

In the land of the Pharaohs:

I’m wondering if Americans could do *anything* as a social group for 18 days straight without breaking into warring factions or the FBI infiltrating and inciting violence.

And now, The News:

 
• Bill Buck in Cape Horn
• Cold Spring man suffers from mistaken ID
• GOP cynicism boggles the mind
• Congress Voting to Kill Public Radio
• Brewery Ommegang Statement on Hydrofracking for Shale Gas.
• Chamber of Commerce’s lobbyists solicited hackers to sabotage unions and smear its political opponents
• Nation turned its back on rights abuses
• Congressman Ron Paul booted from conservative group for anti-war views
• Gay rights champion aims to become Republican presidential candidate

Bill Buck in Cape Horn

This article was first posted at Plant Talk by Plant Talk.

Ed. note: NYBG scientist and Mary Flagler Cary Curator of Botany, Bill Buck is currently on expedition to the islands off Cape Horn, the southernmost point in South America, to study mosses and lichens. Follow his journeys on Plant Talk.

February 4, 2011; unnamed sound directly east of Seno Mama, 54°35’S, 71°34’W

Yesterday was a busy day and I didn’t finish working on my specimens until 10:30 p.m., at which time I just wanted to hit my bunk, not my notebook! The day before yesterday we worked in a beautiful wet forest and we all collected lots of specimens, almost all of which were saturated with water. Not surprisingly, we’re baling in more collections than our drying system can handle, especially with five bryologists in the field. Most collections take about two days to dry on the lowest rack and longer on the upper shelves. At this point we all have wet specimens awaiting dryer space. And it certainly didn’t help that I made almost 100 collections yesterday.

After awhile I am sure that all these places are starting to sound the same to you, especially since you are not here. Quite honestly, at this point, many of our sites are even beginning to merge in my mind. I can distinctly remember the moment when I collected a moss and what the microhabitat looked like, but on which island or in which sound I found it is another story entirely. I assume that this will only get worse in the upcoming days because we are now hitting various sounds that go into the southern shore of Isla Grande (i.e., the large island) of Tierra del Fuego.

Yesterday afternoon we stopped at our final two small islands. We anchored in the canal separating Isla Brecknock from Isla Macías. The last time we divided our group between two islands Jim felt he got the less interesting island and so this time I let him pick first. He and Matt chose Isla Brecknock because it is the larger of the two islands and had a nice waterfall descending near where we were. Blanka, Kimmy, and I took Isla Macías.

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Cold Spring man suffers from mistaken ID

Marcela Rojas for the NYJN

Robert Viggiano, a Cold Spring father of two, is trying to clear his name after being confused with another Robert Viggiano who faces an attempted child rape charge.

Even the suspect’s wife apparently feels bad for Viggiano since she has contacted him to apologize for any inconveniences he may be experiencing.

Viggiano, who has a plumbing and heating business in the village, said he hasn’t slept in days and has a constant headache. His nightmare started Wednesday when the other Viggiano, also with a Cold Spring business, was arraigned in Yonkers on charges of attempted first-degree rape. The 48-year-old Fishkill resident, an electrician who owns Energy Services of New York, is accused of trying to arrange sex with a 10-year-old girl.

“It’s had a bad effect on us,” said Viggiano, 47. “People calling up questioning, thinking it may have been me.”

The calls, he said, have even extended to his wife’s co-workers from those inquiring, “Did you hear about Robert?” His wife, Marisa, is a nurse at Putnam Hospital Center.

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GOP cynicism boggles the mind

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, center, with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Va., right, and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy of Calif., speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington. Friday night, Feb. 11, 2011. (Photo: Associated Press) 

EASTON, Md. — February 13, 2011 — When the Republicans under the leadership of Speaker John Boehner strutted into the House, flexing their political muscle and promising to do the people’s business, something they accused the Democrats of neglecting, they said it would be all about jobs and the economy.  As of today there are no GOP job bills on the horizon.

Is this incompetence or cynical politics?  You decide.

Actually the House Republicans are making good on their promise not to work as hard the Democrats did by passing fewer bills.  Fewer bills supposedly translate into less government.

Just look at their schedule for the last two months and you will see they’re already keeping their promise.  When not taking off for official holidays, they are barely there:  two weeks on and one week off.  And Fridays are usually travel days.

No wonder there are no jobs bills.

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Congress Voting to Kill Public Radio

Extremists in Congress have introduced six — yes, six — bills that would slash all funding for NPR, PBS and other public media.

Now, they’re rushing the issue to a vote, trying to pull the plug on the news, arts and educational programming on which more than a hundred million Americans rely. The vote to cut all funding could happen as soon as next week!

A few brave members of Congress have spoken out against this assault on public media, and sided with the American people. With your help, we can get more members to take a stand:

It’s a disgrace to see the extremes to which members of the “People’s House” will go to silence what the public says, in poll after poll, are their most valued sources of news and programming. These outrageous political attacks need to stop. Here’s why:

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Brewery Ommegang Statement on Hydrofracking for Shale Gas.

(COOPERSTOWN, NEW YORK)
Brewery Ommegang has completed a close examination of the development of hydrofracking for natural gas in Otsego County. We reviewed detailed and extensive information provided by gas industry professionals, publications and supporters of hydrofracking who propose that drilling is safe, necessary, and will be an economic boost to Otsego County. We also reviewed information from gas industry professionals who are opponents of hydrofracking, as well as environmental and historic groups who contend that the permitting procedure is flawed, drilling is not safe, our currently pure water is endangered; and economic benefits will not be realized. We have endeavored to be thoroughly objective in our analysis and we will make available the information we have gathered to anyone who is interested in understanding both sides of the argument.

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Chamber of Commerce’s lobbyists solicited hackers to sabotage unions and smear its political opponents

ThinkProgress has learned that a law firm representing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the big business trade association representing ExxonMobil, AIG, and other major international corporations, is working with set of “private security” companies and lobbying firms to undermine their political opponents, including ThinkProgress, with a surreptitious sabotage campaign.

According to e-mails obtained by ThinkProgress, the Chamber hired the lobbying firm Hunton and Williams. Hunton And Williams’ attorney Richard Wyatt, who once represented Food Lion in its infamous lawsuit against ABC News, was hired by the Chamber in October of last year. To assist the Chamber, Wyatt and his associates, John Woods and Bob Quackenboss, solicited a set of private security firms — HB Gary Federal, Palantir, and Berico Technologies (collectively called Team Themis) — to develop tactics for damaging progressive groups and labor unions, in particular ThinkProgress, the labor coalition called Change to Win, the SEIU, US Chamber Watch, and StopTheChamber.com.

According to one document prepared by Team Themis, the campaign included an entrapment project. The proposal called for first creating a “false document, perhaps highlighting periodical financial information,” to give to a progressive group opposing the Chamber, and then to subsequently expose the document as a fake to undermine the credibility of the Chamber’s opponents. In addition, the group proposed creating a “fake insider persona” to “generate communications” with Change to Win. View a screenshot below:

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Nation turned its back on rights abuses

Natalie O’Brien
February 13, 2011

Mamdouh Habib went from being a Lakemba coffee-shop owner looking for a new life to a terrorism suspect, tortured, jailed without charge, vilified and finally paid hush money by the federal government. The Sun-Herald traces his journey.

TEN years ago Mamdouh Habib left his home in Birrong in Sydney’s west on an Emirates flight bound for Dubai, then Pakistan and ultimately disaster.

It was July 2001, just a few months before the September 11 attacks when Osama bin Laden would become the world’s most wanted man.

But the father of four says he was already being hounded by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and by the time he boarded the plane, he had had enough. Never afraid to speak his mind, Habib had experienced run-ins with and received threats from another Lakemba man, Bilal Khazal, whom he described as a bully and is now in jail for terrorism-related offences. He had just lost his contract cleaning business and he felt Australia was no longer the place to bring up his family.

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Congressman Ron Paul booted from conservative group for anti-war views

The conservative group Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) announced Saturday that Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) would be expelled from the group’s National Advisory Board because of his “delusional and disturbing alliance with the fringe Anti-War movement.”

“It is a sad day in American history when a one-time conservative-libertarian stalwart has fallen more out of touch with America’s needs for national security than the current feeble and appeasing administration,” YAF’s Senior National Director Jordan Marks said in a statement.

“Rep. Paul’s refusal to support our nation’s military and national security interests border on treason, aside from his failure to uphold his oath to the United States Constitution and defend our country and citizens against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” Marks continued.

According to the group’s founding statement of principles, the Sharon Statement, “American foreign policy must be judged by this criterion: does it serve the just interests of the United States?”

Supporters of Ron Paul shouted down former Vice President Dick Cheney at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Thursday, in a sign of a growing foreign policy rift on the American right.

Young Americans for Freedom helped to found the CPAC 38 years ago along with other conservative organizations, such as the American Conservative Union.

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Gay rights champion aims to become Republican presidential candidate

Fred Karger, a gay candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, campaigns at a town hall meeting in Keene, New Hampshire Photograph: Matthew Cavanaugh

Fred Karger walked into a coffee shop in Manhattan looking every inch the sort of man who wants to be a Republican presidential candidate.

The long-time “Grand Old Party” operative, who has served three different Republican presidents, had close-cropped grey hair and wore a sharp blue business suit. He clutched a folder of campaign literature and handed out a T-shirt emblazoned with “Iowa 2012″. But one key detail made Karger a little different in a Republican field swirling with names like Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee. On his suit lapel Karger wore a badge pairing the Stars and Stripes with the rainbow colours of the gay rights movement.

Karger, 61, whose 2012 presidential exploratory committee is perhaps the furthest advanced of any potential Republican candidate, is openly gay. When he officially declares his run, he will not only be the first gay Republican presidential candidate but also the first such candidate from any political party in American history. “I am a fighter and I am trying to change the Republican party and to open it up to everybody. If every gay person left the Republican party and went to the Democrats, that would be stupid. I believe in smaller federal government and personal responsibility just like my hero, Ronald Reagan,” Karger said over a chicken salad sandwich and a cola.

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Good Monday Morning,

It’s cold again. It’s going to snow again and then it’s going to get cold again.

NtM would like to welcome back three of it’s long-term supporters. Thanks.

A blog site from Yonkers called, “Rising Times“ is reporting that Putnam County District Attorney Adam Levy gave a company called WPD Concepts, LLC., a significant amount of money during his 2007 election. The article hints that Mr. Levy spent $75,000 to ensure an uncontested race but I’ll leave that up to the Feds to decipher.

What is interesting is that WPD Concepts has an address at 41 Bridle Ridge Road in Patterson, the residence of Ray McGuire.

Mr. McGuire must have been well paid as he owns two homes in Patterson, the one on Bridle Ridge (Assessed at $544,000) and another on Tammany Hall Rd ($409,000). Sweet.

A 5 minute Google search shows that WPD also must have been a well connected and profitable business! Registered in 2006, it was the darling of ONLY TWO NY Republican candidates since then. Guess which two?

Source: NYS Board of Elections

The plot thickens! Has the NY Journal News or the Courier written about this yet?

What the outcome will be is hard to say. The US Administration is furiously racing to alter its long-held position of supporting the totalitarian regimes that are now falling one by one.

It’s a little late for President Obama to be calling for “reform” in Egypt after the US has steadfastly backed Hosni Mubarak for the past 30 years and I would suspect that the next government formed may not be all that friendly to us. But what President Obama has not done is called for Hosni Mubarak to step down and that is a tactical and political mistake we will pay for in generations to come.

That we still back tyrants like Mubarak lies at the root of why the US traditionally backs totalitarian regimes even though we claim to “spread democracy” around the world:

When push comes to shove the US stands against democracy as right-wing, totalitarian governments are better for profits.

Anyway, if you’d like to watch the events live, point your browser here.

82% of all Putnam County based businesses employ less than ten people accounting for more than 7300 jobs and these are the companies that need help, not Camarda*Marts, but the mom and pop business that are the backbone of our communities and our economy. Think about that the next time some rich developer comes, hat in hand, for a taxpayer handout and remember the names of the politicians who give it to them.

It’s going to be an ugly year in Kent as the Forces of Evil do battle against the Forces of Don’t Change Anything with the outcome deciding the town’s future for the next few years. A well financed independent candidate running on a non-D or R line might just be able to bring some sanity to things.

With Leibell out of the picture and The Senator Who Shall Not Be Named busy in Albany, the Forces of Evil will have to make do on their own this time.

1. Bill Buck in Cape Horn
2. Walkway Over the Hudson: Poughkeepsie footbridge spurs development and retail boom
3. Yorktown to raze historic farmhouse
4. In Symbolic Move, Philadelphia Calls for Gas Drilling Ban
5. Nan Hayworth seeking to block standards to reduce toxic pollution
6. More U.S. Soldiers Killed Themselves Than Died in Combat in 2010
7. Drilling in ANWR back on the map
8. We Can Do Better: The Overlooked Importance of Professional Journalism
9. Men more likely to stick with girlfriends who sleep with other women than other men

Bill Buck in Cape Horn

This article was first posted at Plant Talk by Plant Talk.

Ed. note: NYBG scientist and Mary Flagler Cary Curator of Botany, Bill Buck is currently on expedition to the islands off Cape Horn, the southernmost point in South America, to study mosses and lichens. Follow his journeys on Plant Talk.

January 23, 2011, Isla Grande de la Tierra del Fuego, Puerto Consuelo, Seno Chasco, Chile, 54° 32′S, 71° 31′W

Although I am writing this blog daily, it is often impossible to send it. We were told that the modem that we rented would work anywhere, but in reality it needs a clear view to the north. Often times, though, our ship is anchored in a sheltered area with tall, snow-capped mountains on most sides of us. With the severe and changeable weather here, the saying “any port in a storm” takes on extra meaning! So, I continue to write and send them out whenever the modem decides it is in the mood.

Early this morning (5 a.m.) the captain moved the ship from our previous site to the sound directly west. When I awoke to the engine starting, I knew it would be 3-4 hours before we reached our next site, and that we could sleep in for awhile. Maybe an hour later it became obvious that we had left the protected sound for more open waters. The ship started rocking violently. For most of us, it was like rocking a baby in a cradle and put us back to sleep. Only one person felt a little queasy and had to take something for seasickness. Fortunately, so far, no one has actually gotten sick. In my previous trip to the region, on our second day our, we hit a large storm which crashed 12 foot waves over the ship for hours on end. As our bunkroom was transformed into a vomitorium, I was the only non-crew member who didn’t get sick. Since our bunkroom on this trip has minimal ventilation at best, it is a true blessing that this time no one has gotten sick.

It was immediately obvious when we entered the next sound, suddenly the waters were much calmer. At about 8:30 a.m., the ship stopped. I assumed that meant we were at our next site. Such was not the case. Rather, we were taking on  fresh water. To do this, the ship will pull up to a waterfall and one of the crew scrambles up the cliff face with a plastic bucket that is outfitted with a hose coming out of the bottom of it. The bucket goes into the waterfall and the end of the hose is placed into the hatch of the water tank, on top of the ship. We are in a totally uninhabited place, one that gets around 12 feet of rain a year, much of which at higher elevations falls as snow. So even in mid-summer, given that there are no large mammals to pollute it, the snow-melt water is pure and cold, which is good because it is the only fresh water we have. After watching the crew member (José) go up the cliff face like a monkey, I told him now we just need to teach him to collect mosses!

Not long after we replenished our fresh water supply, we arrived at the south end of the sound. Once again the landscape is spectacular. Southern beech forests come right down to the sea and are developed even on very steep slopes in only slightly sheltered places where a bit more soil accumulates. It is amazing to realize that what we are seeing has gone unchanged, except for climatic variation, for hundreds, if not thousands of years. There is virtually no man-made impact in the region, and we do our best to make sure we leave behind only divots where we have collected our specimens. Who knows how many decades it will take these small blemishes to regrow. All growth here is slow due to the cool temperatures.

Again today we split up, with Jim and Blanka choosing to go up the slope immediately next to where we were anchored. Juan and I chose to go around the end of the sound to an area where two waterfalls merge near the sea. After our ablutions (didn’t I mention our toilet malfunctioned on the first day?), Juan and I split up. Juan headed to higher elevations where snow not only persists, but is added to with each new storm, while I stayed at a lower elevation and worked along a small, raging stream coming down from a lake. Often I would stop along the stream, lay on the wet ground next to it (is it any wonder I get so wet in the field?!), and reach my hand down into the water, feeling along the bottom for submerged mosses. Some of my most interesting collections have come from doing this. Collecting in this fashion can be slow, but it is important to not get just numerous collections, but also interesting collections. And, with four pairs of eyes in different sites, we are hoping to get as much of the local bryodiversity as possible.

Much to our delight, the plant dryers that we built seem to be working. However, we’re collecting faster than the dryers can work, and so we have to rotate the collections regularly. At this stage we’re still finding species new for the flora as well as new for science. But most are known from the region. However, their distribution in the region is not at all known and so it is important to collect the common species as well as the rare ones. The weather today was the best we have seen so far. We actually saw the sun from time to time, as it alternated with light rain, sometimes repeating the pattern every couple of minutes. This is hardly what most people would think of as good weather, but we do!

We are scheduled to stay in this sound for two days before starting back toward Punta Arenas. We will stop at Seno Agostini on the way back because this is the site of Mt. Buckland. This peak is just north of our flora region, but it is the site where a moss was collected in the 1940s (Bucklandia bartramii, named for the peak) but not found since. Since this species is in the genus that Juan is working on for his doctoral dissertation, and he would love fresh material for DNA studies, we are happy to oblige. We are heading back to Punta Arenas to pick up our colleague from The Field Museum in Chicago, Matt von Konrat, who was delayed and couldn’t arrive when the rest of us did. It will also give us a chance to bathe and get clothes washed before heading out again.

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Walkway Over the Hudson:
Poughkeepsie footbridge spurs development and retail boom

The 14-acre site on Poughkeepsie’s waterfront where Louis Kaufman’s company plans to build a large upscale condo complex is a former lumber-treatment plant abandoned for more than a decade – and looks it.

The only color there is the graffiti that covers the old Dutton Lumber site’s beat-up industrial buildings, nestled by the frozen Hudson River.

“It’s a pretty awesome site, but you have to have vision,” says Kaufman, project manager for the O’Neill Group in Hackensack, N.J. “It’s right by the train station, right on the river, right by the walkway – it’s as good as you can get under the circumstances of today’s economy.”

The 1.3-mile former railroad bridge connecting Highland to Poughkeepsie, now called the Walkway Over the Hudson, looms over the site. The wildly popular pedestrian bridge − the longest in the world, according to the nonprofit behind it − has drawn more than 750,000 tourists, three times the expected number, since its debut in October 2009.

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Yorktown to raze historic farmhouse

YORKTOWN — For 199 years, a farmhouse of one of the town’s oldest families has overlooked Crompond Road.

Last used as offices for school administrators, the white, two-story house will be gone by year’s end.

Former Landmarks Commission member Raymond Gunther called it a fine example of post-Colonial architecture. “As such we thought it was worth saving,” he said.

Gunther researched the farmhouse’s storied history, penning a 2004 report for the now-defunct commission.

John Hazzard Strang built it in 1812. His father, Daniel Strang, purchased the surrounding land from Col. Philip Verplanck in 1728.

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In Symbolic Move, Philadelphia Calls for Gas Drilling Ban

This article was first posted at ProPublica: Articles and Investigations by ProPublica.

by Nicholas Kusnetz

As the federal government continues to study a controversial gas drilling technique and the states tinker with their own regulations, some cities and towns are trying to halt local drilling. Philadelphia became the latest to do that on Thursday, when city officials called for at least a temporary ban on new wells in the watershed that serves the city’s taps.

The request was part of a set of recommendations in a report approved by the city council asking federal and state authorities to tighten drilling regulations. The report also urges the city-owned utility to avoid buying gas that comes from the Marcellus Shale, the layer of rock that stretches under much of Pennsylvania and is considered one of the world’s largest gas fields.

But the vote was largely symbolic. The utility doesn’t buy any Marcellus Shale gas and has no plans to — and new drilling in the Delaware River Basin is already on hold. The idea was to send a message, said Michelle Wilson, a spokeswoman for Curtis Jones, Jr., the councilman who sponsored the report.

“Philadelphia is a major city and we’re hoping that behind this push, that we can use it for leverage,” Wilson said.

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Nan Hayworth seeking to block standards to reduce toxic pollution

WASHINGTON – A total of 123 House members from 35 states, including Congresswoman Nan Hayworth (NY-19) are co-sponsoring legislation that would block EPA standards to reduce toxic, smog and soot pollution from industrial plants and other sources, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Carbon Dioxide pollution increases the risk of heat stress, promotes the spread of infectious diseases and makes it more difficult to reduce smog pollution, which threatens the health of asthma sufferers and others with respiratory problems, the group said.

The NRDC’s director of the Climate Control Center, Dan Lashoff, said four bills would attack implementation and enforcement of the Clean Air Act.

“Our elected representatives should hold big polluters accountable, not help them block the strong safeguards that would protect our health and quality of life,” he said. “Unfortunately these bad air boosters, who have collectively taken over $27 million in campaign contributions from big polluters during their careers, are choosing to standing up for the polluters instead of public health.”

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More U.S. Soldiers Killed Themselves Than Died in Combat in 2010

For the second year in a row, more American soldiers—both enlisted men and women and veterans—committed suicide than were killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Excluding accidents and illness, 462 soldiers died in combat, while 468 committed suicide. A difference of six isn’t vast by any means, but the symbolism is significant and troubling. In 2009, there were 381 suicides by military personnel, a number that also exceeded the number of combat deaths.

Earlier

this month

, military authorities announced that suicides amongst active-duty soldiers had slowed in 2010, while suicides amongst reservists and people in the National Guard had increased. It was proof, they said, that the frequent psychological screenings active-duty personnel receive were working, and that reservists and guardsmen, who are more removed from the military’s medical bureaucracy, simply need to begin undergoing more health checks. This new data, that American soldiers are now more dangerous to themselves than the insurgents, flies right in the face of any suggestion that things are “working.” Even if something’s working, the system is still very, very broken.

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Drilling in ANWR back on the map

Lisa Murkowski is back in the Senate and once again she is backing opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil production.

Murkowski, who serves as the ranking member of the Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee, wasted no time during the committee’s first week back at work, pushing for speed on opening up ANWR.

We Can Do Better: The Overlooked Importance of Professional Journalism

The Web is a galaxy of information that is rapidly expanding. Blogs and online magazines are helping shape the future of this Information Age that we live in. Those of us who read, write and design blogs and online magazines possess extraordinary power and potential. How will we choose to use it?

If you use your website to publish news, events, opinions or interviews, you should familiarize yourself with the basics of journalism. These tools can help us develop and share information that is exciting, intelligent, and responsible. They can provide guidance and support as you pursue a career or hobby writing online.

This article is accompanied by examples of photojournalism, which is the practice of communicating news through photographs. The above photo of a 1940′s newsstand in New York City was taken by photojournalist Ruth Orkin

We, designers, go on all day about the usability of our WordPress layouts and the readability of our typography, but all of those things have been considered in vain if our writing is poorly spelled, riddled with inaccuracies, or based on second-hand assumptions that will leave our audience misled, confused, or worse. Even if you’re just casually writing about why you personally love/hate the iPad (for example), you can do so in a truthful way (truthful to your own opinions and truthful to the information you are discussing).

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Men more likely to stick with girlfriends who sleep with other women than other men

ScienceDaily (Jan. 27, 2011) — Men are more than twice as likely to continue dating a girlfriend who has cheated on them with another woman than one who has cheated with another man, according to new research from a University of Texas at Austin psychologist.

Women show the opposite pattern. They are more likely to continue dating a man who has had a heterosexual affair than one who has had a homosexual affair.

The study, published last month in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, provides new insight into the psychological adaptations behind men’s desire for a variety of partners and women’s desire for a committed partner. These drives have played a key role in the evolution of human mating psychology.

“A robust jealousy mechanism is activated in men and women by different types of cues — those that threaten paternity in men and those that threaten abandonment in women,” says Jaime C. Confer, the study’s lead author and a doctoral candidate in evolutionary psychology.

Confer conducted the study with her father, Mark D. Cloud, a psychology professor at Lock Haven University in Pennsylvania.

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Easter is right around the corner and the family is coming over, as they usually do, and you know as well as I do that your dining room, guest room and living rooms aren’t exactly as nifty as they could be. Not that anyone in the family will mind, they’re family after all, and will not mention the faded walls, cracks and dents and dinks left over from last year. But you know your cousin Sheila will mention it in a facebook post… Contact Taconicarts today for an estimate on getting that cleaned up and shutting Sheila up for good. Just imagine!

What was this five-to-seven inches of snow predicted for the other day? Here at NtM Central in the Free State we had 9.25″ of fresh, slightly heavy snow. Mahopac had eleven inches and East Mt. Road in Philipstown recorded 8.5″. Norwalk, CT measured 18″ and most of Nassau and Suffolk saw between 14″ – 16″. But the Grand Prize for the area goes to Staten Island with 20″ of freshly fallen snow.

So, what to do with all that snow? If you live in Carmel and you also happen to live next door to Highway Supervisor Michael Simone, you get to dig out of a 7′ high wall of snow highway workers dumped in your driveway so that Mr. Simone can get to work and then you watch him excuse the hell out of it saying, “That’s the only place to put the snow.” He could have said, “Jeez, I’m sorry, let’s see what we can do in the future,” but hey, it’s Carmel!

The Hudson River Estuary Program’s “Trees for Tribs” initiative offers free native trees and shrubs for streamside buffer planting/restoration projects in the Hudson River Estuary watershed. Since 2007 the program has been responsible for planting more than 18,000 native trees and shrubs along 35,000 feet of stream with the help of thousands of local volunteers.

We are now accepting applications Spring 2011 planting sites. Applications received by March 1, 2011 will be given preference.

For further information about the program including project applications and fact sheets, please visit the DEC website, www.dec.ny.gov/lands/43668.html or contact the Hudson River Estuary Program’s Stream Buffer Coordinator, Beth Roessler at (845)-256-2253 or baroessl@gw.dec.state.ny.us.

Now, you’d think that UPS might start the route the next day at the spot they left off the day before but, nooooooo. And being at the end of the route means that any delay during the day sets you back another day. Hence, as you can see below, UPS has no control.

The package then goes back to Yorktown where (drum roll please…) it starts the process all over again being scanned in as if it were new. Okay, it’s sent out for delivery yesterday morning with every road in Putnam County cleared but by noon UPS decides that clear pavement is too much a hassle and so the “movement of the package will resume as soon as the weather conditions allow”.

I might have bought that excuse Wednesday afternoon but by yesterday morning when I hit my old, crooked and pockmarked road to shovel out the driveway, it was pretty clear.

Here’s the log as of yesterday afternoon. As you can see, at noon they quit. What you cannot see are the floors here at NtM Central and that’s for two reasons. One, you’re there and I’m here and, two, they are deeply covered in dust, dirt, grime and dog hair and I’m a guy who vacuums every two days without fail. So, Dear UPS! HELP ME!

I just checked the UPS website again (09:18AM ) and the package is now (forever?)  lost in “Emergency Conditions Beyond UPS’ Control Land”, as of 5:40PM last evening.

NYSEG is expanding its Small Business energy Efficiency Program into Putnam and Sullivan counties. For small businesses who use is less than 100 kilowatts, NYSEG is willing to pay up to 70% of the cost of upgrading lighting fixtures along with a free energy audit. Upgrades include the switch to CFL and LED’s. Call NYSEG.

This article was first posted at Plant Talk by Plant Talk.

Ed. note: NYBG scientist and Mary Flagler Cary Curator of Botany, Bill Buck is currently on expedition to the islands off Cape Horn, the southernmost point in South America, to study mosses and lichens. Follow his journeys on Plant Talk.

January 21, 2011, Isla Grande de la Tierra del Fuego, Seno Brujo, Chile, 54° 30′S, 71° 32′W

The weather caught up with us today. I’ve hardly mentioned the weather, up to this point, because it is such a part of the region that it’s easy to take it for granted. Prior to the trip I warned everyone to be prepared for temperatures around 50ºF, 40 mph winds, and rain. Until today we had been lucky. By that I mean, it has been cool, and somewhat windy, but with only occasional light rain. Here, this is considered good summer weather! Yesterday, our first full collecting day, the weather was cool and breezy with intermittent light rain. Last night when we were discussing the day among ourselves, some of our group hadn’t even noticed that it had rained at all, and it probably rained about a third of the time in the morning. But it was only a light rain and the vegetation is permanently wet, so a little more water was easy to overlook.

Early this morning we left Seno Bluff for the next sound to the west, Seno Sargazos. It was calm waters and overcast but not raining. Right after breakfast we went ashore and collected for several hours along a lake-fed river. I asked the Chileans what they would call the vegetation and was told it was called Magellanic tundra. What a good name! There were only patches of trees in small ravines, the landscape mostly consisted of tussocks of herbaceous plants and bryophytes about 2 feet tall that are very spongy underfoot, with holes between the tussocks. Walking was slow and treacherous. However, collecting was good and we found some real sub-Antarctic mosses.

During lunch we moved the ship to the next sound west, Seno Brujo. Our goal was to get to the southernmost end of it and then work up a river to a large lake we could seen on a map. I guess the rough seas between the two sounds should have been an indication that the weather was changing. When we arrived it was raining hard, but wasn’t too windy, and we decided to go collecting at least for a couple of hours. However, as we suited up in our rain gear, the weather worsened. Once we were standing out on the deck, ready to board the zodiac to go ashore, the rain became torrential and the wind picked up, driving the rain almost horizontally. When it hit your skin it felt like sleet because of the force as well as how cold it was.

The waters were rough with white tops being driven up by the wind. I made an executive decision that we would not go out in the afternoon, much to everyone’s relief. So, we’ll spend the night here tonight, in a slightly more sheltered cove, and go out in the morning. In this part of the world the weather is always a factor, but it is this very weather that results in such lush bryophytes. It is also the reason why the area is uninhabited and the landscape is so stunningly spectacular. But that can wait for morning!

This article was first posted at Plant Talk by Plant Talk.

Ed. note: NYBG scientist and Mary Flagler Cary Curator of Botany, Bill Buck is currently on expedition to the islands off Cape Horn, the southernmost point in South America, to study mosses and lichens. Follow his journeys on Plant Talk.

January 22, 2011, Isla Grande de la Tierra del Fuego, Seno Brujo,, Chile, 54° 30′S, 71° 32′W

Yes, we’re in the same place as yesterday. The captain of our ship said that last night, winds of 80 knots (88 mph) were expected, and so he did not want to take the ship out into open water. 88 mph!! That’s hurricane force winds, and indeed during the night the winds howled and the ship was buffeted about.

I got up in the night and went out onto the deck at 3:45 a.m. The deck was illuminated with moonlight, many stars were visible, and the snow glowed on nearby mountains; however, the wind was strong and I held onto the railing to make sure I wouldn’t be blown overboard. Moments like this, alone in the glory of nature, are the moments I treasure above almost everything else. When I came out again at 6:15 a.m., the sun had risen, the winds had died down and the sky was mostly clear. If nothing else, the weather here can change quickly.

By the time we were ready to go into the field, it had started to rain again, but this time only lightly, and the winds, and thus the sea, remained calm. We headed toward what we initially thought was a lake but instead turned out to be a shallow inlet of the sea, accessible by zodiac. We split up and Jim (video) headed toward a large, glacier-fed waterfall because of his special interest in rheophytic bryophytes, those that grow on rocks in moving water. Some rheophytes are only in the water seasonally, following rain patterns, and others are permanently wet. Juan headed up the mountain, toward the snow, because the moss genus he is working on for his dissertation often grows on exposed rocks. Blanka collected along the shore of the small inlet, and I headed for the rocky peaks near the shore and the pockets of forest in more sheltered sites.

Our goal, which seems overwhelming given the immensity of the landscape and the small fraction of it which we are able to collect from, is to document the diversity of mosses and liverworts in the Chilean Antarctic Province (Provincia Antártica Chilena). It’s because of this goal that we spread out in the field and try to sample as many microhabitats as possible.

As the day progressed, the weather worsened. What had been light, intermittent rain became steady light rain, and as the time approached for us to be picked up, the rain increased in intensity until it almost seemed like sleet, it was so cold. The collections, which are put into paper bags, were saturated with water, even after I wrung them out with my hands. The wind was beginning to intensify, and as I waited for the zodiac to pick me up, I began to wish I was wearing  another layer of clothing (in addition to the five layers I already had on!). When we arrived back at the ship we looked like drowned rats, cold and wet. We hurried into the galley, which is constantly warm from the stove, to disrobe. The wet rain gear was carried to the engine room, which now looks like a Chinese laundry with all our wet clothes draped over the pipes.

After a hot lunch (I’ll have to talk about our food another day) we processed our specimens from the morning. All were sopping wet, and by now the paper bags were disintegrating. We have dryers for our mosses, but the heat source consists solely of 100 watt light bulbs. To expedite the drying process it is best to remove as much water beforehand as possible, so every specimen is wrung-out by hand and then placed into a new, dry paper bag. After all our specimens were processed and put on the dryers, we intended to go back into the field for the afternoon and early evening. However, around that time, the wind picked up again–it howled and white caps covered the water. We were told it was too dangerous to take the zodiacs out. We are trapped on the ship (which gives me time to write this). After two days like this, we’re just hoping it won’t become a pattern and thus limit our collecting to the mornings.

Ed note: If you would like your event(s) listed here, please send a plain text press release with the who, what, where, why, when and how. PDF and JPG files, though they’re nice, take a lot of time to retype by hand. So, unless you’re going to be sending me two comp tickets to the event please remember, just the text. Nothing but the text. Thanks!

• Friday, January 28
  • Snow is Good
  • Steve Chizmadia
• Saturday, January 29
  • River Explorers:  Hands-on Nature Programs for Ages 5 – 12
  • Documentary: War Made Easy
  • Journey of the American Eel
  • Jazz Singer Michelle LeBlanc
• Sunday, January 30
  • The Last Sunday of the Month Theater Series
• Into The Future
  • Tuesday, February 1
    • Photographs: Little People
  • Saturday, February 5
    • Town Meeting with Sandy Galef in Garrison
    • Open Casting Call for “Rhymes With Banana”
  • Thursday, February 10
    • Forest to Faucet
    • Financing Education Through Income Taxes
  • Saturday, February 12
    • Town Meeting with Sandy Galef in Putnam Valley
    • Town Meeting with Sandy Galef in Kent Lakes
    • Tom Chapin
  • Thursday, February 17
    • Northeast Sustainable Communities Workshop
  • Sunday, February 27th
    • Winter Ecology Walk
  • Friday April 22 – Earth Day
    • An Earth Day Celebration to Benefit Clearwater

Friday, January 28

Snow is Good

7PM – CIES Talk. Most people pay attention to climate change in the summer, when faced with heat waves, hurricanes, and severe thunderstorms. In the northeast, climate warming is actually more marked in the winter, and the loss of snow cover can have a ripple effect on tree growth and groundwater recharge. Cary Institute scientist Dr. Peter Groffman will discuss how mild winters threaten soil productivity, plant growth, and freshwater resources. Event is free. Location: Cary Institute’s auditorium, located at 2801 Sharon Turnpike (Route 44) in Millbrook, New York.

Steve Chizmadia

7:30PM At the Beanrunner Cafe in Peekskill. Steve’s been singing and playing guitar since he was knee high to a Gibson J-200. He studied acting while attending NYU and studied with Robert Perillo and Stella Adler among others. He performed Off Off Off Off Broadway, in Houston Texas, in Myrtle Beach South Carolina, all the while carrying a guitar and note pad, scribbling lyrics, scratching them out, scribbling new ones.

In 1998, after a twenty year gestation period, the songs started to come. 2003 found Steve a Kerrville New Folk finalist. In 2005 his song “This Old Town” received honorable mention from the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival. He began recording his debut C.D. with friend, mentor and producer Fred Gillen, Jr. in early 2006, which was completed in early 2007 and released in September of that year to good airplay on many folk radio programs. He has showcased at Northeast Regional Folk Alliance in New York. Admission: $7

Saturday, January 29

River Explorers:  Hands-on Nature Programs for Ages 5 – 12

11AM – Noon With this event themed “Winter Hide and Seek,” children are welcomed to Beczak Environmental Education Center to learn about hibernation and migration patterns of Hudson River animals. Event is free and open to the public.  Funding is provided thanks to a grant from ConEd. Registration required at vgarufi@beczak.org / (914) 377-1900 ext. 12.  For more information please visit www.beczak.org.
Location: Beczak Environmental Education Center, 35 Alexander Street, Yonkers, NY 10701.

7PM – Learn about the fascinating life cycle of the American eel, plus see and touch live eels, with Sarah Mount, DEC Hudson River Estuary Educator.  The event will cost $10 / teachers half price. For more info contact vgarufi@beczak.org, (914) 377-1900 x 12.  or visit www.beczak.org.  “Eels are amazing!” says Sarah Mount, a young NYS Department of Conservation educator who is paid to think about, watch over, study and teach others about America eels.

American eels hatch in the Sargasso Sea, an area of the Atlantic Ocean west of the Bahamas, not far from what is known as the “Bermuda Triangle.” Ocean currents carry the transparent “glass eels” over one thousand miles to the U.S. coast, where they swim up the rivers of the northeast, including the Hudson River. After reaching these freshwater bodies they feed and mature for approximately 10 to 25 years before migrating back to the Sargasso Sea where they spawn and die. “Right now larval stage eels are floating along the Gulf Stream heading towards the Hudson and other estuaries along the coast. The older eels that are already upriver and in freshwater systems have gone into a sort of hibernation—they’ve burrowed down under some rocks and won’t be seen or heard from until the water gets warmer,” says Sarah Mount, Hudson River Estuary Educator for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Hudson River Estuary Program and Research Reserve.

How do adult eels make the open ocean journey back to the Sargasso Sea? Why do all eels, worldwide, spawn in that region? Why is the eel population declining drastically?  These are some of the questions scientists are studying and that Sarah Mount will discuss at Journey of the American Eel. She will also bring samples of elvers and adult eels for attendees to see and touch.

Location: Beczak Environmental Education Center, 35 Alexander Street, Yonkers, NY 10701.

Jazz Singer Michelle LeBlanc

7:30PM at Hudson House River Inn 2 Main Street, Cold Spring NY  10516 Reservations 845 265 9355 www.michelleleblanc.com

Sunday, January 30

The Last Sunday of the Month Theater Series

4:30PM – At the Beanrunner Cafe, Peekskill. With “Bloom Off the Rose-The Virgin Stories”, a drama by Missy Stone. The Peekskill Playhouse Presents “Bloom Off the Rose”, a collection of monologues about diverse characters set in the shadow of their lost virginity and the path each followed beyond that pivotal point in their lives. The performance will be followed by a wine and cheese tasting and an hour of Hot Jazz for a Cold Winter’s Night. Admission $12.

Into The Future

Tuesday, February 1

Photographs: Little People

A Photographic exhibition by Chris Casaburi. As complex as big people, Little People captures the individuality and uniqueness of people in the early stages of their life, featuring commissioned photographs and personal work.

As you walk into the Kent Library make a hard right turn, then look to your right you’ll see a wall of large colorful prints. This exhibit celebrates the wonders of childhood…  up one minute and down the next, moods can swing in an instant. It’s important to work quickly when photographing children. They tend to have little patience. They meet me and the lights and the camera, and they play along for awhile. Little People runs til Feb. 28, 2011. Kent Library, 17 Sybil’s Crossing, Kent Lakes, NY 10512. ph845-225-8585

Known in the commercial and editorial world for his colorful and engaging portraits of corporate executives, Chris’ work with children reveals a different side in this series of large color photographs. In this exhibit Chris celebrates the wonders of childhood. As complex as big people, Little People captures the individuality and uniqueness of people in the early stages of their life.

Saturday, February 5

Town Meeting with Sandy Galef in Garrison

1PM – 3PM – Come meet with me to hear an update on what is going on in Albany. Bring your ideas and suggestions for what needs to be done to improve our state. At the Desmond Fish Library, 472 Route 403 in Garrison.

Open Casting Call for “Rhymes With Banana”

Noon – 6PM. An open casting call will be held for “Rhymes With Banana”, a feature film starring Zosia Mamet (The Kids Are All Right, Parenthood, Mad Men, The Art of Love) and Jee Young Han (The Art of Love, Meet Monica Velour).

“Rhymes With Banana” is a contemporary comedy written by Christina Mengert (Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding; The Art of Love) and Joseph Muszynski (Peace, Love, and Misunderstanding). The film is to be directed by Mr. Muszynski and Peter Hutchings (co-writer of The Art of Love), and will be produced by BCDF Pictures.

Shooting will take place locally in the Hudson Valley from the end of February to the end of March.

The production is seeking local actors and artists for:
• Male roles (ages 18-60)
• Female roles (ages 20-60)
• Male child role (ages 8-12)
• Male role (ages 30-50) with deep bass voice and the ability to sing gospel for a two-line chorus

Requirements: Please bring a headshot or a recent photo. Screen Actors Guild and non-SAG artists welcome.

When: Saturday, February 5, from 12-6pm
Where: The Kingston Media Factory/Stella May Gallery Theatre
101 Greenkill Ave, Kingston, NY 12401

Thursday, February 10

Forest to Faucet

9AM – Noon – What does a watershed need to produce clean water? The Hudson River Watershed  Alliance and the Hudson River Estuary Program present a new Geographic Information System mapping tool that can help identify important watershed attributes.  Donald Steinmetz of the Highlands Environmental Research Institute will present this new GIS tool, based on data developed by the US Forest Service.  Fran Dunwell and Scott Cuppett from the Hudson River Estuary Program, and Jennifer Grossman from the Highlands Coalition and Open Space Institute will discuss the importance of clean water and watershed management in the Hudson Valley. To Register Contact Barbara Kendall, HRWA Coordinator:  barbara@hudsonwatershed.org 914 474 2759
Snow Date: February 17

Location: Sterling Forest Visitor Center, 116 Old Forge Road, Tuxedo, NY 10987

This event will be followed by a meeting of the Highlands Coalition. Contact Janet Burnett for more information.

Financing Education Through Income Taxes

7PM – 9PM State Assemblywoman Sandra Galef has invited Assemblyman Kevin Cahill to discuss his bill A447 which would shift the burden of school funding from property taxes to income taxes. Joining Mr. Cahill will be Frank Mauro from the Public Policy Institute, Edmund J. McMahon, the director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy and Martin Reid, Deputy Director of Government Relations from the NY School Boards Association. At the Desmond Fish Library, 472 Route 403 (at the intersection of Route 9D). Call 914 941-1111 for more information.

Saturday, February 12

Town Meeting with Sandy Galef in Putnam Valley

10AM – Noon – Come meet with me to hear an update on what is going on in Albany. Bring your ideas and suggestions for what needs to be done to improve our state. At the Putnam Valley Library, 20 Oscawana Lake Road, Putnam Valley

Town Meeting with Sandy Galef in Kent Lakes

1Pm – 3PM – Come meet with me to hear an update on what is going on in Albany. Bring your ideas and suggestions for what needs to be done to improve our state. At the Kent Public Library, 17 Sybil’s Crossing, Kent Lakes.

Tom Chapin

7:30PM – Described as “totally captivating” by Billboard Magazine, Tom Chapin is a singer, guitar player, TV personality, concert performer, actor, composer, and recording artist.  Tom’s concerts span generations and stereotypes, and his recordings have earned him awards from Parent’s Choice New York Music Awards, and Emmy and Peabody Awards for his work with ABC’s Make a Wish. Tom is also renowned for carrying on the work of his brother, the late Harry Chapin, in combating world hunger.

For more than 30 years and through 20 CD’s, Chapin has entertained, amused and enlightened audiences of all ages with life-affirming original songs told in a sophisticated array of musical styles.  Tom’s remarkable musicianship, great songwriting and personal warmth shine though whether he’s performing in a concert hall, an outdoor festival, a school, in front of a symphony orchestra or in an intimate coffeehouse.

Tom Chapin’s adult concerts and recordings are sparked by strong, intelligent songwriting with clear, engaging vocals and the intricate, melodic guitar work that has become his trademark.

The Coffeehouse takes place in Asbury Hall in Memorial United Methodist Church, located at:
250 Bryant Avenue, White Plains, NY

Doors open at 6:30 PM- Open Seating So arrive early, get yourself a cup of fair trade coffee, with some delicious cookies or cake and take part in our Informal Teachabout with Walkabout at 6:45 PM. Main Performance Starts at 7:30PM Tickets in Advance: Adults- $20.00; Children- 6-12 $10.00 – Door Price: Adults-$25.00;  At Door with Student ID- $15.00

Thursday, February 17

Northeast Sustainable Communities Workshop

NSCW 2011: What Does the Future Hold?  Workshop Topics Include: • Transit-oriented Development • Alternative Energy • Innovations in Brownfields Redevelopment • Sustainable Communities, and more!

Join us in this dynamic workshop to discuss how sustainable communities are created.  The program for this workshop is intended to be a half day of intensive, high energy exchanges between stakeholders sharing varied perspectives on the issues surrounding sustainable redevelopment, alternative energy, and more.

Stakeholder perspectives that include real estate finance, government at all levels, corporations, community representatives, NGOs and consultants who provide a range of technical expertise will be invited to participate in interactive sessions that focus on best practices and the challenges to their implementation.  Join us for this unique conversation! The 2011 Northeast Sustainable Communities aWorkshop is being coordinated by the Brownfields Coalition of the Northeast.  Workshop Fees: Government/Non-Profit: $40 Private: $75 Student: $25 Keynote Lunch Speaker: Bill Finch, Mayor City of Bridgeport. See attached information.

Location: Bridgeport, CT (Housatonic Community College)

Sunday, February 27th

Winter Ecology Walk

2PM Join Cary Institute educators for an interpretive stroll along our snow-covered trails. While bears and chipmunks are sleeping away the winter, there are still signs of life on our grounds. Put on your hat and boots and discover animal tracks, ice bell formations, cold weather insects, and the wonders of winter survival. Meet at the main campus parking area, located at 2801 Sharon Turnpike (Rte. 44) in Millbrook, NY. RSVPs are required; let us know if you are signing up for the adult walk or the family-friendly walk. Contact (845) 677-7600 x 121 or e-mail freemanp@caryinstitute.org.

Friday April 22 – Earth Day

An Earth Day Celebration to Benefit Clearwater

We’re excited to announce Clearwater Generations: An Earth Day Celebration to Benefit Clearwater, which will be held at the Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown, NY, on April 22 at 8pm.

The show will feature Pete Seeger & Tao Seeger, Peter Yarrow & Bethany Yarrow, Bernice Johnson Reagon & Toshi Reagon, and David Amram and Family. Performances by Clearwater friends and special guests including Janis Ian, Tom Paxton, Tom Chapin, Livingston Taylor, Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, Guy Davis, Rufus Cappadocia and the Power of Song, will round out this special celebration.

Clearwater’s environmental mission is about inspiring and educating the next generation, and we have applied this theme to music. Honoring tradition while looking toward the future has always been a major part of the Clearwater Festival. The Generations concert is all about classic Clearwater artists performing with and inspiring their children and grandchildren in order to carry on their legacy through song.

Tickets for the Clearwater Generations: An Earth Day Celebration concert range from $48 to $98.  A limited amount of $250 tickets include premium seating, a post concert reception with the artists, as well as special Clearwater gifts. Proceeds from the concert will benefit Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.