PLEASE!  PLEASE!  PLEASE!  Enough with Michael Jackson yet already.  Let the poor tortured soul rest in peace.  Let’s have more about the passing of Farrah Fawcett and the world’s most famous swimsuit poster.  Now there is a loss!

It is true that Jackson was a major talent at one time-if you enjoy that sort of music, but he knew, and all of us knew, that he had grown too weird even for this society, and that eventually drugs would kill him.  Maybe it happened.  Let it go.  Mark his passing, mourn his passing, but do we need a month-long tribute on all the media, with details on his favorite drugs and his physical makeover and the jackals fighting over his possessions?  What an example for our children.  What a cult hero.  And now the legends start that he is not really dead, but in seclusion somewhere with Elvis, Marilyn, and James Dean.  Enough.  Enough.   Enough.

Yes, impassioned New Yorkers everywhere are up in arms about the latest failings of this group of guys.  Ready to take a page from Iranians; to riot in the streets; to shout their frustration from the rooftops.  Well, almost.  I have heard this “team” called dysfunctional, inefficient, ineffective, selfish, unyielding, even “unable to work and play well with others”.  And rightly so, it seems.  Not only are they overpaid under-achievers; not only are they unable to accomplish the simple tasks we hire them to do, but they are even unable to look professional while doing it.  People are demanding change!  New leaders.  New members.  A new direction.  Now!

Aha, you say!  He is talking about our beloved NY State Legislature, right?  And rightly so.  Well, actually, I was referring to our beloved NY Mets “”Professional” baseball team, but yes, you’re right, all of the above applies to our state senate. I think that senate reached a new low this week when, while the democratic members were all sitting around dreaming of going home to run for re-election, a stray republican wandered thru the chamber, giving them a majority, and they quickly passed 75 bills before that republican could get to the rest room.  Amazing!  One can only wonder about the calm deliberation, discussion, and analysis that took place on those 75 bills.  For sure at least one of them involved a pay raise for you-know-who, while not one of them involved reforms of the legislature. I mean, these guys are not even pretending any more to do the job we send them to Albany to do.  “What’s In It For Me?” has become their byword.  Perhaps it is better for us if no legislation gets passed, as is the norm.  Some folks even say that nothing has changed in Albany-just more publicity.

If only we could get the average New Yorker as upset over their government as they are over their baseball team.  If only they could remember these demeaning shenanigans in November when they go to the polls, and vote the whole self-serving bunch out.  If only we could disolve the entire legislature today and replace them with unemployed New Yorkers who WANT to work.  There are a lot of us out there.

But no, that’s not “The way it works”.  If we held a special election tomorrow, most folks who bother to vote would cast a ballot for those same politicians, “because their names are familiar”.  Our media would still endorse those same veteran incumbents, because “they have the necessary experience”.  And so it goes.  I can’t really speak for the Mets, being a Yankees fan, but when it comes to political groups, New Yorkers deserve what we get.

As New York State’s economy worsens day by day, I find myself spending more and more time out along the highways and byways of this once-great state- searching for nickel cans.  Always see a lot of friends and neighbors out there too, mostly seniors and jobless folks.  Hey, you do what you have to do, in spite of what Joe Bruno says.  But it seems that we are kicking more and more water and juice bottles out of the way these days, just to get to the beer and soda bottles, where the big money is.

For those folks who may not be familiar, New York enacted a law, many years ago, placing a $.05 deposit on beer and soda cans or bottles, payable upon return.  Of course, many citizens cannot be bothered with a mere nickel, so the beer can goes out the car window for the industrious collector.  And of course, any monies for unreturned bottles goes into the state tax barrel.  Also, for mysterious reasons, our infamous NY Legislature excluded from this law many other containers, such as juice and tea, and now water bottles, so these discards pretty much remain out there-forever.  No deposit-no return.

To be fair, our mostly dysfunctional legislators have attempted, over the years, to correct this oversight in taxing bottles, especially after bottled water became popular, but Gov BrunoSilver always managed to block any changes.  Not enough nickels involved, perhaps.  But finally, this year, rumor has it that the nickel can bill has been expanded to include water bottles (but not juice cans), to take effect some time in the unknown future.

One huge flaw in this environmental bill that our legislature has not addressed, however, is that although this is a NEW YORK law, and the can labels all state “NY Deposit 5 cents”, many stores and vendors will not accept bottles sold from another store, or brought in from another county.  For instance, one cannot return to Price Chopper a pepsi can purchased at Wegman’s, or a Wal-Mart brand can.  One cannot return to a redemption center in Onondaga County with a mountain dew bottle purchased in Lewis County.  Some will refuse a can if it is smashed, dented, or has holes.  So sorry, no soup for you!  Makes no sense at all.  It might be different if they rinsed the cans and reused them, but they all go in the big grinder.  As I tried to explain at a deposit center, the label clearly says NY deposit-nothing about counties or store brands or territorial infighting.  A nickel should be a nickel.  At least that can goes home to be deposited in my trash, not his.  Let NY have that nickel.  At least, in this instance, the legislature’s intent was good, however unclear.  I think.

Oh, look, a whole 6-pack!

Kenn at An Khe 1965

Kenn at An Khe 1965

letter from ‘nam

As we enjoyed a beautiful Memorial Day holiday, I was reminded by my daughter of a copy we have of a letter sent by my brother Kenn from Vietnam back in 1965 and published at that time in the local newspaper.  She wanted me to send her a copy of it as a memorial.  Kenn made it back from that war, though many others did not, and today we honor and thank all of them for their sacrifices.  My brother later died from exposure to the dread Agent Orange, some called it “Friendly Fire”, but I know he was thankful that he was spared and was able to marry, father two beautiful children, and enjoy life for another 30 or so years. We give thanks to him and all the others whose lives were cut short in that war and all those other wars.

I had an older cousin, Herb Brant, who was always more like an older brother to my family.  He enlisted in WWII, joined General Patton in France just after D-Day, and fought with Patton’s army through the bloody Battle of the Bulge, being wounded 2 or 3 times along the way.  He made it home, and never discussed the war much, but I always remember him saying that he lost a lot of good friends in that war, and he made a vow to enjoy the life that was given to him, in tribute to those who were buried in France.  Herb lived into his 80’s, and true to his word, took joy in everything he did.  I can think of no more fitting way to remember them.

One can wish that no one else ever dies in battle, but if we are to remain free, some of us must pay for that freedom.  We thank them.

Okay, maybe I am getting a bit slow in my old age, but I can’t seem to grasp the idea of the Great Economic Stimulus Package.  Maybe someone can explain it for the rest of us.

Okay, from what I understand so far, our government is taking large amounts of our tax dollars which they will not even collect until years from now, maybe, and turning these dollars over, without restrictions, to the banking, auto, and financial geniuses, or geniusi, who, thru their own greed and blunders, have lost most of the monies they had, most of which originally belonged to the taxpayers.  Make sense?

These financial experts will take these unlimited $trillions, less what the congressmen “earmark”, and then lend some of it back to some of the taxpayers, who are already unemployed, over-extended with credit card and mortgages, and have lost all or most of their retirement and investment money.  And this will help us how? And note that most of the President’s top financial advisers have been recruited, yes, from Wall Street.  They KNOW what they have been doing wrong!

In fairness, I did hear that the President proposes to give each and every long-suffering taxpayer a Stimulus payment of $400, (spread over a year).  Admittedly, $400 is a lot of money, especially for the many who have lost their jobs and retirement money.  That amount might be enough to, what, not make a mortgage payment-maybe pay the credit card interest for a month?  Nope, that won’t do it, Mr Obama.  And here in NY, Governor Paterson has already seen to it that we will be contributing much more than $400 if we wish to stay here another year.

Could it be that we will soon be looking back on the Bush/Cheney era as The Good Ol’ Days, and not the Dark Ages?

It is interesting and frightening to see all these big corporations, as well as federal, state, and local governments, licking their chops in preparation for spending the golden goose egg that is our economic stimulus package.  I still do not understand where we are supposed to get the $trillions to pay back these newfound funds.  Maybe just turn the whole country over to the chinese lenders when we are done-if they want it.

One of the major spending proposals in our area is the development of a “high-speed” railroad from New York City to Buffalo (I know, why would anyone want to go to Buffalo?).  Proponents say it would create a boom in New York’s economy all along the route, improving passenger services and freight movement, while decreasing costs.  All this at a construction cost starting at about $10 million per mile!  Predictions are that it will allow a train passenger to travel from NYC to Buffalo at least an hour faster than the present Amtrak train will do it.  Really!  And why not a hi-speed Erie Canal too?

Having ridden the Amtrak train recently, where I nearly had a whole railroad car to myself, I have to ask: How many people would benefit from such a project?  I have read that the train services around 30,000 people annually (I must have hit a slow day), which hopefully would increase somewhat with faster trains.  With a projected $6 billion construction cost, how does that break down per passenger?  And does our commute to and from the terminal thru congested traffic and potholed roads get any faster with the supertrain?

To me, it would make more sense to stimulate our economy by developing a high-speed version of our more popular and much more utilized highway system.  Why not use all this “free” money to build/rebuild our outdated highways and bridges?  Why not use part of it to modernize our NY State Thruway, then remove/repeal/eradicate the Toll system that should have disappeared years ago?  Now that would save folks some money!  Now that might make sense!  Maybe even develop an Interstate Highway System that works?

With all those trillions of “golden goose” monies floating around, maybe there would even be enough left over to buy all thruway users a brand new gas-guzzling American-Made car so they can travel even faster.  Better yet, we could provide a new fuel-efficient Toyota Prius for those few folk who now have to depend on Amtrak.  Hi-Speed Trains?  Who needs ‘em?

OK, much as we expected, our Prez has been on the job for over a month, and already he is being criticized for not having solved all the errors made in the past 8 years.  Why is it taking so long?  Well, I am here to help.

I was just reading that President Obama needs to come up with a couple of trillion $ to erase the budget deficit, and opinions differ as to how to do it.  The ol’ trusty Amex Card just won’t handle it.  Here is my solution:  It seems that every time the Prez fingers someone in government for a cabinet post, that individual has to come clean and admit that he has not paid his taxes for 3 or 10 years, but, hey, he will pay them now.  Follow me yet?  Of course, Obama can’t appoint everyone in Washington to a cabinet post, but why not have his Secretary of Treasury (who knows a few things about not paying taxes) start auditing everyone in Congress?  I’m guessing they should come up with at least a trillion in back taxes.  Maybe more.  And those folks will feel better about contributing their fair share to running their government. And along the way, they might even encourage some state governors and others to dig down and empty their pockets too.

It is interesting to note how the priorities work.  Recently a local Central New Yorker was found guilty of not paying his taxes, and he faces up to 22 years in prison for that crime.  In Washington, for the same offense, you are appointed as Secretary of the Treasury.  Go figure!

And another young man killed on his snowmobile in Montague.  This dangerous intersection is just down the road from our camp on Pitcher Road.  The intersection of Pitcher and Flat Rock, or Olin, Roads.

*Montague*
One of those blind 4-way crossings, with a hill and woods.  It is the most popular route between Flat Rock Inn and Tug Hill Inn.  There have been other snowmobilers killed here, the one I remember vividly was a head-on collision with both riders killed, not too long ago.  There are warning signs, and most seasoned Tug Hill riders know, but combine a snow machine with speed, smooth trails, friendly competition, and maybe some firewater, and bad things will happen.  Many sane snowmobilers I know will not even ride the Tug trails any more.  Too dangerous!  The first time you meet 3 sleds coming over a hill side by side at speeds up to 80 mph-well, you hope you are not seeing it from the opposite side of the hill!  It could be your last.  They just do not use common sense, and there are so many of them out there.  Sometimes hundreds on weekends.  And many of them are just traveling from one water hole (bar) to the next as fast as they can, with no regard for fellow travelers.  (Shudder).  I’m glad I am not out there anymore.  Had some close calls though.  The one I remember most was when another young male was killed when he ran into a fence some years back near Barnes Corners, obviously in a farmer’s field and not on a marked trail.  The media interviewed his brother, who actually stated something like: “They should not put fences where we ride.  They are too dangerous!”  Well, yeah.  Carve another notch on the nearest tree for the latest mishap.  Maybe they should not put stop signs on the trails either?  And how about all those dang trees?

And now the word is that another young man was killed just down the trail in Martinsburg, and yet another in Herkimer County!  Three dead in a 7-hour period, and six this month, but the season total is still below last year.  Are we having fun, or what?  Will they never learn that they are not invincible?

I do have some experience here, thanks for asking.  I still bear a scar on my leg from snowmobiling back in the 1970’s.  Of course, those early sleds were slower, and it was tough to kill yourself, but you could get banged up some.  Never at 100 MPH, though.  I guess if a modern sled is capable of going 100 MPH, some will have to go that fast, same as with cars, but that do not make it a smart thing to do.  Riding a sled that fast would be kind of like driving on the hood of your car at 100.  On a rough trail, not a highway.  Not much future in it.  Sadly, we all have to learn by experience, not advice from those who have been there.  Live and Learn.  Or not.  Let’s Ride!

New Yorkers knew right from the start that Governor Paterson was not going to spend the next couple of years running for re-election.  Nope.  One and done.  He actually examined the state budget, noticed that we are spending more than we are collecting (wasn’t he state comptroller in the past?), explained the situation to his legislature, and began taking steps to remove the deficit.  Cut spending, raise taxes, add new taxes, maybe even remove some state employees.  Remove a lot of state residents.  Right on!  But it does not make him popular with anyone.

One part of his tax program I really like is the proposed added tax on sugared soft drinks.  But he doesn’t go far enough; why not tax all soft drinks out of existance?  We would have more healthy slim folks, and maybe they will head to the gym, where, yes, they will be taxed to exercise!  Genius!

But the Guv is missing one huge opportunity, in my opinion.  If he would walk down the cereal aisle of any grocery, he might be astounded at the array of unhealthy sugared concoctions piled there, all aimed at our poor unsuspecting children.  Is it any wonder our kids are overweight and hyper?  We have sugar smacks, sugar pops, frosted flakes, fruity loops – the list is endless, and sugar is the main ingredient, even though some do contain corn, wheat, and such.  And many even add chocolate, or chinese chemically-enhanced honey.  Add a tall breakfast pepsi, or a power drink, and send your kid out to face the world.  What a way to start the day.  I say tax them all!  Set the sugared-cereal tax high enough to make all parents go back to untaxed oatmeal, grits, and cream-of-wheat, and watch us all slim down.

I offer this up to our Governor, as with all my ideas, free of charge.

In our little corner of the universe, it has been ever so that we are divided into two basic groups:  predator and prey; scammer and scammed; fox and rabbit, if you will. But recently, especially in the past 8 years or so, it seems that the foxes are becoming more numerous, more crafty, swifter even though they are getting fatter. The rest of us, the bunnies, for some reason are gradually losing our only means of defense: escape and evasion. We sit wide-eyed and trembling and wait for our inevitable fate.   The foxes of the world, call them Wall Street Financial Wizards, Politicians, Nigerian spammers, Car salesmen – you fill in the blanks – they are out to prey on you, and you need be alert at all times.  I fear for the future of all us bunnies. We may be outnumbered.