Adirondack Daily Enterprise "Web Poll"

There is a letter to the editor in todays Adirondack Daily Enterprise requesting that they cease publishing their so-called "web poll". Here is the letter:

Please do the community a favor and do away with the weekly Web Poll.

This so-called opinion forum has morphed into nothing more than a conveniently anonymous chat room where cowards deposit their rants, attacks, religious preachings and complaints over things that have nothing to do with the poll question. The Web Poll has served no other purpose than to divide the community. It is a verbal toilet.

The questions themselves are usually meaningless, divisive or poorly stated (or all of the above), and the “results” are worthless because the poll is unscientific.

As the only choice available for local news and information, the Enterprise should hold itself to a higher standard. The Web Poll is unprofessional and downright childish. If the editors really feel it’s necessary to have such a forum on the paper’s Web site, they should simply create a chat room where these people can have their anonymous, free-for-all shouting matches. Otherwise, there is already a legitimate way for the reading public to express opinions in the newspaper. It is called a letter to the editor, where you sign your name and accept accountability for your arguments.

I beg you to put a stop to the Web Poll. Flush the toilet!

Annette Scheuer

Saranac Lake

I have to say it's pretty hard to disagree with Ms. Scheuer. Take a look at the comments to the current "web poll" question. The question is: Does the Minneapolis bridge collapse make you more hesitant to cross bridges? A bit of an inane question but that is beside the point.

The comments begin with their usual pro-Walmart, anti-community store, native vs transplant "thoughts". They then rapidly devolve into rants against the Unitarian Church! Do the editors of the local paper and the commenters realize that these comments can be read by anyone with internet access? How do these comments make our community look to people living outside our local area? Most commenters probably don't care because if you live outside of Saranac Lake you are only a potential transplant who is not welcome in Saranac Lake.

Might we all be better off if Saranac Lake were a dying community?

More Ocean City, NJ

The Chatterbox


The Alley


Shrivers on the boardwalk


Downtown


Taffy at Shrivers ready for the wrapping machine

Democrat Congressmen Need to Be Fearful

E.J. Dionne Jr. discusses the reasons Democrats caved in to the President and the Republicans on the warrantless surveillence bill.

The episode was the culmination of a shameful era in which serious issues related to national security and civil liberties were debated in a climate of fear and intimidation, saturated by political calculation and the quest for short-term electoral advantage.

Politically, Republicans won this round in two ways. They got the president the bill he wanted and, as a result, they created absolute fury in the Democratic base. Pelosi has received more than 200,000 e-mails of protest, according to an aide, for letting the bill go forward.

Democrats concede they made an enormous tactical blunder by not dealing with the issue earlier, forcing the question to the fore in the days before the recess. One anxiety hovered over the debate: If a terrorist attack happened and Congress had not given Bush what he wanted, the Democrats would get blamed for a lack of vigilance.

Democrats are worried that they will provide Republican challengers and voters reasons to vote for someone else in the next election unless they appear strong on the WOT.

What Democrat congressmen should really be worried about is whether I and other Democrats will vote for them in the next election.

The TSA Makes Flying Safer for Americans

Read Raed Jarrar's version of how he was treated at JFK airport. Evidently certain t-shirts are not allowed on US airlines, at least JetBlue. What was Raed's crime? Wearing a t-shirt that said "we will not be silent" written in arabic and in english. Happily, Raed has sicced that commie organization, the ACLU, onto the TSA and JetBlue.

Mr. Jarrar, an architect, moved to the USA with his American wife to get away from an authoritarian government. Ironic isn't it?

Did you know there was an airline screening playset available for sale? See here.

Yeah, yeah I know. We libs all hate America. But we do love the Constitution.

August 9, 1974

33 years ago today, Richard Nixon resigned as president of the USA. But was he worse than the current president?

“Indeed, Bush puts Nixon into a more favorable light. He has trashed the image and reputation of the United States throughout the world; he has offended many of our previously close allies; he has burdened future generations with incredible debt; he has created an unnecessary war to further his domestic political objectives; he has suborned the civil rights of our citizens; he has destroyed previous environmental efforts by government in favor of his coterie of exploiters; he has surrounded himself with a cabal ideological adventurers . . . .”

Can An Atheist Run for Public Office?

Of course, this is a free country and Article 6, paragraph 3 of our Constitution says:

"no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States".

But tell that to the states of Arkansas (article 19, section 1), Maryland (article 36), North Carolina (article 6, section 8), South Carolina (article 4, section2), Tennessee (article 9, section 2) and Texas (article 1, section 4). Each of these states constitutions require that you acknowledge the existence of God or a Supreme Being in order to hold state level public office. I especially like article 1, section 4 of the Texas State Constitution:

"No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall any one be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being".

Who is the highest ranking public official in the USA that publicly denies the existence of a supreme being? That would be Rep. Pete Stark of California.

Next question. Does God bless America?

Motels of Ocean City and Wildwood NJ

You won't find any "big name" hotel or motel chains in Ocean City, NJ. This community knows what it wants and how it wants to present itself. No highrises at all.


The Nantucket is in Wildwood NJ





The Coral Sands is open all year.


The Forum Motor Inn


The Homestead Hotel


The Caprice is in Wildwood, NJ

Serving Their Country - Getting Dad Elected

Why aren't any of Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's 5 sons serving in the military?

"One of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping me get elected because they think I'd be a great president."

There's a sacrifice for you.

Good Christian Website!

I finally found a Christian website worth visiting and reading. It's called truechristian.com. The web author tells it as it really is and pulls no punches. Check out his FAQ page and read some of the hateful emails he has received from liberals and atheists (I rolled on the floor when I visited this section of the website, be sure and try it.

The "Kidz" section is especially good for educating your children about the Bible. I really like the bible stories for kidz, complete with pictures. Here's the one about David and Goliath
Definitely worth a visit.

Yea for Gillibrand, Clinton and Schumer

They all decided that protecting our Constitution is more important than winning conservative votes in the next election (especially brave of Gillibrand who represents a rather conservative district). These 3 congress people all voted against changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (also known as the "Protect America Act"). The Bill temporarily expands the executive branch’s authority to spy on suspected foreign terrorists without a court order, when communications are passing through the U.S. It seems that even the rubber stamping approval of the FISA courts for warrantless searches were too much to ask of the Bush administration.

FAT

An interesting article on fat in todays NYT's Science section. Let's not forget that fat has an important role to play in our physiology. There is even an hypothesis that the relative "fattiness" of humans when compared with other species results in our "braininess".

Ocean City, NJ

Ocean City, NJ was founded in 1879 by several Methodist ministers. It has a long tradition of being a family resort which continues today. Thus the reason for many churches and a dry city. Here are a few pictures.




The boardwalk is exciting and is filled with people day and night. It's a huge hangout for kids at night and they all seem to be very well behaved.


Early morning til 11 AM the boardwalk is open to biking. You have to watch your step as a pedestrian during these hours.


Long beautiful, clean beaches line the Island.


This picture was taken about noon. The beaches clear out about 5 PM.

Back from Ocean City, NJ

I'm back from my little trip to Ocean City, NJ, Washington, DC and Olney, MD. Ocean City was a real trip. I've never been there before. I can't wait to post my pictures of all the 50's motels. No big name motels or hotels in Ocean City. It's also a completely dry community. Picts of the beach and boardwalk also to follow.

Damn We are a Bunch of Stupid People

I'm getting ready to fly to Washington, DC for a few days. So checking on what is and is not allowed to be taken aboard an airliner seems to be reasonable. Go to tsa.gov (here) to see what is and what is not permitted. Hmmmm, better check the sharp objects section.....no knives, ice axes, meat cleavers, box cutters (the infamous box cutter!), razor blades, swords....seems reasonable. Oh, but sharp pointed scissors are allowed as long as they are under 4 inches in length. Oh, yeah, kniting needles too, they couldn't be used as a weapon. Screw drivers are ok (<7 in), cigar cutters and cork screws ok, as well as nail clippers and nail files.

The liquids policy is a hoot and a laugh. We actually pay people to come up with this stuff. No bottles of water. That's ok with me. I really don't understand why people have to walk around with bottles of water. I guess people dehydrate more easily these days.

Who decides these things? Do they throw darts at a board? Are we really that dumb? Can we at least ask for some consistency?

Farm Bill Passed - Gillibrand a YES

H.R. 2419 was passed in the House of Representatives on July 27. From what I've read the "Farm Bill" in the USA is a completely dysfunctional program that makes very little sense to the average American. A quick overview and specifics of the heavily amended Farm Bill can be found here.

Here is what WashingtonWatch has to say:

American farmers want current farm policy to be the foundation for the 2007 Farm Bill. This policy has helped provide the safest, most affordable, and most abundant food supply in the world, while accounting for less than one-half of one percent of the total federal budget. The current farm safety net should be the floor, not the ceiling, of the commodity title in the next farm bill.

The bill only costs $2590 per average family.

Foodfirst.org has a different take on the Farm Bill and they prefer to call it the Welfare for Corporate Agribusiness Bill. There is even a good argument that the Farm Bill results in obesity in Americans.

This resolutely unglamorous and head-hurtingly complicated piece of legislation, which comes around roughly every five years and is about to do so again, sets the rules for the American food system — indeed, to a considerable extent, for the world’s food system. Among other things, it determines which crops will be subsidized and which will not, and in the case of the carrot and the Twinkie, the farm bill as currently written offers a lot more support to the cake than to the root.

As far as I can tell the so-called "Farm Bill" does very little for the small farmer at a huge cost. Remember this is the program that paid out $1.1 billion to dead people. Not that this was illegal believe it or not. Yes it covers necessary food stamp and nutrition programs but why can't those programs be covered elsewhere? The Farm Bill determines, to a large extent, what we eat in the USA.

I like the Food and Farm Bill of Rights proposed by Rep. Earl Blumenauer.

1. Americans have a right to a policy free of special interest giveaways
2. American taxpayers have a right to a fiscally responsible policy
3. Americans have a right to a policy that serves all farmers
4. Americans have a right to a safe and healthful food supply
5. American children have a right to good nutrition
6. Americans have a right to local supplies of fresh food
7. Americans have a right to a policy that promotes energy independence
8. Americans have a right to a policy that protects the environment
9. Americans have a right to preserve farmland from sprawl
10. Americans have a right to a policy that fosters sustainable farming practices

That seems to be a policy that progressives could and should support but I have no idea how many of these items were incorporated into the Farm Bill of 2007. Rep. Blumenauer was one of a handful of courageous Democrats that voted against the Bill.

How Far is It from Your Home?

Here is an interesting google maps website. Type in your address (or any address) and it tells you how far different types of stores, parks, businesses etc are from your front door. It also gives a "walkability" score of where you live. The walkability score from my house is 0 out of 100....not surprising.

Homes on My Road

Prostate Biopsy

Read "Tales from a prostate biopsy".

There is no delicate way to describe what is about to happen to me. Wearing only two thin hospital gowns and lying in a modified fetal position in a cramped room in downtown Seattle, I’m waiting for a doctor to grease up an ultrasound probe and stick it where the sun don’t shine. But wait, it gets better: One at a time, a dozen needles will be inserted alongside the probe and through the wall of my rectum to snatch bits of tissue from my troublesome man gland.

That pretty much describes the procedure. In fact, it describes it exactly.

But for me, “doesn’t hurt much” and “not so bad” are stunning failures at describing the awful cocktail of fear, anxiety and misery in which I find myself drowning on the day of my procedure.

Fear, anxiety and misery....right on.

But let me say this....it really isn't that bad. There is zero pain involve other than the mental pain of "stick it where the sun don't shine". Lidocaine....not necessary and almost never covered by health insurance. The ultrasound probe about the diameter of a roll of nickels is pretty accurate but maybe a bit larger. No matter it seems very large. The actually biopsy....well there must be a script. The doctor does say "you're going to feel a little pinch" same as they do when they draw blood from a vein. The pinch really is a very little pinch. Then the spring loaded snapping sound....there goes an 18g piece of your "man gland". This is done 12 times and it's over. About 15-20 minutes tops. Next day....it's like nothing ever happened. It's all about fear of the unknown.

Acceptance Speech for Democratic Nominee

Washington Monthly has a speech, written by Theodore C. Sorenson (JFK special counsel and advisor), for the next Democrat Party nominee for President of the USA. Sorenson would have the next Democratic nominee pledge the following:

1. Set a timetable for a systematic redeployment and withdrawal of all our troops in Iraq
2. Implement a comprehensive regional economic and diplomatic stabilization plan for the entire Middle East
3. Immediately transfer all inmates out of the prison in Guantanamo Bay and close it down
4. "pledge in person to the United Nations, in the September 2009 General Assembly, that the United States is returning to its role as a leader in international law..."
5. "...sign the Kyoto Protocol, and seek its ratification by the United States Senate..."
6. "...favor communications, negotiations, and full relations with every country on earth, including Cuba, North Korea, Palestine, and Iran."
7. "...restore the constitutional right of habeas corpus, abolish the unconstitutional tapping of private phones, and once again show the world the traditional American values that distinguish us from those who attacked us on 9/11."

It's a good strong speech. Read it.

Saranac Lake Water Supply: Is It Safe?

An article in todays Adirondack Daily Enterprise says the Village of Saranac Lake may be required to filter its water or find a new source of water other than McKenzie Pond.

The village currently uses liquid chlorine to disinfect the water and kill microorganisms. Byproducts of chlorination are haloacetic acids (HAA5). A 2004 Environmental Protection Agency law said that water sources can have a maximum of 60 parts per billion microliter of HAA5 in the water supply and still be considered safe. McKenzie Pond was found to have 61.1ppb MCL in March. That level has since fallen to 58.8ppb MCL for June.

Because of the one-time violation, the village will now have to either filter its water or find another water source within 18 months of the department’s final decision.

Currently, the Village chlorinates its water to kill microorganisms. The problem with this is that the chlorination process can result in the formation of haloacetic acids when the chlorine reacts with organic materials found in unfiltered water. This is also called formation of disinfection by-products (DBP). Haloacetic acids are a group of chemical compounds based on the acetic acid molecule (CH3COOH) where one or more hydrogen atoms attached to carbon atoms are replaced by a halogen (chlorine).

Although the EPA sets very stringent allowable levels of HAA's there really is not much evidence that HAA's pose a significant risk. There is evidence in mice and rats and in in vitro studies that exposure to HAA causes increased risk of problems in embryos. But this recent study on pregnancy loss finds no correlation between pregnancy loss and DBP exposure (including HAA). Here is another finding that HAA exposure does not result in significantly increased preterm births. A long term study on the effects of HAA exposure on the incidence of leukemia has recently been reported. The incidence of chronic myloid leukemia increased in those with high exposure to HAA. But the incidence of other leukemias actually went down.

All this being said, I am surprised that the Village does not filter its water. There is nothing more important than a safe, clean and pure water supply except perhaps an effective sewage system in protecting a population from disease.

An exposure summary of HAA's can be found here. HAA exposure of 70 ppb results in a 1:10,000 risk of getting cancer during ones lifetime.

A classification and assessment of HAA can be found here.